Shifters (Published-Sample Only)

Chapter 2-Danger

Chapter 2-Danger

I had looked forward to the party for the last few days. Now that Friday night was here, I was nervous. On one hand I was excited at the possibility of making new friends, but on the other hand I was about to walk into a room of strangers. Being a small town I bet everyone already knew who I, but I had no idea who they were.

I looked in the mirror one more time before I walked out the door. My shoulder length dark brown hair was hanging down with my natural curls rolling everywhere. I didn't see anything terribly out of place, no toilet paper stuck to my shoe. I was ready to go face the unknown.

As I stepped up to the white door to knock I felt a sense of apprehension wash over me. I ignored it as best I could and knocked. When the door swung open Mary was there and she greeted me warmly.

"Cassie, I'm so glad you came. Everyone is waiting to meet you. I'm sorry I was a bit excited and told them what I knew about you already. I hope that's ok?" I nodded not really sure how to respond to that after all how much was there to tell. Before I could even try to say anything she ushered me through the entryway and to the back of the house. "Everyone is out back. We are enjoying one of the last semi dry nights before the October storms really set in. Once that happens there isn't much hanging out on the back patio happing."

We stepped out onto the covered back patio It was quite large and there were about ten people standing out there. It had been decorated with strings of white lights around the roofing to illuminate the patio. Even though it was dark out now I could still tell the back yard was as immaculate as the front. I suddenly realized everyone out there had stopped talking and they were staring at me.

Mary quickly started to introduce me to everyone. "Hey everybody, this is Cassie. The girl I was telling you about. She's going to start school next semester. I thought it might be nice if we all got to know her, maybe give her some advice for college if you have any good tips."

One by one Mary introduced me to everyone. Her other roommates were there Kari and Dave. I noticed Ayden was absent though. Mary said he had a night class and we would see him later. Over the next hour I'd tried to mingle and talk with everyone. I'd gotten some great tips about which classes were good to start with and random other information.

One of the girls told me not to laugh out loud when the History Professor started talking about the adventures he had with King. When I asked her who King was, she advised me that it was a stuffed moose he kept in the classroom. He would constantly be telling them about a hike he and King went on or a game they played over the weekend. Besides the fact that King was a moose and couldn't do any of these things the professor would claim; King had been stuffed for about ten years. I had never met the Professor but I was already questioning his sanity.

It had started to get cold and was sprinkling a bit outside. One by one people started to head inside to get out of the cold. I was the last person out on the patio and was just thinking of joining them inside when I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked to the back of the yard where I saw it.

At first I thought it was probably just a cat but then the bushes rustled more than a cat had the ability to do, unless it was a huge cat with a steroid problem. I watched the yard waiting to see if something appeared. I noticed the yard was up against the forest with no fence to block out anything. There was a white fence running along both sides of the yard but it stopped where the trees started.

As I stared out into the darkness a feeling of being watched overwhelmed me. I turned and looked inside to see if anyone was looking out the window at me, but they weren't. I could see them in the living room. By the noise they were making it seemed they had started to play some sort of game.