Alna set the last of the dishes in their rightful place, mentally breathing a sigh of relief––an act that caused a small gust of wind to ripple throughout her mental world. After facing her parents’ ire on Wednesday, Alna concluded that she owed them some form of an apology. Besides the verbal, of course. Thus she had found herself searching up breakfast recipes yesterday before going out to purchase the proper ingredients.

  She’d hoped picking a rather unique recipe––one she’d never heard of––would make the task of baking more entertaining. It didn’t.

  At least White was arrested, Alna thought as she glanced at the muffins. That made any amount of boredom worth it

  Taking a seat at the kitchen table, Alna set an alarm on her phone and pulled her copy of Pride and Prejudice toward her. She opened it to the last page she’d been on and began to read, forcing herself to remain aware of her surroundings at the same time. Alna was about ninety-eight percent certain her alarm would alert her should she become too absorbed in Elizabeth Bennet’s world, but it never hurt to be cautious.

  She tried to ignore the insistent pull on her eyelids, blinking back the tiredness.

  At the fifteen minute mark, Alna stood and checked on the muffins. They were coming along just fine. If her parents and brothers didn’t rise early, then they would be done before her family woke. She returned to the kitchen table, picking up her novel once more.

  By the time the muffins were cooling on a rack, seven o’ clock was mere minutes away. Her family would be up soon––her parents, anyway. It was possible Evan and Colton would sleep in longer, as they did not need to be at school until nine.

  Sure enough, as Alna was washing and putting away the dishes, Aiden appeared in the kitchen, fully dressed. His eyelids were half closed over dark brown eyes, black hair still mussed. Alna smiled a bit.

  Upon realizing that the kitchen was occupied, Aiden stopped short.

  “You made breakfast?” he asked, eyes roving over the muffins.

  “Indeed,” Alna confirmed as she placed the whisk she’d used in one of the various drawers in the kitchen. She turned to face her father, hands clasping in front of herself as she took in her father’s posture––not to mention the look on his face.

  His widened eyes showed clear surprise, which soon narrowed warily. Aiden wasn’t tense, exactly, but it was clear he was still suspicious, going by the slight tightening of his mouth. Likely she thought Alna was trying to kiss up, make him forget the undue stress she’d caused both her parents the other day. Alna was trying to apologize––she would admit that without hesitation––but she resented the implication of grovelling.

  However, going by the way Aiden’s face had lit up for a moment, her efforts were appreciated all the same.

  Aiden let out a small sigh. “Alna, you know you’re not getting it back yet.”

  “I know,” Alna replied, no emotion in her voice. After her parents had calmed down, they had decided that Alna would have to be without her laptop for exactly one week, as penalty for her coming home much later than they would have liked.

  “However,” Alna continued, “I believe I owe you and Mom an apology.” She nodded toward the muffins. “This could be a start.”

  She owed it to her parents to accept this punishment. They would hear no complaints from her.

  Aiden stared at her for a thoughtful moment before his eyes softened. Walking forward, he slipped an arm across Alna’s back and pulled her in for a brief embrace. Alna leaned her head on Aiden’s shoulder, not quite returning the hug but not rejecting it, either.

  Pulling back, Aiden dropped a kiss to Alna’s forehead and murmured a quiet “Love you, Alna.”

  Alna, more for her own amusement than anything, returned the sentiment in German. Aiden grinned at her.

  “So,” he said, walking over to the muffins, “what kind are these?” Down the hallway, Alna could hear someone shuffling around. Victoria, it seemed, judging by the footfalls; they were heavier than Evan’s and Colton’s.

  Anyone else might have been surprised that Victoria had dragged herself out of bed this early in the morning. Alna had heard her leave the house at two twenty-six last night––presumably to perform an emergency surgery. She didn’t know what time Victoria had returned, but it was safe to assume that she had gotten less than enough sleep.

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Pecan pie muffins,” Alna said. When he turned, raising a sceptical eyebrow at her, Alna felt her lips twitch up. “I promise you they’re healthy.”

  Aiden eyed her for another moment before giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. “I’ll take your word for it.”

  As Alna took a seat across from her father, Victoria appeared in the kitchen, eyes half-lidded and light brown hair in a messy bun.

  Despite her haggard appearance, Victoria did not appear forlorn or agitated. Unlike most doctors, she found it difficult to remain detached like others in the profession. Not that Victoria was unprofessional in her job. By all rights, she was a “fantastic” doctor––as Alna had heard from some coworkers. She simply lacked the ability to be emotionally detached when a patient died under her care.

