Freya

Prologue

The color in the world fades as the years go by...

Dark, empty and yet oddly comforting. She drifts away in an endless void, letting the peace of the nether wash over her. Who is she? Right now, not even she knows. The soothing void rumbles, and the feeling of peace shatters as shock courses through her. A flash of light from a silver lightning bolt pierces her sight, then all goes black once more. Even so, she can feel the presence of someone else there; she is no longer alone. Minutes tick by, and still she cannot see the other presence. She starts to drift again when a powerful male voice suddenly surrounds her.
"Freya, my Love, we shall meet again. You may have been felled in the battle against evil but your soul will be reborn again. I will find you my Love. I will always find you, and then we will be together again. I swear it!" Freya? Is that me? What are you talking about...who are you? Shock colors the voice she hears, she cannot see the figure standing near her in the darkness. "I am Odin, my Love. We have always been together. Have you forgotten me in your death?" He sounds heartbroken and his voice cracks on the last word. Death? What is that? Is it why I'm here? Where is here? Her thoughts are colored with confusion. "This is the place where Gods go when they die. When they are slated for rebirth. It was our domain, and one day it will be ours again. I swear I will find you and I will remind you of who you are and who we were together. It's time now my Love. Your soul will be moving on to a new life and into the world below. Trust me to follow after you, once you are reborn, even without your memories your soul will know me!" As soon as the last word is out another blinding flash lights up the void. The man named Odin is gone, and the void starts to heat up; slowly at first and then faster and faster, until a purple fire bursts to life and consumes her being.


Chapter One
Freya

The path to true love is really an endless loop.

“Freya! It’s time to get up! You’re going to be late, and you need to eat something!” My mothers’ overly cheerful voice jolts me from the dream. I take a moment to breathe, but I still can’t seem to shake the leftover feeling of confusion. Deciding to focus on something else, I put it out of my mind and try to get ready. The first day of school is always hell, but at least it’s my senior year. Once this is over with I’ll never have to walk back through the halls of hell high again. I shake myself, mentally and physically, and throw on my favorite black boots and a workout style tank top with dark stretchy jeans. The tank is softer than velvet, one of my favorites. I can’t stop myself from smoothing it out again just to feel the familiar texture under my fingers. “Freya! I hope you’re awake up there!” My moms’ voice comes again, reminding me that I haven't answered her yet. Instead of replying right away I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen, walking past the photos lining the staircase. I could never understand why they were there. It seems like a good place for them to get hit on accident and fall off the wall.
“Mornin’ Mom. Up early as usual I see. Any coffee?”
“There you are! Yes, of course there’s coffee. Dad went to the office already so it’s just us here for now. Did you want a ride to school, or did you already have someone coming?”
“Cattie is coming over in a bit. Senior year and all, we might as well do as the rest and show up a bit later. Don’t worry Mom, we’ll still be early compared to the other seniors.”
A sigh escapes her and she shakes her head. “This is the one thing I wish you wouldn’t follow the others on. Most other things, sure, but this?”
“I know but what else am I supposed to do? We both know at this point that I will never be like everyone else. Aside from my temper and off the wall interests, just my clothing choices alone put me aside from the rest most days.”
“Speaking of that, I see you went with something that blends in at least a modicum. Is this going to be a new trend for this year, or are you just taking it easy because it’s the first day?” There’s genuine interest in her voice. My mom doesn’t really judge me on my choices but she can be overly curious in her prying sometimes. I wonder if she is still waiting for me to grow up and out of my usual preference.
“First day and I didn’t want to bother. I’ll pull out my leather and fur another day.” I roll my eyes at her. If she really thought this was going to be the year I finally snapped into ‘normal mode’ she certainly has another thing coming. Not that I blame her, you’d think it would be too hot for leather and fur, but it doesn’t really affect me. I don’t even know why I like it. I saw a fur lined vest when I was a child and didn’t let up until I got one of my own. Been hooked ever since. Listening to her sigh at my explanation, I grab two mugs from the cabinet next to the sink and count down the seconds to Cattie coming through the door. “...3….2...1…” Ting! There goes the doorbell, followed by the sound of the door closing echoing lightly throughout the house. Cattie and I have known each other for a while now and I can really say that she’s been a true friend to me. She never bags on my choices. She knows how off the wall I can be and still she’s here for me no matter what. She’s definitely a rare find. I finish pouring the coffee into the mugs and slide one down for her to add what she wants to it. It’s never a good idea to try and figure out what either of us wants in our drink. It’s always changing.
“Hey girl, ready to start the year?” She grabs the mug and starts tinkering with it after making sure I see her eye roll.
“Oh yeah, I’m sure it’ll be just as fantastic as the rest of them. Who knows, maybe this year I get that elusive boyfriend.” I stick my tongue out at her and walk to the table, sliding a plate of toast in between us. “It’s the last thing on my hell high to-do list!” Mom groans at that. She hates it when I call Harold Hall- hell high. Like it would be any different for any of the other teens unless they’re straight up bookworms. On that it’s universally acceptable to hate your high school no matter where or when you are.
“Well, you just might accomplish that actually. I hear there’s a new transfer coming in. Wasn’t around for the summer, but showed up just in time to enroll so no one really knows anything about him. The same goes for him to everyone else.”
“The boy has promise then. IF someone doesn’t ruin it for me later today that is. Ah well, let’s not get my hopes up too high.” I send her a sly wink as she looks at me over her shoulder, “We’ll just have to see how it goes and what he’s like today. Speaking of which, we better book it. I promised Mom that we wouldn’t go in too late.” I grab my messenger bag and throw it over my shoulder as I give Cattie a pointed look. “Let’s boogie baby!” Even Mom couldn’t help but to giggle at that. Cattie followed me out the door with nothing more than a slight brow raise. She knew I didn't want to go in at all, new possible hottie or no. Graduating early was on the table for a little while, but realizing that we would have that much less time together botched the plan for me. I knew she and Cattie would have accepted it, but the truth is that I needed them. Boy, did I ever need them both way more than they needed me. To say Cattie is my only friend is a slight exaggeration, but only very slight. Those I talk to outside of her are more like deep acquaintances instead of outright friends. Once we’re in the car, a cute little vintage cherry bug, we put music on and try to kill our ears before we get to school. I think one of these days we’re hoping to get away with being too deaf temporarily to do homework. Chances of that are slim even so. They would probably just shake their heads and assign extra reading with reports attached. Ah well, we can dream anyway.