Wearing my original clothes after leaving with Eve and Lilim from the hospital; the warm sunlight shone down from above. A cool breeze blew past us as we walking through the streets of the city. The air felt refreshing and invigorated.
“Our car shouldn’t be far from here Adam, I remember parking it somewhere here,” Eve said as she looked around the street, searching for the blue sedan car that was supposed to be there. All the cars were parked on the sides of the road with no sign of our ride.
However, thanks to my perceptive eyes; I saw the blue vehicle from afar. It appeared like it had been there before but now it is more covered with snow.
“Found it,” I pointed with my finger and walked towards the car alongside my family. After opening the door with my keychain and stepping inside the vehicle, the interior of the car is completely cold, because of the fact that it had remained in mobile for the whole night.
Unlocking all the doors from the press of my keychain and turning on the engine to life as Eve entered the front passenger seat while Lilim sits in the back, the heater started blowing hot wind in this car; which helped to thaw out the freezing atmosphere.
It wasn’t long until the temperature rose and warmed the entire interior of the car; including ourselves.
“Ensure to wear your seat belts,” I instructed the girls while putting on mine.Then, the tires of the car began to spin like they are trying to find the grip of the icy ground before it finally started moving. As the sound of crunching snow and screeching metal, the wheels of the car begin to move faster and the car begins to gain speed.
From each passing second, the scenery is beginning to clear up despite the snow that occupies us from everyday of our lives as the view was coming clearer and clearer—appearing tall buildings around us, and a main highway that leads to the center of this city.
Driving with the woman I love and child of my mine feels oddly like a genuine family of mine; yet, there are some doubts lingering in my head that will never leave me alone. There is still a part of me that remains distant by the fact that it is a perfect illusion of what a happy and loving family should be like.
To have a true and happy family, I have to understand and accept the child of their own. However, in this case, I am still not sure yet.
Sure, I brought Lilim in with us and the doctor from the hospital told me that she is my biological daughter. But the problem lies in the revelation that she is greatly influenced by that demon; it is hard to know if it is really her or not.
That is the reason why it is difficult to trust or even feel comfortable about Lilim—who is supposedly my own flesh and blood.
Because she shares some resemblance of her. I still couldn’t leave her like this, not in a terrible city. If she wasn’t my real daughter, I would have left her. But knowing now that she is, I still got to take care of her like a loving father. It’s not a question of if it is a risk to be with her; but more like a decision that will either lead to saving a life.
Looking out the rear mirror, Lilim was humming innocently in the middle of her seat; happily unaware that the things she done from murdering countless people without a shred of remorse is terrifying for someone in her age.
Not to mention, the fact that she is a walking mass murderer—a spawn of demon, no less.
My thoughts were overwhelming, distracting myself from the road, resulting me to have car accident with the back of another car at the stop light almost. Good thing that it did not happen, since we could have seriously died because of my stupidity.
“Adam! Be careful,” Eve said in concern, watching out for me with a worried face, “let me drive instead if something is bothering you,” She offered; not wanting to have an accident.
Rubbing my temple, “okay, alright. You drive instead,” I quickly placed the hand brake to park before removing my seat belt and stepping outside to switch sets, gesturing to the other vehicles from behind to give me a moment of privacy.
Once we finally switched seats, the traffic light switched to green, ordering Eve to press the accelerate paddle and drive us home.”I’m not used to driving on the highway like this,” Eve nervously stuttered, gripping the steering wheel; glancing at the side mirrors and the dash of the dashboard to look for anything that might cause danger. “This is the first time that I drove on the expressway and going on the highway—and with so many cars too.”
I had no idea how to comfort her, but decided to tell her to stay focus on the road. “You will be okay. Just concentrate on your driving, don’t worry about anything else. Don’t let your attention distracted and you will be fine, I promise,” the only thing I can say to ease her tension.
“Okay. Thank you,” she replied as the speed of the car increased.
“Daddy! Daddy! I am bored! Are we home yet?” Lilim suddenly asked with the hopefulness of a child that doesn’t understand the concept of time; which is to say that she have rarely experienced a boring moment in her life.
I took a deep breath and sighed, looking out of the window, “just give Eve a couple of minutes, we will be home in no time,” trying to sound like a father that is confident in his daughter. Even though inside of me is completely different from that of the fake act of pretending to be confident.
Lilim looked out the window and still bored out of her mind, “how much longer?” she asked with impatience.
Eve gave off a sigh from frustration. “Just be patient, it is only been ten minutes,” her tone resonating in anger and irritation.”No it hasn’t, it’s been two hours already!” Lilim replied with her usual impatient and sarcastic attitude, glaring at the window. “This is sooooo boring! Is there anything interesting to do?!” her eyes glistened at me from curiosity and the eagerness to entertain herself with something; anything that can keep her entertained for a while.
I chuckled, shaking my head, “we are almost there, just a bit more, then once we are at home; you can watch cartoons in front of the television—you like to watch cartoons, right?”
She tilted, “cartoons? television? What are you talking about?!” Lilim stared at me with loud curious eyes, wondering why I was speaking nonsense.
