The Wolfe Manor - DISCONTINUED

Chapter Elev͇̱̠̻͕͍̔́́̅̎̕̚ͅe̹̤͎̞̾̍͆͊̂́͛͊̆͢n̨̘̪̳͓̻̹͂̌̀̈́͐͘͟

Maria
~~~
Day 3

The sun hadn't even risen yet. The sky was a deep dark blue that was turning light, little by little. The clock peeking from the dining room read "5:57" in bold cursive Roman numerals.

I spent the rest of the night trying to pacify the pulsing in my wound but nothing had worked no matter what I did. I lost so much blood I felt nauseous and lightheaded. Both were feelings that were familiar to me but still left me weak. The other slaves were fine-save for Elena, Robin, and Steven; nobody else made a sound except those who had bloody hands. After hours of restless hours, we eventually were roused to make breakfast for Master Wolfe.

We were given six short recipes on yellowed paper that appeared to be ripped out from an ancient book. It was nothing like I've ever made. There were two different recipes for baked egg Danish, another for English scones, two blueberry, banana, and raspberry crepes, and one more for oatmeal. It seemed like a lot just for breakfast and I hoped that we would have more time to do better.

As for me, I was given a simple coffee recipe. The easiest thing I was able to do in this hell. Of course, I didn't need it, but in case that Master Wolfe disliked it, I didn't want to be punished again.

Still exhausted and shaken up by the night before, I grabbed a tin pot full of water and placed it on the stove, water spilling out. "Crap," I murmured sleepily, snatching a cloth to clean it.

"Master Wolfe doesn't expect this to be perfect does he?" Steven asked, looking stunned.

"Let's just try, Steven." Robin sighed. "That's all we can do right now." She and Elena both started searching again for the ingredients used for the recipes and getting dishes and utensils.

I admired their quick response to things and how effectively they got things done. But what I couldn't understand was that they wouldn't even step back and try to figure out how they could escape since they were too busy trying to please Master Wolfe. Robin and Elena would be very helpful in finding a way out; Robin looked cunning and intelligent while Elena wise and strong. Steven wouldn't be very useful though. He looked too scared out of his wits to even try.

I glanced at the water that was now boiling on the stove, its water bubbling softly now. An idea suddenly came to mind and now I wondered why I hadn't thought of it before. It would be very risky, but maybe it would work.

Opening the cabinet on my right, I pulled out the coffee grinds and poured it into the pot, lowering the heat to let the water simmer. Then I searched the cabinets under the sink. Every house had this, there was no way it couldn't be in here.

~̷̣̈́~̸͋̽́̈́́͝͠~

Master Wolfe

It looked much better this time. The meal looked like it just straight-out jumped out from the pages. It was set nicely on the table like the night before and it was decorated the same way–tablecloth, flowers and all. The delightful aroma of coffee floated in the air and I almost closed my eyes in pleasure ere I realized the slaves were still there.

The slaves looked eagerly–and fearfully–at us. They all had dark red crusty marks on the palms of their hands and I wondered if that was Baine. At least he was that he was able to punish them without affecting their ability to cook.

I glanced at the young girl with the long black hair, the one who tried to escape. She now looked skinnier and exhausted than she did when Baine first brought her to the manor. She wasn't bony but she had definitely lost a little bit of weight. Just by looking at her posture I knew she felt scared and vulnerable.