Daisy Chains

Chapter One

       Rain poured from the heavens, thunder roared in the sky and lightning crackled through the darkness. Dirt and grime splashed into Adelinde's face and soaked into her shirt as she clawed at the flower bed, like some kind of animal, tossing aside clumps of soil and roots to get to the box hidden beneath.

   The only person who knew about this hiding space was dead and had been for a decade. No one knew about it, she'd kept the letters hidden there because of how well disguised this secret spot was. And yet, no matter how deep she dug, no matter how desperate she was to find the box, it was gone.

   Someone had taken it.

   Someone had discovered her worst secret and stolen it.

✧✧✧
Before the letters
✧✧✧

       The thought of returning to the place she'd grown up made Adelinde nauseous. There was a constant twinge in her stomach that she couldn't rid herself of.

   You have to come home. 

   That's what the voicemail had said. But she hadn't considered that place 'home' for a long time.

   Taking up a seat as far to the back of the bus as she could, all Adelinde could think of was how quickly she could express her condolences and leave. She was so deep in thought that the woman in the row beside her could have done a song and dance to try and garner her attention but it would do no good.

   Neither the voicemail nor the call with her mother had shone any light as to whose funeral it was, however, she assumed it was a neighbor or someone close to the family. No one had called her wailing about a death, so it couldn't be a family member, thank god.

   It wasn't the nicest thing to think, but if it was family, Adelinde wouldn't be able to leave as soon as she'd like. Everyone would expect her to stay and mourn with the rest of the family. She'd mourned enough in her life to know she wanted to avoid that drained feeling.

   About an hour into the journey, she messaged the family group chat and told them she was on the bus. It was followed by radio silence as she scrolled through the previous messages sent.

   'Why wouldn't you just fly down?' asked her sister, who had obviously forgotten how anxious she got when it came to flying by herself. And that she'd have to get a bus or taxi from the airport to their town anyway.

   'You know, if you'd learned how to drive, you could have driven yourself down. It's an awful long time to be stuck with strangers,' her dad had texted. He'd even offered to come pick her up in the city, and then drive down. But a father-daughter road trip wasn't appropriate, giving why she was being called back to Goose Creek.

   The only person who didn't comment in the group chat was her mother. The woman hated texting with a passion and Adelinde had to admit, she felt the same. But communicating with anyone, Adelinde couldn't stand it.

   Her sociability was null and void, which everyone found odd. They always felt the need to compare her to her older sister, Astoria, because she was the social butterfly of the family, with hordes of friends and a new boyfriend every other month. Astoria was never lonely. Meanwhile, Adelinde had such crippling social anxiety, she had barely any friends and no love life to speak of. She enjoyed spending time by herself, because she could write and work, and she didn't have to worry about awkward conversations. And she didn't have to open up about her past or worry that Astoria would swoop in and steal them from her.

       At the bus terminal in Goose Creek, she expected her parents to meet her or her sister, having given them ample time to know when she was going to arrive, but surprisingly, no one had shown up. It wasn't really too much of a surprise, it was more of a relief. She wasn't going to complain or argue with anyone. Adelinde didn't have enough strength to deal with her dysfunctional family right now. She would let it go.