Chereads / DRAWN VILLAGE / Chapter 2 - A company

Chapter 2 - A company

Just following the path, anxiety is getting her. The fog and the cold mist of the forest lingers and its coldness is crawling on Mallory's skin, getting goosebumps. "I should have a brought a jacket with me" her voice is shaking, every breath she takes is visible, the air is getting heavy. Then she sees light at the end of the yellow path. She runs towards it. As Mallory reaches the end she placed her hand to a near by tree of its trunk to support her exhausted body as she takes in fresh air to regenerate. She discovers an entrance, a gate with a big sign that it says "Welcome to Drawn Village" she said it inaudibly. She looks around "This place is abandoned" her voice filled with uncertainty. She walks forward and enters the gate. Snow is covering the ground, the trees have no leaves but it looks alive, silence encompassing the whole area. Suddenly a twig snaps out of nowhere causing Mallory to look at that direction. She saw a small little girl, holding a stuffed toy bunny. Her clothes are strange. Mallory recalls her history lessons and recognizes that the clothes of the girl are from the Victorian era. "It's 2020 why is she wearing that..." Mallory thought to herself. And then the kid ran. "Wait! Hold up a sec!" Mallory shouted as she follows the kid through the snowy road and into another forest.

"Kid? Where are you?" she pants and holds on to her knees, scanning the copses, the girl is nowhere to be found. "Where did she go?" she groans and flops down to the floor due to exhaustion, frustration and being disoriented. "Excuse me, may I ask what are you doing here... alone?" she looks behind her and sees a guy who is leaning on the tree. His clothes are very normal. "Miss?" the boy asked waiting for her response. "Oh what a pretty boy" she stands up and brushes the snow off of her. "Thanks Miss" the boy blushed and hold onto the back of his neck. "So what are you doing here?" the boy asked again. "I followed a little girl here then she's gone" the boy created a shocked face "Are you a stalker?" she shakes her head in disbelief that someone like him said that. "No!" she's shakes her head as a sign of disapproval. "A pedophile?!" he questioned. "No way in hell! I'm 14 years old and being a pedo is creepy!" she rubs her arms and hands to make herself warm. The boy sighed and he is taking off his jacket "Woah woah woah slow down there you're calling me a pedo, so shall I call you a rapist?" the girl raised both of her hands. "Oh cmon don't be stupid, it's freezing" the girl bit her lip "Here" the guy offered his jacket to her and she took it. "Follow me you need to change that costume of yours" Mallory looked at the guy "Costume?" the guy looked back at her "Yeah you look weird come on now, you don't want to get killed by the people's eyes" he replied to her. "Hey wait, slow down" Mallory puts on the jacket and catches up with the guy.

"How come you said that I look weird, you're the one who looks weird" Mallory looks up and down, checking his Victorian attire. "Nope-" he got cut off by Mallory saying "Where did you got jacket then?" Mallory asked. "Oh I just saw that lying on the ground and it looks pretty cool" the boy answer then the girl snickers "Does that mean you don't know what a jacket is?" he stopped walking and tsk-tsked "We must get there now, hurry" he was about to hold the girl's hand but she refuses. "Hey one last question did you washed this?" the guy nods "Yeah I did, now can you please shut up" finally Mallory shuts her mouth and they continued. They are walking through the village's market. It is very quiet though, their voices are like whispers. Towns people are looking at Mallory. Sooner they almost reached a small house. The guy opened the door for her and said that he is welcoming her into his house. "Wait this is yours? not your parents?" Mallory asked "well it was theirs" she gets the point that the guy's parents had passed away when he was young. "You are lucky that I have clothes to offer to you and you need to wear it." he tosses the dress to her. "That way leads to the bathroom, if you need to take a bath there's hot water and clean soap and shampoo" she's about to go but "Uh wait you forgot this" he tosses the towel to her "That's clean" he added. "Thanks" the girl showed her gratitude by bowing then she goes to the bathroom. "When you're done just go to the kitchen, you'll find it easily, I'll prepare some snacks!" he shouted so she can hear it. Mallory secretly smiles and continues her bathe.

Afterwards she wore the Victorian attire. "Woah this is so... classic at the same time fancy just like the old fashion ways in Victorian era." looking at the mirror, she takes a turn and says "I feel like a cosplayer or more likely a child going for a trick or treat, if only I have a pumpkin basket I am ready to go posing for my IG" she laughs to herself and then frowns "Oh crap I forgot my phone just great" she goes to the lobby and looks for the kitchen. The aroma of chocolate wafts through the whole house, with that lovely scent she found the kitchen and saw the guy preparing cookies and waffles. "I'm sure you got a sweet tooth" the girl said to the guy which made the guy to look behind him. "Yeah you are correct, please take a seat" she sits down on the chair waiting for the snacks to be prepared. She got bored and she is now asking questions. "So how old are you?" Mallory asked "I'm 15 years old" she's surprised that the guy is one year older than her "Really?" she questions the age "yeah I am 15, too young to be a rapist right?" the guy smirks as he sets the waffles down to the table and gets two mugs to fill with hot chocolate. "Haha sorry" Mallory looks away. I'm sorry too" he pushes the plate with 2 waffles and 5 cookies toward her. "Here's your hot chocolate and I'll be getting the butter and the syrup" he goes to the counter to get the items then he goes back to the table and sits down at the other side of the table, facing her. He notices that she hasn't touched her food yet "Let's eat" he said. "Y-yeah sure" she stuttered. "Uhm may I know your name sir?" Mallory asked politely. "My name is Clay Nocturne, how about you?" he asked back and takes a bite from a cookie. "My name is Mallory Caereleus" she holds out her hand, "Nice to meet you Clay" he takes her hand and said that he is delighted to meet her. With Clay by her side she got company and she'll not be afraid of anything. Will he stay forever?