Unmasked:

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was early in the morning when the sound of the plane touching down startled me from my deep sleep. I'd made it. I turned to my right to look out the window and get my first look at my surroundings. The weather looked miserable. It was raining and with ice covering most of the landing strip I was grateful to the pilot who had managed to land the plane with no difficulties.

By the time I had stepped out of the plane, fearful voices had infested my head. I was alone in a new town with nothing but my grandmother's name to go on. The last time I had seen my grandmother was on my 7th birthday. And even then she had barely spoken to me. In fact whenever she did visit us, she always had a business face on, like she was coming to get something that belonged to her. I didn't understand why my mom would want me to go live with a stranger. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t cruel or anything like that, and she would even almost always bring me gifts but there was something that told me she wasn’t happy being there. Whenever she did visit, the evening would most of the time end in an argument with her and my dad. Then she would just leave and not show up for months.

I noticed when I stepped outside the airport with my suitcases that the weather had warmed up. Just as I was about to call for a taxi, someone put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back.

“Are you Brooke Rivera?” said a tall man standing in front of me dressed in an immaculate suit. He was holding something that looked like a picture in his hands

“Uhhm.., who are you?” I asked confused.

“Oh, I’m sorry, my name is Felix Morgan, I was sent by Ja… Mrs. Ortega to pick you up” he replied handing me the picture. It was a picture of me taken not that long ago. Mom must have sent it to grandma in case she wouldn’t be able recognize me. People did tend to change after ten years.

“Oh, right, where is she?” I questioned.

“I’m sorry she couldn’t come get you herself because she had an important meeting to attend but she’ll be around this afternoon to welcome you” he said with a smile. We started walking to the parking lot, Felix a couples of steps before me. He was a big, strong man who looked like he was in his 30's and had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes with dark circles underneath. You could tell he hadn’t had proper sleep in a while. The look on his face was intent and serious.

We stopped in front of a sleek sedan limousine with a driver standing near.

“Good morning, ma’am” the driver said politely. I smiled at him and with a nod I climbed inside the car.

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Almost two and half hours later the car pulled past a huge black open iron gate into a long driveway. When the car finally stopped I got out and froze. In front of me was one of the most beautiful houses I had ever seen. It was more like a palace actually. It was surrounded by a very big garden with oaks, pine trees, sunflowers, and cactuses, and down the walls hung creeping vines. A three story palace, externally structured with stone and granite, accented by black iron windows and a balcony sticking out from the center.

"Wow" I whispered.

"About 12 thousand square feet" Felix informed me with a smile.

I turned to him and that's when it hit me. Felix had no feelings. I mean he probably did, but I couldn’t feel it. It was weird. Ever since that accident I’ve felt what everybody else was feeling, some stronger than others, but this never happened to me. How could I not be able to feel what he was feeling? I took a step closer, eyeing him, hoping the distance was to blame but still nothing. He looked down at me confused.

"Come on, I'll show you around". He continued

I quickly followed him inside. "Your family has lived here for more than 400 years"

My family? Hardly! I haven't seen one relative from my father side other than my grandma.

After the painting room, the ballroom, the theatre room and 3 very different but all amazing living rooms we arrived in front a set of double doors with intricate designs on them. Just as Felix was about to turn the knob on the door one of the butlers came rushing in.

"Excuse me, Sir?" the butler interrupted him. "Uhhh .., I’m sorry, but you've got a phone call from Mrs. Ortega and she..."

"I'll take it" he cut him off "and can you please show Miss Rivera here to her room" he ordered him before quickly leaving the room.

Must have been something really important for him to go running like that. Suddenly I felt very tired and drained of energy. I turned to the butler who was still standing there waiting for me to follow him. I decided to call him Jeffery from the show ‘the prince of bel air’. Shaking off some of the tiredness I walked to him with a smile as he led me up a long spiral staircase that was made out of marble. We walked down a long hallway, until at last we reached the room at the end. Its doors were bigger than the rest and had a very beautiful decorated pattern carved into it.

"Dinner will be served in 20 minutes" said Jeffery before heading downstairs. I pushed open the door and looked around the room. It was huge. It was twice as big as the school studio back home. It was furnished with large pieces. Its main feature was the elegantly made king-sized bed in the middle. A matching dresser stood off to the side along with its matching mirror. Two connecting doors were on the other side of the room and a large fireplace completed the look. I walked across the thick, white carpets and looked at myself in the mirror. There were dark shadows under my eyes and my hair was sticking up in all sorts of direction. Lazily I walked towards one of the doors on the other side of the room and opened it. Inside was a very clean and polished bathroom. Everything was white. From the cabinets, to the walls, to the small carpets and even the floor was made out of the purest white marble.

After taking a shower and changing clothes I contemplated going to bed but assumed someone would come up to get me if I wasn’t downstairs in the next 10 minutes. When I finally found the right kitchen, Jeffery looked up and smiled politely.

“Did you need anything miss River-”

“Just call me Brooke please” I cut him off “and no I didn’t need anything”

“Okay Brooke, then can I show you to your table?”

He led me to the dining room that was glowing from the huge chandelier that was positioned in the middle of the room. It was beautiful. There wasn’t much furniture in the dining room but a long rectangle table in the center of the room with about a dozen seats. Jeffery led to my seat and he left. I sat there alone in a room in a house where I knew no one.

I felt homesick. I wondered what mom was doing right now and what Grace was up to. Did she miss me? Or was she gone off to some party with a new best friend? I reached inside my jean pocket and realized I left my phone in the other pants. I'd have to call her later.

A pleasant aromatic smell suddenly filled the room. My stomach growled in response. A slim tall server came in the room and set down a tray on the table in front of me. I looked at the tray for a while without touching it, unsure of what it was.

“Rice and grilled oxtail cutlets and soup” the server said noticing my confusion.

“Right” I said smiling at him. This was new. Back home, I was so accustomed to pizza and burgers. I took a sip of the soup, and words cannot describe that definitive moment. I could feel sweetness, savoriness and hotness dancing in my mouth. Before I knew it I found myself enjoying every surprising mouthful.

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This Chapter was edited by KaitofScottland

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xo. Sam