Chapter 2

Freya

It was futile for me to beg my mother to let me stay. She'd already decided to depart with Jack first thing tomorrow morning.

I packed my stuff while in tears.

"Are you done yet?" my mother inquired, leaning against my door.

I threw my last pair of clothes into the suitcase and zipped it closed, not reacting to her.

"I called Mom and Zira, and they are overjoyed to have you," she let me know.

The suitcase crashed hard on the floor near my bed, and I dragged it past her outside to the car.

She followed me.

"Fine, I'll put up with your immature behavior. "I've been dealing with it for years," she complained as she closed the front seat of the automobile and buckled her seat belt.

When I saw Jack approaching the automobile, I rolled my eyes.

"Are you certain you don't want me to accompany you? It'll be lonely coming home alone," Jack said, lowering his head to hers.

"I'll be fine, babe," my mother assured him as she kissed him.

I felt like I wanted to hurl. I was so glad when the engine started.

"Take care, Freya," Jack had the nerve to wish me goodbye.

I pretended he wasn't there while I looked at the houses across the street, and I was soon on my way to a town I didn't want to be a part of.

It had been a long journey to The Town of Forgotten. A land that few people had heard of. But those who left there for a better life. The ones who were attached to it by birth.

I remember going there for the first time when I was six years old. My parents were getting divorced at the time. My mother drove me there because she needed emotional support. It was the first time her heart had been broken. I know because she won't let me forget.

I remembered how large and lush the land my grandmother and grandfather lived on was and how lovely it is. Anyone who enjoys nature would like to live there. A place that felt more like a forest than a city full of polluting factories. The air is crisp and clean, and the sound of the wild birds is calming.

"It will be better for you to stay with them," my mother murmured as we drove.

Yeah, so you can be alone with your man, I thought to myself.

As I saw the sign indicating that I was now in town, I tightened my seatbelt.

As soon as we arrived at our destination, I stepped out of the car and collected my suitcase from the trunk. Grandaunt Zira and Grandma Zoey were waiting for us on the porch. They came to greet us.

"Look how grown up and beautiful you are." Grandaunt embraced me. She smelled like earth and flowers, mostly soil, like her garden. Zira loved her garden. Mom once told me that when her husband left her, she sought solace in gardening, and my grandmother keeps hens. How unfortunate my mother's family is when it comes to men.

"You look exactly like your mother." It was my grandmother's turn to hug me, and she did so by first pinching my right cheek.

I detested how similar my mother's and my appearances were. I wish that weren't so. I was concerned about ending up in the same circumstances as her.

It was now my mother's time to be hugged.

"You look so happy." Grandaunt and Grandma studied my mother's features.

They had to make that remark since the last time they saw her, she was unhappy and shattered.

"I am!" Mom exclaimed, laughing.

I dragged my suitcase right up to the home. I needed to cry. It was the first time I'd been separated from my mother.

"Freya, I love you!" My mother yelled from behind me.

I swung around to look at her, and tears streamed down my cheeks.

"I'll call you every day. I promise," she said as she went into the car, as if she couldn't stand being here or away from Jack for too long. As her car drove away, I sobbed.

"Don't cry, darling." Zira came up to hug me. "You'll be fine here," she told me.

Grandma carried my suitcase upstairs while Zira and I trailed behind.

"You'll be staying in your mom's room," Grandma added as she set my suitcase down.

As I took in my new surroundings, I wiped my tears away. A modest blue-painted room with a picture that haunts me of my mother when she was younger and how similar we looked.

"Take your time and get settled, darling." Zira patted my back. "We'll be downstairs whenever you need us."

I gave a nod.

The door shut behind them as they left, and I went to remove the picture from the wall, hiding it in a drawer, and then went to sit on the bed. I sobbed. I didn't want to be here, nor did I want to be attending a new school.