Through the Dark

Chapter 6

The hospital was only a five minutes walk from Thea's house. Thus, I went with her to her house after which I walked back to the hospital. 

Without agility, I got inside and got into the elevator to reach the tenth floor, where Reese's ward was. I knocked on the door before entering Reese's room to see Mrs. Carter seated on the chair beside her. It was as if they were having a very serious conversation, in private, for as soon as I got in, both of them ceased their talking. 

"Hi," I greeted softly without sounding surprised.
"Vianna come sit darling," Mrs. Carter said politely. Both Reese and Mr. Carter kept on glancing at each other, with a subtle an unknown panic-stricken face, while I kept on moving forwards. 

"There's something that you should know," Reese added reluctantly, patting the place beside her indicating me to sit there. I went to sit there while trying to decipher the what was going on. However, both Reese and Mrs. Carter showed almost no emotion and kept a straight face throughout. 

"Mrs. Carter was your parents' friend," Reese began hearing which bewildered me at once.

In my whole life I never came across anyone who knew my parents before. None of their relatives or friends ever made contact either. Reese had always said that my parents were not very social and that they had very few relatives and family members, with whom my parents did not have much contact. I never questioned anything about it and heard nothing about them either. 

It was the first time that I met someone who knew my mother and my father and had Reese to introduce me to that person. Mrs. Carter looked around the age my mother would have been if she was alive. She was rather lean and I noticed the dark circles under her eyes which contrasted with her fair skin. 

"Since when did you know them?" I asked in an attempt to carry on the conversation. I did not know any other better way of doing so.
"I was your mother's best friend in school," Mrs. Carter, who Reese was calling Livia, began to say.

"We were best friends long after school but in my mid twenties I had to endure some family problems for which I cut off all connection with everyone including your parents. I had heard what happened to them and I feel extremely sorry that you had to go through all the hardships at such a young age," Mrs. Carter said with pity. She then looked at Reese with utter seriousness.

"Oh!" I replied unsure. I noticed the looks both Reese and Livia was possessing and giving each other and I sort of assumed that something was going on which I was not aware of. 

"Vianna, it is possible that I'll have to move to another place for my job sometime soon," Reese began to say again. 
"And I'm afraid that you have to stay here," she mentioned.

What on Earth was she saying?

I was still processing what she had said when Reese added, "You will, I believe, move in with Livia. You'll be under her guardianship until you are of age and stay with her until you are ready to face the horrors that lie in the world."

"WHAT?" I managed to let out. It had to be a joke. She cannot be serious about what she just said. Can she?

"Well, where are you going anyway? I can just transfer my school to someplace there," I suggested, after sometime, as calmly as I could.

"Vianna it is not an option for you to move with me due to many untold reasons," Reese added with a straight face.

"Well then tell me why I cannot move from here because the things you are saying are not making any sense. You are just stating that I have to stay here but not telling me the reason why I have to," I said. My voice had risen by an octave. 

"Vianna if I said it you won't understand," she stated. 
"Try me," I replied with exasperation. 

"Darling there's already enough for you to worry and it's best that you don't think about me moving to another place," Reese mentioned. 
"You have to understand, Vianna, that these decisions are for the well being of us all," Mrs. Carter added. Did they actually go through all the things they were saying beforehand, because all of those were just making no sense whatsoever.