Perfect (Rewrite)

Chapter Twenty Four

David was skating on thin ice and he almost broke it, but Chloe held back the secret in her pocket. He had told her to do this alone, it was better this way anyways. She glanced over to the door and then back at the blank TV screen where her friend's and family's faces no longer were. Soon Chloe would be reunited with them and all of this would just be one long bad memory. They could pretend like this had never happened, or could she? She kept her eyes away from her companions and wondered if she could actually forget about the four of them and go on with her life as if she were an ordinary person.

Jacob looked to Chloe and then left the living room and entered the kitchen. "Go into the kitchen," The voice in Chloe's ear whispered; she found Jacob staring at her from the other room. She gulped before standing up and entering the same room as him.

"So that was pretty weird," Jacob said after Chloe sat down in her usual spot. He sat across from her and folded his arms on the edge of the table, smiled at her with one that seemed almost not, entirely, fake.

Chloe nodded her head, but she didn't make eye contact with him. Was this a coincidence, or was there something more to Jacob than he cared to let on? This wasn't his first suspicious way, but Chloe wanted it to be the last. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Jacob," He answered, but Chloe still didn't make eye contact with him. She knew if she did, her facade would fall short. She wouldn't be able to keep a stern tone with him through this interrogation; she would've given up faster than a bolt of lightning, but she was determined to carry on.

"Who are you, really?" Chloe asked again, keeping her eyes focused on the wood of the table. She wanted to look up, there was a pull forcing her too, but Chloe wouldn't give in to it. No matter what her heart told her, she knew in her mind that Jacob wasn't to be trusted. He was too ominous.

"Like I said before, I'm Jacob," He answered again with an unwelcoming tone. What was it that made her believe him? Hope or stupidity? Chloe couldn't decide which was worse.

Chloe finally looked up to him and asked, "Tell me why I have a hard time believing that."

"Maybe because you're frightened," Jacob said with a smile, but it wasn't the normal one and it wasn't genuine either. This one had more vile intentions. He had more vile intentions, too.

"Why have you been going into my room," Chloe started, averting her eyes from his perfect posture and form. He was too gorgeous to stare at for too long. She couldn't keep her eyes on him and her mind focused at the same time, it was either one or the other. There was no in between. "And moving things around?"

"Because he told me to," He said, and then the room got quiet and Chloe stopped thinking. Of course, this was all his plan. Turn the five of them against one another and watch the fun begin. Turning against each other wasn't the answer. 

Chloe turned to the fridge and stared directly into the camera that was attached to one of the magnets. "Screw you," She said, and then Chloe stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. She entered her room and locked the door behind her, even though she knew no one would come after her. They knew she needed her space, just like every other time before. They wanted to be her family, but they didn't want to be her friend. And that's what hurt the most. They only wanted to do what he wanted them to do. Their choices weren't their own decisions anymore.

The floor creaked in the hallway, but no knock came at the door. Chloe wouldn't have answered it anyways; she really needed her space this time. And even though she didn't want them to come after her, a piece of her wished they would. It would've at least proved that they cared, truly cared, but none of them did. The footsteps were loud and so was the pounding of her heart, but she ignored both of them as she held her knees close to her chest, staring at the camera staring back from the corner of the room.

Chloe threw a pillow at the contraption but it still stared back, so she buried her face in a different pillow and for the first time since she arrived, she let herself relax. The time passed by and she wanted to fall asleep, but Chloe didn't want to miss another meal. She knew her recent eating habits hadn't been good for her health, and her stomach assured her that she needed the food. She didn't want to go back downstairs, but she knew she had to. Chloe left her room and joined the others, waiting, at the kitchen table.

"It's good to see you eating," Margaret said after Chloe sat down. The food was already prepared and sitting in containers on the table, but no one had gotten any yet. They had been waiting for her, and for a moment, Chloe wondered if they cared more about her than first impressions.

No one moved, so Chloe did for them. She grabbed the spoon and fished herself out a plate full of lasagna, soon after, everyone else's plates were full and they were all eating in silence. Chloe had two plates full and almost half a can of green beans on her own, but they didn't judge her. She hadn't eaten anything so far today, somehow she had managed to go through more than twenty four hours without a single bite of food. The worst part was that her stomach told her she was barely hungry, it must've shrunk due to the lack of food.

After Chloe's plate was empty, she sat still and waited. Nine p.m. was only a couple hours away, and she didn't want to miss it this time. There was so much to talk about, even though so little had happened. Maybe she could bring up the key. Maybe she could tell them the truth about everything, and tell them about her returning memories. Maybe they would want to know, but maybe they wouldn't. Maybe it would just frighten them. Maybe it would be too obvious that they knew and he would punish them for it, and punish Chloe for it. She stared at the wood of the table until everyone else migrated to the living room. Then she looked up and jumped back, her chair wobbled; Jacob was still sitting across from her, and he had almost given her a heart attack.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked her before taking a drink from his glass. He sat it back down and stared at Chloe as if he already knew her deepest and darkest thoughts.

"Nothing important," Chloe answered with her eyes back down on the table. "Nothing at all."