eyes followed me and lit up at the sight of the food.
“Goodness, dear. Yer a right solid one, aren’t ya? Declan, wait for your friend before making a hog of yerself. Now, Sarah dear, have a seat and help yerself to seafood chowder before Declan devours it completely. Fresh dill bread and butter, too,” she said, bustling around and getting the chocolate milk from the fridge.
I knew Aunt Ash was just burning off her nerves and she would shortly settle into her calm planning mode.
“Her name is Caeco, Aunt Ash. She was born in a government lab and they wanted to kill her, so she and her mom escaped.”
“ Pseudo government lab. Agents in Rebus is not really a government group. It was formed decades ago by wealthy patriots to protect our country from a dysfunctional two-party government that changed leaders too often to be truly effective at defending our way of life. It was created within the government and has access to almost every part of it, but is not actually of it. Mother says the original intent may have been sound, but like everything else run by humans, it eventually morphed into something darker,” Caeco explained. She sniffed a spoonful of chowder, her eyes getting round at the rich delicious scent. The spoon disappeared into her mouth and her eyes suddenly closed in bliss, her expression just exactly like that of our cat Brona after a can of tuna.
“Where is yer mum, Caeco?” my aunt asked.
“I’m here,” a voice said from the doorway. I jumped a bit to see Caeco’s mother standing in the door, eyeing us with distrust. I did notice that Caeco hadn’t even flinched at her mother’s voice. Instead, she continued to devour her soup and bread.
I looked back at her mother and this time noticed she was holding a nasty -looking semi-automatic pistol in her right hand, which was thankfully dangling alongside her leg and not pointed in our direction.
“Mother, the gun is not necessary. Declan and his aunt have done nothing but help us since we arrived.”
“You are still a child, Caeco, and despite everything you’ve been taught, all your training and the events of the last month, you are still too trusting,” her mother replied, although her eyes never left off watching Aunt Ash and I.
“Perhaps, mother, I have simply processed all available information, most of which you do not have, and arrived at a more informed opinion,” Caeco said before turning to us. “Declan, Ms. O’Carroll, this is my mother, Dr. Abigail Jensen.”
“Tis mostly a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Jensen. You never did look a bit like a Rachel to me,” Aunt Ash said, looking back at the other woman calmly. “Now, you’ve most likely a bit of time before ye must flee. It might be wise to eat and plan a bit.” She pointed at the third place setting. Dr. Johnson raised her eyebrows in surprise at the extra spot at the table.
“My hypothesis turned out to be correct, Mother. Declan and his aunt, are, in fact, witches.”
“Ye suspected that, did ye? A logical, science-based girl such as yerself?” my aunt asked.
“You’ve seen proof, Caeco?” Dr. Jensen asked, ignoring my aunt.
“Yes, Mother, although as I said last night, I’ve been seeing proof since we got here,” Caeco answered.
“Wait, you actually believed we were witches. How is it that you believe in witches?” I asked.
“Science doesn’t know everything, despite what some people would have you believe,” Caeco said, ignoring her mother’s eye flare . “AIR has been nothing if not thorough in their search for better weapons and people. The Juice supplement I told you about is based on proteins harvested from an actual hemivore—a vampire, if you will. She was kept in the same lab that I was, so we had undeniable evidence. She was a young one, newly infected with the virus, but she was much faster and stronger than any
“Goodness, dear. Yer a right solid one, aren’t ya? Declan, wait for your friend before making a hog of yerself. Now, Sarah dear, have a seat and help yerself to seafood chowder before Declan devours it completely. Fresh dill bread and butter, too,” she said, bustling around and getting the chocolate milk from the fridge.
I knew Aunt Ash was just burning off her nerves and she would shortly settle into her calm planning mode.
“Her name is Caeco, Aunt Ash. She was born in a government lab and they wanted to kill her, so she and her mom escaped.”
“ Pseudo government lab. Agents in Rebus is not really a government group. It was formed decades ago by wealthy patriots to protect our country from a dysfunctional two-party government that changed leaders too often to be truly effective at defending our way of life. It was created within the government and has access to almost every part of it, but is not actually of it. Mother says the original intent may have been sound, but like everything else run by humans, it eventually morphed into something darker,” Caeco explained. She sniffed a spoonful of chowder, her eyes getting round at the rich delicious scent. The spoon disappeared into her mouth and her eyes suddenly closed in bliss, her expression just exactly like that of our cat Brona after a can of tuna.
“Where is yer mum, Caeco?” my aunt asked.
“I’m here,” a voice said from the doorway. I jumped a bit to see Caeco’s mother standing in the door, eyeing us with distrust. I did notice that Caeco hadn’t even flinched at her mother’s voice. Instead, she continued to devour her soup and bread.
I looked back at her mother and this time noticed she was holding a nasty -looking semi-automatic pistol in her right hand, which was thankfully dangling alongside her leg and not pointed in our direction.
“Mother, the gun is not necessary. Declan and his aunt have done nothing but help us since we arrived.”
“You are still a child, Caeco, and despite everything you’ve been taught, all your training and the events of the last month, you are still too trusting,” her mother replied, although her eyes never left off watching Aunt Ash and I.
“Perhaps, mother, I have simply processed all available information, most of which you do not have, and arrived at a more informed opinion,” Caeco said before turning to us. “Declan, Ms. O’Carroll, this is my mother, Dr. Abigail Jensen.”
“Tis mostly a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Jensen. You never did look a bit like a Rachel to me,” Aunt Ash said, looking back at the other woman calmly. “Now, you’ve most likely a bit of time before ye must flee. It might be wise to eat and plan a bit.” She pointed at the third place setting. Dr. Johnson raised her eyebrows in surprise at the extra spot at the table.
“My hypothesis turned out to be correct, Mother. Declan and his aunt, are, in fact, witches.”
“Ye suspected that, did ye? A logical, science-based girl such as yerself?” my aunt asked.
“You’ve seen proof, Caeco?” Dr. Jensen asked, ignoring my aunt.
“Yes, Mother, although as I said last night, I’ve been seeing proof since we got here,” Caeco answered.
“Wait, you actually believed we were witches. How is it that you believe in witches?” I asked.
“Science doesn’t know everything, despite what some people would have you believe,” Caeco said, ignoring her mother’s eye flare . “AIR has been nothing if not thorough in their search for better weapons and people. The Juice supplement I told you about is based on proteins harvested from an actual hemivore—a vampire, if you will. She was kept in the same lab that I was, so we had undeniable evidence. She was a young one, newly infected with the virus, but she was much faster and stronger than any
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