Elizabeth “Efad” Milton whistled merrily to herself as she opened the passenger's seat car door and stepped out. It had been a long two-day drive from her home in sleepy Prattville, Alabama to the bustling metropolis of Cincinnati, Ohio. She hadn't made the trip alone; her friends Aaron Sidnay, Kevin McGorma, Christien Phileman, and Brian and Justin Layor had paid to rent a house for a week as a birthday present for her. But the present wasn’t only a week in the big city -- the house they had rented, 247 Hamilton Drive, was none other than the same house the Miltons had lived in when Efad was born.

She sighed and stopped for a moment to take in her surroundings: a three-story white Victorian house stood some odd yards away; the mini-van that the teenagers had driven was parked in a sloped driveway; a huge dogwood tree was planted near the raised porch. Everything seemed new, yet familiar, as if she were living out a past dream. “Wow... so much has changed...” she whispered to herself.

A football knocked against her backside, breaking her train of thought.

“Agh!” She frowned and looked over her shoulder at Aaron, who was innocently tossing the ball to himself. “Thanks, guys. Are we going to unload, or what?”

“Only if you're getting the heavy stuff,” Justin shot back playfully, grinning at her.

Christien turned to the house and stared. “So this is it, huh? How long has it been since y’all lived here?”

Efad smiled warmly and nodded. “Eleven years. Eleven unbelievably long years.”

Brian caught the football as Aaron threw it to him, falling backwards on the grass. “Oof! TOUCHDOWN!”

“Only if you touch the ball down and get your suitcase,” Kevin called from behind the van. “I can't reach mine until you move yours!”

“It's not my fault we were late loading up the van this morning.”

Aaron scowled. “Yes it was. Or were you not the one who caught the microwave on fire with your socks in the hotel room?”

“Hey, who decided to throw my socks into the toilet in the first place?” Brian retorted, frowning as he pulled out his suitcase. Aaron and Kevin exchanged brief glances, and both continued to unload the trunk. They bore the grins of those who are internally splitting ribs in an attempt to keep from laughing.

“But you have to admit, putting your socks in the microwave wasn't the best idea you've had,” Christien commented to Brian.

Efad laughed and shook her head. “And this is what happens when y’all are left unsupervised. Justin, do you still have the key? I can't wait to be inside again!”

“Yeah, just a second.” Justin fished out a small key and held it up triumphantly. “Got it! Man, I still can't believe we were able to rent this place for the week.” He dragged his rolling suitcase up the porch stairs and, after a few attempts, managed to unlock the front door without hurting himself. “Where are the bedrooms, Efad?”

“There are two on the second floor; one to the left and one to the right.” As she got inside the door, she dropped her duffel bag and looked around. “Oh, gosh...”

Everything was exactly as she remembered: a large entryway opened on the right to the living room, and another from the living room to the dining room; the hallway in which she stood lead to the kitchen; the flight of stairs on her left went up to a landing, then farther up to another hallway. It was surreal to see her old house again, just as she had left it. She could remember playing board games with her sister in the living room, banging odd notes on the old piano that used to sit in the dining room, helping her dad make "Beer-Batter Chicken" in the kitchen... So many memories, she thought fondly.

She was jolted back to the present by Aaron calling to her. “Hey, are you coming?”

“Yeah.” Efad grabbed her duffel bag and led the way up the stairs.

When they came to the landing, they looked around the hall and separated to put their luggage in the vacant bedrooms. Efad took the room to the left, the boys headed off the right, and they regrouped to explore the rest of the house.

“Hey Efad, where's this door go to?” Brian asked, opening a door to his right.

“The attic,” she replied without having to look. “We used to play up there all the time... but it gets kinda hot after a while. Something about the ventilation systems...”

Kevin peered into the bathroom, a closet, and finally the old computer room before he glanced towards Brian. “Well, are you going up?”

“Yeah, I was just waiting for her...”

“Right.” Christien squeezed past him and headed up the stairs. “I hope this isn't crawling with bugs... no one's lived in this house for about a month.”

Efad shrugged. “That explains the different wallpaper in the rooms... hey, wait up, Chris!” She dashed up the stairs after him, leaving Brian and Kevin to follow. Once she rounded the top of the stairs, a blast of hot air washed over her, but she thought nothing of it as she looked around. “Man, I remember when my friends and I would come up here and play... this is so incredible to finally come back!”

Aaron had just finished running up the stairs as Efad turned around to leave. “There's someone downstairs,” Aaron panted. “Some guy named Ty. He wants to see you, E -- says he knows you.”

