Chapter 36: The Mother, the Twilight, and the Flight

Ears passively scanning for potential information that she could use, Rachel made sure Scarlet was okay and decided to test the waters. Ominous paths continued to open up to her and her family after The Oscillation, and she had to be careful how she proceeded. Only she was privileged to know Scarlet’s full story, and she doubted that the traumatized girl had revealed everything to her yet; there was something important about the vespertine reaper.

Mateo asked if they were ready to leave since they were on a clock, and Rachel turned to Scarlet for confirmation.

"That’s up to Scarlet."

Rebuilding her nerves, the fanged girl nodded, pointed fangs showing with her weak smile. "I’m okay now... It feels way better having someone to talk to."

"Right. Let’s move," he commanded before guiding them out of the room and toward their airborne ride.

Word of their involvement in the operation that had closed the Crystal and eliminated the aliens had spread. The military and CDC personnel thanked them on their path through the building, slowing their progress. It was challenging to keep focused on her environment, with so many things buzzing through her mind, but something floated to the surface as they passed through the halls.

"There is one thing that is bothering me after everything I’ve learned about the cult," she said, her gaze drifting to Scarlet as their escort of six Green Berets surrounded them—Mateo would be joining their flight with two of his men.

Left fang poking out as she drew in her black bottom lip, Scarlet’s concerned and questioning eyes met hers with the soldiers listening in, but it wouldn’t be shocking for them. "What is it?"

"Hmm." Focus shifting to Mateo and the sergeant to her right, Rachel made it clear she wasn’t just asking the vespertine reaper for answers. "I’ve heard a lot about them from you and the others involved, but not one whisper about Scarlet’s mother... I understand it is a touchy subject, yet if she’s alive, as I suspect she is, it’s a huge risk to us all."

A groan came from the lieutenant at their point as he ran his fingers through his hair and turned to look between Scarlet and her; Rachel made sure to bring it up when they were alone in a hallway.

"She’s receiving medical treatment after the...incident; that’s all I can say."

And it’s a lie, Rachel internally growled, hearing his heartbeat fluctuate; still, she could understand why with Scarlet here. Why he’s lying will be the real issue, which means I was right to come up with a chance to confront him.

Slowing to a stop as they reached the ground floor, Rachel forced a laugh, drawing everyone’s attention while pointing back the way they’d come.

"Uh-heh, Mateo, I left my suitcase, and maybe I should put on some pants or something if I’m meeting someone important," she added, motioning at her sleeping shorts and sports bra, which was generally fine in Miami and a staple for many women, but just as good of an excuse as any.

"It will only take a second—I’m fast—everyone can go ahead if you want to escort me; I get I can’t be alone. I’ll be right there, Scarlet; my mind has been everywhere recently."

Scarlet’s shoulders slumped, possibly thinking she was trying to somehow abandon her. Rachel figured she could further curb this by showing back up like nothing happened while wearing a grin. The girl needed someone that wouldn’t run away from her.

"No, I understand..."

Mateo’s mouth tightened, likely figuring she wanted to go into deeper detail on her previous inquiry; cheeks puffing up and deflating, he nodded. "Okay, yeah. Sergeant Murray, see that the pilots are ready to take off when we arrive."

"Roger that. Let’s move, boys!"

They hustled off with Scarlet’s melancholy gaze lingering on her for a moment before turning the corner; Rachel knew that the girl was anxious and needed reinforcement—this gambit would kill two birds with one stone.

Briskly climbing the stairs again, Rachel maintained a general smile as she whispered to the military man. "What should I wear if we are meeting someone important? I should have something for Scarlet, as well; I’m surprised she didn’t want to join me."

"Hmm. Given the situation, anything would do," the man grunted, his eyes telling her he knew she was stalling until they left Scarlet’s sharp hearing, which Rachel had determined wasn’t nearly as proficient as her own. "We should just hurry."

"Uh-huh..." Once reaching the 3rd floor, Rachel’s cheery, illuminated eyes drifted to the man beside her, hands held behind her back. "I’ll be direct: what happened to her mother, Mateo? Because I know what you told me is a lie. I understand why you might want to keep that detail hidden, but I need the truth to know how to maneuver myself when she’s a threat to me and, by extension, my family, not to mention Scarlet herself."

Mateo worked around his jaw for several seconds, debating how to respond. "You can’t have been this observant and calculating before The Oscillation as a nineteen-year-old girl. That [Strategic Mind] Feat is really something, and it’s a part of your goddess branch?"

"Correct," she confirmed, darting into the room to rummage through her suitcase when they arrived. "I’ll let you stew on what you can tell me while I change. I won’t be long."

