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We came to a slow stop, sandwiched between two equally rusted and dented trucks, and as we swayed with the momentum, instead of rousing – Adalia slipped from my shoulder – landing as a soft clump of silver-grey atop my lap, then somewhere behind the thick bundle of hair and lethargy, I heard her begin to stir slightly, whispering almost begrudgingly...

“Trains... are... evil...”

Then like a warning to fill hearts with dread and ears with ringing, a blaring horn sounded off far in the distance, the air resonating with its ominous grating melody... and Adalia squirmed a little more.

“You got that right...” I said, wincing a little.

The truck sprung up a little as Ash slowly disembarked to the gravel pavement below, taking with her both bulging bags of luggage that she lugged about like they were nothing more than hollowed styrofoam or something.

Briefly, her emerald eyes flashed towards where I was kept unwillingly seated in place, and I knew that quick surreptitious glint too well... filled green with stifled envy.

.....

Then quicker than quick, that look was gone, as she said quietly with demure and fineness, “I shall go on ahead, Master. The train is set to depart soon, it would be unwise to squander... I shall board first, stow away our belongings, reserve us a compartment before none is left. In the meantime, you may take this opportunity to say farewell once more.”

I nodded. “Good idea.”

“And allow me to take Adalia along with.”

I almost nodded again, too used to hearing words of wisdom from her. This, however, wasn’t so wise.

“It is an intimate moment, hardly one deserving of blemish from the presence of mere outsiders.” Ash nonchalant rationalized. “Not to worry, Master, I shall be very gentle.”

I raised a brow. “Gentle?”

Gentle indeed. Never thought there’ll come a time where I’d see Adalia be strapped over the shoulders like some organic sentient rucksack, but according to Ash that’s just how vampires hold their young – so who am I to argue with the expert, right?

Off they went, Ash valiantly marching, Adalia hazily murmuring, their hair blending into an almost single seamless shade of white... looking like a bizarre pair of siamese twins stumbling along.

As if they don’t draw enough attention on their own already...

I clambered off the back of the truck, feet landing in sync with the slam of both doors. I paused in place for a moment... see, I wasn’t expecting to hear any slamming actually, or the whirring engine to suddenly stall to dead quiet.

“You don’t have to walk me all the way, y’know?” I said, craning my head over the corner of the truck, seeing a yawning Sammy stretched her arms high over her head.

She heard me speak, and clearly, from the sharp slant her brows took, she didn’t like what she heard.

“What? You big boy enough to go by yourself, big bro? Is that it?” She asked, slathering her words with as much sarcasm as phonetically possible. “Don’t be a dummy, of course we’re going to see you off all the way... right, Dad?”

With a jangle of keys stuffed into a pair of dirty, tattered jeans, Dad emerged from behind her, bringing with him orders bestowed from the absolute, “Mom said so.”

Can’t defy that.

It was like a stroll down memory lane for me, this experience, the three of us, so long as you count congested bustling station platforms as lanes anyway.

Almost a year ago, we were just right here. Me hauling along a single bag filled to the zipper-breaking brim with hopes, dreams, and ambitions, Dad at the front splitting the sea of people with his large stature, Sammy blatantly apathetic to it all but yet also simultaneously huddling as close to me as possible.

The only thing missing from the moment was Mom to my right with a permanent smile beneath a tender gaze reaching over to ruffle my hair that I’d painstakingly taken the time to get right early just that morning for the umpteenth time.

And here we were again... so many things had changed since then, and yet somehow everything stayed the same.

“So since you’re not coming along, can I take this as a sign that I’m no longer being monitored under close supervision?” I asked, turning yet again to that huddling gal over at my side.

Sammy shifted her blue eyes over with a dreary tilt. “Consider it on hold... until Mom gets better again. After that, eh, I’ll probably drop by sometimes if I find the time.”

“Mom, huh?” I eyed her. “Aww, so you do care.”

“Wouldn’t have to if a certain someone hadn’t pushed her as much as he did,” She glared at me. “Got me here playing nurse all week like I’m some kind of... um... nurse...”

“What about a filial daughter?” I suggested. “That sound any better?”

“Oh, Bro, not this again....” She groaned.

“Of course this again,” I groaned and whined along with her.

