Hedgesville, West Virginia

Caspian Residence

Sunday, August 25, 1996

6:32 PM

“Damn, stupid things!” Jennie cursed as she tried to best to get through the door of Nick’s study. Jerking and thrusting while cringing at the sensation, she was getting more and more angry at herself and the contraptions that were attached to her.

Whipping her eyes across the room, she glared at the green haired man who was sitting behind the desk with an awed expression on his face. A twitch formed on her forehead as she gnashed her teeth coarsely.

“I can’t get these stupid things through the door,” she shouted loudly, whipping her arms around wildly, “and all you can do is sit there and stare?!”

“Sorry,” Nick said with a laugh, chuckling at the amusing scene. He shook his head and leaned back, taking in the sight of the Seraph. “Actually I’ve never seen the wings of the Seraph before. It’s pretty neat.”

“What?” she asked with a dumbfound look, struggling still to get herself through the door. She looked over her shoulder to the angel and dragon wing. “Didn’t your wife have wings?”

“Nope,” Nick stated with a smirk. Getting to his feet, he began walking toward Jennie.

“Wait, so this great Lynnea was a fake?” Jennie asked with annoyance. She stilled for a moment as her bottom lip pouted. “And here I thought she was greatest Seraph that walked the Earth. Or so Rem makes her out to be.”

“Rem doesn’t really know anything about what happened. To him, she was a great mother,” Nick said with a smile. “And that’s all that he really should know. The truth he doesn’t need to hear.”

“Lucia told me though,” she whispered, pulling one last time as both wings came through the door. She fumbled forward just as Nick got to her, flopping against him and whimpering in pain.

“About?” Nick questioned, staring down at the girl who was lying against his chest.

“Well,” she replied, pushing herself back. She bit her lip briefly then glanced up, catching his eyes with her own. It was odd to look into yellow irises. Something she still wasn’t quite use to.

“You,” she whispered, “and my dad. And…my mom.”

“And everything else, I assume,” Nick replied with a solemn expression as Jennie shrugged her shoulders. “Luci strikes again. Always did have loose lips.”

“Does it bother you that I know?” Jennie asked, shuffling her right foot against the carpeted flooring. It felt like she pried into his business without permission. And it made her feel uncomfortable.

“No,” Nick said.

“Then,” she whispered, tilting her head sideways and up, “can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he mumbled, eyeing her suspiciously.

“What hurts you more,” Jennie mouthed out, “your wife’s death or my mother’s?”

Nick didn’t respond, but instead walked toward his desk with his eyes on the ground. Taking a seat at his desk, he ruffled through some papers then looked to Jennie who was staring back at him with intense eyes.

“Look, let’s concentrate on the present instead of the past,” he muttered. “We need someone to show you how to use ‘those’ things.” He flicked his fingers at her wings.

He’s ignoring me.

Jennie bit her lip then sighed. She clenched her hands into tight fists. It was pointless to continue asking when she knew he wouldn’t answer her.

Then let’s forget about it.

“So who’s going to teach me?”

“Well, I was thinking about Nahele,” Nick said as he spread a few stacks of paper around his desk then picked up one sheet. “I can call him up and ask him to come over. Or at least get you to figure out how to put them away at least.”

“Yeah, that would be useful,” Jennie said with a laugh, but fell silent quickly when she saw a picture of her mother amongst the papers.

Do you still love my mom? Am I just her replacement?

Reaching out her hand, she picked up the picture and looked at it. It was an old photo. One that had been taken before Jennie had even been born. An eerie sensation befell Jennie. It was as if she was looking at a mirror image.

“Nick…”

“Look, I don’t want to talk about it,” he stated flatly.

“But I want to know!” Jennie shouted, slamming the picture in her hand to the desk. “Do you care for me because I look like my mother or because you feel responsible for what happened?”

With a shake of his head, Nick groaned then placed his hands to his head. “Both,” he muttered. “And just leave it at that.”

Standing quietly, Jennie stared at Nick while he kept a diligent gaze on the desk. With no second thought, she turned to leave.

“Get over it,” she managed to say before leaving. “You’re the one who said to concentrate on the present. So concentrate!”