Gabriel's Child

Gabriel's Child;;Chapter Ten

It had become easier to see in the forest now, tiny amounts of light began to shine through the dead forest. It also had become colder, night was on its way. Angela lay quietly on my lap after crying herself to sleep. The fact that did what I did, healing her, freaked me out. A lot.

Why me, how am I able to do this? Why am I this freak of nature?

I let out a sigh, "I can't just stay here, have to move and get out of this place."

Gently, I shifted Angela from my lap onto my back. I slowly stood up and looked at my surroundings now that I could see a little better. Earlier I could feel the death in this forest, but now see how devastated it really is. Fog lay low on the ground just barley covering all the brown leaves, insects I have never seen before had been crawling over the dying vegetation, and trees were black, barren, and broken.

Trekking on I went back and walked from the direction we came from, at least I think we did. Every single part of this forest looked exactly the same. I kept walking and heard water running nearby, I don't think I ever passed any bodies of water and I was probably going the wrong way, but it's not like I could turn back.

As I reached the water I heard a deep rumbling noise, like snoring, not too far from the stream. I fought with myself for a moment as I felt a pang fear in my stomach, I'm alone in a dark forest with a little girl and who knows what, should I really follow the noise?

Yes.

The dead leaves sounded with a crispy crunch as I followed the noise And eventually found myself at a giant dying tree. A snoring tree? No, it can't be, can it? I walked around its massive trunk searching for what could possibly be making that sound. I came across a dark gaping hole that seemed to be carved into the trunk. I knelt down and poked my head inside; the sound was defiantly coming from the hole.

I felt the little girl shifting on my back, she was waking up.

"Angela," I whispered to her over my shoulder, "I need you stay here for a moment do you think you could do that for me?"

"No," she mumbled, "I- I'm too scared..."

"Do you want to come with me?"

She nodded.

"Okay, I don't know how far the jump down in this hole is so hold tight, okay?"

She nodded and I jumped. The jump wasn't as far down as I anticipated and I'm sure I heard a crack. We weren't alone.

"Leró chália!" a voice yelled.

In surprise I automatically screamed and Angela began to cry.

I was knocked off of my feet and fell back, which only made Angela cry more. I quickly shushed her. I heard some shuffling and some more foreign words slip out. Why is there another person in this forest and a foreigner at that? A small flame lit the hole.

It was a boy and he was strangely beautiful, and by strangely beautiful I mean unnaturally beautiful. He was very pale and had what looked like a tribal tattoo that started from his hand, wrapped down his arm, and disappeared under his shirt. There were words in a lighter colored ink interlaced within the black ink of the tribal tattoo that I couldn't make out. His hair, which just brushed past his eyelashes, was darker than night. Around his pale throat was a black chain with a pale green gemstone attach to the end of it. His eyes stood out against his skin and they were the most impossible color, they were purple.

He yelled louder, lighter in hand, "Poios eísai giatí eísai edó?"

I blinked at him, what the hell was he saying?