Chapter 2 Star's POV

I could hear a clutter of feet going down the stairs and then shortly afterwards Janice was coming towards me, smiling after she recognised me through the window in the door. Kayla was standing behind me. I didn't place her there, she was just a bit nervous, so she stayed behind me and then popped her head around me occasionally to see what was going on. It was so cute.

She opened the door. “Star, what happened, I was getting worried.” Then she noticed Kayla. “Oh, hello sweetie.”

“I was wondering if Kayla could have a bath.”

“Sure and then you and I can have a talk.” Janice said and then we all headed upstairs.

We all went upstairs with Kayla still trying to hide behind me. I filled a bath for her using some body wash to simulate bubble bath and helped get her settled. We then left her happily playing in the bath, so that I could have the privacy to talk with Janice. She made us both a cup of tea and settled in a chair facing me at the dining room table.

“Well?” She asked.

“I've tried not to involve you any more than you are already, but....I need help. I can't see a way I can manage on my own. I will tell you everything and anything, just ask and I will do my best to answer. I am asking for advice. I'm not going to ask you to endanger your family, just help me work out what I should do next.”

“You think my family could be in danger?” She asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

“If my father finds out that you have helped me or Kayla, then yes, so I am not asking for that.”

She took a deep breath. “Alright. Let's start with why I had a policeman knocking on my door asking about a six year old girl who, I presume, is now in my bathroom having a bath.”

I hesitated for a second. With the information that I was about to divulge, Janice would be able to work out who I was and that had been a deep seated fear for years. I had already gone through this in my mind and knew that I had to trust someone and Janice had earned my trust.

“It was Kayla's birthday yesterday, her sixth Birthday and as she is my sister, I had made a card for her and intended to leave it outside the front door like I did last year. I waited for the house to go to sleep when I saw Kayla's light go on. It must have been near ten pm, way past her bed time. Her blind was up and I could see into her room with my binoculars. My father came in. I couldn't hear what they were saying, of course, but I could see that Kayla became scared and reluctantly started undressing. This is the same man that raped me when I was eleven, so I made the assumption that he was going to do the same thing to her. So I went inside to rescue her.”

“Hold on a second. How did you get in?”

“Don't forget this used to be my home. The back door into the garage has a number lock and they haven't changed it since I left. The door from the garage to the house is locked, but there is a doggy door that I can fit through, which leads to the kitchen and from there to the rest of the house. So I went straight to Kayla's room to find her lying naked on the bed, crying into her pillow as my father was in the process of taking his clothes off.”

“How did you escape? I'm guessing that your father is much bigger than you.”

“Yes, he is. Fortunately, since he was still taking his trousers off, when I shoulder barged him, he fell over and then, decided to get dressed before leaving the room which gave me precious seconds to run away.”

“He didn't try and stop you?”

“I persuaded him to leave us alone. We slept in the tree house that night, but I was worried that they would trace me back to here so we hid elsewhere the next day.”

“How did you persuade him?” She asked.

I sighed because I didn't want to talk about that bit. “Violently.” I told her, hoping that was enough to satisfy her.

“Oh. You didn't kill him or anything?”

“No. I hope he is showing some kind of bruise on his face. I didn't stick around though. As soon as I knew he wasn't going to chase after me, I escaped. Now, my mother died when I was young. I have my suspicions about that, considering my father's character, but when I was assaulted, despite my father's threats I told my step mom, Wendy, thinking that she would help me. She point blank told me I was lying and Robert would never do anything like that. It may be that for her own child she would have a different opinion, but I couldn't risk it. Kayla had to come with me. The thing is, now that I have her, I don't know what to do. There is no way I can prove my story and there is no way I would let Kayla go back into my father's clutches. Where does that leave me? I guess, sitting at this table asking you for advice.”

“I dread asking this question, but I need to know. How is your father connected? Why is it dangerous to go against him?”

“Don't forget I was eleven when I left, still I picked up enough to know that he is involved with organised crime. I'm not sure if he was laundering money or just looking after it. He did brag that he could get them to do favours for him. I overheard him threatening someone on the phone a few times. I got the impression that he knew things that he shouldn't. I spoke to that social worker you sent me to and pleaded with her to leave it alone. We both know how that turned out.”

“I hate to say this, but this is beyond me. I don't have enough information and I am scared that if I try and find out, I will end up like poor Betty. I need to speak to my husband. He doesn't even know that I have been feeding you. He is a policeman, not that far off retiring and when I tell him, he will be obligated to act. Do you think you can stay in the tree house together? I will chat to him tonight, lay it all out without revealing your location and see what he says. I will say it is all hypothetical. He will see straight through that, but it gives him the option to pretend that he doesn't.”

Janice made sure the curtains were drawn and we spent a good part of the day in the house. I was able to have a decent shower and get all my clothes washed. She also dug out some old toys that she kept in the hope that they would be useful for grandchildren one day. I don't think I could have kept Kayla occupied in the tree house and I didn't want to go anywhere where she could be seen.

So I played with dolls, hide and seek and even tried to allow myself to be taught this dance that Kayla liked. It was surprisingly fun. Up until about a year ago I had presumed that I was an ordinary boy, so this was all new to me. Admittedly an unfortunately pretty, underdeveloped prepubescent boy. I knew I was pretty or maybe it would be better to describe it as desirable, considering the attention I had received, first from my father and then various men who had tried to force their intentions on me. I had learned to be quick and vicious, letting my anger out with my weapon of choice, the humble pen. Other than my father, no other man had managed to have his way with me. It was also how I had come to be known as Star. I started threatening people with autographs and the next thing I knew, everyone called me Star.

About a year ago puberty finally hit, only it was a female puberty. I was short, just under five feet, pretty and had started developing feminine curves including breasts. I was now up to a B cup and they had shown no signs of stopping. Janice had always treated me as a girl, buying me girls clothes and even feminine products. I guess she knew more than I did. Initially, I was a bit put out and thought about confronting her, but she was providing food and shelter. I knew better than to bite the hand that feeds me. I had spent a year in London when I first ran away, just surviving so I knew how good I had it now. Everyone who saw me thought I was a girl and I was beginning to think they were right. It is pretty hard to feel masculine when you are wearing panties and a bra. Besides my manhood, if it can be called that, stopped working as anything other than a tube to pee out of. I could vaguely remember it getting a bit bigger, but that hadn't happened in ages.

Before there was any chance of John returning, Kayla and I settled ourselves in the tree house. Janice lent us a book reader with a children's book already loaded and we got it to read to us until exhaustion caught up with Kayla and she fell asleep in my arms. I was tired after the last couple of days and drifted off not much later.

The next day I waited for John to head off to work and then knocked on the back door again. Janice told me that John was going to check out what he could without raising suspicions. He had already heard some gossip, but refused to repeat it, without checking it out. So the day was a repeat of the previous day except when John returned he sent Janice to the tree house asking us to join him inside the house. He was back home earlier than usual, so it was barely five pm when we gathered to hear what he had to say.