The Rapunzels

14: Morginstar

 The guest house is where I will live now. Until I die. At least that's what I tell myself. Hope springs eternal.

Half-dangling out the window of my stranger's bedroom, I regard the estate I grew up in. I never truly marveled at its size. It's huge. Big enough for many relatives. Many children.

Beyond the gated area is a forest. My parents told us that is where the monsters reside. I wait for a rustle of leaves or the upsetting of dirt but never have I seen that. I cannot see beyond the trees. Perhaps that's where the world ends.

I hang my head. My hair dangles like a ladder. Were my stranger below would he clamber up to save me? I turn back to him. No. He cannot save me. But I can save him.

Logic tells me by morning I'll have to return to the main house. We are hours away from daylight though.

I have come down, all the way down.

I push myself away from the window. My hair falls around me like a cape. I walk to the bed.

I watch him with the same interest my mother watches the TV until his slumber begins to subside. If my sisters were to return now, I'd kill them.

He moves and he is liquid. He is a raindrop I once caught on my finger. I'm fascinated by the way it caught every speckle of light from the sun above. He draws in a deep breath and becomes the sun exploding over me.

My stranger's eyes open and I am the first thing he sees. I offer him a smile. I don't want to appear unfriendly.

I have never seen green eyes. I thought it was a myth. His are emeralds. I'm shaking.

"Why am I not dead yet?" his voice, although deep is weak.

"Because you did not die," I respond as if he should know. "You're safe."

"I was sure I'd be a gonner. Dios mío," he utters, then a millisecond after he adds, "Tyrone Grimstone. I'm in his residence, am I not?"

I'm close to him but uncertain if I should be there or if it's better to bolt to the other end of the room. There's a tremble starting at my toes and ending at the sky. "He is my father. Yes, you are on his grounds. This is one of the guest houses."

"Does he know I'm here?" he winces and tries to sit up.

I rush next to him like a moth. He is my light. "No. Why?"

He lets me touch him. His arms are marble. I help him sit.

"Then that's why I'm alive."

I am confused. How does he know my father's name? "How do you know Ty --?"

A wince cuts me off. Pain erupts and pours from his lips. "I fell badly." He touches his chest and turns pale.

"Lie down. You need rest to get your strength."

He shakes his head and that's when I notice the leather strap around his neck. It's nearly the same shade as his skin.

"No. I need to get out of here." his face is a mask of anguish.

I'm still holding onto him. "Fia. My name is Fia."

"I am Alejo Santos, MPD. If your father finds out I am here..."

I have no idea what those letters mean but I find his name glorious. "He won't, I reassure him and explain how neither he nor my mother ever enters the guest homes.

"Why are you here, Alejo? How did you even enter the grounds when my sisters and I have not been able to get out for nearly twenty years."

"I don't even know how I got here." Then as if he had been slapped, he flinches. "You haven't been out in twenty years?"

I shake my head. "My parents say my sisters and I are cursed." I touch my long hair. "Only those with short hair may leave their homes or else they may get eaten by the devil."

When the look of pain turns into one of pity, I ask him why.

"Dear Rapunzel, there is no such curse," he says softly.

I bite my lip and shrug. "Up until last night, I believed."

Then Alejo tells me something that nearly brings me to my knees. "I am a police officer, Fia. For the town of Morginstar. MPD. Morginstar police department. Your father and his associates..." his words trail off.

He's not sure how much I know but I'm sure he knows it's little by the absolute look of confusion on my face.

"My father works at NASA. I think." My voice is tiny. Is it even mine?

"Tyrone Grimstone is a drug lord, Rapunzel." Alejo winces and hunches over.

I feel like I'm the one who's going to black out but I put my hand on his back and rub until he sits back up.

"What are you telling me? Are you saying there's a town? Morginstar? This is the name of a town and not the last name of my neighbours?"

He nods. "All of this is Morginstar. Population 21,524."

The room spins but he is the one that falls forward. I wrap my arms around Alejo and make sure he doesn't topple down.

The cocaine. Our huge estate. The fact that we can't go out. It all makes sense.

"Fuck, fuuuuck," I hiss as Alejo loses consciousness again and slips out of my embrace.