When Damien arrived at the room, he saw Caitlin holding Penny. He caught sight of Penny staring into space, her expression dull and extremely quiet. The rim of her eyes had turned red which he guessed was because of excessive crying.
Caitlin, who noticed Damien’s presence, let go of Penny’s shoulder and she stood up. Offering the man a small smile, she left the room. Penny’s eyes moved rather slow before falling on Damien who stood a couple of steps away from her.
He walked towards her and sat down on the bed.
Her green eyes looked much more radiant and he asked her, “What happened, mouse?” he placed his hand on the side of her cheek. She was unable to keep her eyes at him and she broke her gaze away.
Damien saw the drops fall down on her palm that was on her lap. He could sense something was hurting her deep in her chest which she was unable to move from. He didn’t ask her, and without asking her welcomed and took her in his arms so that she could find the solace she needed right now. A shoulder or chest to cry on.
She clutched the front of his shirt, her body feeling small as it appeared to look withered.
“What’s got you this shattered?” he asked, his hand petting her head to keep her quivering heart calm.
Penny sniffed and then shook her head. At first Damien had taken that she didn’t want to talk about it and though he wanted to give her space, he was curious about what had got her in this state. She took a moment though before he heard her speak,
“I received a part of my memory. It was about the last time I saw my father,” she took a pause before saying, “My mother killed him. She killed him just like that.”
They knew this was going to come sooner or later and Damien held her in his arms so that she wouldn’t fall apart. Her memories had been coming to her in much more speed than when compared in the beginning. Though Damien felt bad about her at one side, he was glad that Penny would finally find that closure she needed from where everything had started.
“I saw her kill him with the other witch hunters. They were the same as the ones we met in the forest,” her voice and the speed of her speech was slow as she spoke, “My father wanted us to run. He wanted us to flee and had decided to stay back so that he could stop the people who were going to track him. He loved us both. He loved her, how could she do that to him,” Penny felt her tears reappear again.
“Some are despicable people and creatures. We cannot fix them,” Damien said to her.
“But they were married. She could have let him go after the ritual was done,” Penny closed her eyes to blink away the tears and some that fell on his shirt.
“Marriage doesn’t bind a soul, Penny. It is just by mere words and you know how your mother is…for a woman who is ready to kill her own child, she can kill anything.”
When she pulled away, tears were smeared all over her cheeks and she used her sleeve to wipe her tears.
“You can cry as much as you want. Until your chest feels it is alright,” Damien patted her head, “It is only a matter of time when someone either kills her or we hunt her down. Yeah?” he asked to see her nod.
Penny couldn’t get rid of the shocked expression she kept seeing her father when her mother was speaking to him before she killed him.
“Can we go back to that place where we went last time?” she asked him, “The one where my family used to live…” she saw him nod right away without any question.
“Wear your shoes and coat.”
Time didn’t matter as both Penny and Damien vanished in thin air from the room and mansion back to the riverside where Penny had come here with Damien before.
She could hear of the water rushing through in the direction and the land which was on either side of the river before the forest started again. She looked back and forth. Bringing up her hand she used her water ability to move the water around but there was nothing in there.
“She pushed him to the river,” Penny said slightly frantically with the thought that she could still find her father if she looked at the river but the path was too long and wide. It would take months of time to search and there was no telling if the floods had pushed and taken the skeleton somewhere far away.
Damien followed her without a question.
“Are you sure this is where she pushed him?” he asked her without discouraging with the thought that the body might not be here anymore.
Penny tried to remember as it appeared that the skeleton wasn’t here. Unlike the black witches, most of the white witches didn’t lose their bodies to turn to dust. She walked around the land, her face moving left and right and then back to make sure this is where it was.
“No…” she whispered, “We walked for two or three hours I think from here taking right, and then we took a stop and then…” and as she said it, it felt like it was going to a difficult thing to do.
“Come on. Let’s walk and find the spot if it is possible,” Damien slipped his hand in hers and he took her for a long walk.
They walked until Penny finally stopped him. With the light burning in front of them by Penny’s help, she bent down and picked up a small toy that once used to belong to her. She started to lead the way and they finally reached the same river but which was on the other side.
Her footsteps slowed down seeing the water. Walking towards the edge of the water, she sat down and her hand reached for the cold gushing water that was running at a moderate speed. The water started to slow down and it started to move away, making way for the skeleton that was beneath the river for the last few years. Bringing the skeleton up and on the ground before the water splashed back into the hollow space.
For a moment, Penny had stopped breathing.
She had finally found her father and even though this is not how she wished to have met him again, it was the only remains of his along with her memories. As the bones had been there for many years now, the surface of it looked dull and green in color because of the moss and algae that had been formed on it. Moving closer to it, a single drop of tear fell and rolled down her cheek.
She felt Damien’s hands on either side of her shoulders and he said, “You finally found him,” and she nodded her head.
Finally.
Finally she was able to meet her father again.
