Page 34 of Sweet Poison

I got on my haunches and embraced her. “I'm sorry I uprooted you from everything you know and brought you here where you know no one and everything is so unfamiliar to you."

She shook her head. “Don’t be sorry, Daddy. It’s going to be okay.”

Her sweet innocent warmth made my chest feel like it would burst with love. “How about I show you our super-secret room?”

“We have a super-secret room?” she gasped, her eyes widening.

I nodded. “We sure do. Let's go.”

I took her down to the basement through the invisible door hidden within wall panels, down a small, narrow corridor where the lights automatically came on, until we came to a thick blast-proof steel door.

She stopped and slapped her cheeks with amazement. “Oh wow! It really is a secret room!”

I had asked for steps to be built under the identification device so it was at the perfect height for her, so as soon as she stood before it, it lit up.

“I'm going to register your face,” I told her. A blue light started scanning across her face.

“Now this is what we call the panic room,” I explained.

She turned to me with a frown. “The panic room?”

“Whenever you feel panicked, maybe when I'm not around or you can't reach me, or you feel like someone might be trying to intrude into the house for any reason, no matter how small, you run down here. Don't grab anything because that will waste your time. You stand in front of the camera exactly here. It will recognize your face and open the door for you.”

I activated it and immediately the door slid open with remarkable speed.

She looked around at what was technically a cube-like studio apartment. It was quite claustrophobic, but she seemed to find it thrilling. “Daddy, this is a great place for vibing,” she gushed.

“I'm glad you like it, but there are some things I have to tell you, so come sit with me?” I pulled out the table and the two benches from the wall.

“Whoa,” she cried impressed.

“There’s a bed you can pull out over there too, but you have to remember that I didn’t put any of this in place to be exciting or fun. This room is designed to save our lives. You know, we’re in the middle of nowhere now. We have a few neighbors, but we don't completely trust them yet. There might be bears or cruel people around, so I want you to always know that if you run in here you'll be safe. Nothing can get through to this room. The walls are reinforced steel and about ten feet thick. So nobody can get in here if you don’t want them to. Do you understand me?”

She looked intensely at me for a few moments before she nodded. “Okay.”

“This also means then that you can never tell anybody about this room. It’s our secret. Okay?”

She nodded so hard, she looked like she was in danger of giving herself whiplash.

“No one can hurt you while you are in here. So if ever you have to run in here never open the door no matter what the person outside tries to tell you through the video feeds over there.” I pointed to the six screens on the wall.

“I understand, Daddy,” she said. “I will never tell anyone; it's our secret.”

I smiled and then leaned my forehead against hers.

“Okay, now it's time to go to the fun part,” I told her.

“What?” she asked eagerly.

I laughed. “This room is full to the brim of toys, snacks, food, drinks, clothes, actually everything you could possibly need. I pointed to all the drawers lining the other side of the wall. “You actually could live in here for two weeks if the need arises and not want for a single thing. And that’s why I told you that if you have to run in here, never bother to look for anything else. Just come straight in here to save time so no one has the time to follow you. The doors will automatically seal when you shut them and after that, nobody can get to you. When the danger has passed and you need to open it to go out, use your face once again. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do,” she nodded again and smoothed her hair.

Then I showed her all the food and told her all of it was for emergency purposes only and that she wasn’t allowed to ever to come down here and eat them otherwise.

She nodded, and my heart for the very first time in a long while felt somewhat at peace.

“And now … how about we go get some ice cream from the Frozen Strawberry?” I asked.

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