Emily and Jessica sit next to Carrot’s bed and hold her hand. They were still recovering from the beating they received from the men who forced their way into their house and beat them. If it hadn’t been for the strangely dressed woman and her companion, they would be dead right now.
Emily rubs Carrot’s hand as Jessica moves some of Carrot’s red hair out of her eyes. They had been brought to a secluded location and received injuries from the men wearing military gear. A woman with long blonde hair and green eyes treated them. She had just laid her hands on their bodies and felt a warm sensation travel throughout their bodies, healing their injuries.
Afterward, the woman had introduced herself as Leto. They noticed she had a heavy Greek accent. The two women had been amazed that, when she touched them, she knew all their injuries. That included things they hadn’t told Carrot or each other yet.
After the woman had healed them, she introduced herself. She informed them that their daughter, Carrot, had been located along with her friends and was in the process of being rescued. After Leto left them to talk among themselves, they later met a huge guy named Cecil.
Cecil was a huge man standing almost eight feet tall and built like a grizzly bear. He looked like he had spent his entire life outside in the weather. His facial features and the leathery-looking skin gave away how long he had been exposed to the elements.
His steely gaze and hawk-like facial features spoke volumes. They had been taken to a huge mansion on acres of land. The people they met at the residence were a mix of anthropomorphic animals, like Carrot and her friends. As for the other people they met, they were strange-looking humans.
The humans had strange features or looked like characters from a comic book. One woman had a tail like a squirrel. Everything else about her was normal, except for the huge tail coming out of her back that looked like something a squirrel had.
She was wearing a headband with ears shaped like a squirrel. She even had a brown squirrel sitting on her shoulder. Which, in itself, was unusual, because squirrels normally were grey, and this one was a little bigger than normal.
The woman reminds them of Carrot before she was fully transformed into a humanoid rabbit. Jessica looks at her adopted daughter as she sleeps. One of the resident doctors who works at the mansion had taken care of Carrot and tended to her injuries.
Emily and Jessica were informed that Carrot had been surgically opened several times and her insides had been moved around and improperly put back. Pieces of her organs and her reproductive system had been removed. The fur that had been cut away was slowly growing back on Carrot’s body, but it was a different color from her normal pure white fur.
It is later in the afternoon when Carrot slowly regains consciousness. At first, she was still feeling fuzzy, and her body was slightly hurting her. As she opens her eyes, she starts looking around. She notices her mother sitting by the bed where she had been lying.
At first she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She felt her hand being held, “moms?”
“We’re here, baby.” Jessica squeezes Carrot’s hand to reassure her.
“I thought you were dead?” Carrot saw both her mothers sitting by her bed.
“It’s a long story, baby. We’ll explain when you’re feeling better. Just relax and get some rest.”
“Don’t leave me, please.” Carrot squeezes her mother’s hand.
“I won’t, baby. We’ll be right here by your side.” Emily leans over and places a kiss on Carrot’s forehead.
Jessica does the same thing. They thought they had lost the only daughter they ever had. Sure, she was a little strange, but they loved her anyway.
Main Kitchen:
“Today, we are having roast beef with chive mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables seasoned with my special spices.” Noemi looked at Bruce as he stood on the other side of the island counter.
Noemi had her long silver hair tied back in a ponytail so it wouldn’t get into the food. She loved cooking and was well-trained in various styles.
“You’re just showing off now.” Bruce watches as Noemi starts sprinkling her special blend of spices onto the vegetables.
She moves from one pan to another. There were at least six large cookie sheets with various mixed vegetables on them. She seasons all six cookie sheets and drops several spoonsful of home-made butter onto each sheet. Afterward, she covers the cookie sheets with foil and places them into the two large ovens behind her.
She places the roast beef into a third oven to cook. The kitchen where the two people were standing had been designed to cook and feed a large group.
“You’re having too much fun.” Bruce watches Noemi move onto the next dish for dinner.
“Noemi, can I have a cookie, please?” Bambi comes walking into the kitchen.
She has been working outside helping Tammy, Henry, and Kevin with the flower beds all morning and skipped lunch to finish up a job. The job was preparing the new pond for the Koi fish they were getting.
Noemi looks at Bambi, and a smile appears on her middle-aged face. “Why weren’t you at lunch, young lady?”
“I was finishing up the new pond for the Koi fish we were getting.” Bambi was the youngest and oldest person on the property.
“I guess. Which one would you like?” Noemi always made several different cookies for everyone who lived on the property.
“Mmm!!! How about a chocolate chip cookie, please?” Bambi had a major sweet tooth.
Noemi walks over to the different cookie jars, stops at the chocolate chip jar, and takes out a cookie with her tongs. She wraps a piece of wax paper around the bottom and hands it to Bambi.
“Here you go, sweetie. Don’t get any crumbs on the floor.” Noemi hands the cookie to Bambi.
“Thank you, Noemi.” Bambi accepts the cookie and takes a bite. The cookie was small, about the size of a small pancake.
Bambi turns and walks out of the kitchen, munching on her cookie. She was happy and would be alright until dinner, after eating the cookie.
“You know she is older than you and me combined.” Bruce looks at Noemi when he says that.
“I know, and if it wasn’t for the curse she is under. She would be smarter than anyone here.” Noemi knew Bambi was over four hundred years old and had been taken advantage of by everyone who had ever come across her over the years.
Noemi knew the history of everyone currently stationed/living at the mansion. She was the head housekeeper and caretaker of the mansion. She was glad Cecil and his money had saved the place. She loved this place and the surrounding woods.
“How many people do we know who are under a curse?” Bruce knew several of his people were under a curse or had been transformed by unscrupulous people.
“As of now? I think twenty people, currently.” Noemi knew there were at least twenty people in the organization under curses, and several others who had been transformed or born differently.
“How’s the little rabbit girl and her friends doing?” Bruce looks at Noemi when he asks her.
“According to Joe and Brenda, our visitors are doing okay. Some of them are going to take longer to heal, but Leto said the special tea should help.” Noemi liked working with Leto and her daughter.
“Where exactly did Cecil find her?” Bruce was curious.
“He didn’t find her; she found him, thanks to her daughter. He was wounded while hunting in Africa and would have died if Leto’s daughter Angela hadn’t stumbled upon him. She managed to slow the bleeding, but needed serious medical help, and they were out in the middle of nowhere. So, Leto’s daughter asked her mother for help.” Noemi had talked to Cecil and asked him how he survived, and he told her the story.
“I didn’t think the stories about demigod/dess were true.” Bruce found that the stories about demigods, demons, the supernatural, and other things people believed in were fairy tales.
“After meeting Leto and her cousin, I’m a believer.” Noemi met Titanis once, when she brought a wounded shapeshifter to the mansion for help.
“There’s another one?” Bruce couldn’t believe there was another one.
A smile appears on Noemi’s face: “Yes, there is another one. Titanis is Leto’s cousin.
“So, who are Leto and her cousin related to?” Bruce wonders which Greek god was playing around with mortals.
“According to what I have gathered, Leto is Apollo’s daughter, and Titanis is Athena’s daughter.”
“Wow! I never knew Athena had a daughter.” Bruce always thought she was a virgin.
“Well, somewhere in history, she had a daughter.” Noemi gathers the ingredients to make fresh bread.
“Who knew.” Noemi starts mixing the dough in the huge mixer.
Bruce walks over to one of the refrigerators and grabs a beer. The one he grabbed was home-brewed by one of the occupants of the mansion. The person also made moonshine.
Bruce helps Noemi when she is done mixing the dough. He also helps her divided the dough up and prepare it to be baked, after letting it raise.