Children of Van Helsing

Chapter Thirty-six - The Lost Finally come Home

"Do you think she's safe?" I asked aunt Jennifer.

"Regina? Oh, I think she can handle more than you give her credit for."

I sighed. "But she's such a child."

"Not anymore, Susanna. She stopped being a child a long time ago. She just acts like one. But she is a grown-up and you should treat her like that more often."

"Maybe." I mumbled.

Aunt Jennifer sighed, but didn't respond. We sat there together for a while, like a mother with her daughter. Then again, I saw her as my mother. My father. My parents. She had been both for us without trying to replace them.

The bell ringed and I immediately jumped up.

"That must be Jessica!" I said.

Enthusiastically I ran downstairs. I hadn't realised how much I had missed her laugh, her jokes, her presence. Maybe thinking about my parents and sisters had made me melancholic, but I pulled open the door and nearly jumped in her arms. I embraced her as if this was the last time I would ever see her.

"I missed you, smurf hair." I mumbled.

She was surprised by my sudden affection, but embraced me back and said: "I missed you too."

Something was wrong with her voice. I let her go and took a step back. She had been crying - her eyes and nose were red, her cheeks still a bit wet.

"Darling, what's wrong?" I said, while pulling her inside and shutting the door.

She didn't say anything for a while, like she was hesitating. "I just... I realised I have missed you too."

She was lying. I could see that. I was a pretty good liar myself, so I usually knew when others were lying as well. But she wouldn't want to talk about it, so I just smiled at her as if I believed her.

"Come in. The entire family is in the living room, so let's avoid them. Would you care for some tea?" I said.

She raised one eyebrow at me. "What happened to you? You've never been this happy to see me."

I sighed. "I just... Needed somebody."

"What about Ian?"

She opened the door to the drawing room and quickly checked inside. Nobody, apparently, because she walked in. I followed her.

"He's sweet and I love to have him around me, but it's... different. I mean, you've lived with me almost my entire life." I said. "You know me through and through."

She laughed (though it sounded fake) and sat down on a couch. This room was slowly becoming the 'drama room' - all the bad things happened here. I wished we had gone to the library.

"True." She said. "Anyway, how's Sacha?"

She changed the subject. There was really something she didn't want to talk about - was it something with Lily? I definitely hoped not.

"Calmer." I answered. "You can talk to her, if you want to."

She thought about it for a few seconds, and then said: "I would love that - it's been what seems ages."

We got up again and walked out. I was happy to leave the room. Too many bad things had happened there and I didn't like being reminded of them.

We met Ian in the corridor. He greeted Jessica enthusiastically and even hugged her. Jessica seemed genuinely happy to see him. Then again, most people were automatically happy to be around him.

"Where are you going?" He asked curiously.

That was one of the things I liked about him. He was always curious, always longing to learn new things. His enthusiasm seemed endless. With him, I got the feeling I could discover new things every day.