Chapter Five
‘You can let go.’ I pulled out of his grip so hard I almost lost my balance.
It was hard to know where I was. We'd been driving for an hour in a car with blacked out windows. I had tried to keep track but my brain had given up. At least my clothes were bearable to wear now that they had dried.
‘I’ll show you to your room.’ He took my arm as I climbed out of the car.
‘Will you take your hands off me?’ I shoved him in the chest.
He tripped but managed to keep his feet. A giggle escaped from me. I couldn’t help it. He growled, grabbed my arm and yanked me inside the house. Light music came from the speakers in the walls. It was classical. The sound hit me square in the chest. My father’s favourite music had always bored me as a child, but now, it sent a lance of pain through my body.
‘I’ve not seen him for five years,’ I said to no one in particular. ‘I’m no longer a teenager.’
‘Only just.’ The man snorted.
‘Antony! That’s your name!’ I blurted, finally remembering.
The corners of his lips lifted slightly. He had told me his real name when I’d first met him. Had he known who I was back then? Why hadn’t he tried to take me when he had the chance?
‘Did you enjoy your kiss with that man?’ he asked, guiding me up the stairs.
I stumbled as he pulled me to a door on the landing. What made him bring that up? I tried not to cringe as I remembered my first ever kiss. It hadn’t been as romantic as the films had made it out to be. But then again, I had been stupid enough to kiss a stranger.
‘Yes, I did,’ I said as he faced me.
He smiled as he saw through the lie. His teeth were almost perfect. My teeth were slightly crooked. I had begged for braces when I was younger but for some reason, I never got them.
‘Here’s your room.’ He opened the door and pushed me inside.
The door closed behind us as he followed me in. It was dark and cold. The curtains were drawn and the four-poster bed was unmade. Covers sat on the table in the corner, waiting to be put on the duvet.
‘I want to see my father. Surely I’m not a prisoner.’
He stepped up to me. I had to bend my neck back to look into his eyes. I wanted to push him away. How dare he get in my personal space?
‘I’m afraid you’ll be staying with us for a while. You father isn’t here until tomorrow, so you’ll have to put up with me for company.’
My eyes widened as the smile on his lips started to fade. Our gazes locked and I couldn’t look away. I swallowed hard when his throat moved.
‘Antony, do you have her?’ someone called from the hallway.
He cringed. I stepped back quickly, going to the curtains. His hand enveloped mine as I reached out to open them.
‘Yes, I’ll be out in a moment,’ he called back. ‘Pisces…’
Turning back, I tried to remove my hand. He wouldn’t let go. The shadows danced around us as a draft blew the curtain, causing a shaft of sunlight to come into the room. He stepped forward as he looked down at me. My heart pumped into overdrive. I desperately wanted to push him away.
‘Did you really enjoy your first kiss?’
My eyes dropped from his gaze and he released my hand. Shame overtook my muscles and I found that I couldn’t move. He was mocking me, although I deserved it. In a really ridiculous roundabout way, he had saved me from making a huge mistake. I might have gone back to the other man’s flat and done something I would have regretted.
‘How do you know it was my first kiss?’ I whispered.
His breath landed on my hair and every muscle in my body froze as he moved even closer. What the hell was going on?
‘I just know,’ he whispered back.
We were both still, listening to the other’s breath. Did my father plan this? Had he seriously captured me and trusted a young man to keep guard?
‘Come on, mate,’ the other voice called through the door.
Antony didn’t respond or move. I went to step away but his hand stopped me when it landed on the small of my back.
‘What are you doing?’
I didn’t want the man outside the door to come in. It was scary enough with one stranger.
‘I don’t know,’ he whispered, causing me to look up at him.
Emotions crossed his eyes. He frowned but it didn’t scare me. I breathed in deep and the smell of him rushed up my nose. I became lightheaded as his masculine scent wormed its way around my body. He blinked quickly, obviously seeing the affect he had on me.
‘I’m sorry.’
The air moved and he was gone, the door closing behind him.
Sitting on the bed, I stared at the worn carpet. It was red and dusty. Staying still allowed me to think too much so I moved to the curtains and opened them. The view made my breath stick in my throat and I almost choked. The back garden was attached to fields that stretched far away. The motorway was in the distance and I wondered where I was. Why hadn’t I screamed when Antony had pulled me along with him? Why hadn’t I told anyone that I was being taken against my will?
I turned to the room and pursed my lips. If I was going to sleep there, I might as well make it comfortable. Grabbing hold of the covers, I made the bed. It kept my mind occupied. There may have been cameras in the room. It was better to look as if I was being complacent. I knew exactly why they had come for me first. Everyone assumed that because I was the most emotional one of my siblings, I would be the easiest to tame. The others had often mocked my sensitivity and thought I was weak because of it.
The door opened a while later but I didn’t look up from what I was doing. I was expecting him.
‘Are you settled?’ he asked, hovering by the open door.
