A/N: All right, even though the comments are dwindling (ahem!) I will post chapter 7 in hopes that this might start to really show you where the story is going ... trust me, there is angst in them 'thar hills and it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

With that said - please, please, please comment ... even if you don't dig it! I'm telling you comments are like a drug - and I am in withdrawal here, people! Share the love!

Many thanks once again to Leiasky. If I were to list all I should attribute to her, it would be a posting in and of itself.

One other thing - this part starts directly after the end of chapter 6. If you haven't read it yet, I would.

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A NEW DAY, ch. 7: Out of Control

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In her room, Rylee awoke with a start, tears already running in tracks down her cheeks. Pulling her knees into her chest, she could feel her mother’s distress, reaching out to her like a sharp knife, poking her heart and piercing her brain with an agony no four-year-old should know. Crying heavily, Rylee rocked herself for a few minutes, trying to rid her mind and body of the pain.

But it was no use, her mother was suffering, a lot, and it was only going to get worse. Rising on shaky legs, Rylee grabbed for the doll she had taken to sleeping with and in a daze ran from her room, her small footsteps echoing along the wood in the night.

Running down and out into her grandparents’ yard, the moonlight drew a silver path into the woods by their house. Trying to escape the pain, Rylee quickened her pace and ran, her feet slipping a bit on the dirt and rocks that assaulted them, her nightgown not doing much to keep the chill of the night away. But Rylee didn’t care – she just wanted to be gone, to be rid of this agony that had ruled her heart and mind for weeks now.

Breathing hard, she just kept running.

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Cadie awoke with a sharp gasp, the pain she felt from Kaylee causing her own mid-section to ache uncomfortably. Glancing around her darkened room, C