Away from him - Part 2

My feet led me back to my room, and I was immediately drawn to the comfort of my bed as soon as I stepped into the space. The soft mattress dipped down when I threw my body upon it, engulfing my body in the process. It was very quiet and peaceful, just like the way I wanted it to be.

This kind of luxury was rare back in the days when I was still in my old house. Most of the nights I spent on the cold hard floor, damp with dried and fresh blood. Looking back, I did live a hellish life. How did I even survive? I didn't think I would be able to live in that place again for the second time. I would rather die than go back to that fiendish manor.

I think what my mom did was the thing that incited me to stay alive, even with all of the suffering that I had to endure. I didn't want to waste her efforts and die a meaningless life. Even if I have to die one day, I need to make sure that I have avenged the people that did evil to me and my mom before ending this life. That way, I could die serenely and finally meet my mom.

There was a time when I thought I was going to die. It was when my dad tied me with a chain and starved me for days. As if doing that was not enough, whipping my already weak body was something that entertained him and his wife. Almost every part of my body was wounded. Blood oozed out of my body as if there was no tomorrow. There was completely no reason as to why they decided to drag me to that underground room. It was all pure for their mere entertainment. My life was a joke to them, something that they could use to play around with when they got bored with their lives. I didn't even know which one of them was more heinous. They were like a match made in hell. The lords of hell struck gold when they matched them together.

But after this happened, they didn't do anything for weeks. It was like they gave me time to recover before starting to torture me again. It was all thanks to Anna that I stayed alive. I got a very high fever right after it and did not wake up for days, but she kept on treating my wounds and kept compressing me with cold clothes even when all of the people derided her for taking care of me, the damned child. I was pretty much like a living bad omen to them.

Now that I think of it, I haven't got any news about her after I sought help from Luke. I was waiting for him to tell me himself because I knew that he was busy with work, but the day never came. I need to ask him about it later when he gets back. I hope nothing bad happens to Anna. 

The sound of my stomach grumbling tore me out of my thoughts, giving me another thing to focus on. I rubbed my belly and decided to go to the dining room to fill my stomach with Bob's handmade delicacies. Bob's cooking was one of the things that made living here a more enjoyable experience. Who wouldn't want to eat delectable cooking every single day? I think no one will ever be able to resist it.

I walked out of my room and headed to the dining room, hopping a little on every step out of excitement about filling my stomach soon. I pushed the door open and stepped into the empty room. The place was empty but not the table. There were already a few dishes placed on the table, as if they were specifically prepared just for my arrival. I sat down and stared at the plates in front of me.

"Is it not to your liking?" A voice uttered without any warning, making me jump a little in my seat. I glanced at the source of the voice and saw Bob with his apron on, complete with a warm smile on his face.

"Bob," I called out, "It's not that, I was just thinking if this was mine."

He let out a loud, hearty laugh, "Of course it is yours. Who else should I cook for if it's not you and the Alpha in this house?"

"I just want to make sure that I didn't eat someone else's food," I sent him a smile, "Thank you for the meal."

He nodded his head and took a seat next to me, "I heard Alpha is away."

"He is, but he said he would be back in two days," I replied as I munched on my food.

What did I do when I was alone before? It has been a long time since I had to spend the day alone. I just realized that ever since I started to live here, there hasn't been a single day that Luke didn't come to see me. No matter how busy he was with work, he always spared some of his time to spend some time with me. I remembered that only after a few days of staying here. He did say that he would come to see me every day, but I didn't think that he would really do that.

He was always the one giving me things and I was always the one on the receiving end. I felt bad that all I did was accept his help and not give anything back. He was practically my savior. If it wasn't for him, I would probably be being beaten by my dad right now instead of eating sandwiches here. What can I do to return the favor? I didn't have any money to buy anything, and besides, I didn't think there was anything in this world that he couldn't afford.

I sighed heavily when nothing came to mind. I couldn't believe that after living for seventeen years, there was literally nothing that I could do. I had no talent whatsoever, so there was nothing that I could possibly give to him. I bit into my bacon sandwich meekly, feeling bitter after realizing that I was pretty much hopeless.

I put my half-bitten sandwich back on the plate, then dropped my head on the table. I let out another sigh which made Bob pique his curiosity, "What made you sigh so much?"

