As Raymond held Valentina close, memories he hadn't allowed himself to revisit in centuries began to surface like rising mist over a forgotten field. His heart grew heavy with thoughts of a time long buried of the people who had endured with him, and those he had lost along the way.
Among them was Rebecca, he hadn't seen her in what felt like ages, not just years — but lifetimes.
She had disappeared a long time ago, quietly, without a word. And though he had searched...
He hadn't found her.
Raymond knew, deep in his immortal core, that Rebecca was still out there — alive.
He could feel it,
He often wondered why she never returned, never reached out to any of them, but whatever her reasons were, he respected them.
Still, the absence stung.
Rebecca had been one of the four survivors.
The last of a clan that had once danced beneath the stars and told stories by firelight.
