Alpha Lorenzo

Chapter 19

MIA

I padded down the stairs, sighing to myself, plodding into the kitchen and pulling out some ingredients from the refrigerator.

I had enjoyed cooking when I was younger, although I was never really any good at it. However, I needed to do something to distract myself, and I was sure that if I made enough food for everyone, they wouldn't be too dissatisfied that I had used their ingredients.

I grabbed a large knife out of one of the drawers, grimacing as I took in how shiny it was, the light reflecting off of it, creating luminous shapes to appear across the wall.

I gasped as the random small squares and circles suddenly conjoined together, morphing into the shape of a large human. Their angry blurred face glared at me, hatred evident, frightening me.

Turning away from the wall, I shook my head in an attempt to rid myself of the sight, knowing that my mind was playing tricks on me, despite the fact that it had looked so real.

Grabbing a bag of tomatoes, I started to slice them finely on top of the wooden chopping board, slightly shaking at the thought of turning back around, fearful that the monster would be there to greet me once again. As I turned my head though, I saw nothing but the white wall staring back at me, looking as normal as ever.

"It's not real," I muttered to myself in relief, throwing my chopped tomatoes into a pan and turning on the stove, watching them bubble away, pouring some dried pasta into the pan next to it.

"What's not real?"

I yelped, clutching at my chest as I spun to see Caspian gazing at me worriedly from across the kitchen, his un-styled light brown hair sitting just above his furrowed brows.

He held his hands up defensively, his palms facing me. "Woah, woah, Mia, it's just me."

"I didn't hear you," I replied, attempting to catch my breath, gulping. I offered him a small smile, not wanting to appear rude.

Caspian ran his hands through his hair, rubbing at his eyes, dark circles surrounding them, giving them the appearance of being extremely sunken in and drowsy. His mouth was set in a firm line, and I noticed it was slightly down-turned, causing me to furrow my brows at him.

"You okay?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at me, cocking his head, chuckling slightly. I noticed how the small laugh didn't reach his eyes though.

"Oh, um, yeah, sorry," I replied, slightly embarrassed I had been caught studying him.

Caspian nodded slowly in response, gazing around the room awkwardly. "So, what are you doing? Cooking?"

I nodded, chewing at my lip, a little worried that he was about to lecture me on how I shouldn't have been using their produce without permission.

However, he smiled down at the chopping board coated with mushed up tomato skin and juice, the evidence making it obvious that I had butchered the poor innocent fruit.

"I thought tomato pasta would be nice. Would you like some?"

Caspian chuckled, taking a seat at the marble island in the middle of the kitchen, the chair scraping against the tiled floor. The sharp noise filled the awkward silence just for a moment, giving me some relief. "I've never said no to food before."