The Forest Will Guide You...

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 : 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬

Wren was enjoying the peace of sitting outside reading a book her parents bought her, "Sounding Silent" by Cora Rae. She enjoyed sitting outside and reading; It helped her block out the real world.

She was so engrossed in the story that she didn't notice the mail truck driving up her dirt driveway.

"Here you go." The mailman yelled as he stopped near the entrance of her house, and handed Wren a stack of letters.

"Thanks," she said as he drove off.

Wren shuffled through the letters: "Flora Woods'' her eyes widened, "my mom," she muttered under her breath. Carefully, she opened the letter.

"Dear Wren, I know it's been a while since we finally reconnected, but I finally found the chance for us to reconnect as mother and daughter. I will be picking you up soon. Love, Mom.''

She threw the letter on the ground. Oh, fuck no!

She lived here her entire life and the forest was her home; she couldn't imagine being away from it. I can't live with my mom. Jesus, this is going to be torture.

A car drove up the driveway and she instantly knew it was her mom.

"Wren! Get your bags, we're going to the city!" She exclaimed with a bright smile on her face. Wren snarled,

"But Mom I lived here my entire life, and you want to throw that away? The memories here... I'm not leaving! "

Her mom walked over to her. "Oh sweetie, this will be better for you. You have no friends, correct? I just want to get closer to you after what happened last time. Please give me another chance," her mom said as she wiped the tears off of Wren's face. Wren slapped her hand off. "I hate you."

Her mom's eyes widened with anger. "How dare you, Wren! After all I've done for you." her mom scolded as Wren gritted her teeth.

"What have you done for me? You've done nothing! You left me in this forest to survive on my own. You left me with Dad for some other dude to have fun with! You never cared about our family and you never cared about me," Wren's voice quavered and a tear fell down her cheek.

Her mom clenched her fists. "Get in the car before I hit you," she growled.

Wren's eyes widened in fear.

Flora stormed inside the house and packed Wren's bags for her. She grabbed her arm and threw her into the car, she yelped in pain as her arm hit the car door. Wren started bawling and saw her mom in the rearview mirror glaring at her as she started the car and drove off.

Wren looked out the window of the car as the buildings appeared into her view. "Wow, it's beautiful," she said scornfully.

Her mother nodded, not hearing the sarcasm in her voice. "The rest of your life will be in this city. I'm excited for us to finally reconnect after so many years of you being trapped in that dirty forest."

Wren sighed, she missed her home. "Here's your school, and the apartment is right around the corner." 

"Rich school huh?" Wren asked her mom.

"Yeah, their principal is pretty wealthy and puts all their money into that school. I wanted to give you the best!" Wren smiled but it soon changed as she thought about what her mom had done to her.

"Thanks, Mom," she said softly but her tone showed she was angered.

Her mom unlocked the key door and twisted the handle.

"It's gorgeous!" Flora said.

Wren was impressed but tried not to show it on her face. As she walked around, she found a room that had a window showing the forest. "I'll take this room," Wren told her mom.

Flora didn't say anything and looked at the apartment. So, this will be where I live for the next 2 years. Huh.

"You should unpack your stuff and get ready for bed, it's late," her mom told Wren.

She nodded and brought her stuff to her room. She looked around, seeing how different it was from a forest. I'm not gonna survive this. she thought as she fell dramatically onto her bed.

The sun broke through the curtains, filling the room as the sun rose. Wren opened her eyes, expecting to see the forest as she always did. Where am I?

She tried thinking about what happened yesterday and it all came back. Her line of thought was interrupted as her mom busted in her room.

"Good morning! Breakfast is ready. Get dressed and come out." Wren rolled her eyes and nodded. 

She got ready, still thinking about the forest. She realized how connected she is to it, and how much she misses it. She just had to accept that she wasn't going back anytime soon and this was her new forest.

"Oh my gosh, she actually did that? Ha! I bet she knew what she was doing and it was just for attention. Oh shit- who's the new girl?" As Wren entered the school, everyone divided their attention to look at the new girl.

"Wow she's pretty." a boy said.

"Someone has a crush!~" a girl teased him. Wren's face turned red and tried to hide it. She was a little embarrassed and stayed quiet as she made her way to the office to get her schedule.

"Welcome, Wren." Her principal said as she entered the room.

"Oh hello, can I get my schedule and maybe a.. tour guide?" she giggled embarrassingly. He nodded and grabbed the schedule. Wren reached out her hand and grabbed it, but the principal stopped and held it.

"Heh.. Um.." Wren didn't know what to say and looked up at the principal. She saw him glaring strongly at her, straight into her eyes. He blinked and let go. What was that?...

She was very weirded out and left before she found out he was a serial killer or something. 

"Oh shit I need to find my class," she looked around to find someone that could help her."Oh hi, could you maybe help me around this school?" She asked a girl.

The girl stared at her and looked her up and down. She laughed as she turned around and started talking to her girls, occasionally looking back at her. Then she faced her fully and told her,

"Fine. But do something in return for me." She looked back at her girls and they started walking away in opposite directions.

"Of course, anything." The girl smiled.

"Meet in the bathroom at lunch, but for now let's take you around the school and find your class."

The girl started walking and Wren was confused and thought, How does she know where to go? I didn't even show her my schedule. Wren soon followed.

"Here's your class. You're Wren, correct?" The girl asked. Wren was shocked once again, Is she reading my mind? How does she know my name without even telling her? This school is making me feel weird.

Her thoughts stopped as she realized the girl was waiting for Wren to say something. "Ah yes, I'm Wren. Thanks for showing me around. Oh, what's your name?" The girl looked back and smiled as she walked away. Wren felt that there was something with this school. It was.. Odd.

She took a deep breath before walking in. As soon as she stepped foot, she realized how the air felt heavy and eerie.

Wren jogged up to the teacher. "Hello, I'm Wren. This is my first period class, right?" she explained while showing the teacher her schedule.

"Yes, this is your first period Wren. Sit down." She walked down the aisle of seats and fell onto her desk as she was tired of walking. Wren got out her books as she started her class.

She stopped and looked up. A feeling was killing her gut. Her eyes started darting across the room. 

What is happening?! It's like she wasn't controlling her body at all. Her eyes soon stopped and locked onto this person. Wren was confused and looked a little closer. 

She gasped, holding her breath as she realized he had red eyes.