I glared over my shoulder and the corner of his lip quirked into his cheek. The dimples threw me off. Blinking, I looked back down at the pillow I held. His dimples were deep and I hadn’t even noticed them. They made a difference to how much I hated him. I didn’t know anyone who wasn’t a sucker for dimples.
His hair was natural. I admired him for not using a load of product like my brothers. He wasn’t the type of man I would usually find attractive. Not that my sheltered life had allowed me to meet a lot of attractive men.
‘What do you want?’
‘It’s dinner time,’ he said, gesturing behind him.
It was dark. I had been so engrossed in my thoughts; I hadn’t noticed the sun go down.
‘I’m not hungry.’
He sighed. I tried not to freeze when the sound of his footsteps came around the bed.
‘You’re coming to dinner.’ He offered his hand right in front of my face.
I stood quickly, causing him to step back. He wouldn’t come too close to me again. I wondered what I had triggered in him. Did he feel guilty for kidnapping me?
‘You’re an arsehole. You know that, don’t you?’
He chuckled. I took the opportunity to push him as hard as I could. Spinning, I ran out of the room, sprinted over the landing and started down the stairs.
‘No, you don’t!’ he said, taking hold of me from behind.
Stumbling backwards, I tried to keep my feet on the carpeted step. My foot slipped and we ended up rolling down the stairs together. My breath heaved out of me. I couldn’t move when we landed at the bottom. He groaned as I tried to shove him again. My whole body shook and my heart pounded in my head.
‘Will you just stop?’ He gasped.
‘You think that just because I’m an emotional girl, I’m going to take it lying down?’ I huffed.
He laughed again and my temper snapped. I jumped on top of him and started to throw my fists. Red misted over my eyes as anger overtook me.
‘Enough!’
Father’s command stopped me. The mist cleared. My hands hung in the air on their way to Antony’s face. He had his arms over his head as I straddled his waist.
‘What’s going on? Why are you making such a scene?’
He
towered in the doorway to what looked like a library. A younger man that looked similar to Antony stood beside him.
‘He kidnapped me!’ I scrambled up.
My throat threatened to close. Father had aged slightly but he was the same man that had raised me. His dark hair had finally succumbed to the grey that had tried to overtake it but it was still long on his head. He wore a suit and a tie hung loose around his neck.
‘I’ve missed you,’ he said as he opened his arms.
I rushed into them, feeling safety envelop my body as they came around me. In spite of what Mother had told me about him, I felt nothing but love in his presence. He wished me no harm. He was a Scorpio man so I had resonated with him more than Mother. She was a down to earth Capricorn lady and although we got on okay, we had our differences.
‘I missed you, too,’ I sobbed. The emotion that threatened, finally came up. Father had been the one to teach me that my emotions were my power.
‘Let it out. Like I always say, it’s better out than in. You don’t want a toxic stomach do you?’
‘Is she farting then?’ the other man asked.
‘Shut up, Derek! He’s talking about emotions,’ Antony chastised.
Wiping my eyes on my father’s shoulder, I gulped fresh air into my lungs. When I pulled back, my eye caught Antony’s as he stood next to the man that must be his brother.
‘He said you weren’t going to be here until tomorrow.’ I hiccupped.
Self-conscious at my emotional outburst, I kept my eyes averted from the others. My cheeks heated as Father put his arm around my shoulders and led me into a dining room.
‘I wanted to surprise you. I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to free you. I imagine your mother has been telling you all a different story.’
Father sat at the head of the table. I sat next to him. I bit my tongue when Antony sat opposite me. Wasn’t he just the hired help, or something?
‘Antony and Derek are part of my team,’ Father explained when he saw me scowling.
‘Well, I think you need a new team. When my brothers and sisters come…’
‘They won’t be coming.’
My gaze shot to my father as a small woman placed a bowl of soup in front of him. I barely noticed her but noted that she touched his shoulder as she went past.
‘Why won’t they come?’
Derek laughed. I kicked him under the table.
‘Ouch, that hurt!’
He sounded a lot younger than he looked but I always thought that about men. They were hard work when you lived with six of them. The younger they were, the more they acted like idiots.
‘I thought we had a special bond, Pisces. You saw me as a father much more than the others did. You’re the reason I wanted you kids to have a chance to live your own lives. You should’ve gone to school and mixed with others your own age.’
‘What about the—’
Father silenced me by raising his hand. He flicked his eyes towards the two men sitting opposite me so I shut my mouth. They were a part of his team but I was unsure how much they knew about the twin flame mission.
‘You are powerful, dear, but you don’t yet know how powerful. If only your mother had allowed you to experience life, you’d know how to handle what was coming.’ He sipped his soup. The rest of us didn't eat anything.
I kept my gaze on my father, afraid of what I would see in Antony’s face if I gave in to the temptation to glance at him. A noise coming from their direction forced me to look.
‘Stop eating like an animal,’ Antony snapped at his brother.
The other man was slurping his soup from the bowl as he lifted it to his lips.
‘What’s coming?’
Whatever it was, my stomach already told me that it wasn’t good. I often ignored the physical sensations but I couldn’t let go of the feeling that now wrapped itself around my body.
