We're Almost Home

the search

It's been long, too long. Regardless of what anyone would think, she had missed her daughter dearly and needed her back. Selene herself couldn't quite tell why she wanted Eve by her side. At first, she suspected it was a miserable, pathetic attempt to get a part of her beloved Michael back, but the longer the vampiress thought of it, she realised it was not the case.
It is safe now, well, safer at least. The child is mine, and she belongs by my side. There is nothing to it. The elder thought and started gathering supplies for a long trip up the north of Scotland.

The child, well, a teenager, hid herself well from the world. On one hand, it made Selene proud and glad, she is smart and keeps herself safe, but on the other, it made the search more strenuous. The information on her daughter's whereabouts that she managed to gather in the Sacred World was vague, to say the least, and not precise enough to be considered helpful. But it was a start.
By the time she reached Inverness, a strange feeling started to emerge in her chest as if there was an invisible string pulling her in a certain direction. Northwest it is then. Mused the woman. She wasted no time and set forth.

The wind was quite strong today. It felt like whips to the girl's small face. The day was quite gloomy, even by Scottish Highlands standards, but that was the weather Eve enjoyed the most. Usually. She had no time to enjoy it today, she was cold and hungry and the rabbits she had just caught were not going to dress themselves.
She sighed with relief when a little wooden cottage started to appear in between the trees.
She flinched for a moment, that poor ornithologist, I acted no better than a monster, sometimes she would still feel bad about how she came into the possession of the place, how she lost her control to bloodlust. She shook the shameful thoughts away, she was not going to think of it now, she sat down and got to work.

Midway through her usual evening patrol, Eve felt something strange, a pull of sorts. It startled her enough, to almost cause her hands to let go of the crossbow she carried. That was strange. What was that? Am I going insane? The girl thought, but scolded herself right away and went behind the house, heading for the creek to finish her patrol. She walked on and suddenly, heard a snap coming from the woods.

Selene walked and walked through a dark, mysterious forest, which seemed to be never-ending. A regular person would easily get lost here, but The Death Dealer's sharpened senses let her stay on the track. For hours now, the scenery remained unchanged. The pines, oaks and sycamores towered over her, an occasional animal ran here and there. But then, the trees started to clear and she heard water splashing as it moved through the trees. Soon after, a dimly lit cottage appeared. It was far away from her yet it seemed so close.
Suddenly, she experienced something all too familiar, yet after almost two years, nearly forgotten.
Semi blurred pictures, flickered in her mind. Trees, a creek, a crossbow being aimed at something. It was her, it really was, her little girl was close.

The shaky images hit the girl like a ton of bricks.
Her cottage, trees, the creek, the person almost ran.
She stood dumbfounded for a moment, it was unmistakably her mother. The very person she ran away from with very little explanation, the person Eve thought disliked her.
But at that moment, she did not think of these things. At that moment, she was just a thirteen-year-old girl who needed her mother, so she dropped everything and ran towards the woods.

They saw each other, after what felt like an eternity, but in reality, was less than one minute, and they froze. The young girl looked at her mother with disbelief.
I told her not to look for me. But she is here, she is real.
Eve found herself unable to move. They both would have just stood there but somehow, at that very moment, all the stoicism and composure that Selene had within her, left completely. She darted towards her child and without hesitation, pulled her into a tight, warm embrace.

The Death Dealer clung to her daughter as if their lives depended on it. Teardrops fell from her closed eyes, making her hair mat and stick to her pale face. She was simply happy that her daughter was in her arms.
After a while, she pulled away and took a good look at who she and Michael had created. Eve smiled shyly at her mother, which made her heart melt even further. She still had the same, sweet baby face, that had burned its image into Selene's mind, but it was visible that the girl certainly had grown up a little. She was slightly taller and her eyes showed just how mature she had become.
The woman gaped at her child in awe until the girl broke the silence.

"I missed you. A lot," she said quietly, trying her best not to cry. Eve was overwhelmed... touched. Even though she asked her mother not to look for her, she secretly hoped that she would show up one day. Perhaps, even bring her home. She was not disappointed.
"So did I, my girl." the vampiress admitted honestly, wiping the almost dry tears off her face and cupping her daughter's cheeks lovingly.
"How did you even find me?" She asked curiously.
"Well, that's a long story," the woman said, "that even I will have a problem explaining," she exhaled, sounding confused and exhausted.
The young girl caught that her mother was in need of rest, oh my, she must be tired and freezing, it rained before and the closest civilised place was a few hours away on foot, and came to her senses.

The hybrid girl took her mother's hand into her own, she turned around and led them towards the sleepy, little cottage.
"Let's get inside, it's getting hellishly cold."