Children of Van Helsing

Chapter Fifteen - The Naked Truth

Lily

Me and Jessica walked through London. We didn’t talk as much as usual – I knew she was a bit cross because I had insulted her household slightly. But to be honest, I felt like I had enough. I had put up with plenty of strange things, but this was just going too far – this was going against everything God ever created.

“Lily?” She began.

I sighed and stopped walking. “We have to talk, don’t we?”

She nodded. We found a bench and sat down. The Tower of London was almost right behind us, so the place was crowded with tourists. Tour groups walked by, grownups, families, teenagers. A guy was giving random strangers high-fives. An Asian group was taking billions of pictures of the Tower and the Bridge in the distance. London was magical this time of the year, especially with all the snow and carolling groups of kids. But I couldn’t enjoy it as much as usual.

My world seemed… Greyer lately. Colours I usually saw had faded. The places I visited seemed empty, the sunlight paler.

“Lily, is something wrong?” Jessica asked me.

I got hold of her hand and nodded. “I don’t know how to explain, Jess.”

“Try.”
“I can’t take it anymore.” I started.

Jessica frowned. “What?”

“Your family.”

She let go of my hands and raised her eyebrows. I moved in closer and put my hand on her arm.

“Oh, no, please don’t be insulted! I love them, I really do!”

She sighed and smiled a bit. “I know. And they love you too.”
“I know and I appreciate that. They’re amazing.” I said. God, I didn’t want to insult them! I loved them, oh, I did love them! They were always so kind to me. “But I long for a calmer life. You see, your family is very friendly, but they are so strange… Not in a bad way, usually, but it causes so much trouble.”

Jessica bit her lip. “I get what you mean.”

“You do?” I asked hopefully. Maybe she would understand, I would hate it if she got angry.

“Yes.”

“That’s good!” I said. “Because, you see, I love you so terribly much. And I would hate to loose you, darling, I can’t. You mean the world to me.”

“You won’t loose me.” Jessica said, frowning. “I love you more than life.”

“Yes, but…” I felt tears welling up in my eyes. “What if one day, I come home and you won’t be there anymore? What if you get killed? What if you leave without me? I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to get old with you! But that’s impossible like this.”

“Oh, Lily.” She put her arms around me and hugged me tightly, as if I was her child and she was comforting me. “My dearest flower. Of course it’s not impossible. We have managed so far, haven’t we?”
“But I don’t know how long that’s going to last.” I mumbled. I moved back a bit and lay my hand on her cheek. “Darling, your… Profession is dangerous. You said it yourself: hunters don’t get old.”
She looked down and put her hand on mine, to hold it on her cheek. God, she was beautiful. I loved her crazy hair. I loved her artistic mind. I loved every little thing about her. I loved how she always secretly smelt the scented candles in the stores which had them. I loved how she danced on her own when she thought nobody was watching, and the fact she was horrible at dancing. I loved how she made snow angels like a little kid. I loved how she slept, on her belly, drooling a bit. Her sweet imperfections made her perfect to me. I loved how she was getting a bit chubby, and how that suited her so beautifully.