It was a matter of seconds before the car disappeared. The girl that had just been dropped off was now standing silently in front of a tall gate. Normally, she would have been freaking out, because honestly, who wouldn’t? This place seemed awfully sketchy, and she didn’t like that feeling. In fact, she didn’t like the feeling this whole island gave her.
So here she was. Alone on an island, not knowing what to expect. It didn’t matter anyway, if she was as far away from her family as possible, she was happy. Simple as that.
She sucked in a deep breath. Here goes nothing… She raised a hand to bang gently on the iron bars. “Anyone in there?” she called softly.
No answer. She tried to press up against the gate to see what was inside. To her right, stable stood. It seemed to be vacant however, since it was the dead of night. She sighed bitterly. Horses were never her thing, and likely never will be.
“Are you the new girl?” she jumped back, noticing a blonde girl peering curiously through the rusty bars.
“I guess?”
“You know, it’s awfully strange that you’re arriving at night. No one ever does that, besides, thanks to you they forced me to stay past my working hours.” The blonde sighed and began to unlocked the gates before continuing. “My name is Julie. Go through that passage on your left and Justin will be somewhere around.”
“Thanks.” Julie sent a sharp nod in return and proceeded to relock the gates.
The new girl immediately decided she didn’t like the place. New sounds, new sights, new smells, it wasn’t her thing. At all. She didn’t bother to stay and look around, all she wanted to do was find this Justin guy and go straight to bed, wherever she was staying. She wasn’t entirely pleased to be spending her summer here, but at least she could avoid her haunting memories from back home.
She could feel herself freezing up, there was no breeze, but shivers were creeping up her spine. Memories… My sweet memories…
No, no, no… Not the time or place Toni, not the time or place. Shaking her head she walked down the passage, it wasn’t time to think about the past, right now she had to talk to Justin and start something fresh on this new island, Jorvik.
Another gate blocking her path, just great. “Hello? Justin?”
“Over here, are you Antonia?”
“Silentfall, yeah, that’s me.”
“Hmm. You don’t seem that excited to be here.”
Toni raised her head, and glared at Justin dead in the eye. “I’m not!” she spat.
“Alright, alright. I’d love to come meet you but there’s some things I need to finish up.”
Toni lifted a brow skeptically . “This late?”
He chuckled back, “unfortunately.”
“Hmm,” she murmured back. This particular area of Jorvik gave her a sick feeling. Something was off about this, Toni knew it in her gut.
“Well, Julie already took your bags as I can see,” Justin said grinning. He was right, Toni’s bags were gone! While Toni was chatting, she must have taken them and slipped away unnoticed. Who knew someone like her could be so sly? “The rooms are at the end of the building. It’s the door labelled with your name. I’ll see you tomorrow”
“Okay, I guess.”
“Oh, and Antonia?”
“It’s Toni.”
“And Toni,” he smiled. “Welcome to Jorvik, I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time here.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I doubt it,” she replied. Without another word, Justin basically disappeared, and she began to trudge her way to the rooms.
Toni knew she should try to relax, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that a pair of eyes were trying hunting her down. And indeed there were.
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