Lonely

Chapter 15, Hanger

I sat, still staring up at the sky. I wasn’t really tired, but the day’s events had really taken it out of Sadie. She was curled around Rex, who was sleeping soundly, only opening an eye every now and then to glare at me. I don’t know why he didn’t like me. The sky was so beautiful. More beautiful than anything any book had ever said about them. I’d read about how dangerous they actually were. They could kill you, if you ever got close. Even though that was impossible, really. I thought it rather odd that they were a symbol of hope for so many people, yet they were so dangerous. I loved the light, I really did. It was beautiful and happy and warm. It stirred memories down deep, something lying right under the surface that I just couldn’t seem to reach. It was beautiful, the dark domain. I knew the dark, I could handle the dark. It concealed me and I knew what to do n the dark. I liked the dark out side much better than the dark in the castle. It could be as black as possible out side at night, and still be nothing compared to what was in the castle.

Sadie frowned in her sleep, and rolled over, upsetting Rex. Her father had made me so…so….I can’t even explain it. A feeling welled up inside of me, stronger than anything else. Anger, anger so strong I wanted break something. Like her fathers face. It was complexly irrational. I hardly knew her. Four days, was all. I guessed it was just because no one had ever really gotten to know me, and I didn’t know any better. That’s what I thought at the time, at least. When he grabbed her arm, I thought he was going to hit her. It took every ounce of my self control not to beat him down. I realized I was digging my nails into my arm, and let go.

I changed the subject in my head, not wanting to have to explain the marks on my arm to Sadie’s ever observant glance. I thought about the creatures that had burst out of the castle. They must have been very confused. I doubted if they would come around in the daylight much, but I got really touchy at night. A stick cracked behind me and I jumped to my feet and prepared to wake Sadie. Rex opened his eyes, his ears swiveling back and forth. I was glad I could see well in the dark. It was practically like daylight, except the colors. I could tell the general hue of things, but couldn’t actually see in color at night. Out here, I could see much further. I pin pointed the sound. A small gray creature scurried up a tree, another one chasing as they wove up the tree like maniacs. I relaxed and sat down again. Nothing but squirrels. Rex eyed me suspiciously, then went back to sleep. It was harder to pin point a sound out here. There was a lot more space, where as in the castle it was either coming from up the hall or down it. It was going to be a hard transition.

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Sadie had woken up after a while and let me sleep. As usual I only slept about half an hour, then she went back to sleep. I watched as the sun slowly rose, flooding the ground in soft golden light. It was so beautiful. Dew glistened like crystals on the branches, and a single leaf fell from the branches of the tree I was leaning against. I picked it up and studied it, taking in every single detail. Sadie stirred and slowly sat up. She rubbed her eyes and then stared at me. I almost smiled at her. A twig was stuck in her hair and dirt was smudged on her cheek. She frowned at me.

“Are you staring at a leaf?”she asked sleepily, stretching her back. I tossed the leaf aside and stood up, offering a hand to her. She took it and I practically had to pull her all the way to her feet. “It’s all very new.” I said. She shook her head and rubbed the back of her neck. “I am never sleeping outside again. We get a hotel tonight.” She said. I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t quite remember what a hotel was. I supposed I would find out. Rex stretched on the ground like a cat and growled under his breath, obviously not happy about the hour, even though it was just past nine, according to the small digital watch on Sadie’s arm.

“So, where are we going today?” she said, then held up her hand before I could answer. “Never mind. You won’t give me a normal answer anyways. Lead the way.” She said, gesturing her hand forward. I stepped in front of her and started walking away, watching her roll her eyes as she followed me. She rubbed her arms and opened her back pack and took out a sweater. That bag was packed. “I’m hungry. We have to stop at the next store we come too.” She said, digging around in her bag. I didn’t answer. I was trying o sort through all the noises filtering through the branches around me, searching for anything familiar, just in case they did come out in the day light.

After an hour of walking, crossing nothing but a few roads and seeing no towns. I knew where I was going, and was determined not to go off the course, even if we had to cut through someone’s house. Sadie had been silent the whole time. She stumbled a lot, and I had to help her over some fallen trees so she wouldn’t fall on her face. I cleared my throat to speak.

“I’m sorry about your father.” I said, watching her face. It contorted into an expression of pain before going almost blank, except her deep brown eyes. “I should have known he would do that. He’ll be alright.” She said. “What about you? Where’re your parents?” she asked me, obviously trying o take the attention off of her. I shrugged, the way she had done so many times. “I cant really remember. I was little when they put me in the castle.”

“Your parents put you in the castle?”

I had to think about that. I didn’t think the lady who had cared for me was my mother, but I couldn’t be sure. “No.” Sadie didn’t ask me anything else. I was reluctant to tell her my past anyways. It was a weakness, my memory loss, and I didn’t want her to realize that. “So, where are we going?” she asked me suddenly. “I dunno.” I said, shrugging again. She groaned. “You’re so vague.” She said, stomping a few feet ahead of me. The corner of my mouth twitched as I watcher her, her arms folded over her chest. If it wasn’t so funny listening to her stomp around, I would have told her to quiet down.

“All I wanna know is some vital information, ‘cause I’m stuck with you for god knows how long, and you won’t even give me the time of day! I have never met anyone as…as…agh! Never mind.” She said, waving her arms around. I shoved my hands in my pockets and followed her. For the time being she was going in the right direction.