Moon Wish-Doll Chapter 02
Mrs. Anderson clamped her mouth shut, too nervous to utter another word.
Her husband was bedridden, and her eldest daughter
was in college–tuition was a massive expense.
If she lost this job, she’d be in serious trouble.
Dad had made his threat plain enough for anyone to understand.
He wasn’t like this when Mom was still here.
He used to be kind to people like Mrs. Anderson. He
knew her situation was hard and gave her raises anyway.
“We’ve all struggled through hard days,” he used to say. “We ought to lend a hand where we can.”
He’d also told Derek and me to study hard, so we could create more jobs and help people live better
lives.
“Every member of the Pack deserves equal treatment. Threatening someone with their livelihood is the lowest move imaginable, and I hate it more than anything.”
And now he’d laid that very thing out in the open.
Derek shot Mrs. Anderson a cold look too. “Mrs.
Anderson, you must be rolling in cash if you’ve got spare time to stick your nose into other people’s business. Let’s drop your wages by twenty percent.”
Mrs. Anderson’s face crumbled.
She slipped out of the kitchen, her quiet begging fading alongside the others‘ voices down the hallway.
The cook jabbed his rough finger against my forehead again, his tone dripping with mockery. “Miss Claire, a hundred bowls. Take your time.”
He portioned out the oats–only enough for one bowl at a time.
He’d set up exactly one hundred servings.
A little hot plate sat on the floor, the cord stretching across the tiles.
I knelt on the freezing marble.
Every time the cook moved behind me, he bumped into me.
Every time he moved behind me, he’d brush roughly against me on purpose. When pouring water, he’d shove my shoulder hard enough to douse my clothes.
When he reached for sugar, he jostled me again-
scalding hot porridge splashed onto my legs.
It hurt. It burned. Numbness crept in.
The sticky hot slop clinging to my legs burned so bad I couldn’t hold back my tears.
But Derek called from the doorway, “Are you out of your mind? What’s taking you forever? Are you this useless on purpose, trying to let Nora go hungry?”
Finally, one bowl was ready.
I carried it out on trembling hands.
Nora took one tiny sip, spat it straight out, and burst into loud sobs.
“Claire, if you’re mad at me, just say so. Why ruin my food? The healer told me to eat light–I just got out of the hospital!”
“You made it way too salty and rich–do you want me back in the Pack hospital?”
Derek’s icy voice cut through, making me flinch.
“Claire Caldwell, you’re vicious. I only pushed you a
little, and you made the oatmeal that salty? You just don’t want Nora to be well, do you?”
But I hadn’t put any salt in the oatmeal at all.
Why would it be salty?
I lifted the spoon to my own mouth and tasted it.
Mild. Faintly sweet.
I quickly scooped another spoonful and held it up to Derek.
“Derek, taste it. It’s not bad. I didn’t add any salt! I know Nora’s sick, so I didn’t…”
Derek knocked the spoon out of my hand before I could finish.
“Still lying? Are you saying Nora’s the liar? You’re the liar here.”
“First you lied about turning into a Moonbound Doll, and now you’re lying about the food. What’s next?”
Derek’s Alpha friends had come to visit Nora and were just walking in.
A couple of them saw what was happening and frowned.
“Derek, don’t you think you’re being a little hard on Claire? Back in my family, we coddle all the youngest kids. Yours even knows how to cook all by herself.
“Yeah. She’s just a little kid—can’t you cut her some slack?”
It’d been so long since anyone defended me. A little
warmth flickered in my chest, and I tried to smile at them.
But my body was slowly turning into a Moonbound Doll.
My smile came out stiff and unnatural.
Another one of his buddies let out an odd, mocking
snort. “Don’t smile, you look like something out of
the uncanny valley. I was about to stick up for you, but seeing that face? Forget it.”