You Started It, Selene

2

Trees passed by as I stared out the window of my uncle's car. He had picked me up at Mom's house. I packed a simple bag. I wasn't gonna stay there for long since school would be starting back up, but I also had a few things to take care of. Most finances were sorted with my mom's lawyer–she wasn't one to leave things undone, especially if it entailed the well-being of her only daughter. Based on the finance sheets that the lawyer had sent over to me, I'd be covered for the rest of my time at University and a few years after that. God, I missed her. I could still hear her unwavering voice in the hospital room. "You are powerful, you get to decide who you are, and you have a choice."

"Namora? Namora you doing okay?"

"Hm?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm glad you decided to come back with me. I'm sure your mom would be proud of you for making such a big decision like this. I promise to show you all your mom's favorite places at Ironhaven."

"Hm...yeah. Mom always enforced the idea of making decisions for yourself and being firm about them." I glanced over at Uncle Vince whose face held a dark look in his eyes before quickly shifting into a smile.

"That was Malerie for you. Your mother never did listen to those around her, but that's what I admired about her."

"Can you tell me more about your guys' childhood and what the family is like? Did you know my father? What's he like?"

"Your mother didn't tell you anything...interesting. Well, your mom and I got into trouble all the time. We were homeschooled, so when we were expected to be at home learning, she'd convince me to sneak out with her and explore the forests with her. We'd also head into town and go to the movies and if she swiped enough money from our father's wallet, we'd get a treat afterward. She made our lives bearable. But her being the eldest meant more responsibilities for the family. Our father was hard on her because she was meant to be next in line in our family."

"Wait, are you guys rich or royalty or something? What's up with all these 'responsibilities' and 'next in line' bullshit?"

"You could say we have some sort of influence over Ironhaven. We're not technically royalty, but our family founded the town."

"So you've been there for a while then... Mom kept a lot from me it seems. What about my father, did you know him?"

"I did, he's the man that your grandfather had your mother marry. He's still helping our family run business; so if you'd want to, I can tell him that you'd like to meet him."

"I don't know about that–this is all so sudden. I'll let you know if I change my mind though."

"Alright, there's no pressure."

We continued to drive for a few more hours until we reached Ironhaven's welcome sign–a detailed wood oak slab carved with the name in cursive. It seemed to have just been recently replaced. Within just a few minutes I see the faces of red and green buildings and a few pedestrians walking along the seemingly polished stone streets. They seem to put a lot of thought into their public spaces despite being so displaced from society.

"Ironhaven prides itself in its cleanliness and planned public areas for the community–a community which values family and loyalty; which is why when people hear whose kid you are, they'll be more than ecstatic to meet and show you around. But if you don't want that to happen, just keep your name to yourself and I won't say anything as well."

"I'd prefer to not let anyone here know who I am. It's less complicated that way, so if you'd please, keep it to yourself. That includes not contacting my father–I'd like to hear about him, but meeting him is out."

"How and what happens is all on you kiddo. We've arrived at my place by the way."

It was a cozy triangle house that held many windows in the front. The driveway, like the city roads, was stone-paved and hugged by many wildflowers of white and purple. Uncle Vince had stopped the car and got out to grab my bag in the trunk. I threw my backpack on my right shoulder and stepped out of the car. Looking around, I took a deep breath–hm, it was different –not the smell, but the feeling itself. It must be my nerves.

"Namora, are you ready to head in and see your room?" he had been standing at the half-opened front door with my bag in hand.

"My room?"

"Well, technically the guest bedroom, but it'll be yours while you stay in Ironhaven. If you go in, there'll be a hallway on the left with some paintings. Your room is at the end of it. " Grabbing my bag from him and walking in, it smelt of mahogany and earth. The design was pretty modern and the hallway that led to my room revealed various paintings of what seemed to be the founders of Ironhaven–the last one I'm assuming to be my grandfather. His brown hair had been slicked back. He didn't smile as he wore a perfectly tailored suit adorned with a sapphire pin on the front. No wonder Mom ran from here, he didn't seem very warm. But my dad, he's here. I really shouldn't approach him because he could also be a reason why Mom left. The fact that she told me he was dead pushed the idea that I shouldn't meet him. The only person I could trust was Uncle Vince, but even that seemed to be waning. There were a few weird moments in the car, but I overthink a lot of things. Finally reaching the guest room, the inside of it felt familiar. That's weird, there were a few things here that were almost a replica of the things in my room back home.

"Your mother sent me letters every so often and talked about you in them. I thought I would set your room up before you came back with me."

"So you knew I was gonna come back and that's why you set this room up like this? It doesn't make sense."

"Well, I had a few of my people come and set this up after you said yes."

"Yeah, but it doesn't explain how this guest room is set up like my room back at home."

"Namora, I promise that you can trust me. Your mother sent me a letter two years back and had one of you in your room so I just had my guys order the things for your room before we arrived. It's just a few items since it was such short notice. We can change it if you don't like it."

"That's fine, I won't be here for long. Can I just be alone for now?"

"Yeah of course, please, take your time and come out when you're ready. I'll be in my room catching up on some work so if you need me, just call out my name."

As he closed the door, I set my bags on the floor and lay on the bed. The ceiling was littered with glow-in-the-dark stars, just like back home.