Secrets and Lies

Chapter Forty

"Hey amber." It was Adam, it was funny how my dad named all of us with A's Antonio Aiden, Asher, Austin, Adam and me Amber Aiden with my mom as an exception, Skylar Aiden.

"We are heading out tonight, you know Asher suggested we find Richard a new girl friend and take Austin out celebrating, five years in university and an extra year in medical school aren't easy and he still has a long way to go."  Austin was the over serious one while Adam was the live life and goofy one.

"Nah I am good." he looked at me, he was the only one among all my brothers that could read emotions well. "Are you sure, maybe being in the presence of strangers would help you, maybe you might drink to."

Me drink, never in a hundred years, I remembered what the alcohol did to me, I woke up with a serious hangover and rumbling tummy that sent me to the toilet for the whole morning, alcohol wasn't for me, never has and never will.

"I will never drink, ever again, I do not know how you do it but nope, never for me." I waved my hands in front of me to show my emphasize, he raised an eyebrow. "You drunk, Amber, wow miracles do happen, this would be the first time in all my life that I am hearing my twenty one year old sister saying that she drunk."

"Long story, short I am not drinking ever again, and I want to stay home and finish reading my book." he looked at me and walked over to me then he held out the book in my hands "the disadvantage of mobile phones and internet and how it is affecting the future and the now generations of today?"

"You do not expect to see a romance novel in the house, this is what I saw and it's what I am reading, the book has good points," he sat down next to me, "oh yeah" he said as he touched the little stable of hair that was his beard, it was too tiny not even there but he loved touching it, I always wondered what was it with men and beards?

"Then tell me what you have read so far, because for all I know you have been staring at the same page for some time now."

"That's not true." I tried grabbing the book from his hands, but then he stood up lifting the book above his head, I was short, really short. He raised an eyebrow. "I am waiting Amber, educate me on the dangers of mobile phones and how it is affecting me, after all I am part of this generation." I played a little game called open and close your mouth and still nothing came out, I searched my brain for anything to say but nothing came out.

He placed the book on the couch and pulled me into a hug. "It's okay, everything will be okay."  he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and followed the rest of the family out, my parents weren't around, they had gone for the weekend to some old peoples home, where they could be treated like young people and have those same people do chores for them and cook for them and most importantly complain to them about things that didn't make sense but where necessary, all in all they were acting like annoying old people for the weekend.

That made me the only person in the five bedroomed townhouse, I closed my book and walked to the glass door leading to the balcony, I closed and locked it, since I was all alone, I put off all the lights except the ones in the kitchen and main living room, the light bill was so expensive, considering the fact we had over seven rooms including bathrooms, I know we needed light to see but the electricity bill at the end of the month wouldn't make my dad happy.

I stood in the kitchen next to the storage room, I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen and doing the dishes, my brothers were messy, I loved them but they were the most disorganised beings on earth.

I heard a thud that came from upstairs, we didn't have a cat or a dog, or any animals. My dad had serious reactions to animals no matter how many drugs he took, once he came into contact with fur, he swelled up like a balloon and got red all over, it was both hilarious and disturbing to see him that way.

Whoever it was, was coming down the stairs my next thought was "oh shit Annabelle was here," I do not mean Annabelle the kids neighbour, but Annabelle from Annabelle comes home or the Annabelle series, I was so obsessed with that doll and the horror movies it was a blessing I never freaked out whenever I came into contact with a doll of any kind.

My heartrate picked up, everyone was out, I was the only one in, he rounded the corner I knew because I heard him, I slipped into the storage room, along the wall there was a hidden door that led one into the walls of the whole house, no one knew of it not even my parents, but my brothers and I, we had discovered this secret place once when we were younger and we were playing hide and seek.

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