Unknown L (Book 1)

~~ Importance Is Irrelevant ~~

L could see the look of regret and sadness forming in Vadim's eyes. Matilda, the Nature Sprite, looked like she wanted to run and hug L, who was grateful that she didn't.

Vadim sighed and walked a few steps closer with a hand held out to her as though he was trying to reassure her.

"I'm sorry, but we don't know where they are now. That was their doing, I'm afraid. We asked them to stay here but it was just too dangerous. I think they knew that you'd end up here eventually, though, and made preparations for when you would arrive."

L tried to keep her face emotionless at his words. She didn't want any of them to see how broken she was inside. Her hand went into her jeans pocket where the note was. She stroked it in an attempt to calm herself and took a steadying breath.

"Do you know if they're even still alive, out there somewhere?" Her voice showed nothing of her inner turmoil.

Vadim shook his head, as did the others.

"We don't, I'm sorry, but when they left here all those years ago, we never heard from them again. They left a note that was only to be opened on a specific date, and inside it were instructions; how to find you, what they had done, and your role in all of this. As you can guess by now, your parents weren't ordinary humans, and neither are you. But that's something we can get into another day."

L shook her head. His words just wouldn't sink in.

"What do you mean I'm not an ordinary human? That seems like something we should talk about right now! And why leave instructions only to be opened later? What was the date you were supposed to open them?" Her mind was racing with so many thoughts she couldn't think straight.

Vadim seemed taken aback by how she spoke this time, though he recovered his composure quickly.

"I'm sure that's a hard thing to discover about yourself, but my explaining it will not change anything for the moment, and there's much more to discuss. The dates, however, have been a questionable topic for us. The instructions were to be opened on the sixteenth day of June last year."

L chewed the inside of her mouth while she considered that for a moment. It wasn't a particularly special day to her. Her given birthday was months away.

She shook her head, "It doesn't ring any bells... except..."

Realisation suddenly hit L like a dangling Fairy house to the head. She had run away from her last foster home, the one before the Smiths, around that time of year. She reluctantly explained it to them after a nudge from Bryce, who seemed to know she had new information.

The group all began to mutter between themselves, but L couldn't hear any of it. She glanced to Bryce, but he wasn't looking. He appeared to be deep in thought. L gazed at those in front of her for answers. They were still discussing what she had said.

It was Maeve, the Elemental, who spoke up after some time. She shimmered forward to stand beside Vadim.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you run away from your last foster home, L?" Maeve's tone was kind, and her voice was smooth, almost fluid-like.

L used it to stay focused while she cast her mind back to that time, and she stroked the note in her pocket.

"It's kind of a long story... The family I was staying with were nice enough, they treat me well and everything, but it was a relative of theirs that came by a few times. He used to show up out of nowhere. He was really creepy and always asked me strange questions. Like about my past and why I acted the way I did, and he always stared at my birthmark, even more than other people did.