This morning, waking up to the dull echoes of retching and coughing was a really somber way to start the day, and no contest, no one was more badly affected by it than Mom herself... even as we took off from the driveway... there she could be seen by the windowsill still... lamenting being unable to partake in one final farewell outside of her bedroom door.

But if it were indeed a contest, then the runner-up, undoubtedly, would be Sammy... absentmindedly twirling and tossing her hair braid between two fingers. If I squint, and if I try, I think I could almost see a resemblance too.

“Look, Lyn’s playing nice with you now, so if you could just – ”

“Argh, I hate that name.”

“- if you could just do me a favor,” I continued, before I was so rudely interrupted. “Could you just talk with Mom for a moment? Instead of this hating her one second and then loving her the next – kind of deal?”

“What’s to talk about? She’s a Demon God, I’m a spawn of Satan. There’s nothing interesting there.”

“Well, how about feelings?”

She snorted, rolling her eyes all the way elsewhere. “Boring.”

“Then – ”

“How about you, let’s talk about you,” Sammy cut across from me. “I heard you’re starring in a movie? Amanda told me. You’re playing one of the leads? Didn’t think you should let me know you are?”

“One of the leads?” I blinked at her. “What the hell are you – ?”

“We’re here.” Dad abruptly chimed in.

He stopped our march right at the edge of the platform. A clock perched high on a random wall signaled the train’s departure in a few minutes... which means that I better get going soon. No time for frivolous chit-chat no more.

“Welp,” I began, turning myself to face Dad, looking up at a face that, if I squint, if I try, almost reflected mine. “This wasn’t exactly the homecoming I had in mind. But, uh... it still was very nice seeing you all again. I missed you guys. One day, maybe... I’ll return with more leisure intentions, huh?”

It seems I inherited Dad’s innate talent for words. Seriously, I’m crying tsunamis here. Someone get me a tissue.

Dad lumbered forward, extending a hand, which I promptly took in mine.

“One day,” He nodded, for once, a rare genuine smile on his face. “Don’t take too long next time.”

I smiled back. “Right.”

He stepped back an inch, and he threw me a vaguely discomforting look that I’d never seen before on him.

“Um, your mother told me to give you a kiss for her,” He said, his lips pursed all the while, hissing in a breath. “And... well...”

“Right...”

The both of us were never one for outwardly expressions of affection. The most we ever toe the line were hugs... and even then those were rare... that being said though...

Can’t defy orders.

“Umm,” I began to share his tense look. “Well, what she doesn’t know won’t kill her, right?”

That’s when Dad glumly shook his head, letting out a defeated but accepting sight.

“She’ll know,” He muttered, taking a single step forward. “She always knows.”

Fuck’s sake...

The clock on the wall shifted once, and the train began to blare its parting grating melody, and there was Sammy, her phone’s camera lens pointing directly at me, and above it – a cheeky, giddy smile.

“Go for the lips,” She said, finger ready on the trigger. ‘And smile, big bro. You want us to talk? Well, this certainly won’t be boring to talk about.”

It seems Mom would get her beloved farewell, after all.

“I’m sorry, son,” He muttered, bending over.

I sighed, closed my eyes. “Yep, me too.”

Ahh, the things I do for family.

Finally, after a moment of pure cringe and doom and death that shall never be described or mentioned, I stepped over the cautionary yellow line, traversing into the interior of the train just as the sliding doors parted close.

A familiar feeling again... looking out through one of the dusty, dreary windows just as the train began to pick up speed. That view, that scene, Dad in place, another scarce smile on his face as I passed him by, and there was Sammy attempting to give chase, waving both hands goodbye, a mixture of sadness and cheer brazen in her expression.

And if I squint, if I try... I could almost imagine Mom right beside her too, with her signature smirk, giving the most tender goodbye.

I was leaving home again.

Going back to city life again.

What awaits me, what I’ll find, I haven’t the faintest idea.

I felt the same way the first time that I left, chugging off into the unknown all by lonesome, feeling nothing, but the bottomless pitfall of dread and unease.

But this time, things have changed. This time, I felt calm, I felt relax... happy even... because this time, no matter what it is I’ll inevitably come to face, I know for sure...

I’m alone no longer.