Her heart skipped a beat in her chest. “He's here?” She rushed down the attic stairs, dodged Justin in the hallway, nearly fell down the stairs to the first floor, and stopped in a dead halt as she saw someone standing in the front doorway. He was tall and in his late teens, with blond hair and ice blue eyes, and had his hands shoved in his pockets as he leaned against the doorframe.

His head shot upwards as he heard her coming down, and after a moment, he broke into a grin. “Long time, no see, Elizabeth,” he commented softly.

Efad felt her knees buckling underneath her at the sound of her real name. “Yeah... guess so, huh?” She matched his grin as she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck in a joyous hug. “It's so good to see you, Ty! How've you been?”

“I can't complain,” he admitted. “And you... I hope Alabama’s been treating you well.” They pulled back, and he smiled again. “You've grown up so much in, what -- eleven years? I never thought you'd look this way.”

She blushed. “Thanks, I think.” Someone cleared their throat behind her, causing her to jump and whirl around. Aaron, Brian, and Christien were standing at the foot of the stairs, their arms crossed and eyebrows raised. “Oh, um... sorry, guys.” She turned back to Ty and grinned sheepishly. “These are my friends: Aaron Sidnay, Brian Layor, and Christien Phileman. Justin, Brian's cousin, and Kevin McGorma are upstairs in the attic. Guys, this is Ty Moore, my best friend from when I still lived here.”

Ty nodded to them as they half-heartedly waved. “I hope you guys don't mind, but I was going to take Elizabeth around town for a bit.”

Brian snorted back a laugh, and Christien elbowed him in the ribs. Efad felt her face burning with a deep blush again. “Uh, Ty... everyone calls me Efad now. It's been my nickname for quite a few years, actually.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “...Efad, huh? I can cope with that.” Turning his attention back to the three standing behind them, he asked, “You guys wouldn't mind, would you?”

Aaron glanced skeptically at Efad for a moment, then back at Ty. “...whatever Efad wants to do. We could all get into the van and--”

“Actually,” Ty interrupted, “I was hoping it could just be the two of us. To get to know one another again, you know?”

A pause fell over the five until Christien spoke up. “I agree -- let Efad decide. We can hang out here for a while and get comfortable while y'all drive around.”

Efad grinned and gave the three a grateful look. “Thanks, guys. We'll be back soon!” With that, Ty grabbed her by the hand and led her out the door. Aaron snorted disdainfully as he hauled himself back upstairs, leaving Brian and Christien in confusion in the entryway.

---

“I got the distinct feeling I wasn't liked too much by your friends,” Ty muttered as he sat down in his car and slammed the door.

Efad sighed. “They're just being difficult again. ...well, actually, I think I'd be a little worried if a girl showed up at the door and invited one of them to ride around town all day.” She stopped and laughed. “I mean, you'd think they didn't trust me!”

“Ah, well. Where do you want to go first?”

She grinned. “The zoo. I can't wait to see what all had changed since I was a little kid!”

“The zoo it is!” He declared with a grin of his own. “Then what? The museum, the park, dinner at the Golden Lamb--”

Efad interrupted, feeling a nervous twinge jolt up her spine. “Wait, we're having dinner?” The twinge was her reliable warning system. Something already felt severely wrong...

“We could go get Rio's Pizza if you'd like,” he replied quickly, trying to cover.

“No, I mean... don't you think that we should ask if the guys want to meet us there? I'm sure they'd love to--”

Ty shrugged, interrupting her as he started the car. “If you want. But I'd think it'd only be a pain for them, since they'd probably get lost on the way there.”

“I...” She thought about this for a few moments. On one hand, she knew that the others would enjoy eating out, and she badly wanted Aaron to be there so she could make up for her sudden leave... but Ty didn't want to, and he probably wouldn't get along with the others... “...I guess we could say that we didn't want to bother them,” she said slowly, thinking aloud now.

He grinned at her again. “Great. What they don't know can't hurt them!”

Efad sighed. “If you say so...” Sorry, guys, she thought sullenly.

---

Aaron sat down heavily on the floor of the attic and ignored the odd looks he received from Kevin and Justin. “Don't ask,” he growled as Kevin opened his mouth to say something.

Justin raised an eyebrow. “So, who's this Ty dude, and why did Efad go mental when she heard he was here?”

“I told you not to ask.”

“That bad, huh?” Kevin prompted, a grin starting to form on his face.

Brian and Christien had finished coming back up into the attic in time to hear the comment. “That bad and worse.” Brian leaned up against the railing as the others glanced their way.

