Penny closed the pocket watch shut. Putting it back in the pocket of her dress which was the late lady’s, his mother’s dress. Most of the dresses were long as his mother was taller than Penny but it was manageable. Dresses didn’t often come with pockets but these were customized for her own use.
There were often times she wondered about the lady, wondering what kind of woman she actually was. If she was the same person who people perceived through their eyes or if there was something more to the surface of what people assumed to be.
“I should get going,” said Penny, taking a last look around the room which was supposed to be a hidden, hideout place for all witchcrafts that had been stored for years now, “Do you think I could take this with me?” asked Penny for the young girl to smile.
“Unfortunately, no. It is a classified doc.u.ment,” the girl looked at Penny with an awkward expression as if it was hard to refuse her.
“That’s alright. I understand,” Penny gave an assuring smile to Sister Jera.She wasn’t in a hurry to learn all of it in a day. Knowing it would take time for her to learn what this room contained, she asked, “Where do you stay, Sister Jera?”
“I live here, Miss Penelope. It is much easier to live here and dedicate yourself to the work that we are passionate about that spend time outside. There is also the worry where we might be attacked by the hunters,” she nodded hearing this. The underground of the church was large enough to hold an entire town which only made Penny realize that the underground stretched up wide and far. It must have even reached the houses from beneath the land without the villagers knowing about it, “How about yourself?”
Penny kept a stoic face as she walked out of the secret hideout to answer the girl’s question with, “I live in Quinn’s mansion,” she didn’t need to look at Sister Jera’s expression that turned one out of shock to sneakily look at Penelope who looked calm.
“With Mr. Quinn? Damien Quinn?” the young white witch cleared her throat at the end of her question.
Penny gave her a nod, “Yes, Damien Quinn,” the girl didn’t ask her further on it where Penny in return continued to keep up the conversation with her. She wondered what would happen if people knew about her sharing the same room as Damien. Scandalous, Penny noted to herself, “What about your parents? Don’t you miss them if you stay here for long days and weeks?”
“They live in Valeria.”
“I see.”
“Travelling back and forth along with safety taken into consideration…but I do visit them once in every four months,” came out the chirpy voice from Sister Jera.
“I am glad to hear that. It must be really nice to meet them after such a long duration of time,” Penny’s reply came out to be like a longing one.
“That is true,” answered Sister Jera as they made their way up the stairs.
To have someplace to go to where home was had been erased from Penny’s life. There was no home. Not by word or by literal meaning. The house that they stayed in had gone under the magistrate after she had vacated from there to go live with her relatives. To go to her relatives, they were the ones who had sold her to the slave establishment for money. Her mother who she found to be alive wanted her dead that had her heart sinking in her chest.
There was no home. Places she once she thought she belonged had been abandoned where people continued to move on with their lives and she stood there. Still, wondering how her people could do it. Had she been so trivial in their lives where she didn’t matter?
Coming to the door, Penny stepped out to see Damien who was talking Father Antonio at the moment. As if sensing her presence, Damien turned around to meet her eyes. He continued to stare at her,
“Sure, I will have it ordered here by next week,” he answered to something Father Antonio had asked.
“I appreciate that, Mr. Quinn,” the witches responded back.
Damien turned his body to face Penny asking her, “Everything well?” Penny by now had learned to keep up with Damien knowing how much he enjoyed knowing how she felt at a particular point of time when needed.
“Yes,” she answered him, a small smile forming on her lips when she looked around the chapel. Another realization hit her when Damien who was looking at her, his eyes looking at her quizzically which made her smile, “I am done for the day.”
“Sweet. Time to go back home then,” he turned to look at Sister Jera who stood straighter than before when his suspicious eyes fell on her. Turning back to Father Antonio both the men exchanged a nod with Penelope who bowed her head.
“We’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Penelope,” said Father Antonio.
As they walked through the aisle, Penny could feel Damien staring at her, “What got your mood down?”
“Just something about the past.”
“What about it?” he pried. Damien had no concept of space. The pureblooded vampire wanted to know every and anything around him, keeping himself known with what was going while knowing how to get the information out.
“About my family.”
For a few moments, Damien didn’t respond. Helping her get inside the carriage which he had picked on as a habit after she had hurt her back, forgetting that her back didn’t hurt anymore. Once they were in, Damien said,
“You should be happy the way things turned out to be. To live alongside people who don’t love you, respect you. It gives no meaning. People like those are no family. Family is supposed to take care of you. Protect you which none of them did. It might be cruel, selfish of me to think this way but don’t blame me because I don’t mind how things turned out to be.”
