Chapter 9

With swollen reddish eyes, which Noah constantly enquired about on their way back home and kept getting the same staple reply : “It's nothing” each time he asked, Freya knocked impatiently on Imelda's door, clutching Noah's hand.

“Who is it?”

Freya heard Imelda's snappy and grumpy enquiry coming from inside.

With a deep tired sigh as if to reassign her confidence, she cleared her throat and spoke up in response.

“It's me, Imelda. I'm home”, she said in a cracked voice as she had lost her voice due to the intense fit of crying she had engaged in earlier.

A few seconds of silence went by before the door flung open, revealing Imelda's somewhat cold stare. Her eyes scanned the duo from head to toe, obviously wondering why they were home so soon and what the most recent challenge could be as it seemed like Freya was accustomed to suffering from one challenge or the other.

“What brings you back home so soon? What's the matter?” Imelda asked, her tone laced with curiosity.

Freya remained si