Haunted Maiden

Ch. 24 Missing

My eyes snapped awake from that weird dream. Groaning, I sat up slightly to see that it was noon. I scowled at the time and got up. "Taylor, you've never slept in this late," Seras said gently. I looked at her and remembered everything that happened the night before. "Seras, are you and Alu okay?" She glanced at me in surprise and nodded. "Yeah. Anderson ended up getting away, so master isn't too happy about that," she chuckled nervously. I sighed. "Is he in the basement?" She nodded again. I gave her a smile as I walked out of my bedroom.

The basement door was bolted shut by the many locks that my mother put. I sigh, grabbing the key and unlocking all the bolts. "Hey mom?" There was a still silence other than the bolts. "Yes?" I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. "How come you locked the door to the basement?" She didn't say anything right away. "Alucard asked me to.
Why?" She inquired. "Oh, no reason. Just wondering," the door opened and I made my descent down the stairs.

"Alu?" I heard a growl come from the basement and knew that he wasn't happy. "Maybe I can cheer him up," I thought to myself. I continued my decent and found him sitting on a chair. A wine glass in his hand and his chin in the other. I smiled at him gently and made my way over. "Are you okay?" He looked up at me and then looked away. "I'm fine"
"You don't seem fine. Something is bothering you"
He shot me a glare at that point. I didn't care though. I moved his arm so I could position myself to sit on his lap and hug him. He slightly stiffened then relaxed the more I held him. Letting out a defeated sigh, he wrapped his arm around me. "You know you can talk to me," I placed a kiss on his cheek. "Yes, well." He started, "I'm sure Seras told you about me not successfully detaining Anderson." I nodded. "Then there isn't much to say."
"Do you wanna come up stairs?"
"No."
"Will you come upstairs soon?"
"Yes."
"I'll leave you alone then."
I placed another kiss on his cheek before getting off his lap and heading up stairs. Only to hear a certain vampire cat call as I made it up the last step. I couldn't help but smile and roll my eyes.

It was starting to get late. Alucard still wasn't out from the basement and my dad was nowhere to be seen. I checked his room as well as his old study, but didn't see a single sign of him. My heart started pounding. My palms began to sweat. So many thoughts started forming in my head all at once. And so far, none of them were good.
"Hey, mom? Do you know where dad went?" She glanced my way. "I haven't seen him since he went to go meet with someone." I forrowed my brow. "But why? With the Onibaba out for his head, why would he go alone?" I wondered out loud. Then after a few more moments, mom stopped what she was doing. I looked up out of curiosity. I saw my mother rigid staring out the window into the eyes of the Onibaba. Gasping I pulled my mom away from the window and put her behind me. My hearts pace quickened and blood pounded in my ears. "Alu! Seras!" I called out. The Onibaba glared at me and gave me a hiss before disappearing into the night. "Taylor, what was that thing!" My mother's breathing was ragged. I could tell she was as scared as I was. "Our great grandma Agnus."
"This is not the time for your jokes!"
Alucard came in and looked at me with a puzzled look. "What are you doing." I crept towards the window and looked out to see if I could find any sign of her. "The Onibaba was here." My voice shook slightly as I spoke. "I had to pull mom away from the window because she was right there." A realization hit me as I stared out into the sleeping city. "And I think it got dad. And now it's trying to get us."

As soon as Seras walked in, we began making plans. We had to go find my dad tonight. But we also had to figure out how to keep my mom safe.

"Seras, you will stay here and look after Taylor's mother," Alucard instructed. "Yes, sir!" She shouted with a salute. I chuckled slightly and looked to Alucard. "Are we ready to go?" I say looking at him. He nods and we make our way out the door. We didn't get a foot outside when my mother ran towards me. "Do I have no say in what happens with my daughter?" She exclaimed. I looked at her for a long time before I ran and gave her the biggest hug I could. "Don't worry mom, I'll be back and we'll have dad too." She let out a huff as she nodded. She furrowed her brows and glanced at Alucard. "You better make sure they both get home safe," she says. Her voice strong and stern. He nods his head once and I knew they understood each other. I let her go and we left through the alleyway.