ASCENDER

Chapter 3

Amaria sat back against the bench and silently started to tap her foot, she eyed the clock that was resting on the wall across from her. She had been waiting for two hours now, she didn't know what was taking the detective so long. She had come to the police station to see if Daniel could be identified, so far it was already a train wreck because she was forces to wait outside the detective's office as he was busy with another individual.

She eyed the multiple officers that walked past her, they all had different scents that were both pleasing and plain disgusting. As a vampire, it's difficult enough trying to act like a normal human but throw in the overwhelming scents and it all goes out the window. Fortunately, she had been able to focus her senses and tone them down slightly. Something she learned while being around humans for centuries.

"Mommy?" a voice called to her right.

She looked down and saw her daughter looking up at her, she slowly wrapped her arm around her and drew her closer.

"What is it, Petite?" Amaria asked while exhaling silently.

"I'm hungry,"

Of course she was.

Amaria reached her other hand into the pocket of the black jacket she was wearing and pulled out a granola bar, Vanessa's face immediately brightened up and she took it without any hesitation.

"This should keep you full until we're finished here," Amaria said silently before handing Daniel one as well.

The boy was still quiet and didn't really talk a lot, Amaria knew he was still traumatized by the encounter he had with those Muldoys in the woods.

She heard the door to her right open, she quickly turned and saw a young man step out with a distraught look on his face. The detective stepped out behind him a second later.

"We're doing everything we can to find your sister. For now, just go home and rest," the detective said without any hesitation.

"Please, detective. She's all I got in this world," the young man responded before hesitantly turning to walk away.

Amaria watched him leave with a sympathetic look on her face but she immediately killed it and quickly faced the detective.

"Ms Durand? I'm Detective Blackwell, we spoke on the phone earlier," the detective said as he held out his hand for a handshake.

Amaria took it with a smile. "Yes. Its a pleasure to meet you, detective,"

"Please, come in," Blackwell said as he gestured her to enter.

Amaria gestured for the two children to follow her inside, they slowly got up and hesitantly went inside. The detective followed in a second later, he gestured for the woman to sit down before he took a seat behind his desk.

"When you told me on the phone that you found a kid in the woods, I was a bit surprised to say the least," Blackwell said before looking at Daniel and smiling at him, "How are you, Daniel?"

"G-good sir," Daniel replied softly.

"So, what did you find out?" Amaria asked.

Blackwell leaned to the side and searched around in his drawers, then he pulled out a folder and slowly put it on the desk and pushed it toward the young woman. Amaria slowly reached for the folder and slowly opened the folder, what she saw on the inside made her blood go cold.

"You told me on the phone that Daniel's last name was Corden, right? So, I dug around and found out that two other people that were in a car accident also shared the same name," Blackwell said, "The reports stated that their bodies were recovered but there was a missing child, that's when I figured that Daniel must've been the missing child,"

Amaria eyed the images that were in the folder with a horrified look on her face but she had it concealed, but the way her eyes shook said it all. The car in the picture was destroyed in a unnatural manner, she knew this was not a normal accident. She could tell that something caused this.

"When was this?" she asked in a low voice.

"Three weeks ago. The case was closed for unknown reasons,"

Amaria decided to remove one of the pictures and gently placed it right in Daniel's field of vision, the boy looked at the picture and he quickly recoiled and almost fell out of his seat but the woman caught him quickly. Daniel looked on the verge of tears and he breathed heavily.

"He must have trauma," Blackwell observed.

"Daniel, look at me. I need you to tell me if that car is your parents' car," Amaria asked as she gently lifted his chin to make him look at her.

The boy had more tears in his eyes and he slowly gave a nod, Amaria felt her heart shatter at this. She hugged the boy tightly and did her best to console him, she rubbed his back in soothing circles until she felt him calm down a bit.

"What happens now?" she asked as she turned to face the detective.

"You could leave him in the care of an orphanage or you could adopt him," Blackwell said calmly, "The choice is yours."

Amaria looked down at the child in her arms. There was no way she was going to hand him over to an orphanage, he was not safe with all the Muldoys trying to kill him or the Strigoi for that matter.

"I'll try for adoption," she replied.

Blackwell nodded before getting to his feet.

"I'll try to look into this case and see if something was missed,"

Amaria nodded her thanks before getting to her feet as well, Vanessa who was sitting in the corner slowly got up when she saw her mother get up as well. They made their way out of the office before Amaria turned and looked at the detective.

"Thank you, Detective Blackwell,"

"No problem. And call me Simon," he said with a smile before heading back into his office.

Amaria drew the kids closer to her as she made her way out of the police station, something about this whole situation did not sit right with her. Firstly, Canada hasn't had vampires for the past 200 years and now they show up by trying to kill a random kid. Secondly, said kid could be or could not be the descendent of the Ascenders. And lastly, why were the Muldoy suddenly entering Lycan territory so boldly.

She made her way to the car and got the kids in before getting in herself, she started the car and pulled out of there. She quickly found the main road and sped down its quiet asphalt body, she was feeling restless and it was not good. She hadn't fed in the last week and it was taking its toll, the road was starting to look funny and that caused her to stop the car. The car came to a screeching halt at the side of the road, she rested her head against the steering wheel and sighed deeply.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Vanessa asked from the backseat.

Amaria sighed again and sat back against her seat and looked at the side view mirror, she saw her reflection and saw that her eyes were glowing blue and her canines extended into fangs. She ignored her monstrous appearance before clearing her voice.

"I.....mommy is fine princess," she replied softly.

She put the car into gear and started to drive again, the car rolled down the road as the fog started to roll in. The day was ending and nighttime was setting in, so the fog rolled in. Hence, the town's name. Fog Valley.

She slowed the car down when she noticed the trail that headed up her penthouse, she pulled off the road and made her way up the trail. She decided that she would feed once the children were relaxed and once everything was fine, she didn't want to scare Daniel by letting him see what she actually was.

The car came to a stop just a few feet from the penthouse, she killed the engine and got out of the car and was followed suit by the kids. She quickly ushered them toward the house before a faint whiff of wet mud hit her nose, she quickly watched the kids enter the house and quickly turned.

She scanned the treeline and saw multiple sets of eyes looking in her direction, she growled internally at this.

"Lycans," she groaned before heading into the house.