Chapter Three

I looked around nervously. Pulling away from Morgyn, I headed for the stairs, but Caleb darted in front of them and stopped me.

I clenched my fists at my sides and looked down. Caleb’s eyes were still glowing red, which I knew was part of his dark form, but I always associated it with rage. I only ever saw those red eyes when he was angry.

“Jade,” he said quietly.

I didn’t respond. I kept my eyes on the floor, just hoping he would walk away again. I didn’t want to talk. I would just turn into a crying mess again.

But he didn’t go away. He stepped toward me and placed his hands on my arms.

“Jade, I’m sorry.”

“No,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry. I should have told you where I was going and what I was doing.”

“Yes,” Caleb nodded. “But it’s in the past. I understand, even if I don’t agree.”

“He could have killed you. Because of me.” I looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

“But he didn’t because you barreled in there and knocked him out,” Caleb said, his voice turning into a small giggle.

I couldn’t help but smile a little. “He went down like a rag doll.”

Caleb laughed harder. “Yes, he did.”

My face turned serious again. “He’ll be back for us.”

“Well, we’ll be ready.”

“I just want peace and quiet. Like we had before I screwed it up,” I sighed.

“Eh,” Caleb shrugged. “It was only a matter of time before he found something to fight about. He hates me. He’ll find any excuse.”

“But he’s out for Morgyn now,” I reminded him. “Not you.”

“He tries to attack one of us, and he gets all of us.” Caleb narrowed his eyes. They seemed to glow even brighter when he did.

I sighed, but nodded in agreement. Caleb shifted out of his dark form finally and pulled me into a hug.

“Did he tell you anything?” He asked quietly. I could feel his breath on my neck as he spoke.

I nodded. “Yes, actually, but I don’t think it’ll do us any good.”

“Try me,” Caleb responded, not letting me go.

“Jack,” I said. “Uh…Jack B-Betancourt?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“He was the man who killed Ruby,” I explained. “He also killed Kristofer Betancourt, the man Vlad saw as his son.” I thought for a moment. “Oh, wait! The hunter’s name was Jack Smith, but he started using the surname Betancourt after killing Kristofer.”

Caleb pulled away and looked at me. “Kristofer Betancourt,” he repeated. “I remember him. Vlad sent him to fight me, but our fight actually ended up being a friendly spar. I trained him and told him about plasma fruit.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s wrong. Vlad said he was training him to be a ‘dark vampire’, as he said.” I used air quotes.

Caleb laughed. “We’re both right.” He looked at me with a cheeky smirk. “Vlad taught him all of this stuff, then sent him to fight me, and each time, we would just chat, or train, or spar. Friendly fire.” His smirk turned into a warm smile, as if he was feeling nostalgic. “He eventually started telling Vlad he was going to fight me just to get away from him.”

“Savage,” I giggled.

“Yeah,” Caleb smiled sadly. “He was a good man, and a great friend.”

I looked away. “Maybe I should have just given Vlad what he wanted. It seems like it’s what you would have wanted too.”

“No,” Morgyn said, approaching us. “What we said is still true. He would likely not be the same person if he were to be resurrected after all this time.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Let him rest.”

I nodded slowly. “Vlad won’t let him rest.”

“So!” Caleb said cheerfully, trying to change the ominous mood. “Since you missed dinner last night, perhaps I could make something else for you?”

I giggled. “I’m still feeling a little fuzzy from when Vlad made me smack my head. I think I need sleep.”

Caleb just stared at me, furrowing his brow.

Morgyn cleared his throat. “He didn’t know about that.”

“Oh,” I said simply. “But I’m okay!”

Caleb sighed. “I’m glad. But as if I didn’t want to kill him already, I certainly do now.”

I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck. “Stop that.” I pecked his cheek. “I’m okay. Really.” I let go of him and stepped back, smiling. “Let’s not open up another can of worms.”

He nodded. “Right.” I could tell he was still bothered, but I knew he wouldn’t act on it.

“I think I’m going to lie down,” I said.

Caleb nodded. “I’ll go with you.”

We all headed upstairs, including Morgyn.

“I don’t think you two believe me when I say I’m alright,” I glared at them.