A short pause followed his comment, until Justin finally asked, “What do you mean?”

“She's gone with him to see the rest of the city,” Christien declared. “They didn't say when they'd be back, so we'll...” he stopped as Aaron leveled a glare at him. “...what?”

He frowned. “I didn't like him. He didn't seem to be too worried about whether or not we'd let Efad go, he just led her out the door! She hasn't seen him in years -- she doesn't know what kind of trouble he could be in already, or if he's actually a psychotic, chainsaw-wielding, mass murderer or something!”

Kevin openly laughed. “Aaron, your eyes are turning green.”

“Shut up.”

“And he's irritable, too! I smell jealousy...”

“Shut UP, Kevin!” Aaron snarled. “I just know who'll be in trouble if Efad gets hurt! The three of us who were down there couldn't do anything to stop them, and if she's in an accident or something, we're all toast.”

Christien sighed tiredly. “Look, Aaron: she's sixteen, and old enough to take care of herself. Let's unpack and figure out what we're doing for dinner, all right?” No one replied. “...at least I trust her,” he muttered, turning around to descend the stairs. The others exchanged glances for a moment, and then shared a sigh as they followed the youngest boy downstairs.

---

Once Efad and Ty arrived and entered the zoo, the surreal feeling took effect once again as the two saw the exhibits that had remained the same since Efad's childhood. They wandered about for a few minutes until they reached the penguins.

Efad laughed and braced herself on the wooden rail. “Oh my, it's been ages since I've seen a penguin in a zoo.”

“Don't have ‘em down south, huh?” Ty grinned. “Do you remember... nah, never mind, you were probably too young.”

“Do I remember a penguin that kept coming up to the fence and getting attention from everyone?” She laughed again. “No way I could forget that. We have a picture in one of my photo albums of me petting it, actually...”

He shook his head and sighed. “Y'know, I can remember all the stuff we did as kids... you couldn't have been more than three when I met you!” He chuckled and raised an eyebrow at her. “How old where you when you spent the night at my house?”

“Oh, gosh...” She ran a hand over the crown of her hat in thought. “Probably four or five, I think... about the age when co-ed sleepovers are still innocent,” she added.

“C’mon; we need to make tracks if we want to have dinner on time. Ready for Eden Park?”

Efad sighed. “Yeah, guess so.” She wondered if her friends would be mad when she returned... Aaron, who hadn't look enthralled about the idea of her going in the first place, was probably trying to strangle the Layor cousins in a fit of frustration. She laughed softly to herself as the scenario played through her mind's eye, but her smile faded as they walked on. The sky had been clear that morning, but now ominous grey clouds blanketed the horizon; Efad tried to shrug off the discomfort that was weighing down her shoulders, but it wouldn't leave her... something didn't feel right.

---

“Hey Aaron, come get your suitcase out of the trunk!” Justin called up the stairs. “Geez, you'd think he could get over her long enough to help with the heavy stuff,” he muttered dryly, causing Brian to laugh.

Christien glared at them. “Come off it, you two, and get your stuff upstairs before Kevin comes back with more luggage.” The cousins shrugged and thundered up the stairs as told, almost running over Aaron in the process.

“Good to see you've finally come to help,” Kevin commented sarcastically, entering with a cooler in one hand and a grocery bag in the other.

“Shove it up your exhaust pipe,” Aaron growled as he pushed past the other boy with his shoulder and jumped the porch stairs.

A moment of silence passed between Kevin and Christien. “...maybe this is a good sign,” Christien suggested.

Kevin snorted and finally put down his load. “I'd like to give HIM a sign; give him a hard smack upside the head with it, too.” He sighed and glanced at his watch. “...well, it's almost four. Should we call Efad's cell phone and get an estimate of what time she'll be back?”

“Maybe. Or we could wait until dinner and see.” The younger boy ran a hand over the crown of his red and white polka-dotted cap. “I say we go out somewhere if she's not back by six-fifteen.”

“Sounds good,” Brian called from the top of the stairs. “Where would we go? I heard there was a great place about thirty minutes from here called The Golden Lamb. Justin, didn't the woman say that some writer guy had stayed there?”

His cousin shrugged. “Yeah -- Charles somebody.”

Aaron, who had come in as Brian was speaking, rolled his eyes. “It was Charles Dickens who stayed there. And The Golden Lamb is supposed to be an inn above a restaurant, I think.” He set down his suitcase with a heavy -thud- and sighed for no apparent reason.

