We're still eating, a respective silence amongst the three of us. Virgil seemed to have his eyes fixed on the food, devouring it slowly as if he were savouring it. Raven glanced at me every once in a while, so I flashed a sort of grin at her every time she did. I think she was just checking to make sure I was enjoying the food. There was nothing wrong with it, I just had my mind on other things. 

When I finish, I get up to put my plate away but before I can, Virgil shoves the rest of his food in his mouth immediately and rushed to take my plate (and his) to the kitchen as if the only thing he was racing was his view of himself as a servant.  

'Did you like it?' Raven's eyes beamed at me.

'It was great,' I grinned 'I loved it.' 

She blushed, getting up from her seat with her empty plate in her hand 'I'm glad you did. It's been a while since I've cooked something. I felt sick just having Virgil or Dante make something for us.' then added 'Don't get me wrong, their food is great. It just gets boring after a while to eat something already made for you. Especially since I used to cook for myself for the past couple of years,'

'I get what you mean.' I agree with her. 'It just feels unnatural having someone wait at your every beck and call. But we better get used to this new life of luxury.'

Raven giggled 'It's like Cinderella in reverse.' As we enter the kitchen, her face lights up and she turns to me 'Oh, I have something to tell you!'

*****

*FLASHBACK*

'What are you doing, Claude?' A voice asked, calm and soft. The owner of this voice kneeled down on her knees, peering under the bed. Her lengthy dark hair fell on one side as she tilted her head to look at the little boy curled up underneath the bed, his head in his knees.

'Hiding,' he whimpered. His voice was much more feeble.

'From what, sweetheart?' she answered 'Come out from under there, Claude.' There was no responding action. She sighed, laying herself flat on the ground and then rolling under the bed herself 'If you won't come out, then I'll just have to join you,'

The boy seemed alarmed 'You'll hurt yourself!'

She assured him 'The bed won't fall on me-'

'Not the bed.' he corrected her, balling himself up tighter 'You shouldn't get close to me.' 

'Why not? What could you possibly do to me that could harm me, Claude?' she smiled, 'You're the sweetest boy I know.' She tried to get closer to him but he backed away until his head hit the bottom of the bed.

'I'm serious, Renée! I'm not safe to be around!' 

The woman furrowed her eyebrows, her delicate expression switching to an astounded one. 'Who told you that?

'No one!' He admitted 'I just know that I'm too dangerous to be around...'

Renée sighed 'Is this about what happened yesterday? It wasn't your fault that the window shattered. That must have been something else, like a rock. And you know how the kids in this neighbourhood like playing baseball, so maybe that's what broke it.'

'I shouldn't be allowed outside...' Claude sobbed. Renée, shuffling closer to him, attempted to place her hand on his knee. He tensed up at first but then eased himself, feeling the warmth of her hand rub off on him. She moved her hand from his knee to his arm and clasped it around s his wrist.

'Come outside with me,' she requested. Claude gazed into her warm, chocolatey eyes and with his free hand wiped away his tears. He let her guide him out from under the bed and out of the room, down the stairs and through the garden door. It was a breezy day outside, but there was still some sort of sunshine. It wasn't enough to bask outside in but it was enough. 'Isn't the day just beautiful?'

Claude nodded, still holding onto Renée's hand. She sat down on the patch of grass that the Helstons had for a backyard, crossing her legs. Claude took this opportunity to sit on her lap and try and rid himself of any negative feelings.

'Look at the sky,' she pointed, and he looked up at this direction to see a blue sky with clouds generously scattered around it. The sun had been hidden by one of them. 'Doesn't it make you want to stay outside all day long?'

The boy wasn't paying attention to what she was saying. Instead, he had his eyes locked on a solitary butterfly he saw fluttering around a shrub. Renée noticed this, chuckling softly. She held out her hand, waiting patiently. Claude watched as the butterfly slowly, but accordingly, flew closer to Renée, landing on the tip of her index finger.

