Chapter 191: Encountering Trouble
In the end, Samantha finally navigated through the familiar routes on her own, still holding on to the bouquet of flowers Ivan had given her. She had passed a few houses that appeared familiar the minute she saw them, and it made her wonder if the occupants of these homes would recognize her the minute they lay eyes on her. The people of Fernwood had a strict schedule they always targeted during the day, making them less available in their homes, so it didn’t surprise her to find the path leading to her old cottage imperceptibly lonely at this hour.
From what she was seeing so far, this part of Fernwood hasn’t changed, to her relief.
After what felt like an hour of walking, Samantha eventually made it to her old home that had been left abandoned in its desolate land. The once leafless trees and the woods where she and her brother had used as a form of escape to avoid the vampires were now obscured by grown vegetation and wild bushes. Samantha could feel something hook at her throat upon sighting the place she once called home, and with her fingers hesitantly reaching for the rusted gate, it made a screeching noise as she forced it open, whilst she stepped inside with her hands feeling inexplicably cold.
Rays of sunlight filtered in through the dusty, cracked windows, illuminating the wooden floors and decaying furniture. The weeds were already stretching their stems into her home, replacing the whole area with their vegetation, and the memories of her life resurfaced right before her eyes.
Samantha’s heart grew heavy when the image of her home came flowing back into her brain, and she felt a sense of nostalgia hit her at the warm recollection. She remembered Maurice who would sit quietly on the steps, reading a book while preparing for his upcoming examinations. She couldn’t recall how many times he had used it as an excuse to avoid joining her do some house chores around their home, and her loving Father, whenever he returned in the evening he always brought home a special treat, or he would tell them it was Madame’s Ginevra’s homemade snacks. She remembered when he fell sick and was unable to sell his farm produce on a certain day, how she had mustered up the courage to go out and sell them herself with Maurice’s aid.
They rushed home that evening after successfully selling everything, she had shown him how much coins they made in one day, and she couldn’t forget her Father’s proud smile afterwards. He always told her he was a lucky Father to have her, and how he always wished his wife, their Mother, was still alive to see how matured she had gotten. Her Father was one of the people who had the purest soul on Earth, he was benevolent, yet his reputation... everything was tarnished in one day.
"Father..." Samantha could feel tears warm her eyes as the recollection of that night resurfaced. She wasn’t surprised that their home was left abandoned and unkept, no one would want to stay in a place where the assumed Murderer of the late King once lived, and the thought of it almost reopened the wounds she had managed to stitch together with time.
Since she was already here, Samantha took a tentative step forward, the floorboards creaking beneath her weight as she stepped into her old home.
She found herself making her way through the archway, whilst avoiding the broken glasses and piles of dust littered everywhere. The walls were discolored and starting to peel off their paints, but Samantha couldn’t stop herself from brushing her fingers through the wall. She could feel the back of her eyes grow hot with incoming tears but she knew this wasn’t the time to dwell on her past. Rather, she was going to take this as her strength and bring justice to her Father’s name.