Trust From Within - Book 3 Daughter of a Monster Series

Chapter 19- Hello Paradise

A knock on my door has me looking up from my book. Nathan is out right now, said he has a shift at the coffee shop, and that he wouldn't be back for a while. Cameron stands leaning against the doorframe, a softness to him that I haven't seen yet, and a regret coming from him. "Can we talk?" He asks quietly. I dog ear my book and close it, pushing it to the side, and I pat the bed for him to come sit down.

The mattress dips as he sits beside me, his fingers drawing circles on his thigh. "I'm sorry, for what I said in that forest," he starts.

"You already apologised."

"Yeah I know, it's just..." he lets out a sigh, rubbing at his face. "Look, Lee told me what happened and what happened to you. I didn't realise that you had been through so much. When what happened happened, I thought it had been your dad. It was the only explanation as to why a bunch of soldiers showed up in my house, killed my parents and took my baby brothers. I was so angry, and I didn't really have anyone to blame, so I blamed your dad wrongly.

"Liam also told me that it was because of your dad that he's here, and that he's safe now. I... I guess I'm sorry for assuming the worst of you. I've just heard all the stories, taken them as fact, and started hating Herobrine."

"It's fine, I understand. I didn't even know he existed for most of my life," I laugh a little, mostly uncomfortably, but he looks at me with sad eyes. "Look, I forgive you, as I said, it's fine. I get that you've been through a lot as well. I can't imagine what it feels like to lose your entire family. I understand that you probably don't trust many people, that you are always ready to defend yourself. It's why you've still got that dagger hidden in your jacket."

His eyes widen and he shifts his jacket around before sighing and reaching into it. He pulls out a three inch blade and tosses it to the ground. "Sorry, just... defensive. I've had to be all my life."

"I get it, it's alright. Let me guess, constantly moving around? Place to place?"

"I don't have money to buy a place, I have to move around, plus I never knew if those guys that took Lee and Tim were after me. Had to stay on my toes."

"I'm sorry you went through that. How old were you?"

"Fourteen. It was nine years ago."

"So you're twenty three now?"

"Yeah, just turned it," he mutters.

"So where are you living at the moment?"

He looks up at me and sighs, getting off the bed and grabbing the dagger off the floor, slipping it back into its sheath in his jacket. "How about I show you?"

And that's how we've ended up here, standing in front of a crude block of apartments, boards covering up the windows in some and graffiti painting the walls. He opens the front door for us and steps inside, the small lobby decorated with mouldy, peeling wallpaper, cracked and broken tiles and a chandelier missing half of its decoration. He walks towards a door at the back, and Liam and I follow him through it, Gaby trailing behind us.

Stairs greet us and Cameron started running up them, jumping over some that are broken. We follow him up to the third story; the top floor. We walk down the musty smelling hallway, the carpet here threadbare and mouldy, the ceiling with peeling paint and some sort of fungus growing on it. Only one torch remains lit, the rest long burnt out.

Cameron steps up to an apartment, taking his keys out and unlocking the door before walking in, the two kids and I following. We step into the small, cramped apartment, the lingering smell of some unknown, rotten substance burning my nostrils. The floor squeaks under our feet and the ceiling bends dangerously low, looking like it's about to crash in on itself. Mould decorates the peeling paintwork and old, wet wallpaper just manages to stay on the walls, apart form a few places where it's peeling. Moisture drops down from the roof, down the walls, and into the thin layer of carpet. The air is thick and heavy, past-emotion filled air greets my magic, and I stumble slightly from all the emotions but lack of people. What the hell?