Morgyn smiled. “We’re worried.”

Caleb sat with his back against the headboard and nodded in agreement.

I laid down beside him, and Morgyn sat beside me. I fell asleep quickly, happily surrounded by love.

“You did well,” Ruby said to me, approaching me quickly. “Yeah, you should have been more careful, but you got information.”

I shook my head. “That info did zip to help me.”

“No,” she smiled. “You have a last name. Two actually.”

“SMitch doesn’t count,” I looked at her. “Do you know how many people in the world are named Smith?”

“But how many out there have the name Betancourt?” She grinned. “Vlad told you, but you immediately thought Smith. So did Caleb. He simply said he remembered Kristofer, but didn’t even think about that last name.”

I sat, staring at the floor, deep in thought. “You’re right.”

Ruby sat beside me. “Kristofer was a good man. Caleb was right about that. He only continued to associate with Vlad because he was like a father to him. He much preferred being a good vampire. He even said he would have preferred to not be a vampire at all.” She looked down as a tear fell from her eye. “I can’t help but think that maybe in his final moments, he was happy not to be immortal.”

“Wow,” I said quietly. “That’s sad.”

She nodded. “But happy at the same time. He got what he wanted.”

I sighed. “Why was he never in the memories you showed me?”

“The memories of him didn’t have important moments in them.” She smiled and once again made a memory appear around us. A quite literally tall, dark and handsome man was in a friendly fire spar with Caleb. As they finished the spar, they fell to the ground together in a fit of laughter.

“What did you do?” Ruby asked, laughing.

“He smacked me in the head!” Caleb laughed, standing up. He walked beside Kristofer and smacked him in the back of the head playfully. “Like that!”

“Ow!” Kristofer stood up as Caleb took his hand to help him. He laughed again and playfully pushed Caleb. “Punk.”

“Hooligan,” Caleb retorted, grinning.

“Damn right,” Kristofer laughed.

“Boys, boys,” Ruby walked up to them. “Fight nice.”

They all laughed.

I found myself smiling as I watched it all play out.

“Ah,” Ruby smiled as she looked at me. “This next part is interesting.”

I watched as Lilith came out of the house. As she stepped toward Kristofer, he slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. “Lil,” he smiled.

“Kris,” she smiled back happily.

My eyes widened. “They were an item!”

“They were in love, or so I think. They never said it to each other though. He and I were killed before he ever confessed,” Ruby explained.

I felt sad for Lilith. I had never seen her with anyone before, and had never imagined her being in love. I kind of wished maybe she could find love again. She deserved it.

“So the Vatore siblings both lost their loves to hunters,” I said quietly.

“To the same hunter,” Ruby clarified.

“And Vlad is the only one that wants revenge?” I asked, confused.

“Caleb and Lilith gave up their searches for the hunter when they realized he was probably dead from old age.” Ruby shrugged. “You know how they are, though. They aren’t ones to seek revenge like that.”

I grinned at her. “You heard what Caleb said about Vlad a little bit ago.”

She laughed. “I would want to kill him too! It’s not just because of what he did to you, but the fact that he is responsible for the torture and death of so many others.”

“Torture?” I looked at her, scared.

“To some, becoming a vampire is torture,” she explained. “Living an immortal life is sad.”

I looked away. “I see.” I turned my attention back to the memory. Caleb approached Ruby and kissed her forehead. It had started snowing heavily, already covering the roads and center court with a thick blanket of snow. Kristofer picked up some snow and chucked it at Caleb.

Caleb laughed, rushing away from Ruby and toward Kristofer.

“Get over here, Kris!” He shouted, laughed as he chased him through the snowy town.

I giggled. “They were like children.”

“They really were,” Ruby laughed with me. More tears fell from her eyes.

I moved closer to her and pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to be sad like this.”

“No,” she whispered, wiping her eye gently with her finger, “I’m happy to have seen this again as well. Of course I miss him, but we had our good times.”

“Hey!” We heard. We looked back up as Caleb tackled Kristofer into the snow. As the snow they kicked up fell onto them, they laughed like children. I watched, amused by it all. It was like seeing a different side of Caleb. I had half a mind to ask him about it, but wasn’t sure how well it would go over.

