The New World: Afterlife

Chapter 7

Leehoimen was leading Jim and Turg down to where Janice was, Jim wasn't sure if reuniting with her was a good idea but it would be on his mind forever if he didn't. The palace had three levels to the basement and they were on the second floor of it. There were many coffins leaned up against the walls as they wandered through, Jim wasn't too weirded out by it but Turg was, he likely didn't know that vampires liked to sleep in coffins. They eventually stopped at one and Leehoimen knocked on it a few times. Jim heard a muffled woman's voice come from it say "That better be you, Lee."
"Who else would it be?" Leehoimen asked in response as the woman then asked him "Is he finally gone?"
"Yes, at least according to someone in this room." Leehoimen answered as he looked at Jim and asked him "How do you know he's dead?"
"Because I'm the one who killed him." Jim confessed, he was hoping that the reaction wouldn't be a bad one. The coffin door then swung open and a woman with incredibly pale skin stepped out. She had messy blonde hair with a few grey streaks, blacked out eyes with a bright blue iris, was wearing a pearly pink dress and hot pink star shaped sunglasses, which she took off upon seeing Jim. Jim recognized her, she was Janice, his mother. 
"So, you killed that wretched man who ruined my life?" Janice asked Jim, she didn't recognize him. Granted, Janice knew Jim when he was a kid before he was taken away. Jim only nodded in response as she then asked "May I know your names?"
"Uh, this is Turg and I am-" Jim tried to introduce himself but Leehoimen cut him off with "Janice, that is your son."
"Since when did I have a son?" Janice asked Leehoimen before adding "You better not be kidding with me, mister." 
Jim didn't know what to do or say, instead he awaited for the inevitable. 
"Did you somehow forget that your child is a boy, well, a man now?" Leehoimen asked Janice as she looked back at Jim and said "I remember now, forgive me for my mind is a bit slow."
She then looked back at Leehoimen and asked "How long has it been?" 
"Over three-hundred years." Leehoimen answered as she was then silent for a few moments as she looked back at Jim. She then pointed to Turg and said "Well, seeing as he's in the room too I am assuming that our feud with the turgs has ended."
"Uh, not exactly. He's not from the magic realm." Jim responded, Turg didn't give his own input. 
"Are you a vampire too?" Janice asked Jim as she got closer to him, Jim wasn't too comfortable with that. Janice was nowhere near as cruel as Dick, but Jim wasn't willing to forgive her yet. 
"He's not, he's still alive because the Grim Reaper is his spouse." Leehoimen answered for Jim as Jim added "One of them, Turg is going to be one soon." 
Turg could extend Jim's life too, he was also able to revive Jim but only if he was very close to dying. 
"You've changed so much. You were still just a little girl last I saw of you." Janice then said as Jim gently pushed her away from him. Turg gave Jim a slightly confused look as Leehoimen said "And you two said I was crazy when I said you have a son. I was right."
Jim had spent years making sure nobody knew that about him, all undone now. 
"So I guess you are right about the other things about him too." Janice said as she went closer to Leehoimen. Turg then asked Jim "Jim like Turg?"
Jim quickly replied with "Yes, I do like you." 
"No. Turg meant-" Turg tried to elaborate but Janice cut him off by saying "If he's able to look like that then technology must have advanced far since I last walked the Earth." 
"Actually, it hasn't advanced since the early two-thousands, except for space travel." Leehoimen told Janice. The two then started a conversation and Jim took that as an opportunity to bring Turg away from them briefly to explain himself. 
"Listen, I know what you meant. Don't think I've been hiding it from just you, I hid it from everyone. The only other being who knows is Grim and those two I guess." Jim started explaining as Turg tried to ask "Is Jim-"
"The answer is yes, I am transgender, kinda like you. But you tell nobody about this." Jim continued explaining to Turg. Turg tried to speak again but Jim cut him off by accident with "I'm serious, if you tell anyone then we are over. That's how seriously I take this."
"Jim not like?" Turg asked Jim as he explained again "I just prefer it if people didn't know. I didn't spend years erasing every trace of my past self for nothing."
Turg then said "Turg understand. Turg won't tell anyone."
"I probably could've trusted you with this earlier, but I felt like it was unnecessary information." Jim responded as Leehoimen approached them and said "I'm going to leave you with Janice so you two can catch up."
Jim knew that was probably going to be a bad idea, so he insisted "Turg better stay with me."
"Alright, just don't kill each other." Leehoimen said as he left the room. Janice then led Jim and Turg into another room away from the coffins. After she shut the door she quickly spun around to face Jim and asked rather aggressively "How did you kill him and how do you know for sure he's dead?"
"I set him on fire like he did to you, vampires burn easily." Jim answered before then asking "Speaking of which, how are YOU still alive?"
"I faked my death, got turned into a vampire and have been waiting for that wretched man to die. I didn't expect you to still be alive." Janice answered Jim's question before she looked at Turg and asked him "And you, you're his partner?"
Turg nodded in response as Jim said "You say that like you're disappointed that I'm still alive."
Janice didn't say anything, instead she looked at the floor in a shameful manner. 
"Are you serious?! I went most of my life believing you were dead and now that we have reunited you're telling me you would've rather outlived me?" Jim asked rather aggressively again as Janice started backing herself into a corner. Jim then said "Whatever, I never needed you anyways." 
Jim could tell that Turg wanted to help but wasn't sure of what to do. He told Turg "Let's leave before a fight breaks out."
"No! Wait! Just let me explain myself!" Janice exclaimed as Jim looked back at her, waiting for her to continue. 
"I didn't mean to send you away to wherever you ended up. You were supposed to go to Lee." Janice quickly explained herself. Jim then said "Yeah, I know that."
"But I still care about you because you're my son, even though you ruined my life." Janice continued explaining. 
"How did I ruin your life?" Jim asked as Turg started holding onto Jim's arm. 
"I was on the path to becoming one of the most powerful human spellcasters when I lived in the magic realm, but I gave that all up to be with a man who didn't even fucking love me and raise a child we didn't care enough about." Janice answered. Jim was starting to get quite mad at her, but was doing his best to not let it show any more than it already has. 
"And how is that my fault?" Jim asked Janice again. Janice was silent for a few moments as she thought about it before responding with "You're right, it's not your fault. I am to blame." 
Janice then slid down the wall onto the floor before continuing with "You don't have to forgive me, but I am so sorry for everything." 
Turg left Jim's side to go comfort her while Jim continued to stand there, watching. Jim was not ready to forgive her, she would have to earn that from him. He wasn't sure what else to think about this, it was a lot to take in for him. Jim knew he could trust Turg with that secret though, knowing him he was likely going to forget it in a few days anyways.