If the police followed up Arnold's concerns, he never heard about it. When he finally went in to ask about it, he got waved off. Nothing was amiss, as far as they were concerned. It frustrated Arnold to no end. Gerald just completely gave up on him, telling him straight up that this obsession was cute in the beginning, but now it was beyond insane. His grandparents offered him the support they could, but also kept reminding him about his studies. If he wanted to get where he wanted to get, he had to focus on that as well. And then his grandpa refused to take him anywhere near the place. And even once he got his license, he wasn't allowed to use the car alone.

Sometimes it felt like he was the only on who even cared . . .

. . .

Helga was kept a virtual prisoner for two weeks. She had food brought up to her. The only time she left her rooms was to see her tutor. She had her tutor smuggling letters out to Arnold and in from him. She agreed that Helga needed to interact with other people her own age.

"It's unhealthy to keep you confined to this place," she'd said. "I'm going to try and talk them into sending you to the High School. You need to be in a school setting."

Helga's hopes were raised. Until the unimaginable happened.

One morning Steven came to tell her that her tutor wouldn't be coming anymore.

"She passed away the other night," he told her. "It's why she didn't come in yesterday."

All the hopes Helga had collapsed around her.

"But . . . she said she was going to talk to you guys about my going to school," Helga said. "Did she?"

"She did. But your sister handles that side of things, not me," he told her. "And your sister isn't reasonable at the moment."

After he left Helga cried until she fell asleep. When she woke, it was from fright. Her room was dark. She felt like she was being watched. She at up and looked around. Was that her sisters perfume? Had Olga been in here? Helga got up off the bed and walked into the little lounge area and tried the door. It was locked, but she could hear voices on the other side. Olga and Steven were fighting again. She went to move away but heard her name used. Frowning she leaned against the door and strained to listen. But all she heard was muffled yells and slamming doors, then silence. She walked over to her couch and sat down, turning on the TV. She flipped to the music channel and turned up the volume. She didn't hear the lock on her door click or hear it open, so she jumped when she saw Steven standing there, staring at her as she sulked.

"I have a movie." he said, holding it up like some prize in one hand, and a bag of stuff in the other. "It's a horror. Your sister is going out tonight. I also brought snacks."

Helga didn't say anything to him, just went back to watching the screen, so he came in and sat next to her. She wrinkled his nose.

"Have you been drinking?" she asked.

"Oh, not you too," he moaned, leaning back. "I had a couple of bourbons. That's all."

"What were you and Olga screaming about?" she asked as casually as she could. "Me?"

"Not this time," he said, leaning forward and setting the dvd up. "Kids."

"Kids?" Helga asked.

"Olga's dream is to have kids," he told her. "But she can't."

"Why not?" Helga asked, curious. Steven gave her a funny look.

"Because she had to have her ovaries removed as a teenager," he told her. "You didn't know about that?"

Helga shook her head. Steven made a face, grabbed the remote and sat down next to her, starting the movie.

"We've been looking at ways around it," he told her. "It's her dream. But it looks like it's not going to happen."

"You don't sound too disappointed," she stated.

"I'd be lying if I said I was sold on the idea of children with her," he said, laughing. "I'm not sure she would be up to making the sacrifices that come with parenting."

"I've never been keen on kids," she admitted. "I'm too greedy. I'd want my boyfriend or partner or husband all to myself. At least for a while. I'm not a fan of sharing."

Steven laughed and settled down. Silently they watched the movie together. When a "scary" moment flashed up, she jumped and moved closer, grabbing onto him. She didn't let go. He didn't push her off, Just draped an arm around her. She fit herself against him. She could feel his heart thumping in his chest, just as hers was.

"You know, you should be getting driving lessons," Steven said. "You are going to leave here eventually. You need to know how to drive."

"Don't you want me here?" she asked. He looked down at her.

"What? Helga, we put bars on your windows," he said laughing. "If that doesn't say we want you here, then what does?"

