After making breakfast, Aaliyah sat down alone with wandering thoughts. She had woken up this morning with him gone, and although her chest hurt from his weight being on her the whole night...she didn't feel so bad about it.
In fact, she had felt a little annoyed to have woken up to an empty bed.
What a weird feeling.
Today, she had included him in making breakfast and was on her way to drop the meal for him. Now that she thought about him, she's never seen him eat. Does he maybe prepare his meals and eat inside his room? That makes more sense.
On getting to his door with the tray, she steeled her mind and cleared her throat before knocking, "Good morning, I brought you breakfast,"
She had her fingers crossed that he would still be the same man he was last night.
"Do you like Omelettes? I made them myself. I'm sure you'll like them," She tried again, waiting for any sign of movement from inside.
Aaliyah brought her head close to the door and placed her ear on it. How come he's always so silent and she never hears him coming?
"Hello? Is anybody in there?!"
The door suddenly opened, and she almost stumbled into him but quickly caught herself, pretending nothing had happened, "What do you want?" He asked.
His hair was wet. She's never seen his hair wet before, and the loose strands gave her a better view of his face. His eyes were just as she knew them to be, and his face was pure sculpture.
His Jaw alone was sharp enough to cut her in half, and his eyelashes were so long and curved, fanning his unique eyes. His lips were brown and full. His beard was thin, well-cut, and met with his hair.
"I... I...," Aaliyah had to look away. The longer she stared, the more her thoughts ran wild, "I made you breakfast," She finished.
"So?"
She sharply turned to him again, "So...," She drawled in annoyance, "I made you breakfast so you can eat and continue to grow well because I can see you're doing that just well!"
Her temper was getting the best of her.
"I have no use for your breakfast, Leave." He said apathetically, his eyes empty and hard.
"It's my fault for taking my dear time to do something for your little ass!"
Aaliyah gripped the tray in fear when his eyes got harder, and he took a step toward her, "Little Siren," He reached in and grabbed her chin hard, "I'm only accommodating this because it's still ongoing. Sweetheart," He groaned, "As soon as your time runs out, I will crush you myself."
Aaliyah was scared out of her pants. She stood there visibly shaking till he was inside his room again and slammed the door shut.
His words got her thinking. Her time? Was he referring to the eleven days she had left to make him Softer? Is that what this is about?
It was still early in the morning, so Aaliyah decided to go for a walk. It was good to be out in the morning sun, and breathing in fresh air. She didn't have this kind of privilege at the church. They said she was filthy and outsiders should be spared from ever seeing her.
The place was deserted, with a wide field of just solid ground. It was only at the far end of the place that there were bushes, leading to a forest behind the mansion. Why would someone in their right senses build their house here?
But, it was the best place for Aaliyah to live.
In a place like this, she would not run into anything that would remind her of her old life.
As she strode around, she decided to pretend and walk past the area where she had buried something important yesterday. She had been concerned and worried that Theodore might have dug to see what she had buried, but the place remained untouched.
Just as she moved closer to get a better look, the sound of crushing leaves pulled her attention to the bushes far ahead of her. Aaliyah thought it could have been an animal sneaking around it, and turned her attention back to the ground.
Again, she heard the sound of a twig snapping and this time, her mind could not convince her that it was just an animal. Cold sweat ran down her face, and she slowly began to panic.
The feeling of being watched, like spiders crawling up her skin had her regretting why she came out for a walk in the first place.
Just then, Aaliyah sighted a man leaning by the walls of the mansion. That Familiar hair covering his face had her jaw-dropping, and Alastair seemed so calm and collected. Aaliyah thought about ignoring him and running back to the mansion, but the thought of something happening to him because she didn't warn him wouldn't let her conscience rest.
And so, she had to walk up to him.
But just as she took a step in his direction, Alastair began to head toward the bushes... exactly where those strange movements had come from.
And so, she sprinted toward him with the heel of her leg almost touching her back. It didn't matter to her that her slipper might have been thrown off her leg as she ran to him, "Where are you going?" She yelled after him
He didn't acknowledge her, and so Aaliyah took it that he did not hear her.
"Wait for me! Alastair!!"
Again, no reaction from his side. And Aaliyah was beginning to see that she might not be able to reach him before he got to the bush.
Then, Alastair took off running.
"Alastair! Alastair!!" She was getting tired, but that did not stop her.
All of a sudden, she heard a sharp intake of breath from behind her. Her heart jumped, slamming ferociously in her chest, filling her ears so much that the sound became a blur. Who the hell was behind her? It didn't help that the skin crawl had worsened.
Then came a rush of wind on her back before she could turn around to see who it was. By the time she did, her surroundings were empty. There was no one there.
At first, she thought her head was playing with her but things like that don't just happen. Aaliyah would have sworn someone was out to get her in a bad way or something.
Her heart was still thrumming, and adrenaline pulsed through her skin.
Another strange feeling of being watched washed through her again, and she whipped around only to find Alastair standing right in front of her. A terrifying scream escaped her lips at how sudden it had been, and her knees finally gave out.
She fell forward and grabbed his shirt for support, shivering. Then, she perceived the smell of blood coming from him. Wait...was he wounded?
"Weak and pathetic," Alastair said, cutting her thoughts off.
She grabbed him harder, ready to fire back at him but his earlier threat made her bite down on her tongue.
Deciding that the hard floor was a much better option, she released him and slumped to the ground. Anger had become her very close friend ever since she came to live in his place with him.
If he hates her that much, why not throw her out?
And why... hasn't she escaped? She would have by now if she tried harder.
But, there was nowhere else to go. She only...had herself, and him.
As expected, he walked away from her without a word and headed back to the mansion. She watched his retreating figure and almost threw a stone at him.
Then, she stared at the bushes again. The feeling of being watched was completely gone.
How mysterious.
With time, she was able to stand on her feet again. Aaliyah began to search for her shoes, the warm ground burning the palm of her foot.
She sighted both shoes and walked over to pick them up when she saw a car driving down the road. It stopped in front of the mansion, gaining a suspicious look from Aaliyah, especially when an expensive-looking woman dropped down from the car.
Quickly, she ran over and picked her her shoes when she noticed a glowing stone under one of the shoes she had picked. It was shaped like a diamond and small enough to fit into her palm but was completely white and was blinking on and off.
How odd.
When she tried to pick it up, it shocked her hands a bit and Aaliyah let it drop back to the ground. She thought about ignoring the bizarre stone, but once again curiosity got the best of her and she picked it up and threw it into the pocket of her dress.
Then, she stalked off back to the house with a sour look on her face.
Why is a woman here? What business does she have with Alastair?