‘People are going to try and stop you from living your life purpose,’ Father said.
‘Life purpose.’ Derek snorted.
My gaze clashed with Antony’s and although he had started to smile at Derek’s snort, it dropped as soon as he saw me looking. I didn’t know why I was drawn to him, only that I didn’t want to be.
‘What’s your life purpose?’ I wasn’t surprised that Antony was curious.
Swallowing, I glanced at Father. Surely he would rescue me from the awkward question. He shrugged and took a drink from his wine glass.
‘I don’t know, fully…’ I replied truthfully.
I was supposed to unite with my twin flame soulmate to bring more love to the planet. But that was all I knew about my future relationship. I couldn’t just churn this out to a stranger. He would think my eccentricity too much to take in. I glanced down at the bracelet that rested on my wrist.
The colour of the leather was vibrant blue and the silver caught the light. It had been on my wrist before I could remember, stretching as it grew with me. It represented my bond to a mission I had no idea how to complete. Beyond the initial union, we had to work out the next stage together.
‘You can breathe underwater,’ Antony stated.
‘That is pretty cool.’ Derek wiped a hand over his mouth.
Father chuckled and I bit my lip in an effort not to smile too.
‘What’s the point of that?’ Antony asked.
I looked at him and wondered what star sign he was. It was often the first thing I thought of. It wasn’t technically fair to judge someone on a stereotype. Just because someone was born under an astrological sign, didn’t mean that they embodied the qualities of that sign. Especially humans. They were complex and diverse with lots of different planets in different places when they were born.
‘I have no idea.’ I sat back in my seat and crossed my arms.
‘Defensive.’ My father nodded towards me.
Glaring at him, I tried to loosen my posture but it didn’t work.
‘Why are the others not coming?’ I asked again, remembering that he had easily diverted my attention.
‘Because they’re not ready.’
‘Ready for what…?’
‘Bed…’ Derek said, throwing his arms up into the air and yawning.
He yelped when Antony punched him under the table. ‘He’s a good bodyguard. It’s the only reason he’s here.’
Dismissing them both with a look, I grabbed Father’s hand. ‘Ready for what…?’
A slow smile spread over his lips. My heart started to drum in my ears. My union was coming. There was a look in his eyes that confirmed it to me. I was going to meet my soulmate soon and everything would be perfect. I swallowed as I realised that it wouldn’t be long until I was madly in love. I returned his smile as he nodded once.
‘There is one thing.’ Father squeezed my hand. ‘The people that are trying to stop you...they also know that it’s coming.’
‘You people talk in riddles,’ Derek said.
‘If you’re such a genius, you should work it out,’ Antony replied.
Ignoring them, I focused my attention on Father. ‘Tell me about the people that will try to stop me.’
‘They are trying to prevent…’ He sighed and glanced at his bodyguards. Did he trust them enough to speak about it in front of them? ‘Twin flames from getting together. Not just you and your siblings but all of the couples that have come here.’
‘What’s a twin flame?’ Antony asked.
Derek had tuned out and was playing with his food. I wasn’t surprised that Antony had paid attention. He seemed to be interested in what we talked about.
‘A soulmate,’ I said.
He blinked but didn’t say anymore.
‘Why are they doing that?’ I turned back to Father.
‘It’s best you all know so that Antony and Derek can do their job properly. One hundred and forty-four thousand twin flames are on the planet right now. If more than half of those soulmates unite, the Dysfunctionals will cease to exist. They don’t want people to have a happily ever afte
r. They don’t want children to be brought up in good homes. They like humanity as it is and want to keep the world on a negative plane. Twin flame relationships show people that love is real and everything else isn’t. When enough soulmates live together and love each other unconditionally, the balance of good will outweigh the bad. The Dysfunctionals will no longer be needed, because our mission will be complete.’
‘Mother has told us about them, which is why we’ve kept such a low profile and been sheltered our whole life.’
Father rested his chin on his fist as he leant his elbow on the table.
It was finally becoming clear. The whole good versus evil had been around for thousands of years. It wasn’t a religious thing, it was polarity. There were opposites of everything. The people that were part of a twin flame soul wanted to help humanity by showing the world that true love existed. Apparently, other twin flame couples who didn’t have that luxury of loving guiding parents as we did, struggled with their relationships.
The men that wanted to stop us had one mission. To make sure the world didn’t become overrun with loving couples that set an example of what true love was. They wanted abuse and dysfunction. They fed off negative thoughts and emotions.
‘What do I do?’
Father cocked his head and put a hand on his chest. ‘Listen to your intuition and always follow your heart.’
That was his advice? He had told me to do that when I was growing up. I didn’t really understand what he meant back then but it seemed that it was time to take him seriously.
‘Is that all you got?’
‘Well, yes. Although, there is one more thing,’ he said, taking my other hand and looking into my eyes.
My intuition instantly told me that I wasn’t going to like what was coming next. My heart burned before the words even left his lips.
‘I’m no longer your father. I’m your guardian.’