Lonely

Chapter 33, Hanger

 I woke up first in the morning, still high up in a tree. Liam and Nicco were still asleep, snoring loudly below me, leaning against each other’s backs. For the first time, I noticed that ever since I had met Sadie, I no longer slept for only small amounts of time. I climbed silently down and looked around. We were in the woods, right on the edge of a grimy town. We would have to go through it, although the idea didn’t thrill me. I opened my back pack and pulled out a bag of popcorn, already made. I sat and ate while the twins slept, thinking about Sadie. Tired of wallowing in my own self pity, I pulled the list of names out of my pocket.

Boomer Corey was next. At least he would give the other two something to do. Although they talked a lot and fought, I enjoyed having someone around to keep myself from constantly thinking about Sadie. It was sad, really, and It couldn’t be healthy. AS I thought I heard Liam and Nicco wake up at exactly the same time. They sat up and looked around, focusing on me. They both smiled. “God morning, captain.” Liam said. They stood up.

“So, where to today?” Nicco asked. Liam snorted. “He told us yesterday that Arianna had one of her follow the leader things on him. He doesn’t know.” He said. Nicco frowned at him, and before they could start fighting, I broke in.

“We should probably get going. I think we can probably reach the next guy by tomorrow.” I said. Liam and Nicco obviously were having some sort of discussion in their heads as we walked, and I was glad for the silence. Suddenly, branches snapped and something red darted out of the woods and literally clawed its way up my leg to sit on my shoulder. I almost killed him. Rex growled softly in my ear, making it obvious that he wasn’t glad to be here.

“What in the hell is that? Me heart almost jumped right out o’ my chest!” Liam said, sounding more Irish than ever. Nicco nodded along with his brother. I scowled at Rex. “Its name is Rex. It sort of followed me from the place I grew up.” I explained, shrugging Rex off my shoulder. He scampered top the ground and trotted along beside me, examining Liam and Nicco. They shook their heads. “Hell, had I known you got little demons following you, I wouldn’t of bothered tagging along.” Nicco said. I shrugged. “

“You didn’t appear to be much better off.” I said, referring to the spider they had beaten before I reached them. They smiled. “Ah, he was just having a bit o’ fun right then.” Liam said, Nicco nodding in agreement. I almost smiled. Rex growled at me then ran off into the brush. I hoped he was going back to Sadie.

We walked until we came to the edge of yet another run down town. Most of the houses and buildings leaned like old men on a cane, a cold wind blew through, and whistling as it wound its way through the broken windows and fallen beams. We saw one person dart across the street and back into the shadows. Liam and Nicco shifted from one foot to another. We cautiously crept into the town, trying to blend in with the gray and brown colors. Nicco and Liam looked troubled as we crossed through. There was defiantly something off about his place. Another strong wind blew, sending wrappers and bottles scattering around the streets. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I motioned for Liam and Nicco to follow me as I faded into the dark shadows. There was something coming, and it wasn’t good.

I peered around the edge of the building we were hiding behind to see a hole swarm of gray colored, child sized, fleshy creatures as they darted around the streets and hopped from building to building. There seemed to be about twenty of them. I realized I had seen them before, at that hotel me and Sadie had stayed at. There hadonly been on there. Even from a distance, I could see their large, pointy teeth and forked tongues, there bony hands and legs, their skinny but lithe bodies. I cursed under my breath and shrank back to where Liam and Nicco were. They looked at me expectantly.

“You like a good fight, don’t you?’ I asked,. They immediately responded with smiles and thumbs up. I nodded. “Good. You’ll enjoy this. The key is to not let them get onto you. After that, you’re screwed.” They nodded but looked confused. I had dealt with these little monsters before. They were quick, but not the brightest bulbs in the socket. They couldn’t see real well either, but they were fast and could smell really well. ‘They’re really fast too, so watch out.”  I warned. Liam and Nicco rolled their eyes in unison, itching for the fight to begin. A sort of chirping, grinding sound reached my ears, and I knew they were close any minute now and they would smell us…

Liam and Nicco jumped out from cover, obviously not going for the stealthy angle. I groaned, but followed. The little devils were on us almost before I could register what was going on, but with the three of us, it wasn’t too hard. Six came flying at me, and I had to wave both my hands to keep them away. One flew at me, and I back handed it, sending it to the ground, and then throwing it hard into the side of the building. Liam was keeping up a continuous bolt of electricity, and he must have had a current running over his body, because any that touched him keeled over right there. Nicco was holding his own, sending any that came near him screeching away in a burst of flame. I continued my task. The fight probably only lasted a few minutes, but it felt like a lot longer.

Suddenly, all of the little creatures, including the ones we had fought off, hopped up and ran off, streaking off into the forest. I had one scratch on my arm, and I figured it would blend in nicely with the array of other scars already there. Liam and Nicco looked tired out, and I realized I was too. We stood in silence, catching our breath. Finally, Liam and Nicco smiled and high fived. “That was awesome! Never seen those little guys before. Not as much fun as the lion thing though.” They looked back at me. “Hell, Hanger, your mobile death. I’m thinking our little talents go with us as people. Hangers’ is dark and unnoticeable, like him.” I shook my head and looked around. There were no houses nearby, and the buildings all appeared to be vacant, but I didn’t want to take the chance that someone had seen and called the cops or something.

“We’d better get going before any one comes out here and makes a citizen’s arrest or something.” I muttered, letting Arianna’s spell lead us away. We walked through the town, Liam and Nicco talking about the fight still. When we entered the woods again, I was overjoyed. Where there was cover, there was safety.