Homecoming

Chapter 2

1 month later

Coming home should have felt euphoric. The blue saturated sky hung high overhead, with not a cloud in sight. The fields dazzled as though embedded with hidden diamonds, the last bits of frost left over from the winter as spring began to force its way into the valley. Everything was as she left it. It was gorgeous and breathtaking - but something felt off. Shops were either shut down for good or completely abandoned. Even more suspicious was the under new ownership signs that were placed in lawns or windows of family owned businesses. The people of Hope County were entrenched in passing down from one generation to the next. She knew even the Woodson's pig farm had been in the family for hundreds of years. The fact that so buildings now felt...empty...was offputting. The people would not have given up their livelihood without a fight.

What struck her as most odd, however, was the absurd amount of signs and billboards she saw for something called Eden's Gate. She had even passed by a white truck with an insignia seen on one such sign, plastered right on the truck door with two very interesting looking occupants sitting inside. Faces she did not recognize. The lack of familiarity was beginning to cause her stomach to knot.

It's only your first day back Nay, She had to remind herself, You'll bump into someone eventually.

Nayeli pulled up to an all too familiar building, taking deep breaths as she shut down the engine of the car. She stepped out and took the sight in. Spiderwebs decorated the outside support beams of the porch, and the inside seemed pitch black from where she stood. A haunted house where even the ghosts did not want to reside. She could still picture the police lights going off in the dead of the night as they wheeled her mother away from the house.

Home never looked so lonely. Or frightening.

Her first week living with her father years ago, she fought tooth and nail to convince him to purchase back the property. Since he and Sokanon were no longer married, he could not just inherit it back, and Nayeli had no means of securing it financially. Nayeli was sure he only did it so he could repurpose it for something else later on, but that had yet to come to fruition. Nayeli walked up the steps to the porch and approached the door. Taking out the original key from her purse she noticed some sort of notice stuck to the door. She ripped it off, having to read it twice to fully register what it said.

UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP
ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT JOHN SEED

"That fucking asshole...!"

Whether she was cursing her father or Seed was up for debate. Nayeli crumpled up the paper before tossing it aside. Her heart was pounding as anger surged through her, her face becoming heated.

He sold it and didn't even care to tell me.

Whatever amount John had offered her father must have been a substantial amount, considering her father was already pretty well off.

Probably ran off to Hong Kong because he knew I would kick his ass when I found out.

Nayeli paced back and forth on the porch, the nail of her thumb caught between her teeth as she tried to formulate a plan. Common sense went out the window when she became flustered, which was evident as she rummaged around her purse, pulling out her wallet.

Before he had left, her father left her quite the generous amount of funds to last her until she, word for word, found a husband to take care of her. Apparently, he believed she would never find someone, even if he had gone out of his way to pluck one out for her. She had resigned to only using the funds to pay off her tuition, and even then, she could still probably afford a small private island.

Opening the wallet, she dug around until she pulled out a particular business card. Nayeli was not sure why she kept the card that John had set down in the diner all those years ago. Transferring it over with each change of the wallet - but it was a good thing she did because she was five seconds away from raining hell on him. Pulling out her phone, she dialed the number. Much as she doubted with Whitehorse, she was unsure if the number would still be active. She could feel her heart stammering over its own rhythm as her anxiety rose.

What am I doing, she thought as the other line picked up. She froze. The voice had grown a bit darker since she last heard it. Today it was lacking the cocky attitude and more agitation.

"-For fuck's sake Vittoria, calling from an unknown number now? How pathetic."

Puzzled, Nayeli disregarded the mistaken identity and pushed forth, "This is not Vittoria. Am I speaking to John Seed?"

There was a short pause before he responded suspiciously, "...It is I. To whom am I speaking to?"

"Nayeli Lamb." She spoke, with a slight hitch of hesitation in her voice. Nayeli could just feel the instant shit-eating grin on his face as he buckled in sudden laughter, "Oh my, the Nayeli Lamb? To what do I owe this honor?" He sneered.

"I think you know," She spoke accusingly, "My mother's property. You bought it from my father. I'm making an offer to buy it back."

John chuckled, "What was it your mother told me all those years ago? Oh yes, it's not for sale."

He paused, and again, she could sense he was grinning on the other side of the line. A snarled look with exposed teeth, blanketed with insincerity.

"I am willing to accept other forms of payment, however." he enticed, "You're all grown up now aren't you, why don't you and I sit and make some sort of...arrangement."

Nayeli nearly gagged in disgust, was he really propositioning her right now?

"You're a delusional, disgusting, human being."

"I have something you want, Miss. Lamb. You have something I want." He spoke suggestively, "All you have to do is say yes."

As he chuckled, Nayeli hung up the phone. She growled in frustration, looking to her car filled with her belongings and the childhood house she was going to stay in. This made finding a place to stay a lot more complicated. She began walking back to her car, considering her options when her phone buzzed, signifying a text message. Nayeli glanced down, her stomach-churning. The numbers were from an unknown number. She opened the text once she sat inside her car, unsure what to make of it. When she read it's contents, she knew the games had started.

[Unknown Number]: I forgot to welcome you home Nayeli. I can assure you we'll be seeing each other very soon.