Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

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After about ten minutes, we got stuck in traffic. While the car was moving, I was observing the changing scenery, but now there was nothing.

The silence was stifling, and I wanted to break it somehow.

"So… Marius… How long are you working for my father?"

"Two hundred and seventy-three years.", he responded right away.

I calculated that being somewhere in the mid 1700-ies. Time of knights and princesses, I thought.

"Why did you decide to work for him?"

To become a familiar, it requires both parties to agree. I didn't expect Marius to tell me the reasons he accepted to be Aldus's lifelong servant without the power to resist Aldus's orders, but as long as we keep the talk going, it's fine.

Marius kept his eyes forward while talking, "I was a farmer, living a simple life. My village was attacked by a group of bandits. They broke my arms and legs, and I watched my son being butchered and my wife violated while they laughed at my inability to do anything. After the bandits had their fun, they killed them and turned to me. They broke my ribs and cut off one finger…", Marius paused for a moment and raised his left hand, showing that his ring finger is missing. "They decided it will be more fun to leave me like that to rot next to the bodies of my son and wife, unable to move. Master found me, offered me a chance for revenge, and I took it."

My breath was stuck in my throat. I didn't expect to hear such a gruesome story. His voice was even, but I saw in the rearview mirror that his eyes flickered with emotions. He was telling the truth.

"I'm sorry…"

Marius nodded faintly in acknowledgment of my words. "Don't worry about it, Miss. It was a long time ago and I punished the evildoers."

I bit my lower lip and stared at the sidewalk that had a few pedestrians. The silence became heavier, and I didn't dare ask any more questions. Me and my big mouth.

Eventually, we reached the neighborhood where I used to live.

I asked Marius to drive slowly down the street as my eyes moved nervously until I spotted a townhouse I called home.

I knew that my parents were inside, the reports that Aldus forwarded me contained that information. Someone was watching the house all the time, and I didn't care to look around in order to spot them, assuming that they are humans or in human form.

In the last few days, I was imagining what I would say if I saw my parents. How would I react? I wondered if I even want to see them and confront them, and now I confirmed that I don't want to have anything to do with them. I don't want them to know I'm alive. For people who mistreated me and deceived me for two decades, it's better if they think I'm dead.

Aldus said that he will notify authorities I didn't graduate as required in the conditions listed for the fund my grandmother left me. That will cause the monthly stipend to halt, and my parents will also lose the privilege to stay in this townhouse.

There is no other next of kin, and my grandmother explicitly mentioned that her daughter and son-in-law shouldn't get anything, so the house will be sold on auction and all the money will go to the city. I didn't care where the money will end up, as long as my parents don't get any, I was fine.

I wished to see their faces when they get the news that the money is gone, and they need to move out. Maybe I could ask Aldus to install secret cameras so that I can see that moment without exposing myself. Does that make me a bad person?

I stared at the front door and my eyes moved over each of the windows and I felt… nothing.

There was no joy, fear, anger, resentment… nothing. Is this what people call closure? I was not sure.

I expected that I will be overwhelmed by memories of this place and that I will feel something, anything.

It was anticlimactic.

I let out a long exhale as I sank into the leather seat. "Keep driving, Marius. We are done here."

"Do you want to visit the high school next, Miss?", he asked as the car picked up the speed.

This is the part where I chickened out. The high school was full of ghosts of Duke and I was not ready to face the possibility that he moved on.

"Let's visit the park first."

Marius hummed in acknowledgment and resumed driving.

There was not much to see in the park, the place was nearly deserted. A few seniors walked leisurely with their perfectly groomed palm-sized dogs that wore gem-encrusted collars.

The play area for little kids was empty, just how it was in my dreams. This is a posh neighborhood for people who want to establish themselves in the upper social circle, and not for young families to raise their kids. It's a pity because the swings and seesaws were inviting.

I told Marius that I will continue on foot.

I walked around without getting into any of the shops.

The likelihood of me bumping into anyone familiar was very low. First, I never lingered in public, as my time was divided between home and school. Second, even if I bump into anyone familiar, with my image change, they will not recognize me.

It took me under ten minutes to confirm that this is the area from my memories. I knew what is behind the corner, and where the benches are, that there is a small garden in front of the chapel, a subway entry on the right behind the newsstand… things didn't change much. The biggest surprise was that a dairy store was replaced by a pub.

People's faces morphed into some from my past as I recollected images from the time I used to live here.

I found myself walking down the Chelsea Manor Street that was my regular route between my home and high school. It was a twenty minutes-long walk, devoid of negativity because there were no parents, no classmates, it was just me and sometimes Duke.

Most of my classmates would get a ride by their chauffeurs, while I chose to walk, and on the way back from school, Duke would join me.

I remembered that Duke wanted to wait for me in the morning so that we can go together to school, but I couldn't risk my parents seeing me with a boy (even if it's just a friend). I asked him not to wait for me in the morning, coming up with a lie about how sometimes my parents drop me off. He agreed with a condition that we walk back together and a promise that he will not walk me all the way home, and I agreed. Of course, I agreed. My time with Duke was the highlight of my day and I cherished every second of his proximity.

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