Brothers I Never Knew ✔

Chapter Two - Not An Only Child

Unedited

Cameron stuffed her hands into her navy blue hoodie, skulking into her apartment building. The building was a simple thing; seven floors, red bricks, glass windows bordered by dark wood. The dull black paint on the double doored entrance had faded into a dark grey from the exposure to the sun.

Her apartment was one of four on the 3rd floor. She had brought it eighteen months ago, after Ashley had pointed it out in the daily newspaper. It had been a steal. One bedroom, one bathroom, a lounge and a kitchen. It had enough space for everything she needed. She had made it into her home.

After months of doing the three flights of stairs, she didn't break a sweat anymore. She would rather take them, than the rickety elevator. Cameron slid her rucksack off her shoulders and dumped it onto the floor, kneeling so she could rummage through it to grab her key. When she felt the metal touch her fingertips, she pulled it out. Grabbing her bag in one hand, she jabbed the key into the keyhole and unlocked it with a familiar click.

She knew something was wrong as soon as she shut the door.

The lights were on, lighting up the small hallway that led straight to the lounge. She never left the lights on. The electricity was costly and with only her chef job supporting her at the moment, she only used the electric when necessary. Even though the sun had set hours ago, she would rather use candles than waste money on something she didn't need.

She gently placed her bag on the floor beside the shoe rack, not wishing to alert whoever was in the apartment that she was home. Though she knew they had probably heard the door.

Cameron stuck herself to the wall, taking careful steps to the lounge, senses vigilant. She paused at the end of the mini hallway and listened to the noises coming from the room.

"No, she's not here yet-, yes I did-, he did, did he?"

Cameron frowned at the half conversation she was hearing. It was a man, his deep, gruff voice echoing slightly as he spoke to the other person on the other side of the phone. Who the heck was this guy? She needed protection before she confronted him.

She stepped back slightly, thoughts so focused on finding a weapon that she forgot about the coat stand behind it. Her foot knocked into it harshly. She froze with baited breath as it tilted precariously. She didn't have time to catch it before it crashed to the floor, alerting whoever was in the lounge that she was home.

"Yeah, no- I think she just got home-, yes I'm going to speak to her-, no I-, fine. See you soon."

Cameron waited, back against the wall as she listened to the man ending the call. The ruffling of his clothes indicated he put the phone away.

"Cameron, come out. I know your there." The man spoke calmly, as if he was talking to a scared child.

Cameron swallowed the saliva that had built in her mouth. She could be a scared child. There was a stranger stood in her apartment. There had been no forced entry, so he had either used the window (which was very unlikely), bribed the receptionist down stairs (also unlikely as she took her job seriously), or was a master at breaking into apartments.

 Either way, she didn't know who he was or what he wanted. The door was looking like a pretty good escape right about now.

"Cameron, don't try running. We'll find you again." 

She sighed and padded out from the hallway she had been hiding in, to stand in the lounge, in front of the man.

The first thing that entered her mind was how tall he was. He must have been a foot taller than her 5'6" form. He was well-built as well, seen easily through the white shirt he wore under the open, expensive-looking black coat. The dark coloured pants were loose but smart, complimenting his charcoal grey combat boots. Silver tags could be seen poking out from behind the black coat, glinting in the light and hung on a thin metal chain.