Afraid of the Dark

Chapter 8: Runs in the Family

"So let me get this straight..." Reela throws her head back and shuts her eyes with a dry, irritated laugh. "You hire an orc mercenary and a fucking werewolf to kidnap me so you could annoy me for an hour, repeatedly touching my face for some dumb fucking reason, burned me again, all to ask me where my fucking dad is?" she shouts to the ceiling.

Avinalyn, leaned against the wall across the room, rubs the corners of their eyes in circles. They drop their hand with a low sigh. "Yes..."

Reela snaps her head back down and nods forcefully. "Right. So literally all of this could have been prevented had you just told me from the fucking start that you didn't already know where he was!" she barks. "This whole time, I thought you were involved in his disappearance!"

They glare across the room at her. "Is it so outlandish of me to assume his daughter would know of his whereabouts?"

"He didn't exactly leave a note before going to get the fucking milk!" Reela spats and sinks further in her chair.

Avinalyn sighs and shakes their head before calmly stepping away from the wall. "Regardless of whether or not you know where he is, you must still have some means of contact. If he knew I have his daughter, he'd certainly have to come out of hiding," they stop to think, when Reela laughs again.

"Please, if you can get him to answer my fucking calls, feel free to try!"

Avinalyn slowly nods. "I see. So, he won't even respond to you. Interesting..." they say and take a step towards her. "Did he share any hints of where he might go before he left?"

Again, Reela laughs. "Just so we're clear, we are both talking about Regan, right? The 'Descendant of Ophelia' or whatever the fuck everyone keeps raving about?" she demands, and Avinalyn tilts their head and their eyes narrow.

"He is your father, isn't he?" they say.

Reela snickers. "Well, one of two, yeah," she shrugs.

Avinalyn cocks a brow. "You... have two fathers?" they ask slowly, raising an instant glare from Reela.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" she snaps accusingly and sits up straighter in her seat, slightly tugging on the restraints behind her back.

They take a small step back and shake their head. "No. I just..." they turn their curious gaze away from her. "Was uninformed of this."

"By who?" Reela demands. "Who the hell would have told you this stuff? And why are you even looking for Regan to begin with?"

Avinalyn shoots her a warning glare and shakes their head. "My employer. Let's leave it at that," they state. "As for why, that is my business."

"And he's my dad," Reela asserts.

All of this went so south so quick. And she's not just talking about falling off the face of a mountain, hobbling her way to an ice cave, getting poisoned and then knocked out by an orc and a werewolf to then be kidnapped and interrogated. What went south is the fact that the one lead she had was Avinalyn, and apparently they know even less than she does, which is shocking considering the fact that she's actually an idiot.

Avinalyn slowly nods again. "You're right... He is," they say, seemingly mostly to themself. "But... You have another father, do you not?" they walk over to her and study her eyes. "Who is he? And where is he?"

Reela snickers bitterly and shakes her head. "Why – the actual fuck – would I tell you?" she laughs. "Am I reading the room wrong? What, do you think we're friendly fucking acquaintances having a nice little chat?" she hisses, and now it's their turn to laugh.