Kevin exaggeratedly gasped and covered his open mouth with one hand. “Chris, get the camera, he's actually talking like a human being again!”

“I'll give you something to talk about if you don't shut up,” he snarled, balling his hand into a fist.

---

Around six o'clock that night, Ty and Efad had pulled into the parking lot of The Golden Lamb and had gotten a table in less than fifteen minutes. All the time she spent looking over her menu, Efad could only feel a sense of remorse hanging over her head; after all, she HAD promised to have dinner with her friends, but then Ty came along and, well... she sighed. This was all too confusing. Maybe she should've said no to him this afternoon...

Deep in thought, even after she'd stopped thinking to order her drink, she took no notice when Ty ordered for himself a full bottle of wine. When the server came back with the bottle in hand, however, Efad gave him an alarmed look. “Ty, have you hit your head?” She hissed. “You’re underage!”

“Hey, it’s not like they asked,” he said with a grin.

They said nothing more, save to order their meal, and Efad remained silent as she ate. With everything on her mind and all that was going on inside the dining area, she failed to see a familiar-looking group of five teenage boys take a table across the room. They didn't seem to notice her, either; they sat without looking around at anyone else.

“Oy, let’s go home,” Ty finally said after a while. Efad's eyes widened as she met gazes with him. His voice had sounded drowsy... he was slurring his words together.

“Maybe I should drive you home,” she offered quietly. “You don't look too well.”

He scoffed. “I'm alright...” With a casual look to the bill, he took money from his wallet and left it on the table.

Efad nervously stood and followed him outside, feeling her face turn bright red with embarrassment as people stared at her friend. “Ty, please let me drive,” she said, opening the door for him. “I think you had too much to drink with dinner...”

“You're imaginin' things,” he replied groggily. “I’m alright.”

My imagination isn't that vivid, she thought to herself, frowning. I hope he passes out or something once we get to the car...

However, when they did reach Ty's car, he did the unthinkable: with a wicked grin, he suddenly turned on Efad and pushed her up against the passenger door, pinning her there by the shoulders with terrifying strength. She struggled to get away, but could not break his weight from her. “What're you doing?!” She cried.

He cackled as if enjoying himself. “Don't scream or anything, jus' stand still...” He leaned in to nuzzle her neck, but her reflexes caught him in the cheek with her arm and stunned him momentarily. Efad saw her chance and tried to run, but Ty caught her foot and sent her sprawling to the ground. “I said, stay still,” he snarled, roughly picking her up off the ground.

Fearful tears started to fill Efad's eyes, and she did the only thing she knew for self-defense.

She screamed.

---

Aaron hooked his arms behind his head as he led the way out of the Golden Lamb. “Good meal,” he muttered to himself. “Too bad Efad had to miss it.”

“She's probably waiting for us back at the house,” Christien commented, coming up beside the older boy.

Kevin took the toothpick he'd had out of his mouth, flicked it into the darkness, and sighed. “Yeah; we need to head back, I suppose. Where'd we park again?”

“Over there, across the street.” Justin checked his watch casually. “Y'know, that didn't take as long as I thought. Maybe we could stop for some donuts on the way back!”

Brian groaned. “How can you have room? I doubt I'll need to eat all day tomorrow!”

“That's because I didn't stuff my face like you did, Bri,” his cousin shot back.

“I did not! Christien wasn't going to finish his potatoes, anyway!”

Christien raised an eyebrow. “Who said?”

The others laughed, but they noticed Aaron had abruptly stopped walking. He was looking around, . “...did y'all hear that?” He asked slowly.

A frighteningly familiar scream pierced the calm night air.

“That's Efad!” He and Christien shouted, breaking into a dead run from where they stood. Kevin, Justin, and Brian took off after them.

---

It was no use. Ty had shoved her in the car and was over her stomach now, clawing in an animal fashion at the collar of her shirt and painfully clutching her breasts. Efad cried, struggled, screamed, and felt her nails break his skin; still no one came. Ty chuckled menacingly in her ear. “Jus' hold still...”

Her body lost its strength as he undid the buttons on her shirt. “No more,” she whimpered, choking on her tears. “Please, Ty, no more...”

Footsteps, outside the car... who was coming? They were running nearby... if only she could scream again, maybe they'd help her. She tried to force her voice out, but nothing came.

Suddenly the car door was thrown open, and as Ty glanced up he was hauled out of the backseat by an unseen force. Adrenaline coursed through Efad’s veins and she sat bolt upright, huddling in a fetal position against the nearest door. Her heart was racing and her mind was swimming, but she knew she wanted to be as far away from Ty as possible.

