Abigail and the Angels

Chapter One

"Mother! I can't do it!" Cried the small girl with long, flaxen hair. The woman, whose hair was shorter and slightly darker, held onto the metal bar- and her daughter's hand- with the little strength she had left.

"Yes you can! Just keep trying, my little flower," the woman replied. Tears streamed down the child's face but she had to listen to her mother. She was trembling and she couldn't let go of her mother's hand.

"Abigail, darling, let go of Mommy's hand."

"I- I can't. I don't want to" sniffed the little girl. Her mother smiled sadly at her and slipped her ring off, placing it loosely on the finger of the girl.

"I love you, my child," she yelled over the wind before letting go of her daughter's hand and the bar, falling into an abyss of emptiness, leaving nothing but the screaming voice of a nine year old child.

The girl lay on a beach, unconscious. Cold water lapped at her feet and the soft wind blew sand, which stung her face, making her wake. As she lifted her throbbing head, she opened her eyes to be greeted with the image of an ocean in front of her. In the distance, a flock of gulls screeched loudly, announcing her arrival and waking up. She blinked her green eyes sleepily and looked up at the sky. The sun hurt her head. As soon as she looked down again, the memories came flooding back. Her name is Abigail Briar. She is fifteen years old. She is the only child of an old king in a far off land. Her mother died in a plane accident. She is terrified of flying and heights because of it. She had to attend a meeting in another land in place of her father. She went specifically by boat because of her fear of planes. The boat was set alight somehow and she managed to get off. She avoided a plane because she thought she would have an accident like her mother. She went in a boat to avoid dying. And almost died. Abigail instantly felt her stomach rise and turned over in the sand, throwing up everything she'd eaten the day before. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and half-covered the mess with sand. She got up but instantly fell back to the sand because her knees hurt.

"Gods, let it not be broken," she whispered hoarsely. She jabbed her knees with her index fingers. They hadn't popped. They were just bruised. She sighed in defeat and looked around her. She appeared to be on an uninhabited island somewhere. In front of her, there were trees. Behind her, there was ocean. On her right, there was puke. On her left, there was a crab and some debris from the boat. She looked around and realized she was completely alone, apart from the crab digging beside her. She took a jagged breath and started sobbing. After thirty minutes of crying, her eyes stung and her head hurt more. She decided to stop behaving like a child and do something.

"Now Abigail, what are you crying about? There's nothing to be sad about. We're just building some character," she said to herself, imitating her nanny. She managed to snigger a little at her own words.

That bloody Nanny- Margret- who always pretended that any unpleasant or displeasing situation was to build character, would have said those exact words, had she been here. Abigail pulled her sleeves up. All along her arms were cuts and grazes, and the same for her legs. She decided to do something about it. She pulled off her long, poofy dress (a bloody impractical thing to be wearing no matter where you were, she thought) and lay it down on the sand. She then pulled off her dirty white socks and the trainers she'd put on in secret when Margret wasn't looking. She then took off her underclothes and was left in her underwear. She crawled over to the water and immersed herself in it. The salt stung her wounds but after a moment, they felt better. She dipped her head under water and her usually wavy flaxen hair straightened out. She splashed her face and sat in the cool water while she thought. This was an unpleasant situation that felt like nothing more than a bad dream. But it wasn't a dream. It was, unfortunately, real. She was on an island, alone, without even comfier clothes, other than her underclothes. She sighed and gritted her teeth, readying herself to stand. She used her strength to raise herself to her knees and then to her feet. She screamed in pain when she eventually stood up, however it soon subsided and she stood still, her knees shaking slightly. She balled her fists in determination and took a step forward. This too, hurt.

But she kept going until she was on the dry sand again. She lay on the dress, which was still soaking. Her other clothes were still absorbing the sun's warmth and drying out. She sat for a while just watching the ocean. It used to be her best friend, while the sky was her worst enemy. But, now it seemed that both were against her. Next to her sat the same crab as before, running here and there. She liked crabs. They were cute, always being washed up on the ocean then either running back in or digging or for safety. Before she got assigned "heiress of the land" and before her mother died, she would chase them and if she ever caught one, she would proudly show them off to her mother. She missed her mother. She hated her nanny. She knew little of her father, aside from the fact that he liked the taste of ale and the look of gold. And she had no other family. She sighed and looked up. The sky was growing darker and she began to be a bit afraid. She pulled on all her clothes except the dress (which she left on the sand) and got up, intent of walking to the direction of the trees. She hesitated before walking though. She looked down to the ground and gently scooped up the crab. It's pale pink shell blended in well with the sand but Abigail could see it clearly. It was ridiculous, but having the tiny ocean creature with her made her feel less alone so she took it with her, steadily cupping it in her hands. As she walked further and further into the forestry, the sky grew darker and darker.

She wasn't thinking about where she was going, but rather she just let her feet carry her there. She hadn't realized how deep she'd gone into the forest, but when she did, it was too late. The sky was too dark for her to see anything clearly and the stars were not shining tonight. She sat down and wanted to cry again. She wanted to walk back to the sea, but she had no idea which way to go. Just as she was about to give up, she heard a soft snort. Instantly alert, she stood up.

"W-who's there?" She whispered quietly. Her heart beat faster and the snorting didn't stop. She swallowed and crept quietly to the direction of the snorting. Hidden amongst the bushes, she couldn't be easily spotted. She peeked through to the source of the snorts. She gasped quietly as she saw what was in front of her. On a starless night, softly grazing in front of her were horses. But not normal horses. Silver horses. Pearl horses. Diamond horses. Horses who looked like the solar system. Each emitting a soft white light. On closer inspection, Abigail saw that they had horns. A single horn upon each of their heads, which were complimented by the same white, glowing eyes.

"Unicorns..." she whispered. She watched the creatures graze for a moment, her breathing slowly becoming steadier. As she was about to step forward, the crab pinched her.

"Ow..!" She said slightly louder than what she meant to.

She realized that she'd probably scared the unicorns off in her sudden outburst and her head instantly snapped back up and looked at the spot where the unicorns were previously happily grazing. Her breath became quicker. The herd's eyes were fixed upon her. They were no longer a glowing white, but had become a deep blue colour, almost black. Abigail took a step back, but as soon as she did, one of the unicorns lurched forward at her, baring teeth that clearly belonged instead on a big cat. The creature's sudden grotesque change threw Abigail off her balance and she slipped back, letting out a scream. Soon after, the rest of the herd launched themselves at her and she instantly closed her eyes and prepared herself.