Cooking by the book

Content Warning: This story includes depictions of violence, murder, and cannibalism that could be distressing for some readers.

Age Rating: 18+

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She held his hand firmly between hers, a bandage decorated her finger.

“Have I ever told you how incredibly fortunate I consider myself to have found you?” She spoke in a soft, gentle tone. A slight blush was visible on his face.

“Zephira!! Stop! I uhm… you know how easily I am embarrassed! I…m..me too!” He stuttered slightly out of embarrassment.

A soft playful chuckle escaped her lips as she parted them, leaning a little closer toward her man, but a kitchen timer buzzed, distracting her.

“Ohh, be back in a sec!”

He leaned back in his chair, relaxed. ‘Wonder what she’s got.’ His mind recollected all of Zephira’s fav recipes, she was a professional baker after all, no matter what she baked, it would always turn out to be quite exceptional.

A shout followed instantly by a metallic clatter made him jump up from his seat. He rushed to the kitchen to find Zephira on her knees, holding onto her hand. He gasped, jumped over the scorching hot tray on the floor, and the scattered cookies, and knelt beside her.

“Are you alright?”

Her small, frail body, trembled, she lifted her head up to glance at him, her eyes turned to waterfalls as she cried out

“no… the appetizer! I… I worked so hard to bake them!”

She clenched her left hand. 

“Dawhh, darling! No, shh, it’s alright!”

He wrapped his arms lovingly around her, holding her in his embrace, trying to soothe her, and it worked.

A few brief moments and some sobbing later, she nodded.

“I’ll… make a new bat…”

she paused halfway through her sentence when a crunch distracted her. She looked up, through her tears-blurred vision, she saw him munching on 1 of the cookies he picked up from the floor.

“It’s fine.”

He said with a confident smirk.

“What the hell are you doing you dumbo!? Absolute imbecile!” She jumped up to her feet, scolding him. Her frustration and sadness were replaced by a sudden outburst of feelings and affection for the idiot she loved so much.

“Valdrek! You’re… ugh! Unbearable!” She said, bursting into lighthearted laughter.

“No, seriously. What a silly idiot…” She wiped the tears off her cheeks.

He got up and took her hands into his, another cookie in his mouth already,

“mh? Muh dunho mah mhean!” He mumbled, munching on the cookie while examining her hands. A burn mark on her left hand made him furrow his brows. He remained silent, looking at the burn, a hint of sadness was visible on his face. ‘She works so hard for me… she tries so hard. She injures herself for me, and what do I do? I’ll.. make it up for her.’

He squeezed her hands in his and then gave her a smile.

“Cnomnom lems noms mmmhh..” At first, she raised her eyebrow, then chuckled.

“Idiot, at least swallow before you try to talk!” 

He picked the cookies off the floor and treated her injury. The rest of the night they spent in each other’s embrace, gazing at the stars, and munching on the cookies. ‘I wonder what the finished product will taste like’ Zephira thought to herself, running her finger down his chest, digging her nail into his skin, gently enough to leave a trace, but hard enough to make him curious. She excused herself and headed in. A few minutes later when Valdrek entered the house, he saw her hunched over a book in the kitchen, attentively reading something in it, murmuring to herself.

“Darling? Everything alright?” She didn’t hear him enter, the sudden question made her jump, she hit the back of her head on the shelf above and whimpered, whimsically shutting the book closed and rubbing the back of her head.

“Ahhhmm! Mmh.. yea.. Uh, yes yes! Go, get ready for bed. I’ll catch up in a moment, just taking some notes.” He smiled at her warmly.

“Ouff! Careful! Youch.. That looks like it hurt…” 

She glanced at the book the title of which read ‘Cooking sweets with your sweets.’ Her lips curled up into a gentle smile, she carefully stashed the book away underneath a few other of her cooking tomes and headed to bed.

“Good night darling.” Valdrek whispered to her.

