Lonely

Chapter 28, Sadie

Arianna led us into the living room we had been in the day before. I sat down next to Hanger, keeping one hand on his arm. I stared at the lines on his dark jeans until Arianna cleared her throat to speak. "This may be a tad surprising. But I ask you to please keep an open mind." She said. Hanger snorted. Arianna looked at him, and I wasn't surprised when he didn't answer. "I don't think you could surprise us more if we woke up with our heads stapled to the floor." I said frankly. A smile played around Arianna's pretty face.

"Well, then, we'll just cut to the chase. You were brought here for a mission. The first step is, well, not easy, but compared to the rest, easy. The tam of people who were in charge of Hanger, they are very bad, to put it frankly. There idea is to set all of the hidden beasts of the dark places free, to essentially take over the world with these creatures and rule it themselves, which would be bad, trust me. We can stop it. With only seventeen people. It will be hard, it will not be easy stopping them, but it can be done. They each contain a special gift that we need." She stopped to let that sink in. so far, it wasn't anything that was out of the realm of possibility. Unfortunately, it was not hard for me to imagine a group of people wanting to take over the world with the beasts not unlike from the ones in the castle. It would be total chaos. Arianna continued on.

"There are thirteen people that we need. Your job is to go get those people, and bring them back. Are you following me?" she asked. We nodded, and she smiled. "See, in a way, it's rather simple. I really can't tell you to much more right now. You will be leaving soon." She finished, leaning back in her chair. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. "You said they all have a special gift. I don't." I said. Arianna smiled at me. "Oh, but you do Sadie. It is simply less obvious then some of the others. You have the amazing ability to push thoughts. Unfortunately, it is not an easy skill to recognize, but you have it. I doubt if you have ever used it. Try really hard, right now, and you will find that it comes rather easily." She said it all as if I should have known. I shook my head. I guess it wasn't too far off base. After all, Hanger had a gift, as she called it. I looked up at hanger, who smiled at me, making my stomach squeeze. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him, but I was in public.

I focused on Arianna, and kept thinking the number forty five over and over. Suddenly, she smiled. "See, that wasn't so bad, now what is? Now try a command." I kept thinking, clap your hands. Suddenly, Arianna broke out in a round of loud clapping. After a few seconds she stopped. "Amazing. We can go from there." She said. Hanger groaned. "Great. Now she can make people do what ever she wants." He said. I smiled at him and turned back to Arianna. "So, what do we do now?" I asked her.

"It's all very simple now. I'll leave you two to debate who's job is harder. Sadie, you will be going to get the younger children. There are seven of them. Hanger, your job is to go get the boys your age. Personally, I think you're evenly matched." She said. Hanger and I frowned. "Are these jobs...separate?" Hanger inquired. I tightened by grip on his arm. Arianna's eye brows knit together. "Well, yes." Hanger and I exchanged glances. I shook my head.

"No." Arianna looked confused. "No, what?" I looked right into her eyes. "No, you can't spilt us up." Arianna sighed. "I'm afraid there isn't much of a choice. I hadn't expected....this." she said, gesturing to us. "If it involves us being split up, we're not interested." Hanger said. "We have no one else to go. If you don't go, then they will take over."

"Why can't you go? Or any one else?" I asked. "You don't understand. I cannot explain it to you now. I just can't. It has to be you two." Hanger was getting more and more agitated. "No. I don't accept that. There is another way. How can we trust you? How do I know you're not going to send me off, and then take Sadie hostage or whatever? Or vice versa?" the realization hit us. She wasn't lying. She wasn't trying to trick us. She needed our help, and for whatever reason, we had to do it. We couldn't not do it out of our own selfishness. I took Hangers hand and he looked down at me.

"Hanger, we have to. I don't like the idea any more than you do, but we can't risk...the world...because we don't want to be separated." Hanger's black eyes softened, and he squeezed my hand. "Fine. You know, I'll never forgive you if something happens to you." He turned to glare at Arianna. So...you're excepting it?" she asked. We sighed in unison. "I guess so. When do we leave?" Arianna clapped her hands in joy and stood up. I hoped I was making the right choice.

******

Hours later, I had taken a shower and gotten dressed. I walked out of theposh bathroom to find Hanger sprawled out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I crawled onto thebed and curled up next to him, resting my head on his chest. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders. "I'm gonna miss you." I murmured, turning my head into the skin on his throat and kissing his neck, taking in the sweet scent of soap on his skin. He didn't say anything, just squeezed my shoulders. I propped myself up to kiss him, savoring the soft feel of his lips under mine, his scent, his taste, the sound of his heart, the shape of his face. Someone knocked on the door, and I smiled against his lips, then hopped off the bed and opened the door. Arianna pushed her way through into the room. Hanger stood up. Arianna dropped two back backs on the bed and whirled to face me.

"So, I have everything you two will need in these bags. I do mean everything, and with a simple space making incantation, you will be able to fit anything I here, and it will be weightless." She handed a red bag to me and a black one to Hanger. I opened it, but really, it didn't look that much different than the one I had been using. It had clothes, shoes, food, you know, everyday survival stuff in it. I plunged my hand in to grab something and almost fell in it was so deep. I pulled it back out and looked back in. It looked normal. I heard Hanger smother a laugh in the corner, and I put the bag over my shoulder.

"Now, when you're ready, come out to the living room and I'll give you the names you need." She said, then practically pranced out of the room. I took a deep breath and went over to Hanger. "I bet my job is harder." I said. He shook his head. "We'd better go out and get what we need." Hanger said. I studied his face, studying the subtle lines of worry and pain. I wrapped my arms around his neck and dragged him down to my level and kissed him, hard. He dragged his hands up and down my spine, making me shiver. Finally, we broke apart and I took his hand as we walked out into the living room.