'It's pretty,' He admitted, his gaze solely fixed on the butterfly that flapped its wings gently as it crawled along Renée's finger.

'Do you want to hold it?' She brought her hand closer to Claude's and he held out his finger the way Renée had hers, prepared for the little bug.

She transferred the butterfly from her finger to the tip of his. He began to giggle, feeling its little legs tickle him. He grinned, mesmerised by the intricate patterns in its wings as they fluttered in and out.

Just then, almost suddenly, the wings of the creature had stopped moving. It fell from Claude's hand, landing rigidly onto his lap.

He froze, staring down at the insect that had just died, and feeling his eyes begin to well up with steaming hot tears. Before he began to whimper, Renée had already started to make up excuses for him from thinking it was his fault.

'Butterflies had very little life spans. This one could have ended right now! It could just be a coincidence-'

'Stop lying!' He yelled, his voice shaking. 'I know I did this. I told you I'm not safe around anything! Not even a stupid butterfly!!'

'But you'll learn to control your powers!' She tried to calm him down, holding both his shoulders and looking him straight in the eyes.

'Everyone around me has already learnt to do that. Dominic and Josie can. But I can't. I won't be able to, Renée...'

'Yes, you will. At your own speed. And I promise you that I'll help you, okay?' Claude looked at her and nodded weakly. 'I know it's hard for you to understand this and at times I know it can feel very frustrating but everyone gets used to their powers in their own time. My daughter Raven, for example, she's eight years old just like you and she doesn't even have powers yet.'

'She's lucky.' He muttered. 

'To not have powers?'

'To have a mom like you.'

Renée sighed, looking down at the boy and ruffling his golden hair with her hand. With the other, she used her thumb to wipe away the last of his tears. 'I won't always be here, though,' she murmured softly.

This made Claude furrow his brows. 'Why not?' He sounded worried.

There was an unsettling pause before he heard her begin to chuckle 'No particular reason, silly. I'm just saying that if anything were to happen to me, I don't want you all worked up and upset.'

'Nothing's going to happen to you, Renée. I'll make sure of it.' Claude's voice changed to a more heroic tone and he stood there with his fists clenched on either side, puffing his tiny chest out.  Renée couldn't help but laugh, pulling the boy into a hug to which he held on tight.

*FLASHBACK END*

*****

'So you're telling me that my mom and your mom used to be like, a thing?'

Raven nodded frantically, shuffling a little closer to me as we sat on the bed. 'It's true! Virgil told me while we were cooking. Wow, and I thought they were just really good friends.'

'You said they moved on, right?' I make sure 'Met other people?'

'Yeah.' she agreed 'Our dads.'

Well, you learn something new every day. It kind of explains why my mother was so obsessed with Renée, why there are so many pictures of them when they were younger or why we used to always visit each other's houses a lot. It must be really awkward for dad and Marcus when I think about it. But the again, I don't want to think about it. My mother loving Renée? The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

'But what I'm really surprised is that Virgil says he knew them, and he still didn't know my mom was dead.' Raven continued telling me 'He said she was really powerful.'

'Oh, she was.' I confirmed 'Her and my mom both were.' 

'You knew too? Why didn't you tell me?'

'Well, you never asked. And it just wasn't really necessary.' I inform her 'Why? Why did you want to know?'

'I don't know,' she fiddled with her hand 'I just feel like I have to live up to her name now.'

'You don't have to do that. Besides, the more powerful you are, the more you're considered a threat.'

'Is that why the hunters killed her?'

'We don't know that yet.' I say 'And I sure has hell don't think that they would have been capable of taking someone like Renée down. It's impossible.'

'Is that just you praising her or actual fact?' She raised her eyebrow.

'Both.' I reply.

(A/N Hello everyone! Thank you for reading this far into the book and those of you that have left really nice comments that make my day. I'm trying to update as frequently as possible now *cough cough To get this shitty story over and done with cough cough* I sincerely hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one! Please comment and vote if you can! Peace!)