Chapter 12
Invisible
11 years ago
"Look at me," Rita snapped tensely.
Chloe swallowed before obeying. She was wearing her brand new dress and Rita had curled her hair. She needed to look as pretty as possible.
"Do you remember everything I told you?" Rita asked.
Chloe nodded.
"Yes, mom."
Rita inspected Chloe from head to toes and rolled her eyes.
"Hmm, I suppose you'll have to do. I just can't understand what happened to all my genes, I was adorable when I was your age. Everyone told me how beautiful child I was I could have easily been a model. Oh well… Life is full of disappointments."
Chloe knew perfectly well that she was one of those disappointments; her mother had told her that more times than she could remember. Rita would have had a much better life without her.
"Now, as I said, Trent doesn't like children, but I told him you're a very easy child, basically invisible. Do you remember how to address him?"
"Mr. Fowler or sir."
"That's right. He's finally ready to propose, so everything needs to be perfect."
"Yes, mom."
Rita got down on one knee and grabbed Chloe's shoulders.
"Everything needs to be perfect," she repeated firmly. "You already ruined my life once and if you ruin this… I swear, I'll make you pay. Do you understand?"
Chloe shivered and nodded.
"Y-yes, mom."
Rira smiled and patted Chloe's head.
"Good girl. And remember, this is about your life too. I won't be able to take you to the hospital without Trent. If you ruin this, you'll die."
Chloe let out a sob.
"I don't want to die, mommy."
"Then make sure that he likes you or at least tolerates you. My life is already difficult enough; I'm not going to spend any more of my money on you. But after the wedding, we won't have to worry about that anymore."
Chloe couldn't really understand why a strange man would want to help her and Rita, but she did understand one thing. If she would fail, she would die. She was scared, she didn't want to die. As far as she knew, dying meant that she would be buried on the ground. The thought was terrifying. Would her mom really do that to her? She startled when she suddenly heard a knock.
"He's here," Rita gasped. "Remember, don't you dare ruin this."
Chloe was frozen in terror as Rita opened the door.
"My darling!" she purred and smiled warmly. She had never smiled like that at Chloe. "I'm so glad you're here, come in, come in!"
The man who entered their apartment was older than Rita; he was wearing a fancy looking suit and he had flowers with him.
"For me?" Rita purred. "Oh, I love them!"
The man was smiling too.
"You look gorgeous."
"Thank you, my love," Rita replied and kissed him.
Chloe didn't dare to move or make a sound before the man finally noticed her.
"Darling, this is my daughter Chloe," Rita said.
"Hello, sir," Chloe squeaked timidly.
"Hello," he replied. "I brought you something."
Chloe looked up and saw that he was handing her a lollipop.
"You're so thoughtful, darling," Rita purred smiling. "Chloe loves lollipops, don't you, cutie pie?"
"Yes, mom," Chloe replied quickly and walked over to the man. "Thank you so much, Mr. Fowler."
"You're welcome. It's nice to finally meet you."
"You too, sir."
"Well, isn't this nice?" Rita said after a brief silence. "We should get going."
"Yes," the man replied and glanced at Chloe. "Good night."
"Good night, sir."
Rita knelt in front of Chloe and kissed her cheek.
"Good night, sweetie, I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night, mom."
Chloe took a deep breath after Rita and the man had left. Her mom had seemed pleased, so maybe she had been happy with Chloe. Hopefully she had done everything right.
"So…" Klaus stated after a long silence. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah," Chloe murmured, keeping her eyes on the TV. "Everything's fine."
"Right." He paused and sighed. "We both know that's a lie, so do you want to talk about it?"
"Do you?"
"You want an honest answer? Human feelings aren't exactly my area of expertise, but since I have to share your feelings, I would prefer you to be…less upset. So, is there anything I can do to help you?"
Chloe glanced at him.
"You really hate this, don't you?"
Klaus smiled.
"Can't say that I would enjoy this, but as you said, this isn't much fun for you either. And to be clear, I don't hate you, I hate my mother and her curse."
"Me too."
They were both quiet for a while; Chloe stared at the screen although she couldn't register what she was seeing.
"They don't care if I ever come back," she finally murmured.
"What?"
"My mom and Trent."
"I'm sure that's not true."
Chloe let out a joyless laughter.
"You don't know them. That statement they made… They weren't worried about me. Trent was thinking about how much would I cost him this time and my mom was thrilled of being the center of the attention."
"But they are looking for you," Klaus argued.
"Because they have to. I'm sure both of them would be happier if they would never see me again. And I sound really pathetic, sorry about that."
"No need to apologize. Families can cause you all kind of grief, believe me, I know."
"Do you argue with your brothers a lot?"
"Well… Let's just say that we've had our differences. But they're still my family."
"Yeah. I guess it would be nice to have someone you can count on."
"Well, right now you can count on us. We have a very good reason to keep you safe."
"Yeah, you don't have a choice. That's the story of pretty much all of my relationships."
"Come on, love," Klaus hummed. "Cheer up. You're a pretty girl, I'm sure you'll make some chap very happy someday."
"I doubt that, but thank you for trying to make me feel better. As far as a vampire with an anger management issues goes, you're not so bad."
"I'm a hybrid, sweetheart, not a vampire," he replied grinning.
"Sorry, my mistake."
They were both quiet for a moment before he spoke.
"So… What are we watching?"
She shrugged.
"I have no idea."
"Why are you watching this then?"
"I dot know. TV just keeps me company. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not much of a people person."
"Surely you've had boyfriends?"
Chloe rolled her eyes.
"And surely you need glasses."
He shook his head.
"As I said, you're a pretty girl. All you need is some confidence."
"Sure."
"Hmm, tell you what. After this whole thing is over, I'll take you out for dinner or something."
Chloe's eyes widened, it took a moment before she managed to reply.
"Who says I would go out with you?"
He smirked.
"That's the spirit, stand up for yourself, love."
He was probably right; she should stand up for herself a lot more. She had been invisible most of her life; she didn't want to be anymore. If she would make it through this, she was determined to make some changes in her life.
