Sebastian's Daughter REVISED VERSION (COMPLETE)

Chapter 19

My mother and the light behind her faded away, and I was again surrounded by darkness. But this time, I was relieved. I loved my mother, but I didn't want to be trapped with her. Not when there was a chance of saving her.

"Selena..." I heard my father's distant voice call out. I focused on him as I dragged myself out of the world between life and death and back into consciousness.

I was lying on something soft, and I assumed it was a bed. The room was quiet except for uneven breaths coming from someone in the room. I tried to open my eyes, but the light in the room was too bright, and I squeezed them closed again, groaning.

I heard my father sigh with relief.

"What is it?" Maria's voice asked.

"She's still with us," Dad replied. I could hear his smile in his voice.

"Thank goodness," Maria said, and I could hear the sobs she was attempting to hold back.

I tried to open my eyes again. The light didn't seem as bright this time. I cracked my eyes open enough to see my father watching for any signs that I was conscious. I let my eyes get used to the light before opening them enough to let him know I was awake.

Dad smiled at me, and I smiled back.

Maria let out a few sobs when she saw my smile. She stood from her seat and walked over to me.

"This is all my fault," she sobbed, her hand resting on my arm. "I shouldn't have left this morning. I wanted to make sure that Peter stayed with me so much, I didn't think. Motherly instincts, I guess. I did get here in time to find the carriage outside and call the police. No one saw you except me. Then I called the Phantomhive Manor and got your father over here as quickly as possible."

That reminded me of what I had seen. I sat up quickly, no doubt reopening a few wounds. My father tried to push me back down, but I fought him, opening the wounds in my arms and where the knife had been in my shoulder. I cried out in pain and let my father push me back down onto the bed.

"Selena, what was that? What's wrong?" Dad asked, checking the bandaging on my stomach and arms.

"Dad, I.... I..." I couldn't speak through the pain of the pressure he was putting on my wounds.

"Wait one moment," he said, and finished quickly.

I waited until he was seated again. "Dad, I saw Mom."

He blinked twice, trying to register what I had said. It only took a moment, and then he was confused.

"What do you mean, you 'saw' her?"

"I felt like I was floating, and that was when I heard her calling out to me. I opened my eyes and there she was, standing in front of me."

"So you were dead for a moment?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I don't think so. She said we were in a world somewhere between life and death, and that if I approached her, I would be trapped there with her, and if I went into the light behind her, I would go into the next world. And she told me that if I focused, I could return to you."

"I'm glad she was there, then," he smiled.

I shook my head. "Dad, you're missing the point. She's trapped in the world between life and death. She said that she might be able to return to her body if it wasn't with those scientists that tried to kill her. Dad," I said, my eyes watering. "We could save Mom."

My father and Maria were both silent. When he finally opened his mouth to speak, I cut him off.

"If you're going to tell me no and give some lame excuses as to why we can't, then I don't want to hear it. I'll go alone if I have to."

"You really need to stop interrupting people when they are trying to speak. It's rather rude. And I was actually going to ask if she gave you directions to her body."

I smiled brighter than I had in a long time. We were going to save my mom. We were finally going to be a family again.

I sat up, ignoring the pain in my body telling me to stop, and hugged my father. I cried into his shoulder, and he held me. I was finally going to get my old life back.

I stopped crying a few minutes later and released my dad, turning to Maria, who was smiling at me.

"Maria, will you help us?" I asked. "The other scientists will trust you, and you can distract them while we go find my mother's body. Please?"

Maria considered it. "I don't know. Depending on who killed your mother, I could lose some powerful coworkers. And... oh, who am I kidding? Of course I'll help you."

"Thank you!" I squealed, hugging her.

She hugged me back, laughing. When I let go, I got serious again.

"Mom told me that if I am going to help her, then I have to recover fully first. We can try to make plans while we wait. I still know the location where she was killed, so if we start there, then we can check the surrounding science labs for her. But we have to wait until Mom says I'm well enough."

"She's going to tell you?" Dad asked, confused.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how. But she promised she would talk to me again soon, and she hasn't broken a promise to me yet. I doubt she would start now, considering her life is on the line."

"You focus on getting better, then," Maria said, "and we'll worry about packing everything." She put her hand on my good shoulder and gently pushed me back into a laying position.

I nodded, and she left the room.

"Don't worry about anything," my father said with a smile. "We'll do that for you. All you have to do is tell us when to leave."

I nodded to him, and he stood and kissed my forehead. Then he, too, left the room, softly closing the door behind him.

I fell asleep thinking about how my mother was going to get back to her body when we found it and removed her from harm's way. Would she know when it was safe to return to us? Would I have to contact her? I had to believe I would know when the time came, and that was what got me through the night.