Broken Silence

Chapter 5: Meeting the family

I felt a tap on my shoulder. And someone was calling my name in a whisper. I jumped and woke up, it seems like I had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. I looked to my side to find Mr. Edwards smiling at me. I decided to keep calling him "Mr. Edwards" as a method to keep some sort of distance, not get too personal with him. I stared at him and then I noticed that we were in front of a house. He actually brought me to his house. It was a two-story home that was on the large side, the front nicely kept and modest.

"We're here! This is my humble home!" He said as I came out of the car. He should not be screaming this late at night. Suddenly, I heard voices coming from the inside of his house. The front door opened and three kids came out running.

"Big brother, you found Mr. Sprinkles!" an adorable little boy said. He was about 5 years old; behind him was another boy who looked exactly like him. Gabriel Edwards had small twin brothers? Huh. They both had very light blond hair and they had the same color of eyes as Mr. Edwards but a shade lighter. If that was possible.

"And it looks like Mr. Sprinkles wasn't the only kitten you brought home, bro." An older boy said. He looked a couple of years younger than me. He had black hair and bangs that covered one of his eyes. He also had blue eyes. Maybe those blue eyes were a family trait. He approached me with a smirk. "And what is your name?" He asked.

"She's Noelle. She's my wife." Mr. Edwards said. I looked at him. The twins and his other brother looked at him. Mr. Edwards began to laugh. "She's my partner for the baby I brought home."

"Oh." They all said in unison. Mr. Edwards grabbed my left hand, which was free, and delicately pulled me to the front door, the kids following us. "What are guys doing awake at this hour? Grandmother was supposed to put you guys to sleep."

"But we were worried! Mr. Sprinkles was gone and you wouldn't come back!" One of the twins said.

"We thought you had died or run away!" The other twin said.

"Where's Tony?" Mr. Edwards asked to the boy with the black hair.

"He's sleeping like the baby he is, duh." His brother said.

"That's good." Mr. Edwards said.

The inside of the home was exactly what I imagined a real family home looked like. Pictures decorated the walls and tables. Fresh flowers decorated the table next to a staircase that led upstairs. Toys scattered around the floor of the living room. Gabriel Edwards and the little Edwards children were laughing and Mr. Sprinkles was being passed from hand to hand, seeming not all too happy about being petted. Mr. Edwards was still talking to the boy with the black hair.

I felt really uncomfortable.

I wanted to get out of that house. I felt my muscles tense and squeezed my notebook. My left hand was squeezed reassuringly. And it was then that I noticed that Gabriel Edwards was still holding my hand. My eyes trailed from where we were holding to his smiling face.

"These are my little brothers ..." He said and then he looked at his brothers and said "... who should be going to bed now!"

I heard the twins laughing and footsteps running up the stairs. Gabriel Edwards led me to his home's living room, he let me sit down and then he headed to the open kitchen, visible because there was no door or wall covering it. I looked around the room, there were pictures everywhere and there was a medium-sized TV. In whole, the room was very humble and ... homey. Not like where I slept. That place was too big and it felt stuck up, like those who lived there. I sat on the corner of the sofa, still feeling very uncomfortable.

A few minutes later he came in with a cup in his hand. He put it on the coffee table. "It's hot chocolate." Then he froze and said, "Unless ... you're allergic to chocolate. Then, I'll bring you water, because you can't be allergic to water then you couldn't take a shower, and you don't smell bad. Besides water is better for you it has ..."

He looked so nervous. It was ... different than what I saw in school. He looked awkward and he was babbling. Suddenly he shook his head. "You know what? I'll just take it away." He went to grab the cup, but I stopped him and grabbed the cup with both of my hands. "You like hot chocolate." I nodded. He gave a relieved sigh.

It was amusing seeing him like this.

I sipped the hot chocolate. As I felt the hot rush of the chocolate spread through my cold body, I closed my eyes and took another sip. I opened my eyes, and noticed Mr. Edwards was staring at me. I raised my eyebrows, he looked away.

"I'm going to go prepare the guest room, excuse me." He stood up and quickly left. The redness on his ears did not go unnoticed. I heard his footsteps go up the staircase and I was left alone once more. What had I gotten myself into? Something inside my head was whispering that this family was going to be very ... different. But the bigger part was screaming that I had to get out of here, that I didn't belong. A few more minutes in silence with myself and the hot chocolate, and then I heard Mr. Edwards' voice say from the stairs,

"Okay Noelle. You can come up." Mr. Edwards said. He led me upstairs, and after a couple of doors, he opened the one at the end of the hall. "This is the guest room. I left you one of my shirts and some pants on the bed. The bathroom is the room to the left of this room; my room is the one on the right. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask, okay?" He smiled. "Oh, and, I'll be taking this." He took the cup which was now empty.

"Noelle, I want you to feel as comfortable as possible. I know it's a weird feeling, but, we're not bad people. My brothers are a little eccentric, but they're good boys. And you kind of know me; I will definitely not hurt you. You can stay with us as long as you want. You just tell me when you want to go back to your home, and I'll drive you there. Oh, and I found an unused toothbrush in the bathroom, you can use that." He smiled. I slowly nodded and then we exchanged a moment of (awkward) silence ... until he said ...

"Good night, Noelle." And he left the room. And then, I was alone.

I sat on the bed. At least I had one thing to not worry about. And another thing was starting to emerge. Was staying here really good for me? To tell the truth I was very scared that maybe Gabriel Edwards was going try to make me his friend no matter what. I knew he at least looked like a nice person. No, he didn't look like one ... he was one. He honestly cared for people. Everything he said, I just believed. I believed he wasn't bad, but I'm so twisted and messed up that ... I just don't know who to really trust.

I went to the bathroom, bringing the clothes Mr. Edwards had given me, to get rid of the True Devil's touch. Just remembering it made my stomach twist and turn. The bathroom was nice. Its white walls adorned with blue and brown curtains, everything else matching with an underwater theme.

After I stripped and walked in the shower, I scrubbed my skin until it was red and it stung a little. I still felt his hands on me, still could see the intent in his eyes. Pushing the memory away, I brushed my teeth and changed into his shirt and the long pants he had laid out on the bed. In a way, I was thankful to smell differently; his shirt smelled nice, clean. I lay on the bed and somehow my mind went back to the Art project.

"...You will draw anything that you consider special, the most special thing you can think of, it can be a person an object; it can be anything..."

"The most special thing I can think of?" I thought.

I sighed and sank into the bed even deeper. All my muscles relaxed on the bed. When was the last time I was able to do this? And before I knew it, my eyes began to betray me and I fell into a deep sleep.

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U-niike101