With time that passed by and no blanket beneath or around her, Penny could feel the cold sinking into her skin and bones. The deeper they stepped into the forest, the colder it got and so did the color and appearance of the forest change from green to white with the amount of snow that covered the ground and the trees around them.
The forest was deserted and quiet. Not a single soul around them such that it was as if they were in a different world of space and time. Far away from them, an owl hooted. Its hoot echoing in the forest.
"Where is this place?" Penelope asked him, her steps being careful as she placed them on the freshly fallen snow on the ground which left an imprint on it.
"This is a path not far from the village that you once used to live in. The one you used to live in with your mother."
How strange, thought Penny to herself. She had lived for almost seventeen years yet she had never stepped into this side of the forest. One of the reasons might have been that her mother had often warned her to not step too deep into the heart of the forest. Warning her on the black witches and other creatures who lurked in here. Funny, she thought to herself. Especially when she was living with a black witch for those seventeen years.
At the same time, she wondered what might have happened. Theoretically from what she had learned from the church, Penny would have guessed that her mother had turned from a white witch to a black witch after her father's death. But after what she heard from her aunt earlier this week, she could tell that her first theory was wrong an invalid.
There were a lot of unanswered questions and the only person who could provide her with answers was her mother itself.
Though her memories had been tampered, she doubted that there was anything useful that she could get from it. When another hoot came from above them as they walked by a tree. Penny turned around, searching for the owl that had camouflaged itself with the snow as it was white in appearance.
"My mother and I used to come here to hunt," she heard Damien speak, his voice coming out to be clearer due to the silence they were surrounded with. She noticed the distant look that his face carried right now as he remembered about his mother. Penny had heard about his mother, the way she lived her life and it made her wonder if she would feel the same about her own mother.
Damien's late mother had passed away when he was young, but he carried her in his memories. Even though the woman was a cruel vampiress, he adored her. Both Maggie and he loved their mother.
The woman had killed innocent people. Maybe they weren't pure souls but their punishments were directed to direct death and there was no way out of it.
"We used to bring our horses. Early in the morning before the sun even rose up in the sky. My mother hunted animals before bringing them back to the mansion," he said, his eyes glancing at Penny who was looking at him.
"What about you and Lady Maggie?"
"We were too young to hunt, at least that is what my mother thought. She was overprotective about us."
She could guess that. An overprotective mother. She didn't know why but she had a feeling that Lady Maggie wanted to tell her something when she had come this morning to give her the necklace to her in the room. Like there was something on her mind which she wanted to speak but in the end, she didn't.
"Can I ask you something?" Penny asked Damien to see him nod. Unsure of how to put it in the right words without coming to be odd, she said, "If your mother was alive right now. Would things be the same?" she already had drawn the conclusions about it in her mind but she wanted to hear it from Damien.
Damien smiled, could a smile be one that looked like it was thoughtful? Asked Penny to herself, "Maggie spoke something along the same lines. About how things could be different if our mother was still alive. I don't think I have ever pondered about it knowing that there is nothing like it to change what has happened in the past," she heard Damien speak, his footsteps barely audible to her ears while her feet appeared heavier, "My mother has passed away. Therefore she holds no control over the way our lives are running. Maggie would have been devastated if she was still alive."
Penny looked at him with a frown, "Why do you say that?"
"It is in regard to her former lover or fiance. Option one, the man would have been forced to continue his relationship with my sister under my mother's eyes. Because of fear which would lead to a very unhappy marriage until he would finally decide to give up. Option two, he would have strayed his path like he did in the past and would have been shredded into fine little pieces," he shrugged his shoulders, "I did tell you my mother was an overprotective woman. She wouldn't like the fact of someone misusing us or our feelings. But in my case, I would like to think that she would be happy with whatever I did. I was the favorite child."
Penny laughed hearing Damien boast.
"I am not making this up but it is the truth. She loved me more than Maggie for I was the one who listened to every word she said, following through what she wanted from me which in the process had the core of my heart to be corrupted in time. Let's believe what will keep us happy and at ease. Not to forget, I don't look at anything that I find worthless," he concluded his words.