01. the unexpected

Vera hadn't been sure what to expect when she had been told that she would be living with her grandfather. After her mothers passing she had assumed the worst and thought she would be placed in foster care, when the case worker had informed her that they had tracked down her grandfather she was shocked. She barely had any memories of the man.

The house was small but neatly kept, the front lawn was mowed, and the bushes trimmed. Nerves had been bubbling inside her all day, from the drive over to right now as her and the case worker waited for someone to answer their knock on the door. When the door swung open Vera took in a deep breath.

An older man with gray and white hair answers the door, he wears dark blue jeans and a pair of boots along with a simple gray t-shirt. "Hi," the caseworker started as busted her eyes and looked away, "are you James Wilson?"

The older man's eyes had immediately focused on the younger girl, shifting slightly when he heard the case worker speak.

"Sir?" the case worker questioned again when the man didn't answer.

The older man's daze had broken as he finally responded, "Yes, Hi, sorry, yes im James." He answered by extending a hand for the woman to shake.

"Im Lisa Davis," the woman answer placing a soft hand on the girls shoulder and bring her closer into view, "and as you already know this is-"

"Vera." The older man finished.

The sound of her name leaving his mouth caused her to finally move her eyes to him, he had the same brown eyes as her mother, the eyes she didn't have, eyes that now held a hint of nostalgia as he looked at her.

"Um, Hi." Vera spoke, not sure of what else to say, the man was practically a stranger.

"Would you mind if I had a look around?" the social worker asked.

"Ofcouse, yeah, no problem."

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As soon as the social worker had left and the door had closed leaving James and Vera alone the two stood in awkward silence both unsure of what to say.

"I got a room ready for you." The older man said, finally breaking the thick tension in the room.

"Oh." Vera said, "Thanks."

"Here, I'll show you, so you can put all your stu-" the mans words cut off when he looked back at the girl who had nothing but a small backpack slung over her shoulder, "well, you can put your stuff in there and we can get you some more stuff if you'd like."

Vera nodded in thanks and watched as the man turned once again leading the way through the narrow hallway, she followed after him and stopped beside him when he paused in front of a closed door. Hr twisted the knob and pushed the door forward showing the expanse of the room.

There was a twin size bed in the corner of the room, along with a dresser and nightstand, there was also a lamp and stack of albums on the dresser. The thing that stood out the most was the purple comforter sprawled out on the bed, seeming out of place between the plain white walls and wooden furniture.

Seeing how Veras eyes caught on the bed the older man began to speak, "when you were little your favorite color was purple, I figured- I know it probably isn't anymore but I thought maybe-"

"It is," Vera interrupted, finally looking at the older man, "my favorite color, it's still purple."

To that the older man let a smile overcome his face, he looked proud of himself as he spoke, "well good then."

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The girl let out a sigh as she put away the last of her things, her grandfather had left her to have a minute alone and settle in. Things were awkward to say the least, especially because she had no idea what to call him, he was practically a stranger even though he seemed to remember her pretty well, she had almost no memories of him, calling him grandpa to his face would be so odd. Her room had a window that faced the neighboring house, only it faced another window and not the front lawn of the other house.

The girl sat down on the bed wondering how she would spend her next few hours in the house. Richard had said to make herself comfortable and to feel free to do what she wanted, but she wasn't comfortable to just start rummaging through his belongings to find a suitable activity to fight her boredom.

Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention drawing her eyes back to the window. She saw a boy, probably around the same age as her, climbing out of the window of what she assumed to be his own house with what looked like a crossbow in his hands. Then she saw the boy trudge off, bow in hand towards the tree line.

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Vera didn't know what possessed her to leave the house and follow the same path as the boy but she did it nevertheless. She had asked James before she left if it was okay for her to go on a walk, however she neglected to mention the boy she had seen or where exactly she had been walking. The older man had just told her to be careful and to be back before the sun went down.

Although she wasn't exactly following him and couldn't see him, she was walking the same way she had seen him enter the woods, curious to where he was going and what he was doing.

She had lost him soon after entering the tree line, so she made her own way wandering in the woods, following straight ahead so she would be able to turn around and find her way back without a problem.

the girl had heard the rustle of leaves and watched as a rabbit moved through the trees, she smiled at the animal when suddenly she say something glide through the air and she saw an arrow plant itself in the animals body, she let out a quiet gasp and jumped slightly as she looked around her to see where it had come from.

low and behold the boy from next door stood, crossbow still up in the air and eyes trained right on her.

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