text: "Okay..." Daddy smiles, "That can be arranged." He pats you on your head and leads you back to your cage. You sit down in your cage, shocked that he actually is letting you have a friend. Maybe it'll be a puppy! That'd be great. You love puppies. After a week, you start to think that he's lied to you but he always reassures you that, "Your friend will be here soon. I promise." He acts like he's got to be careful about it.
  
  Then her sniffling explains everything. Your friend is finally here and she looks a lot like you. "Meet Liz," Daddy smiles as if he is offering you the best gift in the world, "She's your new friend! Are you happy?"
  
  You look at Daddy and nod hesitantly before he shoves her into the cage, locks it, and wanders back upstairs. Taking in her tattered appearance, it looks like she was shoved into a trunk before she came here. She doesn't look at you and you know for a fact that this is your fault. She is only here because you asked her to be. You feel the need to say something, anything, but can't decide exactly what. Nor can you decide how you feel. But you forge ahead anyway.
  
  > say "I'm... Sorry."
  "I knew it was your fault," Liz spit back at you, hatred in her eyes.
  
  "Well... I thought he'd get me a kitty or something... not... you." You whimper and inch away from her, like she is somehow going to attack you harsher than Daddy ever has.
  
  "Why on earth would you think that man would ever do anything nice for you or anyone else?" She questions, contempt still written across her face.
  
  "Because I've been good..." Your dejection softens Liz's face but she recollects herself and continues to glare.
  
  "Good? And that gets you... what? Brownie points? Congrats, sister, now you've got us both in this mess. All because you... you couldn't take it..." Liz sighs and turns towards you and shakes her head, "I always thought that someone in this situation would be strong but you're... you're just sad."
  
  > say nothing
  Liz just scoffs and turns away again. The silence between you two is deafening and nothing but contempt is sizzling in the air. You almost continue to apologize but decide that it is best to let sleeping dogs lie. Among the silence, you hear Daddy pacing upstairs and wonder what he is planning. Clearly he expected you two to hit it off but that just isn't going to happen. Rather, you much preferred to be alone.
  
  "What's he gonna do to us?" Liz asks out of nowhere, begrudge still in her voice. She doesn't even glance in your direction.
  
  "Everything you can possibly imagine," You mutter.
  
  "Yeah.... that's what i thought you'd say." She turns away from you as Daddy opens the basement door and eases his way down toward the cage. Now with his presence, you see Liz get scared and she actually creeps towards you as if to say 'take her'! When he gets to the cage, he smiles at the two of you.
  
  "Who wants a movie night?" Daddy looks between the two of you, waiting for a volunteer. When neither of you do anything, his face contorts into frustration. "Well? Whose it going to be? Tess?"
  
  > say "I'll go."
  You creep out of the cage and he smiles, patting you on the back and following you up the stairs. There's something you notice that he doesn't, but you don't say a word. He left the cage door slightly ajar. Hopefully, Liz will notice. Silently, you watch him set up the movie as he glances at you every three or so seconds. This causes him to take double the time to even set the movie up but as soon as it starts playing he turns towards you and smiles. "Why don't we get out of here for a little while?" He saunters over to you and scoops you up, planting a nasty kiss onto your lips before dancing with you down the hall to the bedroom.
  
  The entire time he grunts over you, the image of the opened cage door keeps you going. Nothing he can do to you now will stop his reckoning from coming. You even smile a little as he finishes and exhausts himself. Pulling your dress back on, you follow him out of the room and he turns to you. "Time to get you to bed, Tess. Been a long night." You nod. As you pass through the living room, you see the front door slightly ajar and the screen door silently closes. Daddy doesn't notice so you say nothing. As he guides you downstairs, you know he'll find an empty cage. That satisfaction is enough to keep the dopey smile on your face a whole extra minute. When he suddenly whips around and clocks you in the face, your upturned lips don't shift.
  
  > Salvation?
  "Fuck.." He punches you in the mouth. "...You." Then you can't speak as he hammers out your teeth with his fists over and over again. You can see as his fists are cut by your broken bones but he doesn't cease. Not once. Not even a minute in. And then three. After five minutes of Daddy pounding you all over your body, you realize that Liz didn't get help. She just ran. You brought this on yourself. As your vision and the pain fades, you can still see Daddy pounding on what is left of your face but all you can focus on is the blinding light growing before you. And then the door bursts in and cops pour into the house. They storm into the basement and you watch Daddy go down with barely a fight. The cops who aren't focused on dragging Daddy's ass out of the house are surrounding you, some throwing up in the corner. They had arrived...
  
  A Moment Too Late. (Ending 25)