A road less traveled

Chapter 4

Two pairs of eyes stared at her from out of the dark. One of them suddenly moved towards Lyth and she raised her fire poker even higher. The second pair moved forward as well.

"I'm warning you, I know how to defend myself and I'm not afraid to use this." Lyth stated menacingly.

The two figures suddenly seemed much closer to the ground the closer they came towards her. Once they stepped into the light fully, Lyth let out the breath she had been holding and leaned against the door frame and started laughing quietly.

A black cat and a gray colored older dog stood in the light of the doorway, as wet and miserable looking as she had been earlier. The eyes that had seemed menacing moments earlier just looked sad and cold now. Her heart went out to them, knowing they must have been pets at some point and were just looking for a warm place to stay in this miserable weather.

"I'm guessing you two would like to come on in and warm up?" she asked the animals. They looked at her then at the doorway, moving aside she swept her arm inwards, inviting them in.

"Come on you two, get in out of this nasty rain."

The animals slunk past her, as if waiting to be kicked or denied entry at the last moment, and that made her furious. Animals should not be mistreated that way. It just wasn't right on any level. She looked down at herself and turned bright red! She had opened the door brandishing a weapon in nothing more than her undergarments. Thank the lord no one had seen her. Shaking her head and doing a face palm to herself and shut the door. The animals had curled up right next to the fire place but were still shivering. Walking into the bathroom, she grabbed a couple of towels and quietly approached the animals. They look at her with fear and distrust in their eyes so she sat down on the floor a little ways away from them and simply sat quietly for a while. Slowly they accepted her and the cat even came closer. Taking a chance, Lyth scooped the cat up into her lap and began to towel dry its wet fur gently. As soon as she was done she let it go, it ran a short distance away giving her the look of disgust only a cat can give someone and turned it's but towards her and promptly jumped up onto the ledge in front of the fireplace and began to clean itself. The dog was more than willing to move over into her lap once the cat vacated it, seeing as how no undue harm had come to it. The soft eyes looked up at her and almost seemed to beg for a gentle touch. Obliging, she ran the towel over it's matted fur, doing her best to dry it off to some degree. The towel had gone from a soft cream to an almost black by the time she was done, but the dog looked much better. He was now a dull white, and resembled a type of lab cross with spotted ears and belly. His temperament seemed easy going and very loving once you showed kindness.

Done drying animals, Lyth unfurled her legs, got up and put all towels in the hamper and flipped the clothes around on the rack in front of the fireplace before deciding to call it a night. Grabbing a spare blanket from one of the cupboards and turning off the lights she crawled into the bed next to Ben. In the quiet she could hear the breathing of the animals and of Ben as well. He was sound asleep and at peace. It was a pleasant feeling to have.

The moon light shone in through the window and cast a sliver of light upon the floor. It seemed to move as the breeze blew through the trees. Glancing at the clock next to the bed the time read 10:57pm. Closing her eyes, Lyth dropped off into a dreamless sleep.

The sound of growling roused her from her sleep. The growl was low and menacing. Looking across to where the dog had last been she found his spot empty. Sitting upright in the bed, her eyes swung around the room and found the dog by the door, his fur raised and his teeth bared facing the door. The cat was next to him and had it's fur raised as well. Their eyes looked towards her as she rose from the bed and grabbed her shirt, shrugging it on quickly she snatched up the fire poker yet again. Looking back she noticed the clock read 3:18am. Moving towards the door, she saw it begin to turn and the dog once again growled low. Immediately it stopped moving and then she heard voices outside the door whispering. 

"There's something inside sir, not human." a young voice whispered.

"I don't pay you to not do what I ask. Open the door, we will deal with what's in there when need be. You can just shoot whatever is behind the door. I've not come this far to be stopped by some animal." a hard voice replied.

Lyth's eyes widened and she motioned the dog to her side and kneeled down next to him. Taking his face in her hands she looked him in the eyes.

"I need you to watch over the boy. I will be okay. Go and stay with him." she spoke softly and pointed at Ben. The dog whined a little but obeyed, and climbed into bed with the boy. The cat followed shortly and sat upon Ben's still peaceful sleeping figure.

Grabbing her jeans from the grate, Lyth slipped them on and grabbed a knife from the drawers and slid it in the back pocket of her jeans. Picking up the poker she padded softly to the door as the handle began to twist again. Taking a deep breath she grabbed hold of the handle and opened the door, stepping out into the night and coming face to face with a group of seedy looking individuals.