"Hello!" A middle-aged woman stood up and offered her hand to Veda. She took the woman's hand. "Hey!" Veda tried to sound enthusiastic. Her mother motioned for the chair opposite of herself. Her mother started, "this is my friend Monique from work." She motioned at the older woman. "This is her husband Jerry, her two daughters Mia and Tia. They're twins, and 11 years old. Oh, and then this is their eldest son, Ian." Veda looked at him, she had met him before.
He was the boy from her math class, the one that had his arms wrapped around her earlier at school. Veda shot him a look, and he responded with another. "Veda, be polite." Her mother said quietly, with small hostility. "Of course, so Mia, Tia, what school do you guys go to?" Veda asked, taking her seat next to Ian. "Lakewood Elementary!" They answered synchronously. "Oh, I went there too. Who's your homeroom teacher?" Veda tried to make her voice as polite sounding as possible, if she could get through this dinner maybe her mother would leave her alone for a while. "Elion." Tia answered. "Oh, yeah, she's kinda strict but if you get on her good side you won't have any trouble at all." Veda reassured, picking up a biscuit from the center plate on the table. Mia scowled. "So, I hear you and Ian both go to the same school? Do you know each other?" Monique asked.
"Um-" Ian shot her a sheepish smirk, then went back to looking like she was about to be stabbed. "Yeah, kinda. We have, like, one class together?" Veda smiled awkwardly. "Oh, that's wonderful! What class?" Monique pressed. "Geometry?" Veda said, as more of a question. Before anyone else could interject to change the topic, Tia whined, "I'm bored! I wanna do something!" "Me too!" Mia agreed. "Well, how about this, girls? Veda can take you upstairs, and you can play in her room while we talk shop?" Her mother asked. The girls shot her a confused look, "yeah to the first part!" Mia darted up the stairs, and Tia came between Veda and Ian, yanking Veda's arm.
"Ian, why don't you go too and make sure that the girls aren't giving her any trouble?" Monique asked him. "Yeah." He picked up the napkin off of the table and wiped his mouth.
Before Veda could refuse, she was pulled away from the table. They reached her room, and headed inside. She sat on the lower bunk of the bed while the girls went ravaging through her closet. "Do you want to come sit down?" Veda asked Ian, who was leaning on the wall by the door. "No." He answered. "Okay", Veda mumbled under her breath. Mia asked, "why do you have a bunk bed if it's just you?" "Um, this was my and my brother's bed. That's why it's a bunk bed." She answered.
"Where is he then?" Tia asked. "Not… here-" "What, like he's not home?" Tia interrupted. "No, he um-...he, he died." Veda felt tears swelling up behind her eyes, she tried not to let them fall. "Oh, then you should get rid of this, get a pretty bed that doesn't look like it's for a boy." Mia added. Veda thought, I do not like children. In an effort to keep from crying, Veda made a mad face and stared at the floor. Ian walked over and sat down next to her.
"They get to you already?" He whispered in her ear. "Nope", she stood up, brushing him off. "So, like what do you wear?" Mia asked her, pulling out a flannel from the closet. "It looks witchy, like this." Tia pulled out a long shirt with lace markings around the chest. "It's not witchy." Veda sighed, wondering what other things she could be doing with her free time. "Kids! Time to go!" Monique yelled up the stairs. "Aww!" The girls whined. Soon enough, the family had left and Veda retreated to her room. She grabbed Oliver's pillow, climbed up to her bed, and fell asleep.
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Veda woke up confused. It was dark, cold, and unnerving. She sat up, grasping the side of her head. A random pain, though she didn't know what it originated from. A light shined down above her, and Veda stood to follow it. The light seemed to move, so she chased it until it had disappeared. A voice followed, "do not trust that boy. You stay away from him, little one." It snickered. "What, who?" Veda asked, confused.
Boy? She thought. "From your school, the tall one with dark hair, Veda. He's dangerous to you." It hissed. "Really? 'Cause I think you're the most dangerous thing for me right now? He's some random kid, I doubt he'd do something." She responded.
