CHAPTER 20

CHAPTER TWENTY
NADIA’S POV
I raised the volume of Beyoncé’s all the single ladies on the car’s radio, shaking my head to the rhythm of the music while at the same time using that as excuse to drown Trina’s constant complains. Sasha, who was seating at the front passenger seat while I drove, stole a glance at me, winking. Pretending to hold a microphone, she began singing along to the lyrics and just for the fun of it, I joined, blowing my lungs off. Well, one has gotta have fun any chance you get, right? When the song was over, I put down the volume.

“Damn! I missed doing sing-alongs with you. Too bad Trina is still stuck up on her ass to join us.
Hey, you remember how we were so obsessed with Lionel Richie back in high school? ” Sasha purred.

“Yeah. Especially that stuck on you song,” I mused. Those were the good times in my somewhat darkened life and I was going to keep on holding to them no matter what. My friends were now the only people keeping me from going back to that little scared girl fifteen years ago.

“Well, how about you tell me how much longer we have till we arrive in this town of yours that you are seemingly so obsessed with Nadia?” Trina grumbled from the backseat, her arms crossed and that frown never leaving her face.

“Hey, ease up lady. If you did not want to come on this trip, then why did you join us in the car, huh?” Sasha questioned, half turned on her seat to look at Trina.

“Well, someone has gotta keep an eye on you two before you get too reckless, right?”

“Can you guys just stop it? Trina, we have got seven minutes before we get into Woodcave town and I know it’s only the other day that I broke up with William but I have a career to hold. Like I told you the first time we were on road trip, the Woodcave town had been rumored to harbor some legends of mythical creatures. Now if I can get some information about this supposed mystical creatures, that should help me in my transition from the billionaire romance I keep writing to paranormal and Urban fantasy romance Trina,” It was all a lie and I knew it. I was here in Woodcave to seek answers of my past and then find the man that destroyed my life when I was only a kid.

“See Trina? There is no foul play. Now that she is officially single, though at the worst time possible for William, she needs to loosen up a bit. It’s not like we are even going to some big ass city. It’s just a small town. Ease up a little,” Sasha rolled her eyes as she leaned back.

It was way woodier than I remembered it with thick forests lining it on either sides and as the car eased slowly into the gravelly roads leading to the small town, I could not help the painful constriction at the back of my throat. Being back here after fifteen years, to the town that tore away my family from me, was certainly painful but I had stayed away long enough. It was time for me to actually face up.

For a town, it was probably too big but as we rolled in, I felt a cold chill run through me despite the afternoon sun burning hot. Nothing much had changed except for the new buildings I kept seeing everywhere. There was an even bigger hospital and what used to be just a corner street café, was now a big restaurant. My eyes wandered around, drinking in every new thing that caught my eye until it stopped in the familiar coffee shop. Pulling the car over in front of the coffee shop.

“Will you guys wait for me here?” They nodded but mainly because they were both distracted already. Sasha was on tiktok yet again while Trina could clearly not help sticking her face on her phone. Those two could certainly get caught up in a hurricane because of their phones and they would not even notice.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the car, walking into the coffee shop. As I anticipated, everyone who was in, raised their gazes, suspicion immediately tainted in their expressions. It was expected anyway. After all, it was a town where everybody was into everybody’s business. Ignoring the stares, I walked straight to the counters where a teenage boy stood behind the counter.

“Hi,” I offered a small smile.

“Hi. How can I help you Miss?”

“I’m looking for Mrs. Heathers. She told me she’d be here,” I pointed out.

“Who is asking for-Oh, Nadia,” An elderly woman lilted as she appeared from the kitchen, a smile touching her face as she walked over to the counter. She quickly dismissed the boy then turned her full attention to me.

“Mrs. Heathers. You haven’t aged at all,” I muttered. She was still the same bubbly woman I remembered from my childhood.

“Well, who is going to take care of my coffee shop if I were to age so quickly?” she joked.

“True enough,”

“Thank God you came today Nadia. I know there is a lot you do not know about this town of ours but I’ll tell you all of it later. Things have taken a turn for the worst in Woodcave and I really have-“she was cut short by the ringing of her phone but that tone she’d used had instantly scared me. There was a lot I did not know about Woodcave Town? And what exactly did she mean things had taken a turn for the worst?

“One second, I’ll take this,” I nodded as she walked away but barely a minute elapsed before she rushed back, her face paled up.

“Mrs. Heathers?” I questioned in concern as she grabbed my hand, pulling me closer to whisper in urgency.

“That bloody Collins kidnapped my granddaughter,”