Down With The Border: A Shadow People Novel

Chapter 5: Unexpected Meetings

Viviana: 

My eyes opened with blurry vision. Trying to blink away the urge to drift into sleep again, I took in my surroundings. A vibrant light broke in through the pale curtains of the window to the left that made the dark wooden floors glow, the blankets that were wrapped around my body were soft and warm, and the entire room smelled of pine. Still half asleep, I rolled to my side and I was met with a pair of piercing blue eyes. 

I let out a small shriek and scrambled out of the bed onto my feet. When I looked back up, my suspicion was confirmed, it was the wolf from last night, however it was only a painting. I breathed a long sigh of relief. Although it lasted only a second before the memories from last night played in my head like a bad horror movie. 

How stupid am I?

Who the hell goes trampling through the woods in the middle of the night in an evening dress and heels with only a flashlight? Better yet, who manages to knock herself out when confronted by a huge animal? 

Because apparently I do. 

And now I just woke up in a room that is not mine and-

My thoughts were interrupted by the sudden realization that I did not know where I was. I frantically looked around the large room that I had slept in. My dress was hung up, along with my heels, in the corner of the room. I looked down at myself. I was in a large tee-shirt, and basket ball shorts. As I turned towards the door, I caught a glimpse of myself in a large mirror that was on one of the walls. 

I looked awful. 

I had bruises all over my legs, I desperately needed a shower, and my hair was basically one tangled knot. Although all my makeup had been taken off. 

Weird. 

Reaching up to check for bobby pins in my hair I winced in pain. I had a huge bump where I had hit my head last night. I wouldn't have been surprised if I had a concussion. 

I began to move to go look out the window when there was a knock on the door. 

"Hello?" A smooth and very sweet voice ask through the large door. "May I come in?" 

I hesitated for a minute. While the person on the other side of the door sounded nice, there was no way to tell what they wanted. Just to be safe, I moved closer to the window in case I had to make a quick exit. 

"Um," I began as I inched my way closer to the window, half hiding behind the long white curtains, "I guess." 

The door slowly swung open and a petite girl, about my age stepped out from behind it. She had curly golden hair, huge brown eyes, she was only an inch or two shorter then I was, and her nose and cheeks were covered in freckles. She was in a simple blue tee-shirt and jeans, and she had a bundle of clothes in her hands. She looked around the room, not seeing me at first.  

"Oh, hi!" She said , once she spotted my hiding spot. She smiled brightly at me. "My name is Mandy."

I backed up slightly as she walked towards me, revealing myself from the curtains. 

"Oh wow," She gasped, slightly, as she walked to the other side of me, "You're really pretty." 

"Thank you." I breathed, taken aback at how bubbly she was. I gave her a quizzical look. 

She nodded at me as she turned to to bed and set the bundle of clothes down on it. 

"These are for you." Mandy turned, sat on the bed and began talking to me. "We didn't know your size, but we didn't think that'd you'd want to go back in that dress. These are about your size, they may be a bit too big, but big is better than small when you'll have to walk for a few hours to get home-"