You Are What You Eat
5.

"HELP ME!"

I jerked awake, covered in sweat. I immediately felt sick to my stomach; a very unsettling feeling. I was having a horrible nightmare.

I glanced over at the clock on the white nightstand: 12:46 P.M.

I got up and walked downstairs, expecting to hear nonsense chatter between the women, or just something. But it was completely silent throughout the home. The TV was off and the window was cracked open, so the sunlight poured into the living room and the birds could be heard singing.

There was a pile of clothes on the coffee table accompanied by a note. I walked over to it and picked it up.

"Blake — We all went to our good friend's house for the day. Sorry we didn't mention this last night, it was decided last minute. Here's a new change of clothes and there's a clean towel in the bathroom. You can shower and here's how to work the TV," followed by some instructions regarding the TV, "we should be home soon. -the girls"

I definitely didn't expect to be left all alone in their nice home. It gave me a sense of relief, knowing they trust me.

I grabbed the pile of clothes and walked upstairs to the bathroom. Where are they getting all of these men's clothes from? I stripped out of the ones I was wearing, and left them on the tiled floor. I decided to take my time with the shower this time. No rush. It felt nice. When I got out, I dried myself and changed into the new clothes, which happened to be dark blue sweatpants and a tight-fitting black shirt.

I felt nice and refreshed after the shower. I decided to help myself to the kitchen to get something to eat. I grabbed a pack of small blueberry muffins from the cabinet. I turned and quickly glanced at the basement door. Part of me wanted to padlock the door so whatever's in there will never come up to kill me or any of us here. Another part of me wanted to believe that I was just imagining things, and that I'm an idiot for ever thinking there's a monster or something down there. But, there was one other part of me, the part of me that wanted to go down there and replace out for myself.

The basement.

I kept thinking about it. Even though it might've just been my imagination, I just wanted to confirm that there was nothing down there.

The basement.

Check the basement.

My curiosity got the best of me. I shuffled over to the basement door. There's nothing down there. I'm just going down there to confirm that there is nothing down there.

I slowly opened the door and walked down the stairs, one step at a time. But something in the back of my mind was yelling at me to turn around now.

***Anne's P.O.V.***

"I'm so glad you girls could come here today. I just missed you all so much." Lauren pulled each of us into a small hug.

"We missed you too, Lauren. It's been years." I heard Colleen say.

I was usually the quiet and more reserved sister. I just listened as everyone talked. I looked down at my hands, folded nicely together. I thought about Blake. I wondered what he was up to. I hoped he wasn't laying around all day, trashing up the place. But somehow I knew I could trust him. I felt very bad for him, and the feeling in my stomach wouldn't go away.

"When's the wedding?" Nadine asked.

"April. It's just a few months away and I get more and more excited when it gets closer." Lauren smiled and they both kissed and I felt awkward. I've never had a boyfriend. I think it's impossible to love someone like me, someone who doesn't deserve an ounce of love. I know I'm not alone in that feeling, because my sisters are exactly the same as me. They're my foster sisters. We all got adopted together. That's when we met Lauren, too. We all met in the same orphanage. As much as I try to forget about that whole experience, I can't help but think about it all the time.

FLASHBACK—

I sat all alone in the orphanage. I truly missed my parents so much. I lost them. But I never speak of how I lost them. Now I'm here until I get adopted.

But things changed when I met these two sweet girls. Nadine and Helen. They were my first and only friends in this orphanage. We were all young, too young to remember. But I remember everything so perfectly. I wonder if Colleen remembers too. I mean, she should.

Memories. Memories. The true horror. I wish I could just forget about it all but I can't.

"You aren't going to tell anyone what you just saw. It'll be our little secret. We will be best friends forever. I have to make sure you never tell my secret. It's your secret too. And there's nothing you can do to change that." I very vividly remember Colleen telling us weeks later. I just wish I could forget the events that happened before that..

(End of flashback)

"Hello? Anne?" Lauren waved her hand in my face and I jumped back into reality.

"I'm sorry, what? I was zoned out.." I said. And I refused to tell any of them of what I was thinking of..

"I said, dinner's ready. Let's eat." Lauren smiled and I returned one.