“STAY AWAY FROM HER!” Aaron's voice roared from outside. Efad saw Ty try to stand, but the younger boy swung out with a right hook across the chin, then caught Ty by the collar and pulled his face within an inch of his own. “Touch her again and I'll kill you with my own two hands!” He snarled. “Do you hear me?!”

“Aaron, no!” Christien's voice shouted. Aaron gave a fiery glance over his shoulder as he released the shirt collar, dealt an uppercut to Ty's stomach, and punched him full in the face. Ty fell to the ground and remained motionless.

Christien opened the driver’s side door and reached for Efad shoulder. She shied away from him. “Don't touch her,” Aaron snapped. The younger boy withdrew his hand quickly, looking back at him with frightened tears in his eyes. Efad choked on her tears. He didn’t understand... he was still so young, he shouldn’t understand what Ty wanted, what he was doing to her...

“Is she alright?” Kevin's voice sounded from behind the car.

“She's spooked,” was Aaron's reply as he rubbed his sore knuckles. “But I don't blame her... that monster could scare the”--he stopped to steady himself--“scare the wits out of anyone.”

Justin leaned heavily on the trunk, out of breath. “We almost didn't make it in time,” he rasped.

“Thank God...” Brian was gasping for air while he spoke. “He's still looking out for us.”

Aaron slowly knelt on the floorboards in the backseat opposite Efad, and started to reach for her hand. “You'll be alright, E; that ratbag's not going to hurt you...” She lifted her eyes to meet his gaze, tears forming streaks down the smudges on her face. “It's gonna be okay.”

Efad’s shoulders convulsed with sobs that she was unable to cry before. “He... he touched me, Aaron...” She buried her face again and sobbed into her knees. “He touched me...”

---

The remaining days of the trip passed smoothly; they saw neither hide nor hair of Ty for the rest of the time, which was not disappointing, considering the fact that Aaron would probably try to kill him if their paths crossed.

On the last day, as everyone else was loading luggage into the van, there was a sole occupant in the hall bathroom who had left the door slightly ajar, and was busy talking to themselves.

“...I guess what I'm trying to say is: thanks. You've always been there for me, even when I didn't realize it.” Efad breathed a sigh and stared at her reflection for a moment. She'd been working on this formal apology for over an hour, trying to find the right words, but they all seemed too meaningless to the mirror. “Who'm I kidding?” She groaned, resting her forehead on the glass.

“Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” Aaron's voice called from behind. Efad's head jolted up and saw the reflection of the boy standing against the doorframe, grinning. “It'd probably be ripper in a chick-flick.”

She grunted. “Come off it. It's hard to talk to myself when I'm staring right back at me.”

A laugh escaped him. “For some reason, that almost made sense.” He quickly became solemn and leveled his gaze at her reflection. “...are you doing alright? I mean, it's only been a few days, but I--”

“I'm doing better, thanks,” she interrupted quietly, averting her eyes to the sink below her.

He scuffed the floor with the toe of his shoe. “I'm guessing you slept well last night, since I didn't hear anything from your room...”

Efad gave a small smile. “Yeah, I've, um... I didn't have the nightmare about it last night,” she admitted.

“First time in five days, huh?”

“Yeah; I'm hoping I don't have it tonight, either.”

Aaron chuckled. “Me too -- the other guys got kind of suspicious when I apologized for stepping on you yesterday morning. But I guess my room is the closest to yours, after all...”

“And I was on the other side of the room,” she added, “so I guess it's okay if my Mom doesn't find out I 'shared a room with a guy'.”

An awkward silence fell over the two for a few moments. Finally, Efad turned around to face her friend and let out the small breath she'd been holding. “Aaron, I know I've never been the most faithful or loyal friend to you... but I've never had a friend like you, either; I guess I don't quite know what to do with a friendship like yours.” She laughed softly at his amused expression. “I know I sound really dumb saying all this...”

“No, it's fine,” Aaron said quietly, avoiding her gaze.

She grinned somewhat sheepishly. “...I bet it felt good to punch him out.”

“It felt great... but he shouldn't have tried to do that,” he declared firmly. “No one deserves that, especially...” he paused, and then finished with, “especially not you.”

Efad stepped forward and put her arms around his neck in a hug. “Thanks, Aaron,” she said softly.

Aaron's face was amusingly beet red when she let go. “I... um... yeah, no worries. We'd better get downstairs before the guys finish packing.”

END