Amora's eyes opened to the tiny rays of the sun that peeked in from the tent covers. She could hear Louisa counting, doing push-ups. Amora sat up and watched her mother do the push-ups on one arm.
"you sure do take workouts very seriously mum" Amora smiled as she spoke. Louisa stopped her counting at two hundred and five , to see Amora with her large head of tangled red hair.
"good morning baby" Louisa grabbed a glass of water and handed it to Amora who was stretching and yawning. "drink up and let's get this morning started with a large breakfast" . Louisa threw a towel at Amora and motioned for her to go take a shower while she scouted her phone's map for the nearest breakfast inn. She didn't want them to eat hotel food during this stay.
Amora soon got out of the shower and got dressed up in one of th clothes they had gotten at Walmart the previous night. It was a cropped blue hoodie and black jeans that reached her belly button a little. They drove for some minutes before finally finding the inn Louisa had wanted them to have breakfast in.
They settled in a booth just at the far end of the inn. Amora had put Lexi on hologram mode, so Lexi's face could be seen floating above the tablet on the table. "this sure is a nice inn, I wonder if they have hot male androids" Lexi spoke as she scanned the area. She made giggling sounds when anyone who passed the booth complimented her. This made Louisa wonder why Amora had made such an android with similar emotions as humans.
"Lexi is such an attraction" Louisa laughed when a little boy from another booth couldn't stop starting at the chattering hologram. The boy was mesmerized so much that he had to come to their booth against his mother's warnings.
"must have taken a lot to program her" he said as he approached the table. He was a stubby child with thick spectacles that stood on his nose.
"yeah it took me few months to develop" Amora said smoothly with pride.
"I have always wanted to bring my imaginary friend, Walter to life but I just don't get the programs" The boy lamented.
"in that case, I'll give you my mail, you can reach me there and I'll help you out with some tips and you'll have Walter in no time" Amora's words brought a big grin to the boy's face.
"oh thank you thank you, ma'am, " The boy said with so much excitement.
"Mora, chap, my name is Mora" Amora was laughing now.
"thank you, Miss Mora, thank you Miss Mora's mum," The boy said as he ran off with the tiny piece of paper that Amora had written her mail on.
"hm, I hope Walter turns out to be good-looking, not stubby like his soon-to-be creator" The snide remark came from Lexi.
"Lexi" Both mother and daughter yelled at the annoying android who was laughing away.
The waiter brought their breakfast tray that consisted of a cup of coffee, a cup of cold chocolate, waffles, grilled cheese sandwiches, toast and strawberry jam, bacon and eggs. Amora's eyes lit up when she was the tray but her eyes stayed on, and followed the handsome brown haired waiter who had brought it. She thought his shoulders were the most perfectly broad ones she had never seen.
"an eye candy for my baby" Louisa teased Amora.
"he is so good looking mum, I wish he would kiss me" She said as she stole glances at him while he attended to other people. They ate their meal while listening to some of Lexi's gossip she had seen when surfing the internet.
The waiter came with the bill and Amora couldn't help starting at him. Louisa decided to do something mischievous.
"uh, excuse me, what's your name?" Louisa asked him with a smile.
"Darren, the name is Darren ma'am " The waiter replied and then ran his fingers through his hair.
" Darren, this is my daughter Amora" Louisa began.
"mum what are you doing?" Amora whispered and pinched Louisa but Louisa wasn't ready to stop her games.
"she thinks you are hot and maybe you could kiss her" Louisa was blunt but still maintained her beautiful smile. The waiter smiled trying to hide his own embarrassment.
"Oh God! Mum!" Amora tried to hide but the waiter was staring at her now.
"hello Amora" The waiter said and then took her hands to his lips and brushed a kiss on it. Amora's face reddened immediately.
"Hi" Amora was extremely shy and was trying her best to his her flush but her pale skin wouldn't cooperate with her.
" May I kiss you?" The waiter asked. Amora didn't know what to reply she just got redder. "sure sonny, go ahead" That was Louisa answering for her.
Amora swallowed hard as he helped her get up and drew her in for a kiss. Amora thought he tasted like the jams they had been served, and his scent wafted into her nose, evading her senses. She placed her hands on his neck for support and kissed back. She wouldn't give the fact that this was her first kiss away to this deliciously handsome waiter. Louisa and some other both occupants, cheered and clapped. Louisa felt her eyes water as she took pictures of the moment.
"Way to go Mora girl!" Lexi was also hooting.
Amora was dazed after the kiss. She couldn't believe that her mother had incited the happening , but she was glad that she did. She couldn't wait to give Lesley all the information on her official first kiss.
