When she reached the corner, she looked behind her.
It was a reckless move, especially when he halted in a bright streetlight and she made it known she knew he was there. He stormed forward, doubling his speed, and Skylar panicked as she turned around the corner.
She stopped, steadied herself against the wall, and fumbled with the zipper of her boots with trembling hands. The moment they were off, she abandoned them as she ran.
“Hey!” Larry shouted from down the street when he saw her sprinting. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk!”
The sounds of quickening footfalls in pursuit echoed in the empty, dark street, and she sprinted faster. She looked over her shoulder to see he was holding her shoes and gaining on her.
Wind whipped around her face as her pulse thrummed in her ears, and she tried to ignore how her socks did little to protect her feet. She stepped on a rock, pain lancing through her left sole, and her leg wobbled before she righted herself.
He was nearly upon her when he let out a yell, followed by athud, and she refused to look back when whatever happened allowed her to put some space between them.
“Get off me!” he yelled. “Ow! Ow! What the fuck?!”
Skylar turned a corner, and then mentally apologised to whoever owned the house when she jumped over someone’s front yard retaining wall to hide in the bushes. She sat down and covered her mouth to soften her frantic pants as she waited for him to come find her.
His yelling was muted by the fact that he was some distance away and on another street, and tears formed because she was so freaked out her body needed an outlet. Despite the fact that she knew she could protect herself, it didn’t stop her from being scared.
Then everything went quiet except for how loud her heart was beating. She wished it would calm down, otherwise it’d give away her hiding spot.
With her backside on bark chips, all of which poked into her soft cheeks, she brought her knees together and pressed them up against her chest to be as small as possible. She continued to cover her mouth, her breaths wheezing as she nearly hyperventilated.
She jumped when she heard scraping along the ground coming towards her. It didn’t sound like footsteps, but she wastoo worried to truly believe that, nor was she brave enough to stick her head out to check.
Please don’t let there be any spiders,she thought, clenching her eyes shut.
Mr Tentacles, in scary form number two, entered her mind. Would he have protected her in this situation? She wanted to believe so.
At least he would have been frightening enough to scare the piss out of the creep. He wouldn’t even need to do anything. Larry would only need to look upon him and lose his shit in fright.
As the seconds ticked by, she found picturing him huddling around her protectively made her feel... safer. Calmer. Her heart settled, even when the scraping came closer until it was right next to the wall she was hidden behind.
She flinched when a thud sounded above on the concrete barrier, only for rustling to come next when something fell through the bushes. Many leaves and sticks broke off.
One of her boots landed in front of her, followed by the second, then a little black ferret with bat wings landed on top of it. Its horn limbs were elongated, and the ends glowed bright red along with its three tail tendrils.
The light coming from it reflected the crimson smeared across its maw, and its glowing red eyes looked up at her expectantly.
She knew, just knew, that it had attacked Larry to save her.
Skylar sobbed as she picked it up and wrapped her arms around it to hug it to her chest.
“Thank you,” she cried into its warm fur as she sniffled. “Thank you so much.”
It squeaked, and it was the first time she’d ever heard it make an audible noise that wasn’t its claws tapping against the ground. It was also the first time she’d seen it without hermonocle, as if it had revealed itself to her to let her know she was safe.
It’d even been kind and smart enough to bring her boots.
For a long while, Skylar sat in the bushes of some random’s house. She waited for her fear to ebb and her tears to stop before letting the creature go.
She stared at it as it stared back while standing on top of the thick sole of her boot. Then it opened its maw, revealing all its razor-sharp fangs, and used its horn limbs to point towards its mouth multiple times.
“Are you demanding a reward?” she asked with a hoarse voice.
It poked towards its mouth more hastily, and she figured that was a yes.
She laughed while wiping her cheek with a shaking hand. “Okay. I’ll give you some food.”
