Lonely

Chapter 59, Hanger

I sat in our bedroom, the door shut, the lights out, in the dark. It wasn’t like the castle, but I could think better when I was in the dark. The yelling from the kitchen had finally stopped, and I knew Sadie would come in soon. She was right, I thought. They both were. The door opened and light spilled in, but it wasn’t Sadie. It was Sophia, dressed in pink pajamas, her hair in French braids thanks to Levy and Liam. She pulled her thumb out of her mouth. “Can I sleep with you guys?” she asked in her little girl voice. I sat up, and she came closer. “What’s wrong?” I knew very little about kids, and didn’t really know what to do. “They won’t stop fighting, and I can’t sleep, and Ariadne or Roxi won’t let me in their bed.” She said ungrammatically. She shut the door behind her and came over to the bed. “Please? I promise I won’t ask for anything.” She said. I sighed.

“Alright. Sadie will be in soon, though.” I said. Sophia didn’t say anything. She climbed onto the bed and curled into a ball, her thumb on her mouth, pieces of blonde hair coming out of her braids. I inched away from her and lied back down, waiting for Sadie. Sophia sighed in her sleep and rolled over so she had her head on my stomach. Her thumb fell out of her mouth. I lied perfectly still, unsure of what to do and not wanting to move in case I woke her. I rested my hand on her head. I closed my eyes and told my self I would just shut them for a minute.

I dreamt that I was in a field. It was oval shaped, and had long, brown colored grass swaying gently in the breeze. It was quiet, and lonely, ringed by trees. I shut my eyes for a second, and when I opened them I found myself in the middle of a raging battle. Monsters ran all around, fighting. My friends were scattered all over the place, even the little kids were fighting and holding there own. The one person I didn’t see. Sadie. A low growl rose over all the other sounds, and I followed it to a spot on the edge of the trees. Familiar mahogany brown hair shined in the light. Sadie was limp on the ground, the dog like monster crouched over her. I choked on a scream and ran forward. I stumbled on something and fell on my face.

I woke with a start and almost screamed Sadie’s name. Before I could, her familiar scent broke into my consciousness.  I turned my head and found her face only an inch from mine. Her lips were parted slightly, and she was sound asleep. I touched her lips, and she stirred. “Hanger? Something wrong?” she murmured, half asleep. “No, everything’s fine. Go back to sleep.”  She squirmed closer to me, her eyes resting on Sophia for a moment. She smiled and drifted back to sleep, her head on my shoulder. I stared at the ceiling. I was no longer tired and had no interest in closing my eyes again. I didn’t want to see that dream again. I knew the feeling it had left me with was just a hint of what I would actually feel if I ever lost Sadie. Sophia grumbled something about Roxi messing with the T.V. and rolled over so her back was against my side.

I lied in bed for a while, staring at the ceiling. Finally, my legs began to become restless. I looked at the clock. It was almost four. I sighed and scooted out from underneath Sadie, replacing my shoulder with a pillow, then crawled over Sophia and onto the floor, and from there to the door. The hallway was dark and silent as I made my way down it with no sound. I assumed everyone was asleep. Then I realized there was a faint light coming from the living room. I poked my head around the corner to see Max sprawled on the couch, his feet dangling over the edge. I shifted my eight, purposefully making the floor squeak. Max shoved something in his pocket and looked at me. I came in and sat down in a chair. “Why aren’t you sleeping?” I asked.

“I could ask you the same question.” He said. I didn’t say anything. He shifted on the couch. “What’s wrong?” Damn his special ability. “Nothing.” He tilted his head.

“Don’t lie to me. I feel what you feel.” He reminded me. I wanted to roll my eyes. “It was just a dream.” I muttered. Max paused, thinking. “About Sadie.Something bad.” It wasn’t a question he was asking. “How do you know?” I grumbled irritably. “You two have something stronger than anything I’ve ever felt. You don’t need my ability to see that, though. Anyways, I’m guessing she is the only one who can bother you this much.” I almost smiled. “You should take Opra’s place.” I said. He grinned and shrugged. “I thought about it.” We sat in silence for a few minutes. “What were you playing with before I got here?” I asked. Max dug around in his pocket and pulled out a picture with a string attached. At the end of the string was penny with a hole in the center. He held it up for me to see. There were two people in it. One was Max, when he was younger. A few years ago, maybe. Next to him was a little girl with braided red hair. She looked a little like him. “Who’s the girl?” I asked. He brought it closer to himself.

“My little sister, Maggie.” He said, staring at the picture. “What happened to her?” he looked up at me. “She was killed. By those things that followed us our entire life. Arianna was heartbroken. She reminded me of that tonight, when she and Sadie were fighting. Ever since then she’s always been a little protective.” He said, looking at the picture again. “I never had any siblings. That I know of.” I said. Max nodded. “Sometimes I wished that I never had either, because I missed her so much I was angry with her. Now, I can’t picture my old life any other way.” He said thoughtfully. He looked up suddenly, looking mildly surprised that he had said so much. “You should go back to sleep.” He muttered. A wave of lethargy suddenly swept over me, and I got up and stumbled back to our room, where I crawled back in between Sophia and Sadie. Sadie sighed and put her arm across my chest.

Now that I was away from Max, the tired feeling wasn’t nearly as strong. I would be able to fall asleep, I thought, hoping that would be a good thing. I had not known that Max had ever had a sibling. The only one of us that had said anything about it was the twins, and that was fairly obvious. Sophia trembled in her sleep and whimpered. I wondered what a little girl could have seen in her short life. Ariadne and Roxi took great care to shelter Sophia from many things, but some things, it was impossible to do so. I thought about after the war, when me and Sadie could go off by ourselves, and knew that would never happen. Even if this war went well for us and ended in good time, Sadie and I would never be able to leave the others behind like that. They were as much a part of our life as we were of theirs. Plus, I knew the guys would never let us get away with it and would probably track us down.

I scanned the room in the dark, thanking my ability to see in the dark. It was handy. Maybe one day I would go back to the castle. I would make windows and renovate it, let light in and make it like a big mansion. Still kind of a creepy one, but who cares? I rested my cheek on the top of Sadie’s head and shut my eyes. Thinking into the future to much often led me into trouble.

Hey guys, sorry for the wait! I'm usually better about updating!! I promise I'll be better!!:)