Chapter 28—Disclosing The Truth
Troy sucked in a deep breath.
Even in the situation Danica was in, how could she ask him such a question? Was his reply so precious to her? Troy was unable to understand what was going on in her mind, but he couldn’t just give in to his feelings. Not until Danica told him the truth.
As much as he wanted to say yes and pull her in for a deep kiss, he refrained from doing so. Troy pulled his hand away from hers and got up, fixing up his navy-blue t-shirt, which was already fixed. “Uh…you should get some rest.” With that, he got out of his room, deciding that he wouldn’t go inside until Danica was fully asleep. Otherwise, she would keep demanding an answer to her question.
Hence, Troy decided to wait on the terrace and watch the dark sky, illuminated with stars for a while. He was wondering whether he should forget everything and move on with Danica. But it wasn’t that easy. A relationship should be started with trust and no secrets. If she didn’t tell him about her past, Troy would always feel that he was living in the dark, which he didn’t want—not with Danica, who made his life meaningful.
Meanwhile, Danica was tired, so she decided to demand an answer later. She kept reminiscing about the memories that she shared with Troy, which was practically her entire teenage life. Soon, she fell into a deep slumber while thinking about him.
When Troy returned to his room, he saw that Danica was already asleep. He sat next to her as she was lying on his bed. He started to stroke her hair slowly, which made her sleep more peacefully with his touch. He fell asleep as well with his head on the headboard of the bed.
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The sun was shining brightly, and the entire Rose mansion had the air conditioner on due to the excessive heat.
Danica was feeling slightly better than yesterday. Her fever was almost gone, so she wanted to go back to her room but the glare she received from Troy when she told him her plans was enough to not raise the topic. Her room was only a door away from Troy’s, yet he didn’t want her out of his sight. If this wasn’t love, then the word love must be fictional.
She was sitting on the couch, sipping a glass of orange juice after finishing her breakfast which was brought by Gabrielle who was also sitting next to her, making sure she ate every bit of the meal.
“Trevor and Troy will come within a minute or two,” Gabrielle informed Danica. She pushed a few strands of her ginger hair behind her ear and asked Danica, “What happened in the theater room? How did you get in there?”
Danica closed her eyes, remembering what had happened the previous day. She started speaking, “I was running to hide and saw a white door, which was matching with the color of the wall. I would never have seen that room if I hadn’t seen the door slightly open.”
“That door was painted and sealed two years ago as it would often get locked automatically, resulting in one being stuck with no way to call for help,” Troy spoke all of a sudden, making Danica shudder.
She glanced at the door and watched him entering along with Trevor. They were wearing their workout clothes, which made Danica arch an eyebrow in confusion.
“We went jogging because we needed to relax our mind,” Trevor answered, noticing her confusion. “How are you feeling now?”
“Better than before,” she responded, still amused that Troy was in the routine of jogging now. “How did the door unlock though? I didn’t notice anything that would open it, both from outside and inside.”
“The door only unlocks with Gab’s fingerprint. It is near her room, so we chose her fingerprint. Besides, she barely stays home due to her shooting schedule, so choosing her seemed like a good option,” responded Troy.
“How did you enter the room when I was stuck?” Danica questioned Troy, who chuckled. “How did you even know I was there?”
“We have a backdoor which works completely fine, so I got inside using that,” he replied to her. “And I just felt you would be there.”
Their eyes met for a brief moment until Gabrielle cleared her throat.
Gabrielle said to them, “Okay, enough of your romance. Now tell me what happened after you entered the theater room.”
Danica started narrating, “I stepped inside, and the door closed all of a sudden. It was really dark inside. I tried to look for lights, but I found none. My phone was in the living room, and the camera in my hand had a low battery, so it got switched off. I couldn’t even use the flashlight. I was so scared.” She started to take heavy breaths, thinking of the horror movie scene she saw and those noises.
Noticing that, Troy took out a bar of Hershey's chocolate and handed it to her, knowing it was her favorite.
She smiled softly and unwrapped the bar. She munched on her chocolate and continued speaking, “Then a horror movie started playing on the big screen. There were werewolves and y’all know how scared I am of werewolves. But the scariest thing was the sound effect of the movie. It scared me to death. I can still feel it ringing in my ears.”
