Learning to be Strong Alone // Jeraphina Fanfiction

Chapter XXIII: A Memory Only Just Found

"A word I would
describe him?
Familiar."

...............

3rd POV

The man who sat in front of her view seemed to have a lingering gaze on something within his own mind—his eyes appeared to be completely spaced out from what she could see from the outer perspective of his darkly tinted glasses.

His blonde head of hair seemed to match both those of Arlo and his aunt; maybe a relative in some way? It would explain why he was given the job instead of Arlo—her nephew. His eyes seemed to be gold . . . or some shade of yellow.

The stubble on the man's sharp and scar-covered jaw seemed to be new, only just growing in. How old did he look? Her age, maybe? Older?

Arguments had occurred between Remi and Val—ones she paid no mind to; surely something about EMBER and the Vigilantes that seem to be dying without a helping hand to dig their graves.

"Remi, come with me!" Arlo suddenly spoke, firmness in his voice as he tugged on the arm of the girl. She must've said something to offend. "Aunt Val, please excuse us for a minute!"

The two suddenly walked off, Seraphina's tired, blue eyes tracing them as they left to go elsewhere.

Val sighed heavily, also watching the pair from a distance as they exchanged their words. "I'm sorry you two had to witness that," she spoke, turning back to face the table. "Now, Seraphina, is there anything else you'd like to ask about this . . . John, was it?"

Seraphina nodded quietly, shuffling her chair closer inwards to the table. She did have something she wanted to ask; many things.

"Yeah, um; when do you think..." she started, fingers squeezing into her palms at an attempt to calm her nerves.

It wasn't easy being stared down like this—like she wasn't worth anything—like what she spoke had no emotional meaning. The answer she received would only be a singular point in a book of data—the life of the only person who she truly cared for would be seen as nothing more than a speck of data on some graph thrown away with less than a care.

Seraphina shook the thought away, ignoring the icy stare that singed on the edges of her flaking soul.

"H-have you . . . found him yet?" she decided on asking.

Valarie's coffee cup was placed gently on the table, head tilting as she shook her head lowly, eyelids gently closing, "I'm afraid not; the Wellston river is very fast moving, you should kno—"

"I do know," the younger girl cut in abruptly, hands moving further down to caress the sides of her chair, face down as she frowned at the wooden table, "I was there when he . . . yeah."

"Ah. I see."

A pause enveloped their pair, her assistant seemingly ignoring the happenings around him with an empty glare aimed at the outdoors—the other side of the road.

"Are you..." Seraphina trailed off, thoughts swirling in her head as bit her inner cheek. She abruptly looked up, "Are you even looking for him? Tell me the truth . . . please."

Valarie only gave a half-minded glance up from the phone she had pulled out from her suit jacket, Alden leaning over to check along with her.