As Vincencio sneaked into their prey's hideout, Skylar, on the other hand, was taken to a rest house away from the city. It was a rest house surrounded by peaceful yet dangerous woods, and by the time they arrived at the rest house's perimeter, Skylar could clearly hear some laughter, including her own daughter. She released a relieved sigh.
"Feeling relieved?" Fredric asked, smirking at his sister's sigh as they stopped at the lawn.
"Pretty much," Skylar answered, taking the fresh air around the perimeter, listening to her daughter's sweet giggles.
"So, can you two drop the act?" Syria asked the siblings, stopping in mid-step at the rest house front porch.
"Well, it depends on my sister's game," Fredric answered, shrugging his shoulders while grinning at his sister.
"For now, I need to hold my daughter," Skylar responded without looking at him, and was about to follow the couple getting inside the house when she stopped, hearing Vincencio's direct and private telepathic message to her.
'Wifey, Rudolf's gang was just using him to get back at Fredric. And for him, you won't believe it, but he's searching for his wife's remains. Do you have any idea where it is?'
"What's wrong?" Fredric noticed, but Skylar just grinned.
"You have no idea of what you've found, Hubby. Plant a bug around their hideout and around them, then leave. Don't leave any traces." Skylar responded telepathically to her husband with amusement flickering on her grin.
'Noted.'
"Vince found something interesting," Skylar answered, making Fredric frown curiously at her.
"What?" Syria wondered on his behalf as they entered the house.
"I need to meet our parents to know something about them and Mom's reasons," Skylar answered.
"Then go ahead, I have to clean up. Mom doesn't like me covered with a blood stain. It annoyed her." Fredric said, pointing at how messy he looked.
"And me?" Skylar arched her brow as if she was not looking the same after fighting him a few hours ago.
"Well, she's used to it." He teased, grinning, making Skylar's ears twitch.
"Are you telling me that I'm messy?" She sounded offended, making Fredric grin wider, shrugging his shoulders.
"You said it, not me." He grinned.
"You're making it sound like one." She refuted annoyingly.
"Maybe I do." He winked, teasing his sister.
"FREDRICO!" She shouted, whining.
"I win." He chuckled as he started walking away from her before running upstairs.
"GET BACK HERE!" Skylar shouted and was about to follow when she felt a couple of eyes watching them, amused, making her stop.
"NOT A CHANCE!"
"WHY YOU!" She growled annoyingly when the same lady from the café near Fredric's company came in.
"You two never change ever since you learn how to talk and run." Her mother, Frances Saison-Rusco, commented amusingly while leaning against the frame in the living space.
"Hi, Mom." Skylar released a sigh before turning and meeting her mother closer this time.
"Hello, little one." She greeted her back.
"I'm not little anymore." She sighed, whispering lowly.
"Hm, right." Frances chuckled a little before adding, "Go and clean up, you're room is the same as your daughter's."
"Mom…" Skylar called out, stopping her mother from going back to the living area.
"Clean up first, then we'll talk about what you want to hear." Frances replied firmly while looking over her shoulder and walked away, adding, "It's time away."
Skylar narrowed her eyes, watching her mother go back to the living area and play with her daughter. That sight alone made her obey her mother's firm command and clean herself up. When she was done freshening up, she was a little surprised seeing a nice branded clothes neatly aligned on their cabinets, but she chose comfy ones: an oversized tee and yoga pants before heading downstairs.
As soon as she arrived, her daughter's eyes sparkled and showed her toothy grin, which reminded her of Vincencio.
"You really do have your father's charming smile." Skylar greeted her daughter teasingly and rained her with loving kisses and hugs. But the kid just laughed and was happy in her mother's arms.
However, her parents' presence, particularly her mother's, turned the air in the living area colder. Skylar looked over Syria and kissed her daughter's temple again.
"Play with Aunt Syria for a moment, baby. Mom and grandma need to talk." Skylar said gently to her daughter who needed.
"Okay. Huggy and kissy kiss." She replied adorably while her arms spread wide, grinning, making Skylar's heart melt, just like how Vincencio melts her. She chuckled and gave her daughter's wish before running to her aunt. She smiled adoringly at her daughter before saying, "Sometimes I forget that she's just two."
"She's a hybrid," Frances said, reminding her about Skylar's daughter's bloodline. "Her growth is different from any pureblooded ones."
"Fair enough." She agreed before turning serious and was about to ask about their prey, "So about Rudolf Strange…"
Frances raised her hand, stopping her from speaking. Skylar frowned at her mother's unreadable expression, puzzling her a little, and waited for her mother to continue.
"Before that, aren't you forgetting your brother's punishment?" Frances reminded, making Skylar glare at Fredric, who just spilled his coffee when the attention turned to him.
"Why me? What punishment is she talking about, Sky?" Fredric asked confusedly, but Skylar's eyes were glued to him, piercing and threatening. "Seriously, I don't get why you have to punish me for something I don't understand what you're referring to."
Skylar's eyes squinted, studying Fredric like he was an open book while trying to remember what she said before that her mother seemed to know. She tried to dig, recalling what they were until a sinister grin began creeping up at the corner of her lips, making Fredric fidget in his seat.
"Sky, I don't like that grin," Fredric said, quivering a little in his seat because Skylar's grin was something she only does whenever she is on the hunt.
"Oh, you do." She said, grinning devilishly, before adding, "I'll thank Mom for reminding me of something that I almost forgot."
