Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Bump In The Night
At some point during the night I was awoken by slow, heavy footsteps creeping across the floor past my head. When I opened my eyes trying to adjust to the lack of light I saw the silhouette of a large figure taking deliberate steps to go unnoticed, heel to toe, which my have worked if not for the clumbsy knocking of the boots across the wood floor.
I squinted. "Dad?... What are you doing?"
"Shhh", urged the large figure. "I heard something outside. "Stay here."
I immediately sat up. "What'do you think it is?", I asked. I knew if he had known for sure he would have told me, but even a guess was better than having no answer at all.
"I don't know."
"Then I'll go with you."
"No!", he whispered in a harsh tone.
I could see a large sharp looking object in is right hand obscured by the darkness.
"It could be nothing, but even if it isn't I want you to stay here. Keep an eye on the place. I have this under control."
I nodded even though I doubted whether he could actually see me.
After leaving the front door he crept closer to the barn. The large wooden door looked as though something had dug a small hole just big enough to squeeze under it.
When my father reached it he pushed it in slowly and for a moment I heard nothing.
All of a sudden there was a loud clang and I high pitched shreik as though someone was dragging a rusty nail against an iron pole. The next second I could hear animals wailing and the stomping of hooves on the ground, followed by several more of those shrieks in succession.
Aya came rushing out from my room with sword in hand. "What is that?" She asked looking to me.
I looked at her and back in the direction of the of my dad who still hadn't come out.
"There's something in the barn!", I said, before making a mad dash in the direction of the sound. Aya followed right behind.
When we reached it looking inside we could see some horses and cows bucking back and forth, clearly agitated by all the ongoings. On the floor lay my father on his side one leg bleeding but still with his sword up. He looked over at Aya, and I.
"I told you to stay inside!"
"Yeah, and this is clearly not under control!" I shot back, racing to his side.
I put his left arm under my shoulder and began trying to lift him to his feet.
"What is it?", Aya asked, scanning the room.
"A gremlin."
"Gremlin? That could be a problem. They're skittish, and tend to move pretty fast. They also have venomous fangs.", Aya said thoughtfully. She looked down at my father's leg and then back around the room, then said" take your father back inside. "I'll handle this."
"Are you sure?", I asked. "I can help."
"Seriously, you need to go. You're only going to get in my way if you stay."
She didn't pull her punches when it came to telling the truth. As much as I hated to admit it, I probably would just be a problem if I'd stayed. I didn't know how to fight. Not even the first thing about fighting. Looking down at my dad's leg I clenched my teeth, turned around and started helping him hobble away.
When we got back to the house I helped him onto a chair, lit two lanterns, and then went back to the window. It seemed as though a candle had now been lit because there was a faint glow coming from inside the barn too.
I went back to my dad who had begun to peel up his pant leg. The wound was deep, and blood seemed to be flowing in large amounts.
I heard footsteps as my mother came from the other room.
"What's going-", her eyes widened as as she saw the large teeth gashes in my Dad's leg. "Oh my- Wha-what happened? Are you alright?" She ran to my dad and cupped the sides of his head.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It was a gremlin in the barn. Caught me off guard when I turned my back."
"Is it still out there?", Mom asked.
"Yeah, and the girl... Aya's out there too.", said Dad.
I watched him with his leg outstretched as he took some water with a gourd from out of a bucket, and splashed it across his leg. Another large pool of blood washed off it, but it did look cleaner now.
What was he doing? Was he actually trying to go? Back out there? Like, seriously? Even in that condition... Did he really still think he could fight?
I looked at the sword, then back out the window towards the barn. Light still seemed to be flickering and noises from the animals could be faintly heard.
I reached down and picked up the sword to my father's side. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" He said.
"I'm going back. She may need help, right?", I said, the whole time feeling a sinking pit in my stomach, and trying not to sound as nervous as I really was after seeing how deep that gash went.
"No, you're not. You're staying here."
"But, Aya is still outside." , added my Mom.
"She's an adventurer, and she told us to get back inside. It would only cause her problems if he went running in there swinging that sword all willy-nilly when he can barely hold the thing.
I hated it. My dad was right. Even though after he said that, I did try to make it look like it didn't effect me, but the weight of the sword was still heavy, even when holding it with both hands.
"It doesn't matter! I'm going!"
"No, you're not!" My Dad shouted
"Aiel, stop!", demanded my Mom.
"What's all this noise?" Lillie came toddling in rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Instinctively our heads flicked in her direction.
Just then everything became extremely silent and only the wind could be heard to any definite degree.
I looked back out the window. The barn door was there with the flickering of flame from inside, but there seemed to be no movement.
A moment later a large creak came from the barn door as it opened and the candle flames went out. A silhouette emerged holding what looked to be a sword in one hand, and several large round something's attached on the ends of many strings in the other...
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