Falling Star

Chatper One

The girl crumbled in his grasp. She was fighting like hell, the scratches and the black eyes on the guy in front of her were enough to tell her that. The rain beat against their skin, heart hammering in unison. The man had pinned her to the road below, hand around her neck as his other fist reeled back.

How she got in this position was beyond her. The two weren't friends, they weren't strangers. He was her dad. The matching blue eyes and matching hair was enough for anyone to tell that. She and he were walking home, that much she remembered. He was pissy about someone and a comment slipped from her mouth just as it started raining.

Was that all it took? A snide comment?

His fist flew down and the girl's hand shot to cover herself. A sound picked up in her ears, screaming as his fist beat into the arms covering the girl's face. Scrambles of, "Oh my god! Oh my god!" rang in her ears.
His hand tightened around her neck and she noticed she stopped trying to defend herself. She resumed her legs kicking and scratching.
Sneakers squeaked in the rain a drift of water following the person running to save her. Through blurred vision, she watched in horror as someone she knew beat against her father's back. She would know that tan skin and curly hair anywhere.

They were shorter than both the girl and her dad. Her cousin didn't care. They ripped at the back of his shirt, yelling mantras about leaving their cousin alone. The girl's father reared his ugly head around and had stupidly removed his hand on his daughter's neck to grab at the shorter cousin.

The girl shot out from under him, drenched in sweat and rain she heard her sneakers beat against the ground. Her hair whipped wildly and her nails ground into her palms.
"Rose!" she called to her cousin. Her father had given up on the shorter girl in the chase of his daughter. Eyes of a bull, he darted after her and the girl wanted to scream. His daughter wanted to scream and she wanted to cry. She wanted to feel safe, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

Even now, she knew her father wasn't truly like this. He was a smart kind man like her mother said. He was liked to drink, that is all. There wasn't anything more. He was a good father and a good husband. The scars and
bruises weren't anything. He loved them.
 
He had to. God, he had to.

Her cousin stood frozen in place as they watched the scene. In her haste, the girl had bolted from the alleyway they were in. They were crossing streets and bolting on the sidewalk. There was a bridge only a little ways from the alleyway, is that where they were headed?

The rain was pouring from the sky, cars wildly wiping windshields and the very few on the sidewalk with the two were covering their heads.

The daughter dodged in between the people on the street, tripping over shoes and wiping her eyes. Her hair stuck to her forehead and back, her previously grey dress going a darker shade. Her energy was beginning to wane, her legs hissing in heat and pain. Her father could easily catch up to her now and he did.
His hand shot out and grabbed the back of her dress, throwing her against the railing of the bridge. She yelped and sealed her mouth shut, jaw clenching. He pushed himself against her and she squirmed and kicked at him. She pushed and punched at her father, his hands shot out wildly trying to grab her arms and legs. Rose stood in the alleyway in horror.

Though they were far, they had a horrifying view of their cousin and her father.
She was sliding up the railing, nearly making her sit on the edge of the railing as she kicked at her father's hips and stretched his chest and face. In desperation, she pushed at her father and began falling. She had slipped over the railing.

Rose screamed, her father screamed. The girl falling did nothing.

What was she supposed to do? Screaming was futile, and she was going to die. The water would hit her and her father would say it was suicide.

Therefore she waited. She waited for the sickening slap of skin on water, the pain that would shoot through her body. What welcomed her was anything but. The water that she expected to hurt her, gently curled around her body and coddled her. Then, there was no more water.

There was no more rain or hail, no river or grey clouds. She felt the air and wind stick into her skin and dry her dress. Her eyes watched in awe as the clouds around her turned from grey to white to grey again. Was she in the sky?
Eyes searched wildly around her. There was no bridge anymore. There was no rain. As the knew grey clouds covered her, she completely changed.

Long curled hair was cut into a wild comb-over. Her dress replaced with a blue hoodie with Japanese rain dolls attached to the end of the pull string. Old tights replaced with ripped jeans with clouds painted on them. She fell through the newly grey clouds and was met with a city beneath her. It wasn't raining, it wasn't windy. The sky was black with dotted lights and echoes of the cities lights.

Her body shifted in the air. Her knees and elbows bending and her hands doing an almost slow flapping motion. She watched as the buildings got bigger and bigger, lights growing brighter and dancing around her. Next, she was encased in something. She wasn't falling anymore, she had been caught and was flying right with this person.

They landed on the building closest to where the girl was falling and she looked up at the person that saved her. His face and body were normal, but he had wings. A bright crimson color that stretched in the city lights. He was wearing headphones, along side a rain coat that didn't fit him. 

"What are you? A falling star?" he questioned her.