A Family Perfected

Day off

Chapter 5: Day off

The room was silent as we all had sat down to eat Caitlyn's birthday breakfast. The spread on the table consisted of French toast, bacon and the breakfast casserole provided by Easton. The cake had already been cut into because Father insisted he be with us for the cutting of the cake; he wanted to make sure it didn't happen without him. He didn't want to miss anything.

We ate in silence once again, but this time Easton took the seat I used yesterday to make sure I could concentrate on eating. I took small bites trying to focus my attention on my food and not the ass sitting at the end of the table. After hearing Caitlyn's story I beyond words.

He just took her, right there in public and no one did anything because he had a gun. The sick things he did to her...the sick things he must've wanted to do to me before her where the things she had to endure. I felt guilty. She shouldn't have had to go through what she did, none of them did.

It should've been me.

Seconds past, then minutes and what felt like hours. I focused again on the food. He tried to make small talk with us but I spaced out again while he talked. I kept contact with a strip of bacon on the serving tray in front of me. I didn't want it really, I just starred at it as I drifted my mind elsewhere.

I thought of myself the night of the party; the music, the noise and the millions of people there. Had I just never gone over to Eric—no. Had I never gone over to Lea and Max maybe things would've been different. Had I just stayed to talk to the girls instead of showing him out the door, this could've all been different.

I was pulled from my thoughts by my name being called. I looked up and my gaze was met by almost everyone's in the room.

"What?" I spoke and Fathers voice repeated, "Caleb would like to show you the garden today. Perhaps you can assist him—even being short a foot," he joked. He took another bite from his fork and smiled at me the whole time he chewed.

"Sure," I replied; I grasped the fork in my hand and squeezed until I felt it begin to bend in my hand. He looked down and continued with his meal. We sat in silence, again, until we finished.

It felt good to finally eat again. Even the day of my party I didn't eat much, so I was trying to hide my ravenous side as we ate this morning. Caitlyn stood up holding her plate, but Alice shot up grabbing it from her.

"Today we will take care of things, you have the day off," she said. Caitlyn tried to protest when Father shot up and wrap his arm around her.

"Thank you Alice, I have a gift for Caitlyn and a surprise for her as well," he said walking off toting her along. I wanted to run along with her, protect her. I couldn't even keep up with a snail at this point. I watched as Easton and Alice cleared the table and walked into the kitchen while Caleb stayed behind.

He stayed by my, slow, side and walked me through the manor and to the yard. As we walked I noticed details about the house. While yes it was coated in wood, unlike the dining room the rest of the house was furnished in a modern day touch. From decorative lamps to leather couches and glass tables. The walk from the dining room to the back door didn't take long, but we did have to go down a few halls to reach it.

When we reached the back door it was made of glass and to open it you had to slide it to the left. Caleb opened it for us and I made my way out. The sunlight was soft and subtle as it danced across the lawn. It didn't take me long to see the giant wall they were talking about. Thirteen feet tall made of grey concrete and on top sat a thick cluster of wires. Caitlyn told me it was electric, and I thought perhaps she was exaggerating, but every few minutes or so the wires would spark and a bit of electric spark shout out of the wires.