Frost: An Otherworld Tale (The Otherworld Tales Book 1)

by Chelsea Clemmons Moye

  "I was at the airport getting ready to fly back from Vegas anyway when your mother called me and told me what happened," Dad interjected.

  "Why were you leaving Vegas so soon," I frowned.

  My dad sighed, shaking his head. "It turns out you were right about Michelle being a gold digger. When I told her we weren't getting married without a prenup, she pitched a fit. When pitching a fit didn't get her anywhere, she dumped me in a pretty spectacularly vicious fashion, even going so far as to tell me she'd been sleeping with Ric's son Neal the whole time we were together."

  I reached out and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, Dad."

  "Really?" He seemed puzzled. "I expected you to be relieved that relationship is over."

  "I think you deserved better than her," I asserted, "But that doesn't make the situation suck any less for you, and I'm sorry it hurt you."

  Dad shrugged. "I should have listened to you. You've always had really good instincts about people. I just...didn't want it to be true, but I'm a big boy and I'll get over it. And speaking of things that I'm a big boy and will have to get over..." He cleared his throat and gave me a genuine look. "Your mom tells me you'd like to move in with Granny Betty. That true?"

  "Yeah, it's true." I nodded and blew out a gusty sigh. "I'm really sorry if it hurts your feelings, but with your work schedule and certain chronic lifestyle choices you make, I feel like I'd have a more stable lifestyle living with Granny while I finish senior year and start college."

  I was fully prepared to argue with him about it, but I was pleasantly surprised when he nodded. "That actually makes a lot of sense, and I agree with your logic, but that's between you and Mom."

  My gaze darted to Granny Betty, whose expression was hard to read until she cracked a smile. "I'd love to have you live with me, sweetheart. Things have been lonely since your Grandpa Alex passed on, and I could use the help around the house. You'll still see your father plenty, and spend holidays with your Mom, and we'll figure out the rest when you've healed enough for us to fly home."

  "I take it you all discussed this at length while I was...out?" I smiled at my parents and grandmother, shaking my head at the humor in the situation.

  "We didn't have much else relevant to talk about, now did we," my mom piped up. "We were all worried sick about you, so you ended up being the natural topic of discussion while the three of us were cooped up in this room together, waiting for you to wake up."

  I nodded and heard my iPhone chime on the nightstand next to the hospital bed. "Did anybody tell Audrey what happened," I asked, knowing my best friend would be going nuts if she found out about it secondhand around town.

  "I called her before I caught a flight up here out of Pensacola," Granny Betty gave a sage nod. "I've been keeping her updated about your condition, but I know she'll feel better if you text or call her yourself to let her know you're awake."

  "I will," I nodded. "Now that I'm awake, why don't you guys go get some real rest at Mom's? I'll be fine, and you all look dead on your feet."

  "Nonsense," Granny Betty huffed. "I'm sure we're all fine. Maybe a little hungry, but other than that, there's no reason for us to leave until you're released."

  I couldn't help laughing, and nodded. "Okay. If you're hungry, why don't you go grab something from the cafeteria real quick? I'll still be here and be awake when you get back, I promise."

  "I think she's hinting that she'd like a little privacy for her phone call to Audrey," Granny Betty sniffed, eyeing Mom and Dad significantly. I blushed and nodded, hoping they'd go along with it because Audrey wasn't the only one I needed to call. I needed to call Joyce Rivers, and I knew what I was going to tell her would sound completely insane to my parents and grandmother.

  The instant they were out of my room, I grabbed my iPhone and called Joyce. I winced when I realized it was almost midnight in Bay Minette, and her voice was groggy when she first answered. "Hello?"

  "Hey, Mrs. Joyce, it's Lauren Frost," I ventured, my voice a little unsteady.

  "I heard you got hit by a car and were in a coma," Joyce gasped, fully alert when she realized who she was talking to. "Sweetie, are you okay? Does your family know you're awake?"

  "Yes, ma'am. I'm fine and they know I'm awake. They're getting food out of the hospital cafeteria's vending machines right now. I hate to call you in the middle of the night like this, but this is really important. When I woke up from my coma, I had a message in my mind about Noah." I chewed on my bottom lip for a second before plunging on. "This is going to sound completely insane, but I think I know where you need to start looking for him, and I can't explain how I know it."

  "Tell me," Joyce pleaded, her voice deadly serious. "I'm not going to question it or think you're crazy. I'll take any lead when it comes to Noah, you know that."

  "You need to look in the Black Forest, in Germany," I said. "And please, let me know when you find him."

  "I will," Joyce replied, her voice trembling with conviction. "After all the help and hope you've given us over the years while we've been looking for Noah, I'm not going to question your intuition, and I will most certainly keep you updated. I've got your number, and I can text you. Now, you take care of yourself."

