Chapter 10

After sending her son off with Amay, a long sigh left Elizabeth's mouth as she closed and locked the door to her bedroom. Her eyes looked around her room for a moment as she finally was alone to process everything that happened downstairs. She couldn't shake the awful taste in her mouth by how it all played out. She honestly wasn't expecting her own son to want to learn magic, nor Amay of all beings willingly agreeing to be his partner. As much as she didn't want to, they made a good point, and she had no other choice but to agree. Yet, she still couldn't help but worried about the entire situation. Her eyes then looked back up towards her bathroom door.

"Maybe a shower will calm my nerves." She thought to herself before sluggishly walk towards it. With each step she took, she left a trail of clothing behind, and as the warm water hit her face, she could feel the tension in her body slowly start to loosen. After last night, she had to skip on a shower to monitor her son and fix the broken objects in the house while also preparing for an explanation, so this was well needed.

Elizabeth pushed her long white hair out of her face as she took another deep breath. The weight that followed her for so long finally lifted off her shoulders, and the burden she carried for so long had faded. However, she felt another one began to creep up her back as different dangerous possibilities filled her mind. All of the different things that could happen to her son. She lowered her head for a moment, looking down at her feet as her mind showed her glimpses of a past she tried to put behind her and possible ones to come. Yet, the one image that worried her was of Amay and how she lost control.

"Damnit, Amay," Elizabeth bitterly said. Those images of her best friend nearly going berserk still haunted her. Her left hand began to shake from fear before she placed it against the shower wall to calm it. Her mind then drifted off to the events of last night.

A few hours earlier.

As she placed Lucas, unconscious body, in his bed, Elizabeth looked down at her son with a worried look. A small smile formed on her face as she watched his body turned over. She exhaled a breath of relief, knowing he was safe for now. Her left hand reached out and gently brushed the hair out of his face. She loved his shaggy hair, but he really needed a haircut. She knew she would have to get on to him about it soon, but for now, her baby needed to rest. Healing his wounds was the easy part, but allowing his body to rest was what he needed the most.

Elizabeth slowly stood up from sitting next to her sleeping son and looked around his quiet room. The moonlight bathed his room in a soft light making certain things visible, even her grey skin and yellow eyes. As she silently made her way to exit his room and allowed him to sleep, she grabbed one of his shirts on the way out. When Lucas's door was closed, Elizabeth silently stood there for a moment. A wet dropping sound could be heard hitting the floor as Elizabeth's head hung low. She lifted her head back as a tear began to fall down her eye rapidly.

"He almost died because I was slow." Elizabeth's thoughts began to bombarded her for the fact she could have lost her baby. She could have thought of a million plans and put every idea into place to keep him safe, yet she made one mistake that could have ended him. She felt as if she failed him. Her mind couldn't bear the idea of knowing what would have happened if Amay didn't get released. As more tears began to form, Elizabeth heard the sound of someone coming up the stairs. She quickly wiped her eyes and cleared her throat as the person reached the top of the stair. When she wiped away the last tear, she saw that the person coming was none other than Amay.

Amay turned her head towards Elizabeth with blood around her lips and two gems in her hand. She could tell that she just walked in on something, so she took small steps towards her friend. Elizabeth let out another soft sigh as she went to meet her former partner halfway down the hallway.

"Did you get both of their crystals?" Elizabeth asked as she passed her topless companion the shirt.

"Ah. Thank you." Amay happily said. Although she would have been fine any other time, her body was starting to become more aware of the slight temperature change. "It was starting to get chilly in here. Also, here you go." She smiled while handing over the crystals to Elizabeth.

As Elizabeth took both crystals in her hand, she couldn't help but look down at both of them for a moment. The thought of just crushing them and sending their dust to their parents came to her mind, but she just shook her head before turning her attention back to Amay. She couldn't help but hug the short Demi-Human and hold her tightly. "I don't know how I could ever repay you for saving him. Thank you so so so much, Amay." Elizabeth confessed to her.

Amay's eyes went wide from the surprise hug, yet she welcomed it with a smile before patting Elizabeth on her back. She forgot how warm her hugs were. "Don't mention it. Would you just answer a few questions for me?"

