𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐝𝐞𝐧?
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Born in Paradise, I'm privileged to walk in the Garden of Eden.
It doesn't matter if I long to be more than a servant, i...
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The coppery taste of blood lingered on my tongue as my stomach grumbled with satisfaction. When was the last time I'd eaten something bigger than a rat? At least six months, if not eight. I stared at the ground while trying to remember when I'd last had a full stomach.
Hunger had become a part of me, an incessant thought in the back of my mind, a never-ending tugging at my core. I'd learned to ignore it, to tune it out. Seeing a rodent didn't even stir a need to catch it anymore. It had become a part of me, part of who I'd become.
But this... feeding on fresh meat, ripping a rabbit's flesh from its bones while it was still warm, reminded me of why I'd tried so hard to keep eating for so long. It was exhilarating. I had dismissed this need, as important as breathing, but it brought so much more than the sensation of a stomach well-filled. Already, I could feel my senses sharpen, as if they'd been dulled over the months.
Maybe part of me still knew that, because that would explain why I had lost it entirely. An instinct I'd buried deep inside of me had resurfaced, and I'd forgotten about everything else. Even about her...
My eyes raised from the ground to meet hers, worried I might have shocked her. That expression plastered all over her face told me my instinct had been right. The alabaster skin of her face was paler than usual, the joyful pinkness of her cheeks gone. In fact, the only color left on her were the red markings the animal had left on her fair skin.
I'd tried so hard not to let her see that version of me, the disgusting animal hiding inside of me. Her candid heart liked to think of me as another version of her or her husband, but I wasn't. I was a botched prototype, a failed attempt at coming up with something decent. And now... Now she would finally see it. The beast hiding in this cave, rather than the intriguing stranger.
The way she was looking at me, though, was hard to bear. It had been good to be treated with decency, as her equal, and I wasn't ready to let go of that. But what could I say for myself, aside from the fact that I'd lost control? I hadn't even taken the time to cook the damn thing, eating it like a disgusting animal instead, with her right here.
Overwhelmed by the sensations inside me and her condemning stare, I let go of the two pieces of rabbit, trying to find the words that would make her look at me like she used to. Before I could, though, she marched to me slowly and grabbed my arm, her hand wrapping just above the blood at my wrist.
I remained silent as she dragged me behind her, all the way to the basin where the stream pooled. Still holding my arm, she dipped it in the warm water, and then used her soft hand to clean off the blood from my skin. Conflicted and confused, I looked down at her as she worked, dismissing the pleasant sensations of her hands grazing mine so intimately. What was she doing? Why?
Wordlessly, she then grabbed my other hand and gave it the same treatment, washing off the traces of my brutal actions. When she moved on to my face, I helped her by bending over the water, just enough so she could easily bring it to my chin and mouth.
