Evan was alone in the dormitory at the moment. The girls had had to go out on their own business. There were no classes at school, and Arslan had given him the day off.
He, meanwhile, occupied himself with checking the supplies in the dormitory. First he checked the stocks in the kitchen.
"We're a bit short on spices."
Then he glanced into the pantry.
"There are shortages here too."
At the end were the bar and the cold room. The cold room was empty, but in the bar there were still a few bottles. Half-emptied brandy, half a liter of vodka, some flavored liqueurs. Only things for everyday drinking. No wine or anything like that.
"Right. The girls have slacked off on keeping the supplies up."
He sighed. In its own way that was good news. If they had stopped keeping the pantry perfectly stocked, it meant they weren't planning to eat him. Before, the pantry had been full of ingredients the whole time. All of them half-counted on needing them if he gave them consent. Now, however, they were aware enough of his disease that the probability of him jumping onto their plate was much smaller than before. Even then they would have had to ask Arslan for permission. Formally, he was the one who decided about Evan's meat.
Everything indicated he would not end up on the table.
There was something very disappointing about that. He sighed. He hadn't expected that the lack of a threat of being eaten could cause him a certain discomfort.
He made a list and his suspicions were confirmed. Big shopping awaited them. He already felt the backache.
He set the notebook on the table and went outside. He checked the grill shed. Wood. Kindling.
"At least nothing's missing here."
Suddenly he heard some scream. It seemed familiar to him.
"Rufus?"
He shook his head. He was imagining it. He went back inside. He left the door open to air the place out. He grabbed a whetstone and a knife.
"No matter what, knives have to be sharp."
When he was finishing sharpening the first one, he heard that scream again. This time clearly.
"Leave me alone!"
That was Rufus.
"He's been running for twenty minutes and isn't slowing down. Dear viewers, look at that footwork. Can you imagine their structure? They must melt in the mouth."
"Go fuck yourself!"
"He doesn't mince words. Those are supposedly the tastiest. And what's this? What a dodge. I didn't expect that!"
Evan went outside with the knife in his hand.
"What's going on here?"
"How much longer is this going to last? A live chase! A chase in the comments. Remember, you're watching Live."
"Get the hell off me!"
"And now a word from our sponsor…"
Evan felt strange. He could hear Rufus and someone he didn't know. He couldn't see anyone, but it sounded like a cheap stream.
At that moment something jumped out from behind the hedge.
"Evan! Get out of the way!"
"Rufus?!"
He instinctively stepped aside. He didn't even have time to ask what was happening when Rufus ran inside at full speed.
"Home run. A literal home run!"
He saw a coyote in a sports vest. Above him hovered some drone. He was racing straight toward the dormitory. Evan looked at him, then at the knife he had in his hand.
"Stop!"
Without thinking much, he blocked the door and thrust the knife out in front of himself.
The coyote stopped right in front of the blade. Evan could have bet the most expensive kitchen products that he had stopped like that on purpose.
"What's the meaning of this?"
The coyote struck a pose that was probably meant to give him the aura of some sigma or alpha.
"I'm glad you asked. I'm Cody Varran from the channel 'Coyote Cam.' Hunting influencer."
Evan looked at him. He saw a camera on his shoulder, and the drone came close enough that it had a good view of his face and pose.
"And you're hunting on stream?"
Instead of an answer he raised two thumbs up. He struck a pose that in his opinion was supposed to be cool. Evan found it pathetically clownish. He immediately felt that he didn't like him.
"Wait… a human?! Arslan Flambe's protégé?! A culinary apprentice?!"
He nodded.
Before he could say anything, the coyote hugged him as if they were best buddies. Evan shuddered with disgust. He would rather already be marinating for a roast than be touched by him.
"What an unexpected crossover. A young culinary apprentice and a talented hunter."
He liked him less and less. If he had to describe the taste of his words, it would have been old apple cider vinegar mixed with wormwood tincture and several other tongue-twisting horrible things. Until now those who had tried to eat him had had some class of their own, but this one here… he started thinking he could do the world a favor by making coyote goulash, but they were live and he would have had to explain himself to Arslan.
He twisted out of the hug. He narrowed his eyes.
"The hunt is over. The stream too. Turn off the camera and leave."
The coyote seemed slightly surprised.
"The rabbit is a legal target. He did that himself with his photos. Let's join forces. I'll finish the hunt, and you'll cook us something delicious."
The coyote came closer as if he wanted to offer him a share of the stream's revenue, but froze. Evan held the knife in front of his face.
"First of all, this is private property belonging to the Academy of Tenebrae and indirectly also to the Council. Hunting here requires a special permit. Do you have one?"
Cody didn't lose his expression, but his ears dropped.
"So you don't."
"Listen…"
"Leave, and I'll forget I saw you. Unless you want to find out what happens for violating meat law."
The coyote looked at Evan, at the drone, and into the depths of the house. Then he took a sudden step back and turned to the drone.
"Unfortunately not every hunt ends in success. I respect the law, so I have to withdraw."