"Of course. However, let's head downstairs first." Elizabeth said, wanting to keep the volume down not to awaken her son.

Elizabeth took the lead as they made their way back towards the stairs. Amay couldn't help but notice all the pictures on the wall along with the decorations. She remembered Elizabeth's taste in the old but unique objects, and seeing this made her happy to know she didn't lose that side of herself.

As they made their way downstairs, Elizabeth felt a little joy that they didn't make it up the stairs. The downstairs hallway, dining room, and sitting area looked like a tornado ran through it. Broken glass and wood littered the floor. Holes were in random parts of the walls, and one giant hole was in the kitchen floor. Empty bottles of wine scattered the dining room floor, while 3 dirty plates with food still on them were still on the table. They even managed to pull down her favorite chandelier and her books off of the shelf.

Elizabeth shook her head in silence as she pressed forward a little into the hallway more. If she had it her way, she would have made them cleaned her whole house before breaking their crystals; however, they were already taken care of. Now the only thing left for her to do was clean up the mess. Her eyes turned to look at the first body, which was now a dried-up corpse.

"That one put up a good fight." Amay chimed in. "He got my arm and leg and would have killed me if it wasn't for your son." Her eyes went to the side of the wall where the crowbar had left its mark.

"I see. How are your wounds?" Elizabeth said, still trying to process the damage Amay had calmed Lucas did.

"With the blood from him and the one in the basement, my wounds healed up nice and quickly. " She answered while raising her arm to show nothing was there. "So about my questions?"

"Right. Let me make a quick call to have this mess cleaned up." Elizabeth said while pulling out her own phone.

Amay's eyes went wide at the small object but were even more surprised at how effortlessly Elizabeth used it. She was so entranced by the device that she did not realize she was on Elizabeth's arm trying to see more of it. As Elizabeth heard the phone ringing, she could feel Amay practically on her. This made her smile a little as it reminded Elizabeth of their early days when they were starting. This caused her smile to be more somber across her face.

"Clean For You. How can we clean for you?" An older woman picked up the phone and said the jingle in a sassy voice. She took a long drag of her cigarette as she waited for Elizabeth's order.

"Hello. I would like to order the house special." Elizabeth told the woman in a calm and cheerful voice.

"It's been a while, Miss Homes. Will that be a full special or separate section?" The woman asked while putting her cigarette out. She leaned back in her chair as she pressed two keys on her computer.

"Indeed it has Patty. " Elizabeth softly giggled as she could see her old friend in her chair looking at a magazine while answering their call.

"Separate, please. The sections are the living, dining, and hall." She said, knowing what Patty was gonna ask next. Elizabeth could hear a rough chuckle come through the phone.

"That bad, huh? How many drop-offs are you wanting to do?" Patty asked, a little surprised but knew not to poke any further.

"You can say that. I will be doing 3 drop-offs. Could you also make this an express clean-up?" Elizabeth asked, looking at the time.

"Are you able to pay the fee?" Patty asked while casually hitting a packet of cigarettes on her desk.

Elizabeth softly giggled. "Yes, and upfront as usual, correct?"

"That is correct. We will see you in a couple of minutes to an hour. Thank you for calling." Patty answered while finishing the order on her computer.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said before hanging up the phone. She lowered her hand before taking a deep breath and looked at her curious friend. She then realized that Amay had no idea what just happened. "Oh yeah. This is a mobile phone. One of the many useful things of this era."

"Oooooo." Amay let out her curiosity and interest about the device. She watched as Elizabeth placed the phone back in her pocket before turning around and took a seat on the stairs. As Elizabeth crossed her legs, readying to answer anything, Amay gathered her questions together.

"I guess the first question I should be asking is who the boy's father is? Do I know him?" Amay asked, rubbing her neck a little.

"Lucas's father is someone you never met. His name is Edward Taurus. He was some guy I fell in love with after a life-threatening mission. I was married to him almost a decades or so again…."Elizabeth paused for a moment. She was trying to find the right words before continuing. "We didn't connect that well. He was something I wasn't looking for yet. Besides, he couldn't keep it in his pants for more than 5 minutes." She said, replacing her tender memories of him with his mistakes.

"Wow. You actually almost settled down? That's a big surprise." Amay responded, actually surprised that her friend went through with it.