“You should,” Ruby smiled.

“Huh?” I asked, before realizing. Duh, she’s me. She knows what I’m thinking. In daily life, this was common knowledge to me, but in a dream like this, where we were two different people, it was different. “Y-yeah, I might.”

We continued watching, but eventually, Ruby stood up. “You have some answers. Use them.”

I nodded.

“And that girl,” Ruby continued.

“Jewel,” I nodded again.

“Listen to your intuition. I think you’re right about her. There is something going on. Listen to her. Be there for her. She needs you.” Ruby smiled sadly.

I clenched my fist. “She’s being forgotten.”

“I know you won’t let that happen, Jade. I know we won’t.” Ruby held out her hand. I took it and stood up. “But, please don’t be reckless again.”

I nodded. “I won’t be.”

“Good,” she smiled. “You’ve come too far to get yourself killed.”

We both laughed.

“I’ll see you when we need it again.” Ruby said, stepping back.

I waved as she disappeared into the darkness.

I woke up in the middle of the night, sandwiched between Morgyn and Caleb. I giggled a little and adjusted my position carefully, making sure to not wake either of them. I rested my head back down to sleep, but sleep didn’t come. Something was keeping me up. I sighed and sat up. Glancing at Morgyn, then at Caleb, I tried to find my best route out of bed without disturbing anyone. I opted to move to the end of the bed to get up that way, carefully climbing over Caleb’s feet. I stood proudly. No one woke up. Then I giggled at myself for how silly I was to feel accomplished by that. I took a quick shower, got dressed and made breakfast. I ate it slowly at the computer, taking Ruby’s advice to follow the leads I had been given. Jack Betancourt. I entered his name into the search bar. I scrolled pages and pages of nothingness.

Sighing, I started to move the cursor up to close out of the browser when something caught my eye. “Obituary.”

I smiled. This could help! I clicked on it and read through. From what I saw, Jack Betancourt passed away from old age in 1982. He left behind two sons and a daughter. Jessica Betancourt.

“No, this must not be him, then” I sighed and sat back. Something was nagging me about this though. The timeline would fit. If he was in his 20’s in the 1920’s when Ruby was killed, then it would make sense that he would pass from old age in his 80’s in the 1980’s, right? Or maybe it was wishful thinking.

I finished my breakfast as the sun started to come up. Washing my dishes, I decided to set out for the realm early. But this time, I sent a group message to Morgyn and Caleb.

To my surprise, Jewel was already there when I arrived. She was sleeping on a couch, tucked away in one of the practice rooms. Beside her sat her backpack, but also a large duffel bag that looked to be stuffed to the point of a zipper bursting. I knew what this implied, and I hoped it wasn’t true. I so desperately wanted to ask her, but I didn’t want to wake her. Instead, still feeling like cooking, I went to the kitchen and served up breakfast for groggy spellcasters to enjoy when they came in. I placed the finished breakfast in the middle of the dining table for anyone to pick from until it was gone.

“Ambitious today?” Simeon asked me, coming up behind me.

I laughed. “Yeah, I suppose. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep. Decided to come here and waste time. Why not cook a nice breakfast for our friends?”

“Good choice too,” he mused. “Eggs, bacon, toast. You went all out.”

“Is there any other way, though? Really?” I grinned.

“There is no other way.” He agreed.

“Exactly!” I winked.

He stepped closer to talk to me quietly. “Jewel came here in the middle of the night, laid down on that sofa and cried herself to sleep.” He pulled away to look at me, his eyes stricken with worry. “I’m not sure what’s going on with her.”

I looked down. “I think I might have an idea.” Shaking my head, I continued, “and I really hope I’m wrong.”

He nodded, thinking the same I was. “If you’re right, what are we going to do?”

“I’ll be having a conversation with Caleb and Morgyn, because I will not allow her to be homeless.” I furrowed my brow. “She doesn’t deserve that.”

Simeon nodded. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

I also nodded and pulled out my notepad. “I should finish that lesson plan for Morgyn.

Before I could walk away, he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Wait.”

I looked at him, confused.

“Are you alright?” He asked. “You weren’t around until late yesterday, you seemed really out of it, and I see some bruising on your face.”

