6.2

Maryam, from the second floor, was just beginning to play with the fringe of her hair, just as she had done the first day when she first saw Silvia. Rey was seeing her mother's curious and flirtatious look, a look that wanted to undress whoever she saw with her eyes. The vampire arched her back, letting her breasts spill out of her loosely fitting dress and continued.

"I know you are hungry for knowledge Silvia. These eyes, which have seen it all, can see a girl who is curious, jealous and full of unfulfilled desires. I can give you and provide you with what I have, I have plenty to share and I know you wouldn't care how much it costs you... Tell me: if I use you as a tool or as a slave, would you be interfering directly with us? After all, I am the one making the proposition and I would need your services otherwise."

Rey noticed how, even though no one had raised their voices, nor were they offended at each other, the atmosphere was tense. He also realized that he had never seen his mother angry. "I wonder what she would be like being angry, Hmmm!".

Silva averted her gaze:

"Among my standards as a servant, I am well within my rights to demand respect. I must not allow myself to be treated in a way I do not want and if it happens, I must, in a polite manner, bring to the guest's attention that her insinuations are unjustifiable and will get nowhere.

Maryam nodded her head, made the expression of someone realizing something obvious and, even so, then flashed a growing smile as if expecting to receive the best of the situation:

"Your maid standards are somewhat strict. Officially, I want to do an act of reuniting our family. My room is not big enough for all of us in the pack to get together. For that reason, I plan to change the meeting point. I always thought the foyer of this house was the most convenient place for all of us to be. You won't have to keep listening behind the door. As a maid, you can do your job and keep an eye out for any wet spots that might be left on the floor without "having to interfere directly with us". Still, please note that I am willing to receive you as a daughter if you wish. What do you say?"

As soon as the maid thanked the so tempting offer and clarified the points to be clarified, Rey could hear how the vampire turned around and entered her room. Silvia put her hand to her chest and let out a sigh.

The little boy went to take a step to approach the maid, but time stopped. This time he wasn't astonished, he already knew he couldn't move no matter how hard he tried. He also knew that he could only watch and wait until everything returned to normal. Looking up, in the middle of the room, Rey could see all the members of the house naked on top of each other, and how Silvia simply watched them without doing anything.

"You're looking at my ass... You're curious, aren't you? If you want I'll let you see it from closer... even its inside... How it looks, how it feels... what sounds it can make if you put your tongue inside it."

Those were the few words Rey was able to make out in the intense scene that lasted for quite a while. When they were all finished, they went back to their rooms as fast as the wind. At that moment, the maid proceeded with her routine of cleaning everything from top to bottom, left to right and turning off the lights until the place was dark. The darkness became long, for Rey, who neither did nor saw anything.

As soon as the lights came on and the weather returned to normal, the little boy looked up with the opening of the door to the upper room. This time it was not Maryam, but Wulfgang who stepped out onto the balcony that adjoined the stairs. Leaning on the handrail, he proceeded down to the second floor while clearing his throat and breathing as one who needed calm. Rey noticed that his father did not look the same. The wolf had a slightly different expression on his face. It wasn't the usual sadness that sunk him, but he did have the face of someone who couldn't believe what he had seen.

"Guys," Wulfgang called to the rest of the group.

The doors in the hallway opened delicately. The footsteps of the pack members also echoed through the house. Rey stepped to the side, then turned and turned his gaze to those present. Those who walked were dressed, with attentive looks, they looked worried as well, though even Ehimus did not dare to ask. The lycanthrope seemed to speak with his eyes. As if he had said, "Come see this...you'll be surprised." He turned and walked up the stairs he had already descended.

Following the wolf's suggestion, the members climbed up behind him to the second floor. No one knew precisely what had so surprised the Wulfgang, they could only wait to see with their own eyes.

"What situation could have happened for them to have such faces?". With this question in mind, Rey stood first in the rising line. As soon as he invaded the room together with the others, he found no reason to be amazed, but he was puzzled because the others couldn't help but open their mouths when they saw in the direction of the cribs. The little boy looked back to where they all saw. He still didn't understand why the older ones were so surprised. Still, next to them, he stood at the edge of the three cradles.

