Lies Twist The Way We Think

Chapter 4 - The halls of Hawthorne house

Hawthorne house is located on top of a hill. Massive. Impressive. It looks like a castle, seemingly endless and suited for royalty if anything. There are half a dozen cars parked out front and one beat-up motorcycle.

Alisa eyes the bike. "Looks like Nash made it home."

"Nash?" Libby asks. I merely listen, not feeling ready to join any conversation just yet.

"The oldest Hawthorne grandson," Alisa replies, tearing her gaze from the motorcycle and staring up at the castle. "There are four of them."

Four grandsons. I can't keep my mind from going back to the one Hawthorne I've already met. Grayson. The perfectly tailored suit. The silvery gray eyes. The arrogance in the way he told me to assume he knew everything.

Alisa gives me a knowing look. "Take it from someone who's both been there and done that--never lose your heart to a Hawthorne."

"Don't worry," I answer her irritatedly, as annoyed with her assumption as I am with the fact that this is rather unprofessional behaviour for a lawyer. "I never lose."

C. R. D. - M. L. T.

The foyer is bigger than some houses - easily a thousand square feet, like the person who built it was afraid that the entryway might have to double as a place to host balls. Stone archways line the foyer on either side, and the room stretches up two stories to an ornate ceiling, elaborately carved from wood. Even just looking up takes my breath away and my heart takes a jump.

"You've arrived." A familiar voice draws my attention back down to earth. "And right on time. I trust there were no problems with your flight?"

Grayson Hawthorne is wearing a different suit now. This one's black--and so are his shirt and his tie. I don't want to seem intimidated, but it's hardly manageable to look at him without staring.

He's perfect. Everything. Perfect.

"You." Alisa greets him with a steely-eyed look.

"I take it I'm not forgiven for interfering?" Grayson asks and I notice an amused tone in his voice.

"You're nineteen," Alisa retorted. "Would it kill vou to act like it?"

"It might." Grayson flashes his teeth in a smile. "And you're welcome." It takes me a second to realize that by interfering, Grayson means coming to fetch us. Nineteen? He's nearly the same age as me. Well, he certainly doesn't look like it.

"Ladies," he says, "may I take your coats?" A gentleman, too.

"I'll keep mine," I reply, feeling like an extra layer between me and the rest of the world can't hurt. Inside me there's two opposites fighting. This feels wrong, and, This place is beautiful.

"And yours?" Grayson asks Avery and Libby smoothly. Avery keeps hers and flashes me a nervous smile.

Libby takes offers her coat and hands it to him. Grayson walks underneath one of the stone arches with the beautiful art. On the other side, there is a corridor. Small square panels line the wall.

Grayson puts a hand on one panel and pushes. He then turns his hand ninety degrees, pushes in the next panel, and then, in a motion too fast for me to decode, hits at least two others. I hear a noise, and a door appears, separating itself from the rest of the wall as it swings open.