Lonely

Chapter 25, Hanger

I didn't know what this guy wanted, but Sadie and I picked up almost immediately that there was something not good in this guy. He plastered a smile on his face, trying to look convincing. "So, can you help me out? My cars just a little ways up the road." He said, gesturing to the direction he had just come from. Sadie started to refuse, and his face went from friendly to dark in a second. He growled under his breath, and I edged closer to Sadie, ready to toss her to the side of something went wrong. I scoured the man's features. He didn't have anything that looked even mildly monster-ish. He was sweating, he was pale, and he had green eyes, and looked completely normal in every way.

"I know who you are, and it would be much easier if you just came along, right now." He snarled. Sadie lifted her eye brows. "Seriously?" she asked. The man snarled and said something under his breath, then lunged at us. We dived to the side to avoid him, but he was quick. He was quickly back on his feet. He swung a punch at me with a meaty fist, but missed by a long shot and attacked again. Sadie growled under her breath and I looked up, distracted long enough for him to slam his foot into my chest and send me stumbling backwards. It was really quick, actually. I almost missed it, but Suddenly, Sadie had him in a head lock. He spun out of it just in time for Sadie to deck him, grab his wrist, spin him around, and jerk his arm up his spine. He struggled a little, but Sadie jerked his arm up further, and he whimpered.

"Seriously? We're not that stupid. So, who sent you on this little crusade?" she hissed in his ear. He laughed through his teeth. "You'll find out. Believe me." He said, and I kid you not, disappeared. I don't mean slid out of her hold and bolted, I mean, like, evaporated into thin air and left Sadie standing there with her arms still in the same position they had been in. she looked shocked. "What just happened?" she said, looking so confused it was almost comical. She lowered her arms and looked around, then focused on me.

"I dunno, but I want to find out. We need to get to....where ever it is we're going." I said, She rubbed her forehead with her fingers. "Where did you learn how to fight?" I asked her, taking her hand and walking back to the car. Until I knew what the man had meant, I didn't want her to dwell on it. She smiled as she climbed back into the car. "Boot camp, and this one crazy nanny I had let me test it out." She said. I raised an eye brow at her. "You went to boot camp?" she nodded.

"Every summer, for three years." She said. I nodded. "You know, that explains a lot." I said, giving her a smile. She smiled back and tossed her hair over one shoulder, making me want to reach out and touch her. She messed around with some wire in the steering wheel shaft, and the car sputtered to life. She shook her head, and I knew she was thinking about the man who had disappeared. I didn't say anything, not wanting to fuel the fire.

******

"Oh Mr. Toad, oh Mr. toad, why are you lying in the road?" Sadie warbled for the thousandths time as we passed road kill. She started to sing the next chorus, but I stopped her. "Not that I don't enjoy your singing, but maybe a few moment o silence are necessary for the dead raccoon?" I suggested. Sadie smiled with out looking at me and didn't say another word. The sun was practically out of sight, and the tugging sensation that had been pulling us along on this journey to where ever we were going was stronger than ever, and I knew we would be there by tomorrow. I watched Sadie's brown hair flying around her face in the wind, and wondered what I was dragging her into. Rex yawned and crawled into the space between our seats. I had forgotten he was even with us. He burped, sending a little burble of flame into the air. Sadie sighed. "This day could not get any weirder. I can think of millions of times when your fire could have come in useful." She said, glaring down at Re, who slinked into the back seat again. She pulled the car over yawned. "I'm tired, and do not feel like driving any more." She said and got out of the car. I looked around for any signs of danger, but there was nothing, so I got out and followed Sadie a little ways into the woods, trying to avoid the cracking sticks and dry leaves so I wouldn't make so much noise. It didn't work. Sadie suddenly plopped down on the ground and quickly stretched out on the leaves.

I did the same, and she turned her head to face me, her eyes already closed. "Hanger?" she murmured, not opening her eyes. "Hmmm?" I said, stroking her face. "If we don't make it there by tomorrow, I'm blaming you." She said. I chuckled, and we both fell silent. She wrapped her arm around my chest and scooted closer, quickly falling asleep. I looked down at her small hand spread across my chest in a symbol of trust, and was suddenly afraid again for what we might find tomorrow. What if it was a trap? If I, in any way, ruined the trust she bestowed in me, I would never forgive my self. I made a promise, right then, that I would never, ever, ruin this. I closed my eyes. It was just to good to ruin.

******

I woke up first in the morning and disentangled my self from Sadie, who didn't wake up at the movement. It was dead silent, and it made me edgy. I stood stock still, but nothing happened. Trying to shake the feeling, I climbed a tree to the very top and sat on a branch. As I thought, there was nothing. The road we had been on stretched away and around a curve, and the tree's encroached on either side of it. There was nothing. I climbed back down, cursing as I missed one branch and fell the last few feet to the ground. I landed on my feet, but it woke Sadie. She shielded her eyes from the sun as she sat up. She looked at me with a quizzical expression. "What are you doing?"

I shook my head, and she picked up her bag and walked back and forth a few times, stretching as she did so. "I could really use coffee on mornings like this." She said and yawned again. She shook her entire body, then smiled at me. "Okay, I'm ready." She said. "I'm not." I said to her, taking her hand as we walked out of the forest. She squeezed my hand. "There's nothing to be worried about. We'll go to where ever it is we're going, and then we'll go have a nice, relaxing time after words." She said, smiling. I wanted to believe her, but the oppressing feeling in me was getting worse and worse. I wanted to be where it was we were supposed to be. I was tired of this guess and check crap.

Rex was curled up in the back of the car, sound asleep. He didn't even flinch when I turned the roaring car to life. He simply rolled over. Sadie dug through the back pack and pulled out some more junk food. "While we're having our nice relaxing time, I want a real meal." She said, sighing. I chuckled and took a candy bar from her as we sped down the road at a maximum of forty five miles per hour. The feeling of approaching our destination crept up more and more on me, until I thought I was going to drown in it.