Silas was driving with Nico sitting in the passenger's seat beside him. Nico looked out of the window while Silas focussed on the road.
For once, Silas didn't have a plan in mind. Normally, whenever he moved locations, he planned it beforehand but having to leave so suddenly had thrown him off. He was still berating himself for the amateur mistake he made when he killed Linda. Nico had tried to comfort him by reminding him of his age but if anything, that just made him angrier. She was right. He wasn't a young man anymore and it was really starting to show not only in his appearance but in his mind.
"Where are, we going?" Nico finally asked. Silas glanced at her and hesitated. He wasn't angry with Nico but she seemed to think that he was.
"I'm not quite sure," he admitted reluctantly, "I wasn't planning on leaving so suddenly."
Nico thought of teasing him but although she loved Silas like a grandfather, there was still a part of her that was afraid of him whenever he was in a bad mood. It was similar, to whenever she angered Patrick when he was alive, except she had never really loved Patrick. Silas was twice the grandad Patrick could have ever been. Suddenly Nico had an idea.
"I know where we could hide for a while," she said eagerly. Silas looked at her and smiled slightly. Her childish enthusiasm made him forget his own anger for a moment as Nico gave him directions to their destination.
Nico looked up at the family home where Patrick had raised Sienna. Nico herself had been here but at the time, Sienna had been crazy and so obsessed with having a "perfect family" that she had kidnapped her and Dodger. Despite that, Nico felt a sad pang when she remembered Sienna. She had always wanted a perfect family too. That was one of the things she and Sienna had that in common.
Nico wasn't used to missing someone, especially someone whom she had stabbed and tried to poison but despite all the dysfunction, anger and bitterness in her and Sienna's relationship, she still felt a little sad when she thought about her mother. She even found herself hoping that Sienna hadn't drunk the poisoned orange juice. Nico wasn't sure if she wanted to see Sienna again but she didn't really want her dead and whenever she thought back, she wasn't entirely sure if she ever had. Stabbing her mother had been an instinctive reaction and she hadn't been fully aware of what she was doing at the time. Nico couldn't even remember exactly why she had poisoned the orange juice. It seemed childish now that Silas was teaching her about the greater good and art of being a serial killer.
"So, this is where you and your mother used to live," Silas said, "Fond memories?"
"Not exactly," Nico admitted, "She was crazy while we were here. But people don't tend to visit this place anymore."
"Excellent," Silas said, "And it's technically your inheritance so we're not even breaking and entering."
"I thought you had nothing against breaking and entering," Nico said.
"I don't but it's good to know that nobody can accuse me of stealing their land if you're living with me," Silas said. He parked the car and the pair got out. Nico looked up at the mansion which almost seemed like a haunted house. This didn't bother Nico at all – she loved dark and gothic things – and she went to the entrance. Then she frowned when she found the door locked.
"Great," she muttered, "Nobody lives here but mum still decided to lock up when she left."
"I suppose I will have to break and enter then," Silas said and gestured for Nico to stand aside. The girl obeyed and watched Silas take out a piece of wire. Silas gave her a sidelong glance, "Not all people open their doors as easily as that stupid slut." He put the wire in the keyhole and twisted it. Nico fidgeted impatiently but Silas calmly continued twisting until the door finally opened. He stepped inside and Nico followed.
The interior of the house resembled a haunted mansion even more than the exterior. Nico felt chilled and she loved it. She hurried into the sitting room. Her leg barely bothered her anymore. Silas followed at a slower pace, looking around critically.
"This place really needs to be tidied up," he said. Nico switched on the old television and to her surprise, it still worked. She hopped onto a moth-eaten sofa when she found one of the old Dracula films. Silas joined her, "Ah Sir Christopher Lee. I've always been a fan of him, especially in villainous roles."
"He's dead now, isn't he?" Nico said.
"Yes," Silas replied, "But he had a long life and a great career. I believe he was satisfied with all that he accomplished."
"Are you?" Nico asked. Silas thought about it.
"Not entirely," he said after a moment, "I still have things I need to make up for."
Warren was worried about Sienna. She was shutting herself off from the rest of the world and barely even paid attention when he tried to talk to her. Warren was getting increasingly desperate to find Nico just to snap Sienna out of her depression. However, the police had lost track of the old man from the other village and they didn't know for certain if the girl living with him was Nico. Both Warren and Sienna were fairly sure she was but Warren was worried that if they found her and turned out to be wrong, Sienna's condition would deteriorate even further.
