My F*cked Up Fairytale

HUMAN DELICACIES - CHAPTER NINE

"Please, Miss, just–..." 

He suddenly shut his mouth, red eyes trained on something behind me. I don't need to turn around to know that it's Dorian who is currently instilling fear into poor Callon.

"I'll grant you permission to use my kitchen," Dorian concedes, much to my astonishment. I whirl around to face him with a grin, almost, just almost hugging him out of gratitude. "But! You must allow Callon to accompany you, and I'd also like you to provide me with some of this..."

"Pizza," I fill in the gap in his sentence.

"Right, peet-sah. I want to taste this human delicacy in exchange for letting you use my kitchen."

I stick out my hand, and Dorian reluctantly shakes it as I cheer, "It's a deal!"

Callon, me, and Cat, who has decided to follow me, set off toward the kitchen. I had been expecting a kitchen much like the one back at my childhood home. A standard oven, small sink, pots, pans, and a few cooking utensils. Boy, was I gravely incorrect. 

My mouth falls open as I take in the sight of the grand kitchen. Two wooden tables sit in the middle. In the center of the tables, lay all types of produce. From tomatoes to peppers, all of it is there for the taking. Then, there are the appliances. The standard oven of my world is replaced with a ginormous metal box that looks as though you could cook an entire person inside of it. The door is in the shape of a half circle that is curved at the top and flattened into a long line at the bottom with a handle in the center. Yeah, you can definitely fit a person through that door. 

I glance over to Callon. The question concerning if these vampires have ever cooked a person in that oven hangs on my tongue. I push it away and set to work making the pizza. As I expected, it's a little challenging to navigate the large kitchen, and even more challenging to work the oven from hell. 

A pizza that normally takes me only thirty or so minutes to get into the oven took me over an hour. I sigh as I wash my flour-caked hands off in the water basin, watching as Cat crawls up Callon's pant leg.

Callon unsuccessfully attempts to shake Cat off of him. "Perhaps a bit of cat meat would heighten the flavor of tonight's dinner?"

I gasp at his suggestion, "Don't be so mean to Cat, or else I'll tell Dori!"

At the mention of my nickname for Dorian, Callon shifts his gaze over to me. His mouth opens, then closes as he clenches his jaw. I dry off my hands, patiently waiting for him to get out whatever is on his mind.

"Is 'Dori' how you are referring to Master Dorian?" He finally asks, to which I nod my head. "Oh, Master Dorian never lets anyone refer to him by anything other than his given name." His voice lowers as he adds, "I guess he has taken a fancy to you, Miss."

"In that case, I feel I must inform you of something. It pertains to Master Dorian," He takes a deep breath, red eyes glistening in the all-too-bright lights from above before his gaze hardens. I stiffen involuntarily at the coldness searing through me. 

"Ever since you were brought to this manor, he has slowly begun to change. Those frequent smiles and laughing fits of his had never happened before, spare for the select few times when he was a baby. But, after his mother passed, he didn't show a shred of happiness, just pure despair. He was even given the second name of 'Princeps Tristitiae'."