"And how about Rudolf? He's the prey here, not me." He tried to divert his sister's attention to the main topic, but Skylar was locked on.
"His story could wait for a little minute or an hour…" She said, cracking her fingertips as she stood up from her seat, grinning deeply before adding sinisterly, "…but first let me deal with you…"
"Skylar, I don't like your grin. It's telling me danger." He said, gulping in fear before standing up slowly.
"Because it will be if you run." She taunted, threatening him in the process, making him look horrified.
"Mom, Dad, look at your daughter. She's threatening her elder brother." Fredric tried to seek help from their parents, but they were just amused by their children's bonding. He frowned in disbelief, shaking his head, commenting, "Seriously, Mom, Dad. You're just letting her do this to me."
"Well, it's been a while since the last time she tortured you," their father, Edrico Rusco, chuckled amusingly, clearly not helping his son.
"Dad, we're kids back then, that's why I'm letting her, and she's adorable, to be hurt back in those days." He defended, stating the truth, but none of them were listening.
"And now?" Skylar taunted teasingly.
"Now? Oh please, you're dangerously bad for my heart." He scoffed sarcastically.
"Since when did you have a heart?" She refuted teasingly as she tauntingly made another step closer to Fredric's quivering spot.
"Are you seriously telling me that now?" He glared, trying to fight the threatening malice coming from his sister's steps.
"Well, the last time we fought back in those days, you had no remorse, and I'm going to return the favor." She said, reminding him of what he did during the day she was still on the service.
"No…I'm just doing what I had to do back then and be a villain in your life, but now it's different…" He defended quickly, but Skylar's threatening steps toward him shook him, making him beg, "Please, listen to me…Skylar, I just have to do it…"
"Do you think it was just that?" Skylar asked coldly, making her grin turn to a grimace. Fredric jolted, frowning too.
"What are you trying to say?" he asked carefully, trying not to touch something sensitive in Skylar's memory. But Skylar clearly remembers all of them.
"You pushed Monica badly instead of bringing her back to me, which made things very difficult when she's like a baby sister to me. I have to be bad at disciplining her, bring her back to me." She pointed out firmly as hot, bloody veins showed up around the corner of her right eye before adding another issue, saying, "And another thing…you used Vincencio to spy on me after learning he's my mate. You little piece of shit!"
"Hey! Like I said, I had to do what I had to do back in those days…" He stood his ground, defending himself and also admitting his truth, saying, "About Monica, I admit, I'm mad at her for hurting you and Vincencio, I had to make sure he's with you and…"
"And now, you're getting my punishment." Skylar grinned devilishly, making Fredric weakly step backwards.
"No…no…you can't…" He stuttered, shaking his head.
"Oh, but I can." She grinned darkly as she grabbed his collar.
"MOM! DAD! YOUR DAUGHTER IS BEING A SLAYER!" Fredric shouted for help to their parents, who were just sitting still and amused by the siblings' interaction once again.
"She's always been a slayer. Have you forgotten that?" Frances said, chuckling before sipping his coffee.
"I told you not to push her too much, and now, you're going to reap what you sow," Edrico smirked, reminding his son.
"NOOO!!!" he whined as Skylar choked him, lifting him up without a sweat.
"Oh, I miss them acting like this." He grinned, amused by the scene unfolding before their eyes once again.
"Totally." Frances agreed, taking another sip, watching their children with amusement.
"THIS IS NOT EVEN AN ACT ANYMORE!" he shouted as he landed badly on the couch, flipping it in the process.
"We know." Their parents replied in unison.
"Shall we video it for his son to watch one day?" Edrico asked his wife, teasing his son intentionally.
"DON'T YOU EVER DARE TO DO THAT, DAD!" Fredric shouted, warning his father before Skylar's combo attacks landed perfectly onto his face and stomach.
"I think we do." Frances agreed with her husband while watching with fascination at how strong Skylar has been molded into.
"NO!!!" He screamed as he was thrown outside to the garden, smashing the sliding door glass in the process, before groaning, "WHAT KIND OF FAMILY WAS I BORN INTO!"
"Shut the fuck up and suck it up." Skylar grinned, taunting him more before giving him an uppercut punch, which was quickly followed by a roundhouse kick, making him stumble on the ground, bleeding again, and knocked out. "That's what you get from being too much villain in my life."
"Brava!" Edrico praised proudly, hugging his daughter tightly after years of being apart, saying, "You've grown stronger."
"Thanks to my brother's schemes," Skylar replied with a sigh, tapping his father's back before turning to her brother's unconscious façade. "Get up, as if that literally knocked you out."
Fredric took a peek on his left before sighing and sitting up on the grassy ground, but he was grinning. He was proud of his sister's strength. However, their mother was coldly unreadable as she stared at her family.
"Mom, are you okay?" Fredric asked, catching their attention, and looked at her.
"I am, but your sister needs to be prepared for what's coming in her life." Frances smiled softly, telling them something odd, making them frown a little.
"Meaning?" Edrico wondered about it.
"Rudolf Strange," Skylar answered coldly.
"Not just him but his wife too," Frances answered, grinning mysteriously, making them shiver.
"Honey, don't do that smile," Edrico said, sighing.
"You're alike," Fredric commented.
"Agreed." Edrico agreed, making the two ladies look at them, glaring in unison. Both boys closed their mouths and looked away.
"Men." She and Frances sighed like twins before Skylar turned seriously to her mother, demanding, "Speaking of them, I need to know his story from your side, Mom, Dad."