Chapter 4

It was raining the day she showed up. He met her that day, and he knew then his life would never be the same. The doorbell to the Sunset Arms Boarding House rang several times before Arnold finally got a chance to answer it. Standing on the other side of the green door was a young woman. She had shoulder length brown hair and beside her was a small six year old girl with shiny blonde hair and blue eyes. Arnold stared hard at the woman, studying her features intently. He could swear he had seen her somewhere before but a pair of dark sunglasses shielded her eyes from him. "My name is Erin Mills. And this is my daughter, Marissa. We're interested in renting a room."

Arnold was so absorbed in the woman; his mind had barely registered the statement, "I'm sorry. What?"

"I saw an ad in the paper…it said you have rooms available." She explained.

"Oh right, right. Come on in and I will show them to you." He said stepping aside and allowing them to enter. The two followed Arnold upstairs and he opened the door to the room. "It's got one bedroom and one bath…"

"We'll take it." She said abruptly interrupting him.

"But don't you want…"

"No. This is fine."

Arnold looked at the woman strangely. Most people wanted to see the other rooms available before they made a decision. What was her deal? "All right, if you'll just step into my office, I'll draw up the necessary papers." He said.

They followed him into his office and he laid out before her the lease, "Just sign here, here, and initial here…You know it might be easier to see if you took those glasses off." he said.

"I'll keep them on, if you don't mind." She replied curtly. She set the pen down and looked up at him, "Is that all?"

"The room isn't completely furnished. It just has a standard refrigerator, stove, and bed. The laundry room is downstairs. It's a quarter to use the washing machine and a quarter to use the dryer. And rent is due at the first of the month. I think that's it…oh by the way, I'm Arnold." He stood and extended his hand. She took it and shook limply. As they stood shaking hands, he noticed what appeared to be a hand print around her slim wrist. She pulled her hand back, "Come on Marissa let's get settled." Erin said quickly, leaving Arnold alone. She walked briskly upstairs and into the room. The room was bare and the only real illumination was from the small light fixture fixed in the middle of the ceiling. Her and her daughter's luggage stood in the middle of the floor. "Mommy…" Marissa said.

"What is it baby?" she replied with a sigh.

"I wanna go home."

"We are home." She replied. She pulled the wet coat from around her and tossed it onto the counter then got eye level with her daughter, "I know this isn't what you're use to. But this is all we can afford right now okay…"
Marissa shook her head, "…can I call daddy?"
"No." she said quickly, "Listen to me very carefully: No one can know who we really are. My name is Erin, not Helga okay? And you are not to call your father for any reason. Okay? Do you understand?"

Marissa sighed and nodded. Helga smiled, "All right, why don't we see what Aunt Phoebe is doing and get ourselves something to eat?"

Marissa's eyes lit up and she nodded her head. Phoebe arrived about twenty minutes later. She stood in the kitchen with Helga as Marissa sat on the bed eating her food happily. "Thanks for getting that burger and fries for Marissa. I'm starting my job at the diner tomorrow, so I should be able to pay you back."

"No don't worry about it." Phoebe Johansson answered. She looked over at her friend with concerned eyes, "Let me see." She said.

Helga shook her head, "No."

"Come on Helga. You can't where those sunglasses to work tomorrow. Let me see. I can tell you how bad it looks."

Helga took a deep breath and pulled the glasses from her eyes. "Well…" she asked.

"The left one's still swollen shut."
"I know, I can't see out of it."

"The one on your cheek is fading, though." Phoebe added trying to make her friend feel better.

"What about my neck? Can you see his hand prints?" She asked tilting her head back a bit.

"Not really. They're almost completely gone."

Helga's voice shook, "I can't do this. I'm not going tomorrow."

"You have to work."

"I know that. I just thought maybe they'd let me have some time off. Until most of this goes away." she said motioning toward her injuries.

"You haven't started yet. You can't just start taking time off."

"People are going to stare at me. My uniform is short sleeved and I still have bruises on my arms. What do I say to them?"

"Nothing because really, it is none of their business."

Helga sighed and leaned against the counter, "Everything I had was given to me by him…what makes me think I can survive out here? I haven't faced the world alone in a long time."

"You did it for two years before you met him. You'll be fine."

"I don't know if I can do this…" she whispered.

"Gerald and I are here to help."

"No I couldn't ask you for anything. You have your own family to take care of."

"Helga…you are apart of our family. We love you very much and will help you anyway we can. I promise." She glanced down at her watch, "Oh dear, I better get home. Don't want Arnold to see me leave. Gerald's gonna be home soon anyway. I'll call you after you get home from work tomorrow and we'll go shopping for some furniture."

"All right. Thanks Phoebe." She said pulling her friend into a gentle hug.

Phoebe nodded then left. Helga walked into the bedroom and found Marissa bouncing on the bed, "Hey babe." Helga said taking her daughter's hands, "What do you think?"

"I like it." She said smiling at her mother.

"Do you really?" Helga asked.

Marissa nodded, "But I want to know…when are we going home? Don't you miss daddy?"
Helga sighed, "Yes I miss daddy…but sometimes when he gets very angry, he yells at me…and…"

"Is he mad at me too?"

"No babes. Why would you say that?"

"Because he yells at me too."

Helga stared hard at her daughter, "Has he ever hit you?" she asked.

"No." Marissa answered, "He just yells."

Helga sighed; it was one thing when he came after her. When it came down to her daughter, she was a whole other ball game.

"You've got school in the morning, Babes. Let's get some sleep." Helga said pulling back the blanket and sheets on the bed. They settled under the covers and together, they drifted off to sleep.

…Meanwhile…

The mansion was dark and the only lone figure standing in the living room was Jake. Clutched in his hand were letters of resignation from Albert and Charlotte, his maid. Both had quit the same day Helga and Marissa disappeared. He crumpled the letters and tossed them onto the floor. It didn't matter if the hired help quit. They could be replaced. But as for Helga and Marissa, he was going to find them and when he did, Helga had better hope for her sake he was in a good mood.