Her legend was growing. She heard stories
daily about how gruesomely she had killed. There had been no
confrontations yet, but she felt them moving closer, growing bolder. She
wasn't sure where the stories were coming from, but they were keeping her
safe. It wasn't even that she feared them for she was more powerful than
all of them, it was the threat posed to her loved ones that kept her on
guard. The farther away she stayed from them, the safer they were.
She had made her way through Europe, never staying too long in
one place. The hunter was now the hunted. The voices grew more
threatening, pushing her to run farther and faster. There were sympathetic
voices in the din that assaulted her senses every night. They told her
where to go next and she instinctively trusted them. Sometimes when she
was walking down the street, her eyes would find a pair of kind eyes and it was
that kindness that would sustain her.
The thought of Kevin and Quinn also sustained
her. Many nights she would forgo sleep and would spend hours remembering
every detail of them, Quinn's smell, the feel of Kevin's arms around her.
It would have been so easy for her to find them and see how they were doing, but
she was afraid to risk it. For now, her memories were enough.
It was a beautiful day in Sydney. She had
taken refuge here a year ago and found a peace that she had lost long ago.
Quinn would be five now and she longed to know her. Thoughts of returning
had been with her for some time now. In all her years of running, she had
never been confronted, never been assaulted, nothing. It was as though
they just wanted her to run.
"I see you've finally figured it out." A voice
stopped her as she passed a small cafe. An older gentleman, one of her
kind, was sipping a cup of tea and beckoned her to join him. "Don't
worry dear, you only did what you thought was right."
"What do you mean?" The answer to her question
was swirling around her head, just out of focus.
"You thought you had to protect the child and the only
way to protect her was to leave. They know you are more powerful so they
found your one vulnerability and used it against you." Her eyes closed as the answer became clear. "It's not too
late. Go to them." She kissed his cheek as she departed.