(I will be condensing the story, by combining some shorter chapters to make longer chapters)

The day before Christmas a package came for Helga. Steven received it and brought it to her.

"Ordering online, Helga?" he asked, placing it beside her on the couch. She was reading.

She picked the package up and opened it, finding art pencils and a new sketchpad and notebook. "Well, no one will take me into town to get stuff myself," she pointed out.

"All you have to do is ask," Steven said, sitting next to her. "What do you put in those notebooks?"

"Poetry, short stories, sometimes I just doodle in them," she told him. "Whatever I feel like."

"Well, what do you write about?" he asked, leaning back. Helga shrugged.

"None of your business," she snapped, looking down at her book.

"Have you given any more thought to my offer?" he asked, letting his fingers brush Helga's cheek and run down her neck.

"Nope," she said, trying to ignore the goosebumps that action had caused. "I'm busy."

"Doing what?" he asked.

"Planning," she told him.

"Yes, but what are you planning?" he asked again, exasperated.

"None of your business," she repeated. He sighed.

"I thought you said you wouldn't say no to me," he whispered against her ear. He ran his hand across her stomach, down her side, over her hip and to her inner thigh. "Just last month you were practically begging me to touch you. So what changed?"

"I'm leaving," she said. "When I turn eighteen. I'm taking my inheritance and I'm going to travel."

"Where will you travel?" he asked, moving his lips against her neck, and his hand further up her thigh. She stopped his hand, pushing it away and pulling away from him. Her body reacted to his touch, even when her head and heart didn't.

"As far away from here as possible," she snapped. She stood up only to have him grab her arm and pull her back down. She spun around, catching herself before falling onto his lap. He reached a hand behind her head and pulled her face to his, kissing her. Helga pulled away, getting herself into a standing position. "Olga could catch you, you know."

"What makes you think she doesn't already suspect something is happening between us?" he asked, smirking at her. Helga just shook her head, gathered up her parcel and left, going up to her room and calming herself down. Ever since the Thanksgiving party, Steven had changed. Maybe she should cool it with the attitude with him for a bit?

Nah. Both he and her sister deserved everything coming their way!

. . .

"No parties," Olga joked, as she swanned off out the door. Those were her parting words to Helga. Steven was the one who seemed to find any and every reason to delay his departure. Finally Colin came and practically dragged him off.

"I do wish you were coming with me," Steven said. "We could have had fun. Dinner, movies. Each other."

Helga resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, right," she said. "Promises, promises."

Steven sighed and walked out to the car. Helga watched as he and Colin left. Colin wouldn't be coming back, so it was just her for the weekend. Once they had been gone fifteen minutes she went into his office and tried the phone. It wasn't working. She had anticipated that. When she went to look she saw also that the car keys were gone. Now all she had to do was figure out how to turn off the cameras.

. . .

Arnold pulled up at midday. Using the password Helga had given him he punched it in and watched the gates open. He had to admit he was a bit concerned. What if Steven or Olga had changed their plans? What if they were caught? He took his time driving up the driveway, watching with apprehension as the gates closed behind him. He saw Helga standing on the front steps, waiting for him. He had marveled at the size of it from the outside. Now he was going to get a chance to see it from the inside. He pulled his car up and Helga came down the stairs to greet him by throwing her arms around his neck.

"This is going to be awesome!" she shouted. Grabbing his hand she led him into the mansion. Once inside Arnold's mouth dropped and Helga laughed. "Now I know what I must have looked like when I first walked in!"

"This place is huge!" he said, looking at the large staircase, the high ceiling with the chandaler, the rich, plush expensive looking rugs, the polished floors. Arnold could see his reflection in it!

"Come on!" Helga said, dragging him upstairs to her room and throwing open the door.

"You have your own lounge?" he asked, shocked. Lila had warned him, but he thought maybe she was exaggerating a little bit.

"Yep, when you get locked up as much as I have been, you need it too," she told him. Arnold looked around at the plush room. It was a really nice room, but . . . he couldn't handle being locked in it.

