Unknown L (Book 1) [Editing]

~~ Explain Yourself ~~

It was a photo. He was holding onto it as though it were a precious gem and he was shaking his head very slowly while she walked closer to him.

"I didn't know I had it until you asked, they must have put some kind of spell on me before they left. If fewer people and creatures knew what they looked like then they couldn't search them out, it was very clever... Well here, this belongs to you now, you were right... I did have a photo of your parents."

L frowned and quickly glanced to Bryce then back to Vadim before she took the photo, she was scared to look and stalled for a moment.

"That's a different attitude to the one you had ten minutes ago."

Vadim waved his hands in front of him, "That was just for the sake of the Council members, I keep the peace remember. If they didn't see me taking some action against those who disobey us then it would result in the dissolution of the Council itself. There will be no consequences because I do understand the reasons behind why you all did what you did. And you were right, it is inconsequential now."

L shrugged at his words, she wasn't really interested in what he had to say, she just needed the time to ready herself for what would be in the photo. She walked back over to the sofa and sat down, she slowly brought the photo into view and her heart began to race faster than it ever had.

There was a couple in the photo, a man and a woman, they were both smiling widely, they appeared to be in their early twenties. They were stood in a forest like the one outside, the sun was shining on them and L noticed the woman had a little baby bump. L couldn't swallow passed the lump in her throat now and she felt like she was about to choke.

The tears fell thick and fast, she stared at the photo and whispered, "It's them, it's really them."

Bryce moved to sit on the sofa beside her and his voice showed how worried he was.

"Who is them? What is it, L?"

L tilted the photo to show him and she sobbed when she heard him gasp. She tilted the photo back so she could see it again and stared at the couple, her suspicions finally confirmed.

"The police officers... the ones who were always there for me and always came to help me when I needed it the most. The ones I've known almost my whole life, they are spells modelled after my parents?" She wanted it to be a statement but she needed it to be confirmed, out loud.

The seconds ticked by until Bryce finally answered her, he seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

"Yes, apparently they were..." L's sobs drowned out his next few words and he had to repeat them a bit louder. "That's what they meant by a duplicate spell, like the one we did on ourselves but so much more complex and immensely powerful."

L heard him begin to explain to Vadim what had happened before they arrived at the forest, she stopped listening soon after. They were her parents, or an imitation of them at least but they had been there. Her whole life she'd had her parents around her.

She didn't care that they weren't the real thing because her parents had created those copies in their own image. It meant they cared even more for her than she had recently found out. They wanted her to be safe no matter where she went or what she did, until she could look after herself.

It meant she'd had her family this whole time, they looked out for her and made her feel better, even though they always left again afterwards. She tried not to think about the fact that she'd probably never see them again but she had this photo now. And it wasn't just of the couple, it was a family photo, L was in it too; it didn't matter that she hadn't been born yet.