Epiphany

Chapter 19 Part 1~Uninvited

"Told you she isn't here," Chase spoke from above me as I sank to the ground, not finding any more energy to keep me standing.

The basement was empty.

It looked the exact same since I left it. This meant no one spent a day or two inside. This meant this piece of sh!t was lying to me.

Julia wasn't here, nor was she alive.

I covered my face with my hands, wet bandages stroking my cheeks.

Or maybe she wasn't here.

Maybe she wasn't even alive.

'I guess I'll just go have fun with your friend then.'

Maybe he meant he'd have fun with her corp—

Just shut up.

Don't think. Just stop thinking. Just—

My voice was hoarse as I blurted out, "Can you give me something to eat?"

My throat ached. "Please..."

"Sure, yes." His voice was composed. "Come on."

It took a whole minute for me to wipe my face dry with my sleeves and for my heart rate to slow down to normal, all this time while feeling his gaze on me. But it didn't make me uncomfortable. It just irritated me.

I stood up and had to lean against the door knob for support. If I let go, I was sure my wobbly feet would collapse under me again.

"Here." He caught me off guard when something stiff got wrapped around my left arm.

I glared at him, but it came out as a weak stare, when I realized it was his arm.

"I can walk by myself." What I intended to be a hiss came out barely a whisper.

"No, you can't." He tightened his arms around mine when I attempted to shove it away, seizing it.

He helped me stand on my feet until we made it into the kitchen.

The place was a mess, to say the least.

Unwashed plates were filling the place and so were empty food cans and plastic bags. And here in the middle of the place was a rectangular wooden table, surrounded by wooden chairs.

I flumped on one, arms sagging by my side, and propped my forehead against the table.

"What can I get the beautiful lady?" I heard several shelves and cabinets being opened.

Then silence.

"Okay then. Muesli it is," he deduced after some time and I heard the clattering of a bowl and spoon on the marble table. I watched my feet for a while as I thought back to Chase's unreadable expression.

His eyes were different from now. He seemed emotionless for a second as if the emotions were sucked with a hoover. The way he tried to convince me that he did nothing wrong was frustrating.

Was he trying to convince himself too?

I was going to say it a million times if I had to.

Sick.

They all are.

"You're not going to eat? I thought you were hungry." I cringed when the chair beside me screeched against the floor and I saw his feet from under the table way too close to mine. "Do I take the bowl away?"

The answer came out as a hum rather than a 'no'.

"Is that a yes?"

I tried again, not caring if the words I tried to produce came out as an inaudible crooning sound.

"No?" he chipped in again.

"Yes!" I finally snapped at him, humming switching to words in a second.

"Okay then." I heard the bowl sliding away from me.

"No," I whined, jerking my head off of the table and watching him retreating the bowl in front of me. "Leave it."

"Well, you could've said that in the beginning." He scoffed lightly, eyeing me. "Eat then."

"Leave me alone..." I closed my eyes, resting my head on the table again.

I need a minute of silence first, understood?! I yelled at him in my head.

I would've vocalized it but it was as though the words were so lazy that they refused to get out.

"Want me to feed you then?" he quipped.

The groan came out as a sigh instead.

I smiled internally. Honestly, this wouldn't be a bad idea. My arms felt like a weight of a hundred ton and raising my head off the table felt like a really hard task to do.

"No."

"Whatever you say then..."

Finally, the silence that I was hoping for has arrived and because of that I managed to gather the last energy inside of me to raise my head, and take the bowl and spoon in my hands.

I dug the spoon inside then brought it to my face, all this time feeling the intense pair of eyes staring at me in amusement.

Before I could get the chance to huff at his face, loud pounding on the front door sliced the quiet atmosphere.

I wouldn't have panicked that much if it weren't for Chase's expression. Shock came over his face and so did mine afterwards. He raised his index finger in front of his lips and I frowned.

What?

From the way he tiptoed his way towards the door told me that it wasn't the group and it was someone that wasn't supposed to be here.

I hoped it was Andre, but something told me it wasn't.

It was another kind of guest. An unwelcome one, maybe.

Fear then washed over his face as he came rushing towards me. He held me by my shoulders as he pulled me out of my chair and pushed me backwards. I stumbled on something and fell on my back with a groan.

"Sorry," he whispered before crouching in front of me. "Stay here. Don't get out. Don't speak. Okay?"

What is going on? Did things really escalate this quickly?

"And take this." He gave me a bunch of tissues.

Before I could ask him what was that for, he rolled the door shut, leaving me in the dark room. I looked around and was greeted with jars and cans of food and cleaning equipment. All scattered in random on the floor or on the several shelves pinned on the walls.

I was in their walk-in pantry.

I clutched my nose shut as soon as a rotten smell smacked my nose. By their kitchen's appearance, I didn't doubt finding some remains of rotten fish around here.

They were living like animals anyways.

I leaned my ears on the door, and because the wooden door had many rectangular slits, I could hear and see almost everything clearly.

And because of the angle of the slit, I doubted anyone from the outside could see me, which provided me with an advantage.

I heard Chase open the front door.

"Took you long enough, boy." A gruff voice spoke and now I was certain it wasn't Andre.

It was indeed an uninvited guest.

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Who do you think it might be?