“Bruising?” I asked. I hadn’t noticed that.

“Well, I guess it’s actually your neck, but here,” he pointed.

I sighed. “Surely you know who Vladislaus Straud is?”

“Yes.”

“I made the mistake of visiting him, seeking answers about Ambrosia. The short story is that I made him angry so he attacked me. The long story is that he was attempting to hold me captive. Morgyn and Caleb stopped that quickly.”

Simeon looked at me, eyes wide. “Wow. Is that why you couldn’t sleep?”

I shrugged. “I went to bed quite early last night due to still being disoriented. I think I just had too much energy to go back to sleep.”

“Ah,” he nodded and looked at the door as L came in. “And there’s my cue to get to work.”

I laughed. “Mine too.”

We waved and parted ways. I sat down at the dining table to work more on Morgyn’s lesson plan. As I completed it, Jewel approached me, looking at the food I made.

“Is this for anyone in particular?” She asked quietly, tears in her eyes.

I smiled warmly. “For anyone who wants it.”

She nodded without a word and grabbed a plate, serving herself. She sat across from me and picked at it with her fork, taking tiny bites here and there.

“You look sad,” I observed.

“My parents came home,” she explained. “I questioned them about where they were the night before because I was worried. They got mad, it turned into a screaming match. I told them I was tired of them disappearing. They kicked me out.” She spoke in a monotone. I assumed it was to mask the pain and make sure she didn’t cry again. But, this was exactly what I had feared.

I sighed, stood up and pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

She dropped her fork and gripped my arm tightly, sobbing. “I hate them!”

“Shhh,” I tried to calm her. “I know. It’s okay. I’m here. I’ll help.”

“How?” She sobbed louder.

“I’ll find a way.”

She calmed quickly and I let her go.

“I have to go to school,” she whispered.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “I could call you out. You just went through something horrible.”

“No, I need to go,” she looked at me with pleading eyes. “My friends keep me sane. They’re all I have.”

I nodded and rubbed her back. “Alright.”

“Can I leave my other bag here?” She asked me.

I nodded. “Yes. I’ll make sure no one messes with it.”

She stood up. “Thank you.” Before she stepped away, she hugged me again.

I hugged her back, a mixture of anger and sadness welling up inside of me. After a moment, we let each other go, and she set off to go to school.

I sat back down at the table, resting my head in my folded arms. I pounded my fist on the table. How could they? How could there be parents that were so willing to just give up on their kids like that? I sighed and got up, taking her dishes to the sink. I quickly went and grabbed her duffel bag and walked it downstairs to the library.

I placed it down and turned to L. “Could I leave this here today?” I asked.

She nodded. “Sure. I’ll keep my eye on it.”

“Thank you,” I put my hands together in a praying formation. I headed for the stairs.

“Take it easy today,” she said.

I stopped and looked at her, nodding in agreement. “I will. Thanks.”

With that, I headed back upstairs to wait for Morgyn. I needed to give him his lesson plan. It was already a day late. I obviously knew he understood. Conditions hadn’t exactly been favorable for me to be productive.

“No,” I whispered to myself. “Actually…” I pulled out my phone and called Morgyn.

“Hello?”

“Hey, when you come here, could Caleb tag along too?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I’ll explain when you get here.”

“Alright, give me maybe ten minutes. I’ll just teleport us in.”

“Okay, I’ll be here.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

We hung up and I walked around, tidying up misplaced books on the bookshelves. As he said, they arrived about ten minutes later.

I hugged them both. “Thanks. Come with me.”

They followed me down to the library. As L saw us come down, she walked upstairs so we could talk in private.

I stood by the bag and sighed, looking down at it. “So, Jewel came here in the middle of the night with just her backpack and…this.” I gestured. “She’s currently homeless as her parents kicked her out.”

“What?” They shouted in unison.

“Yeah,” I shrugged. “That’s why I wanted both of you here. I want to have her come live with us.”

They looked at each other, gave an agreeing shrug and looked at me.

“Of course,” Morgyn agreed.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” I hugged them again. “I want to make sure she knows she’s wanted. That she doesn’t deserve this.”

As Morgyn pulled away, Caleb continued to hold me. “You have a big heart.”

