Despite my exhaustion, I didn’t sleep right away. Instead, I cried for Noreen.
I knew this feeling of grief all too well. It consumed me after Matthew killed himself, and I felt it creeping in again. The hurt claimed my insides like a plague, but somewhere in between all the tears I shed, I drifted off. I’d hardly call it sleep because it was too much of a restless state. In my dreams, I saw myself plunging a stake into Eliza’s heart and Whitfield stabbing Noreen with his sword. The images spun in a constant loop. Over and over.
The next two days were awful. Rita hardly left her room, acting out whenever I tried to do anything for her. She barely ate a thing, and her eyes stayed that unnerving shade of black. Alvie made a phone call to Noreen’s close friend, Hayley, to inform her of her passing.
Hayley ended up coming to the house with her partner and foster son, as well as her foster son’s girlfriend, who turned out to be none other than Florence! I couldn’t believe it when she appeared, and I saw in her eyes that she’d been through her own share of troubles since we last spoke, but she was clearly doing fine now. And with a boyfriend to boot. His name was Frank, and he was very handsome. I swear I hugged her for a full ten minutes.
“You have no idea how good it is to see you,” I breathed.
“And you,” Florence replied. “I’ve missed you like crazy.”
“You have to tell me everything that’s been going on with you.”
“I will,” she said. “You wouldn’t believe all that’s happened.”
The purpose of their visit became clearer when we sat down to talk. My magic sensed that though Hayley was human, her partner and foster son were not. I had no clue what was different about them, but I suspected Frank’s supernatural side was what drew him and Florence to one another. Frank couldn’t be older than nineteen, but there was a wisdom in his eyes that went far beyond his years. There was a kindness in his eyes, too, and I was relieved that Florence had found someone like him after being brought up by the likes of Terry Vaine.
Hayley explained that, because Florence was an empath, something I’d only discovered about her when I went to see her at her grandmother’s house, she had the ability to heal emotions. Hayley went on to suggest that Florence could heal some of Rita’s grief so that she wouldn’t be in danger of being taken over by the dark side of her magic. Clearly, Noreen had expressed her concerns about her daughter to her friend before she passed away.
It wasn’t smooth sailing though. When Florence tried to heal Rita, she ended up fainting from the effort it took. The sadness in Rita was so thick that even an empath couldn’t wash it away fully.
Ethan came over just as I was nursing Florence back to health. He was surprised to see her and offered his blood to bring her strength back, but I declined. I wasn’t going to give Florence vampire blood without being able to ask for her consent first.
He stood on the other side of the room and watched me while I dabbed her forehead with a cool, damp cloth. I realised I was wearing the Keep Calm and Carry Garlic T-shirt, which he appeared wryly amused about.
“I haven’t had a chance to do any laundry,” I explained.
“I’m not offended. Garlic isn’t harmful to us. I think some vampire was having a laugh with a slayer once and managed to convince them garlic was a good defence against our kind. Though I will admit I’m not a fan of the smell.”
I nodded, and a few moments of quiet passed before I asked, “How have you been?”
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” There was a tenderness in his voice that had emotion clogging my throat. I had been through a lot the last few days. Then again, we all had.
“I’m coping,” I replied. “But I was referring to your exposure to sunlight the morning in the cave. I hope you haven’t been very unwell.”
He appeared touched that I even remembered he’d been exposed to the sun, given everything that had happened since. “I was a little under the weather for a while, but I’m better now.” There was a pause as he considered me. “Still no sign of your father?”