"Very well." There was a long pause. "Very we-?" Veda asked, though she was cut off. "You have been warned. Don't come crying to me when the newly inevitable happens", it warned. Veda awoke in her bedroom, in silence.
"Veda get up for school!" Her mother yelled up the stairs. "Well, so much for the silence." She scoffed quietly. "Can you hear me?" Her mother asked. "Got it! Give me ten!" She yelled out of the door before shoving it closed and walking over to her dresser. Startled, Veda jumped back. Oh god, what is that? She thought, pulling her hand over her heart.
In the mirror, there were dancing shadows, taunting her. Enticing her to the mirror. She stepped forward, grabbing a shirt from one of her drawers. She chucked the shirt at the shadow, and then came a loud shattering. Veda closed her eyes, and covered her face with her forearms. She then heard her mother screaming. "Veda! Are you okay? Is everything okay?" Her mother twisted the handle, to find that it was locked.
"Veda open the door" She yelled. "No, it's okay. I'm fine, I'm fine. I just broke my mirror." She answered. "And how in the world did you do that?" Her mother asked, twisting the handle once again. "Uhm, I thought I saw a spider, so I threw my shirt at it." Veda winced, a piece of glass had pierced her forearm. "Damn." She muttered under her breath. "Oh gods, child. You have to leave soon, get to it. I'll go to the store and look for a new mirror after work." She headed down the stairs, leaving Veda alone in her thoughts. Well the figure's gone. She thought, shrugging her shoulders. She quickly pulled on leggings and a tee-shirt and jogged down the stairs. Veda looked at the time on the oven, and cursed under her breath. "I'm going to be late!" She rushed out the door.
Her father had said something, but she was gone before he could finish. Veda hurried to school, and made it just in time. The school day went slowly, and after Veda wasn't so sure she wanted to go straight home. She walked, and decided to go back to that forest. If the shadows were everywhere, even in her bedroom, she might as well go see the beauty of that forest once again. She thought that maybe she had a past life or something to that degree, and she was thoroughly entertained coming up with other theories of the shadows. Maybe she was just losing her mind, who knows. She reached the forest and leaned against a tree. What déjà vu. She thought, watching the colored leaves fall down in the wind.
Veda heard the crack of a branch behind her. Her shoulders tensed, she held her phone at her side. She looked over and saw a figure in a sweater with the hood up, so she couldn't see the face. "Veda?" They asked. The voice sounded masculine, so I'll assume it's a guy. She thought, putting her hand into her purse. "I'm not going to do anything. I just need to talk to you." He said. "Yeah-huh. Have fun with that." Found it! She thought, her hand on the small covered blade.
"You can put the pepper spray away. Please, I just want to talk." He pleaded. "Yeah, you're not very convincing. We can have a conversation from a distance. Wait, did you follow me here? Who are you?" She asked, eying him suspiciously. He pulled his hood back, and ran a hand through his hair. "Ian? What could you possibly want to talk about?" She asked, letting go of the blade.
"You can see them, can't you?" He asked. She fake laughed, "See them? I think you're losing it, dude." She tried to fake laugh again, but it wouldn't come out. "No, I don't think I am." He came closer. Veda tried to back up, but hit the tree behind her. Her hand searched the bag, desperately trying to find the blade again before he got too close for comfort.
"Get away from me." She said defensively. "You're already one of them, aren't you?" He asked suspiciously, now 10 feet away from her. "One of whom?" She asked, the panic setting in. "You know what I'm talking about, stop playing stupid Veda!" He was getting angry, that wasn't good.
"Just stay back, Ian, go away. I don't know what you're talking about." He leaned over her now, trapping her against the tree. She squinted, the sun blinding her. "Let me leave." She ordered. He put his arm over her head, shielding her from the light. "Ian-" "Veda, I am trying to protect you, okay? Would you let me do that for god's sake?" He asked, moving his arm back down.
"Please don't freak out, there's one behind you." She said, beginning to shake. Another one had appeared, and she was trapped here. Veda reached for her blade, but he grabbed her wrist. "Don't, it's not going to do anything. They aren't human, they have no skin, there's nothing to cut." He reasoned. "Kay', then what do we do here?" She asked worriedly. "We run."