That made me smile. I hugged him tighter.

“Are you ready to raise a teenager?” Morgyn grinned.

I looked at him, laughing softly. “I guess we’re going to find out, eh?” I pulled out my notebook, pulling away from Caleb. “Here,” I handed him the lesson plan. “I know it’s late, but well, let’s just say I was a tad preoccupied.”

Morgyn laughed. “Well, thank you. I suppose I’ll let it slide,” he paused. “This time.”

I giggled with him.

Caleb picked up the bag. “I’ll run this back home. Would you like me to come back?”

“You might be bored,” I responded. “I have a packed day, and Morgyn has lessons in the afternoon.”

“I’m sure I’ll find some way to be useful,” he smiled warmly. He kissed my cheek, then Morgyn’s. “I’ll be back soon.” And, in a flash, he was gone.

I headed for the stairs with Morgyn. “I’m so excited to tell Jewel our plans.”

He smiled. “Me too. I hope she will be alright with this.”

I shrugged. “Me too. It’s either our place or sleeping here in the realm. She deserves a home.”

Morgyn took my hand. “Yes, she does.”

We headed back up to the main floor and got right to work. I immediately started training spellcasters and Morgyn prepped for his lesson. I felt happier and more productive than I had before. I finally had a clear mind.

But one thing nagged me all day. Jessica Betancourt. I didn’t want to seek her out only to find out I was some creep who stalked a girl I had no connection to, but at the same time, I wanted answers. At lunch, I made myself a BLT sandwich and pulled out my phone. I opened Simstagram. It was the first social media platform that came to mind. I searched up her name.

Nothing. Of course. I had gotten used to that. I closed the app and opened up the browser. I typed her name into the search engine. That simply brought up a bunch of links, all shouting “nothing” at me.

Frustrated, I put my phone back in my pocket and finished my sandwich. I pulled out my phone again to check my email. I realized I hadn’t posted a new update to SimTube in awhile, and my emails reflected that. I had a bunch of people asking if we were alright, some wondering if we had quit, and others sounding pretty angry about the absence. I empathized with them. They too, deserved answers. I started apologetically responding to the emails, explaining that a lot had happened and I would post an update in the coming days. I hoped that would curb their appetite for more content.

New plan. I was going to mention Jessica in my update. Maybe someone out there would know something? I could only hope at this point. But that’s why I started this. I sought out answers by using social media to my advantage, so I was going to utilize that.

Caleb approached me, kissing my cheek. “You alright?”

I smiled happily. “Yeah. Hey, I wanted to ask you something. Do you have a minute?”

He looked around. “I’m a vampire in the magic realm. I have all the time in the world.”

I giggled. “I had another dream last night, or memory. I was about Kristofer.”

“Mhm,” Caleb listened.

“You two got along really well,” I smiled. “I saw you guys chasing each other and having fun in the snow. Like children.”

Caleb laughed, reminiscing. “Yes, we acted like that a lot.”

“He and Lilith loved each other,” I said.

“Yes,” he agreed. “Very much. I’ve never seen her as happy as she was with him.”

“You were really happy then too,” I rested my hand on his shoulder.

“I still am,” he added.

“But you’ve had a lot of loss.”

“Yes,” he caressed my cheek. “But while there has been loss, there have also been some amazing new additions to my life as well.”

I giggled as he pulled me into a kiss.

“”Ugh, get a room,” Morgyn joked as he came around the corner.

As he walked over, Caleb playfully grabbed him, pulling him into a hug.

“WHA-AH!” Morgyn yelped.

“We have a room. It happens to be yours too,” Caleb smirked.

I laughed. Okay, maybe Caleb was still playful like that.

Morgyn squirmed out of Caleb’s grasp and tried to hide his smile as he brushed the wrinkles out of his jacket. “Dammit Caleb.” He continued to act like he was mad, but when Caleb turned his attention back to me, Morgyn jumped on him, laughing.

“Gotcha!” He shouted. “The vampire’s been outsmarted by a spellcaster!”

Caleb stumbled backward, unexpecting Morgyn’s attack. “But has he, though?” He let Morgyn go, acting like he was going to let him fall, then grabbed him at the last second.

