The Next to be Taken

Chapter Forty-Six

The door opened. "Guys, I told you. I'll have the money for you tomorrow, I-" He stopped when he saw me.

There was a moment of silence as we just stared at each other. He was tall, his eyes were like a grey color, over them he wore glasses. His hair was brown, and curly. He had a very very small beard forming on his chin.

".... S-Scott Geltz..?" My voice stuttered a little.

"Yes." He answered, still not moving a muscle, his expression did not change. It was not like he was expressionless, he did not seem mad, just a little puzzled.

I took a moment to get my thoughts together to say the next thing.
I took a breath and tried to keep the stutter out of my voice and sound more confident.
"I'm your-"

"Mavis." He finally made a move, but kinda not what I was expecting. He came out of the door, wrapping his arms around me, hugging onto me tightly. I just stayed still, I didn't dare move or even hug him back, I just stood there, my eyes darting from each sides of me like I was looking for an answer for what to do.

He pulled away, placing a hand on my cheek. He brushed my hair out of my face. "You have your Mother's eyes." He smiled, then his hand went through my hair. "And cursed with my hair."

"O-okay," I pushed his hand away. "I am here-"

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry, I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Please, come in." He removed his hands, leading the way into the house. I watched him, not moving for a moment, I looked behind me one last time then headed into the house.

I shut the door behind me when I entered, I didn't see him anymore but I just followed the corridor until I found him in the living room to my right.

"Here, take a seat." He straightened out a spot for me, sitting in the chair across from it. I hesitantly walked into the room, slowly taking a seat in the chair he fixed up for me.
The house smelled strongly on cigarettes.

"So how have you been? What has been going on in your life?" He asked like he really wanted to know. Will he even let me speak this time? Does he even know that I live with giants now?

I took a little to respond to him.
"A lot of things.." Was all I could really say, I don't know what does he know.

"Yeah, life has a way of things doesn't it?"

"Oh you're telling me?" I shook my head. Then I decided to get straight to the point.
"What happened?"

"Pardon?" He questioned, not understanding what I was talking about.

"What happened when I was born? What was going through your mind? Why didn't you try to take me back?"

He sighed, shifting himself into a more comfortable position. "I knew this was coming. Alright." He took a second to think about it. "I got my first girlfriend back in high school, and after a year or two of being together, she got pregnant. After finding out that she was pregnant with you, I proposed to her. We were so excited to be starting a family of our own. I feel like she managed to be more excited than me. She would wake me up at two in the morning, asking me about baby names." He put a hand to his forehead, laughing at the memory.
A smile forced it way onto my lips but I hid it.

"She was the one that named you what you are called today."

"What was she like? Victoria." I intertwined my fingers together, becoming intrigued.

"Victoria, she was.. Beautiful.. She was funny, energetic, easily excitable, she would have made an amazing Mother." He stared at the ground, the corners of his mouth curled into a small grin at the memory of his wife.

"What actually happened to her?"

He sat up more, taking a breath. "She.." He looked away like he was trying to hide emotions. "She went into labor, I drove her to the hospital. Once there, she got a room right when she walked into the building. They automatically knew what was happening and they took her from me, putting her into a bed and pushing her away. I was in the room, by her side.  Then she started to lose a lot of blood. We tried to save her but it was too late.  From the amount of blood loss, her heart was too weak. There was no saving her, it could have taken your life too, but they managed to save you."
He fiddled with his hands, then continued.

"She didn't even get a chance to see her baby girl. I kept the last name she picked for you. I tried to take you in when I went home, but there was just so many reminders.. I fell into depression, my whole life fell apart. Eventually, child services showed up and demanded to take you away. I wasn't allowed to adopt you back until I got my life straight, which I was never able to do. I'm still having a little troubles getting myself together." He looked down, then back up to me.
"I didn't get to watch you grow up, enough about me, I want to hear about your life. Did you ever find another family to take you in?"

Only if he knew what bull crap I've been through..
"Um.. In a ways.." I scratched the back of my head.

"What is that suppose to mean?" He squinted his eyes at me with curiosity.

"It's a long story." I tried to brush it off, avoid really telling him.

He crossed his legs, and stared at me, waiting for me to explain.

So far, it seems that he has no idea about Dash and Kent. He knows absolutely nothing about my life. Where do I even start? Would he even believe me? Well, who can miss freaking giants roaming around the city?
I sighed. "Well, I stayed in the orphanage until I was about twelve.."

"And then you got adopted?" He smiled, trying to guess what happens next.

"Mmmm no.. Until I ran away."

"You what? Mavis, we put you in the orphanage to have a better life and to not be a street kid." He said with disappointment. "That's exactly what I was avoiding."

"Well I couldn't help it, I couldn't sleep that night."
I said back.
"But I had seen something.."

"What did you see?" He leaned closer.

I bit my lip, a little worried about what he would think about the rest of my life. Being bullied, chased, and starving on the streets.
"A... Giant.."

He looked at me almost like he didn't understand what I had just said.
"A giant..?" He said, wanting confirmation.

"Yes." I nodded my head. "Now I know it sounds crazy but-"

"No, I believe you. I haven't personally seen them myself and I hardly ever leave the house anymore but I've heard people talking about them. They're coming into the city more now right?"

I nodded my head, giving him a second to respond.

"What happened after that?"

"I- um.. He saw me too.. So I hid until the next day and I ran away from the orphanage because I didn't know what he would do since he knew where I was at." I answered his question.

"How.. long have you been out on the streets?" He was a little hesitant to ask but he did anyways.

"For about three years.. I was living in hiding from them in the woods. During the day time, I was bullied. At night, I was hunted. The giants were after me for three years until they eventually caught me."
As I was explaining this, he was paying very close attention to what I was saying.

"Even though it was honestly against my will to go with them, they took me in and actually helped me. They treated me like family. I made friends which was something I've always struggled with." I explained to him.

"Well," He uncrossed his legs, looking off to the side. "I'm glad you're off of the streets now and your life has been getting better. That's all I wanted for you. I may not have been a very good Father in the beginning but I'm trying to get myself straight now and I hope I'll be able to get to know my daughter. I want to see you more. I'm sorry I haven't gotten to do much for you in the past, but let me make that up to you now in the present."