Lonely

Chapter 9, Hanger

Author note- I could really use some comments!!!! good or bad, any feed abck is helpful!!!!

           -Lydia

The corridor was empty. I heard noises, though, from bad places. They knew she was here, and they wouldn’t stand it too much longer. I wondered if I would even be able to get her out. When she had reached up to my head, I didn’t know what to do. OH well. It surprised, but I felt a thrill go through me every time she touched me, which included when she was holding onto my arm so I could lead her around. We would have to go fairly close to the back door in order to get to the small shaft that would lead us out side, and hopefully get Sadie back out doors. I would miss the company. Although I was having issues adjusting to how to be with people, even just one, I liked the company. Even now, her head was turning back and forth, looking for any light. I doubted if she even realized she was doing it. I thought back to the early days that I had been here.

For a month, at least, I was terrified. I was left in the dining room, and sat curled in a ball on the floor for a few days, until hunger got the best of me and I wandered around much the same as Sadie had, until I felt my way into the pantry. After the first month, the sight got better, and I enjoyed the fact that I was taking care of myself. Then I’d found the creatures, lurking just under the castle floors. After a while, I learned what parts of the castle were okay, which ones were dangerous. There were still wings I had never been in. Even now, there were times when I considered going into the other wings. But if I even went near them something inside me would tell me to go back. In places like those, it felt cramped, and foul odors filled the air. A spider the size of my head skittered across the floor in front of Sadie. I didn’t say anything. I doubted if that was the normal size for a spider in the outside world. They always showed spiders as being small in books. She shivered, and I guessed it was probably rather cold in here, compared to the outside world. We came out of the corridor, funneling into a large round room. I loved these sorts of rooms.

“Do you wanna break?” I asked. She still seemed a little tired, and the last thing I needed was her falling asleep for hours a t a time like she had the last time. That would not be good. I always slept for only about half hour periods, at random times, I suppose. “Sure. Where are we?” Sadie asked, looking up at the direction my voice was coming from. Either she was really short, or I was a little tall, because she only came to my chest, and even that was pushing it. I had to look down just to see here completely. I led her over to one of the cushy but old thrones and sat her down in it. She ran her hands along the arm rests. “This feels nice. How old is it?” she wondered. I thought about it for a moment. “Probably a little over a hundred years old. It’s one of the nicest chairs in the castle, that I’ve found. I like it in here. It’s really big, and the throne is against the wall. You can hear everything and, if you have sight like mine, cane see all around you. Plus, my voice echoes and it makes it seem like there’s more than one person. I used to have conversations when I was little.” I abruptly stopped talking. I had never said that many words at once. Sadie had only known me for a day, and even she looked surprised at the lengthy statement. She regained her composure.

“What else did you do for fun, when you were little?” I had to think about that one. There really wasn’t much to do. “I scaled the walls on the big places a couple times for fun. And talked to my self in the echoes. I read a lot, when I got books.” I said. She looked confused. “How did you get books?”

“There was someone taking care of me, I guess. Once a year, clothes and something else would show up at a random part of the castle. We should keep going.” I said. I could sense something sniffing its way towards us. It could be one of the harmless inhabitants, but I didn’t want to chance it. Sadie stood, and moved her hand until she felt my arm, then held on for dear life. We walked back out the room on the opposite side we had entered, back into a hall way. I didn’t like this one. It was small and damp, and a faint dripping sound could be heard as water dripped onto the stone floor. The floor was slippery, and Sadie held tighter onto my arm as we carefully made our way forward. I heard a dragging noise ahead of us. 

“What?” Sadie asked, sounding a little scared. I didn’t answer. I put her on the wall, suddenly feeling very protective over her. If this was a monster, she had to be able to run. I didn’t want to t think about what would happen to her if something happened to me. She would never find her way out. “Stay here. Don’t move an inch, and I’ll be right back.” I said. She searched the dark for my face, but we both knew she couldn’t see anything. She tentatively let go of my arm and I walked silently away. The dragging noise was still there. I walked forward quite a ways, but saw nothing. The noise was still coming, but I couldn’t tell from where. We needed to keep going, quickly. I hurried back to where I had left Sadie, and my heart almost stopped beating when she came into my line of sight. She was still up against the wall, but in front of her was the massive, green creature that resembled a massive snot ball. It was breathing heavily right on her, just inches from her face. I didn’t think this was a dangerous one, but I couldn’t be sure.  It let out a particularly heavy breath, and Sadie stiffened and stared right at it, but she couldn’t see it. I had wanted her to feel this one, just to believe me, but now it seemed like a childish idea. The thing had left a large slime slick on the floor where it had come from, and green ooze dripped off of him, sliding down onto the floor. Sadie realized something was in front of her when it breathed, and she pressed further against the wall, her eyes desperately searching for anything.

“Hanger, please tell me it’s you breathing on my face with really bad breath.” She said quietly. I didn’t know what to say. “stay very still. He’s friendly. I think.” I said, frowning. She didn’t move an inch. I picked a small bone up off the floor and chucked down the corridor. It made a dry clattering sound on the floor, and the monster growled and slowly dragged its self away towards the sound. It ignored me and continued down. Sadie crumpled to the ground, hugging her knees. Small tears traced down her face, leaving marks in the grime. I bent down in front of her, trying not to step in the slippery goo.

“It’s fine. He seems friendly. Come on, before more come.” I said gently. I took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “So, there really are monsters keeping you here. Like in all the old scary stories.” I nodded, and then remembered she couldn’t see me. “Yep. They live underground for the most part. I’ve only had a few run- ins with them, but I see them sometimes. I see that one a lot.”  I said. She nodded slowly. “What did it look like?” she asked, obviously talking about he green one. “He’s only about your height, but he’s really wide. Four feet, probably. He’s green, and has this gross ooze that comes off of him. He has no eyes, but he must have really good hearing. He has rolls that sort of look like fat, but there green, and partly see through. He’s pretty ugly, but he never attacks me.” I said, trying to reassure her. She didn’t say anything. I squeezed her hand, and she straightened her shoulders, looking very determined. I almost smiled. I had never smiled in my entire life, as far as I could remember.