The Angel and The Crow~Mother Miranda x OC

Escape/Sacrifice

              When I awakened the next morning, I was half frozen, Miranda's warmth gone from me, and the clothes I had been given no longer covering me, leaving me naked beneath the covers, which did very little to keep out the freezing air, and I slowly began realizing what she had told me. She needed my blood to bring her child back to her? What insanity was this? If bringing a child back were possible, I would have done so many years ago. I would give anything to hold my Evan yet again, and to protect him from the cruel fate he had been given by people we had both trusted. Perhaps it had been some kind of mind game to try and gain my trust, so I would stop being so persistently stubborn when told to do something. Whatever her intentions, there was simply no way that my blood was the key to resurrecting some child, though my blood was special in its own way, I supposed.

I sighed, as I found myself shackled by metal cuffs to the side of her bed, unsurprised. So, her gentle touch the night before had indeed been a lie, and was merely used to allow her to touch me without my objections. From the many fresh scars upon my skin, and the dried blood there, she had cut me open in my sleep, my exhaustion keeping me from feeling her sharp blade and waking. I turned my head as the woman in question entered the room, her heels clicking annoyingly on the marble flooring, her ice cold gaze upon me. "I see you are finally awake. I thought you would sleep all day, but that wouldn't do at all, now would it, pet?"

I grimaced at the nickname, already tired of hearing it. "That is not my name, witch." Her eyebrows shot up, her glare now full of contempt for my backtalk. "Pardon me?" I felt my breath hitch, as she stormed over to me, her golden claws missing, but her fingernails digging into my bare flesh nonetheless, drawing blood, and it took all my willpower not to back down as her face came dangerously close to mine. "My name is Naomi. I would like you to address me as such." I blinked, the sharp slap stinging across my skin shocking me into silence for a moment. "Watch your tone, pet. I will have you respect me if it is the last thing that I do. You are far too confident for your own good."

My shoulders twitched as her other hand brushed against the scars on my back, and I couldn't stop the unholy groan that tore from my throat, both of us going silent, her eyes widening slightly, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Sensitive there, are we? Hmm.." My face flushed scarlet, as she dug her nails into the scars, my whole body jerking on its own as she did, an unbearable ache starting in my stomach and between my thighs, causing me to try and tear myself away from her. How I hated her in that moment, her cruel smile making my rage grow hot, despising her for touching one of the weakest areas on me, glad that she did not know why it was so sensitive, my body managing to keep that hidden still. "I tire of these games, Miranda." I easily snapped the shackles with my brute strength, waiting for the perfect moment to do so, and took off, bolting through my prison faster than any human could, my strength regained after the rest I had gotten the night before, and made my way out into the snowy air of the mountains, the cold not bothering me at all, and kept running.

I was unprepared for the feeling of something heavy landing on my back, my screams of agony all too real as razor sharp fangs latched onto my throat, surprised as I found myself unable to heal the wound, hot and thick blood gushing from it, the world around my going blurry and a bit white, black spots dancing in my vision, and felt a second, then third pair of jaws join the first, hot blood gushing across more areas of my body as whatever had captured me proceeded to attempt to tear me to pieces, the pain unbearable. Why could I not heal? Surely, the drugs that woman had forced upon me to stop my healing ability had to be out of my body by then, so what was happening to me? Perhaps the creatures had some type of venom within their saliva that held the same affect as those drugs.

I stopped trying to struggle as my muscles were torn apart along with my bones being broken, and decided that as a last attempt, I would use the part of me I kept hidden for specific reasons, knowing that I may as well, the rest of my body too weak to even move, the cold starting to seep into my skin slowly from blood loss. Before I could even do what I had planned, I heard a shriek of pure fury nearby, and the sound of something tearing through flesh wetly could be heard, as the weight of the creatures disappeared from my body. I heard someone swearing in native Romanian, and grunts of pain, along with low growls, and forced my shredded body to move, my blurred vision landing on Mother Miranda, her usually neat blonde hair disheveled and stained red with blood, her eyes full of icy rage, her talons tearing into Lycans as a pack of them charged her, a few hits connecting with her porcelain skin. What was she doing? Surely, she did not need to bother herself with them, and there was no reason for her to save her now ruined experiment that I was.

She was very strong and powerful, it is true, but even so, the amount of Lycans swarming her seemed to be taking their toll on her, her movements slowing ever so gradually. At that rate, they were going to kill her. Why did I care? She had done nothing but use and torture me from the moment we had met, and yet, something inside me caused me to stagger to my feet, and weakly shove my way through the dogs, yanking the other woman against my bare and bloody chest, her eyes widening at my actions. "What do you think you are-" Before she could finish the question upon her lips, I unfurled my wings, the black feathers shining against the white snow, and raced for the cliff nearby, tossing both of us off of it. I shielded her body with my own as we fell, my body too weak to be supported well by my wings, and I distinctly felt the bones in my wings crack with the force as we landed on rocks far below, my spine screaming in agony, and went limp, not able to move at all.

I could numbly feel Miranda's weight shift on me as she moved off of my body, but could not understand who was saying my name, as I heard someone desperately crying out, "Naomi? Please- Open your eyes, pet. You will be alright." Miranda? Could the voice belong to her? No. Miranda would never call me by my name, much less sound as concerned about me as that person seemed to. "I am begging you, open your eyes. I never beg for anything, much less this, but I need you to wake up, or I fear you may be lost." My eyes opened slightly, the exhaustion and pain in my limbs weighing my eyelids down, and a porcelain, tear stained face appeared in front of me, Miranda's mascara smeared, her eyes full of worry. She was.. Crying? The mere thought seemed ridiculous. Women such as her never cared about others, much less someone like me. I was just an experiment..

Shaking fingers very gently traced against my face, as if afraid I would break at their touch, and Miranda muttered, "Of all the foolish things.. You are nearly torn to pieces, and yet you chose to jump from a cliff and harm yourself further, and for what purpose?" I weakly replied, "They would have eaten you for breakfast. You are powerful, but even you seem to have limits to your strength, Miranda. I did not wish your death.. That is all." That answer silenced her for a moment, and I heard her take in a shaking breath. "After all I have done, why would you sacrifice yourself for me? I don't understand." Why indeed? I had no answer for her. I, myself, was just as confused, but for some reason, my heart twinged painfully at the thought of the woman's death. "I.. Do not know, either. I can't see how it matters now. I am at death's door, and Evan is waiting for me on the other side. You can go back to your home now, and leave me." At that, I sank further into darkness, and peaceful silence..