The Vigilant Yaksha

Chapter 28

" Mama? Mama, what was that noise? "

The air felt frigid and damp, signaling it was more than likely raining outside but it had been far too dark to tell.

A loud noise had awoken the girl from her sleep, causing her to call out for her mother in the darkness, only to receive no response.

Desperate to find the warmth and comfort of her mother's arms, she felt along the walls of their house in attempt to make her way down the stairs, praying she'd find her mother on the bottom floor.

She'd heard sounds of shuffling before she'd exited her room, but ever since then, that was the last noise she'd heard besides the eerie silence of the night.

" Mama? " The girl repeated in a whisper as she continued feeling along the walls to help guide her from tripping, now slowly making her way into the kitchen as she prayed for a response.

Her hands finally found where their lamp in the living room was located, knowing the light would be enough to illuminate the kitchen and living room enough for her to see around as she flicked it on without a second thought.

Turning back to face the kitchen, she felt the blood in her veins turn to ice as her entire body go stiff, eyes widening as her vision threatened to go out at the sight.

There was her mother, laid down across the kitchen tile in a pool of her own blood, glass littered across the entire room.

The young girl quickly grabbed the house phone and dialed 911 as she fell to her knees beside her mother, speaking whispered prayers as the phone rang.

Paramedics arrived swiftly, taking the girl and her mother both in an ambulance to the hospital where the child was forced to stay in the waiting room alone as doctors desperately tried to save her mother.

Still in shock, all the girl remembered for hours was sitting in the chair of a waiting room, alone, cold, and covered in her own mother's blood as she softly cried to herself, simply staring at her own bloody and shaky hands while she waited.

Her hearing and vision began to fade again when a nurse came up to kneel beside her, asking if she knew how to contact her father or another close family member, only able to state that she had no father, causing the nurse's expression to fall even more than it already was.

" Do you have any siblings you could tell me about? "

A small nod as the girl seemed to look right through the nurse.

" A brother. "

——————————————————————

Vena nearly jumped out of the bed, her body covered in sweat and panic, her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe, feeling as though her throat was closed.

In a flash, she'd yanked open the door to her room at their temporary inn and had sprinted down the hall and out the front door, the cold night's air instantly chilling her body as she continued to struggle to breathe, her eyes now flicking to examine her open-palmed hands.

No blood.

It was just another nightmare.

She rested her forehead lightly against the wooden wall nearby, desperately trying to steady her breathing and bring herself down from the panic attack.

Chongyun had made a peculiar face at her earlier when he'd spoken about her birthday, and he couldn't figure out why.

Only Aether really knew, besides her of course.

She still couldn't bring herself to talk about it after all these years to another person besides him.

The reason she truly hated her birthday was because it was also the day her mother had been murdered by someone who'd broken into their home.

She had only been a child when it happened, losing her mother so early on in her life, the very person she'd looked up to more than anyone else.

It was also another reason her brother blamed her and was even more convinced that she was truly a monster, because her mother died protecting her from the intruder.

Ever since, she'd often have nightmares and flashbacks about the occurrence, immediately throwing her into a fully spiraling panic attack every time.

So ever since, she'd never wanted to celebrate a birthday. She dreaded it, in fact. She felt as if she didn't deserve to, and it should have been her instead of her mother.

After all, her mother had been loved by so many. She had countless friends and family adored her and all looked up to her. Her kindness knew no bounds and she was the very reason Vena had grown up with so much love and compassion in her heart despite her rough childhood without a father.

Countless years went by of her skipping her birthday's, turning down presents, cake and parties every single time. She felt it was karma when she found out that her life span was somehow greater than most humans as she stopped aging, and felt like it was just mocking her now, forcing her to have even more birthday's, unable to ever move on or heal as her nightmares continued to torture her as well.

Her breathing had steadied now as she decided to stand back up straight, the feeling of nearly passing out now having long faded as she met eyes with the absolute last person she could have hoped to see, standing right outside the little Liyue inn with crossed arms.

"It's been a while, lovely. Why are you outside in the cold at this hour?"

How long had he been standing there just watching her like a creep?

Vena simply stared at the eleventh Futui harbinger with half lidded and dull eyes, making her expression look as unamused as possible as she tried to piece together her thoughts.

You really had to run into me literal seconds after a panic attack?

What time is it, even?

Casting her gaze to the sky momentarily, she took notice of the moon, knowing it was probably somewhere around the early morning hours.

"Getting some air. Better question- what are you doing out here?" She shot back defensively as she bit the inside of her cheek awkwardly, remembering it was probably best if she just held her tongue.

God, how she wanted to rip into him right now, but she knew better.

She knew he'd just play it cool and act like he knew nothing, even though she was positive he'd probably gotten a detailed report about Xiao saving her from Scaramouche and how much she'd beaten the hell out of his men before the finally caught her.

"I asked first." The man stated matter of factly with a shrug of his shoulders, a smug smile lining his lips.

Vena squinted her eyes at Childe in annoyance, her mind still trying to decipher why in the world he happened to be outside the very inn they chose to stay at in the city when no one had mentioned where, and especially at that hour.

A strong gust of wind sent goosebumps up her arms, causing her to shiver slightly as she rubbed her hands up and down her upper arms in an attempt to warm herself in the chilly night's air.

The urge to go back inside was echoing in her mind, trying desperately to be a voice of reason.

"It's late and I didn't sleep much, so I hate to cut this conversation short, sorry." Vena gave a quick bow, the corner of her mouth twitching up into a smirk, unable to keep from snickering as she quickly turned and re-entered the front door of the inn, leaving Childe all out in the cold by himself.

Her mother had always told her to never ignore the voice in the back of her head.