Chapter 33
Elizabeth was in the kitchen, the scent of stew filling the home. Neither of them ate much, but his mother still enjoyed working in the kitchen and often took most of whatever she made to a neighbor with several children. “Good evening, dear,” she called as he came in to get a drink of water and kiss her on the cheek. “How was your day?”
“Busy, but satisfying,” he replied, as he usually did. “How was yours?”
“Uneventful.” It was also her usual response. Most of the time, she puttered around the house all day. Sometimes, she’d join them on a hunt but not often. She would go to the market when she got bored, listening for any gossip that might help with a hunt, but for the most part she was retired from the business. Now that Abigail had passed, as well as her children, and her children’s children, Elizabeth didn’t see much of her family. She looked like she was in her late forties at most, so it was difficult to explain who she was to new family members, even though it was perfectly fine for anyone related to her to know. It was often best to just keep it quiet and keep one’s distance from those offspring related further down the line than great-grandchildren.
“Are you going out tonight?” she asked as he took a sip of water and tried to decide whether or not he’d like an apple. He knew it would taste odd after the cigarette, and it was more a case of boredom than hunger.
“Nothing scheduled,” Christian replied. He noticed her expression then. She looked odd, like something was bothering her. Deciding she’d tell him if she wanted to, he started to walk out of the room without asking what was the matter.
She called after him just before he exited the kitchen, “Christian… I think I’d like to leave.”
He stopped in the doorway, turning slowly so as not to splash the glass of water all over her newly cleaned floor. He knew it was freshly mopped because she cleaned the entire house every day, not because he was especially observant. He certainly hadn’t seen this coming. “What’s that now?”
“I said, I think I should like to go--to Roatan.”
His mouth agape, he stared at her for a long while, trying to puzzle through why he hadn’t known she was contemplating this. “Wh--why? Don’t you like it here? You’ve lived here most of your life.”
“I did like it here.” Elizabeth wiped her hands on the apron around her waist and turned to look at him. “It’s just… it keeps changing. There really isn’t much here for me anymore, except for you, and while that’s certainly enough, I have some friends who’ve gone down there, Thomas, and a few others. I think… I might like it there. And if I don’t, well, there are ways in Roatan to leave all your troubles behind.”
He knew what she was getting at. She wanted to see if the island life was right for her, but if it turned out she couldn’t be happy there either, she’d find a way to end it all. “Mother… I don’t know what to say.”
“There really isn’t anything for you to say, dear. I just thought you should know. Times are changing quickly. Your experiments are going well. I bet it won’t be too long before you’re called to Kansas City to live.”
Christian had to force himself not to roll his eyes at that comment. “It’s been almost forty years since Jordan mentioned that. Headquarters is built. He was merely… pacifying me.”
“I don’t believe that’s the case,” she said with a shrug. “Time moves more slowly for us in many ways. We feel every second of every day, but really, in the big scheme of things, believe me, forty years is nothing.”
She didn’t have to tell him. He would be embarking on the third century of his life soon enough.
There was no sense in asking her if she was sure. He could see in her eyes that she’d already made up her mind. Rather than ask her to reconsider, he asked, “When will you leave?”
Elizabeth cleared her throat. “There’s a ship setting sail out of New York a week from Saturday. Dr. Morrow has arranged it. There are thirty-two of us coming from all over the eastern region of the country.”
“You certainly have put a lot of thought into this, then, haven’t you?” He turned to face her, running his free hand along the outside of the glass, wishing he could think of something brilliant to say to make her stay, but he couldn’t.
“I’ve been thinking about it for years, but I only first reached out to Levi about six months ago.”
It was interesting that she was calling the scientist by his first name. “Well, then, what can I do to help you prepare?”
She smiled at him and closed the distance between him, wrapping her arms around him. “Understand,” she said, and then kissed his cheek.
“I do,” he insisted, finding a smile for her. He hadn’t told her much of anything at all about Brandy, and Jess had died a few years ago, taking his secret of the Blue Moon Portal with him. She certainly had no idea her son wouldn’t be able to join her in the great beyond, not if Alexander Hamilton’s experience was true for him as well, which he had to assume it was. He’d heard rumors that Hamilton, who also lived in Roatan now, had tried several methods to kill himself to no avail. His mother wouldn’t hear from him that he was incapable of dying, particularly if the rumors about the monster in the mountains of Wallachia proved to be true. While he was fairly certain that wasn’t his doing, if that creature had come through because of Hamilton, then he must have his own beast out there somewhere. Every time he heard tell of a Vampire with particularly strong powers, he wondered if the deaths the monster caused should be on his hands.
His mother patted his cheeks and then turned back to her stew. Christian headed into the parlor and his favorite chair, content to read his book and not dwell on the fact that he was about to be left all alone again.