While everyone else was sleeping, Conrad awoke. He slowly snuck out of his room and listened intently around the house. [i]Good. They're asleep.[/i] he thought and snuck out. He looked around for Vanessa, but couldn't find her. Sniffing the air, he caught her scent and concluded that she must have gone down the stairs.
Looking around one final time, listening to signs of the others being awake, he left the house. He snuck out into the daylight, and strolled around the grounds.

Once a safe distance away, he stopped and took a deep breath. The fall noon was sunny and bright, and warm enough to get away without wearing a jacket. Conrad's hand made it's way into his shirt collar, and took out a pendant. He eyed it for a moment, then clutched it in his fist. [i]"You would've loved it here, Monica."[/i] he spoke absent-mindendly to himself. [i]"Then again, you always said fall was your favourite time of year."[/i]
He took a few steps into the woods, and sat down on an old tree-stump. It had a strange sliced mark on it, like a single large claw had broken it apart. But it was probably just a storm that had knocked it down long ago. [i]"I did it for you, Monica."[/i] he continued, speaking into the open air, his eyes beginning to tear up. [i]"I did it for us. I thought I could save them."[/i] He grabbed the pendant again, holding it tightly before taking a deep, gasping breath. He tucked it away into his shirt again and walked back to the house. Once inside, the others still hadn't woken up. He decided to walk down the stairs to see what Vanessa was doing, if she was still there.
Seeing her sit on a chair by a computer in some sort of office, he knocked on the doorframe to get her attention. [i]"You tried to get some sleep?"[/i] he said to her, smiling kindly.