“Jeeeeeeesus!” Morgyn gasped. “Caleb, what the hell?”

Caleb leaned in close to him as he pulled him up. “Gotcha,” he said quietly, poking Morgyn’s nose.

Morgyn glared at him angrily.

I smirked. “Watch out Caleb. He looks like he’s about to light your ass on fire.”

“Just as long as it’s not my face,” Caleb grinned, leaning toward Morgyn.

“Seriously?” Morgyn retorted angrily. He pulled out his wand, and Caleb jumped back, laughing. I found myself laughing as well. Morgyn realized how silly this must have looked, put away his wand and joined us in our laughter.

Jewel came in as we were giggling. She walked over to us, eyes wide at seeing Caleb for the first time. She just gazed at him, starstruck.

“Hey,” I smiled at her. “How was school?”

She looked away from Caleb to look at me. “It was good. My friends are mad at my parents, though.”

Can’t say I blame them. “Aww, I’m sure they aren’t.” I put my hands on her shoulders. “But while you were gone, Morgyn, Caleb and I talked about your situation. How would you like to stay with us?”

Her eyes lit up. “R-really?”

I nodded, smiling warmly. “Really. You didn’t deserve to be thrown out like that.”

She hugged me tightly. “Thank you so much!”

I gestured for Morgyn and Caleb to join us. They did, hugging us tightly.

“Welcome to the family,” Morgyn said quietly.

We decided not to train that day. Instead, we talked and got to know each other.

“I can’t believe you’re a real vampire!” Jewel mused to Caleb. “I thought that was just an act you put on for the cameras.”

“Nope,” Caleb laughed. “I’m a real vampire.”

“Have you ever bitten anyone?” Jewel leaned in, intrigued.

Instinctively, I brought my hand up to my neck where Caleb had bit me when Marco starved him and Lilith.

He looked away. “Yes, I have. But I don’t bite anymore. I use these.” He pulled out a plasma pack. “It’s a plasma pack. I don’t have the desire to bite anyone.” He looked at me apologetically. “Intentionally.”

I smiled warmly at him. “Morgyn and I keep him in check too,” I joked.

Caleb laughed. “Sure.”

Jewel smiled happily. It was the happiest I had seen her since we met. It was nice to finally see joy on her face. She deserved it.

We headed home after a while. Once there, I showed Jewel to her room.

“Wow,” she smiled. “It’s so big.”

I smiled as well and looked around. “I think this place needs a good remodel, if you ask me.”

She sat on the bed and smiled widely at me. “Let’s do it!”

“Really?” I put my hands on my hips. “You seem excited about that.”

“I love architecture,” she explained. “I would love to help with the design!”

“Oh?” I asked. “That’s a great career path.”

She smiled triumphantly. “I’m glad you say that,” she said. “Mom and dad thought I was wasting my time with my structure drawings and all that. It gives me something to do; mapping out buildings.”

“What kind of buildings?” I asked, sitting beside her.

“You’re gonna laugh.”

“Why would I laugh?”

“Because it’s silly, and there won’t ever be a need for my plans.”

“Oh come on, what is it?” I eagerly awaited her response.

“Shopping malls,” she responded.

“That’s not silly at all,” I said, “and there’s absolutely a need for that, even if it’s for future remodels.” I patted her head. “Don’t give up on your dreams, Jewel. I’m sure you’ll be great at it.”

She smiled brightly again.

I stood up. “Well, I’ll leave you to decorate and rearrange or whatever. I think I smell dinner, so I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

“Who’s cooking?” She asked.

“Probably Caleb,” I responded.

“But,” she paused. “He can’t eat.”

I laughed, probably more than I should have. “Don’t tell that to his foodie stomach. He watches food tv all the time, gets inspired to make things and cooks for all of us.”

“And he eats it?” She tilted her head.

“Yep!” I responded cheerfully.

She shook her head, confused. “Where does it go?”

That was a good question. Vampires don’t use the bathroom. “I assume it just…absorbs?”

It was her turn to laugh. Hearing it after seeing her so sad for a few days was like music. I smiled.

“I’ll see you soon.”

She smiled back. “Okay. And thank you.”