"Why do they lock you in?" he asked, walking into her bedroom. "Are those bars on the window!?"

"Yeah, they had them put on after my little accident," she told him. "They didn't want a repeat."

An uncomfortable feeling was coming over Arnold. He was feeling a bit boxed in. What if there was a fire and they couldn't get out of the door? They couldn't use the windows now, either. That had to be a safety hazzard. He didn't feel safe in here at all.

"Let's go back downstairs," he suggested. "How many rooms did you say this place has?"

Twenty up here, but they're all closed up," Helga told him. "They only get opened up when we have guests. "I've only ever been in one, and that was when Lila stayed here. Her's didn't have a lounge, though."

"So there's no chance we could use one of the other rooms?" he asked. "I didn't feel safe in yours with the bars on the windows. What if there was a fire?"

Helga stared at him stunned. How had she never thought of that?

"I suppose we could stay in Olga's room," she said. "The other rooms, like I said, are locked up." She walked over to Olga's door and tried it, but found it locked. She then went over to Steven's and found it locked as well.

"They're all locked?" Arnold asked.

"Yeah," she said, turning away from the doors and making her way downstairs again. Arnold watched her go, frowning. Why would they all lock their bedroom doors. And why didn't it seem to bother Helga?

. . .

They swam in the indoor pool. The weather had gotten much colder suddenly. When watching the news they saw that snow was expected. Lot's of snow.

"I guess that means you'll have to leave earlier, then," Helga said sadly.

"Maybe I'll get snowed in," he joked. It sailed over Helga's head completely.

"No, no you wouldn't want that," she said, sounding distant.

They both contributed to making homemade pizza that night. Arnold saw now, why Helga didn't know about the pizza parlour they went to. It was a good half hour away by car, and Hillwood was about three hours away. And the place was in the middle of no where. Who would want to drive all this way to deliver a pizza? As they were eating, Arnold continued to look around. There was an oppressive air in the house. For all it's grandness, and all the light, there were still shadows in the corners. If the walls could talk, Arnold though, What would they say?

Run away, run away! he thought he heard. He shook his head.

"Are you alright?" Helga asked,

"Yeah, just thinking," he said. "I should probably call my grandparents, let them know I'm okay, and make sure they're okay."

"You'll need to go to the attic for that," Helga told him. "Steven disconnected the phones before he left."

Arnold felt his jaw drop. So, they took the car keys, so Helga couldn't drive. It was too cold and too unsafe to walk anywhere. There were bars on her bedroom windows, and no way to contact the outside world for help if they needed it? What the hell is going on in this house?

"Um, okay then," he said.

"But the door to that is locked, too," she then told him.

"You've got to be joking," he blurted out. Helga shook her head. "Cripes." He'd never felt so trapped and isolated before, even when he went camping, he felt closer to civilisation. Pulling out his phone, he thought the only thing he could do was message Gerald to find out how his grandparents were. He'd explain everything to him later on. He was going to have to use his data. Pulling out his phone he found that at least he could access the internet, though intermitantly. He was feeling more and more uneasy about staying here. What if there was an emergency at home? He wouldn't know about it until it was too late.

"Try in Steven's office," Helga said.

"You mean there's a room here that isn't locked?" he asked sarcastically. He immediately felt bad when he saw Helga flinch. It wasn't her fault. He followed her into the office and jumped when his phone beeped. How strange, he thought. Why would his phone work here, and in a small corner of the attic, but nowhere else in the house? He looked and saw it was a message from Gerald telling him he was crazy. Arnold rolled his eyes, sat down, and messaged him back. Helga just stood there, not sure what to do, before deciding to look through the books on the shelf. She saw nothing of interest and then looked over his desk. She'd only ever been in here with Steven, doing her school work. She sat down at his desk, and opened a drawer. Lot's of papers. Next drawer, folders. She looked though quickly, but nothing interesting. Third drawer and her heart stopped! Keys!

