109 Chapter 18 (1/2)

”Fertilized duck egg,” Eric answered, nonchalant in his voice. He was already eating his second egg.

Evangeline frowned. She didn't hear anything like it before.

But then, she shrugged since it was neither bad or delicious. It was okay. She pressed the egg against her lips and sucked from its crack. Something shot in her mouth, and she stopped sucking. A little stunned and uneasy, she munched the chunky flesh.

Crunch!

Her brows creased as the food ground between her teeth. It was soft and crunchy and . . . slimy.

Shrugging away the weird combination of textures, she pushed it down in her throat as she peeled the rest of the sh.e.l.l, exposing the yellow gooey substance.

She looked at Eric from the corner of her eyes. He smiled, nodding at her. Holding her breath, she ate the unknown yellow substance with close eyes. To her amazement, the texture was coa.r.s.e but soft while the taste was very far from exquisite, though not entirely bland. It was okay.

”Here. I've cracked it for you.” Eric handed the last egg to her, beaming as she accepted it.

Not minding the taste, she drank the juices before she sucked the rest only to stopped when she couldn't slurp anything. She peeled the sh.e.l.l, a little curious of what was inside. And accidentally, a big chunk cracked and shed from the pressure she let out, and what was in the darkness came in full view under the warm lights.

Black. It was black with protruding beak as mouth and little claws as feet. It was covered in white slimy fluid and had tiny furs and little veins swarming in shades of purple green and blue like tiny worms. But what bothered her was its eyes. It was white with no life whatsoever, looking straight at her.

Her fingers visibly trembled, and before a scream echoed in her mouth, her eyes rolled at the back of her head. Darkness consumed her, and the last thing she heard was the frantic voice of Eric.

”EVE!”

----

Evangeline woke up as the warm rays of the sun slip from the gap of the window curtains, replacing the darkness with morning lights. She groaned in protest, pushing herself from the bed. Sitting, she rubbed her eyes and frowned when she noticed she was still wearing the clothes she wore yesterday.

Thinking back, she didn't know what happened after the dinner with Eric. There was like a thick fog surrounding the memory in her brain.

She must have pa.s.sed out from too much stimulation. Shrugging, she got up and went for the bathroom. She felt icky and sticky at the knowledge she was still wearing her clothes from yesterday, and the makeup on her face itched.

After bathing, she walked out of the bathroom, glancing at the clock. It was still early in the morning, so she took her time to doll up before she finally went out of her room.

The delicious smell of steamed salmon, poached eggs, and freshly toasts bread wafted in her nose that made her stomach growled in delight. She didn't pay her stomach any mind. Her eyes were busy a.s.sessing the man who was cooking in the open kitchen in a simple shirt and jogging pants. His wet tousled hair was, like yesterday, swiped to the side with some hairs falling on her forehead while his eyes were unhindered by any obstruction.

He must have noticed she wanted to see his eyes without gla.s.ses, and she giggled at the thought. Waking up every morning with him, the person who she saw first before she started her day, really made her mood brighten that not even the end of the world could dampen.

Feeling full of bliss and contentment, she approached him, floating as she strode.

Eric's lips kicked up in a smile as he sets the dining table with plates of food in hand. There was silence between them, but their eyes spoke endless emotions. Not until Eric sets the dishes on the table and turned to the open kitchen to prepare her tea did the silence was disturbed.

Evangeline propped her head with one hand, elbow resting against the table as she watched Eric prepared her tea. Her pets at the side were lying on the ground with belly full of undigested food.

”What happen last night?” she started, ”I seem to forget what happened after you fed me that mix rice.”

Eric paused, took a quick peek at Evangeline and simply answered, ”You pa.s.s out.” If she didn't remember about the fertilized duck egg . . . that's probably for the best.

Evangeline's brows crumpled. ”Oh . . .” She didn't have any history of pa.s.sing out. Her heart was strong, and her mental tenacity was top notch. At least, she believed so. The stimulation must have been really intense for her to pa.s.s out.

”You know . . . I have a strange dream last night.” She shifted the conversation.

”What kind of dream?” Eric asked, sauntering to the table with a teapot and cups in hand.

”It's really strange. In the dream, I was chased by these . . . tiny chickens without eyes.” Evangeline's body quaked from some reason while her fine hair rose on end, gooseb.u.mps crawled on her skin. Her brain continued releasing dark fogs, clouding her memory, didn't want her to remember anything.

Strange . . .

Eric skidded to a stop, lips smacking in one line. I guess that means no chicken for a month.

He poured tea on her cup, placed it on the table, and stared at her. He felt the warmth radiated from her, and his eyes softened.

”It's a dream. Don't overthink it,” he cooed.

”Mm . . .” No words came out from her lips as he approached her, closer. His fresh after shower smell caused havoc in her system.

”. . .”

”. . .”