HADES

CHAPTER 1

Stacey Jennings looked outside from her bedroom window as they loaded the last pieces of furniture and boxes into the furniture moving van standing outside in the street below. After her mother's death, her father decided to leave New York for good and asked for a job transfer to somewhere in Oregon. She still hasn't gotten over her mother's passing and now she had to say goodbye to her friends too to go and live in a town she never even heard of. 'How unsettling', she thought. She sighed and turned around, her footsteps echoing on the floorboards of the empty bedroom and she walked out. She descended the stairs, gliding her hand over the smooth polished oak rails one last time, and headed for the front door. She prepared to say her final goodbyes to the home she was born and raised in, somewhere she considered her safe haven. Richard Jennings opened the door of the Jeep Cherokee that stood parked in the driveway, looked at her, and smiled. Her father was a tall and handsome man for his age and loved wearing a beard with his clean-shaven head. "Come on Stacey!"

"I'm coming."

She walked over to the car and got in. Her father looked at her and smiled. "You're ready to go?"

"Yeah."

He started the Jeep, reversed out of the driveway, and drove off. Stacey looked in the side mirror watching as their old home disappeared out of sight forever. Her father turned on the radio to break the awkward silence in the car as she gazed out of the window. "So you're not going to talk to me?"

"What is there to talk about dad?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

Stacey herself was a beautiful girl, blonde and blue-eyed just like her late mother. She reminded Richard a lot of her and somehow he was a little overprotective over her after her mother died.

"I'm just sad, that's all."

"I'll miss this place too you know."

Richard has been driving for a while and watched the sunset on the horizon in the distance ahead. After a while, Stacey fell asleep. "I can stop over at a motel if you want me to."

"It's okay. I'll be fine like this."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, dad."

"Okay, if you say so." He shook his head and turned down the radio not to disturb her sleep.

######

Illinois...

Richard was driving along the highway humming his own tune and then looked at Stacey who had her earphones on listening to her i-pod while staring out of the window. "Stacey."

She didn't hear him so he nudged her with his hand. She turned to look at him and all she could make out was his lips moving.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"Do you want to stop over somewhere to get something to eat?"

"No I'm good." She put her earphones back on and continued listening to her music.

"Okay then."

They have been driving for a few days and it was already late afternoon when they crossed the state border into Oregon. "Welcome to Oregon Stacey."

"Finally. I thought we were going to drive forever."

"How far do we still need to go?"

Her father took out a map tracing the route to North Bend on the West Coast. "It's still about 5 hours drive. We'll be passing through Portland and then just after North Bend there's a small town on the coast."