COMPLETED Remembrance of Self | Fantasy | LGBTQ

Chapter 6 - Part 1

The delicious aroma of roasted meat lazily filled Haiden's nose with countless blurred memories. He took a deep breath to savour the watering smell as he looked over the table at a wiry woman chopping a handful of vegetables while humming a broken but soothing melody. Heavy footsteps coming down the stairway to his left grabbed his attention, a round stout man descended and casually took a seat next him. The man's face was strangely unfamiliar, yet Haiden knew exactly who he was. All the blood from Haiden's face drained in an instant. With a warm smile the man greeted Haiden 'good morning' allowing a deep rumble to escape his joly face.

"You're in a good mood." the woman turned around, her face relaxed in a genuine smile as her eyes darted over Haiden. Just like the man, her face was that of a stranger's.

They didn't look like this, did they? Haiden asked himself.

"'Corse, big day today." the man replied. "Master .... is coming by today." Haiden saw the man's lips move but no sound came out when he spoke the name. Dismissing it, he turned his attention to the plate of roasted meat in front of him, unsure how it got there.

"For a big order, no doubt." the woman added.

"You know it!" the man laughed. "We could finally afford a new mron and retire poor old ..., he can't carrying as much as he used to." the man said then turned to Haiden. "What's soured your pants?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Look at you, sweety. You're all paled up like the dead. Not feeling well? Let me see." the woman hurried at Haiden's side, taking his head in both of her warm hands and placing her soft lips on his forehead. This made Haiden flinch in surprise.

"Tell it to me straight, ....Is he goina' live?" the stout man asked with his joly attitutide. The name of the woman faded out and Haiden could not hear it.

"Don't joke like that! I swear, creators are going to listen to your wisecracks one day." she chided. "How are you feeling, Haiden?" she asked. Amber eyes, identical to his, awaited Haiden's reply expectantly.

"Y-yea, I'm fine." he said pulling away from her. The woman gave him a worried glanced and went back to cutting vegetables.

"Good, good." she said resuming her humming. A sense of uneasy overcame Haiden, building in the pit of his stomach as the melody became more broken and gutural. He glanced at the man next to him, enjoying his meal, he focused only on the roast in front of him. He ate with such vehemence, he cared not for the slobber and bits of food sprayed on the table. The corner of Haiden's mouth curled in disgust.

"How!? How are you still alive?" he blurted out jumping out of the chair, toppling it over.

"Sweety, don't joke like that! I swear you got your pa's humor." the woman said, keeping her back to him. Her voice now coarse modulating haphazardly, she started to hum again, but this time any resemblance of a melody was gone.

"What's gotten into you, son?" the man asked, still shoveling meat in his mouth, swallowing without even chewing.

"I-I need to get out of here!" Haiden turned to the door and tried to run, but in his hast he completely forgot about the chair and fell over, sprawled on the floor.

"You can't go, Haid-. You haven't touched your your food." the woman said in her distorted voice. "You need to TO to eaT."

"Let him go, ... . He never was good for anything anyways. Done nothing for us, he did." the man lashed out as Haiden scrambled to push himself up and reach the door. With a final glance back he saw the woman's features were shifting slightly ajar, morphing into something else. He didn't wait to see what and pushed through the door.