The two of them were quiet for a few minutes, just admiring the view. From the back of their house, you could see some winter flowers blooming in the garden. Ethan felt a lightness in his shoulders, as if that internal anger had finally been resolved, and he could feel safe at last.

He wasn't angry with his mother. It made sense what she did. The most important mission of her life, is to keep Ethan safe, after all, she is his mother, and she was terrified of almost losing her son. Enid was not bad. She made bad decisions, but she didn't do it out of spite.

"Mom, how can I find him?" Ethan asked Enid, as he placed his coffee cup on the table next to them.

Enid took a deep breath, looking a little frustrated.

"I don't know. I've wanted to find him again, but I didn't even know where to start... He didn't leave any clues!". Enid said.

"He doesn't have any relatives?". Ethan asked.

"He only introduced me to one of his brothers. A guy named Paolo. Hayden was saying that his family lived on another continent and that he had come here with Paolo to study, but I think that was a lie!" Enid said, laughing briefly. "Come on, let's go inside! It's already getting too cold!". Enid said, grabbing the cups from the table and heading inside.

Ethan stood for a few seconds mulling over the information and went inside. When he went inside, Enid was holding the little chain pocket Ethan was looking for.

"Here's your stuff!". Enid handed it to him, next to the laptop.

Ethan took the little pouch and pulled the chain out, sliding it through his fingers, noting the darkness the necklace had around it from the energies it had absorbed in the last few fights.

"Why did he leave that chain with you?" Ethan asked Enid.

"I don't know exactly. Hayden gave it to me as a gift when we did 1 year of dating. Sometimes he changed colors, but he never explained exactly what it was for. I didn't want to throw it away, so I kept it with me, as a souvenir!". Enid said, looking at the letter 'H' that was written on the little chain pocket.

Ethan placed the chain around his neck, causing the color of his eyes to highlight.

"Ethan, no matter what decision you make, please don't keep anything from me! I'm not going to stop you from going your own way. I just don't want us to have any secrets, okay?" Enid said gently.

"Well, if that's the case, I think there's one more thing I need to show you...". Ethan said, laughing briefly.

"Huh?" Enid was confused.

Ethan motioned for his mother to follow him into the bedroom. Enid put her hand on the light switch, trying to turn on the lights to see better.

"No! Leave it off!". Ethan said, a little worried.

He opened the bedroom windows to let in the light from the sky. They were not strong enough to hurt Umb.

"Umb, are you in there? You can come out!". Ethan said, looking into the room.

"Umb? What is Umb?" Enid asked, confused.

It was then that two small paws began to emerge from under the bed.

"DID YOU GET A CAT, ETHAN?". Enid shouted, scandalously.

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Umb came completely out from under the bed, revealing the shadowy body, being described as a black, dense smoke that moved like hair in the wind.

Enid stood still in shock for a few seconds. She felt her body shiver. Umb, even though he looked like a fluffy cat, still had a scary body.

"Mom, this here is Umb! He's like a pet made of shadows!". Ethan said, bending down to take Umb on his lap.

Umb stared at Enid, who remained still, unable to say a word. This felt no fear of her, just stared at her reassuringly.

"Does it bite?" Enid asked, without taking her eyes off Umb.

"No!". Ethan laughed. "But you might feel a little discomfort if you run your hand over it...". Ethan said, bringing Umb closer to Enid, for her to run her hand over.

Enid reached out her hand, which was trembling from fear, to Umb's head. Umb moved her hand with her head, like a house cat, accepting the caress.

Enid smiled, seemed excited, and began to pet Umb's chin, however, a few seconds later, she decided to take her hand away from Umb. It seemed to have gotten a little bad.

"What did you feel?" Ethan asked, curious about Umb's evolution.

"It's like a very strong, icy draft. Like I'm at the North Pole, but there's still a discomfort at the bottom." Enid said, rubbing her fingers together.

"A discomfort like what?" Ethan insisted.

"I feel my heart racing, like something really bad is going to happen.". Enid replied.

"Hm, you get anxious...that's new!". Ethan replied, stroking Umb.

"Don't you feel it?". Enid asked, curious.

"No! I created it! It's like it's part of me!". Ethan said.

Enid touched Ethan's arm, confused.

"What are you doing?" Ethan asked.

"And why don't you give me that feeling?". She asked, curious.

"I think because I'm not made of shadows. Umb was just a little ball of shadow when he was born. I don't know how that defines the next animalistic forms of it. That decides it!". Ethan replied, looking at Umb, who seemed to be distracted by some insect in the room.

"And how do we take care of him? Do I need to buy feed?". Enid asked, curious.

"Oh, no! Umb just needs the dark to stay alive. That sleeps in my closet when I go out. I just need you to make sure you won't let Umb come in contact with any bright light!". Ethan said, placing the shadow cat on the floor.

"Strong light like the light in the house?". Enid asked.

"That, and sunbeams too!". Ethan added.

"Got it!". Enid said.

"Well, I guess I have to go after this Paolo guy now, right?" Ethan said, going downstairs to get his laptop. "Do you have any information on him?". Ethan added.

"I just remember his name! He was a little taller than Hayden, had blond hair and yellow eyes too.". Enid replied.

"Do you know Hayden's last name?". Ethan asked, opening his notebook.

"Hayden Opna. His brother should probably be Paolo Opna too!". Enid said, taking a seat on the couch.

- Did Orkut already exist today? - Ethan thought, searching for the name of the social network.

Ethan found the Orkut site and started searching for his father's name, but nothing came up. Maybe something more specific would do the trick.

'Paolo Opna' = No results found.

"You lived where?" Ethan asked Enid.

"Oh, we lived in Oakland, Maryland.". Enid replied.

'Hayden Opna - Maryland' = No matches found.

"Hm..." Ethan grumbled.

'Paolo Opna - Maryland' = No matches found.

- Twitter maybe? Although I doubt adults use Twitter in this day and age - Ethan thought, opening the site.

'Opna - Maryland' = 1 result.

"Huh?" Ethan's eyes widened, surprised.

'@OpnaEmyy: I can't stand living in Maryland anymore :((( I wanted to see my friends in Chicago again'.

- Opna Emy? I wonder if she is any relation to his? - Ethan thought.

He logged into Emy's profile and there it was with the link to her Orkut profile. Ethan clicked, curious, and ended up on 'Emily Opna's' profile.

Clicking on the pictures, he could see a girl of about 15 years old, with long hair, blonde and tall, with blue eyes. Skimming through a few photos, he sees her with a tall, blond man with yellow eyes, just the way Enid had described.

Ethan took the computer over to Enid.

"Does Paolo look like that guy?" Ethan asked.

"Oh, how did you find him? He doesn't seem to have changed at all! That's so weird!". Enid said, looking at the picture in her notebook.

"I think this girl is his daughter! I'll try to get in touch with her...". Ethan said, creating an Orkut profile.

"Couldn't that be dangerous?". Enid asked, worried.

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked.

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