The forest which was near the inn was as abandoned as the surrounding which she had left to walk into the woods. Its serene white color stretching and spreading until her eyes couldn't see. The figure was diminishing and Penny ran trying to catch up with her mother who had walked past here.
She tried to catch up when suddenly she lost sight of her mother. Her feet that had been quick in movement slowly started to fall back and she stopped, moving in a circle in the same place she stood while trying to find where her mother had disappeared into. She had been right here, closing and in the forest. Where did she go? Penny's breath moved rapidly as she had tried to catch up with her mother so that she wouldn't be lost but in the end, she did anyways.
With only her harsh breath that filled the entire space around her, her green eyes moved from one place to another, looking behind the trees where she exhaled closing her eyes to hear her mother speak,
"You have been doing much better than I thought, Penny," hearing her voice from behind, Penny snapped herself around to face her mother who stood a few meters away from where she was.
"Mama," Penny still couldn't believe that her mother was here, standing in front of her alive. A part of her missed her terribly, so much that she wanted to run to her arms and be consoled that everything will be alright. She was happy to see her mother, whom she once admired, the same person who had looked after her every time she had fallen sick but every time she fell sick was the time where her mother had erased her memory.
"How have you been, Penny? Won't you give your mama a hug?" her mother asked, a sweet and kind smile that she had been used to for a very long time which now prickled her very skin by seeing it.
Instead of hugging, Penny took a step back when her mother opened her arms and stepped forward towards her. Her mother gave her a confused look, "What happened? I thought you would be happy, happy to see me back."
"You lied," Penny's eyebrows knit together as she said it to her mother.
"You are confused."
"About your death or about the lies you have woven into my life?" she asked, her green eyes looking vibrant in the background of the white snow and her cheeks pale a slightly pink due to the cold.
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Penny knew she shouldn't have chased her mother here, into the forest where no one came to walk or pass by it. It was a lonely forest where not an animal or a bird made a sound. Just the leaves moving against each other to cause the whispers between themselves.
"I can see that you're very upset about my death but I did what I had to do to save you from the people. Things were very hard a few months ago. If I didn't do it, it would have put both of us in trouble," she could tell that her mother was lying and she wasn't buying it. Once a lie was woven with more lies, trust was something hard to retrieve back. With the current record of her mother, she doubted she would ever come to trust her at all.
"You don't think I would do it for fun, do you?" her mother gave her a look of heartbreak which did break her own before she reminded herself that this was not the person she once knew.
"How did you come back alive?" she humored her mother with a question.
"I had an acquaintance of mine to help me so that the debt collectors-"
"Debt collectors?" Penny cut her off, "We didn't borrow any money from anyone. We didn't have money to spare which was why I had to work and get the money home. We didn't spend it on anything. Don't tell me we did spend it because I was the one who was keeping the tabs of how much money was being spent so that I could bring enough of it back."
"Believe or not, that was the truth. It is the reason I did what I did a few months ago. I needed to talk to you alone. How have you been? I heard that you have started to live in the pureblooded vampire's mansion."
Penny nodded her head, "I have. Why didn't you come for me after the whole thing?" Penny was angry with the woman yet she tried to keep herself calm and composed.
"Because it wasn't time yet, but now, I think it is. We can go away and live the life that we always wanted Penny," her mother raised her hand for Penny but she never came to move her hand towards her mother. She stared at the woman who once was her mother. She had loved and adored her, respected her, "I promise, things will go fine."
"Just like in the past?" Penny asked softly, her eyes turning softer on her mother who smiled at her.
"Yes. Just like the way it was in the past. Just me and you, our own world. You don't have to live with that vampire, he must have not treated you well. I saw the marks on your neck," listening to this, Penny internally felt alarmed.
Her mother was speaking about the marks which were left by Mr. Raverale. When did she even meet or see that she had caught sight of it?
"Purebloded vampires have always had a bad history with us humans. They treat us like dirt and you never know when they are going to kill you. I am glad to see that you're still alive and healthy and that is all that matters now. You don't have to worry about that vampire, once we leave this place you will never have to think about the awful time you have spent. Be it being hurt or humiliated in the public," her mother knew about the incident that had taken place with Grace in Isle Valley too. Had she been following her always?