The Long Road Home Novel Novels & Stories

"Peppers?" "Yes! Yes, pe— okay," Nora takes a long breath and releases it long after. Her hand curls into fists, "Okay! It's okay! I'm so fucking fed up! Your house number is 15 and mine is 21, okay? You can't keep mixing up the stupid address!" She points to Mama Freya's house, "15!" Then points to hers, "21!" She yanks her hand from Charlie's gentle hold before groaning and stomping off across the street.

"PhD? Worthless. Doesn't even understand something as simple as spending time with family. Total waste. He might as well drop out." I smiled faintly but didn't respond. The truth was, I hadn't made it home after the accident because Carson had asked one of his buddies to run me over outside the university gates. It was a hit-and-run. I passed out on the spot, and when I finally woke up, three months had already gone by. He didn't want me showing up at any event where our parents might be around. "Just a little longer," I told myself. "I'll be gone soon anyway."

Evonne hadn't left the country? Then what about my parents and the rest of my family? If they were still in the country, how could they not have seen the livestream? How could they not have saved me? I ignored the nearby Bruce and desperately crawled on the ground, looking for my phone. I used my broken finger to open the photo of Hashford that Evonne had sent me. I zoomed in, then zoomed in again. It was then that I clearly saw the buildings in the picture.

Noah's P.O.V The long drive from campus to my home felt like a slow trek to my own execution. By the time I pulled up to the front of my family’s mansion, the same looming, white-stoned fortress I'd grown up in, it had gotten even darker. My tires crunched over the long winding driveway which was filled with floodlights along the stone paths down which cut through the Late night November darkness.

The money served them at least as much as the grain did the entire village. "Where is he gone?" That question made her heart quiver, making her feel a deep sense of nausea. She would have vomited if she had had food in her body. "To the Black River, west ..." she replied, in a half whisper, swallowing the acid bile. The man said no more. He abandoned the house, the money, the woman. He left the village, the villagers now silent. Nobody saw him go. And no one but two single people would remember him.

Her mother wept, pressing my hand to her cheek. I looked at my palms. The blood, used to be a chain bond Ethan and me. Now, it became the cure. A quiet peace filled the hollow space inside me. This was why I left. Not to hide. To heal. Six months pass before our vaccine trial breaks through. That night, Sam raises a chipped glass: “To the ones still breathing. Drink.” We cram into the shack-bar, air thick with sweat and rotgut stench. Someone uncorks murky moonshine. Glasses lift—

Chapter 1: Home Freya's POV The road stretched out, mile after mile, taking me back to the only home I'd ever known. It had been five long years. Five years since I'd left the Blackwood land to pursue my education in the human world. My fingers tapping on the steering wheel once more, something I do whenever I'm nervous. Those familiar landmarks were there. That battered old gas station where Marcus would take me for candy. The diner, where Catherine taught me to love pancakes. That all but illegible sign that had once announced, "Welcome to Pinehaven" the small town they owned.

Coyote’s voice drifts on the morning wind, one last time: Y’all come back now, ya hear? We pile into the Chevy, windows down, music loud, hearts louder. The road home is long. But for the first time in forever, it feels like the story isn’t ending. It’s just beginning.

"I mean have you seen any canal or any water channel near....and you might have fallen in that after which you got your trauma or those nightmares." "It's on Millus road." I replied and she started looking at Ethan. Everyone fell silent. "Millus Road?" Dr. Sophia repeated after me. "Are you sure?" She asked and I nodded. "I'm 100% sure Dr.," I reassured her. "I can't forget that place where my life was changed or you can say stopped. I never moved on. Millus is the longest road without any turn or stop. So it's impossible to find a river near that road. I fell silent. I have no other thing to say or ask. She looked at me for some time and wrote something on the medical sheet.

**Homecoming** The familiar scent of home—the faint aroma of Claire’s lavender candles, the comforting smell of old wood, and the lingering hint of last night’s rain—filled the air as the Hayes family finally stepped through their front door. Despite the exhaustion from the relentless chase and the constant threat looming over them, the warmth of their home brought a fleeting sense of safety. For the first time in what felt like ages, they were back where they belonged. But the sanctuary of their home was tempered by the reality of the battles still ahead.