The Darkest Night

Chapter 5

I caught up with my sister just as they were reaching what I guess passed for a family room in this house. There sat a young man and woman that looked a lot like Mr. Jameson. They were both tall and athletic in build. The guy had dark hair. I couldn't tell if it was just really dark brown or black in the lights. The woman had hair that was similar to my coloring. It was maybe a shade lighter than my chestnut coloring. They were lounging on a couch. The young man had a book in his hands and I couldn't see the title from where I was. The woman who was scrolling on her phone, only glancing up briefly as we approached.

'These are my stepchildren." Mrs. Jameson said, stopping in front of the two young adults. "This is Darius", she waved to the young man who briefly looked up, gave us a small nod, then went back to reading. "And this is Lily."

"I prefer you use my full name. It's Liliana." The young woman spoke up, glaring at us. She was definitely a surly sort, it seems.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Cynthia and this is my sister Elizabeth." My sister was not going to be deterred, it seems, by Michael's mom's less than warm welcome earlier. I nodded my head at her introduction of me and calmly observed everyone. Michael looked tense. Apparently, his mother's welcome was less than he thought it would be. Well, considering she was the one that invited us, it is surprising that she is being so cold. My sister had a smile plastered on her face, but you could see that it didn't reach her eyes. Her shoulders were stiff and she was on edge. Darius seemed completely uninterested in us, while Liliana seemed annoyed that we were even there. I heard footsteps coming up from behind me and could almost feel him standing behind me.

"Children, it's rude to ignore company that is standing right in front of you." Victor Jameson's voice was deep and slightly gravely like he didn't use it much. The change in his kids was almost immediate, however. Darius sat up straight and put his book down. Liliana put her phone down and plastered one of the most fake customer service smile on her face.

"Of course, Daddy," Liliana said cheerfully. The fakeness of her voice almost made me laugh out loud. "Why don't I show you two girls around the house while Michael catches up with Mom." She stood up, so smoothly it almost didn't seem human. She looped an arm around one of mine and my sisters dragging us down a hall away from the family room. My sister glanced back anxiously towards Michael, but he only gave a weak smile in return as we were dragged around a corner out of sight. She showed us around the first couple of floors, halfheartedly saying what each room was for. Looking out the windows, she pointed out the guard barracks and live in help quarters. When we got to the third floor, she stated this is where our rooms were going to be. "You'll be wanting to room with Michael I take it?" Liliana asked, with a slight distasteful tone to her voice. Huh, maybe she just didn't like anyone, not just these two new strangers.

"Yes, if that is OK with your parents, after all, it is their home," Cynthia said cautiously. Liliana scoffing was not the reaction either of us expected. I met my sister's eyes and I knew she was thinking the same thing I was. There was something off about this chick.

"Oh don't worry about Mom and Dad. I can assure you they don't mind at all in the least." She said it so dismissively that I almost believed her. "Well, Elizabeth, this room will be yours. Michaels is right across the hall, so no worries." She stopped and opened a door on the left, throwing the door open wide. Inside was a bedroom that was bigger than my apartment's room. I could even see a private bath attached to the room.

"You can just call me Liz. No one ever really calls me by my full name." I said, with a friendly smile on my face. I'm still hoping to leave a good impression and possibly turn whatever hostility I'm sensing in this house around.

"Look, Elizabeth. I'm not here to be your friend nor am I going to coddle you." Liliana dropped any pretense at nicety and was making eye contact with a blank expression on her face. My sister took an involuntary step back at her tone. "As for you sweetheart," She smiled as she said this to my sister and it looked almost sinister. "I don't care that you are going to marry my step-brother. It's not like he's my real brother after all." She crossed her arms and leaned causally against the door frame. "I don't much care for his mother and I have no opinion of Michael himself. So you two don't need to try so hard to win anyone over but her. The rest of us couldn't care less." She straightened up and turned around without saying another word, she turned and walked away back down the hall towards the stairs.

Sis and I glanced at each other. Both of us were to stunned to say anything for a moment. Once we knew for sure that Lilana was out of sight, we walked into the room that she had said was mine and closed the door behind us. As soon as the latch clicked I couldn't hold it in anymore and I busted out laughing from all the tension. "What the hell is wrong with this family?" I weezed out finally after my laughing fit subsided a bit. I slid down against the wall hugging my knees as my sister took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Like seriously, there's something wrong with them. Why invite us out here and then treat us like lepers?" I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes.

"I have no clue what's going on," she replied. Frustration and worry were thick in her voice. "That Liliana chick has a screw loose for sure though. I don't know what I could have done to offend his mom though." She sounded weary and just plain exhausted.

"Why don't you get some sleep until Michael finds us OK?" I gestured to the bed that she was already sitting on.

"What about you?"

"Oh don't worry about me, I have my laptop with me. Maybe I'll do some googling about this family and find out what's going on with them." I patted the bag that was now on the floor next to me.

"Ok, kiddo. I'm just going to take a little nap then." She stood up and walked around to the side of the bed. Kicking off her shoes, she crawled in under her blankets.

'G'night sis. I will wake you up if anything happens or if Michael comes in." I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to Michael that we were in my room across the hall from his. I also quickly filled him in on the jist of Cynthia's current mental state. He sent a thumbs up emoji in acknowledgment. I took that as he was currently busy and pulled my laptop up to start a job search. I might as well be productive with my time. I set my phone up on hotspot so that my laptop could hook up to the internet and started brushing up my resume.