I Love Him, I Love Him Not

Suddenly, he stopped dancing. “It’s time for you to meet my parents, dear.”

I was petrified. “I thought you said this was your castle?” I asked nervously.

“It is. My parents are visiting.”

“How old are you anyway?”

“21.”

Zach led me to a huge table. At the head of the table sat a couple that looked to be in their 50s. “Mother, Father, this is Ada, the girl I told you about earlier.”

They smiled at me, so I smiled back. I had insulted this women earlier that day (not that I was serious) and now I felt bad. “Nice to meet you sir, madam.” I said, barely preventing the stutter.

“It is very nice for you to finally come to us, Ada.” they replied, almost in unison.

Who were these people and what did they want with me?!

As the ball started wrapping up, Zach took me down the maze of passages yet again.

“Now, answer the questions I asked earlier.” I demanded.

He glanced at me quickly. “Soon, I promise. Now Ada, hush.”

For some reason, I did as I was told. Some instinct told me that angering him or disobeying him would be foolish. We entered a large room that was empty other than a door on the side that probably led to a closet and a king-size bed in the center.

“This is my bedroom.”

I blinked a few times. This was the largest bedroom I had ever seen in my life. It was even bigger than some of the houses in my village! He sat me down on the bed, put his finger on my lips so I wouldn’t speak, and started telling me the story of, well, me.

“You were about 13 years old when I first saw you. So four years ago. I was 17. It was love at first sight. I always knew you would be mine one day, though I did eliminate the competition. Anybody that was interested in you, I made sure didn’t get in the way.”

“Whoa, hold up, is that why there were so many ‘hunting accidents’ before prom and parties and stuff?” I interrupted, slightly worried that I was in the same room with a murderer. But only slightly.

He just stared at me and laughed, but didn’t deny anything. “I would have taken you then, but you were too young and your parents needed you at home. Not even I am that heartless.”

He had killed innocent people to keep them from taking me away from the possibility of being with him!

“You don’t seem heartless.” I interrupted again.

Wait, didn’t I just say he had killed people? I really had to get my mouth and my mind on the same page one of these days.

“Shush. Do you want to know the answers to your questions or not?”

I nodded my head quickly.

“That’s what I thought. Anyway, when I had heard that both of your parents were dead, I decided to rescue you from your little village in the middle of nowhere in Alaska. Nobody was going to take care of you anyway, and you were of age. So I brought you here, to England.”

“I knew you had an English accent! I just didn’t want to ask to make sure!” I said too quickly for me to catch myself.

He shook his head and said no more.

“Please tell me more.” I begged him. All that followed was silence. We sat in silence for awhile. I was scared to say anything more.

Eventually, he sighed, “Ada, learn to take orders. If I tell you to be silent, you do so.”

I nodded my head quietly and didn’t look him in the eyes. He intimidated me, but I didn’t know why.

“As I was saying, it was love at first sight. So when I found that you were homeless, I brought you here to live with me. I’ve been watching you for some time.”

See, I knew he was a creepy stalker.

“You have only grown in my heart since that first day I saw you, and I will never be without you again. You will forever stay within these castle walls.”

For some reason, I cuddled up in his arms then. He held me tightly, as if he would never let go. I fell asleep in his arms, still in the red dress.