Dimension Walker

| chapter thirteen |

I look straight ahead, and see Chance's face tense as he runs. Then, with another roar, the monster takes off, towards us. I push to go faster, but I know I won't be fast enough. How can I outrun something that flies?

Chance grips my upper arm and suddenly yanks me towards the nearest house. I nearly fall, but manage to keep my balance, confused. What is he doing?

The front door is unlocked, thankfully, and we burst through it. Chance lets go of my arm, slamming the door behind us.

"It won't be eager to go in here," He says, scratching the back of his head.

"Why?" I demand, moving towards the window. Chance pulls me back, and I cross my arms.

"Do you see its wingspan?"

"It's a little hard to not notice," I retort, glaring daggers at him. I don't know where this newfound irritation came from, but I realize it's not going to help anything, and try to calm down.

"Well," He adds a tone like he's trying to explain something to a child, "Then you'll notice that he won't be able to operate well in small spaces."

I uncross my arms, and move further in the house. My heart and head are pounding, and I take a deep breath. "What's to stop it from just breaking its way in here?"

"Nothing. But it's not that strong. It can't be," He adds quickly, as if correcting himself. "It can't destroy the whole house to get at us."

"Maybe we should move downstairs then?" My earlier anger is fading away, replaced by relief, and maybe a tiny bit of gratitude. Chance knows what he's doing, and knows how to handle these monsters, at least, better than I do.

Chance nods. "Good idea."

We go downstairs, and find a small living room as well as another kitchen. It's smaller, but I rummage through it in demand to my stomach. It's grumbling from not having eaten anything very sustainable in awhile. And from all the running.

I find a loaf of bread and peanut butter on the counter, rummaging through the fridge for jelly. "You okay with PBJ?" I call out, finding a jar of raspberry jelly, and pulling it out.

"What?"

I collect the three ingredients and find a butter knife in one of the drawers. "Peanut butter and jelly." I say, enunciating each syllable. "Most basic meal of all time?"

"Oh, yah." He says, plunking himself down in the living room. "Just surprised you can eat that quickly after being chased by a monster."

"Well, according to you, we're safe. At least long enough for...." I glance outside. "Early dinner? Late lunch? Whichever you prefer." I nearly jump out my skin when I hear a roar, from somewhere outside, and a loud crash. It sounds like it's coming from upstairs, and I dearly hope Chance was right. I spread each ingredient on a slice, putting them together and dropping the sandwich on a plate.

I go over to the living room, handing him the plate before seating myself. I take a big bite, shrugging as I can tell the bread is a little old. Food is food.

We don't hear anything from the monster, and I start to relax a little more. It probably already left. The sky darkens until it's hard to see anything, when I stand up.

"I'm doing to bed." I announce, setting my plate on the counter. Chance mumbles an acknowledgement through his second sandwich. I go down a hallway that branches off from the living room, pushing open the first door and seeing it as a guest bedroom. I enter it, shutting the door behind me and dropping onto the bed. A dull headache has formed behind my eyes, and I shut them, rubbing my forehead.

The brief span of optimism during dinner had slowly evaporated, leaving me feeling hopeless. So there was another human who had been transported to the dimension. But there was no clues on how to get home.

I get under the covers, pulling them up to my chin. None whatsoever.

Light streaks into the room through the windows that I had forgotten to cover. I flip over onto my other side, trying to get back to sleep. But, a curse that I had had since I was little, once I'm awake, there was no going back to sleep.

I groan out loud, and flip the covers back, sitting up. There's a mirror across from where I'm sitting, and I study my reflection. My hair is starting to show streaks of grease, and it's a mess from tossing and turning during the night. My eyes look tired still, and I look away from the reflection. Nothing a shower wouldn't fix, really. I stand up, and remember my back injury, running a hand over the bandages, They don't seem dirty, but I know I need to change them anyway. My back still aches slightly, but it's improved over the week it's been since I was attacked.

I leave the room, finding Chance asleep on the couch, his eyes still open. The only reason I can tell he's even asleep is his breathing is regular, deep, and even, and he stares off into nowhere.

I find the bathroom a couple doors down the hall, and change, getting into the shower.

After the shower, I put new bandages over the formed scabs, some of which had reopened, sending trickles of blood down my back. I feel much more awake as I dress, finding a brush in one of the drawers to tame my hair.

Chance is getting breakfast out already, pulling out a box of cereal and a bowl for himself. Rolling my eyes, I go grab a bowl and spoon for myself, pouring cereal and sitting next to him at the counter. We eat breakfast in silence, and I clean my own dish in silence as well. Chance leaves his in the sink, and I raise my eyebrows.

"Mind cleaning up after ourselves?" I ask, gesturing at the bowl.

He seems unfazed. "Why?"

"Because this isn't our house." He shrugs in response. "Fine," I say. "Then I'll clean it."

I move to do so, and he holds his hands up. "Whatever. I'll wash my dish." He does it, and then we head upstairs to leave.