5

Manon and Jaques spent two pleasant nights in the attic before anyone had come back to the house. They had made themselves very comfortable. Manon had found plastic garbage bags filled with heavy blankets that she spread out on the pull-out like a fabric next. Some night's her stomach churned from how hot she felt but decided to bear with it as she wanted to appreciate the warmth as much as possible.

Jaques played happily through the days with the toy cars on the floor. He would quietly push them around and over the bed and trunk, sometimes letting them fall to the ground with a crash. He dropped a car and looked at Manon, she smiled. Then, a louder crash from below caused her to press a worried finger to her lips. She picked Jaques up and put him on the bed, she could here muffled yelling and crashing through the house as the new intruder travelled through the halls. There was a thump in the bedroom below them, Manon pressed her ear to the floor.

There was no making out what was being said, frantic discussion between two men judging by the deep rumble of the voices. The sound of a gun shot made Manon squeeze her eyes shut, then the unmistakable thump of a body hitting the floor. Manon looked over at Jacques, he stared at her, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide with horror.

What were they to do? Wait out the new inhabitants of the house? What if this was their house and they had no intent on leaving? Sweat beaded on Manon's forehead when another sound of footprints entered the room below.

The man's voice was soft but deep, she could hear the bass of it rumble below them. The sound of laughter, not from the man with the soft voice but one of the others, maybe the one who pulled the trigger? In an instant the laugh turned to a guttural scream, followed by pleading from a third voice, this one sounded like a woman. Silence. Manon wanted to move, but had nowhere to go. She kept her eyes locked on Jacques, as if she were holding him in place with her gaze. His chin wrinkled, his bottom lip quivering. Manon prayed he could keep his crying at bay at least until they knew they were safe. Footprints crossed below them to the closet where they had entered the attic through.

“I know someone's up there.”