Pentatonix: Was I Mistaken?

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Avi's P.O.V

"Avriel Kaplan!" I had forgoten how scary my sister could be when she was mad. I opened the car door, grinning under her glare.
"Morning Esther! Fancy seeing you here!" My tone was far too cheery for the situation at hand. Esther marched right up to me, flung her arms around me in a rib-crushing hug and burst into tears. Then she pulled away and glared at me.
"You arrive here at five in the morning and the only warning you give me is 'can my friends and I crash at your place, there's a murderer chasing us'?!"
I scratched the back of my neck and looked down.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I was kind of in a bit of a hurry so I didn't really think about what I was putting into my text. But can we stay, please? Because you love my so much?"
She whacked my arm.
"Of course you can stay you egg! But next time think before you text."
I grinned again and hugged my sister.
"Thanks so much, Estie!"
She hugged me back.
"No problem. And don't call me Estie!"
Suddenly, Esther stepped away from me with a slightly worried look on her face. I followed her gaze and found that it was fixed on Grace.
"Who's that? Avi?" I hoped Esther wouldn't panic.
"Esther, that's Grace. She's the girl that the murderer is chasing. And..." I trailed off. Should I tell her? Yes, she needs to know.
"Estie, I'm gonna tell you something but you have to promise not to freak out or judge anybody, ok?" She nodded. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself. The reality of all this was just hitting me.
"Grace is engaged to the murderer-" Esther gasped. "And the murderer is, as it turns out, Mitch's long-lost twin brother." 
And I think it was then that the reality of the situation hit us all.

Kirstie's P.O.V

I don't know what it is about Esther, but she always makes me feel like everything is going according to plan. Here we are at her house at half past five in the morning and she's serving toast, tea and coffee as though it's completely normal. Although the conversation is anything but normal.
After Esther finished handing out food and drinks, we all sat around her table in this order: Esther nearest to the door, Avi on her right, then Kevin, Scott, Mitch, Grace and then me between Grace and Esther. Mitch and Grace were sharing a piano stool because Esther had run out of chairs.
"So Grace, I hope you understand when I say that I don't quite feel comfortable until I know you a bit more." Esther's voice was calm as she addressed Grace.
Grace nodded.
"Don't worry, I understand." She shifted in her seat, before starting on yet another long story...

"My name is Grace Heathers. Grace is actually my middlie name, but I don't like to use my first name. I am 19 years old but I turn 20 on the 17th of November. I was at college studying arts of all kinds when I met Michael, Mitch's brother. I didn't know who he was at first. He was nice to me and I liked him, so next thing you know we were engaged."
She sighed. 
"Sorry but I really just can't bear to talk about anything before college. It was my escape, my breakthrough." Her head drooped.
"And now it's gone."
Mitch put an arm around her shoulders.
"But now you've got us!" he gave her a childish grin and she laughed.
Suddenly I had an idea.
"You know what guys? I tend to find out more about people by just casually chatting."
Kevin smiled at me.
"Great idea, Kirst. So Grace, what kind of stuff do you like to do?"

We continued talkng for quite a while, when Scott gave an almighty yawn. Esther glanced up at the clock and gasped.
"Well, no wonder you're yawning Scott. No doubt you drove all through the night to get here. You guys must be exhausted!"
I looked up at the clock myself and realised that it was almost noon. The last time I slept was about 3pm yesterday! I looked around counting people.
"Um, Esther? Do you have enough beds?"
For the first time since we arrived, Esther looked uncertain.
"Er, no. I don't, even if you share with me and we use all the couches."
That's what normally happened when we stayed at Esther's house. I'd share with her, Avi and Kevin would sleep in the spare room and Mitch and Scott would sleep on the two couches. Grace spotted the problem and shrugged. 
"I've probably had the most sleep of anyone here so I don't really feel tired." 
Esther frowned at her looking concerned.
"Are you sure?"
Grace nodded.
"Yeah. I'll just finish my tea and then read or something. I have a few stories on my phone."
Eventually everyone agreed to this idea and we all made our way to our assigned sleeping places.
As I settled down to sleep, I began wondering about what we were going to do with Grace. I sighed softly. Now was not a good time to think about that. I needed sleep. In the morning we can sort this out. In the morning...
I was asleep before I could finish the thought.

Grace's P.O.V

I sat at Esther's table, slowly drinking my tea. I liked Esther. She made me feel as though nothing was happening that we couldn't fix. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and opened up the book that I had started reading a while ago. I had finished two chapters when I heard the door creak open. Looking up I saw that it was Mitch. I gave him a small smile.
"Hey, can't sleep?"
He chuckled.
"Yeah. But I did sleep on the way here."
I frowned.
"Did you?"
He nodded and came to sit next to me.
We sat in silence for a bit. It was a nice silence though. Something that I hadn't been able to enjoy for a long time. I folded my arms and rested my head on them, relaxing in the sun that was streaming through the window. 
"Can I ask you something?"
I raised my head off the table to look at Mitch.
"Sure, anything."
He fidgeted as though trying to decide something.
"Did Michael ever hurt you or threaten to hurt you before you descovered the diary and newspaper clipping?"
I looked at him, wondering why he was asking such a question.
"No, but he was often unpreditable with his reactions to things."
Mitch nodded and seemed to relax. Then, to my surprise, he reached out and took my hand in his. He waited until I was looking him in the eye before he said,
"Grace, I want you to know that if you ever need to tell anyone anything, I'm here and I promise right now that I always will be. No matter what happens."
I was taken aback. I barely knew him, but somehow I knew enough to know that he was telling the truth. And I also could tell that he was hiding something, something that he wanted to tell me but for some reason, couldn't.
I nodded and and he let go. I stared out of the window for a bit, lost in my own thoughts, until I realised he had just asked me something.
"Sorry, what did you say."
He grinned.
"I said, can you sing?"
I sighed softly.
"I think the question should be do I."
"Ok then, do you sing?"
I sigh again and nodded. He smiled.
"What do you like to sing?"
My eyes flickered to him an then back to the window before I closed them and started to softly hum the first few lines of 'I Won't Give Up' by Jason Mraz. I glanced at Mitch and he nodded encouragingly so I started to sing. A few lines into the song, Mitch joined me, harmonising amazingly with a voice that sounded like, for want of another word, an angel.
So that's how we spent our time until we got tired enough to sleep together on the couch. Singing, and feeling that maybe, just maybe, things were getting better.