"I'm sad that I don't have anything that I can give to Luke," my lips formed a pout as I closed my eyes. "I wanted to give him something in return for everything that he had done for me, but I don't know if there is something that I could possibly give."

"You know that you can give him something that you make personally. I think that will be better," he suggested.

"Such as? I don't know how to make anything," I raised my head and rested my chin on my palm.

"I can teach you the things that I know," he grinned, "This," his hand circled around the plates on the table, meaning, the food. My eyes followed his gesture and felt my eyebrows arched when I realized what he meant by it.

Bob was right! If I didn't have any money to buy anything and I didn't know how to make anything, I could learn to do things! I didn't have the chance to learn before. That was why I was clueless about almost everything in this world, but now I do have numerous chances to learn about things. I could try to learn how to cook from Bob and surprise him with dinner when he came back. That's it!

"You are right!" My face lit up as the realization hit me, "Can you teach me how to cook, Bob?"

"Gladly," he pounded on the table lightly, as if ready to take on this challenge, "Follow me," he walked to the door that was placed at the far right end of the dining hall. No one would even notice that there was a door here if one was not observant enough. I quickly finished my food and followed shortly behind.

Stepping into the other side of the door, a kitchen came into my sight. It was a very clean and neat kitchen, pretty similar to the other kitchen that I've seen in Luke's office building. A stove with a variety of pots was there, and a rectangular wood table was placed in the middle of the kitchen. Looking around, I noticed there was a scullery used to wash the dishes and to prepare the food ingredients, as well as a wine cellar and food storage right beside them.

"Welcome to my sanctuary," Bob proudly exclaimed, "This is where all the good stuff is made."

"I see you did a great job keeping this place," I whistled jokingly.

He looked around and laughed, "Of course! Everyone will try to keep what's precious to them in the best condition."

I wonder what it is that is precious to me? I've never had anything that was mine. That's why there's nothing precious to me. It was hard enough for me to keep myself alive, let alone keep something safe and well.

"I don't have anything like that," I uttered nonchalantly to Bob.

"It doesn't have to be a thing," he replied, "it could be a person."

A person? Someone who is dear to me, someone who I wanted to protect. My family—they were once someone who I loved so badly, someone who made me happy the most. But now they are all gone, and I am left with nothing but suffering. I can't even love myself. How am I supposed to love others?

Thinking about life has always made my mood go downhill, so I forced out a smile and changed the topic. "What are we making today?"

"What do you want to make?" He threw the question back, "Do you want to make some of Alpha's favorites?"

"Do you know his likings?"

He smirked, "Of course, I've been his personal chef since he was a pup." He lowered his hand and placed it in front of his hips as if explaining Luke's height as a child, "He was still this small when I first started serving him."

"I only know that he likes chicken," I said, remembering the game of truths that we played before.

"Ah, yes, chicken," he nodded, "He loves to eat all kinds of meat, but chicken is his favorite. We can try making roasted chicken for him."

He went to the food storage and took out a whole chicken, then proceeded to take out its inside and clean its body. He explained step by step how to cook it nicely, using the stove to roast the chicken. I paid close attention to every word he sprouted and every movement he made, taking notes every now and then.

Is doing this even enough? Will he like it if I do this? Despite my doubts, I was pretty excited about surprising him. It's a first for me to do things like this for others. I hope he will like it.

"And we are done," he took out the chicken and placed it on a plate, "Do you want to give it a try?"

I nodded enthusiastically and grabbed a fork to eat, but then I suddenly felt a burn in my hand, "Ouch!" I dropped the fork to the floor and held my burning hand,

"What's wrong?" Worried, Bob came closer and asked.

"I don't know," I scrunched my face in pain, "My hand... it's burning."

"Let me take a look," I released my grip and let him take a look. "There's nothing wrong with your hand," he said confusedly.

He was right. There was nothing wrong with my hand, it was completely fine. But strangely, I could feel the burn from inside. I was sweating all over my body, getting weaker and weaker as more time went by. The burn that was only in my hand soon spread to my whole body, overwhelming me with a sudden pang of heat.

I lost all strength in my body, which made me fall backward. Everything started to spin and my vision became blurry. The last thing I remembered before I lost consciousness was Bob's scream that was getting smaller and smaller.