  "Yes, ma'am, I will. Y'all take care, too." I replied, and she hung up. I knew it was because she wanted to get a head start on that intuition I'd tipped her off to.

  I dialed Audrey next, and she answered on the first ring. "Oh, my God, are you awake?" She practically shouted it into the phone, and I held mine away from my ear.

  I couldn't help grinning at her emotional outburst. "Yeah. I'm awake and I'm okay. I wanted you to hear it from me, first. I don't know when I'm going to get to come home, but I hope it's soon."

  "Oh my God, me too!" Audrey's voice was shaking with a combination of tears and excitement. "I'm just so glad you're okay, and I can't wait to see you."

  Tears of appreciation for the best friend who'd been there for me ever since Noah's disappearance stung my eyes. "Same goes for you, Bestie. Granny, Mom, and Dad are bound to be back any second, so I'm going to let you get some sleep. I'll text you tomorrow, okay?"

  "You better," she groused, and we hung up at the same time.

  I waited with baited breath to hear something from Joyce over the next couple of days I spent recovering in the hospital, but we didn't hear anything before I was released. I didn't hear anything until two days after I flew home and moved in with Granny Betty. It was just a short text, but I was so relieved to get it that I didn't even care it was a little terse.

  |Don't know how you knew where to look, but we found him. Bringing him home soon, and hope you get to see him soon after that. He has total amnesia, no idea how he got to the Black Forest, or what's happened over the past 11 years, but he recognized us, and he's ready to be home.|

  "Thank you, God," I sobbed through tears of joy and relief. I didn't know how our lives would change, or if we would ever have the kind of friendship we did as kids, and I certainly didn't know if there would be romantic possibilities for us, but I knew that things were just as they were supposed to be because Noah was finally coming home, and his family finally had him back.

  Granny Betty walked into the living room at the sound of my crying. "What on earth is the matter, sweetheart?" She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a fierce hug.

  "Nothing," I gasped, laughing a little hysterically. "Everything is finally right again. The Rivers family finally found Noah, and they're bringing him home."

  "Alive?" Granny Betty's voice was breathless with hope and disbelief.

  "Yeah, alive. Joyce just texted me," I explained.

  "Well," Granny Betty smiled and kissed me on the cheek before hugging me a little harder. "I guess miracles never cease, huh?"

  "You certainly got that right," I grinned.

  "Are you going to see him when they bring him home?" This was Granny Betty at her best, involved, interested, and maybe even a little on the nosy side,
but I considered it a blessing.

  "Yeah," I nodded.

  "What are you hoping will come of it?" Her voice was gentle but probing.

  "I really don't know," I shrugged. "But I hope for nothing but goodness and happiness for him and his family."

  Epilogue

  Four Months Later...

  I was exhausted but ecstatic as Audrey and I waved at James, Maria, and Noah from Granny Betty's front porch. Granny had thrown us a post-graduation celebratory dinner and Audrey was spending the night.

  "You still coming up to Mom and Dad's house to help me pack for my first semester of college tomorrow?" Audrey grinned at me.

  "Yeah, of course! I'm not going to let you go away to college without a proper sendoff!" I nudged her with my shoulder.

  "Still wish you were coming with me," Audrey's voice was wistful, and it tugged at my heart. We'd been friends for so many years, growing up together and having all the same classes, that the thought of going such different ways made me panic a little.

  "Part of me wishes I were, too, but I know I need to stay here for a while." I shrugged. "Besides, I've got a full ride scholarship to the community college in town. I might as well get an Associate's degree first, then work on my Bachelor's once I have a better idea of what I want to do."

  "It's not just that, though, is it?" Audrey prodded.

  "I'm not staying just because of Noah, if that's what you're suggesting. I'm staying for me, because I want a calm, stable, predictable lifestyle for a while, and I can have that living with Granny Betty." I gave her a reassuring smile and a half-hug.

  "Good," Audrey blew out a relieved sigh. "As long as you're doing this for yourself, I think I can be okay with you catching up with me at Troy as a transfer in a couple of years."

  "Sounds good to me." I gave her a fierce hug. "Let's go inside before an overgrown mosquito tries to fly off with us."

  Audrey laughed as we let ourselves into Granny Betty's living room, locked the front door, and latched the chain behind us. I took a deep breath and gazed around the room, from Grandpa Alex's harvest gold recliner to the gray brick hearth in the corner. My eyes roamed from the dated entertainment center, full of a mix of VHS tapes and DVDs, to the magazine-stacked end table by the velour love seat with its harvest gold background and rusty orange flower pattern. I smiled at the mostly hunter green tartan throw folded up on the arm of the loveseat as we walked by it, into the hall.

