Chapter Three

My eyes were wide for a long time. I just stared at the photo, trying to dig up old memories that were buried deep into the archives but nothing ever came to mind. I had no idea who he was. I couldn't even recognize the necklace I was wearing in the photo. To my knowledge, I had never owned it and I had never known him.

I sat the photo down on the glass coffee table next to me and grabbed my phone again. Surely, my parents knew who he was. I dialed my mother's phone number and listened to it ring a few times before she picked up. "Hello?" Mom's voice was soft and a little higher pitched. I chewed on my bottom lip a little bit.

"Hey, Mom. It's me." I don't know why I needed to say that. Of course she knew it was me. She didn't mind it anyways.

"Mel! How are you, baby girl? Is school going okay? Work?" She bombarded me with questions almost immediately and I couldn't help but laugh. She was always so worried about me.

"School's going fine, Mama. Work's been busy so I've been getting good tips. I'm okay. I just have a question," I began, looking over to the table and grabbing the photo again. My elbow propped up on the glass as I continued, "I was going through my adoption file again. This time I found a photo."

There was silence on the phone for a while as she listened to me. She then hummed before speaking, "Hmm? So, what's your question?"

"Well, there's a boy in the photo next to me. It looked like we were really close but like most things from that time, I don't remember him. I was wondering if maybe you did?" I asked, flipping the photo over in hopes that there was some writing on it. Of course not.

"I don't know. I guess I've never seen this picture. I had never seen you with anyone either. You pretty much always stuck to yourself when we adopted you. I would say it was maybe an imaginary friend but you said there's a photo," she said with a soft sigh. "He probably got adopted before you did. I don't know anything, Mellie,"

I sighed, defeated. That was a good point. I started asking more questions. "Well, do you happen to know where the necklace I was wearing in this photo is?" Again, silence on the other end.

"Necklace? You didn't have a necklace either. Honey, are you sure this photo is of you?" She seemed a little worried and I sighed. I gently rubbed my temples.

"I'm sure, Mom. It's a little girl with brown pigtails, brown eyes, and a beauty mark underneath her left eye," I described to her the younger me in the photo. She then hummed again in thought.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe the headmistress of the orphanage would know, though. I don't remember her name but I can give you the address of the orphanage we adopted you from. Who knows, you might remember if you went back anyways. You seem to be really interested in it all of a sudden. You used to hate thinking about the place," she mused as the sound of papers being shifted through was heard on the other side. I quickly grabbed a pen and a piece of scrap paper, knowing she was about to give me the address.

"393 West Sakura Street. It's in Wisconsin. It's a really small town but it's quite beautiful in a rustic way." I quickly scribbled down the address as she continued talking. It was a long shot. I was going to school in New York. It would be a bit of a trip to get there, but it was better than nothing.

"Thank you, Mama. I'm going to get off of here. I love you," I said, before quickly hanging up the phone before she could start asking me any more questions. I looked at the photo again before placing it on top of the address. I was going to take a vacation soon, it seemed.

*~*~*~*

A few days had passed, and I was still mulling everything over. Even at work I was a little distracted because of it. I was messing up drink orders and almost dropping cups and bottles. I shook my head and sighed in frustration. I had two options: pull myself together or go home for the day.

Freya, seeing my struggle, grabbed my elbow and dragged me to the back. The room was quiet and away from the loud noises of the bar. "Okay, so...what's on your mind? You've been super out of it the last couple of days. I can't stand to watch it anymore," she said, crossing her arms and once again craning her neck to look up at me.

I thought for a long while. Should I tell her everything? Or just give the information that was need-to-know? I chewed on my bottom lip for a moment before answering her finally, "I'm going to be taking a road trip soon. I had some stuff come up..." Naturally, I chose the need-to-know. There was really no need in getting Freya involved anyways.

Freya didn't like my answer and frowned. "Okay? What came up and where are you going?" She sounded so determined to get all the information she could get. I sighed, rubbing my temples.

"It's a really long story, Rey. I would have to explain everything at a different time..." I said as I looked down in her direction. She raised one of her thin brows and put all her weight on one leg, her hip cocked.

"Uh-huh. Give me the short version and we can go into details later," she ordered sternly. It was cute how small but ferocious she was. I felt the corner of my mouth turn up in a small smile.