"that wasn't hard now was it?" Louisa asked the still red Amora as they stepped out of the inn.
"it was amazing and you mum, are very mischievous. I didn't know you'd do that, gosh"
"but it was worth it" She added.
They went clothes shopping, trying clothes and taking pictures. They also went to get their hair done.
"this is some really long hair ma'am " said the stylist when she was styling Amora's hair into simple straightness. Amora only laughed at the compliment as she was used to getting it anytime she went to the hair salon.
After spending two hours at the spa, they came out looking all smooth. Amora's long red hair glistened as she walked. Louisa's hair wasn't as long as Amora's but she was able to make heads turn with hers and the outfit which hugged her body perfectly. Mother and daughter went from arcades to ice cream parlor, to water park, to antique shops, and then back to the inn where they had their breakfast for dinner. Amora was lucky this time as the waiter had just finished his rounds and instead of leaving, he asked Amora to walk with him while Louisa went to play some cards.
The night had moved really fast when they got back to their tent resort to turn in for the night.
"Thank you mum, for everything" Amora said sleepily. Louisa smiled as she watched her daughter fall asleep.
The next few days, Amora and Louisa spent it visiting places and going on dates with the new friends they had made.
"I wish we could go on with this" Amora sighed when it was a day to the end of their week off.
"me too baby, but we can always come back here some other time" Louisa was trying to dress up for their next activity which was kayaking at the biggest part of the artificial lake.
"come on, we've got a boat to paddle" Louisa dragged the gloomy Amora up and they left their tent for the other part of the lake.
The lake was big and looked natural with the trees around it. The lake had just three people kayaking on it. The other two boats were far at the end, while Louisa and Amora shared one Kayak at their own end.
They paddled slowly as they talked about all the fun things they had done and what they would do the next time they visited. Suddenly, there was this stiffness in the air when they moved away from the edge. Amora felt it and so did Louisa. The water was suddenly still and they could feel a presence around them. The other kayakers, didn't seem to notice this as they were quite far from them.
"Mum? What's going on ?" Amora asked when she noticed Louisa looking around.
"something feels wrong, baby, something feels wrong" Louisa took out a pistol from her pants and looked around. Their kayak couldn't move even when they had tried to paddle.
"mum we are stuck , we are stuck" Amora's voice had a tinge of panic in it. There was a sudden movement in the water, they both looked down and saw a black smoke just there moving towards their kayak. Louisa knew Amora had seen it too.
"The black smoke, it's here, we have to get out of this kayak now" Louisa began to unfasten the belt , so did Amora. Amora didn't ask any questions or argue, she had also seen the devious black smoke that her mother had been scared of the other night.
They both jumped into the water and began to swim to shore with the smoke slowly gaining on them. Louisa got to shore first and then pulled Amora out. They were both panting when they got out, they stared at the water but didn't see anything again, the air had returned to normal.
"I saw it mum, i saw it. I'm sorry for not believing you" Amora was breaking into sobs. Louisa held her close and patted her wet hair.
" it's been haunting us for months now, that's why I doubled the security around the house" Louisa said.
" I, uh, I have been having strange dreams and the other day at school, I saw something that spooked me enough to pass me out. What do they want? Why are they after us?"
" oh my poor baby, it's time to go back to where you belong. You are supernatural"
" this is where I belong mum, with you and Lesley and maybe Darren"
Louisa chuckled when she heard Amora mention the waiter Amora had become so close to after the kiss she incited .
"I honestly do not know what to say baby, yes you belong here but your world is calling out to you. I don't know what these things are, but I know they are out to kill you or something. We are going to figure this out somehow my love, we definitely will" Louisa gave her a reassuring smile. "first, we need to get protections from these things" she added.
Amora didn't know how to feel about everything. She was seeing Louisa panic for the first time and wanting to go to a magic shop to get amulets when she had always relied on her guns and martial arts. Louisa on the other hand, couldn't also believe that she was resorting to what she had said to be lies and stupid fantasies. She knew her weapons would not stand a chance at the things that were coming for her daughter. The night when she had gotten Amora, they had said they would come back for her but why are they doing so in such terrible looking ways?.
Louisa made up her mind to make her own investigations and try to protect Amora from whatever thing that kept coming back. Someone or something from where Amora had come from wanted Amora alive but fo what?. This was the question she kept asking herself as she watched Amora do video call with Lesley filling her in on the events, with the exception of the kayak incident.
She took out her phone and continued her search for magic shops around the area, perhaps she would find some amulets to protect them while they figured out the rest of Amora's origin.