The Sound of Their Presence

Chapter Two: Twists In Luck

Cheyenne's POV:

  I awaken with the boy staring into my face, pale as can be and leaning right over me. As I blink my eyes a few times, letting my vision adjust with the lighting, he jumps back, apparently surprised that I have awaken.

    That is when I remember: The bas***d frickin' shot me! Twice!

    I lunge at his face, and, quite sadly, he jumps backwards, just before I can remove that gently masculin and shadow-hidden face from his head.

     "I guess you are feeling-"

    "Like murdering you?!" I cut the boy off. He may be my age, but only a moron shoots a girl for no reason, out in the woods. Even if she was a unicorn!

    His apalled look disappears after a moment, and is replaced by understanding.

    "I am truly sorry about that . . . I just . . . I didn't know that there was unicorn that could turn into a human. Are there more like you? Do you have family with the same-" What he didn't know wouldn't kill him. If the foolish boy didn't know any of these answers, it was better to protect my kind as long as possible and neccesary.

    "No, I am the only one here," which wasn't a complete lie, no other unicorn shifters were near.

    "You can stay here. Well until-"

    "I have no interests whatsoever in remaining in the vacinity of a phsycopath!"

    "FIne, just as well. THEY will be back soon anyways. Then you may as well be good as dead."

   "Who are 'they' supposed to be?" Suddenly, car doors began to slam, from in front of the shabby, cluttered cabin.

   The boy grabbed my wrist and started to drag me towards the back door, and I trip over the blood stained sheet that I still have clutched to my chest and draped over my shoulders. A woman bursts through the front door, with a man draping his arm across one of her shoulders. They are both tall and lean, dark haired, and bag eyed. The woman immediately raises an eyebrow, glancing between the two of us.

    "Well this is new," the man rasps.

    "If you had told us you were going to be bringing a girl home with you after . . . hunting, last night, we would have left you be. We get the cause for celebration, but if you wnat more privacy-"

    "No! No, no! We weren't . . . We didn't-"

    The woman juts out her hip, shaking her head, studying my tangled, white blonde hair. I realize what she has assumed we have been doing while they were away. As several more people file in, I break the building tension and awkward silence. 

    "I was just leaving! I just need-" and I remember what had happened before I was shot. I had no clothing in range, aside from the sheet that I pulled tighter around myself.

    "No clothing left over? I had a feeling his first wouldn't-"

   "Really?! Do we have to discuss this right now?!?!" Yells the boy, standing in front of me in a semi protective stance. I realize he is trying to gaurd me, not them.

    "FIne, Tina!" A girl several years younger than me runs up, then is instructed to get clothing in my size. When Tina returns with several garments draped over an arm, I am then led to a small, ice cold bathroom by the older woman.

    She closes the door behind the two of us. When I hear a soft click, I spin around, looking at her. Suddenly, many questions bubble up in my mind.

    "So, I am taking you to the mall, my treat!"

     "Um- Why? You assume that I slept with your son, and you take to a mall? Especially after he actually shot-"

     "Yes! Whether or not you two were active during the night, you are a teen girl, in dire need of clothing! You think Tina's clothes are going to fit well? Cheyenne, honey, have some sense! Besides, when do ou think I last had a girl's day out?" and she winks. "Tina is the only other girl in this family, and she doesn't exactly agree with me on most things."

    "Thanks for the offer but-"

    "I insist!"

    "And sorry, but how the h**l do you know who I am?!"

    "I ran into a couple about three hours north of here, who looked quite worried. Upon asking them what was the matter, they explained to me that their daughter, Cheyenne, had probably decided to walk home, through the woods, instead of wait for a ride. So we are hitting the town before I drive you home. A two hour walk? Seriously? Certain people need to be more careful than others in these parts," and the woman raises an eyebrow at me  for a fraction of a second. "I am Lilith, by the way," and we shake hands.

    Is this really what my life had come to? Shopping with the woman who assumes I was sleeping with her son, when, in reality, he had nearly killed me? Great. Just. Great.