The Company I Keep
The bang of my window shutting woke me. I swung my torso upright and glanced around my room nervously. Darkness clouded my vision; I sensed presence.
"Shhh, please don't scream. Please, please, please don't." A delicate, feminine voice startled me. Cold hands covered my mouth, stifling my screams. Five minutes passed; I continued to thrash around in the inescapable steel girder- like arms that held me rigid. Questions racked my brain as I sat confused and frightened about what was happening to me. "Right, I'm going to let you go now, but swear that you won't scream the place down. Give me a chance to explain. Okay?" I nodded in response staring into the strange yellow eyes that glowed subtly in the dark. Should I scream? Her thin, slender arms began to loosen, letting me move a little. Finally the hands came away from my mouth. I exhaled.
"Who are you and why are you in my room?!" I enquired rudely, scrambling backwards away from the dark figure in front of me. I pulled myself towards the headboard of my bed.
"My name is Alice. I got in your room via the open window. I don't want to hurt you at all. I'm here because it's safe for me. I'm hiding from my brother. He wants to know something, and I've promised that I won't tell him. He would never come into someone's home like this... he'll never find me. I think." The petite figure flitted towards my light switch; my eyes were adjusting to the dark, I was beginning to see things. The light flicked on. In my presence was a small girl, no taller than 5 foot. Her slight figure was dressed in a cocktail dress and black tights, as if she was on her way to a fancy dinner. Her hair was jet black and short, yet she still retained her femininity. She watched my scrutiny and grinned. "You probably want to know how I got in your window. Well, let's just say that I'm not... 'Normal'. And nor is the rest of my family."
Slowly, I began to pull myself together, despite adrenaline still coursing through my body. My breathing began to slow, and I started to process the things that 'Alice' had been saying.
I nodded in reply to the tiny girl. "How old are you?" I asked surprised about how confident my voice sounded.
"Well, technically, I'm sixteen."
"Technically?" I repeated, confused.
"Long story short, it's complicated." She sighed and pushed her lips to the side in thought. Realising that I was actually tired, I slipped under the covers and scooted down the bed. I was beginning to feel relaxed in her presence.
"So, you're hiding from y-your brother? Why in my room?" I stammered.
"You were the only person I foresaw letting me in and not screaming – which I thank you immensely for – so I decided that your house would be best. Oh, and I apologise for startling you." She smiled and perched lightly on the end of my bed. "I'll only be here for a little while, feel free to go back to sleep. Trust me, I'm no criminal, I won't steal your things or kill you," she giggled "so yeah, just feel free. So, you're Bella right?" I ignored that fact that she said 'foresaw' and knew my name. I was pretty sure that her reply was going to be: "It's complicated". I dropped the subject.
"Yes, I'm ... Bella. So, you do this often? You know, the whole, sneaking into people's rooms and staying for ... how long?"
"Um, no. I don't do this often. Actually this is the first time. I guess I just haven't needed to hide before. Oh and maybe a couple of hours... if that's okay. I don't want to seem like I'm 'intruding or something'." A high pitched giggle escaped her lips, I grinned at her sarcasm.
An hour had passed. Light conversation had flowed between us; I'd given up on sleeping, the idea of having a stranger in my room wasn't the best thought to have in my head. Suddenly, Alice's head flicked to the window. I watched her curiously.
"Oh crap." Alice danced off my bed and ducked under it. There was a loud thud aboveme on my roof. I jumped. Nervously, I pulled the covers to my face, looking upwards at my ceiling shivered. "I should have known he'd find me. You don't mind if I let him in, do you?"
"Well, what's another stranger..." I sighed and gestured towards the window. Alice hopped onto my bed and tapped the window open.
Within a second, a dark figure flashed into my room with inhumane speed. Stunned, I sat up again, wanting the support of my bed frame.
"Bella, Edward. Edward, Bella." Alice sighed in resignation that she had been found. And then I saw him.
Perfect features, bronze hair, black eyes differing to those of Alice; he was the meaning of purity and beauty. The definition exactly; in the presence of such a person, I blushed a deep red and look down at my bed cover gathering my thoughts.
"Alice, I need to talk to you... in private." Edward sighed. For the first time since he came through my window, his beautiful eyes were on me. He stared, his curiosity heavy and obvious. I shied away from his stare, like the coward I was, and cast my eyes down once again.
A second passed, and in the time that I took to blink, he was an inch away from me. His finger was under my chin, tilting it upwards. I couldn't escape his stare now. He continued to gaze, but there was frustration there. He dropped my head in an instant, and jumped out of my window.
"Alice..." I gasped.
"Well, that was rude of him. Oh well. Whatever you did or thought made him forget about why he was angry with me, which, of course, I already knew that would happen." She smiled.
"What are you Alice?" I decided that I would ask about Edward's weird behaviour later.
"I'm just different Bella. Please, for now, let's leave it at that. Whatever I say that isn't human-like, please ignore it. I'm not good a pretending I'm not myself. Anyway. I must be off. Things to do, people to see, family to sort out..."
"At this time of night?" I questioned.
"Early risers, you see." Alice winked. "Can I visit tomorrow night? There's something about you Bella Swan. You're fascinating. Edward thought so too. Well, thanks Bella, really. This meant a lot."
With one graceful dive, Alice jumped out of my window. I sat in my bed. The last two hours had been surreal – two strangers in my room, both with secrets that I did not know. I got out from under the covers and peered out of my window, looking for any traces of how they got in. No traces, nothing. I sunk back into bed, confused. Whatever had happened tonight had made me curious. It was official. They definitely weren't human.
It took a while for me to sleep that night. The thousands of thoughts buzzing round my head continued to question me constantly. It didn't help that my mum knocked on the door when I was finally relaxing a bit. She opened my door and peered inside, releasing a pool of orangey light.
"Mum?"
"I heard talking... and banging. What was it about?" I sighed, and shuffled in my bed trying to buy myself more time to try and come up with an answer.
"Oh, I didn't hear talking... but the banging was me. My book fell on the floor." I gestured towards a random book that I didn't put away. Thank the Lord that my bedroom was still in a mess from yesterday. And thank the Lord that my parents' room was right down the hallway.
"Oh... that makes sense. I thought, well I don't know what I thought!" She laughed and shut the door carefully and whispered good night to me. She was so easy to fool; her thoughts never set in stone; so easy to sway. But after that confrontation with my mum, much to my delight, I couldn't keep my eyes open. Within minutes I was asleep.