“Sweet dreams, sweets” she replied to him. They dozed off fast that night, Valdrek more so than Zephira. She glided her finger down his neck whilst he was asleep, a thought lingered on her mind ‘sweets from sweets, hehe.’ 

A few days later, when they sat at a table for another dinner, Valdrek noticed Zephira spacing out, her gaze was fixated on the apple-raspberry pie she had baked. His hands were atop hers, squeezing them gently. His gaze wandered over her hands and wrists. Numerous scars decorated her hard-working hands. He caressed her hands with his thumbs.

“I uh, got you something.” He spoke softly, attempting to draw her attention, that was strangely fixated on the pie. 

“Mmmhh?” She let out a semi distracted but curious moan. He released her left hand from his right and leaned down to pick up a gift bag that sat beside his chair. It was relatively sizeable, he brought it up and offered it to her.

“I uhm… well, it’s not much but I just thought… well, take a look.” He uttered hesitantly, a little shy perhaps, and a little uncertain of the gift.  ‘Will she cherish it and appreciate it? Or will she disregard it?’ He concerned himself.

‘I wonder what it’ll taste like’ Zephira thought to herself, her gaze fixated on his chest for the briefest of moments before darting to the gift bag.

“Oh dear, you didn’t have to! What is it?” She smiled faintly, the giftbag captivated all of her attention. She excitedly pried it open to peek inside. 

Inside were a new baking tray, and a set of high-quality cookie cutters. She rejoiced, a gentle smile spread across her lips, her gaze fell upon Valdrek, and a shiver ran down his spine, for the look she gave him seemed rather intimidating as opposed to loving, as if she was sizing him up rather than appreciating him.

“Thank you darling! I’ll put it all to good use, I promise.” She smiled warmly at him. A chill ran down his spine.

“Y..yes! Of course… Uhm… Thank you for the pie.” He said slightly hesitantly.

“Dig in.” She chimed playfully in a half singing tone, while grinning. She placed the giftbag down and watched Valdrek as he picked up a fork and a knife, and then began to cut a slice of the pie for himself. Jam, like blood, oozed out of the pie as his knife lacerated the skin of it. He pulled back instantly and gasped at the oozing jam.

Her curious gaze wandered down to the pie.

“What’s wrong, sweets? I thought you liked jam?”

He glanced up at her.

“Uhm.. yes, I just, didn’t expect it to be so full.”

The pie was incredibly sweet, almost sickeningly so. It dripped of jam. Over the next few weeks her cooking got even more daring. She would try new recipes almost daily. Jam filled cookies that bled when you ate them were her new favorite, until the night he got to see a new creation of hers, a beating heart pie, cooked in a way that while it cooled, it looked like a heart was beating inside the pie. 

That night he awoke from a sensation of something cold and sharp running tracing his neck. Startled awake he jumped from the bed.

“Wha..what was that.” In bed lied a confused girl, his beloved girl, her eyes were wide, confused by the sudden jumpiness of her darling.

“Valdrek? Wha…what’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”

He felt his neck, it was fine, everything was fine. He glanced over the bed.

“Y..yeah… sorry I just… I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” 

She pulled the blanket away and spread her arms.

“Dawhh, darling! Come here. Everything will be alright.”

He hesitated at first and then crawled into her loving embrace. Her fingers tracing through his hair and playing with his scalp was soothing and relaxing, he soon found himself falling asleep to the sound of her heartbeat. She grinned. A metallic object glistened in the moonlight behind her. 

That morning he awoke alone in bed. When he glanced in the mirror, his eyes grew wider. He gasped. He was shocked to see a silver necklace hanging around his neck. He lifted the small pendant to take a closer look, trying to focus his sleepy, blurry vision on it. It was a small silver necklace of a cookie on a silver chain.

“S..so it wasn’t a dream!?” He gasped. “I did feel something on my neck at night.” 

He ventured down to the dining room, following the delightful, breathtaking scent of baked goods.

Zephira glanced over her shoulder at him.

“Bread’s almost done. Anything else for breakfast?”

He shook his head, still groggy.

