The Shadow of Winter

Chapter 11

        (Name)'s eyes stayed on the door for hours after she had been forced to retire for the night. She was watching from the hotel couch, listening for the soft footsteps of her guardian to stop and for the single bed to creak and indicate he had lied down. When that happened, she would make her move once his light snores began.

        Tonight, she was finally leaving. She should have done so earlier, much earlier, but she had wanted to wait and give Agent Shadow a chance to treat her respectfully instead of as a nuisance. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Their argument from only a few hours ago was still fresh on (Name)'s mind. The hedgehog's hateful words penetrated her heart, sealing the girl's decision to leave his so-called "care" and return home to (Hometown). She had only caused problems and grief for Shadow as he carted her around, growing further agitated by each unforeseen disaster. It was best if she got out of his hair—or quills, rather—and never be seen again.

        After pacing the interior of the hotel room, making numerous phone calls to the agents and commander of G.U.N. for progress on their current case, Shadow slammed down his cellphone on a nightstand and dropped into bed deprived of information. The Commander had ordered the hedgehog to keep his calls to a minimum, to prevent his signal from being traced in the case that the criminals had somehow managed to infiltrate and bug the G.U.N. radio tower. Any call to Headquarters could be recorded and replayed, and so the Commander had also requested that all those within range of the radio tower were not to discuss or even mention classified information over the phone.

        (Name) could feel the agent's irritation coming off in waves. She stayed as still and silent as possible, hoping Shadow would soon wind down and fall asleep. Sleep was about ready to claim the girl herself, as she had been waiting such a long time in anticipation of escape. If she failed to stay awake and leave tonight, she probably wouldn't have the courage to try again.

        Blurriness set into the girl's (eye color) eyes as she waited. And waited. Until, at the last moment before sleep could overtake her, a rhythmic snoring arose from the bed. At that, (Name)'s eyelids snapped open and she quickly sat up to peer over the couch, knowing full well that the slow rising and falling of the bed covers and the snores meant the black hedgehog was in deep unconsciousness. Noises would not awaken him if they were quiet enough.

        Still taking care to remain unheard, (Name) slowly got off the couch and crept around in the dark for her backpack. She had gone to bed fully-clothed and was ready to leave the hotel room once she had put on her winter gear. Even she wasn't going to take chances with this weather.

        With everything in place, and a backpack secured around her shoulders carrying only the essentials and the laptop that had been given to her for homeschooling, (Name) silently unlocked the door and slipped out of the room without a backward glance. When the door closed, she was on her own. (Name) almost felt bad for not writing a note of some sort for the hedgehog to find upon awakening. But then she remembered he didn't care about her, and therefore would neither care if she left a note.

        The hallway was brightly lit and it stung (Name)'s eyes as she made her way to the elevator. She waited anxiously for the cab to arrive from its default position on the ground floor, expecting Shadow to come hurling out of the hotel room at any second. However, the hallway stayed silent until the elevator doors slid open.

        A man and a woman waited inside the cab. They gave the girl perplexed looks but said nothing as she stepped in. When the doors closed and the floor began to move, the man cleared his throat and jokingly said, "Where're you off to at this time of the night? Not partying, are you?"

        Nervously scrunching her face a little, (Name) looked at the man and shook her head. She turned to the front of the cab and watched the floor number rise, presumably on its way to the couple's destination before it would return to the lobby on ground floor. Her heart continued to beat irregularly the longer she spent in the elevator. She desperately hoped that when it made its descent, the doors would not open to the third floor, where she and Shadow had shared a room.