The Housemates

Scents, Suspicions, and Secrets

Chapter Two

Scents, Suspicions, and Secrets

A room had been assigned to her when she arrived. An actual room, with an actual bed. A few pieces of furniture had come with the house, which meant they came with the room. She was thrilled. Holy crap, a bed. It had been six months since she’d slept on a mattress.

Her plan of action was a shower and then a nap. Adeline had told her that she wanted to have a household dinner tomorrow at six o’clock, so that everyone could meet. Elli had offered to cook vegetarian spaghetti and Adeline had accepted. She was looking forward to cooking an actual meal.

Her room was fairly simple. A ceiling fan lit the space. A simple, queen-sized oak bed rested in the southeast corner. Her window would have a nice view of the sunrise, which would be more annoying than anything else until she got curtains. She ran on more of a nocturnal schedule and having her room lit up by the sun was totally going to screw with that. A small oak nightstand sat beside her bed with a lamp on it. A beat up dresser was opposite the window. She needed to sweep the hard wood floors and wipe down the paneled walls, but all in all it was a nice place. And, it had a roof, which made it pretty fantastic.

She dropped her backpack on the floor. Unlike the rest of her housemates, she didn’t have stuff to move in. She had her backpack and that was it. If she couldn’t carry it with her, she didn’t own it.

Digging through the bag, she pulled out a clean, white t-shirt and a new pair of jeans. She needed to buy some clothes while she was in town. It was time to toss what she had on, aside from the jacket. She had to pick up some sheets for the bed, too, but for now she didn’t care.

Her shower was long, both because she really needed it and she really enjoyed it. Running water was a luxury she often didn’t have. Feeling clean and refreshed, she collapsed onto the bare mattress and slept for the next few hours.

When she woke up, she unpacked what little she had. The two t-shirts and two pairs of jeans that remained in her bag went into the dresser, along with her bras and underwear. She plugged her cellphone charger into the wall and hooked her phone up. It didn’t have to be charged often; she only turned it on when she was expecting a call from her brother. The canteen stayed in her bag, her blanket was tossed onto her bed, and that was it. That was everything she owned. Everything she needed to own.

She tossed her jacket into the backpack, slung it over her shoulder, and decided to head into the town to do some shopping. It wasn’t too far of a walk, not that it mattered. She’d spent the last three years walking everywhere; this was nothing.

The town was small. A main street held most of the shops, all of which seemed to be locally owned. There were no chain restaurant or retail stores. It was a sleepy little town, without a need for those things. Eliza loved it.

She dropped off her jacket at the dry cleaners and then walked into a simple looking clothing store. A few t-shirts, three pairs of jeans, and a nice pair of running shoes became part of her wardrobe. The shoes would probably last six months when she started running again, so she was happy with her purchases. It started getting dark, so she grabbed her bags and began the walk home. She glanced up at the sky as night fell. First quarter moon. She still had some time…

…

Adeline picked up the dinner supplies from the store, with a little monetary assistance from everyone, and Elli was in the kitchen cooking. As she chopped the mushrooms, she reflected upon how old habits died hard. Werewolves took care of their pack, didn’t even think about it, and whenever she found herself among a group, her first impulse was to take care of them. Here she was, cooking a healthy dinner for three people she didn’t even know, and one she’d only talked to three times. It was the wolf in her and it was annoying.