Lonely

Chapter 13, Hanger

.

My first thought of light was holy crap! It gave me the biggest head ache I had ever had, stabbing me in the eyes like a small dagger. It killed, but, surprisingly, it didn’t take long for the pain to sub side a bit. I looked around, amazed. I really can’t explain what it was like being in the light, after never being in the dark as far as I could remember. Never seeing it. Trees filled my view, with yellowing leaves that looked like some had caught on fire they were so orange. The ground was covered in previously fallen leaves, crunching under my feet. My shadow stretched out in front of me. Birds sang in the trees, and the sun filtered brightly through the trees. I loved it, but it hurt my eyes at first. I looked down and Sadie was staring at me, wide eyed. She looked different in the sun light. Brighter, I suppose. Her eyes raked my entire body, holding on my arms for a moment. I looked down at them. They were, as usual, covered in the scars from my attack.

“So, what’s it like?” she asked suddenly. I leaned against a near by tree, running my hand along its bar, marveling at the roughness. “I can’t explain it. It’s amazing.” I said. The leaves rustled behind me, and out trotted Rex. He sat down at Sadie feet, looking up at her. His forked tongue flicked out of his mouth. She smiled down at him. “Aw, he’s so cute. My dads gonna kill me.” She said, chuckling. I frowned. “We cant go back to your house. You have to keep moving. I never should have come out. It was a bad idea. Perhaps going back in will help…?” I said, the realization that I could have gotten Sadie killed, and had ruined her life crashing down on me. I pondered the idea of going back inside, and it made me want to weep, the thought of giving up the light to go back in my castle. Sadie shook her.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. In payment for having animals follow me for the rest of my life, I will go with you.” She said. I felt the corners of my mouth twitch. Fair enough. Perhaps there was something to make it stop…. I didn’t want to think about right then. I wanted to be happy. I looked back at the black castle looming up in front of us. It looked ominous from the out side, but harmless enough. It was perfectly black, like the inside. Stone gargoyles sat at different areas on the castle, glaring down at us with there toothy maws wide open. I shivered, remembering the monster I had seen that looked exactly like that inside the castle. Suddenly, the front doors of the castle began to shake and tremble. Something from the inside was trying to get out. The rock Sadie had put on top of the door we had come out of trembled, slowly inching off the lid. I looked down at Sadie. I didn’t know what to do here. This wasn’t my turf. Sadie swallowed then shifted her gaze to me.

“As much as I would love to sit and process this with you, we have to go.” She said, grabbing my wrist. We ran through the woods, dodging trees as we raced down the hill. I had to keep my eyes on the ground so I wouldn’t get distracted and slow down. Sadie was fast out here, jumping over fallen logs and dragging me along. We reached the bottom of the hill and I skittered to a stop. I heard the explosion of the wooden door of the castle at the top of the hill as probably every beast in there burst out into the light. Sadie tugged on me.

“Now is not the time to enjoy it, we have to go!” Sadie hissed. I looked down at her, then back up the hill.  I had never been this far before. She tugged again and we darted across the cement road, another distraction, as things crashed through the woods. “My house isn’t far.” She said as we ran. The creatures must have gotten confused at the bottom of the hill, because I couldn’t see or hear them. We kept running. Sadie dodged behind buildings and down alleys.

“Why are we going this way?” I asked, out of breath. “I can’t let people see me. I’m sure the old ladies would have a fit and start beating me with their purses.” She said, a smile tugging at her mouth. I didn’t ask her why old ladies would beat her with a purse. We kept running until I realized we were in a more upscale part of town, with big houses made of granite and stuff. She darted back across the road and we ran up a gravel drive way. At the top, there was a pure white house with amazing gardens and white columns holding up the Victorian style porch. I would have loved to stop and look around. It was all so new to me, but Sadie dragged me up the stairs and hurriedly dug around under the mat, pulling up a key and unlocking the door, then dashed inside, locking it behind us. I looked around.

“You live here?”I said. I looked up to the soaring ceiling. Sadie poked her head around the corner. “Yep. I’ll be right back. If any one comes in, act like you broke in, okay?” she said. I raised my eye brows. “Isn’t that against the law?” I asked as she took the curving stair case two at a time. “Yep, but it’s believable.” She said, then disappeared into a room. I groaned. I was not about to be arrested after finally getting free. I ran up the stairs after her. My converse sunk deep into the plush carpet, and doors with crystal handles lined the hall way, but all were shut. Except for one at the very end of the hall was open. I went towards it and poked my head in.

Sadie was throwing clothes into a black back pack, tossing others over her shoulders. The room was much smaller than I would have expected, and rather plain. I realized I wasn’t surprised that Sadie’s room was rather dingy, compared to the rest of the house. She pushed past me. I looked down and saw foot prints on the white carpet where I had walked. “Uh, sorry about the prints.” I said, following her. She waved her hand. “Please. All the better. It’ll just make them madder.” She said, trotting down the stairs with me on her heels. She went into another room with appeared to be kitchen, but it was amazing. A chandelier hung from the high ceiling, and a double Decker stove at on one wall, with a massive fridge, glass cupboards, and black granite counters with an island with some bar stools around it. Sadie dug through the cupboards, tossing stuff in her bag, then dug around in a hidden bowl on the fridge and brought down a massive wad of cash, then rushed past me.

“Okay, let’s go.” She said. I paused. “What about your parents?” I asked her. She stopped in the middle of the hallway, her back facing me. She turned her head to see a small table next to her with a few framed pictures on it. I moved closer, silently, and looked over her shoulder. She was holding a picture of a women with mahogany brown hair and brown eyes. She was pretty, and looked a lot like Sadie. On the other side, there was also a man wearing a plaid shirt. He was balding, and was rather pale. He had a smile pasted on his face, but I could see it was strained. Wedged between the two was a little girl, probably around the age of six, with a big goofy grin and freckles dotting her face. I realized it was Sadie when she was younger. I looked at the older Sadie standing in front of me. Her eyes scanned the picture, then she tossed it in her bag and took a deep breath. I felt an over whelming wave of guilt. She could stay right here, in that posh house with her parents, no matter how un-loving they were. She could have a good chance, but no. Not any more, thanks to me. She took a deep breath and looked up at me quickly, and I caught a fleeting look of deep pain and immense sorrow. I reached to touch her, but I wasn’t quite sure how that whole thing worked out. Just then, there was a sound of jingling keys outside the door. I froze, then dragged Sadie off around the corner, just in case, and peeked my head around the corner. The door swung open, and familiar looking man stepped in. He was the same man in the picture, only older.