The Soup Master

Chapter 2

It was only once she had finally gotten home, closed the door to her apartment, and locked it, that Deva finally relaxed. She knew that nothing, no form of technology used for surveillance or spying would ever be able to penetrate her apartment once she had locked the door.

Deva's apartment was rather simple, at least by her standards. To the outside world, it would probably be a lavish, exquisite place that no one would understand how she could afford it alone. It contained around three rooms, two of which were adjoined without doors. These included the bedroom, with a connected bathroom; a kitchen and dining room, which merged with her living room and main hall, and a special room that only someone such as her would be able to access. One no one else even knew existed.

Setting her purse down on the side table near the front door, she swiftly moved into the living-room area of her apartment, and pulled the nearby table closer to her. The living room was designed to connect with the kitchen and dining area, almost to create one large space. There was a slight step-down that separated the living room from the other two areas, and in this space was the armchair she now sat in, a small, blue loveseat, and a small television that sat opposite the loveseat. There was a side table next to the loveseat, which contained a small lamp that illuminated the space with the help of the ceiling lights. A small desk, designed almost like a coffee table, sat just in front of the armchair in which she sat, and contained a simple typewriter, and another, much smaller lamp.

For several minutes, Deva typed without a break, presumably typing up that article that she had mentioned to Malec during her brief stint in the soup kitchen. The soup itself had been phenomenal, and the little secret that its creator seemed to have added to it had not gone unnoticed by her. She hurriedly finished typing up her critique of the soup itself for the paper, and got up, placing it in her purse for the next morning. With a sigh, she laid down on the love seat, resting her head on the armrest as she did, and turned on the tv. As hard as she tried to relax, the channel she was watching did not seem to have the power she was hoping it would to distract her, and put her mind at ease.

With a sigh of frustration, she finally got up, turned off the tv, and strode over to the nearby bookshelf. Once she reached it, she grabbed one of the books, presumably to take it down, and pulled it out some. The way she did so pulled the book out at an angle, so that it almost seemed to be balancing on its spine. As she did, the cover where her fingers touched it seemed to briefly liquefy, as though turning insubstantial at her touch, before resuming their previous form. Shortly thereafter, a strange light seemed to pulse out from the book she was holding, almost as though someone had reflected light from the room around them onto the bookshelf in a rippling pattern. As this light passed over the bookshelf, it seemed to shift the books themselves. They seemed to almost become two dimensional, before sliding apart, the edges vanishing into thin air as they moved.

Upon doing so, they revealed a door to another room, which was unusual to say the least. In it was a series of bubbling pots and cauldrons, as well as several shelves covered in varying herbs and spices. Everything in the room seemed to be of a different world. On the wall opposite the door was the shelves of varying ingredients. Just below it was something akin to a kitchen, with two rows of pots, beakers, and other vials bubbling and glowing. To the far right of the room was a series of bookshelves, each one containing books with leather, fur, and even bark bindings. The the left, all along the wall, was a series of different types of shelves and mounts. On these mounts were things like swords, knives, and what appeared to be athames. On a long table in front of these mounts was a set of jewelry boxes and busts. On some of these busts were earings, and on others were different necklaces. Each of these items had either a gem embedded or added to them, or varying runes and symbols carved into their designs. There were also boxes of rings, bracelets, and all manner of other jewelry, with a similar theme of gems and runes to match that of the necklaces. The strangest thing in the room, however, was what rested on a small side table, which was right next to the entrance. Someone could simply walk through the doors, turn slightly, and see it. It was a solid black phone, which rested in a small stand, and had a rotating dial-pad.