Bloodlust | lrh

6. Cake

The sun rises on day seven, now reaching a week that Soka has been held captive. The blond boy took the book in the morning as planned, and since then he has left Soka in that room to rot. At some point that day he slid a bucket into the room. That was arguably the worst part for her, being treated like an animal. At least she didn't have to bang on the door for an hour just to use the bathroom anymore.

Soka desperately wants to know what day it is, not because it matters, but because counting the days might make her feel better. It's only going to make it worse, though. Especially when that number gets into the hundreds.

She's skittish, paranoid. Every time footsteps get close to the door she starts to shake. Her mind is shattered and the very thought of playing Luke's game makes her want to throw up. She doesn't want to do it anymore, to deal with a man whose behavior is so hot and cold it burns either way.

To Soka's surprise, a figure that isn't Luke unlocks the door. She relaxes for just a split second, panic setting back in at the sight of Mike. He hasn't seen her in days, and it's startling for even him to see how broken she is. How much Luke broke her.

"I'm watching you for the day."

"I'll be in here so what's it matter?" She brushes him off, curling back into her ball in the corner.

"You need to pull your weight. Luke wants the kitchen cleaned." Mike takes a step closer, ignoring the violent chill that makes Soka's body shudder. She can't help but scoff.

"Doesn't he have housekeepers for that?" Her voice is dry and raspy, almost completely void of emotion.

"He wants you to do it. You're free to wonder, just get to it before he gets home." The boy backs out of the dark room, leaving Soka up to her own devices. She hates the false sense of freedom she gets when she can walk freely around the house. It's not free at all, Luke only letting her go where he wants her to.

The girl is starving again, her one meal having held her over for a couple of days. Her stomach has never felt so hollow. She needs to eat, so maybe cleaning the kitchen wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Her feet feel like there are pins in them as she stands, but she pushes herself to walk out of the room.

"Where's the kitchen?" She finds Mike sitting on the staircase in the foyer. He doesn't look nearly as intimidating as Luke did that first day. Luke's presence on that staircase is enough to send deep shivers through your whole body.

Mike leads her around a few corners. The house is so large Soka feels like she could get lost in it. It doesn't make sense to her that anyone would want to navigate a maze to go from one room to another. Plus, the kitchen she has at home is barely even a kitchen. She has a microwave and a hot plate, a mini fridge with not enough space. Her lips part, eyes going wide at the beautiful room in front of her.

This is what a kitchen is supposed to look like.

There are so many gadgets that she hasn't seen before. She picks up a whisk from the sink, poking and pulling at the numerous strings of metal.

"Is all of this pre-planetary?" She asks, motioning to the array of items lining the counters. There's a toaster, even a coffee maker. She wonders how he got his hands on them, since mankind has since moved away from fancy kitchen appliances, at least here in Chemin.

"Yeah. I don't know how he got them." Mike takes the whisk out of the awestruck girl's hand, placing it back into the sink where she pulled it from. "Don't touch anything unless it's to clean it." He gives his command, his voice serious and eyes screaming 'don't try anything'.

Soka spends the first five minutes trying to find the cleaning supplies. She's never used any of them before because she's never had the extra money to buy them. She used rags to clean her apartment when needed, but she now feels disgusting to think she lived like that. It's hard to tell what some of the bottles are for once she finally opens the right cabinet. Some are explicitly labeled for their purpose, others sport just a catchy name.