The Girl & The Hound | Winter Soldier

SIXTEEN

❝HE IS WHO NOT EVERYDAY CONQUERING SOME FEAR HAS NOT LEARNED THE SECRET OF LIFE.❞

Sawyer trailed her hands along the plainly painted, dwindling stair wall, her footsteps creaking against the wooden stairs before her bare feet finally set on the stability of the bottom of the stairs. She glanced over her shoulder up at the top of the stairs for a moment, listening contently to see if Gunner had been woken before the silence affirmed he'd not.

With a shaky breath, she urged herself to walk into the storage room of the house she'd refrained from studying, in hopes for art supplies. Too enveloped in her own fear and reminiscence of the dreaded moment she'd snapped and taken a life, Sawyer undoubtedly was too subdued to consider trivial things such as exploring her new temporary home.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Sawyer hesitantly made her way to the large wooden door placed on the wall beside her, its untouched presence seemingly assuring her it was the entrance to the storage room. She drew out a breath as she glanced up at its height, taller than herself as she glanced up and down the dim hallway before setting her attention back to the door.

Placing her hand on the door handle, Sawyer gently pushed down before a sudden stretched clank signified the door hadn't been opened at all, slightly resisting in its place. Acknowledging this, Sawyer twisted so that her left shoulder was barged against the door, intending to push against it as she pushed down furthermore but to no avail, it was evidently locked.

Sawyer furrowed her eyebrows, an exasperated, "what on Earth?" of confusion escaping her as she took a defeated step back, her hands tugging through her hair in thought as she drew in a deep breath. Deciding there most likely was a key needed, Sawyer dropped her hands and began to study the door, her eyes having to squint through the dim darkness to examine for a keyhole before her confusion grew fourth more at its intricate existence just under the door handle.

Licking her lips, Sawyer felt her chances of discovering what was behind the door depleting all too fast as she took a bleak step back, helplessly glancing around the hallway and thus making no effort, to find the key or the needle in the haystack, before a thought crossed her mind at the large platform at the top of the door.

Raising an eyebrow, Sawyer stepped foreword and climbed onto her tip toes, her left arm stretching strenuously as her fingertips felt along its surface, dust and cob webs casting her a slight shiver of disgust before her fingers eventually felt a metallic structure out of place on the unclean platform.

Sawyer retrieved it, relaxing back on to the balls of her feet as she smirked. Unclamping her clenched hand, she glanced down at the glinting key, a sigh of relief sounding from her as she took it in her right hand, pushing it through the keyhole, "it is a good thing I eat my carrots."

The door clanked vigorously through its hollow wood, Sawyer adjusting her posture as she figured it had unlocked. With the acknowledgement she took the key back out of its keyhole, reaching back up and placing it back on to the platform before glancing back up at the landing of her stairs.

Gunner still hadn't awoken.

With an eerily creak, Sawyer pushed her weight against the door and a cloud of dust instantly consumed her, strangling her with coughs and splutters as she took a step back to allow the door to swing open. Wrenching the thick smog out of her lungs with a final splutter, Sawyer edged her way into the blackened room.

Clumsily she fumbled for a light switch, the darkness blanketing the room as the floorboards squeaked under her weight. Cob webs seemingly ravelled around her as she flung her arms helplessly with a slight grimace to free herself from their sticky embrace, her hands inaccurately smothering the walls for a switch as she clenched her eyes shut.