The Beginning (Forget-Me-Not Series)
Summary: Reina and Feina Striker have been running all their life, living day by day with neither a specific purpose nor dreams. Their only goal? Survive. Survival was extremely difficult for runaways at the age of thirteen. Luckily, they managed to meet Bob Striker, a retired military officer who taught them what they needed to know to survive. Having deviant and evil foster parents were not enough, but a run-in with a werewolf? Just what is written in their fates? When an event changed Feina into a werewolf, will their life change for the better or will they be brought back to the past they’ve been trying desperately to hide?
Author’s Note: This story has very deep messages and definitely not for the faint of heart. I’m still debating on what trials to have the characters go through. Perhaps the reason why this series take so long is because I tend to write more of romantic comedies. Staying happy is important, right?
At least there’s the second book in the series out!
Excerpt:
Reina had arrived at their foster parents, Jack and Elizabeth Locks’s home when she was 6 years old. Her mother abandoned her at a theme park some time ago and she had landed almost immediately at the Locks’s doorstep. Feina was less fortunate, she was already with the Locks for a year. She was older by a few months but despite everything they instantly took a liking to each other. There were many foster children there as well, but only Reina and Feina developed what is similar to a family relationship. They complemented each other like they were fated to be a pair. Feina was outgoing and irrational, whereas Reina was calm and collected.
For 6 years, they lived with the Locks. Those years were spent in full of fear. A girl could not go walking alone in that house without another. Perhaps it was not uncommon for abusive foster parents in the past 50 years but society didn’t improve much in the year 2000. The Locks must be one of those foster families that fell under the radar. As true to their names, the Locks got locks for everything from windows to cupboards. A jail for a convict would have only one lock but their room had at least seven. One would think that a six year old would be too short to reach those locks or understood the mechanism in which to open them anyway but not the Locks, they didn’t want to take any chances.
It was the Locks’ principle to not touch children below the age of 13. By the time Reina and Feina were 10 years old, all the boys were gone and they were the youngest left. The only remaining were three of their “older sisters”: Cheryl, Lima and Nina ages 15, 16 and 18 respectively. Cheryl was pregnant, Lima was crippled and Nina suffered under some type of psychosis. It was impossible to get out of the house when it was locked from the inside and nevermind going to school. They were homeschooled like the girls living in the middleages – all the girls needed to know were cooking, mending and basic reading. They would have had nothing if they hadn’t been educated before they arrived to live with the Locks.
As excluded from the outside world as they were, Reina and Feina knew what was happening. For the past four years, they heard things; the screams and cries at night and the battered looks their sisters have in the morning.
“Act like you enjoy it” was the advice they gave to one another. “Why not run away?” asked Feina. The others only chuckled, gave them the look that was reserved for those who were naïve and Nina replied almost flippantly, “Where can we go? That woman is always in the house, there are locks everywhere and don’t forget the videos.”
Feina and Reina looked at each other and turned to them with confused expressions on their face. “You’ll see it soon enough,” replied Cheryl with a haunted look which quickly faded as she stared off past their heads. “I believe it’ll be soon.” Reina and Feina shivered and unconsciously held each other’s hand. It was a habit when one of them felt uncomfortable. It was an eerie premonition.
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