Page 264 of Nobody's Girl

“Alyssa, don’t,” he commands me as he moves me to the bed, sitting me down on it. “Stay right here. Do not move. Do exactly as I tell you to.”

He goes to check the balcony doors, then moves quickly to one side. “Shit, he saw me,” he hisses.

The glass blows inward as something strikes one of the glass panes which make up the French doors that lead out onto the balcony. Eden runs right at me, grabbing my hand and taking me somewhere down the hallway. He opens the last door at the end of the hallway, then quickly locks it behind us. There are no windows in the room. It’s pitch black. I hear a click and a dim light comes on.

“What is this place?” I ask him, having never ventured through the whole suite of rooms we have.

“It’s a safe room, Alyssa,” he tells me as he reaches to press a button on the intercom hanging on the wall.

“So we have a safe room?” I ask.

Eden nods, then speaks into the intercom. “Papa, he threw something through the balcony doors. Papa, can you hear me?”

I look around the dimly lit room. There are shelves on one wall with canned foods on them and twelve gallons of water. In the corner is a small single bed with two pillows and a blanket. I look over in the corner closest to us to see what I believe to be a portable toilet. A ceramic bowl sits on a small table next to it.

Finally, someone answers on the intercom. “This is Niles, sir. Your father and several others are searching the grounds for the intruder. The item which was thrown into your room has been removed. You need to stay in your safe room until further notice.”

“Is my mother safe?” Eden asks.

“Yes, sir, she’s in a safe room in their wing.”

With a relieved look on his face, Eden comes to sit next to me on the small bed. “Alyssa, what did that guy say to you?”

I cross my arms over my chest. “He told me his name was Darren Stiles, and that you dated his daughter, Karen. Is that true Eden?”

“In a way, yes,” he answers.

Something in me snaps. “In a way, Eden? It’s either yes you did or no you did not. Simple as that.”

“You remember when I told you several of the girls expressed interest in me in high school, right?”

I shake my head, as I’m so pissed I can’t talk.

How could he leave that information out?

“Karen begged me to take her to the senior prom,” he says. “She was not a very pretty or popular girl. I felt sorry for her, you know? No one would take her and she wanted to go very badly. She already had her dress purchased, but she had no date.”

“I can’t see how that was your problem to solve.”

“If you will remember about what I told you before, the common thought about me was that I was not heterosexual. So she didn’t expect anything physical, just a boy to take her to the prom. I thought that was all she wanted, so I didn’t see any harm in taking her.”

“I see,” I snap.

Eden’s hands twist together nervously as he says, “Unfortunately, after the prom, she still wanted to hang around with me. Like I said, I felt bad for her, so I let her come over and play in the game room with me sometimes. I guess she took it as I liked her. She began to tell everyone we were dating. I couldn’t have that, so I stopped talking to her. She didn’t take it well. She told her father I took her virginity then refused to see her anymore.”

My jaw drops and my eyes go wide. “She did what?” I gasp.

He shakes his head, looking down. Finally, his eyes come up to meet mine. “Well, you know that isn’t true.”

“I don’t know. I mean, why didn’t you tell me this before?”

He throws his hands in the air. “Alyssa, you know damn well I didn’t do that. Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve shown you how much you mean to me. I would never have jeopardized us. Not on purpose anyway.”

“So her dad, he’s a psycho or what?”

“Well, I didn’t realize he was this bad,” he says as he sits down next to me. “He came to see my parents after his daughter told him that about me. He was upset. I thought he believed me and my parents when we told him there was no truth to it. You see, the date to the prom was completely chaperoned by them. My father was in the game room with us whenever she came over. There was not a single time we were ever left alone.”

I shake my head. “Eden, this is so much to take in. I wonder what this man is thinking.”