Since Warren couldn't get through to Sienna anymore, he felt like she needed to talk to another woman. He knocked on the door of the Osbourne's flat. Darren opened it and eyed him suspiciously.
"Hello Darren," Warren said pleasantly, "I need to talk to Maxine."
"About what?" Darren asked.
"About Sienna," Warren replied, "I can't get through to her anymore. I think she needs a woman's touch."
Sienna heard a knock at the door. Assuming it was Warren, she went to open it.
"Maxine?" she said, caught off guard by her step-mother's arrival, "What are you doing here?"
"Warren asked me to come and talk to you," Maxine said, "He's worried about you."
"I'm fine," Sienna said. She felt uncomfortable talking to Maxine as she had been convinced that her step-mother had killed her father. It had been nearly four months since Nico disappeared and in all that time, Sienna had never even apologised to Maxine.
"No, you're not," Maxine said, "And neither is Warren. He's driving himself mad looking for your daughter and he says you barely acknowledge him anymore."
"Why do you care?" Sienna asked.
"Because Warren was my fiancé and you're my step-daughter," Maxine said.
"You're too soft, Max," Sienna said and turned away but left the door open. Maxine knew her well enough to understand that was an invitation to enter. Both women sat on the sofa.
"Sienna, have you ever thought that Nico might be dead by now?" Maxine asked cautiously. Sienna stiffened. Maxine felt like she was talking a leopard but she continued, "Even if she survived the fire, anything could have happened since then. After all, she's a sixteen-year-old girl, fending for herself."
"Seventeen," Sienna corrected her, "Her birthday was last month." She smiled bitterly, "I even got her a gothic novel as a present."
"It's not Twilight, is it?" Maxine asked.
"God no," Sienna said, "I have higher standards than that."
"Nico might like it," Maxine said.
"No, she's too smart," Sienna said. She looked at Maxine out of the corner of her eye. The other woman looked genuinely worried about her. Sienna hated apologising – she was a perfectionist and apologising meant acknowledging a mistake – but she really couldn't put this off any longer, "Max… I'm sorry for accusing you of killing my dad. Warren told me you were innocent but I didn't believe him. I was just so desperate to get justice for dad that I kept throwing accusations at the first person who had a motive."
"Sienna, it's fine," Maxine said.
"No, it's not," Sienna said, "I was a total bitch. Even after I found out you were innocent, I just kept avoiding apologising to you." Despite her hatred of apologising, Sienna felt like a great weight was being lifted. She felt better than she had in weeks.
"Apology accepted," Maxine said kindly, "God knows, I'm aware of how volatile your family can be." Sienna smiled slightly.
"Don't you have a new man?" Sienna asked. Maxine flushed, "What's his name?"
"Adam Donavan," Maxine said still looking a little embarrassed, "He's really sweet."
"Very different from my dad then," Sienna said. Maxine nodded cautiously. Sienna had a strong sense of loyalty to her family, even the dead members of it, but she had come to the realization that her dad had been a cruel man, "I know he wasn't a good man, Max. But he was still my dad. And I know Nico's insane but she's still my daughter." She hesitated, then reluctantly added, "Sometimes, I'm not even sure why I still love them."
"I felt that way about Patrick," Maxine said, "No matter how abusive and violent he was, I never stopped loving him. I wanted to but I just couldn't. I guess I was masochistic."
"I should have known you're not capable of murder," Sienna muttered, "I hate it when I'm wrong."
"I know," Maxine said, "But you're only human, Sienna. No matter what your dad kept telling you, you can't be perfect. Nobody can."
Warren arrived home to find Sienna more animated than she had been in ages. Maxine had managed to pull her out of her shell.
"Evening ladies," Warren said, swaggering into the room, "Looks like you worked your magic, Max."
"Sienna just needed someone else to talk to," Maxine said, "Now, I should get back to Minnie. I'll see you later."
"Maxine," Sienna called as Maxine headed for the door, "Thank you." Maxine nodded and left. Warren sat down on the sofa and smiled.
"I've missed your smile," he said.
"I'm sorry I've been so closed off," Sienna said, "I just miss Nico."
"I know you do," Warren said, "But maybe we should take a break. All this stress isn't doing either of us any good."
"You're not suggesting we give up, are you?" Sienna said guardedly.
"Not at all," Warren said soothingly, "I'm just saying we should have a little time off. Recharge our batteries, then start searching again."
"Okay," Sienna agreed, "I know where we can go."
It's my birthday today. 23 years old.