The Girl With the Dandelion Ring

Chapter 11: Colors of the Wind

Chapter 11: Colors of the Wind

My body is cold, but the warm lips pressed against mine comfort me as I start to regain consciousness. My lips are parted to theirs, their air is rushing into me, filling me with heat. Then the lips are gone, being replaced with a physical pain in my chest. The lips touch mine again, giving me the warmth that drew me from my slumber. But something doesn't feel right. The air sits uncomfortably inside of my chest and I feel pain in my throat.

The lips pull away once again, and with one final compression of my chest my eyes fly open. My previously warm mouth spews out what feels like water. I cough over and over again, ridding my lungs of the liquid as a hand rubs my back. My dazed eyes look towards the person holding me.

His icy blue eyes stare into mine with a worried expression. His tan face, framed by dark brown hair with forest green tones, looms just above mine. His long hair flutters over the contours of my face; most of them are restricted by a band, forming a small ponytail at the back of his skull. I stare in awe at the beautiful boy, my eyes trying to take in everything about him. I try to pry my eyes away, or say something, but I'm unable. He slowly brings his hand to my face, I watch his slender fingers dance across my skin. They raise above my face, blocking my sight of his beautiful eyes for milliseconds, enough for me to regain control of myself. Then his hand comes down roughly across my face.

I hear a far away voice ask if I was conscious yet, but I ignore it, yelping and shoving the boy away from me, sending myself into a coughing fit. I roll over so that I'm facing the ground and cough up even more water. Once my breathing returns I open my eyes and push myself up on my hands and knees. I gaze into the black soil as the water absorbs into it. My eyes widen as my gaze slowly shifts up. It takes in the black grass, white sky, and black trees. My breathing comes faster as I stare at my nightmare, but this time I am in no orb of glass, I don't feel the suffocation that comes with my claustrophobia, and the only pain I feel is that in my cheek and my stomach wound.

My arms are shaking. I notice the teen staring at me, debating if he should help me. Behind him sits a girl with juniper branches sprouting from her head that give her a pixie-like hairstyle. Her skin is a pale beige with a thin coat of bark covering her body like clothes. Her solid black eyes are like that of an owl, and small dark brown lips rest above her sharp chin. To her left is a darkskinned creature with two black wire looking structures standing on his head side by side, almost like antenne. The ends are obscured by his blue undercut, but what truly catches my attention are the two blue, sprawling butterfly wings that extend about three feet from each of his shoulderblades. I stare in awe at the fae.

What magnificent creatures, I can't help but think. Their colors are captifying, standing out in a beautiful contrast to the black and white. They look so strange, so out of place in my human world. Then I remember.

They aren't in my world. They are in their rightful place, I am the outcast here.

Do not talk to the fae. I tell myself as I think Katherine and the man that stole away Ben's brother. Do not let them help you. Do not depend on them. They will only get you killed. You can do this by yourself. You can get home without their help.

I lean my weight onto my left hand, reaching underneath my shirt to feel my stomach. It's warm, unlike the rest of my body. That's not good. It could get an infection, I think. At least the stitches didn't break.