Cinders: An Intrulogical Story

Chapter 4

"Cinders!" Roman yelled from the dining room, causing Logan to bolt up from the floor and rub his eyes, putting on his now cracked glasses which gave him little help when it came to actually seeing anything.
He stretched his back and let out a big yawn, grabbing his copy of Macbeth and gently stroking the cover with his finger tips, fondly remembering his father.
It had been ten years since he passed away and the wounds he left him with still hadn't quite healed, the very few times he got to leave the house he'd usually stop by his parents graves and leave something for them.
It would usually just have to be random flowers he picked from the field by their house since Roman would definitely notice if Logan decided to take flowers from one of the vases.
Logan knew they wouldn't care though, it was like papa always said: "it's the thought that counts.".
Logan picked himself up from his "bed" that was really just a straw mat by the fireplace and walked up to the door way, placing the book on a nearby stool.
He grabbed his nearby apron and tied it around his waist, as he tied it he took his time to really look at his surroundings.

Even though he woke up every day in the same old dirty kitchen it still felt weird to really acknowledge it, it never really registered to him that "this is my room".
How could it? It was a dingy and dirty little kitchen in need of repair with barely anything in it, there was a broom hanging right next to several cast iron pots, an oven for baking and various baskets and containers full of ingredients that he would most likely never even get a nibble of.
The only things that remotely seemed comfortable or cozy in it was the stool and plain wooden table he would eat his "food" (that was really just last nights table scraps) at and the straw mat he slept on.
There was nothing to make it feel like a home, he could of been sleeping in a field and would of felt the exact same way.
Logan finished tying his apron and walked out of the kitchen to see Patton yelling so hard his face was red, 'oh boy', he thought.
'This isn't gonna be good.'.

Patton looked at Logan disgusted, as if he was some sort of bug that he just squashed with his left shoe.
"Will you stop being lazy and actually cook can you please remember the difference between four minute eggs not four one minute eggs! Now where in gods name is our bread!" He yelled, smacking the table, causing the silver wear to loudly clank and the table to shake.
When Logan first met Patton he considered him to be a sweet and innocent individual, yes he had his unkind moments but didn't everyone? Now days his true colors had shown and as it turns out, he was just as rude and abusive as his father only he hid it behind a deceptively kind and pure appearance to get what he wanted from strangers.
Logan mumbled an apology and walked back into the kitchen to get the loaf of bread he had so cruelly forgotten from his families break fast.
Roman took a sip of his juice "Patton, you know what I say about raising your voic-" Virgil stopped picking at his food for a moment to interject with some wonderful sarcasm "A man of good breeding never raises his voice unless he wants to ruin his family name." Virgil mocked in a very pompous and classy tone, obviously making fun of his father.
Roman didn't find that amusing in the slightest, in fact he became very annoyed.

"Virgil, do not speak unless you can improve the silence." Roman retorted.
Patton brushed his hair behind his ear, cracking a smile and falling back into his fake perfect exterior "I'm just showing passion daddy."
"I don't think your passion would be welcomed at the royal court." Patton pushed up his glasses and relaxed in annoyance.
"I'm not going to the royal court though, no one is except for some fat piglet they have the audacity to call a prince.".
There had been rumors going around about the Prince getting engaged, nobody seemed to know who but that didn't really matter, he could of been the prettiest boy on the planet and Patton would still insult him out of pure jealousy.

Roman continued to occasionally take sips from his cup "Patton, nothings final until you're dead and even then I'm sure god makes reservations." .
Suddenly, Roman noticed Logan had been standing there eaves dropping this whole time, instead of placing food on the table like he was supposed to be.
Roman gave him a mean side eye "Well look who decided to finally grace us with his presence! Why is there no salt on this table?!" He complained.
Logan hurried into the kitchen grabbing some salt and pepper, he quickly sat them on the table but as he placed down the salt he noticed Patton was carefully looking at him as he ate.
He put down his fork and did a mischievous grin "Ya know Cinders, last night I realized something really funny! It's awfully ironic that you love books so much, you know why?".
Logan stayed quiet, he didn't wanna indulge him with an answer.
"Because unlike books, you're totally spineless!" Patton giggled, at his own terrible, terrible joke.

He hated Patton's giggle, it was so sickly sweet and cutesy, it would of been infectiously charming if it had come from literally anyone else instead of the vain and deceptive abuser sitting in front of him.
Roman chuckled at Patton's "Joke" while Virgil just stared down at the table, playing with his food.
As Logan tried walking away he felt Roman grab his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"Come here boy." He looked Logan up and down, he could feel Roman judging each and every part of his body, a familiar feeling from his step father but still an uncomfortable one none the less.
He clenched his teeth together, looking him up and down, studying his body "eugh! you don't look too well, seriously Cinders, and the dirt on your face is not doing you any favors. Tell me, what can I do to actually make you try?".
Logan fiddled with his apron, not in a "I need to please my step father" way, more of a "I don't know what to do with my hands." way.
He looked down towards the ground trying to figure out how to respond "I do try, sir." he bit his lip for a moment "I try really hard, sometimes when I'm alone I try to think of what else I could do to please you.".
His step father shook his head and waved his hand to dismiss him, Logan was about to walk off but just couldn't help him self, he turned back around to look at his step family.
"Maybe if I had a room, the proper necessities and less chores I could spend more time taking care of my appearance like you two do, It's hard to-" "it's the nagging that offends me! You keep insisting you don't wanna make me upset and yet you continue to whine and argue with my rules and act above your place." Roman shouted.

The sudden shift in tone caught Logan off guard, he stumbled back a tiny bit, wincing at his step fathers angry expression.
Logan rubbed his arm as he struggled to find words to argue back, all he could do was utter an apology and walk back off to his "bedroom".
Logan wiped his face with the back of his head and gazed at the sooty smudge against his pasty skin, a fat wet tear lightly dropping on top of it and running down his thumb. "It's just one of those mornings..." he sighed.