  However, going by Victoria’s appearance, last night must have been successful. There was no defeat in her chocolate eyes, no slump to her shoulders.

  Alna decided to ask, anyway. “The surgery was successful, then?”

  Victoria, who had been staring at the muffins with vague surprise, jerked her gaze to her daughter. “How did you––” she started to ask before she cut herself off. She closed her eyes and shook her head with a slight smile.

  “It went fine.” Victoria slumped into a chair next to Aiden, resting her cheek against her hand as she eyed the muffins before looking back at Alna. “Minimal complications.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Alna said with sincerity. “Would you like me to wake the boys?”

  “No, let them sleep a little longer. Colton should be up in a few minutes, anyway,” Aiden rebuked. He picked up his muffin from the plate he’d taken from the stack, chewing thoughtfully. A slight glimmer appeared in his eyes, informing Alna that he was enjoying her little experiment.

  As it turned out, the twins didn’t need to be woken up, as they did that all by themselves. Evan stumbled into the kitchen at seven-eighteen, covering his mouth as he yawned. Much like Victoria, he all but fell into his chair with little to no grace. Colton followed minutes later, much more alert than his brother. Unlike Evan, he seemed intrigued by the breakfast Alna had made, and even thanked her for making it. Alna smiled at that, ruffling his hair. He tried to slap her hand away.

  Alna had to resist the urge to stand and excuse herself after she’d finished eating two muffins herself. As much as she loved her family, Alna was one some people might call a “lone wolf” and she longed for the sanctuary of her room. Or, more specifically, she was eager to get back to the criminology course she had started working on.

  She would have to look for her and Marianna’s next “case” as well.

  By the time everyone had left the house to start their day, it was after eight-thirty. Alna did some last-minute cleaning of the kitchen before heading back to her bedroom. She set her alarm, deciding she’d allow herself to sleep for forty-five minutes.

  Forty-five minutes that she spent entertaining herself in her own mentally constructed world. She created a new forest a few kilometers away from Miriam University––a university she had created months ago for her own amusement, when she was supposed to have been watching a movie with Marianna. Thankfully, Marianna had taken no offense to Alna’s lack of attention to the film.

  She spent the rest of her nap wandering around, adjusting and rebuilding as she saw fit.

  To Alna’s chargin, the alarm on her phone went off much sooner than she would have liked. At least she could work her course now, she thought as her eyes popped open, bringing her back to the real world. She had to wait nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds before her body caught up with her brain, and Alna could move again.

  Alna loved having such control over her own mind, but the paralysis she experienced sometimes after awakening was a definite drawback.

  Once she had regained her movement, Alna made quick work to turn off her grating alarm and did some quick stretches to alleviate the stiffness in her muscles. She then ventured upstairs to grab a quick of water and retreated back to her personal sanctuary––in the real world, anyway.

  Alna was soon sitting atop her bed covers, eyes riveted to her phone as she worked on her course. It was rather fascinating, examining animal behavior and studies of the human brain to determine why people committed certain crimes.

  Alna had just reached the point in which she was halfway through the first module, watching an assigned video, when her phone rang. The video paused, Marianna’s name appeared on top of the screen.

  Her brows furrowed as Alna checked the time. It wasn’t noon yet, so Alna hadn’t lost hours without realizing it. And yet it was too early for Marianna’s lunch break. Alna wasn’t the type of person who needed to be aware of her girlfriend’s every movement at all times, but she had a decent idea of what Marianna’s schedule was. If she was calling now (likely during classtime), the chances of there being something wrong went as high as ninety-seven percent.

  All this went through Alna’s mind in the time it took her phone to ring twice more. Wasting no more time, she pressed the “accept call” button on her screen and brought the phone to her ear.

  “Marianna?” Alna asked in lieu of a greeting, noting the concern in her own voice. Concerned, but not panicked.

  “Hey,” Marianna said. There was an edge of shock in her voice, as if she was in a state of disbelief. Immediately, Alna thoughts began racing. What could have caused the shock?

  “Marianna,” Alna said, the worry continuing to bleed through her voice. “What’s happened?” Without her consent, Alna’s hand flexed around the phone, her grip tightening as she struggled to remain calm.

  “Um.” Marianna sounded bewildered, as if she couldn’t believe the next words that came out of her mouth: “One of my teachers is dead. And… I think someone killed him.”

  Alna blew out a breath. Well, at least she was all right. So to speak.