"I found a photo in my adoption folder that I never had before and I just have a lot of questions I need to ask the headmistress since my parents don't know anything about it either. The orphanage is in Wisconsin so it's gonna be a long trip," I explained. A look of confusion covered Freya's face. It was reasonable, since I hadn't told her I was adopted yet. She opened her mouth as if she was about to speak but then closed it again.

"I...see," she said, sighing to herself as she then put on her signature big grin. "Then, I'm gonna come with you," she stated.

"What? You don't have to do that Rey! It's gonna take at least a week round trip-"

"Did I ask?" she interrupted. "I'm going with you. Besides, a break will be nice away from here. Plus, I was assigned an important task by you," she reminded me, referring to helping me decipher reality and hallucinations. I sighed. There was no arguing with her once she made up her mind.

"Okay, okay...I was thinking of leaving in two weeks since it will be spring break. I'll keep you updated on exactly what day," I said. I gave her a smile before adding, "Now, let's get back to work. I'm sure the customers aren't happy that they aren't getting refills,"

*~*~*~*

Two weeks passed. Freya and I made arrangements that she would stay over the night before so that we could get an early start in the morning. I was patiently waiting for her to walk in through the door as I made dinner for the two of us. She had a key to my apartment, and it wasn't the first time she had stayed over for the night. So, it was only natural that when I did hear the door open, I greeted her without being worried. "Finally you decided to arrive," I teased, turning to face her as she set her bags down on the couch.

She rolled her eyes and pulled her curly hair up into a messy bun. "Yeah, yeah. I had to pack for at least a week plus some just in case it lasted longer," she retorted, walking into the kitchen and propping herself up onto the island that was in the center of the room. I didn't turn to face her, stirring the soup I was making. I really didn't know how long this trip was going to last. At best, if everything was figured out the same day of arrival, it would last a week. That wasn't guaranteed.

I finally put a lid over the pot to let it simmer before I turned to face her. "I appreciate you coming with me. I was...actually kind of scared to go by myself," I admitted and rubbed my neck. The small woman gave a large grin, her legs swinging from the top of the counter.

"You're welcome. But, you have to fill me in on everything that's happening. I'm still in the dark about what the trip is exactly for. You promised!" she pointed out, a child-like air surrounding her.

"Yeah...yeah," I sighed before I told her everything. From me being adopted, to losing my memories of my time in the orphanage, to seeing the wolf, and finding the photo a couple of weeks ago. She had a serious look on her face the entire time as she listened. It didn't change once, not even when I talked about my recent hallucinations.

Once I was done with informing her of everything going on, she looked up to me. "Okay, so tell me how to tell you're hallucinating," she said, positioning herself to where she was sitting criss-crossed on the counter. Her hands held her ankles in place so that they didn't slip off the edge. "Also, the best way to snap you out of it or calm you down," she wanted to make sure she knew the best way possible to do anything to help. Another trait I adored about her.

"Well, for the wolf specifically...it's like...I get goosebumps over my body. I freeze up… The rest of my hallucinations that I used to experience were hard to tell. I got in the habit of asking people around me if they could hear it too. The wording would differ for the people that didn't know about my disorder," I answered, leaning up against the counter space next to her.

I had my arms crossed over my chest as I continued to speak, "So, it shouldn't be that hard. Calming me down, on the other hand, I don't know. I've only had one other one that really made me as panicky as the wolf does. So, I guess just how you would normally console someone? It's new for me too..." I muttered and closed my eyes. A soft sigh escaped my lips. It was frustrating, to say the least, that after so many years I was living in fear of something I couldn't control once again.

About the time our conversation was over, the soup had finished simmering. I stood upright to stir it and make us both bowls. I handed hers with a soft smile. "Let's eat and then get to sleep. We have an early morning ahead of us," I said, wanting to change the subject from me. It made me uncomfortable having to talk about myself so often. It was something I wasn't used to and usually had an unhappy ending to me opening up too much.

We watched a movie as we ate. Some kind of comedy I had already seen a thousand times, but it was Freya's favorite. I wasn't paying much attention to it as I was her. Even though she had also seen it enough to quote it word for word, she still laughed at every funny part. Her gap teeth showing along with her dimples and her green eyes lighting up. I felt a twinge in my chest and I quickly looked away from her again.

