Chasing Scars

3: Turning point

"Celine?!"

"Mommy!"

"Baby is that you?!"

Scarlet can hear the clear desperation in her voice as she screams her daughter's name. It really sounds so Hollywood but she just can't believe it's really her. In her mind, all she keeps repeating is; "she's alive! She's alive!"

The stranger stays there, eyeing her curiously with a pair of creased eyebrows. Hopefully he has nothing better to do. Note the sacarsm.

She can almost see the questions stirring behind the wheels of his already nosy mind. She couldn't blame him if she wanted to, if Northgate wasn't a too-busy town, everyone else would have been convened around her from the way she is screaming but Scarlet can't help herself.

Then again, it's not like her to care what others think anyway.

Or she could actually; blame him that is. Scarlet thinks. What is he doing following her around? The man is becoming a pain in her back side. Whether or not he's here to kill her, or extract information is beyond her. For now.

The little lady on the other side of the line doesn't sound like a kidnapped five year old though. Far from it, Celine sounds like she has just come back from a stroll in the park and a drop by at an icecream parlour. And she has, because at the moment, she is retelling her "amaz-jing" experience to her mother.

"The word is 'amazing' my love. I've told you this a million times." Scarlet corrects gently. She doesn't want to scare her baby, she also desperately needs to know where she is. There's no way on earth she can be at home. But even in her current panicked state, Scarlet decides to tread lightly.

"But it was only one time mommy!" Celine screeches.

"Um," Scarlet pauses, trying to find a way to explain to her. "...yes honey 'a million times' is something we grown ups use figuratively."

"Oh." Celine sighs contentedly. "Mommy?"

"Yes honey?"

"What is 'figuratively'?" she asks.

Great.

Scarlet takes a deep calming breath. She really loves her daughter extremely much but sometimes she just wants to put her at a shooting range. Ok bad joke, but the little thing is frustrating to no end. She asks questions at completely inappropriate times. Right now Scarlet is afraid, desperate. Are they forcing Celine to say she's at home? Scarlet doesn't know- and not knowing terrifies her.
But then how would Celine know of her mother's tension? Because apparently she doesn't feel like she was kidnapped. She can't blame her daughter.

"Um, why don't we do this baby? You tell me where you are, I come get you and explain figuratively, sound good?"

"I'm on my bed with Mr. King mommy I've told you!" The little girl whines, displeased.

Her mother pauses for a moment. She remembers leaving King at home, and Celine wasn't there then.

Maybe Celine is telling the truth, maybe she's actually at home. Tears- they brim in the corners of her eyes, she's been doing more crying in the past two days than she has in her whole lifetime.

That's weakness! She can almost hear Victor's voice bellowing in her ears. I don't train weaklings, I train people with no weaknesses- strong as machines.

But in the moment, Scarlet doesn't care. Because the happiness she feels in that moment is nothing like any kind she's ever felt before. 
Her little girl really is at home. It's surreal. It doesn't matter how she got back, it matters that she's at home and unhurt.