“Uhm.. T..thank you for the gift. You didn’t have to, you know… be so secretive about it.”

She pulled out a fresh loaf from the oven, set it on the counter and gave him a gentle smile. “No, but I wanted to be.” 

She headed to work, the same as always. A delightful and delicious dinner, cuddly night, nothing was out of the ordinary, nothing surprised him anymore. Not him at least.

She awoke before the break of dawn, as if something, or someone, screamed out her name. A knife fell to the floor, metallic clatter and the sound of her heartbeat were the only things to break the void of silence, as she admired the horrifying scene before her. Blood-soaked sheets and the ravaged body of her beloved Valdrek lay atop it. Her body trembled, but she couldn’t pull her gaze away. She scanned the horrifying sight before her thoroughly, multiple times. Stab wounds and lacerations, ‘how beautifully delightful’ she thought to herself. Her mind battled itself, but the dark desire within her had the upper hand. ‘So pretty, I had to eat him.’ Was the last thought that lingered on her excited but terrified mind.  

She squatted down for the knife she had previously dropped, admiring the blood on her hands that dripped down from her fingertips. She grasped the knife firmly in her hand and then paused, remembering, or rather, misremembering, the parts she needed for the recipes she so desired to try. In haste she rushed down to the kitchen and out of desperation she tossed the stack of cooking books from her shelf, down, searching for the right one, the ever so alluring one, that captivated her mind for months. 

There it was, right in the middle of the newly created mayhem on the kitchen floor. She reached for it with her blood-stained hands, leaving on it markings of blood as she flipped through the pages in search of the recipes she had marked and desired to try.

“Ahh! There it is!” She exclaimed and attentively read the recipe.   

The sweetest kidney pebbles of them all

Gently remove the victim’s kidney from their body.

With a rolling pin flatten it out

Cut to shapes you so desire 

Mix it in with a bit of bone marrow for enhanced sweetness

A pinch of sugar and toss it in the oven at 175C for 32 minutes no less, no more.

Take out the sweetest cookies you’ve ever tried in your life

She got to work, excited. Utilizing the cookie cutters, he had gifted her previously, and she placed well cut pieces of his kidneys on the very tray he had gifted to her, humming excitedly, as if possessed. She glanced over the recipe again and traced with her bloodied fingers an author’s note at the foreword ‘for added effect, use cooking utensils gifted to you by your sweets.’ 

The second recipe was no less disturbing, a ‘beating heart pie’, that reanimated the heart of your beloved during the cooking process, giving it a second life just for the baker to savor and relish. The timer buzzed, the cookies were ready. She took out from the oven a tray of perfect looking, chocolate cookies. A bite into one was accompanied by a perfect crunch, the most exceptional texture, and a flavor so sweet and mesmerizing that one would have a difficult time pulling away from these cookies. Best cookies she’s ever made. She savored her beloved, the sweetest baked goods she ever had the pleasure of tasting. But not all was sweet. She also made meatloaves out of his minced meat, bone-marrow pies, bone-dough and others.

She made enough food that morning, that she brought it to the bakery to sell it. ‘Limited quantity baked goods made from the rare, over-seas ingredients’ she labeled the goods that day. Practically the entirety of the body was used, leaving behind little evidence that could ever be used against her.

A perfect crime, that made many perfect meals and snacks. A perfect night, a perfect day, perfect weather, accompanied by the disappearance of her beloved. Fortunately for her, it took a couple of weeks before notice of his disappearance spread, and by then no trace of him was left in the house. A missing person file, a case unsolved to this day, that once found its way to the desk of a legendary detective’s agency, with generations long history, Hispida.

Audience prompts for this tale

• Perhaps about a baker…searching for the most unique treat?

• uhm, the most clumsy baker there is, but also the most successful baker. the best by accident

• Hmm, since it’s october, gets go with halloween in the middle of the night in a faraway location maybe?

• The baker keeps forgetting the recipes

• Sounds like a recipe book is a must have for the baker