The Unseen

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

I swallowed hard and I heard Rashal stumble over her own feet. She had worse to fear. After all, I was the one who could run super fast and get out of there in no time if The Wolf turned out to be a threat. I'd never even consider it, but I was perfect for running away from dangerous things. That was at least one thing my speed was useful for in a fight.

Pfft. Like I would leave Rashal alone if The Wolf was actually here. She was my best friend.

"Wait," I whispered to her, holding her back by sticking out my arm. I also managed to block her from falling against the door. I didn't want her to make a loud noise, in case The Wolf actually was inside the building.

Rashal raised her eyebrows at me.

"What?" she whispered back, slightly annoyed, but also a little grateful that I had stopped her fall.

"I'm going to check the window to see if he is here." I let my arm drop away and I removed my other hand from the doorknob. She stepped back. "Stay here, and keep out of sight of the windows and the road." She knelt down and nudged herself into a bush. That was Rashal; always a little dramatic. Luckily she could take her personality into drama club at school.

I bent over in a crouch and cautiously made my way to the window, making sure to do the same as I told Rashal; stay clear, and out of sight. I made it to the side of the nearest window without being seen. At least, I thought I hadn't been seen. How did I not think of this before? Checking to make sure The Wolf wasn't home was probably a good idea.

I fell to my knees, crawled over to the bottom of the window, and glanced back to where Rashal was hiding. She was trying to dig herself further back into the bushes, so her blond hair was getting leaves tangled in it. She looked wild, which was very unlike herself. It made me want to laugh, but it wasn't the appropriate time.

"Shh," I said quietly back to her, trying to speak quietly enough so if anybody was possibly inside then they couldn't hear.

She stopped wriggling and stared at me with trust in her wide blue eyes. I felt my heart sink as I realized that she truly trusted me to get her out of here alive. As her friend, that was what I planned on doing, but what if I failed? What if I let her down?

"If he sees me or anything, when I say run, you run as fast as you can. Do you understand?" I said in a low voice, trying to brush away the frightening thoughts.

Rashal nodded.

I slowly rose off the ground, and once my eyes met level with the bottom of the window, I stopped. I searched around the room with my silvery eyes glinting back at me in reflection. No Wolf. I sighed in relief and slumped back to the ground.

"It's clear," I said to Rashal, not loud but not so low as we had spoken before. She got to her feet and followed me to the door. Now I could openly laugh at her leaf-creature appearance.

"What?" she said, puzzled, patting her hair and glancing down at her clothes. Her white tights were stained green. "Oh."

I picked a leaf out of her blond hair and held it in front of her nose. She grimaced and tried to comb the rest of the leaves out with her fingers. When that failed, she reached inside her purse for her ever faithful comb.

"No," I said. "Not now. Comb your hair when we get out of here. It's still dangerous. The Wolf could return any minute, so hurry."

I dug in my pocket, pulled out the key I had found by the field, and walked the rest of the short distance to the door. Taking a deep breath, I stuck the key in the lock. I was just clinging to my hope that this would actually work. I held my breath and felt Rashal's hand take my elbow and tighten there. The key slid in easily, and I turned it slowly.