Moon's Call (Sample)

Chapter Fifteen

"It's your favorite meal." Stella said to Astrophel who was gutting a skinned hare on another counter beside her. He only glanced at her without a word and she pursed her lips, picked a clean rag and lifted the lid of the deep pot where the soup ingredient was boiling. She added some ingredients and stirred the contents.

She nervously glanced at Astrophel from the corner of her eyes. She had been trying to get his attention or start up a meaningful conversation all to no avail. He was as if he wasn't even in the kitchen with her, all she got for every question she asked him was a grunt or the shake of his head and frustration was slowly beginning to eat into her at her futile attempts to get him to talk to her. Why was it so easy for Theresa to get everyone to like her? 

She moved a little bit closer to him and turned to back the stove so that she could watch him work, he had opened the stomach of the hare and was pulling out the guts and depositing them into a bowl and she nervously scratched the side of her head, thinking of what to say. "Do you need some help doing that... I'm good at gutting hares too." She said.

He stared at her, his bloody hands still working. "Shouldn't you be with my sister?" He asked and returned his gaze to the hare.

She smiled. At least, he had said something, that was a good start. "Claire is still sulking." She chuckled and quickly cleared her throat and stopped smiling when she noticed that his face remained unsmiling.

"You should be with her, you know the consequences of you not being there when she needs you to run an errand as usual." Astrophel said and pulled apart the hare's ribcage effortlessly.

Stella looked downcast. "You are aware of what she does apparently."

"Everyone is aware." Astrophel stated. "You let my sister treat you like crap, what I don't get is why? What is her hold over you, Stella?"

Stella really felt ashamed of herself now. How could she possibly explain to him that she let Claire treat her the way she did because she had a crush on him. She suddenly forced a smile. "It's nothing really... Claire and I are just good friends, even though, of course she has her bad times but she's good at heart..." She chuckled nervously.

Astrophel glanced at her again and began to cut the skinned hare into chunks. "Don't talk to me like I don't know my own sister." He stated and that completely vanished the smile from her face. It was as if he was mad at her for allowing herself to be bullied and maltreated but what could she do?

She remained quiet as she scooped the chunks of hare meat off the counter and deposited them in another bowl. She washed the meat with some water and poured them into the boiling soup and she suddenly gasped softly when he appeared beside her to wash his hands in the little bowl of water in the wooden sink. She turned her head slowly, feeling his upper arm touching hers. He continued washing his hands and glanced her way, asking impassively. "Is everything okay?"

She smiled nervously and stuttered. "...Y...Yea..."

He nodded and pulled his clean hands out of the water and began to wash his tools. She lingered around him after putting back the lid of the deep pot when he spoke again. "Why come help, I thought only Medea prepared the meals alongside Karen and my mother? You are always with Claire... Doing mostly nothing but listening to her whine and brag and look down on others."

Stella hesitated. "I insisted I cooked this very one..." She said feebly which was partially true. She had mostly insisted because she knew Astrophel always gutted his kill in the kitchen. "I'm glad Medea let me do it." She replied.