When you plummet from the window at the height of a four-storey building, it would make sense that you'll fall from the same height in the faerie realm.
But no.
I'm free-falling into a canopy of trees one hundred feet below me.
The wind tears at my face and hair, stealing the breath from my lungs as gravity pulls me down. Down. Closer to my unanticipated, branch-impaling type of death.
As the ground rises up to meet me, tears of uncontrollable fear erupt from my eyes.
I don't want to die.
Maybe it's because my life is flashing before my eyes, but all of a sudden, I hear what I so bravely thought of while considering the faerie's offer: I have a life to live. Not for myself, but for my aunt.
Now, with my death seconds from becoming a reality, the words ring hollow.
The thing is, I want to live for myself. Happily, selfishly, for myself. It pains me to think that these last moments will end like this, me prioritising myself above my aunt.
But that's what happens when you're about to die.
The screaming vortex of wind drowns out all sound, masking the flap of wings as a sharp, powerful force slams into my side. Pain explodes across my stomach with the force of a bull, sending me veering left.
The foliage of leaves grows in alarming detail.
It takes another two horrifying beats of plummeting towards the earth before firm arms wrap around my body, pulling me up into the cloud-dotted sky.
I can feel my heart striking violently against my ribcage as we hover a dozen feet or so above the rustling green canopy, just metres from what would have been a sure death.
Bile rises in my throat. I wrench my head to the side and vomit onto the treetops below, the sight of it splattering on the leaves making me gag further.
"Wow... you sure have an interesting way of exacting revenge on my forest," comes an amused voice.
"I'm sorry I didn't m—" I swivel my head to the source of the voice, and almost fall out of my saviour's arms.
Smiling, upturned eyes greet me with warmth, accented by the curve of thin roseate lips. Umber-brown locks flit across the male's forehead, underscoring his ethereality. Behind his shoulders, massive, feathery wings beat to keep us in the air. I can only stare in awe as the morning sunlight bounces off each ivory plume, turning them a glittering amber.
Aunt, I think I just saw an angel.
"Did I die?"
The angel laughs, the sound like the tinkling of chimes. "Fortunately, no. I should have caught you the first time, but I miscalculated the distance." He winces slightly. "Please forgive me."
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Unveil | Choi Yeonjun
Fanfiction"In order to overcome something, you must first confront it." | Started: 01/11/22
