Where She Went

House Party...More Like Invasion

The next two days went by quietly. Talia hung out with a couple of friends, and even went to workout with a couple of the teams she was on from school. Talia loved sports. She put all of her adventurous and outgoing energy into basketball, softball, and volleyball. Her broad, strong build along with her naturally sweet and sassy personality served her well during athletics. She was a valuable player and had a knit-tight relationship with everyone on the team. She would truly miss being on a team when she left for college.

On Friday afternoon, Talia kissed her mother goodbye, and went about her own business. She looked at possible scholarships that she was eligible to apply for, and then went over to a friend's house and watched movies for a couple of hours. She got back to the house around 6:00 p.m., just in time to make herself some dinner.

Talia opened both the fridge and the pantry and made a note to herself to thank her mom when she got back. The fridge and pantry were fully stocked for the weekend, and were filled with all of Talia's favorite foods. Carbs. She decided to make herself some pasta and potatoes and later​ relax with some ice cream and a book.

As she was settling with some Ben and Jerry's Phish Food ice cream on a beanbag chair, she heard a loud knocking on the front door. What? Who comes knocking on the door at 7:30 p.m.? Haven't they heard of ringing the doorbell? All these questions flooded through Talia's mind as she got up with an annoyed scowl on her face as she got up to answer the door. She almost let out a yelp of surprise as she faced what was on the other side.

Talia came face-to-face with one of the largest men she'd seen in her life. Not only was he tall, but he was broad in build and had an extremely harsh appearance. He had a long, dark beard and was half bald with tattoos on his forehead. What really caught Talia's attention was how he was dressed. The man looked like a Viking who'd just pillaged a medieval village! He was wearing some kind of armor along with furs and a cloak. All Talia could do was stare and wonder what caused him to knock on her door.

"Dwalin, at your service." the man greeted, giving Talia a small bow. Talia couldn't help but be a little apprehensive, not even this man's greeting was friendly. She didn't even know what that was supposed to mean.

"Um, no thanks. I'm a strong, independent woman, and I don't need your service." she responded as she began to close the door. Talia was met with an unexpected force pushing the door open, and the man let himself in. "Whoa! Do we know each other?" she asked, narrowing her eyes in clear irritation. The man called "Dwalin" furrowed his eyebrows.

"No." was the simple response. Talia closed the door to her house and followed cautiously behind Dwalin, not before grabbing her iPhone though. "Which way lassie? Is it down here?" he asked, looking down the hall that led to the bedrooms.

"Um, is what down where?" Talia asked, confused.

"Supper. He said there'd be food, and lots of it." he said, and turned away from the hall and headed towards the kitchen.

"Wait, he said? Who said? Who's he?" Talia asked, mostly to herself.

Other than those questions, she was at a loss for words. She didn't know what to do. It was clear that this guy wouldn't leave if she asked him to, and she couldn't threaten him, no doubt he'd crush her in an instant. He was so large, she felt like a little child standing in front of him. After a few seconds of some not-so-thorough thinking, Talia decided to keep her phone close and follow him, she also had to make sure that he didn't steal anything.

She found Dwalin searching through the pantry, and she was amazed! He wasn't lying! He really was looking for dinner! Talia began to feel a little better about this. It didn't look like he'd be stealing anything (besides her food) and he hardly paid her any attention. When he seemed to be satisfied with the mountain of food that he'd gathered, he made his way to the dining table. After a few minutes of what seemed like to Talia, an uncomfortable silence, she decided that she had to break it.