Entering the empty room, Rachel pulled up her suitcase to add a black tank top and change into denim shorts instead of the pants she’d planned on, using a pair of scissors in the professor’s desk to carefully create a hole in the back to poke her tail through.

She slipped on some sandals and tossed her used bottoms in one of the front pockets before carrying the suitcase to the exit. Nudging her head to suggest making their way to the helicopter, they started walking; Scarlet had been silent since they left, except for a few heavy sighs.

Mateo was now chewing a stick of gum by the scent of his breath, keeping pace with her. "To, as you said, put it bluntly...she’s unharmed after receiving what should have been a fatal wound. To make a long story short...

"One of the newly indoctrinated cultists had a brother that was in the National Guard; he was concerned about his brother’s new obsession in this ’game’ and decided to follow him. When he saw some of the things the cult was doing throughout the day, he contacted a few of his police friends and tried to get some evidence to raid the place.

"He found his brother and all the cultists dead, skewered by Scarlet’s blood, and naturally took a shotgun to her... The report says her mother laughed at his futile effort as Scarlet ran away. That is where we came in. We tracked Scarlet down after the police reported there was a vampire loose in Miami, and Adele was taken into FBI custody. That’s all I can tell you, but Adele has been secured."

Rachel steamed out a long puff of air, scratching her temple as her ears tilted to the left; the Miami FBI field office was to the north of them from the conversations she’d heard, and there was a lot of bureaucracy shit happening to some degree between government, state, and military departments.

"So...the damage Scarlet did to her spontaneously healed, meaning she does have some sort of powers, and all of this could still be a part of her master plan; I can’t see someone so well connected and knowing—to the point of preparing for a ritual before the means to do it were even near completion—to not have plotted her actions to a T after accomplishing it."

Mateo shrugged. "I’m with you; the more we discover about these people, the more suspicious they become, and we’ve only learned this much due to that Peck woman freaking out about you... Lt. Thompson tried to get clearance to raid her house, but he was denied."

Rachel’s vision narrowed as they descended the stairs. "Which means someone higher up is taking action... For what reason, though?"

"I’m guessing you’ll know soon enough," he growled.

They fell silent as they left the building, Rachel grimacing at the dying light that touched her light skin; her already diminished [Lunar Pool] began to evaporate, yet it would still be another five or so minutes until she was tapped out, and she’d already confirmed before that she could survive when on empty—she would just be as weak as a non-athletic girl, maybe even worse.

However, the far more interesting discovery was Scarlet’s thoughtless stroll into the twilight; her skin wasn’t burning, and some of the soldiers who had been with Rachel when they tested it noted the strange inconsistency when they neared the vehicles, causing the girl to freak out a little while checking for damage.

Rachel came up with an answer, though; thanks to tablet Mateo had, she managed to look up a few things online through their satellite link. Her mind returned to the song the cultists sang that the vespertine reaper recounted to her since it was burned into her memories.

Twilight spoke to Scarlet before Veronica sealed her away... Welcomed not by the light nor the night, she became the Bringer of Twilight. The darkest night, the brightest light, history tainted by the twilight... Vespertine is a word relating to, occurring, or an activity made in the evening... Twilight. Scarlet is safe during the evening and night while harmed by dawn and most of the day.

Her smile became drained as Mateo kept a close watch on her from the moment they entered the dying sunlight. "Hehe. If you’re wondering if I’m okay, I’ll be fine—oof, just don’t ask me to run laps or fight anything anytime soon... I’ll probably be sore for a week."

A sly tilt came to her face, vision shifting to her right as a doctor discussed the unicorn mythickin at the other hospital. "Unless...I can get someone to heal me."

Mateo shook his head, focus moving to the horizon as they made their way to his men and the loud and quite large military helicopter on the open lawn; dozens of military vehicles with Mateo’s men talking amongst themselves sealed off the area.

"Isn’t it exhausting?"

Rachel lifted an eye. "Hmm?"

"Scheming... Plotting all the time... Listening to who knows how many people? I already want this to be over just to go home and crack open a beer with the gang... I need to tell Vincent’s wife that she just had her last Valentine’s Day with the man she loved..."

Her ears fell a tad at the sobering comment as they neared the whirring blades. "Because...I don’t want to have that happen to my family, Mateo. We’re in a whole new world now, and I have to learn how to navigate it as fast as I can."

Scarlet’s hands were knotted at her front as they neared, looking between them, air trapped in her lungs—if her lungs even still worked—while awaiting what she expected would be terrible news that would separate them.