He made such a face that Evan felt sick.
"One more word from our sponsor…"
Here came the names of some hunting shop and some cooking shop. Cody pressed two more business cards with discount codes into Evan's hands before he left. Evan watched him for a moment longer, but after a moment the streamer and his drone disappeared.
He went back inside and locked the door. He left the knife by the whetstone. The sofa in the living room was practically shaking.
"Rufus, he's already gone."
"Are you sure?" a thin voice came from inside the sofa.
"Yes, he left."
Rufus came out of the bed chest. He looked as if he were ready to bolt into another escape. He was catching his breath with difficulty. His clothes were torn. Only some tatters hung on him. If this had been some cheap comedy, he would have looked like a rock star half-torn apart by frenzied fans, but one could not speak of desirable popularity here.
"What happened to you? Did he do that to you?"
Evan glanced out the window.
"No. Some hyenas caught me. They almost dragged me into a kitchen. I barely escaped, and then I ran into that guy."
Rufus took a few deep breaths, then suddenly dropped to the floor and started pounding his fists against it, sobbing loudly.
"This is all that bastard de Coeur's fault. He invented that joke… If not for him… He himself should have ended up on a plate…"
He sobbed loudly and cursed Maurycy. As if he were trying to blame someone for his current situation.
"Rufus, Maurycy is dead!"
The rabbit suddenly stopped, as if someone had hit pause on him. He lifted his head and looked at Evan in surprise. Evan told him the whole situation with Maurycy. About the accident he had caused, the sentence, the appeals, and what had happened in the restaurant.
"Maurycy de Coeur ended up on the block… and…"
Evan nodded. Rufus collapsed onto the floor and for a moment lay motionless. Evan helped him up.
"If they got even him, what chance do I have?"
He fell powerless onto the sofa. After a moment, however, he suddenly cried out in pain and jumped off the sofa.
"It hurts…" he lamented, holding his ass.
"What happened to you?" Evan ran over to him, worried.
"Those hyenas stuck something in my ass…" he said through tears, clearly humiliated.
Evan looked at the spot. Something was there. Rufus tried to pull it out, but couldn't get a good grip.
"Want help?"
"Please."
Evan grabbed the object. He pulled. Rufus hissed in pain.
"It's in tight. Maybe we should try with lube?"
The interested party only nodded. Suddenly Evan remembered something.
"There's a problem."
"What?"
"The lube is in the slaughter room."
A moment later they were there. Evan quickly found the bottle. Next to it was a strap-on. Right, yesterday he'd had a session here with Frida and they hadn't cleaned up after themselves. On the other hand, somehow he'd had more fun here than in bed. He'd rather not dwell on that.
After a few movements and a generous amount of gel, the troublesome object was pulled out of Rufus.
It turned out to be a sizable plug. A bit wider than an ordinary spit. That reminded Evan of something. Frida had teased him several times that before she put him on a spit, she'd stick a cork in his ass so it would go in easier.
When Rufus heard that, he leaned against the first thing nearest to him and started sobbing.
"I'm done for! 25 days?! How am I supposed to survive that?! This is the end! I'll end up on a plate."
"Ru…" Evan tried to calm his friend, but then Rufus shouted.
"Maybe I should just turn myself in to some kitchen?! I'd already have peace!"
In that moment Evan froze. Not from fear. Not from surprise. He couldn't name it.
But he knew a few things.
Maurycy had done something terrible and they had fought for him a dignified end without an audience.
Why shouldn't Rufus be met with something similar?
What he had done was only stupid. He hadn't had bad intentions, and yet the world had it in for him. Traps, attacks, and now making a spectacle of him. On top of that they had taken away his membership in the athletics club. They had taken away something he loved and that kept him together.
He knew one thing.
It shouldn't look like this.
There were 26 days left until the end of this farce, but Rufus was right.
The chances that he would survive were practically none.
Someone would catch him and make a toy or a spectacle out of him before eating him, or worse, both at once.
Suddenly it dawned on him.
He could help him.
He picked up a knife lying nearby. Rufus was sobbing, leaning against the first object at hand. Unfortunately that object was the chopping block, and he was in the perfect working position.
An idea was born in Evan's head. An appetizing idea. A wonderfully appetizing idea was born in his head.
HE WOULD DO IT!
HE WOULD EAT RUFUS!
He clenched his hand on the knife handle. He would do it properly. No show. No jokes. A dignified feast commemorating his name.
"I can't…"
He suddenly fell silent and immediately set the knife down.
"Did something happen?" Rufus asked through tears.
"Want something to drink?"
"Water."
"I'll bring it right away."
Evan left the room, leaving the crying Rufus. He pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and mentally scolded himself.
"I can't cook Rufus yet. I don't have the ingredients. On top of that I don't have a menu planned."
He returned to Rufus and gave him water. While the rabbit drank, Evan thought that soon Rufus would find peace in a dignified way. He would be proud of him. No show. A classy feast in his honor.
Soon.