“Of course,” I said as I closed the door behind me.

I walked into the living room and laid on the couch.

Morgyn smiled and sat beside me. “That went well?”

I sat up and rested my head on his shoulder. “Yeah. She’s really happy.”

“And so are you,” he observed.

I giggled softly. “Yes.”

“Good,” he smiled, kissing my forehead.

I tilted my head up and placed my hand on his cheek. He wrapped his arm around my waist as we kissed. I giggled and laid down, pulling him with me.

He broke our kiss and gazed at me. “What are you doing?”

“You and Caleb were having such playful fun, I thought maybe I would have some of my own?” I asked.

“Mhm,” he grinned flirtatiously. “And what kind of fun is that?”

I playfully smacked his shoulder. “Morgyn!”

He laughed. “What?”

“That’s not what I meant!” I kept giggling.

He leaned in close. “Are you sure?”

As I laughed at his question, he kissed my neck.

I squirmed. “Mor-gyn!”

He laughed. “Ja-ade.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Stop it.”

“Or…?” He started to lean down again.

“I’ll bite you.”

“I’ll light you on fire.”

“I’ll turn you into a block of ice.”

He sat up and put his hands on his arms like he was chilled. “No, please don’t.” He grinned.

I laughed. “But you were going to set me on fire?”

“Wouldn’t take much,” he kissed me again.

“Mmph!” I pulled away. “Morgyn, that’s not what I meant!”

He laughed. “But, but…”

I held my finger up to his lips. “No but. That’s not what I meant.”

“But you’ve got to admit it was clever.”

“Hush!” I kept my finger on his lips. “No buts!” I moved my finger and leaned closer. “Yes, it was clever.”

“Am I allowed to kiss you now?” He smirked.

“Just don’t get fresh, or I’ll light you on fire.” I giggled.

He kissed me again, slipping his hand behind my neck, under my hair. I shivered a little and pulled myself onto his lap straddling him. He tightened his grip on my waist. I had told him not to get fresh with me, but I was craving him.

“Jade?” I heard. It was Jewel.

I practically jumped off of the couch. “Yes?”

She giggled a little. “I was going to ask if I could move the desk in that room. Also, may I have the WiFi password?”

I nodded. “Yes, of course! You can move the desk, and here,” I grabbed a notebook and pen from the table and wrote down the password for her. I handed her the paper and looked down sheepishly. “And, uh, sorry.”

She laughed. “I’m fourteen, not five. I’ve seen worse from my friends.” She grinned. “Plus, you two are cute together.”

We both blushed.

She walked away and I sat back down, but on the other side of the couch from Morgyn. He looked at me and laughed softly. I knew I probably looked pretty funny with my head down in shame.

Caleb came out. “Dinner’s ready, lovebirds.”

I facepalmed. Caleb and Morgyn both laughed.

“I’ll go tell Jewel,” Morgyn said, standing up.

As he walked away, I stood up as well, heading to the kitchen. Caleb followed.

“I hope you weren’t offended?” He asked.

I looked at him, perplexed. “Huh? No, I wasn’t offended.” I smiled. “Why would I be?”

“You seemed like you were,” he pointed out.

“Embarrassed,” I said simply.

He folded his arms and laughed. “Life with a teen.”

I took a bite of my food. “I suppose I’ll need to be more careful.” I grinned flirtatiously.

We all sat and ate, chatting some more with Jewel. She fit in so well with us. We laughed, joked, got serious, then laughed some more.

After dinner, Jewel went back into her room to do homework. I finally sat down at the computer to record a new video. I talked about my absence, my search for answers and even my encounter with Vlad.

Finally, I got to Jessica.

“Jessica Betancourt. She’s the only solid lead I have, but that name is from the 80’s, and I can’t find her anywhere. She could maybe just not have a social media account, or she could have changed her name. I honestly don’t know where else to look at this point. I’m saying this in case there’s anyone out there who might have some information, or know where I can find more information. But I suppose, I’ll end with that. Thanks for watching! I’ll see you soon.”

I ended the video and sighed, pressing the upload button.

Caleb came up behind me. “Should we try to contact Jewel’s parents and tell them where she is?”

I nodded, but didn’t look up. “Yes. I’ll ask her for her home phone number.”

