Treva continues her journey (2)

Author's note: This is from Kosta's point of view

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I watched Treva through the windows as she moved inside the train compartment until she took her seat. She smiled and waved, and the train started gliding along the tracks.

That's it. Treva was on her way.

She was not my responsibility anymore.

She was on her own.

She was outside my protection.

Would I be able to protect her if we faced real trouble?

Will I ever see her again? My fifty-third birthday was approaching, and I felt that I was running out of time for many things I wanted to do.

"We are letting her leave, just like that?", Adrian grumbled next to me.

I thought that he will be over it by now. "You met her. Treva is innocent. Or are you heartless enough to want her to be dissected?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't exaggerate. They would only ask questions."

I laughed at his ignorance. Adrian is twenty-eight years old, yet he fails to see things outside of his small world.

"Yes. They would ask her questions about her homeland, about her species, about how to get there and steal their secrets. Do you think she will disclose that willingly? What will happen when she refuses to talk? What if she doesn't have answers? Do you think they will believe her? Use your head Adrian and do the right thing."

Adrian looked at me like I'm an idiot. "I am talking about doing the right thing. You let her go and that means you are jeopardizing OUR family for one stranger who is not even human. Do you think that hunters won't know that a harpy stayed at our place? How long will it take them to find out? She is sticking out in the crowd, and it's only a matter of time before they capture her and she tells them that we sheltered for three months. Do you think they won't come for us? How is that for using my head?"

I didn't like his attitude. Does he think I'm stupid?

Of course, Adrian's points were valid, and I would agree with him if Treva is a monster from horrific stories we grew up with. But Treva is nothing like that.

I clearly remember how much she cried when she stepped on a snail accidentally and I told her that he won't be able to recover after his shell was crushed. She even made a small grave for the creature. That's how much she respects life, even the little ones.

On the other hand, I've met Bolek on several occasions, and the guy's insincere smile gave me goosebumps. My instinct told me that Bolek is behind many killings and that he wouldn't think twice about getting rid of me if my death will give him some benefit.

How can I put a gentle creature like Treva into his hands?

If I call Bolek and expose Treva's existence, how is that making me better than the beasts they are claiming we should fight against?

"I don't care what Treva is, Adrian. I am confident that she is a good girl and I refuse to abandon my humanity. Until yesterday, you treated her like your sister, and I can't believe how your attitude changed from the moment you found out that she is different. I didn't raise you to discriminate."

Adrian exhaled and I could see that his temper was rising. "This is not about Treva, but about OUR family. Did you forget about us? How can you put an outsider above your own flesh and blood?"

"No one said I'm putting one above the other.", I responded stiffly, happy that my son is still in his 'training' phase, and he doesn't know how to contact the hunters. It's not that Adrian has no ways of reaching the hunters, after all, they are everywhere, but I was confident that if he knew the number, he would make the call no matter what I said.

At this point, I was entertaining the idea of taking my grandson and starting to train him to be the guardian on the human side of the portal to the realm of harpies instead of Adrian. We can skip a generation and I will teach him that being different doesn't equal to being a monster.

"You should call Bolek.", I heard Adrian say.

"I will."

"When?", he asked, a bit too eager for my taste.

"If there are no delays, Treva will reach Genoa in about twenty hours. I will give her a few more hours before I call the hunters." Actually, I was thinking of giving her two days, just to make sure, but my son didn't need to know that detail.

"That will be too late!", Adrian shouted.

"And that is MY call to make!" I paused and took a deep breath to compose myself. There is no point in arguing with Adrian, but I wanted to explain, "I will tell them that we saw a lone girl on our property, and I thought that she was a human. Only later I suspected that something is off and before I could confirm, she left."

"Will they believe you?", Adrian asked suspiciously.

I shrugged. "Even if they don't believe me, what can they do? Treva will be gone."

What can Bolek do? My duty is to watch over the portal and report suspicious activity and I will do that, with a slight delay.

It's not like hunters are paying me and I don't owe them anything.

"Are you sure you don't know who her friend is?", Adrian asked, and I rolled my eyes. Why is he so nosy?

I will tell Bolek that Treva's destination was Genoa, but I will not tell him where exactly she is heading. That should buy her at least a few more hours.

Based on Treva's stories, I realized that she met her friend in the realm of harpies, and I knew that her friend must be someone special because regular humans can't casually visit other realms.

"She visited your family?", I tried getting more information one evening, over dinner. I really wanted to ask what kind of human can visit the realm of harpies, and what are the prerequisites needed, but Treva didn't disclose her identity, and I had to play along with her story how she grew up in a secluded environment with her family.

Treva smiled. "Serina wanted to learn from us."

I felt my insides jolting in joy. "Serina? Is that the name of your friend?"

Treva confirmed. "Seraphina Mezzanotte. She was not with us for a long time, but she left an impression."

"You seem to like her.", I continued probing.

Treva frowned a bit and I realized that she raised her guard against me. Considering how much she concealed information related to her origins, I could imagine that she grew up hearing stories about scary humans. In a way, she was right because humans will do anything to satisfy their greed.

A long silence stretched between us, and I thought that the conversation was over, but then Treva spoke, "In my family, we follow a strict hierarchy that determines one's position, duties, schedule, and even the food we eat. Serina shared her food with me. She gave me apricots, roasted nuts, and even granola bars that she brought with her. I will never forget her kindness."

I didn't want to ask more, out of fear of alienating Treva. This was the most she told me about her past and I didn't want to blow it.

At that time, I had no idea who this Serina is, but just from those few sentences, I realized that Treva's position was not high among harpies and that her life was not an easy one. However, Serina treated her as equal, sharing food and probably some other perks as well and that earned her Treva's gratitude and friendship.

Later, I looked up Seraphina Mezzanotte online and I didn't expect to find out that she is the only daughter of Aldus Mezzanotte. Now that was a name I was familiar with. Aldus Mezzanotte, a mysterious man behind Notte Pharmaceuticals.

He has a villa not far from my olive orchard and I went there one afternoon in an attempt to get in touch with Seraphina. The butler was not friendly, and I couldn't really go there and say to the staff, "Hey, your friend, harpy, is on my property.", so I only inquired about when the owners are in, and I found out that they don't come often, and that the last time they were there about three years ago.

That matched Treva's story about when she met Seraphina. Fascinating!

I looked through some old files my grandfather left me, and I found notes on the Mezzanotte family that say they are powerful vampires and I hope they are powerful enough to protect Treva from the hunters.

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