"Promise."
He stood up and walked to the door. At the threshold, he paused.
"Bunny."
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you came to the bar that night. I'm glad you stayed. I'm glad you're here."
"Me too."
He walked out, and the door closed behind him, and I was alone.
I looked at my reflection in the bar's dark window.
The woman staring back was a stranger. She had hollow eyes and blood under her nails and a braid that was coming undone. Her dress was pale pink with ruffles along the hem, and her lips were chapped, and her cheeks were pale, and she looked like someone who'd seen too much and survived anyway.
But she was starting to look familiar.
The woman in the window.
The woman I was becoming.
Not Lilah.
Not Bunny.
Not Gabriel's creation or Matt's charity case.
Just... me.
Whoever that was.
Whoever I was becoming.
"Daddy."
The whisper was soft.
"Daddy, I'm still here."
"I'm still hunting."
"I'm still fighting."
"I'm still yours."
"But I'm also mine."
"I'm starting to be mine."
"I hope you're proud of me."
"I hope you're not angry."
"I hope you're still waiting."
No answer.
