Perfect (Rewrite)

Chapter Five

"What are you talking about?" Chloe asked, removing her hand from the boy's grasp and letting it rest by her side. He was insanely mad. If only the door behind her wasn't locked, then Chloe would've made a run for it, even if it got her in trouble. Even if it got her a strike, it would've been worth it.

"Well don't be a stranger," David told her. "Come on in and say hi to the rest of your family." He reached for her hand again, but Chloe took a step back and bumped into the wall yet agin. She didn't want him touching her. She didn't want anything to do with this man. All she wanted was to go back to the white padded room and sit alone with the other girl, with Melanie.

"There's no need to be afraid," David said. His eyes flickered to one of the corners of the room and then back at Chloe. He mouthed to her, "He's watching."

Chloe turned her head and found what he had glanced to. A camera was mounted to the wall in the corner of the room, hidden in plain sight. The head of it moved and focused in on Chloe. She turned back to David and put a fake smile on her face, knowing full well that was what she was expected to do. What they were all expected to do. Smile for the camera.

"Come, join us," The other boy said as he too stood up, but he stayed in his place with the same smile as everyone else. She was surprised by the encouragement in his voice, how did he have any left?Chloe's jaw almost dropped when she saw him. He was the most ideal, perfect, boy she had ever seen, which rendered her speechless. "Please," He started, his eyes changed from her to the camera frequently. "Come join us." His voice was almost demanding on the last part, and she understood why. They didn't want Chloe to receive a strike; they were only trying to protect her. Even though they were crazy. Even though they were falsely claiming to be her family, she listened to them.  

Chloe walked to the center of the room and looked at the TV they were all sitting in front of, but the screen was blank. "What are you doing?" She asked, even though she was sure she already knew what the answer was going to be.

One of the girls nodded her head towards the blank TV and said, "It's family time, so we're watching TV like we do every night at eight." Then the girl removed her eyes from Chloe and glued them back onto the screen. It was almost as if she had been brainwashed into believing there was actually a show playing before her eyes. Maybe to her, to them, it was.

"There's nothing on the screen," Chloe retorted after a minute passed. Her patience was growing short. She had had enough with the games; it was about time someone gave her answers.

The sound of footsteps grew closer until an arm wrapped around her shoulder and David whispered into her ear, "Please sit down with us. We don't want you to get sent back to the white padded room."

Chloe froze after hearing his words. He knew about the white padded room; he must've been put in one himself at some point. There was no doubt they had all most likely been through the same thing. Waking up frightened in a room with a complete stranger, both chained to a wall, filling out forms, and then entering a house with strangers who sounded like they were completely insane. The thought of it made her want to vomit, but she held herself together and kept the enormous smile on her face as she took a seat on the middle of the couch. Chloe took one last glance at the camera mounted in the corner; then she turned around and stared at the blank screen, thinking of everything from the white padded room to now.

The men in black, in masks. The white padded room. The red door. The forms. The ear piece. The mist. And now the strangers sitting around her. All of this only led Chloe to wonder what else was waiting for her behind the rest of the doors in this facility, in this hell.

The silence was deafening, and Chloe wanted nothing more than to jump up and ask a million question. Every so often, she peaked around behind her and watched as the camera focused in and out on the five of them sitting in the living room. It stared back menacingly. She averted her eyes and tried to think of anything besides the camera and the people on the other side watching her.

One of the girl's was sitting in the rocking chair to the left side of the couch, her eyes were glued to the TV screen and her dark brown hair was in a long braid. The boy next to her, the perfect ideal boy, had short sandy brown hair and a smile that could melt snowmen. His grin seemed more genuine than anyone else's. It gave her a feeling of discomfort towards him, it almost felt like he was okay with being here, in this house, in this hell which only gave way to more questions floating around in her mind. The boy glanced over at her and the feeling of discomfort in Chloe was instantly replaced with regret. His smile may have said one thing, but his eyes said the complete opposite. He was just as scared as Chloe, if not more. She wondered how long he's been here.

The woman on her right side had long blonde wavy hair, framing her overly beautified with makeup, almost clown like, face. Chloe almost giggled but held it back, knowing full well it wasn't an appropriate response. She didn't choose to look like this. A beep sounded throughout the room and then everyone else in the group except for Chloe stood up and walked into the kitchen for whatever reason that was unknown to the newbie.

"Go take a shower," The voice whispered into her ear. Chloe jumped up from her seat and looked all around her; then she checked her ear with her finger and steadied her heart beat. She had forgotten about the ear piece and the orders from the mysterious man. It was surprising how she had forgotten about something this surreal so easily. After all, wearing an ear piece and being thrown into a room full of strangers who claimed to be her family, while being forced to do whatever a man whispered into her ear wasn't something that happened everyday. At least, it wasn't for the average person. "Go take a shower." The voice said again, and then Chloe entered the kitchen through the large opening from the living room. The four others sat at the table and all looked up as she joined them in the room.

"We were about to start a board game," The girl with the long braid said, twisting her clump of hair with her fingers. "Why don't you join us, sissy?"

"I have to go take a shower," Chloe told them before glancing around the room, looking for a hallway but didn't find one. How was she supposed to take a shower when she didn't even know where to go? "Where is the bathroom?"

"Here," The perfect ideal boy said, riding to his feet and walking past Chloe into the living room. "I'll show you." Then he took a left and Chloe followed him. A stair case leading to the left was right there. She wondered how she hadn't noticed it upon arrival. It was clearly visible from the front of the living room, but her thoughts didn't stop her from following the boy up the stairs and into a hallway on the top. He led her a few steps away and then entered the first room on the left. There were five other doors in the hall; she guessed they were bedrooms, most likely one for each of them. After Chloe entered the room, Jacob shut the door behind her and grabbed a towel from underneath a cabinet. Then he approached the shower and stepped in, fastening something around an object in the corner.

This was too far. Chloe stepped towards him with her arms out. "Look, I know you're just trying to be nice and all, but I'm pretty sure brothers and sisters showering together would be frowned upon," She pleaded, hoping he would take the hint and get out. The boy stepped out with a smirk on his face and nodded back to the shower.

"You're welcome," He said on his way to the door. The boy bumped into her on his way without apologizing. "My name's Jacob, and by the way, I don't condone incest."

"Then what were you doing?" Chloe asked as the creak of the door opening reached her ears. She turned back to him. Her smile had finally faded from the lack of cameras in the room, she figured it was safe to show her true colors for the time being.

"See for yourself," He told her, his smirk still plastered across his face. Then he exited the bathroom. Chloe locked the door behind him and turned around, stared at the corner in the shower with a towel hanging onto something. She removed her clothes and grabbed another towel from the cabinet. The glass door slid shut easily after she was in the small closet sized space.

The water came on cold and then heated up a few minutes later. Chloe washed herself with the soap and shampoo, every once in a while glancing at the towel hanging in the corner. Finally her curiosity got the best of her and she pulled on the towel, revealing a camera poking out from the depths of the corner. It was the last thing she wanted to uncover while nude. She quickly threw the towel back at the corner, but it fell to the floor. Chloe bent down, picked it up, and wrapped it tight around the camera as Jacob had only moments before.

The whispering man had seen her naked. For six entire seconds, she had been fully exposed to him, glory and all. Chloe now knew that Jacob was a saint, and so far he was the only one in this house to be trusted.