Hidden Under Perfection

Chapter 10: Claire

John pulls up in front of my house and I almost burst into tears. The familiar sight of my house makes my vision blur. The white marble face looks the same as any other house on the street but this one is unmistakeably mine. The bay window, on the left side of the red door, has a small crack from when John threw a ball at it.

The front door of my house opens and my dad stands in the doorway. I feel warm tears slip down my cheeks. I open the door and I see Jennifer hiding behind my dad and I sprint up the walkway. I crash into my dad's chest and my face is pressed into the crook of his neck. Sobs wrack my body and he holds me until they subside. I pull away and look into my father's brown eyes and tell him I love him.

I step away ant look down at Jenn. Her bright green eyes stare into mine. My voice is soft when I say, "hi, Jen."

"Hi, Claire. Daddy told me you weren't coming back." She whispers.

"Well here I am." Her body crashes into mine and she wraps her arms around my waist. She almost immediatly pulls away holding her nose.

"You stink."

"Thats what happens when you haven't taken a shower in-" I stop talking, not knowing how many days it has been since I was taken. "How long has it been?"

"It's been almost two weeks." John says.

My knees give out and I almost fall, but Doran catches me. I look up at him and my heart flutters. He pulls me up, "How has it been that long?"

"I don't know, time must be different there." Doran answers before he asks my father, "Um, can we go inside."

"Sure, come in." Dad steps out of the way and walk into the foyer. Dad stops us right there and says, "Jennifer is right, you guys need a shower. Claire go upstairs, the towels are in the closet."

"Sure thing." I start walking upstairs, but pause on the steps to hear what my dad says to Doran.

"What is your name son?" My dad asks him.

"Doran, sir."

"You can take the shower in the guest room, have Claire show you where."

"Thank you, sir."

"Oh, and Doran. When you get down I want to know what happend outside the gate."

"Yes, sir."

"Claire I know you are still on the stairwell and listening in on this conversation." His voice gets louder and I step down the stairs. "Please show Doran where the towels and the guest room are. Now, go up you are stinking up the whole house."

We go up the stairs and as instructed I show Doran where the towels are and where the room is. I hesitantly walk down the hallway to my room. The white door to my bedroom is closed and right infront of my face. I reach down and grab the handle, turn it and push the door open. My room is the same way I left it, my sheets are spread across my bed and there is a pair of pants hanging precariously from a hanger in my closet. I walk into the room and I start to notice small things I couldn't see from the doorway. There is a fine layer of dust coating the floor, there is a small dent in the bed from when someone sat on it. But it is mostly the same, except that you can tell no one has been in here for a few days.

I walk over to the wall screen and command "Mirror me." The wall transforms into a mirror and I get to look at myself for the first time in over a week. There is mud caked on my face except from trails down my cheek from tears. My black clothes are brown from a week of laying in the dirt and my feet are covered in dried mud.