Once the movie ended, we both curled up in my bed. She always liked to sleep in the same bed as me when she stayed over. She was the cuddly type, and hated sleeping by herself. Since she always had to do it at her apartment, she took any opportunity to have another body in the bed. I didn't mind. While I was content sleeping alone, it was nice having someone lay next to me.

I closed my eyes. After hours of laying there with my eyes closed, I drifted off to sleep to the soft sounds of Freya sleeping soundly next to me.

*~*~*~*

The sun was beginning to rise up above the horizon. The clouds were painted with a soft pink on their underbellies as they bathed in the orange sunlight that showered them. Freya had her feet propped up on the dash of my car. Her head leaned up against the door as she watched the sunrise. Her mousy brown hair turned gold in the rays of light that leaked into the window and her green eyes became emeralds reflecting the light.

I caught myself looking over for a little too long and brought my attention back to the road. I found Freya very beautiful. I always have. I was in awe the first time I met her and that awe just never went away. I turned the radio on, turning it down low so that it was only background music. We drove in silence for a while as we made it out of the city.

Freya finally brought her attention away from the window when the sunrise became the normal blue sky and hummed a little bit. "hmm...I'm getting hungry. Can we stop and get breakfast, pretty please?" she asked, putting her feet down and sitting up a little more. I nodded. I was getting pretty hungry too. Not to mention caffeine sounded wonderful.

"Yeah, we're in between towns right now. So, there isn't anything around. But the next place I see I'll stop, okay?" I said, turning my head towards her slightly. It was true. The only thing around us was fields and the road. I continued to drive, propping one of my arms on the door and rested my head against my palm. I was getting lost in my own thoughts again and was just beginning to zone out when something black caught my eye in the fields to the right of us.

My eyes immediately snapped over, but I didn't see anything. I frowned a little bit and started paying attention to the road again. I sat up straight and put both of my hands on the wheel. The clouds covered the sun and a strong gust of wind made the tall grass sway. It looked like a yellowish-green sea of waves around us. I gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles. It's just normal wind. It's just normal wind. I repeated this to myself several times silently. There was no reason to get so panicky yet.

Unfortunately, after about 15 minutes I saw something black again but closer. Instead of being distant in the fields, it was closer to the road. I looked over but, once again, there was nothing. I chewed on my bottom lip and was just about to open my mouth in order to ask Freya if she saw anything over in the fields when I saw it [again.] I couldn't deny it this time. Seeing that black shadow three times now was no coincidence. I turned my hazards on, quickly pulled over and jumped out of the car. I felt my blood run cold when I could finally see clearly what I've been catching glimpses of.

In the fields, was a large black wolf with those dreaded eyes. It's greenish-brown orbs staring at me from a distance. I held onto the car and mumbled quietly to Freya, who had also gotten out of the car, "I...I see the wolf, Freya," I called out, feeling like I was going to pass out. The wolf and I made eye contact. I froze, the blood that ran through my veins running cold, as the staring contest began. My brown eyes never left the gold colored ones.

Suddenly, I could hear soft whispers and chatters. It felt like I was standing in the middle of a crowd, each person having their own conversation with someone. I couldn’t understand them. They were talking in a different language, but the words felt familiar to me. It started off quiet, then proceeded to get louder and more panicked. Soon, the chatter became screams. Horror filled and desperate. So loud I couldn’t hear the cars rushing behind us. Nothing. Nothing but the screams. I could hear fire crackling in the mix but I couldn’t look away from the wolf.

It just stood there. It was quite a few feet away from me but it was close enough I could see its dirty and rough fur. I started to move forward a little, my foot moving of its own free will. The screams died down again and started to chant something. All at different times until they fell in unison. Again, I couldn’t make out what they were saying. The word, however, felt so clear in my mind. It started to buzz in my head, filling it completely as I took another step forward.

“Return…return…”

That’s when Freya grabbed my shoulder. She then shouted, louder than what the voices were chanting, “Don’t go near it! Come on!” She sounded panicked.

But, it snapped me back to reality. I looked at her with wide eyes, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, “Rey I saw him! He’s right there!” I pointed towards the feel and looked back, but he was gone. I was just pointing at an empty field.

“I know! I saw him too. Let’s go!” She put a strong emphasis on the word go. Her hand that was on my shoulder was trembling.

I didn’t fight her on this and quickly got back in my car. I quickly drove off and back on track to our destination.