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“Are you okay?” she asked.
Instead of a reply, he lifted his hand to her and nodded. A second later, he straightened, then looked around.
“Are we…”
“Shhh!” he hushed her quickly.
He kept looking around. Eva knew what he was searching for. The invisible danger. Was it still there? She felt goosebumps all over her body, as if expecting a half-decomposed hand to reach out to her from some unexpected bush and drag her into the very depths of Hell.
Her father was peering into the darkness, she could almost see his eyes light up
with effort. She wondered if he had some special powers which made it easier for him to see in the dark. That sounded silly. But, it hit her now - how little she knew about vampires, about her own father. She could only hope that, after all this was over, she would be given an opportunity to get to know him. The real him, the him he’d been hiding from her ever since she was little, waiting for the right moment to come, to reveal himself to her.
“Okay, I think we lost them,” he finally whispered, “but that doesn’t mean we’re safe. We need to get going, otherwise, they’ll find us easily. Come,” he said, taking her by the hand again, and pulling her even deeper into the darkness.
After what seemed like hours of walking on rough terrain, they finally reached what looked like a hill, surrounded by rocks.
“Over there,” her father pointed to the side but she didn’t know what exactly she was supposed to be looking at.
Instead of an explanation, he got closer to the place he was pointing at, and lowered himself. With a heavy grunt, he removed a big rock which stood there, then proceeded to pull away at the piles and piles of leaves and big, heavy branches, until finally, a hole revealed itself.
“This is where we enter,” he told her.
Eva glanced at the hole. It looked so small, almost as if neither of them could fit through. She didn’t want to admit it but she was scared to go in first. She had no idea what was on the other side and with everything that’d been happening, maybe even her father didn’t expect what was awaiting them on the other side. The fear showed on her face.
“It’s okay, Evie pie,” he said, caressing her cheek. “We’ll be safe there.”
As soon as he said those words, all her fear disappeared. She smiled, gave him a hug, then got down on her knees and entered the hole. He was right. She could fit in there just fine and even had some room to spare. The ground was rough on her knees and she hoped she wouldn’t have to keep crawling like this for much longer.
After about thirty feet of uncomfortable crawling, she finally saw light. A gush of warm air welcomed her. She was eager to stand up and stretch her body a little but, before she got out, she turned around. She was relieved to see her dad right behind her. She made a few more moves, and she was out.
What she saw around herself was a small but neatly arranged room. There was a fireplace, cleverly built out of a rock formation. She could even see how the hot air and smoke were going out through an inbuilt hole to the side. It was all ingeniously arranged.
To the side, there were two makeshift beds, resembling the one Frey and Dorian had made at the abandoned house. A few books lay on the ground, stacked on top of each other, in an effort to consume less space. Over the fire, there was a little cauldron. The lid was slightly moved to the side, and hot fumes were oozing upward. It smelled like soup. Eva realized only now how hungry she was.
Then, she saw the man. She instinctively wanted to take a step back but her father was right behind her. He walked around, then approached the man. He placed his hand gently on the man’s shoulder. The look on their faces told her that everything was alright.
“So, this is little Eva, all grown up,” the man approached her, and as soon as she saw him up close and personal, she knew she had seen him somewhere before.
It was like new, once forgotten memories, were triggered, every time she saw one of these people who were intricately connected to Ridgeview Academy. Almost like a big, once confusing puzzle was beginning to show the general picture. Understanding brought a sense of relief.
“This is Sorwyce,” her dad told her.
“I’m honored to meet you, Sir,” Eva shook the man’s hand, just like her father had taught her.
“You know, I remember you when you were this big,” he lowered his hand downward, barely off the ground, “and, look at you now. You’re a woman.”
“Barely,” her dad interrupted.
“No matter how old you get, you’ll always be his little girl,” Sorwyce smiled, so that his white beard shook and the wrinkles around his eyes became even more prominent. “Anyone hungry?”
Eva eyed the soup. It really did smell delicious. She wouldn’t mind having some.
“I’d like some, please.”
“Yeah, me too,” her father added, “being on the run sure makes you hungry.”
Eva thought that was a joke, but when she saw the look in Sorwyce’s eyes, she knew he didn’t take it as such.