"Bars on the window aren't funny," Helga pointed out.

"I know," he said. "I didn't even know she was getting it done. I was pissed off to be honest."

The anger in his voice convinced her he was telling the truth.

"So what do you say?" he asked. "While your sisters away, I'll give you lessons. As soon as we can, we'll get your license, and then when your ready to go a car. Then you can go where you want, when you want."

Helga sat up and looked at him hopefully. "Really?" she asked. "Promise?"

"Promise," he told her with a smile, and kissed her forehead, letting his lips linger a moment. Turmoil was going on inside Helga's body. The feelings she was getting were like the ones she got with Arnold, but more intense. Images of her dreams, and of him and that woman that time were running through her mind. She swallowed.

. . .

True to his word, Steven did take her for a driving lesson. He showed her everything she needed to know, while Olga stood on the steps, watching. Helga looked over at her sister, whose eyes were small, and wearing a frown. She smiled and waved. Then Steven had her start the car and make her way down the driveway.

"Are we going out today?" she asked excitedly. Steven laughed.

"Not today, just to the end of the drive, three point turn, then back up and around," he explained. "Practice that for a bit, and once I know you know the differencce between break and excellerator, we'll venture onto the road. Besides, the police are around again today."

"Why?" Helga asked.

"They found another body, this time on the beach," he told her.

Helga hit the breaks suddenly, causing Steven to fly forward. "What?"

"That's just what they told me," he said. "And don't just slam your breaks on like that. If we'd been on the road with someone behind us, they would have rear-ended you!"

"Sorry," Helga said, moving forward again.

"Look, I know you think we're keeping you prisoner here, but we're not," he explained. "It's just so isolated out here, and if someones murdering girls and dumping their bodies around this area, that means that they're on our roads. My fear is them getting on the property."

Helga looked at him, and saw genuine concern in his face. She felt a small tingle of fear in her stomach.

"When did this start happening?" she asked.

"It happened a couple of times when I was a teenager," he explained. "One of the girls I went to school with. It was around that time that my father started setting up servalience around the property. Haven't had problems for years, so I'm guessing they caught whoever it was."

"And now they're out?" Helga asked.

"That, or they were never away to begin with," he said. "Anyway, less on that, more on the lesson, okay?"

Helga nodded and went back to what she was doing, before realizing something important.

"What's a three point turn?"

. . .

Helga stood at her window the next day watching the police forensic teams comb over the area near the fence line in the woods. She was hoping that they wouldn't find any notes that she and Arnold may have left. If they did, they didn't say anything to anyone. Before nightfall they were gone. Helga made her way downstairs. Autumn had arrived, and a little while later a heavy rain began. Watching the police all over the place was scary. They'd never been close enough to the property for her to see them. At dinner Steven broke thee news.

"They're going to going over the property tomorrow," he told everyone.

"Why?" Olga asked, looking shocked.

"They just need to have a look around, see if there's anything suspicious."

Dinner was quiet, everyone thinking about what was happening in the area. It was scary. And the next day it was front page news. Helga gasped.

Sheena? The victim was Sheena!

"Oh my God!" she said, dropping the paper. She felt like she had been punched, and that she was going to be sick.

"Helga, what is it?" Olga demanded.

"That girl they found was Sheena," Helga said. "A girl I went to school with. Hippy, tall, skinny, quiet."

For the first time in a while, sympathy came over Olga's face, and she looked like the big sister Helga remembered.

"Oh, Helga," she said, coming forward. "I'm so sorry." She let her sister take her in her arms and hold her. Helga wasn't close to Sheena, but it was still a shock. Olga and Helga went into the kitchen and had a glass of apple juice.

Real fear surfaced in Helga then. Going by the report Sheena had vanished around the time she was planning to make her great escape.

"It could have been me," she whispered.

"What could have been you?" Olga asked, sitting a piece of chocolate cake in front of her.