  We passed by the closed door of Granny Betty's sewing room, passed the all-pink bathroom on the left with fixtures that pre-dated my father, and let ourselves into the room that had become mine since I moved in with Granny Betty back in January. I let out a contented sigh as I took in the golden oak paneling and sank down on the edge of the twin bed. Audrey was smiling at me, shaking her head.

  "What?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at her.

  "You're happier here, in this little old house, than I ever saw you at your dad's house or your mom's. It's kind of crazy."

  "It's home," I shrugged. "It always has been. When Mom and Dad were constantly working, I was here with Granny. When Mom and Dad were fighting, I was here with Granny. During and after their divorce, I was here with Granny. This is the happiest home I've ever had. When my parents' marriage fell apart, my grandparents stepped up and gave me the love and stability that Mom and Dad couldn't at the time."

  "How can you say that without sounding like you resent your parents?" Audrey stared at me as if I were a whole new person.

  "I used to," I shrugged, "But resentment is a waste. I used to think that they didn't stay together because they didn't love me enough to try to make it work, but that's the wrong outlook. I know they both love me in their own ways, but they fell out of love with each other, and I think it would have just ultimately hurt me more if they'd stayed together. It was certainly hurting them enough."

  Audrey draped an arm around my shoulders. "That got heavy fast. I'm glad you aren't carrying around all that resentment anymore, though. Still, let's change the subject to something a little more interesting." She shot me a shrewd, sideways look. "You still haven't told me how you knew where to find Noah after you woke up from that coma."

  "I just...knew," I hedged, and it even sounded lame to me.

  "Stop trying to bullshit me," Audrey ordered as she leaned over the side of the bed and pulled my sketchbook out from under it. "I know better."

  She flipped to my most recent work, and studied everything I'd sketched since I woke up from the coma. She showed me a page with Mack, Burns, Tamara, and Gabriel sketched on it. "These look real for a reason, so start talking. Whatever your secret is, I promise I'll keep it. You know you can trust me."

  "It's going to sound completely insane," I protested, shaking my head.

  "Just tell me," Audrey begged, her green-blue seafoam eyes piercing me the way Wynne's did when I showed her my iPhone for the first time. I blew out a resigned sigh.

  "When I was in that coma...God sent me somewhere." I chewed on my bottom lip, debating how much I should tell her. She stared at me, waiting with baited breath for me to continue. So, I took the sketchbook, flipped back to the page with the speculative sketch of Noah that I'd done, and started at the beginning. By the time I finished, Audrey's eyes were wide, and a rapturous smile tugged at the corners of her naturally full, pink lips.

  "I knew it," she breathed, her eyes victorious. "I knew there was more to it than you were telling me!"

  "Anybody else would think I lost my freaking mind while I was in that coma." I grinned at Audrey, and both of us were startled by a shrill, indignant bark from the porch outside my window.

  "Did you get a dog and not tell me?" Audrey demanded.

  "No," I breathed, "But I know that bark!"

  I dropped my sketchbook on the bed, snatched my bedroom door open, and scrambled up the hall, through the living room, to the front door. I unlatched the chain and unlocked the door with shaking fingers. I pulled the door open, and pushed out the screen door, calling out onto the dark porch. "Gabe?"

  The cocker spaniel bolted through my legs and into the living room, looking and smelling as if he'd been lost in a swamp for a day or two, but his tail was wagging. Audrey was standing at the end of the hall with my sketchbook open and a dumbfounded expression as she looked from the dog, to my sketch of Gabe, and back to the dog.

  "No freaking way!" Her whisper was high-pitched and excited. "That's the same dog!"

  "Help me get him cleaned up and dried off before Granny Betty wakes up," I whispered.

  "It really happened. That dog is proof that you experienced something real while you were in that coma!" She was grinning from ear to ear. "I wish it would happen to me."

  I winced at the thought and shook my head. "Be careful what you wish for, Audrey."

  Acknowledgements

  First, I would like to thank my investors from Frost's initial JukePop Serials campaign. The funding raised through that investments campaign allowed me to have cover art, illustrations for merchandising, and professional editing done for Frost. As promised, I am listing my investors in my acknowledgements, along with their investment amounts and the percentage of profits they will receive from Frost's sales.

  My parents, Betty and David Clemmons, invested $4,212 in Frost, and will receive 8.424% of Frost's profits.

  Anonymous donor #1 invested $200, and will receive 0.4% of the profits.

  Anonymous donor #2 also invested $200, and will also receive 0.4% of the profits.

  Clarissa Beaumont invested $175, and insists that I set aside her 0.35% of profits in a savings account for my son, who is due to be born in May of 2017.

  Alexander Raja invested $100, and will receive 0.2% of the profits.