Lonely

Chapter 6, Hanger

I was walking down my usual corridor, looking around. This was close to the door than I liked, but it was the only way to get to the stairs leading up to the spire. I heard a sound, and looked around. I froze and pressed myself against a stone wall. Had I gone to close to the door? Fear welled up inside of me. I looked at the cobble stones, trying to quiet my breathing. Maybe if I inched back a couple of steps, I would be back in the safe zone. Maybe I had missed the stairs going up to the spire. I was a little distracted. The uneven, soft noise came again. This must be a monster I had not yet seen, because it did not sound familiar. Although my eyes sight in the dark was nearly prefect, I could only see about fifty feet in front of my self before it faded into utter darkness. Of course, at the time I didn’t know that I only saw that way because it was dark. I couldn’t quite picture what it would be like in the light in my head. Just then, the creature making the noise came out of the blackness, and into my sight.

A creature more foreign to me than any mythical creature in the castle. Something I had never seen, and it scared me. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know if she saw me. I wondered if this may be a trap, a allusion, and they just looked like a like a girl, but if I got close it would attack. I stayed perfectly still. How had she even gotten so far into the castle? It would take days…

She was stumbling along, both hands on the stone walls. Her eyes darted all around her, and even skipped over me a couple times. She just kept coming, closer and closer. Her brown hair was mussed up and sticking in several directions, her clothes dirty. I could make out a bruise on her face, and a couple scratches. She could not have come in through the main door. The monsters would have killed her. She looked terrified. Freckles dotted her face, over the bridge of her nose. She came closer, and closer, and closer until she was just a foot away from me. She stopped, and I wondered why she couldn’t see me. I thought back to my readings of magazines and books….that’s right! It was uncommon for humans to be able to see in the darkness, wasn’t it? The thought seemed odd to me. But even as she started right at me, she couldn’t see me. I suppose she sensed something in front of her. She swallowed and slowly reached a hand out. I wanted to cringe away, but I was too curious. I had never been this close to another human before. She was short, only to about my chest. Slowly, her hand came towards me, and I didn’t move. She laid it flat against my stomach, and I stopped breathing. Her eyes widened as she felt my black shirt, then she opened her mouth and screamed. I didn’t know what to do, why she was screaming. I forgot that speaking made them feel better, and wrapped my hand around her mouth and dragged her off. I looked wildly around and spied the black door leading up the shirt stair case to the spire. She needed to be quiet. I was too close to the door for all of this noise, but I couldn’t just leave her behind. I dragged her quickly up the stars and let her go at the top.

She stumbled quickly away, pressing herself against the far wall. Her eyes searched frantically for me, but skipped over me. She sank down against the wall and began to cry. I could tell it was not a normal thing for her.

“Where are you? Come out!” she screamed. I remembered to talk, and sat down on the floor opposite of her, silently shutting the door that had lead us up to the spire. “I’m right here.” I said. She stopped screaming and looked around. Her facial features changed from frightened to brave, although the terror was still etched deep in her eyes. “Turn on a light, you freak! Let me see you!” she said weakly. I could tell she was putting up a good fight, but she was exhausted, and scared. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you. I am protecting you.” I said slowly. It was odd to hear my own voice again. “Where am I? Who are you? Let me go, turn n a light!” she shrieked, leaning her head against the wall in frustration. “My name is…Hanger. You’re in my castle, and there is no…light. I have never seen a light, in my entire life. And lease, keep your voice down. The creatures don’t like the noise.” I said calmly. We were fairly safe up here, but I didn’t want to take a chance. She looked shocked, and mildly confused. She must be going into shock…I thought she was, at least. I had read about that in a health magazine once before. “you don’t sound very old. I don’t believe you.” She mumbled. I sighed. I suppose it did sound a little outrageous, but I didn’t know that there were no monsters outside. I would have to do some explaining, because to get her out of the castle, we would have to go underground.