She picked them up, their clinking making Arnold look up. None of them were car keys, and to be honest sh didn't know where they went to. She looked up at Arnold, waving them in the air and smiling. Arnold smiled back.

. . .

One key could open five doors each. There was also a skeleton key amongst them, that they used to get into the attic. Despite having been up there in the past, Helga had never actually explored. They both stood there, in the musty, dusty air, looking around them

"This is huge!" Arnold said loudly. "It must run the length of the house!"

Helga walked forward and lifted a sheet. There was an old fashion couch underneath it. Another had a desk. There were also old suitcase, crates and cardboard boxes. More old furniture.

"I wonder how long some of this has been up here?" she wondered out loud. Looking around she saw a box labeled "Steven" and sat down and opened it. Looked like photo albums. Why would you hide these away? She opened them and saw a beautiful blonde woman holding a baby she guessed was Steven. She had a huge smile. She sort of looked a bit like Olga, but not quite at the same time. Turning the pages she saw photo after photo after photo of baby Steven growing up. The first album ended with his first birthday. Then she saw that they were labeled. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Glancing quickly she saw they seemed to be done in years. A whole year per album. Someone was snap happy. His father had been gorgeous, and even just looking at a picture of him smiling, made you smile back. Steven took after his father for sure.

At the bottom was a baby blanket, birth certificate, a small zip lock with baby hair, a container with . . . baby teeth? "Yuck", she said, holding it up for Arnold to see. Arnold made a face, then went back to his phone. Helga put it all back in the order she pulled it out in and moved onto an old fashioned trunk, and opened it. The first thing she smelt was that musty smell moth balls left behind. She saw a uniform and lifted it out. It was an old fashioned nurses uniform. Taking out the dress she saw there was also a pocket watch, and a red cape and hat. There was a journal with it. Inside was also a marriage certificate. Looks like one of his grandfathers married a British nurse who had cared for him and brought her back to America. As tempting as it was, Helga chose not to read the journal. She put it all back.

Another box she opened was full of encyclopedias. Another old books, some which Helga were pretty sure first editions.

"I'm heading back downstairs to his office," Arnold said suddenly. "I just can't get reception up here, for anything."

Helga watched as he went down the stairway, leaving her alone in the attic. She looked around, deciding not to bother looking around anymore tonight. Maybe another day.

. . .

Helga was more than a bit annoyed by the time the movie finished. Whenever she had been out with Arnold, he had never spent so much time on his phone. While they had watched a movie, he had spent the whole time almost on edge. Helga felt a stinging sensation in her eyes. Stop being so greedy and selfish! a part of her mind was yelling at her. But it's so hard when half the time you can't even get an answer out of him! another part whined.

"I'm going to go check for messages again," he said suddenly, getting up. "Be back in a minute."

"Are you waiting for something in particular?" Helga asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Grandma hasn't been too well," he told her. "I'm just worried."

Helga frowned. "Then why did you come over here if it was that bad?"

"It's not bad, Helga," he said. "I'm just making sure everything is okay. Just in case."

Helga nodded, but went back to watching the movie, while Arnold left. Should have gone with Steven, she thought. At least I could have had conversation!

Arnold returned ten minutes later, and took his place by her on the couch.

"Everything alright?" she asked, without looking at him.

"Yeah, seems to be," he said, giving her a smile. She forced a smile back, but she wasn't happy.

. . .

"Helga," Arnold called, shaking her shoulder. She turned over and looked at him through bleary eyes.

"What?"

"I have to go," he said, urgency in his voice. "Grandpa sent me a message saying Grandma is going to hospital. That was two hours ago. Plus there's a weather warning for snow. Lot's of snow. I want to get going before it gets here."

Helga sat up and just nodded. She watched him grab his clothes that were on the floor, stuff them into his bag, and only dragged herself out of bed when he was going out the door. Arnold was a restless sleeper, and it had kept her awake most of the night. She tried to reason with her grumpy self that it could do with being in a room with only one escape, being somewhere new, but as she got tireder and tireder, it was getting harder and harder to excuse it. When they got to the front door, they shared a quick kiss and Helga told him she'd give him a call about his grandma. Arnold gave her one last kiss, then got into his car. Helga watched as he drove away.

