Chapter 11: From sunrise to sunset

Tradition dictates that one should be very attentive during the fifteenth birthday because the awakening of the grimoire occurred at the exact time of birth. In Alice's case, because the labor took longer than expected and started just as the sun went down, it was hard to tell if it was too late at night or too early in the morning when the young woman finally came into the world.  They didn't know the exact time of birth, they only knew that it had been before dawn, therefore, mother and daughter planned to spend a sleepless night.

For the young, obedient Alice, the whole sleepless night affair felt like a huge act of disobedience, her first act of rebellion on her way to adulthood, or so it would be if it weren't for the fact that she was waking up with her mother.  Even so, it sounded like a good excuse to spend time together and there really weren't many women her age that Alice felt comfortable enough with.

They spent hours talking about everything and nothing at the same time, a series of topics that were recurring and others that were only comments of the moment, illusions, and fantasies of a dream so far and close at the same time. For Ana it was more or less the same since she did not believe that she would witness the awakening of Alice's Nexus or the birth of her grimoire, as much as that idea excited her, she was just spending the hours with her daughter, preparing to comfort her when the sun came, but her illusions vanished.

Mother and daughter shared a cup of chamomile tea as they talked. It seemed like a good time to tackle topics that usually made Alice uncomfortable, as she would be too distracted by the emotion of the moment to filter her words, so Ana guided the conversation with her curiosity.

She began by wanting to know what her beloved daughter thought about other young people, perhaps she had misread her daughter regarding the direction of her heart, possibly the young woman was already beginning to have romantic feelings, although not in the expected way. She didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved by the answer, it was as obvious as Alice let her see. Nothing Alice said or did even indicated the possibility that she was in love or interested in anything other than harvest or knowledge.

In all honesty, her mother was not very excited about seeing the young woman get married, however, she still worried a little about how dense her daughter seemed to be, and the idea that one day she would have to fend for herself scared her a lot. Although they enjoyed each other's company, the day would come when nights like these would not be possible. 

Ana shook her head, getting rid of those bad omens. With how beautiful her daughter was, it was impossible to think that she would not find a husband eventually, so Ana decided to stop worrying.

As the hours passed, mother and daughter changed the subject on more than one occasion, searching for everything from memories buried by time to reviewing recipes and traditions that had marked their journey together. They even came to topics where Alice's curiosity took over. It is difficult to know what topic started the bombing, but the questions about all sorts of things, which the young woman found fascinating, overwhelmed Ana, who could only answer a few. 

The mother was aware of her limited knowledge, clearly, it was no longer enough to satisfy the young woman's curiosity and her desire to understand and help the world around her.

However, Ana was not too worried about it, she knew that her daughter would soon be able to buy more books to satiate that curious mind of hers, and that she would do it with the sweat of her own effort, so for once maybe Alice would not feel guilty about that expense. 

At some point, the mother-daughter couple had noticed that the midnight mark was already passing. The nervousness in Alice began to be present. Was it that her birthday was at dawn, or was it simply that the goddess had not chosen her as believed and the Nexus in her was non-existent? 

Seconds passed, which seemed like hours until something happened, although it was not remotely close to what they expected. At some point, between midnight and dawn, Ana noticed a strange phenomenon. Through one of the windows of the house, one just behind Alice, she noticed a beam of light peculiar for the late hours of the night. The pleasant conversation stopped with a somber silence as Ana slowly and stealthily approached the window. 

The orange lights coming from beyond the glass were not something that should be there. The flames were dazzling and threatening, but far away, they seemed to come from the opposite end of the village, the closest to the forest. The shadows of the night were shaped by the heat of the flames, but there was nothing between them that Ana could clearly distinguish. By paying attention to the far end, beyond the safety of their home, and leaving aside the conversation, she realized that not only the dark fabric of the night had been broken, but also peace, silence ... At first Ana thought it was her imagination to have heard something, but after a few moments she realized that this was not the case. Yes, something was heard, they were faint and distant, but they were... Screams.

Although rare in her life, a cry drowned in despair was unmistakable. Ana felt terror sink into her person, along with the doubt of what was happening. Then, their fears received a response in the form of a relatively small creature. It was just over five feet tall, with skin of a sickly hue, as if it had never been touched by sunlight. Its head, with grotesque features, resembled a bat, with eyes, and a nose extremely small. One would almost believe that it is not threatening, but hiding from them is an almost impossible task because they do not see with those rotten whitish eyes, they hear you or feel you, they know where you are.