Troy clenched his fist. “I should sue that bastard,” he grunted.
“Sue? Who?” Danica inquired.
“Kenji Abraham,” Gabrielle answered.
Danica was confused. “Why Kenji? What did he do?”
“He was the one who trapped you in there,” Troy told her. “He just wants to harm us, nothing else. He doesn’t love Hernan.”
Danica let out a humorless chuckle. “Are you crazy? Why would Kenji do that? Even if he wants to harm us, he is new in this house, so how could he know about the theater room?”
“Hernan was the one who got stuck in that room two years ago and which was why we locked that room. He must’ve told Kenji and he planned it accordingly,” Trevor pointed out to Danica, who still didn’t believe it.
“It must be an accident. Otherwise, how could he have gotten his hands on Gab’s fingerprint?” she reasoned out.
Troy squinted his eyes. “For God’s sake, we live in the 21st century. Even by stealing your hairbrush, I can get your fingerprints.”
“Exactly. That Kenji guy is bad news, and we must expose him to Hernan as soon as possible,” Gabrielle announced.
Danica shook her head in denial. “I still think it was just an accident.”
“If it was an accident, how did that movie get played?” Troy was annoyed because she wasn’t believing him or anyone. “Everyone in high school knew that you were scared of werewolves when the teacher was showing us a documentary on different mythological creatures. Kenji was in the same class, you know?”
“And,” Trevor spoke up, “Kenji saw the video which Troy uploaded on WhyNTube where he pranked you by wearing a werewolf costume. So, in that way, Kenji knows that you are still afraid of those.”
“Well, even if he did it, we shouldn’t do anything against Kenji because if Hernan finds out, he will hate us.”
As soon as Danica said that, Troy hollered, “Are you crazy, Danica? Why would I risk your life with the fear of Hernan hating me?”
“Tr—”
“No ifs, and’s or, buts, Danica. I won’t even argue about this with you. I, Trevor, and Gabrielle, we will find a way to expose Kenji, with or without you.” Troy crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Yesterday, he scared you, tomorrow he will harm you, and the day after tomorrow he might even end up killing you. When I know the culprit, why would I spare him? Staying quiet is asking for trouble.”
“Yes,” Gabrielle stood up with her brother. “And if staying quiet will cause more trouble, I’d rather be talkative.”
“Dani, we know it is Kenji and we just need to prove it. If we don’t expose Kenji to Hernan, he will be the one to suffer in the future. Which do you call friendship? Saving your friend from the bad person or letting your friend stay with the bad person to save your friendship?” questioned Trevor.
His question made Danica silent. She couldn’t let her friend stay in danger deliberately. If Kenji did set up all of this, she should reveal it to Hernan with proof. Saving her friend was more important than saving the friendship. If the bonding was strong, the friendship would last forever, come what may.
Friends love, argue, and even fight with each other. But in the end, friends protect each other from all evils.
Troy walked to Danica, who was sitting on the couch. He tilted her chin up softly, to make her face him. “If we do this now, Hernan will be upset but he will eventually come around. But if we don’t do this now, we will lose him forever, Dani. And Kenji might harm you out of his hatred for me and I can’t lose you as well,” he breathed out.
Danica nodded her head, feeling confident. “What’s the plan?” she questioned Troy, with a cute smile taking over her lips.
“We have to find out whether Kenji Abraham is gay or not,” Gabrielle said and pushed Troy’s hand away from Danica’s chin. “But first things first. I can’t see my brother romancing my best friend.” She scrunched her nose in annoyance which made Trevor chortle.
Troy narrowed his eyes. “I see you with Trevor every fucking day. Do you see me complaining?”
Rolling her eyes, Gabrielle continued, “As I was saying, we have to find out whether he is gay or not.”
“I had my doubts about him but then I saw him kissing Hernan in the kitchen instead of bringing the bowl of warm water with a cloth,” Trevor said to them.
“So he is gay now.” Troy muttered, “He really changed his preference.”
Danica and Gabrielle exchanged a look. Immediately the two of them shook their heads.
Danica said, “There is a high probability he is not gay.”
“What made you think that?” asked Troy, waiting for her answer.
“Because he touched our waists,” Gabrielle answered Troy.
Troy and Trevor looked at each other before letting out in unison, “What?”