Hidden Under Perfection

Chapter 5: Claire

                

            His hair is the color of straw like my brother John's. His hair is longer on the top than the sides and he has stubble on his chin, like he has not shaved in a couple of days. His skin is tanned and has a nice golden sheen. His eyes are a light blue like the color of the sky in the city and they have a ring of gray surrounding the pupil. His shoulders are broad and his muscles are defined. His shirt hangs from a belt loop on his jeans. He wears jeans with a hole in the left knee his shirt hangs from his belt. There is a tattoo on his forearm; it is the same symbol as my captors had on their suits. He is one of the most beautiful boys I have ever seen. A light flush creeps up the back of my neck. Not wanting to forget about Liam, I immediately feel a hint of quilt. I recognize him, like I used to know him as a child, but that's not possible. I put two and two together and it all makes sense, this boy is the same boy I saw yesterday when the generator malfunctioned.

I freeze, every muscle in my body stops as if someone pressed pause. A lump rises in my throat and it becomes hard to swallow. My breath comes out in short bursts and I draw oxygen back into my lungs slowly. His voice is hoarse when he speaks, he holds out his hand and says, "Hi my name is Doran." It is like I wake up when his voice reaches my ears my arms unfreeze and my knees buckle, I stumble on my way to greet him.

            "Hey, my name is Claire." I take his hand and his handshake is firm. There are callouses on the pads of his fingers.

            "You saw the real sky when I turned off the generator." He says it like he knows for sure, maybe he say me standing in front of the window.

            "How... how do you know?" I ask making sure that this guy isn't a stalker.

            "I recognize how you hold yourself, I saw you when I was standing outside." I was right; I revel in this small victory.

"That was you?"

            "Yeah, my boss told me the secret they were keeping and sent me to make blueprints of the generator. I couldn't let them get away with it so I tried to expose their secret."

            "I saw it, and then they kidnapped me at the doors of my school the next day. They did something to my body, and threw me out here to rot. They did give me some food and water though, guilty conscience I guess." My voice is flustered and I show him where they cut into my flesh.

            "I'm sorry."

            "Yeah, me too. I recognize your tattoo from my captors suits, did you work for them?"

            "Sadly, yes. I was 18 when I got out of high school and I didn't have any money. I looked for a job everywhere but nobody would take me. Then one day this guy came to my house and said that he had a job for me. I had to accept because I needed the money. I never thought that they would throw me out for knowing the truth. But the real reason for throwing me out was that I disobeyed them."

            "But I didn't, all I did was look out the window."

            "I didn't think they were capable of this cruelty."

            "Yeah, what was the company called?"

            "The Clandestine."

            " What does that mean?"

            "The Hidden."

            "Weird."

            "Their motto is; what is hidden under perfection must stay hidden."