'He could not even smell that wet dog on me and he dares to call himself the best tracker?' Nita scoffed inwardly at the boastful nature of her cousin, which had not changed one bit since the time she had left the country.
If he had paid even a little bit of attention, then Jodie would have gotten a whiff of the scent belonging to that man she had met at the airport, which still lingered on her jacket.
However, Jodie had not mentioned it despite sitting so close to her, which was sufficient for Nita to decipher that he had not honed his abilities well enough.
With this thought in her mind, Nita had made a decision on what she needed to do next.
While she was lost in thought, her words seemed to have caused Cousin Jodie to have another emotional outburst but before he could give her a piece of his mind, the perpetrator turned away from him.
Now facing her father, Nita looked right into those stern eyes as she revealed what she wished to do next.
"I will be going to the accident site after I meet Mother." She did not ask for permission but rather declared that she had already made up her mind and would follow through with this plan.
Uri Valken had always seen his little daughter asking for his opinion before she made any major decision when she was younger.
This new side of her was only making him realize that after not seeing each other for so many years, his daughter had truly matured into an adult who did no longer needed his permission to act as she wished.
While he was pleased to see that she was more than capable of making big decisions by herself, this was also a bittersweet moment as this meant that she no longer needed her father for such things.
Lost in such melancholic thoughts, Uri missed the sight of his daughter's raised brow at his lack of reaction.
"Would that be a problem, Father?" Nita inquired after not hearing his response for many seconds.
"No. You can do as you please." Uri replied the very next second, as her question had snapped his out of his thoughts.
Nita nodded at him before shooting a quick glance at Cousin Jodie, who was fuming by now.
Her decision to revisit Detrim's accident site after their previous interaction only meant that she neither trusted Jodie's tracking skills nor his judgment on what had happened to her elder brother.
Therefore, with his talents being questioned, Jodie could not help but feel a wicked annoyance surge in his heart as he glared at this cousin of his who had returned from devil knows where and was ruining his image before the family elders.
"I'll accompany the two of you." The other blond man in the room spoke up, breaking the silence.
His words made Jodie stop glaring daggers at Nita and he was now staring at his own brother with a look of disbelief and betrayal.
It was understandable that Nita, their cousin who had been away for years, was doubting his skills, but to know that his elder brother had not even objected to this decision and instead had agreed to accompany them was only making Jodie's mood worsen by the second.
However, instead of receiving a single word of explanation, all he got from his brother was a gentle pat on the shoulder.
This made Jodie scoff as he plopped back onto the sofa, turning his head away from everyone in the room.
"Make it fast!" He ordered Nita, who had earlier mentioned that she would first meet her mother before heading out to the accident site with him.
The other elder, Obadiah Trenant, shook his head at the interaction between these youngsters before he rose from his seat.
"I will see you later, Uri." He announced that he would be taking his leave and his son, who had been sitting next to him, bowed his head at the Patriarch of the Valken family before following his father out of the room.
Nita had never closely interacted with the old man, nor did she know his son personally, so when they left without acknowledging her presence, she did not mind it too much as she had not cared for their presence either.
Once these two men left the room, she too nodded at her father before heading out of the room with her next destination clear in her head.
Leaving her cousins and father behind in the office, Nita made her way to the back garden where she knew she would find her mother.
After all, her mother loved resting in the back garden as she tended to her precious flowers which she had personally planted in the past.
As Nita walked through corridors and turned corners along the way, she felt nostalgia envelop her body and mind.
These were the same paths she had taken as a child with her elder brother as they scurried through their house, chasing each other while playing together.
It had been years since she had left this house and the first time she had returned was in such unfortunate circumstances.
Her house, which was usually filled with warmth, was now shrouded in dismay and anxiety at the thought of the missing heir.
With such thoughts in her head, Nita finally reached the door that would lead her to the back garden.
As she pushed the door open, bright sunlight hit her red irises, making her narrow her eyes which she hurriedly covered with her palm.
Thanks to living centuries on this planet, every next generation of the creatures of the night had acclimatized themselves to the natural conditions of this land.
In the past, their ancestors would have burned if they ever stepped out into sunlight.
However, thanks to evolution, that same sunlight would only give them a nasty sunburn if they stayed out in it for too long.
Therefore, vampires were the biggest believers of sunscreen and sun protection to avoid getting a sunburn despite staying out in sunlight.
Nita's body was covered in protective clothing that prevented sunburns and even her hands were protected by the black gloves she wore at all times.
The only part of her body now exposed to the sun was her face which she was covering with her palm.
"Darling, hurry here!" She heard a gentle voice urging her, making Nita turn in its direction.
Close to fifty feet away from the door where she was, Nita found a woman waving at her to come closer.
Dressed in a pale pink simple gown, this woman was standing under a white canopy with a book in one hand while the other was still waving at her.
Nita did not make the woman wait any longer and stepped toward her in haste, covering the big distance between them in just the matter of two seconds.
Swift movements were not a big deal for Nita who, just like every other vampire, possessed great strength and agility.
One second she was still at the door of the back garden, and in the next second, she had already reached the woman who had been waiting for her.
Rather than being startled at the monstrous speed, the woman instead spread her arms out and pulled Nita into a tight hug.
Though there was no difference in their body temperatures, which were innately colder when compared to normal humans, Nita felt a warmth surround her from within the moment she entered this embrace, giving her a soothing sensation.
All of her stress from the sudden flight back to the city and the news of her brother's disappearance seemed to vanish with just this simple action.
"I missed you so much, baby!" The woman whispered as she rubbed her cheek against Nita's neck.
These words snapped Nita out of her trance as she smiled at the woman.
She was taller than this woman so while they stuck together in this way, the woman could only reach up to her neck which she was nuzzling right now.
"I missed you too, Mom." Nita replied as she squeezed the older woman tighter before letting her go.
"I wish you had returned under better circumstances..." Nita's mother sighed as she held and patted her daughter's hands, considering the current situation in their family.