Hidden Truth

Chapter 5

Claire

I mentally woke up before my body decided to actually wake up. I could vaguely remember the dream I had last night. It was all so confusing, and I wasn't sure if I was just recalling something or if it was just my imagination running wild. I could remember Blake being there, and some other man, but his face was not familiar.

I was at a different house in the forest and the unknown man was lecturing me about staying away from Blake. He threatened to lock me up, to keep us apart, but I tried to fight him. I felt the urge to protect Blake, as I had fallen in love with him. All I could hear was that it was too dangerous to be together.

I sat there locked in a room when Blake appeared. He blended into the darkness; I could barely see him. I felt his presence and called out to him, trying to get him to come to me. I wanted to be in his arms and feel the strength in his hold. His arms always made me feel secure, like no one could hurt me. His fingers brushed my neck and I turned to see him standing behind me. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I tried to bring him as close as I could, and he followed my lead.

I buried my head in his chest as silent tears rolled down my face. I didn't want to say goodbye to him. But with one last kiss to my forehead, he let me go and started to walk away. I called out to him to stay, and for a brief second, he stopped. I thought he was going to come back to me and hold me, but he just disappeared. I cried harder as I fell to the floor, and suddenly the ground opened up taking me down.

That's all I remember from the dream, and I wasn't sure what it meant. Shaking my head, I threw the blankets off and tried to forget about it. I rolled out of bed and started making my way to the bathroom when a snore rang through the room. I froze and slowly reached for my light switch. Hesitantly I looked over at my couch and saw Blake had passed out.

His body was contorted to fit on the small couch, and it looked very uncomfortable. His face looked peaceful as he slept as little snores left his mouth. I reached out to shake him but pulled back. Backing away, I turned and went into my bathroom, locking the door behind me. I started the shower and when it was warm enough, I stepped in. As the water rained down over my head, my muscles relaxed. It felt refreshing washing all the dirt out of my hair.

Suddenly I felt a presence behind me. My eyes snapped open, and I peeked around the corner of the shower curtain, but I only saw an empty bathroom. Quickly rinsing my hair, I stepped out and grabbed the towel hanging on the rack. I tightly wrapped it around my waist and stood in front of the foggy mirror. Resting my hands on the counter, I took a deep breath before unlocking the door and looking towards the couch. Blake was gone.

Stepping into my room I noticed a pile of clothes on the bed. It was a simple pair of black leggings and a long, off the shoulder blue top. It felt gross putting on my old underwear, so I just put the leggings on and slipped the top over my bra. I heard footsteps approaching my door and waited for the knock, but it never came. A note slid under my door and the footsteps walked away. Walking over to my door, I reached down for the piece of paper.

It read, 'Breakfast is ready downstairs.' I stood there not sure what to do. I never stepped foot outside this room and was not sure what to expect. Were those other guys here? I thought, And what about this sister. Folding the note, I placed it on the table and sat on the couch contemplating locking myself in the room forever. But what was I thinking, I needed to find a way out of here.

Standing up I finally headed out of the room. I looked left and saw a single door, and to my right was a hallway leading to the stairs. Across from my room were two other doors, and it all seemed quiet. Suddenly the door in front of me opened and a man walked out. He was green eyes from the bar who tried hitting on me. We locked eyes and a smile crept on his face.

"Good morning," he smiled and held out his hand. "I'm Luke."

"Claire," I spoke quietly and took his hand. He gently shook it and let me go.

"Are you feeling better," Luke asked. "The lump seems to be going down."

"Yeah, I feel fine," I stammered and shifted my feet.

"Sorry, I know this is all weird. Would you like a tour?"

I looked down the hall towards the stairs before looking back at Luke. "Yeah, that would be nice." I gave him a small smile which he reciprocated.

"Great, well up here are our rooms." He pointed to the single door to my left, "that's Blake's room." I glanced at the closed door and wondered if that's where he ran to while I was in shower. "He's a late sleeper," Luke carried on and started walking down the hall. He got to the stairs and looked back at me. With one last glance at Blake's room, I turned and followed him.

He pointed to the two rooms across from mine, "That's my room and next door is my twin brother Anthony's. Next to your room is our baby sister Katrina's room. She's out for the week with our parents visiting family." I nodded as we walked down the stairs.

At the base of the stairs, I noticed the living room to the right and a dining room to the left. There was another hallway behind the stairs that led to four other doors. Luke stood at the opening of the hallway, "the last door on the right is our dad's office, the door across from that is their bedroom, and this door is the library."

"And that door," I asked and pointed to the only door he didn't mention.

"That's just a closet," Luke shrugged and gestured me to follow him into the dining room. We went through a swinging door and entered a modern kitchen. There was a man standing at the stove flipping pancakes, that I assumed was Anthony. "Hey Tony, our guest decided to join us," Luke announced.

I felt a blush creep onto my face as Anthony turned with a bright smile on his face. "Good morning there, you got my note."

"Um, yeah," I croaked out. Luke pulled out a chair at the counter and nodded at me to sit. Slowly I walked over and took a seat, watching Anthony turn back to his pancakes. Luke placed a cup of water in front of me and took the seat to my right.

"So, Beauty what has Blake told you," Luke asked.

I shook my head, "he hasn't told me anything. But why am I here?" I watched as Luke opened his mouth to say something but got interrupted by the back door sliding open. Blake walked in, wearing only a pair of shorts. His thick black hair was plastered to his face and I watched a drop of sweat fall to his chest, sliding down the ripples of his abs.

Anthony's voice broke me from my trance at a shirtless, sweaty Blake. I turned in my seat looking at the tiled wall as my cheeks heated up, and I sipped my water. "Morning Blake, this is early for you."

"Yeah, and you actually look well rested for once," Luke added.

Blake walked to the fridge pulling out a bottle of water and took a long drink before replying, "yeah, I had a good sleep for once." And with that he left the kitchen, and I heard him going up the stairs.

I turned to Luke and asked, "what does that mean?" The brothers stilled and looked like they were thinking about what to say. Finally, Anthony broke the awkward silence.

"Blake hasn't been the same since his last girl left." After that I accepted the silence. I was trying to think about what all that meant. Did Blake take a lot of girls, I thought, as I finished my water. Suddenly a plate of pancakes was placed under me. "Here you go, eat up." Anthony turned back to the food, and I glanced back at the plate. It felt like forever since I had a meal, and the smell made my stomach growl. Picking up the fork and knife I dug into my food, but Blake never left my mind. I wanted to know more, but I also wanted to get the hell out of here and back to my normal life.