You Found Me

Chapter 5

My nose twitched at the smell of bacon and my stomach growled loudly. I sat up, rubbing my eyes to see the sun rising over the mountain. The gentle, deep humming of a man came from the kitchen and my heart pounded in fear. Who was in the kitchen?

I stood, making sure that the oversized button down shirt covered everything and slid on a pair of grey leggings. Slowly I edged my way towards the kitchen, hiding behind the half wall. My heart was pounding in my ears, adrenaline rushed through my veins.

“Riley what are you doing?” I yelped and fell backwards landing on the floor with a dull thud as Drew stood over me with panic. “Are you alright?”

I nodded, my face growing hot. “Fine.” I mumbled, standing up and brushing myself off.

“Sorry for scaring you.” He apologised as I walked to the kitchen. A small smile lit up my face as I looked at the slightly charred bacon and undercooked eggs. It was sweet that he’d tried but from the look of things he couldn’t cook very well- I guess it was the thought that counts though.

I moved into the kitchen and when he followed me, pointedly looked at a stool sitting behind the breakfast bar. I guess I trusted him a little bit more; he had the chance to hurt me when I was asleep but instead tried to cook breakfast. True he came into my apartment uninvited but it was his property and it was a given that he would have a master key so it wasn’t like he was breaking any laws. Not like Paul.

He sat down on the chair and I could feel him watching me as I moved around the small kitchen, getting out the things I needed and tossing away the burnt and undercooked food.

The kitchen used the space well with many cupboards and lots of bench space. A small herb garden sat on the breakfast bar which was in front of the sink.

I mixed up the scrambled egg mix, adding a bit of Sweet Chilli sauce to make it tangy. The whole apartment smelt of bacon and egg- pretty good if I do say so myself.

I hadn’t cooked much over the last year; Paul hardly ever eaten and there was never any food in the kitchen, ever. I could never figure out why Paul never ate but I guess now I knew, everything made sense. His erratic behaviour, temper, abuse, nocturnal habits and why I never saw him during the day. Last night was the first time I had gotten a good night’s sleep and I felt better for it.

Come to think of it I felt full of energy, like I could do anything. I wanted to run, as fast and as far as I could.

I snapped back to reality just before the bacon ended up like last time. I spooned everything onto two separate plates and set them in front of Drew with a knife and a fork. Before I could sit down I pulled out a glass and poured out some orange juice.

When I turned back to Drew an airy laugh escaped. He was shovelling the food into his mouth like it was his last meal. He gave me a cheeky grin before setting down his fork and chewing what was in his mouth. “You’re an amazing cook Riley!”

A gave him a small smile as I sat on a stool, a few feet away from him. I sipped my juice and took very small forks of egg, savouring the flavour and putting my fork down between bites. As much as I wanted to eat everything on my plate, only half of what I’d given Drew, I knew that I would be sick if I tried and that would just end with me back in the infirmary.

I set my fork down after a few minutes and began staring the crevices in the stone walls- this castle must have been hundreds of years old! I had always found history fascinating and I’m sure that his castle had an interesting past.

“Riley?” I sighed and turned my head to look at Drew. Why was it always him who bought me out of my thoughts? “You need to eat more.” My temper flared at his order and I frowned, shaking my head. “Why?” He asked curiously, pushing back his stool and pulling out the one next to me. His proximity unnerved me, though his scent was very appealing. I still remembered the way he growled, the wolf that held eyes similar, if not the same as his. These things only added to his sheer size and ethereal aura; he was dangerous, very dangerous. I didn’t get the impression that he was going to hurt me but even the most innocent person can be a very good liar, manipulative and cunning.