Chapter 21

Aria wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep when something woke her. For a moment, she simply laid in bed, wondering why she was awake Then she realized that Antionetta was sitting up in bed.

"Aria," she whispered, "do you hear that?"

Aria rolled over. "It's just Richard. Go back to sleep."

"No, listen!"

Aria sat up and yawned. She listened for a moment. "I don't hear anything, Netta."

"There it is again!"

This time, she heard it. Some kind of scratching noise was coming from the hallway. It wasn't the Dark Guardian. He made more of a creaking noise. "What is it?"

"I don't know, but it's scaring me," Antionetta said. "It's just like in that story..."

Aria threw back the covers and summoned a small flame. "It's probably just another bat. Come on, I'll prove it to you."

"No, Aria- wait for me!" Antionetta scrambled to catch up.

The girls crept toward the hallway. The scratching noise sounded further away now. The more Aria heard it, the more she thought it sounded familiar.

"What if it's the creature?" Antionetta whispered. She was nearly cowering behind Aria.

Aria shook her head. "You heard Lucien. The creature doesn't exist. Now come on. I want to go back to bed."

"No, let's check the main room, first."

The door was partially open. Aria poked her head into the room, but didn't see anything except Richard, skulking in a corner. She stepped into the room, Antionetta right behind her. The noise was definitely coming from in here. It almost sounded like...

Suddenly, something huge and furry hit Aria in the chest. She screamed and stumbled back, hitting Antionetta. They landed in a heap, tangled up with whatever was attacking them. Both girls were screaming as they tried to get away from it.

The next thing she knew, Aria felt an iron grip pulling her to her feet. Someone was laughing like crazy. It took her a moment to recognize the hand as Vicente's. Ocheeva ran in from the hallway as the rest of the family came from the living quarters. Someone finally lit a lamp.

"What's going on here?" Lucien demanded. He was bare-chested, dressed only in a pair of black pants and had his Blade of Woe out and ready.

Aria buried her face in Vicente's shoulder. Gogron was sitting on the floor, laughing hysterically, while Ocheeva comforted Antionetta as she cried.

Vicente answered. "I heard Aria scream and came to see what was wrong. When I got here, the girls were on the floor, wrestling with a huge rat. Gogron was standing there laughing."

Aria lifted her head. She was trying hard to keep from crying, but she said, "Antionetta woke me up because she heard something. She was scared after that story tonight, so we went to see what it was so I could convince her to go back to bed. Next thing we knew, we were attacked by something big and furry." Her voice broke then, and Vicente pulled her back into his arms.

Lucien looked at Gogron, who was finally starting to wind down. "I can't believe...they fell for it..." The Orc said breathlessly.

"You- you idiot!" Antionetta screamed. She pulled away from Ocheeva. "You lured us out here, then threw a rat at us when you knew we were already scared! I hate you!" She slapped Gogron hard across the face.

"Antionetta, control yourself," Lucien ordered. "Is that true?" He asked Gogron.

Gogron nodded slowly. It seemed he was just starting to realize how much trouble he was in. "I- I didn't think anyone would actually hear it."

Lucien shook his head. "You and I will talk in the morning." He looked around. "Everyone go back to bed."

Aria pulled away from Vicente. "Oh, no! I am not sleeping in the same room as Gogron tonight!"

"Neither am I," Antionetta said.

Lucien sighed and turned to Ocheeva. "Can the girls sleep with you tonight?"

Ocheeva agreed and immediately ushered the girls toward her room. Vicente stayed with them while she gathered pillows and blankets. When the girls refused her offer to use her bed, she made up a bed on the floor for them. After ensuring that Aria was alright, Vicente allowed Ocheeva to shoo him from the room. The Sanctuary settled down again as everyone tried to go back to sleep.