The house of Deja's Parents

[Deja Sorensen]

There it stood, the only home she had ever known, her parents house in Shreveport. The porch light was on as always, Deja's mom always said that family need to see where to come home to. Forsight into the future maybe? Deja's mom always had a sense about her like that though, like she knew little things that no one else did.
A small smile tugged at the corner of Deja's lips in memory of the only mother she has ever known. The warm and welcoming brown eyes, the smell of fresh lilacs that always seemed to linger around her and the safety that you felt in the hugs she gave. Soon the small smile turned into a small frown and Deja bit down on her bottom lip to stop the tremble that was going to happen.
4 years, she had been gone 4 years. What would her parents think of her now when they see her? Would they be happy she was alive and back? Or would they be angry at her for leaving in the first place and then turn her away to be alone again. No, no they would not turn her away, they were not the kind of people to do that. And yet Deja still could not make her feet move to take a step toward her childhood home. So there she stood, across the street, about 50 feet from the house, leaning against a large oak tree slightly in the shadows, just watching.
Absently, Deja rubs her fingers over the Nordic Rune tattoo Thorn that is on her wrist. It usually calmed her as it made her think of the meaning behind the Rune, Patience, Protection, Caution. And so it was then that her feet finally decided to move, not toward the house however, but back out into the night. It didnèt feel quite right yet about seeing her parents. Perhaps later, when there was more light out. Deja usually felt a little safer in the light.

[Deja Sorensen]

The sun was setting and the neighborhood was still buzzing with life. Children on the streets playing, the smell of barbecues coming from the back yards, it all brought back good memories from when she lived here. This was the right thing to do, it felt right being here. Leaning against the same tree as the night before, Deja watched the front of her parents home. Just as she was about to take a step away from the tree and off the curb, a police car pulls up blocking her path. Rolling her eyes, she uncrossed her arms from her chest and hooked her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans and rocked back on her heels while the officer got out of his car. The officer lowered his shades and looked Deja up and down, already judging her before anything else.
"Is there a reason for you to be here miss?" the officer drawled out in a thick southern accent.
It took a little effort not to smile, and to keep her face calm and neutral. It was nice to see that the neighborhood was well looked after, even if it was a little overly protective.
"Just on my way home Sir."
The officer raised his brow in obvious disbelief. "So you wouldn't know anything about a person out here last night, standing around where you are standing, matching what you look like when described?"
Deja had to force herself to remember that she was back home, and this was not like the law enforcement back in that dirty little town in Norway. Not all police officers were corrupt and dirty. Oh she was sure that there were some around that were, but she did not get the sense that this one was, and she could usually judge a person fairly well. "I was here last night, sure. I was standing here watching that house there." Gesturing with her left hand, Deja pointed to her parent's home across the street. "You see Sir, it is a bit of a complicated story. I grew up here, in that house. And inside my parents are probably in the living room with mom sipping her tea and reading a book while dad watched football on the TV. To cut a long story short, I left when I was 14, and I am back now. They do not know I am back and I am a little nervous about letting them know I am here."
By now, Deja noticed a few of the neighbors had come out to see what was going on. Perhaps she wasn't as careful as she thought she had been. Movement on the other side of the street grabbed her attention and she looked up to see her parents standing on the front steps to their house.
It was as if time froze in that instant she locked eyes with her parents. Distantly she could hear the officer talking, but she could not tell what he was saying or if he was asking her questions. her complete focus was on the people that raised her. Moving passed the police officer, Deja blindly head across the street toward her parents. It was her mother that held her attention the most, those warm and welcoming eyes she remembered were still the same, only this time they were filled with tears as well as confusion. She could hear someone yelling and her father moved out of her vision but she didn't turn her head to follow where.
"Deja, is it really you? My baby girl, have you come home?" The voice was also the same that Deja remembered and in a shakey whisper, she replied:
"Ja, mor, it is me, Deja. I have come home."
Deja watched as emotion crossed over her mother's face, and for a split second was worried that this was wrong. But then her mother pushed that thought aside the moment she drew Deja into a fierce hug and started crying. Over come with her own emotions, Deja returned the hug and all but melted into her mother's embrace. Everything seemed like a blur now. Her mother ushering her into the house, her father still outside explaining things to the police officer, the smell and sight of everything inside the house that she remembered. It seemed like a dream and Deja was just waiting to wake up and find that nothing happened. But this wasn't a dream, this was real, she was home. She was back where she belonged, even if it took her 4 years to figure that out.