"So was he the by-product of a drunken mistake or actually planned?" She teased Elizabeth when she saw her blush.

"Kinda both," Elizabeth admitted and started laughing, knowing her friend was joking.

Amay joined her for a brief moment before stopping. As she remembered when the boy's blood touched her tongue, "He's unique, Lizzy." She confessed.

Elizabeth stopped laughing and looked at her partner, who had a straight yet concerned face. She could tell that Amay was curious and bothered about her son for some reason. "How do you mean?" She asked, wanting to know exactly what she meant.

"His blood. It's sweet. Too sweet to be straight with you." Amay admitted to her. She remembered the kiss with him. When his blood touched her tongue, it was almost shocking yet tasted way too good. "It was sweeter than yours from last I remember it."

For a split second, Elizabeth's eyes went wide. It wasn't a look of aw or surprise but of fear. Amay noticed her quick-expression change but wasn't sure which one it was exactly.

"I see," Elizabeth said, a little worried before going quiet.

"How old is he?"

"He's 20." Elizabeth opened up. "Today is…well, yesterday was his birthday."

"He did mention something about that." Amay quickly remembered him crying about it. As she began to roll her eyes, remembering his bitching, she realized that Elizabeth said he was 20 years old. She thought about it.

"I don't remember you being pregnant last time nor talking to anyone before I…." Amay hesitated on the words and felt ashamed even to say what happened. "You know." She said as her face turned a little red and avoided her eye contact.

"You are correct," Elizabeth said as she began to feel her own stomach and chest tighten. She knew this question was coming yet still knew it wasn't going to be easy.

"Lizzy. How long was I down there?" Amay said as her eyes focused on Elizabeth. She knew she was in there for a good while, but she needed to hear how long exactly. Her face began to contort with every silent moment that went between them as she saw the heavy look in Elizabeth's eyes.

As the showerhead went off, the last of the water droplets escaped from their prison. Elizabeth looked down at her tiled sink, taking deep breaths as water ran down her face. Her wet hair caressed her shoulders and pressed down her back all the way to her waist. Her heavy eyes looked at the droplets as if waiting for them to speak out and give her a sign.

One of her hands began to shake again, so she raised it and began to wipe the steam from the mirror. As her reflection became more clear, Elizabeth saw herself with a look of utter shame. She didn't see herself as a graceful and beautiful warrior that has been around for a long time and has seen almost everything. No. She saw herself as Amay did. A cold monster that left her friend in a cold and dark basement for nearly 150 years.

"I did it for the greater good." Elizabeth lied to herself before taking a long pause. Amay's shocked and hurt face haunted her still. There was a lot of doubt behind her words, and she could feel her guilt eating at her. However, she wouldn't question herself any longer. She needed to focus on the new problems at hand, so Elizabeth pulled herself away from the mirror and forced on getting dress.

After getting dressed, Elizabeth made her way downstairs to the living area. She could hear the sound of the late morning news going off, along with the sound of chewing. She slowed down her footsteps and tiptoed across the floor to try and see if she could catch her daughter off guard again.

This was a little game Elizabeth liked to do with Martha when they were home alone together. Martha had a tendency to hide snacks in different areas around the house and would always be snacking on one of them when no one was around. Elizabeth always found it adorable to see Martha's expression when she was caught. Nothing to the extreme, just a fun moment between the two.

As she got closer towards the entrance, Elizabeth made sure not to step on any creaky floorboards. She knew Martha's hearing was good, so each step needed to be perceived. She could hear the chewing grow louder as she reached the corner. She slowly picked her head out of the doorway to see her dark-haired child eating something while looking at the news. Martha suddenly stopped when she heard a creaking sound and quickly turned her head towards the doorway. However, nothing was there.

"Hmmm." Martha let escape as she observed the doorway carefully while slowly taking a bite of her long taffy. "I know you're there." She called out.

Elizabeth couldn't help herself but laugh as she walked out of the door. She held both her hands up in defeat while smiling at her. "You got me, again. Honestly Martha. Your hearing is still amazing." Elizabeth complimented her daughter while making her way to the back of the couch. She began to rub Martha's head softly before resting her own head on it. "What are you eating this time?" She asked while her eyes looked at the news.

