Lonely

Chapter 31, Hanger

By the fourth day, I was completely miserable, but the pulling feeling had gotten even stronger. Any day now, I knew. The sky was completely black not far from me, and I knew there would be rain. Suddenly, the pulling feeling stopped. I stopped, surprised. It was gone. Feeling a little panicked, I walked a few more steps, but nothing happened. I scanned the area around me. There! I focused and went closer. A small, cabin, very small, was nestled into the woods. There was no driveway, no grass, nothing that would indicate a house being there.

I went closer and leaned against a tree, listening. I could hear something from inside the house, but I couldn’t quite place what. I was pondering what it could be when the door flew open, almost falling off the rusty hinges, and two guys tumbled out. They jumped to their feet and skittered back a few paces. I watched in silence. A very confused, burnt looking, familiar giant spider stumbled out and collapsed in front of the house. The two guys high fived and started laughing loudly and talking about their little battle. No doubt, these were the O’Shea twins, Liam and Nicco.

Not quite sure how to proceed, I watched as they went over to the spider and looked him over, still commenting on their battle skills. Finally, I stepped out of the trees and walked up to them. They must not have heard me, because they continued talking.

“….Just a little zap and boyo was down for the count.” One said. Suddenly, they both fell silent. One chuckled. “You got the feeling someone’s standing right behind us?’ one asked in a strong Irish accent. The other nodded. “Bloody hell, its one after the other.” He said in the same accent. They whipped around to face me, sending a jet of flame at me. I was surprised, but prepared. I waved me hand and it simply dissipated in the air. This must be the skill Arianna was talking about. I raised an eyebrow at them as they regarded me.

“Tad scrawny to be much of a challenge, wouldn’t you say?” one murmured to the other. They looked exactly alike except one had fiery red hair, and the other had spiky black hair. “This is going to sound ominous. I need you to come with me.” I said, muttering the first part so they wouldn’t hear. They raised their eyebrows in unison. “Is that so? Unfortunately, we have other business to attend, so can we make this quick?” the red headed one said. I felt like rolling my eyes. Sadie’s skill would be helpful right about now.

“Not to be a pain in the ass, but what can I do to convince you I’m not with them?” I gestured to the spider.  They laughed and looked down at him. “You don’t appear to be anything special. How do we know?” they asked. I thought for a moment, then flicked my hand and held the spider over their heads. They looked up at hits soft underbelly and nodded to each other. “More.” They said. “Does the name Arianna mean anything to you?” I asked. Their expressions completely changed. “Why, I should hope so. What about her?” Now we were getting somewhere.

“She sent me to get you, and some others. She won’t give me any details, but she said it was to fight against someone.” They didn’t talk, but would nod or shake their heads every now and then. The one with the black hair shifted from foot to foot. Finally, they both nodded. “Okay, it’s a deal. Where’re we going?” One said. I shrugged.  “Where ever Arianna’s magic leads me.” They looked at each other and shrugged. “Good enough for me.” They said in unison. I let the spider fall a few feet behind them, and it crashed to the ground. I started to walk away. “Hold up just a second.” One of them called. I turned around to watch as one the one with the red hair shot a stream of flame out of his hand and the other added some sparks. I had to admit, that was pretty cool. They were aiming for the house, and within a few moments, the house was a burning pile of rubble on the ground. They high fived again and turned to be on either side of me. They both held out there hands as I tried to focus on the returning pulling feeling.

“Liam O’Shea at your service.” The black haired one said. “And Nicco O’ Shea.” The red head added. I didn’t shake their hands. They let them drop and continued talking. “So, we require some back ground on you. Name, address, rap sheet, all that.”  Liam joked. I looked over at them, seems as how Nicco had switched sides and was now walking next to his brother. Their eyes got wide, and Liam nodded, then paused, and nodded again.

“Boyo, your eyes are slightly messed up.” Liam commented. I didn’t respond. Sadie had said something about that a long time ago….oh! I remembered they looked different from all the years in the castle. “Do tell.” Nicco said, watching me. “They’re fine. My turn. Why do you nod and shake your head and stuff randomly?” they both smiled widely and tapped their foreheads. “Twin telepathy.Very helpful, actually.Sort of a challenge when fighting.” They said. I nodded slowly. More than one talent. No wonder Arianna wanted them. As we walked, they chatted back and forth, talking so fast I couldn’t always understand them. I hoped Sadie’s time was going better than mine.

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I came back from wandering around in the now blessed silence to find that Liam and Nicco had started a fire and were now in a war with their abilities, trying to zap and burn each other. Liam rolled out of the ay just as Nicco sent a long jet of flame over Liam’s head. In return, he came up behind Nicco and shocked him, sending him to the ground. He stood over his brother and smiled triumphantly. “Never mess with your big brother.” He said. Nicco hopped to his feet, his red hair standing on end from the electricity. “You’re not older! We were born the same time!” They finally noticed me standing against a tree.

“Quit lurking around in the shadows….wait a second, you never told us your name!” Nicco said excitedly. Liam smiled hugely and they both plopped down next to the fire, looking like kids getting ready for a scary story. I came closer and sighed. “Hanger.” I said and sat down in the dirt. They were both silent and they were obviously talking to each other in their heads. I didn’t see why they didn’t do it like that all the time. “We’ve come to a conclusion.” Liam said quite some time later. I looked expectantly at him. “You have baggage.” Nicco finished. I raised both my eye brows. “Tell me about it.” I muttered. They ignored me and got into a debate about what the term “baggage” really meant. I’ll just say it ended in fighting.