Lonely

Chapter 11, Hanger

I hope anyone reading is enjoying!!! I would love some comments!!! thanks, Lydia

Sadie stumbled for the billionth time. She must be getting tired, I thought. “Let’s stop for a while.” I said. I was also tired, but I didn’t want us both to sleep at the same time. I looked around. There was a rock ledge lining the wall for whatever reason, and I steered Sadie towards it. She felt with her hands until she felt the smooth rock platform, then simply fell onto it and was out before too long. I’d read that being stressed could do that to you. I sat down at her feet. Several of the same type of monster had been scampering about. Or maybe it was the same one, and we were being followed. That thought made me shiver. I had never seen this little one. It had wide eyes for seeing in the dark, and was a startling shade of red with black spines on its pointed tail. It had strange whisker things coming out of its face and it walked on all fours, darting stupidly from one side of the road in front of is. Sadie twitched in her sleep. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t let her sleep for hours. It had to be short. Short sleep equaled long term survival in my head. The familiar scurrying noise came and I stood up, looking around. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something red dart away. Without thinking, I sprang after it. I found myself back in a small area, but the creature was nowhere to be seen. A sudden thought hit me and I sprinted silently back to where Sadie was sleeping. Sure enough, the small red thing was there. But it wasn’t poised over her throat, ready to strike as I thought it would be. It was curled up at her side. It opened one eye as I approached. It sighed contentedly. It was….cuddling. Not ripping her face off and chewing it like a bone. It was sleeping right next to her, and she didn’t even flinch. I noticed it had large ears, sort of a like a Chihuahua. It was about the same size as one, with large black eyes. It twitched its long tail, curling it around its body like a cat. It had small, slightly clawed hands that it rested its dragon like head on. This was just getting weirder and weirder.

A while later, I was getting ready to wake Sadie up. Noises were erupting from down the tunnel, and I didn’t like it. I reached my hand down to shake her shoulder and the little red creatures’ eyes snapped open. It growled and snapped slightly at my hand. I pulled it back, scowling. I hoped it didn’t go rogue or anything like that. The movement woke Sadie, and she reached her hand down, her eyes still closed, and touched the leathery, scaly skin of the creature. She made a face and opened one eye, then the other. She sat up and pressed herself against the wall.

“Hanger?” she called. “Right here. I think it likes you.” I said calmly. She frowned. “Think what likes me?” she asked anxiously. “It’s small and bright red with big ears like one of those little dogs with big black eyes. It has a spiked tail, so watch it. I don’t think it’ll hurt you. It’s been sleeping next to you for the past hour. He’s about the size of cat, and he doesn’t like me a lot. He keeps following us.” I said quickly. The last thing I needed was her freaking out right now. She seemed to think it over for a moment, then she sighed and frowned. “Well, if it hasn’t killed me yet, I don’t care.” She swung her legs over the ledge of the rock and slowly got to her feet. The thing stretched its back like a cat and yawned, showing small, pointy white teeth. She held out her hand and I took it. “What’s that noise?” she asked, cocking her head to the left. “they know you’re here and they don’t like it.” I said. She didn’t answer, but started walking, the creature walking at her heels. It brushed up against her jeans. “Is that thing still following me?” she asked, a smile playing around the edges of her mouth. “Yep.” I didn’t like the idea that he was. He could be leading others. She smiled and looked down at her feet, then remembered she couldn’t see anything down there. She must be getting used to the dark. I wondered what it must be like after living in the light her entire life. She must be around my age, I thought. 

We continued journeying deeper into parts of the castle I had never been to, the red thing still following us, Sadie holding onto my arm. I had been thinking about how I was going to make it back to the part of the castle I lived in alive. I didn’t want to think about that. If I died like that after eleven years of surviving in the dark, I was gonna be pissed. “I think I’ll call it Rex.” Sadie said suddenly. I frowned, trying to figure out what she was talking about. “Name what Rex?” She rolled her eyes. “The red thing following us. I can still hear him.” She said. I didn’t realize that she was going to actually like it following us. I shook my head. This wasn’t how most people reacted, right? I looked ahead and saw Rex trotting happily along, snapping stuff out of the air. One of his ears swiveled so it was facing us, and he stopped dead. He turned and darted back to Sadie’s side and peered around her leg. I stopped.