This girl…she does not know what these two even mean? Well, I cannot blame her through. She was forced to fend for herself in the wilderness and barely interact with other people other than that demon.
Although, it won’t hurt to try in explaining; this is the first step to building a bridge between us. At least that is what I told myself. I hope that this will be enough to convince her and make her open whatever remnants of humanity she might still have within her.
“Cartoons are shows made by talented group of people to entertain like you—like me. Cartoon is like animation but with pictures instead of words.”
“What is animated?””Animated is like a drawing of an image that moves and changes shape from frame to another. You probably have seen drawings before; those are drawn images that move. That is what they look like, but animated movies are shown by showing multiple drawings on the screen, each frame of the film or cartoon is one picture.”
We talked and talk, telling her about cartoons and animations. It is like a father and daughter moment of bonding with one another. Adopting this biological daughter of mine, I feel strange for some reason. Out of all the time I explored doing different things; never have I expected to be a father.
Aside from that, this was the longest conversation I ever had with her—I also didn’t expect that it would be this fun to sit simply and chat about anything with one another. If only there were more opportunities like this to spend time with unfortunate circumstances.
If there was ever chance of having her when she was baby, I would have raised her to be a normal and happy daughter. Now, it doesn’t seem to late for that when we begun chatting and bonding.
Deep down, I see the glimpses of compassion and curiosity outside her comfort zone; there is hope that there will be a bright and better tomorrow for all of us combined…right?
Our friendly and fun conversation came to stop when we arrived home, parking in the garage as we prepare to enter our house before Eve hands the keychain to me.
Approaching to the front door of our house with Eve and Lilim walking beside me, I unlocked the door and was greeted with the sight of Clover and Skoll watching a television bored in their minds. Although, they heard us entering the home.
Inciting them to stop what they were doing as the duo begin to greet us at the door; with the two of them standing in front of the entranceway to the house. The TV was playing something in black-and-white. They did not bother turning off the set nor shutting off the volume.
When they finally face us, their full attention moved to the little girl next to Eve, “aye, lads. Who is the kid?” Clover asked with his eyes fixed on the girl.
Eve then replied with a smile, “this is our adopted daughter, Lilim.” Clover froze from his spot at disbelief, and his mouth fell open like an idiot.
His gaze moved back to Eve and then my direction, “Oi! I didn’t knew you had a kid?!” The leprechaun’s eyebrows twitched in a frown, “why in bloody mother’s milk that you not told us?! We should have celebrated about it!” He then quickly turned to his buddy, “I can’t believe this, Skoll…”
The werewolf’s gaze was indifferent and colder than usual; staring at the little girl in bewilderment. Noticing that his companion was not reacting with joy, Clover took notice of the fact, “big guy…yer okay there lad?”
Then something unexpected happened. Skoll smirked, “you brought someone that is not like the others. That makes this special,” approaching the child with handshake, “it has been a while since we last fought, kid.”
Lilim smiled as she shook his hand-before it was entirely crushed to smithereens by the werewolf’s grip. We were all shocked by this sudden turn of efforts but not Lilim. She wasn’t fearful nor screaming in pain, the girl was simply awing of seeing her own mangled and broken hand before it rapidly regenerate in seconds.
“Mr.Wolf! I thought we would never met! You were such an amazing person to fight with!” Her excited and amazed voice filled the room; even the sound of the television could be clearly heard in the background.
To which Clover commented in a confused sentence, “what in the…she just got her hand fixed?”
However, something else made me realize. Lilim and Skoll knew each other, which got me to thinking of valuable information that could be used.
What? No, no. What am I thinking? I cannot do that-not my family, not them.
“You two know each other?” I inquired, their reactions to my question was the same. They looked at me in confirmation as Skoll responded to my inquiry, “I have, we had a history of fighting each other during my days as mercenary. Sometimes, we bump each other and no matter how much we fight, neither of us ever won; yet, somehow the battle always end. An understanding that made me respect her as a valuable enemy.”
Touching, Skoll is an invincible mutant that is unharmed by any physical attack, while Lilim is capable of regenerating from losing any limbs. The two are like brother and sister, a strange to way put it in their relationship.
Eve decided to chime in the conversation, “are we done? I would like to show our child the house,” she asked with a hurried tone. Clover smirked, “name’s Clover, kid! I am breathing and living leprechaun in the flesh,” the Irish tone made Lilim laughed.
“Your funny!”
After the trio left, Skoll sigh before turning himself to my direction, “do you wish to bring this kid? Are you ready to care for someone like her?” His words are honest, if not blunt.
Of course, why wouldn’t I?
“Yes, I can. If I am able to have someone like you, then what’s stopping her from joining this household?” My answer cut like butter, it did not surprise him though.
He only nodded, not saying anything in reply. He stood there, observing me. My face, my body, my legs, arms, and everything, he examined every inch of me with his piercing gaze before finally leaving without telling me something ominous first.
“The choices you make will always have consequences, regardless of the decisions that you make; don’t forget that.”
