Celeste sat at a creaky wooden table with the couple who charged themselves with taking care of her.
She awkwardly shifted her feet; her silver eyes were uncertain as she stared at the steaming bowl of brown liquid and white meat before her. 'What is this?' Celeste wondered. It smelled delicious, but why was the appearance so horrible?
"Eat before it gets cold."
Ben's gruff voice forced Celeste from her thoughts. She looked at him before reaching for the ill-shaped wooden spoon by the bowl that was too large for her tiny hands.
Celeste didn't want to seem rude, the old woman was already glaring at her, probably thinking about how ungrateful she was for not eating the food they graciously offered her.
Cara twisted her face at Celeste's hesitance to drink the stew and could no longer bite her tongue. "It's just deer meat stew," she started. "Have you never had it before?"
Celeste lowered her head so her hair could cover her face. She could tell the old woman was irritated. Celeste shook her head; she feared her trembling voice would reveal how fearful she was of the old couple.
"Are you some kind of princess?" Cara questioned with a frown. She thought Celeste was looking down on them.
"That's enough Cara!" Ben calmly intervened, raising his voice. He shot daggers at his wife who was taken aback by his tone; he had never raised his voice against her before.
Cara huffed before abruptly and aggressively leaving the table, not bothering to hide her displeasure. Ben sighed exasperatedly before leaving the table as well, following his upset wife to the bathroom which was the only other room in the small wooden cottage.
Celeste could only watch in silence as they left the table one after the other. She felt entirely at fault; it was all because she wasn't eating the stew.
A determined look brightened Celeste's eyes as she stared at the contents of her bowl. She tightly gripped her spoon before taking a scoop and quickly putting it in her mouth as she clenched her eyes shut, preparing herself for an awful taste.
Her brows shot up as she opened her eyes. Celeste blinked twice before saying, "It's...tasty." She took another scoop, followed by another and another. It was nothing like she's ever tasted before.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, Ben was trying to soothe his fuming wife.
"How dare you yell at me like that?" Cara raged as she paced the small space. "Have you fallen in love with her? She's so young and pretty, isn't she? Are you ready to begone with me?"
Cara spouted question after question at the large man, not giving him the chance to have a word in.
"My love," Ben started, gently gripping her shoulders to stop her pacing. "Stop saying ridiculous things; you know it's nothing like that. Please calm down first and lower your voice."
Cara folded her arms across her chest, staring daggers at the old giant. "Why were you being so nice to her then?" She narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't tell me you've changed your mind."
"Of course not!" Ben refuted her words. He lowered his voice, "I'm only being nice to her because it's the smartest thing to do."
"Think about it." Ben explained himself further, "Have you ever seen a person with silver eyes?"
Cara's heaving chest slowed, her tensed body relaxing as realization gradually struck. With her eyes wide, she responded, "No."
Each race is defined by a single eye color or a range of eye colors. Humans are defined by having black and brown eyes, mermaids have various shades of blue and vampires have red eyes. No known race on Earth identifies with silver eyes.
"What are you thinking, Ben?" Cara questioned. "Do you think she might be worth something?"
"I reckon she might," Ben responded. "We could get a pretty penny for her." He wrapped his large arms around the slender waist of his cackling wife. "We could finally live the life you've always wanted."
"A big comfy bed." Ben kissed her cheek. "Fresh human children every night for dinner." He kissed her other cheek, "Pretty clothes and jewelry." He pecked her lips before smiling, "How does that sound?"
Cara blushed as she smiled, "It sounds lovely." She was already imagining the many things she'd buy. Best of all, she'd finally be able to afford the ingredients for the potion to make herself young again.
"But my love," Ben started. "We will have to be patient." He caressed her greying hair as he continued, "We must find out more about her first and put some more meat on her bones else she's worth nothing."
"She doesn't speak much; we can't hurry her to tell us everything."
Cara pursed her lips in irritation at her husband's words, "I don't like that I have to wait, but I guess I can be a bit nicer to her."
When Ben and Cara returned to the other room, Celeste was gone!
Their eyes widened in panic, their hearts pounding in fear. Celeste was their only way out of their horrible living situation; she was their ticket to the high life!
"She must've heard everything and ran off!" Cara screeched. She grabbed the shotgun that was hoisted in a corner before marching toward the door. "She couldn't have gotten far."
Ben grabbed Cara's arm, "Where are you going with that?"
Cara looked at her husband with wide, blazing eyes. "What do you mean? We can't let her escape!" She was not going to let her chance of youth slip out of her hands so easily.
"Her value will drop if we hurt her!" Ben tried to reason.
"She won't be of any value at all if we lose her," Cara argued before kicking the old wooden door open and charging into the woods screaming, "Come back here, little girl!"
Ben was going to charge after his enraged wife when he found small footprints in the mud leading to the beach.