Beyond The Walls (NOW ON AMAZON!!!)

Confusion

The world revealed itself slowly to Hadley. Her fingertips caressed starchy material with intermittent stiff folds. The material smelt clean. There was no other way to describe it. Just that it was a crisp, clean scent. A soap without fragrance. This wasn't the Compound. The ladies working at the laundry room were well-known for crafting linen soap with scents that matched the season, usually something strongly floral for this time of spring. The space Hadley was in was also much larger than any Compound cubicle because the bed she lay on was massive in comparison to a cubicle cot, with a thicker, softer, more comfortable mattress than she'd ever slept on.

She may not have known where she was, but she was certain of one thing.

She was still alive.

"Welcome back."

Hadley's eyes snapped open at the stranger's voice. Green paisley wallpaper. A bed that could fit five of her, with four chocolate brown corner posts connected to a matching frame at the top and cream bed curtains, drawn and tied against each post. The linen on the bed was dark green with the stiff folds and creases in it that Hadley had noticed before all over them. The woman who had spoken sat on a chair next to a vanity table, both made of the same wood as the bed. The vanity had no items on it, not even a mirror.

The woman had a warm smile on her face.

"Where am I?" Hadley asked.

"My home."

Hadley studied the woman for a moment. She had skin only slightly darker than Hadley's, tightly curled hair that was shaved and combed into an immaculate afro, and intense dark brown eyes that pierced through Hadley's. She wore a simple brown long-sleeved frock with a standing band collar and cream-coloured buttons that ran from her neck to just below her bosom. The dress reached her ankles. A simple pair of soft soled brown leather boots peeked from under the hem.

"How did I get here?" Hadley asked.

"I found you collapsed in the forest. I brought you here." the woman replied.

The memory played back in Hadley's mind. The cave of horrors. The battle with the vampire dogs. Ruqwik literally killing the chance to start a new life in Trisca's Enclave...

"...Jamila!" Hadley gasped.

"Pardon?"

"Jamila. My friend. She was in the forest with me! Did you see her?"

"You're the only one I brought back here." the lady said motioning to the room.

"But did you see her? There was a vampire too."

The lady's aura switched, and she snarled her next words. "Are you a vampire sympathiser?"

Hadley was taken aback by the acid in the woman's voice and forced her mind to slow down and focus. She shook her head.

"I care nothing for vampires," Hadley's voice was low and cold, and deeply sincere. "They've taken everything from me!"

The lady's face turned back to the warm, homely, and gentle look it held before. The look softened her. She couldn't have been that much older than Hadley's mother.

"That's good to hear, dearie." The lady said. "Not the part about them taking everything from you. That's all they ever do – take, take, take. But it's good to know you hate them too."

Hate was a bit of a strong word. Hadley was going for more of indifference. Incapacitate and run. Don't give them your undue energy or the time of day. That sort of thing. Hate denoted energy. Energy that Hadley just didn't care to waste anymore on vampires.

But she held her tongue.

"You're not a Wildling, are you, dearie?" the woman asked.

Hadley shook her head.