Chapter 169Family to Find

There was a difficult choice to make, should I go in or not? Well, that wasn't really the question, whoever was in there was relevant to me one way or the other. As a friend or foe, it didn't matter. I was going in, but...

I looked at Nuru and spoke softly "Come, we'll go around."

She simply nodded, not asking anything and holding my hand. We walked to the back yard where I hoped it would give me a lot better view of who was inside. The backyard was quite clean. In fact, it looked well-kept for a garden that supposedly had no one caring for it for so long. Was that a clue?

The gate opened silently to my touch, the only thing betraying our arrival was the crunching gravel beneath our feet. But it was gentle, nigh inaudible. Like ghosts, or rather two gentle burglars, we sneaked closer to the house.

The light in the kitchen was suddenly turned on, light flooding out into the garden, illuminating both of us. And the one inside. My jaw simply dropped, the person inside hadn't seen me yet, but I could finally see her. It was a her, very much a her.

One I knew very well.

Mom!

My whole sneaky demeanor forgotten, I ran to the door and wanted to open it. My almost heroic demeanor severely limited by the locked door. But my mother heard me, she almost dropped the spoon she was holding and walked to the door, still unable to believe what she was seeing. She opened the drawer where I knew the keys would be and felt her way to them, without ever taking her eyes of me.

It didn't take long for her to find them and open the door.

She gave me a long, motherly hug. It was great to see her again. She was looking quite well, but so many questions rose up within me. Why, how, when... And more. But it was her who asked the first question. One that many mothers ask their children when they first bring a friend with them.

"Who's that you brought with you?"

I didn't think of any excuses, the simple truth had to do. "She's Nuru, a friend of mine who I kind of rescued. She's been through a lot so I allowed her to stay close. I hoped we could say here for a day maybe. To be honest I wanted to lend her my library card."

My mother was looking all serious until that last sentence. Then her eyebrow got up in a sort of bewildered surprise. "Your library card?"

I giggled. "Yes, she loves to read and Sandra, you know from the Library, said it was alright."

She started to say some things, her mouth making different shapes, until finally she just laughed. "I haven't seen you for over a month and you talk about Library cards. That is just so incredibly you."

I blushed.

My mother walked over to Nuru and smiled. "I'm Myriam, you're welcome here."

Nuru just stood there, unsure of what to do, it made me giggle. "Let's go inside."

My mother nodded and went back inside, we followed closely. It was nicely cleaned up here, nothing out of place it seemed. Had she been cleaning today. "Is dad upstairs?"

Mom stopped in her tracks, sighed and looked at me tiredly. "He's... gone. I haven't spoken to him since I was taken away by the police. He's simply disappeared. I've tried to look for him, but it's very difficult. We were already in hiding, as you know, so tracing him from that was... Undoable."

"I'm sorry."

She smiled. "It's okay, I'm just worried. You're lucky I'm still up, I couldn't sleep so I was cleaning."

I smiled. "Yes, I can see that."

I wanted to sleep here, but I needed to make sure of two things... They were important.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"I want to sleep here, but please don't check in on me during the day or wake me. I'm very tired and I need to sleep. This is really important, alright?"

She nodded. "Janus told me something about that, he didn't exactly explain why, but he did explain it was important."

"And... eh..." I fiddled with my dress. "Can Nuru sleep in my room?"

She didn't immediately respond, trying to keep a straight face.

She failed.

Laughter resounded loudly through the living-room. I wasn't sure if it was really that funny or just the pent-up stress. She was still giggling and laughing when she finally turned her face to me again.

"You really have the oddest worries, Amy. But this one is really surprising." She took a deep breath. "Of course she can sleep in your room! In fact, I would have been very surprised if she didn't, so just go up, brush your teeth and go to bed. It's late as it is anyway. We'll talk when you get up again."

A little nervously I replied. "It will probably be evening then."

Mom shrugged. "Then I'll have dinner ready."

I gave her a quick hug and went upstairs. Nuru brushed her teeth in my stead, I didn't feel like I needed to. My teeth felt still so smooth and strong. My body really didn't change much, every time something happened to it, it just went back to when I was changed, only stronger, cleaner... More what I could be.

The thoughts were doused out by exhaustion, Nuru helped me undress and guided me to my bed. It felt so good to be there again, to feel the familiar pressure against my back as I laid down. I felt so comfortable that even Nuru's presence next to me was nothing more but a little extra decoration to my already delicious cake.

My eyes didn't take long to close, my mind not long to quiet, the rest not long to fade.

I felt safe here.

I was home.