She looked out at the light snow on the ground. Looks like she was going to be spending New Years alone. She went back inside and had breakfast, then decided to go have a look in all the other rooms in the house. Most of them looked the same. Big four poster beds, matching suites. They were stripped back to a single sheet over the matresses, with a plastic covering over the top, the drawers were empty with sheets covering them. She got bored after four rooms, and decided to move onto Olga and Steven's rooms.

Olga's was everything she expected, and she couldn't blame Steven for not wanting to sleep in there. It was very girly, with a white four poster, with pink canopy, her drawers were French Chic style with golden handles. Her mirror was huge and shaped like a heart. Helga walked over to have a look at the top. There were some pill bottles, perfume, and a tube of lipstick sitting on the top. Opening a top drawer she found her sisters make up and creams. She closed it, and went down. It was so strange. There was nothing seductive or racy in her sisters drawers at all. Nothing silky or sheer or lacy. Certainly nothing sexy. Helga sighed. She left the room, locking it behind her. She had been in Steven's room before, so instead made her way to the room she had tried when Arnold was there.

She inserted the key and entered.

It at first appeared like all the others, only with a lounge room as hers did. All the furniture was covered. But there were photos on the walls. Walking up to the wall she saw they were family photo's, once again, of Steven and his parents. Looking into the bedroom her eyes went wide. The headboard to the bed was of two carved horses, going in opposite directions, pawing the air. They weren't full body carvings. The eyes shone. At the foot of the bed was a small horse seat. Then she noticed there were photographs on the dressing table. Looking at them she saw they were pictures of the woman Helga guessed to be Steven's mother, horse riding. One of them she was on a horse with her son in front of her. Clearly the woman had loved horses.

And clearly this is where his parents had slept. She turned to leave and cried out from fright.

"Are you enjoying your nosey party?" Steven asked her, leaning against the door frame between lounge and bedroom. He was holding a shirt. Arnold's shirt. He held it up. "Who else has been snooping around the house?"

"No one," she lied, taking a step back. Jeez, of all the places to get caught snooping. Steven sighed.

"Don't lie to me, Helga," he said, walking in.

"It's my shirt!" she told him.

"Really? You wear Lynx and your name is Arnold, now?" he asked, smirking. "Is this what you have been planning? Sneaking your boyfriend over?"

Helga shook her head. "No."

"Really? Because that's what it looks like," Steven snapped at her. "I came home early feeling sorry for you being alone on New Years. If I'd known, I wouldn't have bothered."

"I'm sorry," Helga said.

"Just get out," he said, and Helga rushed past him and out into the hallway. Once there she turned to watch Steven walk out, downcast. He held his hands out for the keys, which she handed to him. He locked the door. "This was my parents room. All my parents valuables are still in there."

"Oh," she said, looking at the ground.

"If you go dress up warm, I was going to take you out for dinner," he said. "The storm is supposed to come in overnight. Your sister won't beat it."

Helga watched as he walked past her to his room and disappeared inside. Helga made her way to her room to get changed. She decided to have a quick shower first though. When she was finished she dried herself off, put on a matching set of underwear she had ready for . . . well, it didn't matter now. Arnold wasn't going to be there to see it. Finally she pulled out a dress, stockings and jacket, pairing it all with heeled boots. She just dried and brushed out her hair. She didn't bother with make up. When she was done, she threw her jacket on, and made her way downstairs. Steven was already there, dressed in a tux.

"Colin will drive us tonight," he told her, opening the door for her. When she passed through, and he came after her, he put his hand on the small of her back, and guided her down the stairs, and opened the car door for her, before going around the other side and getting in himself. Once they were settled, Steven let Colin know it was time to go.

. . .

