Demons

Chapter 7 - Making The Effort

Blake's pov:

I sense a big lump in my throat as I twist the door-knob and push the door open. Kate places her hand encouragingly on my back and when I look over at her she gives me a comforting smile as I take a step through the door. When I turn around and face the bed, I see a little girl sitting there with her knees pulled closer to her chest. She's turned towards the window before she turns her head slowly towards the middle again. It's almost like she doesn't dare to use the whole bed...or look at me.

- You know...you have the whole bed to yourself...

I let out carefully as I take a few steps closer to the bed and the girl...I mean Ivy. Ivy turns her head completely towards me in question. She looks slightly scared, but assessing. I just stand there awkwardly for a moment without saying a word before I daringly take the last step towards the bed and sit down at the edge, giving her some space. However, I don't know what comes next. As much as I want to know things about her, she probably wants to know about me even more.

- Who are you?

She asks me. I guess she's never really seen any pictures of me. It does make sense though. I wasn't much older than her when she...when I impregnated her mother. I take a deep breath as she keeps her blue eyes on me curiously. They're quite frankly one of the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.

- I believe I'm the man you've been running through the woods to find...Ivy.

I let out as I suddenly feel like my mouth and throat is a freaking desert. She examines me even more. It feels like ages before she answers.

- Are you really him? Are you really my father?

As innocent as those two questions are, they are also the heaviest questions I've ever had aimed at me. 'Are you really my father?' I understand the sentiment behind it, don't get me wrong. I'm only 24 years old and I have a daughter at 11. I thought my only child was my son Damian but look at me now...

- You look so young...

She goes on. I don't know if to smile or not.

- I was even younger when...when you were born.

I answer as I sense the pounding in my chest getting heavier and heavier. When I look towards the door, I see Kate standing there, trying to give me some strength through the link. I nod weakly to myself before I turn my attention back to Ivy. She sits up even further now.

- Why did you never come to see me?

I look down for a moment as that question hits me harder than I thought it would.

- Ivy, I...I didn't know about you. I found out about an hour that you were who you were. Of course, had I known about you I would've made sure you knew me and I knew you. Now that I know you exist and now that you're here, I hope to be able to make up for all those lost years.

I answer, trying not to sound too forward about it. I have no idea how all of this is going to happen, but I do know that I have to do the right thing. Despite the fact that it was Fagan's doing what happened that night, I'm still the one left with the responsibility. Ivy is completely innocent in the middle of this.

- What about your mother? Where is she?

I ask as I honestly don't remember her at all. When we...I wasn't in my right mind and that night is nothing more than a blur, a black hole in my memory. I only woke up the next day to find out what I had done and it immediately disgusted me.

- She died when I was born. I have no pictures, no images of her...no images of you. My grandmother was the one to take care of me...

I take a deep breath before I get to wondering about the grandmother. When we came back to this pack four years ago, I never found my mother. Fagan kept talking about her as if she was still here, but she was nowhere to be found. Nobody in the pack could tell me if she was alive or dead. I had them search the entire property, scanning every piece of wood and rock. Months without results led me to believe that she was no longer with us.