(no subject)
CRASH
“Oops.”
The four thirteen year olds looked at the vase which, moments ago, had been sitting on the end table, fully intact. Now the pieces were scattered across the floor of the living room.
Teagan, Damien, Micah and Cass just stared at the remains of the vase, silently calculating the time it would take to get rid of the evidence of their crime, like they did this type of thing all the time. Which, they kind of did.
“My aunt gave us that,” Teagan moaned, her face scrunching up in exasperation. “We’re going to-“
Before she could finish, they heard footsteps coming towards them, with a voice calling out from down the hall, asking what had happened.
“Run!”
“Hide!”
They ran out of the room, and down the hall, Damien in the lead. He was taller than the girls, and as a result, the fastest. He lead them up the stairs, down another hallway, and abruptly stopped in front of the last door, causing the girls to run into him. ”In here.”
Teagan shook her head when she realised what door they were standing in front of. “But my dads said not to go in that room.” She quickly glanced in the direction they had just come from. “Ever.”
“They also said don’t break anything,” Micah reminded her, as she pushed past and opened the door. “Now come on.”
They stood in an almost empty room. Pushed up against the far wall, was a rectangular object, covered in a dusty sheet. The four teens frowned, wondering why a room like this might be off limits. They pulled the sheet off, revealing a large wooden wardrobe.
“If this is meant to be a metaphorical ‘coming out of the closet’ thing about your dads,” Damien said, still looking at the wardrobe. ”I think that ship has sailed.”
Teagan gave Damien a look, while Cass and Micah muttered something rhyming with ‘thick bread’ under their breath.
“You did not just say that.”
The sound of approaching footsteps, and voices, on the other side of the door startled them back into ‘hit-and-run’ mode.
“Quick, into the wardrobe.”
The girls quickly slipped into the wardrobe. Damien closed the door behind them, enveloping them into darkness.
“One question, though.”
“Yeah?”
“Why are we hiding? They’re gonna know it was us.”
“Well- Ow. Damien, you’re standing on my foot.”
“Sorry.”
“Cass, move.”
“You stop pushing me then.”
And with that, they all came toppling down, landing on the ground with a light thud, and a small ‘oof!’
“What the…”
“Where are we?”
“I don’t care,” came Micah’s muffled voice. “Get off me.”
Getting to their feet, they lightly dusting themselves off. No longer in the wardrobe, (or were they still?) the four teens stood in a clearing, surrounded by a forest, covered in a layer of white. A flickering lantern stood in the middle of the clearing.
Teagan looked up, putting her hand out to catch a falling snowflake, “It’s snowing.”
“That’s weird,” Cass mused. “I mean, it’s the middle of summer.”
Micah rolled her eyes, and Damien grinned, clearly amused. ”The fact that it’s snowing in the middle of summer is weird to you… but the whole ‘we’re in a wardrobe’ thing, isn’t.”
“Shut up.”
Cass bent down, and scooped up a handful of snow. She hurled it at Damien, hitting him square in the face. He wiped it off, a wicked smile on his face, and retaliated with a snowball of his own. Cass quickly ducked, and Damien’s snowball hurtled into the back of Micah’s head. She turned around, and Damien was smart enough to stop smiling. Teagan and Cass laughed as Damien tried, and ultimately failed, to avoid Micah, who caught him, and started shoving snow down his pants.
And so the man went unnoticed as he approached them. Well, I’m not sure you could call him a man, for while he had the upper body of one, below his waist, his body was covered in fur, and rather than feet, he had hooves. Tiny horns poked out from his curly hair.
He cleared his throat, causing them to look up, and he saw their faces turn to bewilderment, as one by one they took in his appearance. He smiled, a little bemusedly. ”And who, may I ask, are you four?”