"When Sheena disappeared I was climbing out my window to run away," she said. "What if he was out there that night, and I had managed to get out. He could have gotten me. It could've been my body . . ."

"But it wasn't," Olga said. "But you can see why we were so upset now, don't you."

Helga just nodded.

"For a while though, maybe use the indoor pool, and stay out of the maze, and away from the perimetre," she advised. "The idea that someone could be out there, watching the house, watching us, gives me the creeps."

"What's going on?" Steven asked, entering the kitchen.

"Helga knew the victim," she explained.

"Oh, man, that's rough," he said. "I remember how it felt when I recognized one of the victims years ago."

"Years ago?" Olga asked. "This has happened before?" Steven just nodded.

"You wanna talk, I'm happy to listen," he said, sitting down and swiping some cake.

"Maybe later," she said. "When will the bars be removed from my windows?"

. . .

A knock came at the boarding House just as dinner was finished. Mr. Hyunn was the one who answered it and let the police in.

"We're looking to speak to Arnold," the bigger policeman said. Arnold stepped forward.

"Is this about Helga?" he asked. The policeman shook his head.

"This is about a school friend of your's, Sheena," said the woman with him. "We understand you went to school with her?"

Arnold looked at them confused. Why did they want to talk to him about Sheena? "Yeah."

"We understand that you have been in the area where her body was located," the man said.

All the color drained from Arnold's face. Body? They had found Sheena's body? Everyone thought she had just run away. She'd been having problems at home since her mother re-married . . .

"I don't understand," he said. "Where?"

. . .

"Helga, there's a policewoman wanting to speak with you," Olga told her. Helga frowned, getting up and making her way down to the kitchen where two police officers were sitting at the table, each with a glass of water in front of them. One was a big older man. "Here she is. I'm not sure how much help she will be."

Helga made her way over to the table and sat down.

"I'm sure you know about the young woman's body found near by, in the woods," the woman started. "We've already spoken to your friend, Arnold."

Helga flicked her eyes quickly to her sister, who was frowning, then back at the police officers and licked her lips. Shit. Now they were going to find out how Helga and Arnold had been communicating.

"We found a correspondence of yours to him near the fence line," the man said. "We want to know though, if you have seen any other activity in the area?"

Helga looked up. Seriously?

"No," she said. "I haven't seen anything strange. No one ever comes out here."

"Except your friend, Arnold," the woman said.

"I'm sorry," Olga said, taking a seat. "What do you mean by correspondence?"

Helga's head dropped to the table with a bang. Crap. The police officers seemed to realize that they had exposed something.

"Well, we found a letter to Arnold, in a zip lock bag, tied to a rock, thrown on the other side of the fence," the woman explained, looking at Helga apologetically. "We've already spoken to him, and he's said he's never seen anyone around during his visits."

"So that's how you two managed to get to the beach?" Olga snapped. "You've been talking to him, even after I've asked you not to!"

The police officers gave each other an awkward look.

"We're not concerned about that, right now," the man said. "We're concerned about whether or not your sister has seen anyone acting suspiciously in the area."

"Other than me, and Arnold, no," Helga said. "I mean, you see the occational car, but no one ever stops. You have driven up the driveway, right?"

"Helga," her sister said, warning creeping in.

"So at no point in time have you ever seen anyone in the wooded area around the house at all?" the woman asked. Helga shook her head.

"Sorry."

"Well, we'll leave our number here, and if you do see anything, or think of something, please call either one of us immediately," the woman said, handing her a card. Then she turned to Olga. "If you don't mind, would we be able to speak to anyone else living or working here?"

Olga nodded, and dismissed Helga, who went back up to her room. She had to admit, that as much as she had wanted to get outside, with all the activity going on around here lately, she had stayed indoors. The idea that there could be someone in the maze, ready to kill her or worse, that her sister had planted in her head, scared the shit out of her. Who would do something like that?

And why?