"Apple flavored taffy," Martha responded while trying to offer her mother a piece.

"I'm good, sweetie. Just curious." Elizabeth kindly declined while focusing on the current coverage. "What's happening on the news?"

"They found a destroyed truck nearly towards the city limits. They think the person was in either a hit and run or just flipped his truck. They can't decide currently. The driver has yet to be found." Martha said, giving her mother a small recap. She then took another bite of her taffy, finishing it off.

"Aw. Good job making it look like an accident." Elizabeth told her daughter while rubbing her hair again. "You're getting better at it." She said as she made her way to join her on the couch.

Martha's eyes went wide as her face started to glow from embarrassment. "Thank you." She said sheepishly, dropping her tough persona around Elizabeth.

"That reminds me. Let me see your hands. It's about time for a check-up." Elizabeth said, almost forgetting. She then turned her body to face Martha a lot more and held out one hand.

"Yes, Ma'am," Martha responded. She raised her right arm and placed it on Elizabeth's hand. Her eyes watched as Elizabeth softly turned her arm over to examine it before getting started. Martha always enjoyed moments like this because she felt so close to Elizabeth. She enjoyed her mother carefully and patiently doing the process. Checking for any injuries before moving onto the next phase.

Elizabeth raised her other hand and placed it on Martha's bracelet. Doing so caused the bracelet to glow with yellow light and reveal a layer of writing and symbols; simultaneously, a second layer of different writing was written on top of the first in different languages and symbols in a non-coherent pattern on Martha's right arm. She slowly began to look through each set of markings, searching for any abnormalities or weak spots. Her finger would start to glow as she pressed on each symbol that seemed out of place or needed fixing. All the while looking toward Martha to make sure she wasn't in any pain.

"May I ask your opinion on something?" Elizabeth asked without looking at Martha directly.

Martha eyes went wide for a moment as she felt a slight pinch from one of the symbols being changed. She tilted her head slightly at Elizabeth, wondering if it had anything to do about this morning.

"Do you think I overreacted about earlier?" Elizabeth continued as she fixed another letter. She wanted to hear her daughter's response as she needed a second opinion.

"No, ma'am," Martha answered. She thought about the conversation she listened to earlier for a brief moment, but something in her heart began to speak differently. "Well….." The word slipped out of her mouth before she could catch it.

"Well?" Elizabeth responded, sort of puzzled since Martha usually agreed with all of her actions.

Martha began to feel very nervous as this was her first time talking against Elizabeth, and she didn't know why. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…."

"Martha Honi Homes," Elizabeth called her daughter by her full name while looking up at her with a straight face. "What did you want to say?"

Martha could see it in Elizabeth's eyes. She wanted to know what she was going to say. Her own eyes avoid looking at Elizabeth as her face became a little red. Her left arm began to rub her right as she fidgeted in her seat.

"I was going to say that I agree with them." She confessed and spoke low and sheepishly. "Having Luci train and having someone we already know be with him does take a large amount of stress off of us. As long as it keeps him safe, that's all I want." Martha said, looking at a photo of a very young Lucas.

Elizabeth stopped her work on Martha's arm as she listened to her daughter. She could see that her daughter was just as worried about her sibling as she was. This brought a soft smile to her face and warmed her heart greatly. Using her free hand, Elizabeth brushed a strain of Martha's loose hair behind her ear to see her face more. This action made Martha jump a little but quickly calmed her as she felt Elizabeth's finger rest under her chin. This caused Martha to look at her mother.

"Never be afraid to speak your mind. I really do want your input in every situation. Even if you disagree with me," Elizabeth spoke to her daughter before releasing her chin. "I do agree with you. As long as he is safe, that's all that matters." She reassured her words as she continued to check the spell on Martha's right arm.

"Yes, ma'am," Martha said, remembering what Elizabeth always told her as she took her mother's words to heart.

"After this and the left arm, how would you feel about us doing a little training?" Elizabeth asked with a smile still on her face.

"Really?" Martha asked excitedly. She saw Elizabeth nod and could feel her heart pumping in anticipation. "Yes, please!" She said, barely holding back her excitement.

Elizabeth giggled, hearing her daughter.

"Very well. Just let me finish this up then."