Rey watched as six people surrounded three little ones who were no longer babies. He also heard murmurs, questions and exclamations, "How is this possible?", "Unbelievable!", "Must it be a dream?", "Not again!". The older ones emphasized so much about what they saw that it no longer seemed so normal to Rey that in the passing of a night, both he and his siblings grew big. The little boy could also see how in his own version of the past his brothers opened their eyes. He remembered that both the brightness and the noise bothered him, he also vaguely remembered another noise, independent of the one made by the older ones there. Nock, nock, nock. Rey turned at the sound of wood being knocked to see the Great Wise Wizard at the entrance to the room.

The old man, who knocked on the door and at once caught the attention of the onlookers, spoke in the usual jocular tone he always carried:

"Well, good morning, my tenants! Isn't curiosity splendid! That which motivates us. The one that takes us by the hand and leads us to explore a new and fascinating world. Give the not-so-little ones a chance and they will see."

Everyone looked at the old man as if they did not understand what he was talking about. Yet he continued as if the opposite were true.

"I say this because the currents of time act in a different way with our bipedal species than in the rest of the animals. In one night, your children developed enough to reach the capacity to be able to fend for themselves. I can assure you that the children are mature enough to be able to walk, run, reason and fend for themselves."

Everyone returned their gaze to the little ones. Running seemed to be too much for them. Even Rey, there, remembered that he did not run from the first moment he opened his eyes. But he did remember that the older ones wanted to put the Great Wise Wizard's theory to the test.

After those present made room, the lycanthrope charged his son without a last name, the one with an infinite pentagram inside his white eyes. After stepping back and turning around, Wulfgang placed the little one he carried on the ground.

Rey saw himself standing, he saw himself as the one who did not want to be seen. He had the same height, hair and build, but he did not share the similarity of their looks. He also saw his father walking away and the looks of the other members from another angle, but all exactly as he remembered, only this time he carried with him the burden of knowledge. And, although the result would be the same, he now sensed that it would be much more painful.

His naive and carefree self from the not too distant past took his first wide-eyed steps. Clumsy and almost falling over. He corrected his posture several times, caught his balance and again took strong steps forward.

Rey painted his gaze with disappointment, more so as he remembered how he could not resist the urge to discover at that moment. The Great Wise Wizard was right about what he had said, "That thing about curiosity motivating us and taking us by the hand is not entirely untrue." In the past he was as innocent as he was incredulous and the feeling of discovery encouraged him, even if he didn't know how to observe or listen or behave with the best attitude. But, no matter how much he wanted to change it, that was a past that could not be altered, erased or eliminated. Events that were there to stay and live among memories.

Rey turned his gaze. The little boy's other self could be seen looking at all those who were cheering him on. With his curious eyes he only saw faces with gestures, smiles and grimaces, but not what was behind those faces... that the older ones were judging him and even despising him in silence. Once the little boy lost interest in those around them, he turned his gaze without reason to be grateful or return any gesture, smile or grimace. He wanted to follow his discovery beyond where he had been left.

Preventing that something bad might happen, as the little boy approached where Katherine was, the worried mother tried to hold him. With an awkward swipe and a squeak on his part, Rey swatted his mother's hand and refused help so as to continue more freely. With much dissimulation and tact, Maryam withdrew the hand with which she tried to help and kept her distance.

Rey, after hearing the sound, walked to where his other self was and almost joined him. There he raised his face and with this, also his gaze. His eyes were somewhat worried. Even if he didn't recognize the vampire as his mother, she was the one who had the most right to kill him if she felt like it. However, in response to the rejection by her younger self, Maryam simply gave a pleasant smile and took her distance. Though a smile meant no more than just an appearance, Rey did not take it amiss. Still, Maryam was Maryam, and at the gesture toward the mother, the other members there fell silent, turned off their grimaces and paid closer attention. Rey was ashamed of himself, but he also knew that the worst was yet to come and that he could do nothing but be strong and see what he had ignored before. His former self remained upright on his legs and, at the same time, he tried to lift one to lean on the other.