Guardian

Chapter 3

"Dark..." I repeated, "Well, it certainly fits your look."

"Heh, I guess." Dark chuckled.

I finished putting band-aids on the cuts on his legs and put everything back in my backpack. Then, I pulled out the 2 water bottles.

"You thirsty?" I asked, holding out one of the bottles to him.

"Very," he replied as he snatched the bottle out of my hands and pratically ripped off the cap! He chugged the water and let out a satisfied sigh when he finished. "Thank you, little hu-I mean...Jason."

I smiled up at him, "No problem, Dark!"

He tilted his head as I sat down next to him and rumaged through my bag of snacks. "Why are you helping me, Jason? Why aren't you scared of me?" he asked.

I opened up a pack of panut butter crackers and pulled one out. "Well, I was at first, but you looked so hurt and...alone. I know that feeling and I don't want anyone to feel like that."

It was silent except for the night time noises of the forest. Then the silence was broken by a low grumbling coming from Dark's stomach. Dark's eyes grew wide and he quickly covered his stomach, looking very embaressed.

I giggled and held out a peanut butter cracker, "Want some?"

Dark cracked a slight grin, revealing sharp teeth. But I wasn't scared.

"Yes, thank you." He replied and took the small cracker. He sniffed it, which I thought was pretty funny, before he stuffed it in his mouth. Soon enough, we finished the rest of the snacks.

I looked down at my watch and saw that it was past midnight!

"Oh crap," I cursed as I hurried to put all the trash back in my backpack, "I can't believe it's so late! I've got school tomorrow!"

"School?"

"I've got to get back to the house!" I quickly put on my backpack and grabbed my flashlight.

"Wait, Jason!" Dark grabbed my arm, "What's wrong? Where are you going?"

"I'm sorry, Dark. I've got to go." I apologized, "I have to get up early to go to school."

"You have to get back to your house quickly?" Dark asked.

"Yeah."

Dark slowly stood up and looked down at me. I knew he was tall, but now that he's standing, I gaped at how much taller than me he was! Suddenly, he picked me up with his good arm and started walking.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" I asked, still shocked.

"I'm taking you home. It's on this path, right?" Dark said.

"Um, yeah. Straight down this path." I replied, "But you don't have to carry me."

"No, it's much faster this way. Besides, it's the least I could do after all you've done for me." he insisted, "I would have eventually died alone out here if you hadn't found me, Jason."

He looked down at me with sincere gratitude, "Thank you."

The rest of the walk was spent in silence. Dark was right though, it was much faster, even though I noticed he had a slight limp. He gently put me down once we hit the edge of the woods.

"Thanks."

He nodded in response, and I turned to walk back to the house. I stopped and turned back to him, "Dark?"

"Yes, Jason?"

"Are we...friends now?" I asked.

"Friends?" he tilted his head at me, "I don't know. I've never had a...friend...before. You tell me."

"If I come back into the forest tomorrow night, will you be there waiting for me?" I asked.

"Yes."

I smiled up at him, "Then, yeah, we're friends."

He smiled at me in return, and I turned to walked up to the back door. I slowly opened the door so I don't make a sound. I looked back at the forest and saw the soft glow of Dark's eyes. I waved goodbye to him and went inside.