Blood

Chapter Three

The smell of bacon is what woke Gabriel out of her sleep, during her slumber Legolas had drifted to sleeping atop her head with the pillows, she smiled.

Since Death had come to visit her earlier that morning she'd been smiling a lot more, it made her feel uneasy but at the same time she felt like she finally had a bit of control over her life. Gabriel pulled the covers back before sitting to the side of her bed, Legolas nudging the back of her arm, "I guess I should go talk to mom now huh Lego?" she sighed when Legolas hissed in agreement but stood from the bed anyway, glancing at the clock 10:45am at least she got 3 hours of sleep, petting Lego's head muttering a quick 'be right back' she walk towards her bedroom door, heading out into the hallway.

She glanced at the bare walls frowning to herself, there used to be endless pictures of her family scattered across this now barren hall without the pictures it seemed lifeless, Gabriel silently reprimanded herself, if she was going to have a serious talk with her mother she didn't need emotional distractions right now, she shook her head as she went down the stairs. The boards creaked under her weight but she didn't mind, her mother already knew she was awake.

"Hey mom" Gabriel acknowledged, rounding the corner, taking a seat at the countertop. She watched as her mother stood over the stove a bright smile on her face, an extreme contrast to what she had seen last night. "Good Morning hunny! I made bacon just how you like it, dipped in brown sugar." Her mom chirped, placing a plate full of delicious bacon right in front of her, Gabriel couldn't help but look at her and what she saw surprised her, her mother looked a lot better. No more was her greying brown hair shoved in a messy bun but was let down, her once greasy hair no longer looked unhealthy it was a healthy shade of dull brown, her clothing didn't look days old they looked brand new and Gabriel was shocked her mother never showed any interest in her or her own appearance until now and Gabriel was speechless.

Her mother only smiled, "Eat your bacon before it gets cold bunny." she insisted gesturing to the plate with the spatula in hand. Gabriel could only stare at her plate, she was confused, maybe she wasn't the only one that needed to do some talking around here. Taking a seat next to her, her mother whispered "relax, just relax Gabe." patting her shoulder. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Gabriel gathered the courage to eat the delicious bacon. The older woman sighed "Gabriel, if you wouldn't mind could we chat for a bit?" Her mother whispered as if Gabriel was a wild animal that would run away if it got too loud, the teen had a mouth full of bacon but chose to speak "sure" but what her mother heard wasn't as clear but she too it for a yes.

By the time her mother finally said something her plate of bacon was demolished, "I would love it if we could be a family again." Her mother said shyly, so that's what this whole sprucing up was about Gabriel had half the mind to tell her to screw off, but her mother clearly put effort in trying to prove she was capable of trying again, so Gabriel didn't want to just knock her idea down not until she sees how it goes, so the teen nodded, the answer was solid but firm and her mother grinned, pulling her into a bone crushing hug that stole the wind from her. Gabriel awkwardly patted her back, she wasn't big on giving or receiving hugs. After a few tight squeezes and Gabriel pleading for air, her mother pulled away. Deciding to just dive right into the next conversation Gabriel dropped the bomb.

"I met that man you were talking about last night." she said nonchalantly, slightly turning away from her mother "He seemed nice."

Her mother eyes widened, "W-what do you mean you met the man, I talked about last night." she demanded, her body turned fully towards Gabriel now "Gabe! Answer me!" her voice borderline hysterical and Gabriel didn't know whether to run or hide but she chose to state what happened.

"Well you know the man you said was in my room all those years ago, uh yea he came back and asked me to come along with him to somewhere-wait now that I think about it did I ask him where? Eh nevermind it doesn't matter, he said to contact him when I had my answer and clearly I want to go but I thought I should run it by you first-cause I mean no matter how much I dislike you, you're still my mom and I should clearly tell you where i'm going-just so you won't go calling the cops or kill yourself or something-oh wow that was kinda rude, sorry." Gabriel rambled, twiddling her thumbs as her mother's expression went from shocked to positively mortified her face was red and it look as if she would cry any second.

"Why would you want to go!" her mother screamed, Gabriel had to lean back her mother was that loud, "How could you possibly want to go somewhere with a random stranger! What on earth would posses you to think that's okay! You won't be going anywhere so help me god." her mother declared, sometime during the screaming she had stood up, arms crossed her chest and Gabriel couldn't block the voice in her mind telling her that her mother talking to her this way was not okay, that standing there and treating her like a child was okay.

Gabriel stood too, walking up to her mother, getting in her face before whispering "I'm sorry that I made it seem like your answer had any relevance to my decision. I am going and that's final. I'll be damned if I stay cooped up in this house and become a 40 year shut in!" Gabriel said storming away, her mother turned and ran after her but Gabriel sped up, taking the stairs two at a time before reaching the final stair and all but bolting to her room, slamming the door and locking it.

She jumped on the bed and smiled when Lego hissed in complaint, "Hey Lego do you know how to talk to Death?" she wondered, moving to sit crisscross on the bed right beside the snake, Lego hissed and she took it as a yes, "Could you tell him to come here, it's important." she pleaded, Lego hissed in question but she ignored it waiting, he bumped her hand hissing again before licking her palm. Gabriel guessed that was Lego's way of telling her he did it, now to sit and wait. She grabbed Lego, placing him at the top of her pillow as she laid down waiting for him to get situated before pulling up the covers and closing her eyes trying to block out the sounds of her mother's harsh banging at her door.

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Gabriel woke up to an empty bed, which alarmed her because there had just been a big white snake, that was very hard to miss. Patting the sheets, she called after the snake "Lego! Lego!" It wasn't long until Gabriel started to panic, what if Lego had gotten out somehow and found her mother.. Who was probably still outside the door! "Sh*t. Sh*t. Sh*t." Gabriel chanted as she shoved the covers off of her, ready to bolt out the door.

"Hold it speed racer." Death called out, Gabriel was sure if she turned any faster she would've broken her neck "Death! Have you seen Lego?" She said frantically, eyes already searching the room "Yea, it seemed a bit crowded in here so I let him out into the hall" Death admitted, big hand raking through his black hair smirking, well he was until Gabriel started screaming.

"Are you serious! How could you my mother is out there! I know Lego won't eat me but what about other people! What the hell!" Gabriel shrieked, shoving-or at least trying to shove Death around, even though she disliked her mom, Gabriel had no idea how to take losing the only person she had left. Gabriel desperately ran to her door unlocking it and throwing it open, only to find her mother still standing at the door, "Mom! Oh god mom!" She sighed in relief, pulling her mother into a hug her mother accepted the hug but was confused. Why was Gabriel hugging her and who in the world was that huge man behind her.

"Is this a bad time to tell you I was joking?" Death stated his eyes wide, he hadn't really expected Gabriel to open the door and he definitely wasn't expecting to see her mother anytime soon. He didn't know whether to poof away or say hello to the lady, so he chose to try his luck again and sit in Gabriel's death trap of a computer chair.

"Joking? What kind of joke was that!"