In the small town near the beach, was a seafood restaurant. Helga watched as the pizza place Arnold had taken her to that summer day, whizzed past. She said nothing. She was still a bit disappointed with her time with him. He was so caught up in his phone. So different from when they were out together.

Colin drove them right up to the door, and then went off to park, Helga guessed. She later saw him in the restaurant as well, having dinner alone. When they were in, they were led straight to a table in a very quiet and private corner. Steven bought a bottle of wine for them both to share. They chose their dinner and poured glasses. Helga drank hers back faster than she should have. Steven raised his eyebrows.

"Don't get yourself too drunk," he told her. By the time their dinner was delivered, Helga was onto her third glass, and the bottle was empty. When asked if they would like another bottle, Steven shook his head. "Yes, the same thank-you."

They ate in silence, with Steven only asking her if her food was okay. She drank through a fourth glass of wine.

"So, are you going to tell me the truth?" he finally asked. Helga shook her head, feeling the most relaxed she had in ages, if not years. She watched Steven, who didn't have his phone on at all. Not once did he pull it out to look at. Not once did he give off the feeling that he would rather be anywhere but here. With her. Thinking of her attempted weekend with Arnold, her eyes started to sting. He didn't seem to want to be with her. Was it because they weren't having sex? Her mind started going back down that dark, dark tunnel she thought she had escaped. She felt a warm hand on hers. "Do you want to have dessert? Or would you like to leave?"

"Leave, please," she said quietly.

Steven took the last of the wine, then steadied Helga as she stood up. Her head swam. She shouldn't have drunken so much. Oh well. She leaned into Steven's side, as he led her out. He kept her steady as they waited for Colin to come around with the car. It took him a little bit, and Helga was feeling a bit cold, so she snuggled even closer to Steven.

He was so warm, and smelled so nice. So masculine . . .

She more fell into the car when he opened the door for her. She pushed herself up and back against the door. When Steven got in and settled, she pushed herself towards him, and was again leaning on him. He put his arm around her shoulders, and murmered his questions to her again.

"I've been sneaking out with Arnold," she admitted. "And I snuck him over, I know I shouldn't have, but . . ."

"Are you lonely living with me, Helga?" he asked. She nodded. They were quiet the rest of the ride. en they did get there, and out, Steven led her, not to her room, but to his. Once the door was closed he turned her to him and kissed her. She kissed him back, with as much passion as hew as kissing her with. He unzipped her dress and it dropped to the floor. He undid her bra more expertly than she could. He kissed down her neck, and pushed her towards his bed, where she fell backwawrds, and he leaned himself over her, moving his lips down her neck, over her bare breasts, sucking her nipples. It made her giggle, then laugh and push his head away, which caused him to look her in the face and smile, then go back to kissing her again. She didn't even try to resist, it just felt so good, even when he peeled off her stockings, her panties, and placed his lips down in her most intimate place, causing her to cry out a bit at the shock of pleasure. She could feel a tenseness building in her, beginning from her lower stomach, and eventually it ceased to be there and she cried out again, but this time it was because it was like an explosion, sending shocks to every nerve and tip of her body. She tried to wriggle away from him, but was stopped by him pulling himself back up, and kissing her. She seemed to sober up when she felt him push himself into her. She dug her fingers into the skin on his back. The pleasure was building again as he moved inside her. She wanted to tell him to stop, it was too intense, more intense than with Arnold. Steven was a man, and knew what he was doing, not a teenage boy who hadn't yet mastered himself, let alone another. She felt that explosion again. Ugh, it was so hot, and she felt sticky. But it was so good, she kissed him agressively, just wanting to feel all of him.

Why would Olga not want this every night? Want him beside her, in her? She felt herself building up agian, and this time just laid back, enjoying the rush of pleasure. moments later she felt him finish in her. The warmness of him spreading inside her. It twitched inside her again, and he brought his forehead down to hers. As she drifted off to her sleep, she barely registered the last words she heard him say.

"I'm not sharing you, Helga," he whispered.

. . .