CHAPTER 25: Stories

It was snowing and the ground was covered in a thin layer of white once Theo reached the cabin his parents were staying in.

He knocked on the door and soon after his mother opened it. When she saw it was him tears nearly sprang in her eyes and she dragged him inside all whilst scolding him that it was way too cold to be out right now.

Theo couldn't help but laugh at her worries since he believed that he had proven by now that he could manage himself without them, let alone deciding for himself whether or not he would walk through the snow.

Lisa called out to her husband who was in the other room. It didn't take long for Joost to greet Theo and according to him, nearly crushing Theo's wings in a hug.

"Come on, son. You can't keep doing this to us." He complained. "You can't just disappear and show up once in an eternity. How do we know you are still alive?"

"It's not like I had much say in it!" Theo managed to exclaim after breaking free from his father's embrace. "Johan has been keeping a constant eye on me ever since we got here. Even at night it's difficult to sneak out. The only reason why I could escape so smoothly today was probably because he apparently isn't here at all."

"Oh, no we don't blame you at all. Its…" Lisa said only to suddenly stop. "Theo, you look terrible. Is something the matter? When was the last time you ate?"

Theo hesitated for a moment. "I ate yesterday, I believe. And yes, there is something that I would like to talk about."

Lisa nodded. "Alright then. Joost, would you mind making something for him? Then we'll talk after that."

"On it." Responded Theo's father who was already halfway in the kitchen.

Lisa smiled and sat down with Theo by the small fireplace that somehow had to warm the entire cabin.

"I see you still have my scarf. You can keep it for now. But I would like to have it back once the weather gets warmer."

Theo's ears twitched for a moment. "Bold of you to ask it back when you were the one that lost it on the first place. But you can have it back right now if you want to. It isn't my colour anyways."

His mother chuckled. "No, I think it goes well with your horns."

Theo let out a deep sigh. "If that's the case then I will hide it somewhere in your room, so you have no choice but to take it back."

His mother didn't respond, she just stared at him. "Hold on, I think you have something on your face." She eventually said.

She came closer and moved a few strands of his hair out of the way. "How long has that been there?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Theo couldn't help but to question her back.

"That dark blue stripe on your cheek. Could it be a scar? I have never seen you form any before."

Theo's ears dropped. The stripe meant that the large creature in the tube was indeed an older version of whatever he is. The only questions was, how much older was that creature and would it as well as Theo, change even more after that?

"I-I don't know." He stammered. He could feel his heart violently beating in his chest as he stared to panic.

"Hey, I'm sure it's nothing bad." His mother, seeing how much it disturbed him, tried to comfort him.

Joost walked in on this moment. Since they were both here now, Theo found that now it would be a good time to tell them about what he had discovered.

And so, he told them everything, from sneaking out to finding the room with the monstrosities.

When he was done, his mother placed her hand on his. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry you had to see that."

"You two aren't mad that I went there alone?"

"Of course not!" his father responded. "Also, I think that I have nearly figured out what their language is. If you are that worried about what you are, then we can go there together sometime, and I will translate what the black windows say. I'm sure that we'll figure out more about you that way."

Theo faintly smiled. "Thanks, but I'm not sure if that's still what I want. In truth I don't want to face it at all. But I guess I don't have much of a choice." He said while running his fingers along the dark stripe that had appeared on his face.

"Don't worry. We will figure this out." His father responded.

After staying for a little longer Theo decided that he had to check up on Tim. Since his father had yet to return Theo figured that the kid shouldn't be alone for too long.

He went back to the mansion and played around with the kid. Eventually, after the sun had set, Tim fell asleep whist listening to a story that Theo had no choice but to make up on the spot. It was basically an abridged version of a legend of one of the gods.

This particular one was about the goddess of life that thought that all her creations had died for unknown reasons. In pure sorrow and regret her tears formed the rain that would fall from the sky, in turn granting new life and allowing creation to bloom once again. But the goddess didn't know this and would continue to cry. The moment that she found out that living creatures were roaming the earth once again, she would dry her tears, and all would die again. And so, the circle would continue for all of eternity.

Theo himself never truly believed this story. After all, if such a powerful being was crying for so long, wouldn't the world be completely flooded? Where did all the water go then? But then again, where else would the rain come from? In his opinion, there should be some truth in the tale. Though he would probably never know what the truth would be.

Carefully he lifted his wing that the small boy had been using as a blanket. He properly positioned the child in his bed and covered him with the sheets. Then he quietly slipped out of the room.

It was perfectly timed as well. Because when he entered the hallway, he could hear the front door of the mansion slam shut. A faint smell of rot followed along. Meaning that Johan came back from outside, and he had been very close to one of the zombies.