Chapter 39- Dinner

I give my name and the small walkthrough gate opens for me. I walk down the walkway then up the steps. The house is huge, the front yard has a large garage to the side and to the front it has a driveway, it's a drop-off area then the garage is at the side. The steps lead to the mansion in front of it. It's a huge modernized mansion that's two stories high and it looks like there is an attic upstairs. I walk up the steps and stand in front of the huge brown door ahead of me. I gulp before I ring the doorbell.

''Sia, hi it's great to see you'' Brent greets me at the door.

''It's nice to see you too'' I say and he gestures for me to come inside.

As I step inside I spot a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a small circular tall brown table in the center of the pristine room. The white pristine walls spread out onto the flawless, shiny ceiling above me. My phone rings distracting me from my wonderment of the house. It's Hero, I can't remember the last time he called me, what does he want? Does he know that I'm here? I hope not. I ignore the call only to be followed by another three calls after which I also ignore. My phone beeps four times in a row in my hand.

*Stessian answer me

*Where are you?

*Answer your phone

*I need to see you

The texts read.

I ignore all of them and follow Mr. Stefan through the hall. My phone beeps again but this time I don't even read the message I just put my phone on silent and hold it in my hand. I feel really bad ignoring him because after all I'm here at his father's house after he told me not to come and how horrible the man was to him but curiosity got the best of me and here I am.

I think it's better that I came here alone anyway because I wouldn't have wanted Hero to come here since he hates them so much and look at the man who has ruined his childhood and put him and his mom through a lot when he was little, the last thing I would want is for Hero to be hurt. It would've really hurt Hero to come here and see their house and his father's new life when he didn't have that life growing up so it's a good thing he didn't come.

I know it's not my place to be here especially without him but this dinner was all I was thinking about in the last few days since I've met the man. Maybe he's changed and is not the same man who Hero knows back in Ireland maybe he has changed for the better and is just trying to resuscitate the relationship with his son that was once lost. I really hope that he is and that's why I'm here to find out if that's true.

''Is everything okay?'' Mr. Stefan asks.

''Yeah uhm is it okay that I came here alone?'' I ask him.

''Of course, you're more than welcome here, I kind of had the feeling you would've'' he says.

I follow him through a narrow hallway that eventually leads us to a dining room. He walks past the dining room and into the kitchen where I spot two women talking and preparing food with their backs turned to us. They are both dressed in dresses with white aprons to the front.

''Claire, Evelyn this is Sia'' he says and the two women turn around to face us, their faces both light up and they run in to hug me.

They squeeze me tight for a second before letting go to introduce themselves.

''I'm Claire it's so nice to meet you'' the woman shakes my hand and I smile and nod. Her brown hair is wavy just like her blue and white dress. Her pearl necklace reflects the bright spotlights in the kitchen.

''And I'm Evelyn Claire's daughter'' the girl tells me. She's wearing a pink dress with a pearl necklace as well.

Her black straight hair covers the back of the dress and some of the front. She has the most warming and welcoming smile just like her mother and I already get a good feeling about them. They all seem like such lovely people so far, Hero needs more people like this in his life. I remember Hero mentioning something about his father having a stepdaughter when we were in bed, the night he let me in a bit on his life.

''Brent told me you were beautiful but you're even more beautiful in person'' she smiles.

''Thank you'' I smile back.

''I didn't expect this, I was expecting you to be different'' she says and I unquestionably know exactly what she means.

She was expecting me to be covered in tattoos, have body piercings and have some obnoxious hair color. She was expecting me to be more like Hero and the type of people that he hangs out with but she's too nice to say it like that. I'm nothing like him or the people that he hangs out with and we are like the total opposite of each other but that doesn't stop me from liking him even if he doesn't like me back.

''Come sit, you must be hungry. I gotta warn you, I love to cook and I went all out tonight when I heard you were coming over'' Claire smiles.

She leads me to the table and I pull out a chair and sit down. I glance down at my phone and I have 10 new messages which I'm guessing all are from Hero. He couldn't possibly know that I'm here, I never told him that I was coming and I just got here so I'm pretty sure none of them in this house could've told him yet. Brent and Evelyn both sit at the table, Brent sits opposite of me while Evelyn sits two seats down from me.

Two minutes later Claire comes in with the food, she kindly asks Brent to help her and he gets up from his seat. They come in with both hands filled, a chicken pot roast in one and mashed potatoes in the other, Claire has two dishes in her hand as well one is salad and the other is a casserole. They place them neatly on the table and steams lifts off the food and the smell of hot tasty food fills the air and I'm now hungry. I haven't had a home-cooked meal in quite a while, since two months ago when I left home. We all take out food into our plates and I'm happy that the pot roast is chicken and not any other type of meat.

''So Sia what are you studying in college?'' Claire asks me as we begin to eat our dinner.

''I'm an English major'' I say.

''That's great so what do you wanna be in the future?''

''Uhm, I really wanna be a paranormal investigator but if that doesn't work out I'll be social media manager or something along that line.''

''That's great I can't remember the last time I heard someone say that they wanted to be a paranormal investigator'' Brent says.

''Yeah, it's not such a popular career that everyone wants to get into. Paranormal activity just fascinates me'' I say.

