VIVIAN
The first thing I noticed was a strange cacophony of noise that assailed my ears, but the sounds were so strange that I couldn't decipher their meaning. Once my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I took in the astonishing sight before me: a fully-furnished sitting room. There were a long couch flanked by night stands with large ornaments on top, a low table, bookcases laden with what must have been hundreds of books, another low table opposite the couch, bearing a black framed panel, and a cupboard with glass doors, displaying small framed portraits, painted plates, and silver dishes and candlesticks. Across from me, on the far side of the long room, was a wall of bumpy glass, extending from almost as low as the floor all the way to the ceiling. The bumps had a similar pattern to a turtle's shell and covered with regular, deliberate, tightly-packed scratches that made whatever was on the other side appear blurred. The bright light was coming through it.
