The Princess Room

Chapter 1 — Night of the Void (1991)

On October 15, 1991, Elaine Roads came home exhausted from a double shift at the Portland hospital. Her husband, Charles, was sleeping. She went upstairs, opened the door to her daughter Isabela’s room—Isy—and found the bed empty, the window open, and the curtains fluttering in the cold autumn air.

The police arrived quickly: sniffer dogs, helicopters, volunteer neighbors. There were no footprints, no struggle, no trace whatsoever. The 5-year-old girl had simply disappeared.

For weeks, the whole of Portland searched. Afterwards, the media attention faded. The case went cold. The family fractured.

Chapter 2 — 9 years later

In the summer of 2000, Elaine, already divorced, was collecting her things from the family home. The pain of loss and guilt had eaten away at her marriage to Charles.

While opening boxes in her new apartment, she found something unexpected: Isy’s children’s tape recorder. He decided to put new batteries in it.

Suddenly, her 5-year-old daughter’s voice echoed in the room:

—”Trying, trying… I’m Isabela Marie Roads and I’m five years old.”

Tears streamed down Elaine’s face. But then, another voice emerged: Charles’.

“Isy, come to the princess room when you’re done. Do you remember what I promised you? Then we’ll go to Toys’R’Us to get that new pony.”

Elaine frowned. They had never called any room a “princess room.”

Chapter 3 — Lies

That same night, Elaine returned to the house to pick up some documents. Charles had told her that he was in grief therapy, as he does every Tuesday. But the answering machine revealed something else:

“Charles, I’m Mrs. Jansen. You’ve missed three sessions already. The group is worried.”

Three weeks without attending. Charles had lied.

At the local hardware store, George Harrison told her that Charles had recently purchased building materials, saying he was setting up a “hobby room.”

Elaine didn’t remember any project. A bad feeling began to grow.

Chapter 4 — The Discovery

Back at the house, a noise on the upper floor alerted her. He went upstairs and found Matthew Tenko, Charles’ best friend, looting papers in the office. He was drunk, out of his mind. He attacked her.

In the fight, they hit the old closet in Isy’s room. The piece of furniture fell and revealed a hidden compartment under the floor. Inside were dozens of boxes full of VHS tapes. They all had the same label:

“Princess room.”

Matthew picked up several and fled, leaving Elaine trembling with the rest of the tapes still there.

Chapter 5 — The Recorded Truth

The police arrived. Detective Morrison inserted one of the tapes into the television.

On the screen, Isy played with blocks. Charles, behind the camera, said to her:
“Go to the princess room and surprise me.”

The girl was going down some stairs. The camera showed a room painted pink, decorated with princesses.

Charles would then sit next to her on the bed and start touching her.

Elaine shouted,
“Turn it off! My God, turn it off!”

The detective paused the video.
—“Mrs. Roads, we have probable cause. We need to search the basement.”

Chapter 6 — The Basement

Officers used a battering ram to break down the reinforced basement door. Upon inspection, they found a false panel behind the washing machine. A narrow, soundproof passageway, illuminated by pink fairy lights, led to a door decorated with princess stickers.

When Morrison knocked, the lock opened and a cheerful voice said,
“Dad, you’re early.”

The door opened, revealing a teenage girl with tangled hair, a pink nightgown, and bewildered eyes. Seeing the police officers, she cried out,
“No, no, Dad said they were all dead!”

Elaine burst in and, with tears in her eyes, whispered,
“Isy, it’s Mom. It’s me.”

At first the girl didn’t believe it. Then Elaine drew a smiling butterfly on her own hand, the same “happy tattoo” she used to give her daughter when she was a child.

Isy’s eyes widened with recognition.
—“Mom?”

They embraced after nine years of captivity.

Chapter 7 — The Monster Exposed

Charles was arrested that same night, along with Matthew and six other men. Police discovered they were part of a network called  The Family Sanctuary Brotherhood , dedicated to recording and sharing abuse material.

During the interrogation, Charles calmly confessed:
—“I took her that night. I opened the window to fake a kidnapping. She lived for nine years in my princess room. I told her the world had ended, that only we remained.”

He spoke as if he had carried out a master plan. Morrison, gritting his teeth, could barely contain his rage.

Chapter 8 — Isy’s Return

In the hospital, Isy began to understand that she had been deceived.

—“Dad said I had to have a baby to save humanity… I thought it was true.”

Elaine hugged her tenderly.
—“None of this was your fault. What he did wasn’t love. True love protects.”

Isy cried like she hadn’t cried in years.

Chapter 9 — Epilogue

The national media exploded with the case:  “The Princess Room: Portland’s Basement of Horror.”

Charles was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Matthew and the rest of the accomplices received long sentences.

Elaine and Isy, now a teenager, began a long therapy process. Regaining trust in the world wouldn’t be easy.

But as they left the hospital, mother and daughter hand in hand, Elaine whispered,
“We’re together. And as long as we’re together, we can face anything.”

The ambulance lights still illuminated the night, but for the first time in nine years, Isy saw beyond the darkness.

💡  End of the novel.