Perfect (Rewrite)

Chapter Twenty Five

Chloe continued to sit at the kitchen table, even after Jacob decided to leave her alone. He asked a few more questions, but she gave him one worded answers. There wasn't much for her to say; she wasn't supposed to tell anyone about the key. And her guess was, she wasn't supposed to tell anyone about the dreams either. Melanie already knew about one of her memories, and Chloe wanted to tell her about the rest, but every time she considered it as she sat at the kitchen table, the camera on the fridge would focus in on her. It was like he was in her head, and she already knew that was a possibility. It made her wonder who else's head he was in. Melanie? Jacob? Margaret? David? What if it was only her, this was an even scarier thought. She was the special one. But, why?

Eventually the four of them made their way back to the kitchen and sat in their usual spots just before the clock struck nine and the lights went out. "Okay we need to do this fast," David said, jumping out of his chair and walking around the table to Chloe. He put each hand of his on each shoulder of hers, and she cringed as he squeezed a little. "Sorry." Then he loosened up. "Chloe what all did he say to you?"

Chloe waited a minute before saying, "All he said was that he wanted me to remember what it felt like to get my first strike, so that I wouldn't mess up again."

"Is that all?" David asked. The time slipping away from them, it wouldn't be long and then the power would come back on and they would have to pretend like everything was normal, like they weren't being held captive in this fake house, being forced to follow orders with smiles, wasting their lives away in this place, or as Melanie would call it, hell.

"Yes," She replied without wasting a second. David said he wanted this done quickly, and so did Chloe. She didn't like being questioned, so she cooperated to make it end quicker. The sooner the better was her motto for the rest of the fifteen minute time period.

"Has he said anything else to you?" David asked and then Chloe got quiet. "Anything at all?"

Chloe didn't say anything; she kept her mouth zipped shut. She wasn't supposed to tell them, even though she wanted to, Chloe kept it to herself. She had to. "Chloe," Jacob said. "Tell us."

"He hasn't said anything else," Chloe answered; then David let her shoulders go before returning to his seat. Everyone sat quietly until the lights came back on. Chloe looked up to Jacob and watched as he stared her down, anger across his face. What did he have to be mad about? She looked to David, Margaret, and Melanie, it was obvious. None of them believed her, not even for a minute. And Chloe decided then that she wouldn't have believed herself either, not with that smile plastered on her face.