Chapter 2

19 years and 7 months later.

Bella Coola, Central British Columbia.

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Seraphine

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"Seraphine Williams, you better get your lazy ass down here this minute!" 

I didn't have to be told twice to listen to the voice for I knew the consequences a little too well. There was no way I was going to let her put me through another round of house chores, or "helping her around the house" as she so lovingly called it. As much as I loved the old woman to bits and pieces of my soul, I hated cleaning around our not-so-small house. We weren't necessarily 'rich' as some people I knew would love claiming, but we lived a pretty decent life in our not so small town. 

"Give me a sec, Mum." I hollered back, hoping that my voice was firm enough to carry the words down through the door. 

I turned my attention back to fixing the mess of a nest that rested on top of my head.

'Why?' 

I could only question myself as I tried my best to tie my voluminous curls into a bun so that the annoying locks could steer clear off my face. It did get a bit irritating at times. 

"Seraphine!" 

Another call from my mother was all it took me to burst out of my room with my bag in hand. 

"I am here." I only replied to her when I was standing at the entrance of the living room, huffing. "I am here." I repeated once again, only slower this time in between my huffing. 

"I can see that." She had the nerve to roll her eyes at me, her youngest child. "Now settle down before I change my mind and decide to send you off to college on an empty stomach." 

"Nah." I shook my head in a denial as I plopped down on one of the high bar stools lining the marble top counter. Placing my bag on the stool next to me, I turned my attention back to her. "You love me too much." And being the dramatic person I was, I blew her a kiss to finish off my claim. 

"You wish." She huffed out annoyingly, but didn't correct me. We both knew that was the truth. My mother loved me the same as my other two siblings if not more. Scratch that! She loved me way more than those two morons. Even when I didn't share blood with them, both of my parents treated me as their own. They always had. 

"Where's Dad?" I looked over my shoulder to sneak a peek into the living room just to make sure he wasn't busy reading through some newspaper. 

"He left early this morning. Something came up at work." 

"Everything okay back at the hospital?" Yes, my father was a doctor; one of the best ones if you asked me and I wasn't talking about our town. He loved practising here in the local hospital even though he had a job back at the nearest city as well where he worked only on appointment basis. I wasn't sure how all of it worked given how tiring a surgeon's job could be. 

"Some young boy fell into a ditch." 

"I hope he is not hurt too bad." A shiver ran down my spine just at the thought of the poor boy. 

"We'll have to wait for your father to come back and ask him about it." My mother shrugged her lean shoulders as she focused on stirring the scrambled eggs around in the pan. Meanwhile, I let my thoughts consume me as I waited for her to serve me my breakfast. 

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"Where's your mind at, girl?" 

A couple of snickers followed the question closely, bringing my attention back to the group of students I was sitting with. We were currently outside, working on our group project. Well… we still had to come up with a solid plan before we could start working on it. And let's just say I wasn't surrounded by the brightest of them all, including myself. 

"I… I was thinking." There was no lie in it. I was indeed thinking, but just not about the project. It was the nature surrounding us that had my attention. Something about the tall, dark trees made my heart to beat at a slower, much relaxed pace. It was the depth of the forests surrounding the school grounds which called me to enjoy its serenity. But I never made the move. I didn't have the strength in me to take the leap for the forests surrounding the town which were known to be the home of many beasts. And let's just say that I wasn't willing to check the authenticity of these claims. 

"Your mind is still elsewhere." A nudge to my shoulder had me sighing out loud. 

"I get it that I should focus more on the task at hand, but please, enlighten me if any of you have come up with something." I glared at the group of five accusingly with my squinted eyes. 

'Just like I thought.' 

All five of them went absolutely silent, not bothering to look me in the eye. 

"Now, how about we work on our given tasks instead of calling each other out." With a huff, I pushed myself up on my feet, dusting my shorts in the process. As much as I enjoyed nature, I was clearly not a fan of it sticking to my skin. It would get itchy pretty fast. 

"Where do you think you are going?" 

One of the five was brave enough to call me out, only to earn himself a glare from me. 

"I think we all know that I always finish my tasks on time. So… how about we meet in the second half? I am sure I would have a solution for my part." With a casual shrug of my shoulders, I pulled my bag from the ground and began walking towards my favorite spot. I knew I needed the peace to calm myself down. Come to think of it, why was I getting so annoyed at every other thing today. Hoping that it wasn't an I-am-turning-twenty-tonight thing, I moved my feet towards my destination. 

It didn't take me long to find it since I was already in the college grounds. It wasn't anything big, the community college I studied at, but the teachers were great. I was yet to meet one who wasn't good at their job. 

I could still remember the day Dad asked me to follow my two elder siblings, and get out of town to attend the college of my choice. My scores were decent enough to give me that leverage. But I turned him down. I didn't want to leave this town. Like I mentioned before, something about this place called me to it. As if it was pulling me to stay rooted here and wait. For what exactly? I was yet to figure that part out. 

Drawing in a deep breath, I looked around me only to find the place empty as always. It gave me enough time to squeeze past the bushes and into the forest behind. I never went too far into its thickness, just deep enough to feel secluded. A small smile crept on my lips as soon as my eyes were able to locate 'the rock'. It was my special place. 

It only took me a couple of seconds to climb it up since it wasn't too high or steep. Funnily enough, the top of it was flat as if it was made specially to be occupied by someone. And that someone was me.  

After making myself comfortable on top of it, I settled my bag down next to me while still keeping hold of my journal. I opened it to the last page and began focusing on the strokes of the pencil from the previous day. Sketching was one thing I adored and enjoyed more than anything. Even food. 

Uh…. Maybe not more than food. But it was something I enjoyed doing when I was on my own, which for the record was a lot. 

I never made any friends. Some people might call me out for being too self centered, but it wasn't my fault that I never felt connected to someone. I tried. I tried on more occasions than I could count on my fingers to have that kind of connection with any of the people I knew. But there was none. 

I was so lost in contemplating my life and the choices I had made so far that I almost failed to see the slight movement behind the trees in the far distance from where I was sitting. Almost being the keyword there. 

"Who's there?" I called out a little too loud to get the person's attention. 

"Hello?" I called out again when I didn't get any response. 

It was the same this time too. All I got in return were the chirping sounds of the birds sitting on the high birches of the trees. I let out a frustrated huff. I could tell that someone was definitely there behind those trees. I was about to call them out again when it happened. 

A pain shot up the length of my spine, making me groan out as my back hunched forward.