Reborn

Chapter One

A flash of lightning ran across the sky, the deep rumbling of thunder chasing right behind it. Dark, ominous looking clouds were quickly rolling in far above as the wind slowly picked up some loose grass on the side of the driveway and whipped it into a frenzy.

Green eyes glanced above at the storm system that was moving in. The dark eyebrows above them wrinkled slightly at the sight as the small pert mouth pursed in concern. Dark strands of hair that had escaped from the ponytail that held her long hair framed the woman's heart shaped face and moved lightly in the wind before sticking slightly to the sweat that had gathered at her temples.

Turning from the growing storm, the woman opened the side passenger door of the truck in front of her and let out an ear-piercing whistle. Glancing down at her hands, she stripped off the leather gloves that had protected her hands as she had worked to help fix the hole in Terry's fence.

"Renee, that storm's looking fierce. You sure you don't want to stay and wait for it to pass?" Terry's voice rang out behind her from the porch.

Renee glanced back, a smile already tugging at her lips at the offer. Terry was a sweet older man that had lost his wife, Lucille, two years ago to cancer. They had been neighbors long ago when Renee had first been adopted at the age of three by the Hammonds. The two neighbors had been on very good terms for as long as Renee could remember, so after Mark and Genny had passed away when Renee was just starting University, they had helped her out a lot. Eventually, when Renee was forced to consider selling the farm her parents had owned, Terry and Lucille had offered to purchase the land with the promise to sell the land back to her when she could afford to buy it back later. They knew that Renee was studying Agriculture in University with the intention to come back home and help her parents on the farm.

With such a deal, Renee made a point to come back frequently to help out when she was on break or had some spare time. This time, Renee had returned for a weekend to help repair a broken fence. Terry was getting up there in years, and while he could mostly be self-sufficient or get help from other neighbors, Renee still drove the two hours it took to get here from the city to do her part.

"Thanks Terry but we really should get back as soon as possible. I have class early in the morning." Renee replied. A bark sounded behind her, and a small fluffy dog ran up to her, tail wagging behind him in excitement.

"Come on Duke, up we go." Renee snapped her fingers and pointed into the cab of the truck, waiting for Duke to hop in before she gave a final wave to Terry.

"We'll be back in a few weeks. I'll have to stay in the city during my exams, but once they are done, we'll be back to help out again."

Terry nodded his head easily, his hands slipping into his pockets. "Sounds good. I'll see you then."

Renee hopped into the car, buckled in, and with a final wave, began her long trip back to the city. She turned the music up, blasting the radio, and began to sing along as she ignored the nasty weather that was brewing outside the windows.

An hour into the trip, the rain began to fall in a steady torrent that left the roads slick and visibility questionable at best. Trees lined either side of the road as they traveled through the mountainous forest that separated the farm and the city. Unfortunately, they were currently on the downhill part that was a known dangerous area as one side was steep cliffs covered in trees and the other had a nasty little drop. Licking her lips uneasily, Renee resettled into her seat and turned the radio down a bit so she could concentrate better as the local wildlife was known to be active in this stretch of the woods.

"Maybe we should have stayed after all, Duke. I hate weather like this in the first place. Now we're also going downhill, and we are facing 'the death trap.' Wish the damn county would fix this stupid section of the road. Who the hell would let it be when it's known by such a nickname?"