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Part Twenty-Eight

   "Go ahead, boys," Drizzle shoo'ed them off with the wave of her hand, wrapping the other one around Jack's waist. "Your father and I are going to have a talk."

   Sam, not exactly willing to witness his father get yelled out, took Axel's hand in his own and began down the hallway within the walls. His first priority was borrowing, sure, but all he really wanted was to take the first exit and come from underneath Leo's bed, getting to reunite with his humans.

   As it was, Axel was dragged along to do the necessary tasks. It was more important to come back with the necessary items, just to make sure Sam's parents didn't get overly suspicious. And if it took too long, he planned on chalking it up to his first run with Axel. He didn't know how well the little borrower knew the ropes, after all.

   They tip-toed through the walls together, hand in hand, sneaking around as if they were scavenging mice on a hunt.

   "We're getting tin foil, first," Sam declared, making a turn in their path towards the exact place he knew it to be; in a supply closet directly beside the guest room, where Elijah currently resided. "Then cloth, and that should be it. I stocked up on food not too long ago."

   "You're not-t-t planning on s-seeing the humans, right-t?" Axel whispered back, his tail stiff as a board. The little one was having a terrible time trying to catch up with Sam, despite being dragged by his hand. With the bad limp in his leg and horrible posture, it was no surprise Axel wasn't cut out for swift borrowing trips.

   "Maybe..." Sam responded, putting a finger to his lips as he stopped in front of an entrance.

   To the naked human eye, there looked to be around three tubs of glue against the back of the supply closet wall, but to a borrower, it was an entrance point to get whatever necessary that trip. While squeezing past the tubs wasn't the easiest part in the pitch black, Sam's eyes were able to get used to it fairly quickly.

   Axel followed far behind, beyond scared of the dark, but again not willing to speak up about his fears in the middle of an important task.

   Sam made Axel stay where he was at the bottom of the bookshelf containing multitudes of helpful items, while he climbed up using the fishing hook that he hadn't been able to use since what seemed like forever ago. Once he found what he was looking for, he threw it to the ground and prayed Axel wasn't caught in the crossfire.

   Elijah could've sworn he heard distant thuds from outside his bedroom. He decided to blame it on the medicine he was given, and rested his head against the pillow once more.

   "Good?" Sam asked Axel when he touched his feet the the safety of the hardwood floor. The tiny brother only nodded in response, gripping Sam's hand in the dark in an attempt to warn off his paranoia. The humans could've easily heard the tin foil tube fall to the ground, or the scuffling of little feet in the hallways. Unless they had gotten incredibly lucky, Axel feared he might be caught.

   "Just relax," Sam reassured him, allowing him to hold a piece of cloth to calm down. "One more trip, and then we're done."

   "You s-said we only needed these things-s-s...?"

   "I know. I wanna go see my friends," Said Sam. Axel's heart beat increased with a velocity he didn't think possible.

   He wanted to say no. He didn't know why, especially after learning that at least one of the humans had a kind soul, but Axel wasn't ready. It was supposed to take longer, allowing him to build up enough courage and see the human on his own. Not be reduced by Sam, who couldn't even give him the time of day to notice  how poor he was trembling.