Chapter 57: Heart To Heart/A Familiar Face

Vale:

I knew that it wouldn’t take long to find my mother, so I didn’t go straight to her. I thought about veering off the beaten path and finding something to get into for a little while, but I thought better of it.

There were strange things happening in Shadow Veil and the sooner we found out the root of the problem, the better off we’d all be.

I didn’t have to search for long. Not even knowing where her secluded little hiding spot was, I knew where my mother was sequestered away. Her power moved the trees and produced an electrifying essence.

I stood outside of the log cabin, the little abode that she lived in whilst watching over me my whole entire life, and watched as her unspoken anxiety affected the surrounding vicinity.

My mother was a powerful woman, but she was just as sensitive as I was when it all boiled down to it. When it came to my father and her powers that is. I wasn’t sure that she had any other weakness outside of him. I could only assume that this was the reason why she hadn’t shown up to the meeting.

I approached the door and turned the knob. Before I could get in the door, I heard her unintelligible muttering. She hadn’t realized that I had come into the house.

“Rough night, I see.” My words broke her out of her erratic thoughts. She looked at me with a surprised look on her face.

“Vale, sweetheart, what are you doing here?” she asked.

I closed the door and stepped further into the open area of the living room. “I was just about to ask you the same thing,” I countered.

“What do you mean?” she asked and then turned away from me. “You know that this is my quiet space. I always come here to think.”

“Yes,” I retorted impatiently, “but right now you’re supposed to be at a meeting, or have you forgotten that quickly that we are in the middle of a crisis?”

My inquiry was a little on the sarcastic side and dear old mum was not pleased with my remark. She grimaced at me. I could see the wild look behind the attempt of restraint in her eyes before she looked away from me and continued pacing.

“I don’t have time for your attitude, Vale,” she said to me. “I…I’m not having a good day.”

I knew how she felt. I often had those days, myself-more often than not, actually of late, and with Fierya lost in the ongoing eruption of thoughts and voices in my head, I felt like a wandering child. If that was how mum often felt then…I could certainly sympathize.

“I didn’t come here to give you a hard time,” I finally replied to her. I sighed. “I’m just here to give you fair warning before dad comes.”

It was this that pushed my mother out of her thoughts. She flashed me an almost panicked look. “You-you told him where I was? About this place?” she didn’t even give me space to respond before she started to pace even more frantically than before and began to chastise me. “Vale, baby, why did you…sweetheart, you shouldn’t have…you should…” she stopped and took a deep breath as the shingles began to shutter. She looked at me with clear disappointment in her eyes. “I wish you wouldn’t have done that, sweetie.”

I gave her a moment to panic a little more. Yeah, it was wrong.

“W-how long…how long before he gets here?” I didn’t answer and this frustrated her more but she was trying to keep her patience. I felt guilty.

“Mum, I never said that I told him where you were,” I finally quelled her panic. I practically felt the air leave her chest as she exhaled in utter relief. “I told him that if he wanted to know where your safe space was then you would be the one to tell him.”

She seemed to find this hard to believe. “You-you did?”

“Don’t look so surprised,” I spoke stoically. To be honest, I did not blame her for not trusting that I wouldn’t tell. It wasn’t like I gave her a reason to trust me. There was a hint of guilt on her face when I said this. I didn’t mean for her to feel guilty for not having that extent of confidence in me. “Don’t beat yourself up too much,” I added. “I wouldn’t have trusted me to keep the secret either,” I smirked.

“That’s just it, Vale,” she said to me. “I…I do trust you and if you did tell him, regardless of how little you seemed to think of your morals of late, I know you’d have good reason to.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I replied.

“And yet here we are, me and you. No dad,” she smiled but only for a moment before it began to fade. “We…are not in a good place right now-me and you. I know that, Vale, and I know that it is-well, my fault. I should have told you who I really was…years ago.”

“Why didn’t you?” I asked before I could stop myself. Now was not the time to have this conversation , but I just…I could no longer hold in the question that I had been wanting to ask for the longest time now. “Why couldn’t you just be there for me…as you? As yourself?”

She exhaled. “I…I told myself for years that life was too dangerous for you being with me. Although I was afraid, I couldn’t help but imagine that if you did figure out who I was, you’d want to join me on whatever adventure I’d be on.”

“Dad trained me well,” I replied. “I could take care of myself.”

“Oh trust, me dove, I know full and well how well your father has trained you. Better than the daughter that he thought was his only flesh and blood.” she seemed to find some semblance of comfort in that. It was amusing.

“It’s clear that I’ve always been more competent,” I countered with a dry chuckle.

“Does not stop that knowledge from you being an understanding and protective older sister,” she said to me. “You love that girl.”

“Like you said,” I replied. “She is my sister. Despite her flaws.”

She only smiled at me, silently took over the conversation but it wasn’t an uncomfortable or even tension-filled one. It was a silence of understanding between the two of us.

We did have problems to work out and we would, but there were more pressing things to worry about at the time. For the time being, however, we were okay.

“So, I take it, you’re going to need a bit more time,” I said to her.

My mother shook her head, no. “I think we’re good.”

She headed toward the door and we left the cabin together. “So, you never told me the name of your…soul partner,” I said to her.

“Mist,” she answered without hesitation.

“Mist?” I laughed. “A bit on the nose isn’t it?” I asked.

She chuckled and seemed to have no choice but to agree. “Why complicate things?”

We both shared a chuckle as we continued down the road. Then a feeling took over me. I looked at my mother and she seemed to sense it as well.

We were not alone.

“You always were a mile ahead of the rest, Vale.”

That familiar voice said to me but it couldn’t be! He was dead. I saw him! I saw him die!

“I reckon that’s why I’ve always had a bit of a crush on you.”

My mother had already turned around to face the culprit of our interruption. When I finally faced him, I noticed that she was already standing in front of me, preparing for battle.

“No, mum, no!” I gasped and moved forward. It couldn’t be.

“Valene,” my mother called out to me with great concern. I didn’t listen. I had to get closer and it seemed that so did he.

He was still handsome, but there was no mistaking the difference in him. His pretty features were more gruff, and dark. His hair was longer and his eyes were like a murky haze of river water. None of this diminished how alluring he was. In fact, this dark essence only seemed to make him more attractive but it was still dark. What happened to him.

Before I knew it I was standing directly in front of him and my hands were to his face. What’s more, I had tears running down the length of my cheeks. It was good seeing him, no matter in what form it was.

“T….Tobias?”

He smiled that award-winning smile. That, for sure, didn’t change. He lifted his hand to my cheek, wiped the tear away with his thumb.

His expression turned sympathetic. “Vale,” his voice was sullen and soft. “Don’t cry.”

I didn’t play sarcastic or respond with a teasing remark because of the wound of losing him…of him sacrificing his life for mine-it was still quite fresh. “Unfortunately, I can’t help it,” I confessed.

“No need for tears,” he said to me. His concerned expression suddenly turned teasing, and I knew that he was about to say something to lift the mood. “Aw, Vale, don’t tell me you missed me?”