Seventeen years ago, Linda and Tony Bretta, a happily married couple, were blessed with the birth of a beautiful baby girl, soon given the name Roselyn. The three lived perfect lives for six years – a picturesque family. However, it wasn’t long before Linda fell ill and passed away unexpectedly. Grief stricken, Tony was left to raise a young Roselyn with every day being another reminder of how much she was turning out just like her mother.
Meanwhile, Jay was also left without a family, but it was through means much more complex than death or abandonment. Nevertheless, she dropped out after only two years of high school and coincidentally ran into a kind man who was none other than Tony. His daughter was only four years younger than Jay, and she seemed rather empty with a deceased mother and an overworked father. He graciously took Jay in, accepting her avoidance to any mentioning of her past and not questioning her continuous nightmares. Jay seemed surprised, almost frightened, when she first met Roselyn. Although she never gave any explanation for this aversion, it seemed to fade away and Jay opened up a bit to Roselyn and her friends.
Jay had the same reaction to Roselyn’s friends as she did to Roselyn. With time, however, she allowed herself to be friends with the girls, and soon all of them were as close as could be.
Life seemed to be picture perfect, with the exception of the nightmares that haunted her every night. She hated the nightmares, but if there were anything that she hated more, it was feeling vulnerable. She hated waking up every morning needing Roselyn to calm her down. She hated the pitying looks that Roselyn and Tony gave her when they didn’t think she could see them. She hated being vulnerable, and she hated being a burden.
Every morning she walked out of her room with her walls up. Very few people in the world knew who she was on the inside, because she was always reluctant to let anyone, not even her closest friends, in. Her existence was an abomination of its own, and she wished to go through life alone, although she could never stop reprimanding herself for becoming attached to Roselyn and her friends. They easily accepted her despite her distant nature, and even Jay wasn’t immune to such compassion.
A part of her wanted nothing more than to live happily with her friends and leave the past behind. For some reason, Jay had kept her memories from the Ancient Age and they haunted her every moment of her existence. She just wanted to let go, but some things were never meant to be forgotten.
On the outside, she was reserved, mature, and caring. On the inside she was isolated and suffering. In the present, she was just a high school dropout. In the past, she was a warrior. However, there was even more to her and much more yet to come, and when it came to Jayden Owens, nothing was ever as it seemed.