[Deja Sorensen]

These past few days have sure been wild ones for the emotions, that's for sure. Right now Deja's parents were sound asleep inside the house as Deja herself was sitting up on the roof, looking out over the neighborhood and the city. It was a nice view from up here, and she would often climb out through the attic window and watch the stars when she was younger. It was a quiet place for her to gather herself and collect her thoughts, and boy did she need to do that right about now.
Taking another drag from her cigarette, she watched the smoke curl up into the sky and disappear into the night. And with each puff, a little more of the tension eased out of her shoulders and the butterflies calmed down in her stomach. She had told her parents everything. From how she got to Norway, to the city of Drammen where she ended up at, her life on the streets which she did censor for her mother's sake, and then last, she told them about her shifting. Her mother fainted, her dad said nothing, and in the end, nothing more was really said. Deja's mother told her it would be OK, it was a lot to take in all at once as they were still thinking of her as the little girl who ran away 4 years ago, not the young woman sitting before them now.
"I should have eased them into everything. I probably gave dad a heart attack." Deja mumbled to herself as she crushed her cigarette out on the roof and put it into the little empty can she brought with her for just that reason. "Either that, or they are taking me to the looney bin in the morning."
A little more relaxed then before, but still concerned about her parents reaction to everything, Deja looks over her shoulder, to the back yard and a little wooded area behind the house. Movement catches her eye and she spots a bat who is out hunting for the night. Now what a better way to relax and feel like herself. Slipping to the other side of the roof that faces the back yard, Deja quickly slides out of her clothing and stands up lifting her face to the moon and spreads her arms out to the side. For a moment she just let the night breeze caress over her naked flesh, then with a shiver and a giggle she leaped off the roof into the back yard. However she never landed. Mid leap, her body changed and shifted into the form of a bat, the same one that she saw. With a squeak and flaps from her leather wings, Deja flew up and up enjoying the way the air felt and the sense of being free. The perfect way to end an otherwise rollarcoaster night.

[Deja Sorensen]

It has been a few days now since Deja reunited with her parents and things seemed to be going OK, for now. Part of her was feeling like that little girl she once was, happy and full of excitement. Yet there was this other part of her that was waiting for the other show to drop so to speak. It felt like there was still something missing, or that something bad was going to happen. Nothing good last forever.
Her mother took her shopping for new clothes the other day, they were badly needed. Deja could tell that her mother was trying to be supportive, but was having a hard time accepting the fact that Deja wasn't the sunshine little girl any more. Deja was now more interested in the darker colors, a more "goth" look instead. It was part of the image she had developed while in Norway on the streets, and she had come to actually like the way she looked. Deja could tell her mother was trying, trying to deal with everything in a positive manner, but Deja could see the sadness and hurt in her mother's eyes. Deja would do anything to make that hurt go away.
It would take time, Deja was sure of it. She had to think logical about this and with everything that happened, it was just going to take time to get adjusted.
But in the mean time, Deja needed something to do. She was getting restless staying at home all the time now. She was used to coming and going as she pleased from where ever she was staying at. Before she had come back home, she wandered around the streets of Shreveport and she had heard about this vampire bar called Fangtasia, and decided to check it out. There had been a vampire bar called Dod Blod, or in english, Dead Blood, and Deja was often in there doing odd jobs, legal and otherwise for some of the vampires. She had also come to be friends with one of the younger vampires, a newly made vampire, and Deja missed him terribly now. She would contact her friend when the time would be right, as he was like a brother to her, and perhaps even help him travel overseas to her home here in Shreveport. A smile touched her lips as she remembered her friend. Perhaps she would be able to find some new friends here at home. Only time would tell.