Uncle Vernon didn't return till the late afternoon and until then Petunia, Cooper and Blaine had done most there was to do in Ventnor.

The atmosphere was still tense. They all felt like being on the run but Blaine had never been on holidays, had never seen the sea and it seemed like the three of them had just reached a silent agreement to ignore the obvious and enjoy the day.

With Uncle Vernon gone, it seemed so much more possible for Blaine to enjoy the day. Cooper was still making fun of him but it was more fun and less spite than usual and even though Petunia still ignored him there were those little moments...

They headed to the beach first, as the hotel adjoined to it, and Blaine couldn't contain his joy as he finally reached the sand on this bright July morning. Still running he stripped of his shoes and didn't stop until the water hit his bare skin. He jumped and laughed and as he turned he saw Petunia smiling at him fondly. It was just a second. As soon as she caught his gaze, her face became indifferent again. It all happened so fast that Blaine wasn't even sure if it had actually happened.

Cooper joined him in the water and soon Blaine had to struggle to stay over water with the many times Cooper attempted to dunk him underwater. He still had a blast. Blaine was sure that his cousin hadn't just played with him like that since they had been in kindergarten. Petunia was reading a magazine from the beach and ever so often Blaine saw her smiling at them.

After getting dried up, they spent the rest of the day wandering through the Botanic Gardens, eating ice cream and enjoying the sun, their plan of ignoring the weird situation working out for all of them.

It wasn't until Uncle Vernon returned that the gloomy atmosphere returned as well.

Once he had exited the car with a huge smile on his face, Blaine's heart dropped and decided to roll down hill, towards the sea, trying to find a new life. Maybe in France or Canada.

As he looked at his aunt and cousin he could see that all the tension, kept away by their nice day, returned to their bodies. Agony and fear controlled them once more. Fear of what?!Screamed a voice inside of him and he still couldn't answer it.

"I found the perfect place for us!" Vernon exclaimed before shooing them into the car.

They had left the town in a matter of minutes. Blaine was still desperately trying to get a last glimpse of the endless sea as they turned their back on the shore.

They didn't drive for long, but long enough that the sun had set when they reached their destination.

Vernon rambled the whole way about how perfect the place he had found was, but no one else said a word.

As Blaine left the car he looked around, wondering what would be so special about the place. It was just a huge piece of land. He could see a village in the distance and there was a small church nearby. This couldn't be where they were headed.

But Vernon opened the trunk, picked up some bags and headed for the church door. Cooper gave his mother a questioning look but as she just shrugged they followed the man.

As they entered the building, Blaine had to concentrate to see anything in the dim light.

From what he could make out, Blaine reckoned that it must be really old. The stone was dark and roughly carved, the wood of the benches used and dim. There was not even a hint of sacred decoration to take some of the gravely atmosphere away.

Vernon didn't stop to look around though, but continued walking to the back of the church, unlocking another door and leading the family down a stair case.

They ended up in what appeared to had been a morgue once upon a time. There were no windows as it lay in the basement and the stonewalls still showed carvings of holy figures.

Still, there were no confines but a double bed, a single one and a pretty used couch. The room was barely lit by the candle Vernon held and Blaine spotted two broken chairs in a corner. That was it. There was nothing more.

"Vernon, darling, are we supposed to stay here?" Aunt Petunia asked nervously, looking at her husband, who was met with not only her but also his son's and nephew's confused and wary gazes.

"Of course, my love. Here we should be safe and in a couple of days or a week, couple of weeks at the most, we'll be able to go home and live our lives in peace." He looked so incredibly pleased. Blaine didn't understand. Had his uncle lost his mind? His aunt's thoughts were right there with him as she choked out: "Weeks?"

Vernon only nodded fondly, dragging their luggage further into the morgue. Blaine looked at Cooper who looked devastated. In fact he looked like was going to cry. He just seemed to want to say something, as his mother grabbed his shoulder and shook her head, silencing him with the serious look in her eyes.

After that, time passed slowly. None of the four liked spending so much time so close together with nearly nothing to do.

They had Tesco sandwiches, which were in fact quite good, and diet coke for dinner and around ten Vernon decided that it was time to escape the awkwardness and silent buzz of passive aggressiveness and send everyone to bed.

Vernon and Petunia, shared the double bed, Cooper got the single one and Blaine curled in on himself on the couch. It wasn't too bad actually, though it stood in no relation to the bed he had slept in the night before. It gave him a weird sense of satisfaction to know that none of the other roosts would either.

Nearly two hours later Blaine was still awake. He had never ever cherished the memory of his room back at the Anderson house so much as in this moment. Cooper was constantly babbling and laughing in his sleep while his father hadn't stopped snoring for 5 minutes.

The only one not making any sounds was his aunt but she was tossing and turning so wildly that the bed creaked with every movement.

Blaine felt like he would go insane!

Suddenly a loud noise broke the silent night. First Blaine thought the church was crushing down until he realized that the church bells were ringing. It was midnight. The start of a new day.

Quickly Blaine did the math in his head and then it hit him. It was the 31st July. It was his birthday and he had nearly forgotten it. He felt like beating himself up. If he didn't think of himself then who else would – but instead he opted for cuddling further down into the blankets and singing to himself in his head. I mean you only turn 11 once.

The sound of the bells subsided and with it came complete silence as his relatives seemed to have given up on being noisy. Blaine was so close to drifting into the so well needed sleep as another sound rang out.

A loud harsh sound was heard, similar to when you hit a wall with a heavy stone. Once, twice, three times and then realisation hit him: those weren't just sounds... somebody was knocking. Somebody was outside the door!

And again: boom, boom, boom.

He turned around to see his family slowly rising, in the faint light of a nearly burned down candle, his confusion mirrored in their faces and then: crash and the banging stopped.