He placed his hand on my back. “Don’t give up hope. Crouching beside me, he smiled. “I stopped by Britechester before going back to the realm. I found a few articles in the library there involving the Betancourt family.”

I lifted my head and looked at him. “You did?”

He smiled happily and reached into his pocket, pulling out a couple folded sheets of paper. “I made copies. I don’t know if it gives us a lot of information, but it may give us a lead or two.”

I studied one of the copies. “Any info is good info.” I furrowed my brow, reading the text. “Jack Betancourt was a politician?”

Caleb shrugged. “I never heard of him. Up until you spoke to Vlad I hadn’t even known the name of Ruby’s killer.”

“Oh,” I said softly.

“No, no, it’s okay,” he assured me. “It didn’t hurt.”

I glanced at him, then back at the paper. “Good.” As I kept reading, something dawned on me. “Genealogy. Family trees. Don’t some libraries have public records?”

Caleb nodded. “I think Britechester holds things like that, actually.”

I looked at the time. “Want to check it out?”

He smiled. “They’ll be closed in a half hour, love. Let’s do that tomorrow?”

I sighed. “Right, okay.”

He gestured toward Jewel’s room. “In the meantime…”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to her.” I stood up and headed to the door.

I knocked quietly. “Jewel, can I talk to you?”

“Sure!” She exclaimed excitedly.

I came in. “May I have your home phone number please? I want to call your parents to let them know you’re safe.”

She shrugged. “Sure. Just don’t tell me if they care or not.”

I looked at her apologetically as she told me the phone number. “Thank you.”

“Mhm,” she replied dryly.

I walked out to make the call. I decided to step out onto the balcony to be alone.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this the mother of Jewel?”

“Yeah? Why?”

“Hi, I’m Jade. She informed me that she was kicked out, and I offered to let her stay with me. I wanted to let you know and ask if that information was accurate.”

“Yes, it’s accurate, and you can keep that demon child.”

“Uh, exc-“

*click*

I stared angrily at my phone. “Seriously?” I stuffed it back into my pocket and went inside.

Caleb was washing dishes as I marched in to grab a cup of coffee.

“Well, that went well?” He said in a sarcastic joking way.

“Her parents are vile,” I said, sipping from my mug. I didn’t even add any cream or sugar to it. I was angry enough to drink it black.

Caleb turned around. “Well, maybe it’s a good thing she’s here now.”

I nodded. “I just don’t understand it.”

He stood in front of me and brushed a strand of my hair away from my face. “Perhaps you’re projecting?”

“How so?” I asked, frustrated.

“Not saying her parents were right, but it might be hitting you even harder because you’re a mother looking for her daughter while another couple just tossed their daughter out,” he explained.

I sighed and looked at the floor. “Probably.”

He ducked down to position his face between my eyes and the floor.

I gazed at him, still with a serious look on my face.

He smiled warmly. “Look at the bright side, my love,” he stood straight and tilted my head up to look at him. “We’re getting small leads here and there that will eventually come together to help us find what we’ve been looking for.”

I shrugged.

“And,” he continued, “we took Jewel in, and I know for a fact she’s already happier than she’s been in a long time.” He smiled warmly. “You know who did that?”

I felt a small smile forming on my lips. “Us.”

“Yes, but mostly you, my dear.” He kissed my forehead. “If you ask me, I’d say you are already being a wonderful mother.”

I looked at him, shocked. “Caleb, I’m not-“

“I know you’re not trying to take over the parental role here, but who’s there for her? You. Who isn’t? Her biological family.” He crossed his arms. “I’m just saying, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she started to look up to you as her mother.”

As my anger subsided, my coffee started to taste disgusting. I walked over to the sugar bowl. “Well, I think maybe you’re jumping the gun.”

He shrugged again. “Maybe so, but I don’t think it’s a stretch.”

I also shrugged. “You’re right.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “You’re doing a good thing.”

“I know,” I agreed quietly.

“And,” he tilted my head up again. “We…will…find…her. Okay?”

I nodded. “I know that too. Well, at least I hope.”

“Shh,” he smiled. “We will.”

“Alright. We will.”

Chapter Four (click here)