''Well it's good to do what you love'' he smiles.

''So how long have you and Hero known each other?'' Brent asks and looks up from his plate.

''About two months'' I say.

So much has happened in the last two months since I came here, things I've had no idea were ever going to happen in life far less for two months. I push memories of the last two months at the back of my head and focus on the present, on this delicious food.

''The food is delicious'' I tell them with my mouth partly full.

''Thank you'' Claire smiles.

''Are you from around here?'' Evelyn asks.

''Uhm not really I'm from Burbank'' I tell them and they all share the same puzzled expression.

''So what brings you out here?'' Evelyn asks.

''I'm here for an internship''

''Oh, what internship?''

''Paranormal investigation''

''Oh that's great, you're probably really happy about it'' Claire smiles.

''I am''

I sometimes forget that I'm here for an internship, so many things keep happening that they distract me from the main reason that I'm here.

''So how are you liking Escondido so far?''

''It's nice'' I say and Claire's about to say something when the phone rings interrupting her.

It's their home phone and it's on the other side of the room sitting on a phone stand on a large wooden table with other family photos and household decor. Brent excuses himself and gets up to retrieve it. He speaks silently for a while until I finally hear him say 'Yes she's here' he says and I immediately know that it's Hero.

Of course, he would call here since I've been dodging his last 10 messages, 10 missed calls and voice messages, he must be furious and I know that if I see him after this, I'm really in for it. He returns about a minute later and continues to eat his dinner.

''Who was that?'' I ask.

''It was Hero, he was looking for you'' he says.

''Oh what did you tell him?''

''You seem like you don't want him to know that you're here. I didn't want to tell him but he wouldn't stop cursing me until he knew if you were here, I'm sorry.'' the man apologizes.

''It's okay, what did he say?''

''I'd rather not use that language'' he says.

We engage in more conversation during dinner. They mostly ask questions about me first and I tell them a bit about myself and my life back at home. I also ask them some questions like when they first moved here and about their life and they tell me quite a lot. Mr. Stefan doesn't hold everything back and keep everything a secret like his mysterious son does. He tells me about when he first moved here and when he met Claire and Evelyn. I recollect the things that Hero has told me about him how much he drank and smoked and ruin his childhood.

He continues to tell me about his job and as soon as I hear his profession my eyes widen and my mind is in shock.

''Wait, so you're an elected legislature?'' I question him even though he already told me that.

''Thought Hero would've told you if he ever talked about me'' he says.

''No he hasn't mentioned anything about that'' I tell him.

His father is an elected legislature? He makes or changes the laws of a country and has one of the highest most important jobs in the political field. Here he is helping people, citizens of the country to make it a better place when his son is the total opposite if only he knows what his son does. Wait, does he know? Does he know that Hero lives in the forest and does witchcraft in there and does he know that he's one of the mysterious masked men of the forest who all paranormal investigators are after? Does he know that his son is wanted more than anything and most of all lives in the forest and does witchcraft with a bunch of other psychotic men and well girls too? Does he know all these things? He doesn't, I doubt he does. There's no way the elected legislature of a country would allow his son to do those things and I just get the feeling that they have no clue about any of it.

''As much as I knew that he wouldn't come tonight I was really hoping that he would with you'' his father says and I smile.

''Does he still read a lot?'' the man asks with great hope in his eyes.

''I remember he used to read a lot as a kid and he was really interested in those classic romance novels'' He says.

''Yeah I saw them in his bookshelf''

I remember the morning that I saw the bookshelf filled with those books and all the hidden places in his house, my mind goes back to the door. That gigantic black door with chains on it and you have to pass through so many things just to get to it, it's obvious that it's hidden away under there and that he's hiding something down there.

He said that it has personal stuff when he first moved in here and I believe that but there's something else too, maybe it has the clothes that they wear like the masks and stuff, yeah that's gotta be it, I think it is. After knowing Hero for about two months I could never imagine him reading a book, he doesn't seem like the type too, especially classic romance novels.

We spend the rest of the dinner talking about everything. Evelyn tells me about her college a bit and about where she grew up in California. She seems like such a nice girl and her smile lits up the room along with her black shiny straight hair.

This family seems so nice and all they want to be is together, they all care about each other and they are just the nicest family ever. They are so supportive, kind and so sweet to me, their words and gestures make me feel so welcome. We make some jokes and they tell us some funny stories about their college days and when Brent first moved here. An annoying pounding at the door interrupts our dinner and I have a feeling who it is.

No, please don't let him be here now.

Evelyn moves down the hall to answer the door and in less than a minute Hero is in the dining room staring at me with bloodshot eyes that are filled with rage. He's dressed in a black printed T-shirt, black pants and white shoes, his fists are clenched to his sides and his face is fuming with anger as he looks at me.

Evelyn runs up to us in the dining room and stands next to Hero, Hero ignores her and walks past her then walks up to me, the last thing I was expecting was for him to show up here tonight, I knew that he would be mad if he found out that I came here but I just thought that he would let me have it later, not actually show up here to the one place that he hates the most with the man who ruined his childhood.

I don't expect a lot of things from him, but the things that I least expect are things that are most likely to happen.