As we enter the house, Mistress is the first thing we see as she crosses her legs on her armchair, an unreadable expression on her face "Where are you five coming from?"
"The beach"
It is Ber that answers as she raises an eyebrow, possibly not believing us but letting it slide as she says "Is that the reason you skipped school?"
Ber's frown increases "We were already halfway through and it doesn't matter"
"Yes it does"
She stands up, walking to us as my breath hitches up before she stops infront of Ber "Skipping school is against the rules, you know this Berry"
He looks away, his jaw ticking before she adds with a sigh "And I was worried. You know the situation that we're in at the moment. If anything should happen to you boys, I would...."
She pauses there, leaving her sentence hanging in the air as Mel quietly says "We did not mean to make you worry"
She turns to him, a smile lighting her face as she says "I know my love. You care about me too much"
Then to us "The same way I care about you. What happened? Why did you skip school and not tell me where you went?"
"Ber and Chocolate got jealous Mistress"
We all turn to Cream who has his ever blank face on as he says "I was unsure if this time, I would intervene and try calming them down before what happened with Court would happen again so instead, I decided we took a drive to the beach to cool off"
Ber scoffs "You all were jealous. Especially Mel. He kept muttering very dark words under his breath"
"I say things because I know I can't harm anyone" Mel says "That's different"
"Sounding like a serial killer is scary to whoever hears baby boy" Coco says as he lays his brothers shoulder "Besides, we are told to be weary of the quiet ones. You guys are rumoured to be psychos"
Mel turns to him "I see why we are twins now"
A grin passes Coco's face as he says "I want to kiss you but you're so against incest that it would be embarassing if I eventually do it"
Mel's face reddens there as he looks away making Chocolate laugh before Mistress clears gee throat.
We all turn to her, her face now filled with a smile as she says "Are you okay Vanilla? You are horribly quiet"
They all turn to me now and I feel my heart pound before she holds my face, cradling it "I am not mad at you. I am only just worried. You can calm down"
I nod as Cream holds my hand, squeezing it tightly for a while before she moves away "And you have a letter"
I turn to her so sharply that even my voice did not sound like it was ready to speak "Letter?"
She nods "It is right there on the coffee table"
"Who is it from?"
"I suppose it is from the male you all skipped school from" She replies "After being unable to reach you, he must have succumbed to that. Anyway, you can get your letter and move to your rooms, shower and come eat dinner"
"Dinner?" Ber asks "Alex cooked?"
"No" Mistress replies "I did"
As she says that, a ghastly look appears on their faces as she smiles one more time at us then adds before walking away "You have thirty minutes to be at the dining table"
And then walks away.
Minutes later, I have showered and walked out of the bathroom in my robe, screaming immediately when I sight the person on my bed "Cream! What.. what are you....!"
"He says that you should not forget to come for the Thanksgiving dinner tonight" Cream cuts in, turning to me with the letters in his hand "Is it thanksgiving already?"
"No" I say as I walk to to him and snatch the letter out of his hand "And I think it's mighty rude to read someone's letter without his or her permission"
Before I can walk away, Cream grips my arm tight and makes me look at him, his face void of any emotion but his eyes lit up that I stop breathing "Would you go to it? You really cannot Vanilla. I already saved you from earlier this afternoon. If you end up following him this time, I am not sure what we will do"
"You're bruising me Cream"
He immediately let's go, his eyes on the purple bruise already former in my hands as I say "I would like you to leave my room please"
He does not say anything for a while then stands up "Whatever we do, it is only for your safety"
And then he leaves.
Minutes later, we are all seated at the dining table, a bowl of something that looks like moving like brown vomit in front of us but a plate of rice and vegetables infront of Mistress as she says "Is no one hungry?"
I can tell that we all are, but... But what exactly is this?
"I put so much effort into making this" She says "Would you rather hurt me and not eat?"
No one makes a move.
Coco has this look like he wants to burst out laughing though I'm not sure why.
Mel looks like he wants to puke.
Ber is focusing on his book with such intensity that I am surprised it has not caught on fire.
And then Cream.
Who is staring at me so hard I cannot remove my eyes from my bowl.
"I see. Vanilla?"
I look up "Mistress"
"What was in the letter your friend sent?"
Slowly, the boys turn to me, me freezing there as Cream keeps boring his eyes unto me before I suddenly find myself scooping from the bowl and shoving it into my mouth.
The taste is vile and bitter, and worst of all, the more I tried to get it out of my mouth, the more it seemed to shove itself down till i was swallowing it and panting for air.
There is silence at first before Coco finally laughs out "Is whatever in the letter that bad that you chose to eat the food of death?"
Food of...
Ah yes, it suits it perfectly.
I feel like dying now.
"What's in it?" Ber asks.
I stare at them, not sure on how to react before i find myself scooping again so I don't have to talk before Cream beats me to it and says "Ari wrote that Nilla should not forget about the Thanksgiving dinner party she promised she would attend at his house"
The whole place goes quiet again as Mel says "It's not Thanksgiving"
"I am aware" Cream replies.
"Is he lying to get you to his house so he could have sex with you?" Coco asks then chuckles "I mean, that's stupid but is he? If he is, I might actually respect his balls"
"Are you actually thinking of going to it?" Ber asks then sighs "Of course you are. I can't believe this. After all we talked about to...."
"Boys"
The table immediately goes quiet as Mistress says to me "It's not Thanksgiving. What's going on?"
"He says that his Mother wants it done now that all her kids her home because she isn't sure when they would be around anymore" I say.
"She invited you?"
I nod.
Mistress sighs, resting more on her chair "You cannot refuse the invitation of a woman who took you in, can you? But I am afraid I cannot let you go"
There is already a triumphant smile on the boys faces before Mistress adds.
"Alone"
"Huh?" This is Coco.
"The boys would be with you" Mistress continues "To keep you safe"
"I doubt this is a good idea" Cream says "We are not safe around Ari"
"As Vanilla stated, it is a family thing so they would be other people asides your arch nemesis. Besides, you WILL be good tonight, or would you rather sit and eat the meal I prepared instead?"
Coco sighs "That is too low Mistress. Even for me"
No one else says anything as Mistress stands up "It is settled then. Just be home before it's 12, and make sure Coco and Mel both have their collars"
Then she walks away, her heels clanking on the tiles loudly because of our silence before she turns, a smile on her face and says "And darlings, make sure you have fun"