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Chapter 2

Ten years later,

"Holy shit, I'm really home." Ray whispered, disembarking the plane.

It had been ten years now since she left. A long time, indeed. Despite her family had frequently visited her overseas, this was the first time she came back to the place where she was born and grew up. She was exhausted and jet-legged when she and her family had finally got home, it took her a few days to adjust.

Once settled back in, Ray took a long, hard look of her room.

Her bedroom hadn't changed much since the day she left, everything was in the exact spot where she'd left them, including her silly posters. Now the childish decor just cracked her up.

Her gaze then shifted to the bedroom window, looking out to the greenery outside and past childhood memories resurfaced to the forefront of her mind again, all at once. Everything about her was so foolish back then, she couldn't help but to shake her head in amusement.

Walking down stairs, Ray began to retrace her steps to her used-to-be hideout place. She took a leisure walk this time, letting her eyes taking in every familiar plant and rock around her, until she came to a small, clear field.

Nothing was changed here, except her. She was a full-grown woman now. Time really flies.

"Hey big guy. I'm back." Ray said in a low whisper, a smile crept across her beautiful face.

Subconsciously, she lifted her slender fingers to touch the ring around her neck as she looked around this old place. She was lost in her trance. Ray didn't know why she was still talking to the empty space after all these years. He was long gone, or maybe he never existed. But that tiny spark kindled a bit in her mind as if refused to be denied.

Eyes shut, she inhaled the crisp air deeply. This place still relaxes me, she noticed.

After a few hours of peaceful relaxation, Ray headed back. But she ran into Chris and his buddies when she was almost home. That rich kid used to bully her all the time still hadn't changed much, she could tell from the usual grin on his face.

They were surprised to see her at first after all those years, Ray tried to avoid them but he caught up with her.

"Ray?! Is that you?" Chris knew it was her, but still asked.

"Hey Chris, it's been a long time." She replied casually and politely, kept on walking to show she wasn't interested in a catch-up talk.

"I heard you were coming back. It's good to see you," He said. "Wow! You really turned out stunning!" He didn't even try to hide his advancement on her.

"Bye Chris." Fucker. She rolled her eyes at him, went inside the house to end the conversation and shut the door in his face.

After that day, Chris had been snooping around her house for days now, trying to get her on a date, he just didn't know what "NO" means, spoiled rich kid. Her parents thought he was not bad looking, but Ray disliked him very much.

She went back to the woods for some alone time again, lying here admiring the view gives her mind great relaxation. This place had that kind of affect on her. She stopped talking to the empty space though, it was too damn stupid.

"This place is hard to find," Chris's voice suddenly broke the tranquility. "Beautiful and discreet..."

"Chris? What are you doing here?" Ray gasped and frowned at him. Was he following me?

"Well, just trying to see you." He sat down next to her. "You've been gone for so long, I thought about you a lot since you got back." His finger abruptly brushed her face.