Whispers on a Wing

Chapter Ten

I flew around for what felt like hours, never letting up my speed as I glided through the clouds, watching the sun completely set and the moon and stars appear. I was breathing easier now, my earlier rage dwindling as I relaxed into the chill of the evening air. Someone only had as much power over you as you allowed them to have, and if I made sure not to feel anything towards Jake, whether it be hate or any other emotion, it meant he had no power over me and that was something I had to remember.

I pushed my hair out of my eyes that had caught a cross wind but stilled when I smelt something that had been carried on the wind. Blood. Not just any blood, human blood.

I paused slightly in my flight, causing myself to drop in altitude slightly. Should I go and make sure the person was okay? I mean it didn't smell like there was a lot of it, just enough for it to catch in the wind, maybe a busted leg or a cut up forehead. I'm sure whoever it is will be fine, I'm sure they can look after themselves.

I flew away from the smell that was now a distant memory in the wind but groaned when my brain wouldn't shut up. If only my brain could forget about it as easily as the wind.

I turned around and dropped through the now thinning cloud bank, not enough for the people below to see the stars but enough for me to get a peek as to where I was landing, tree's thank god. It really did help that I lived in a pretty wooded area and I nearly always had somewhere to hide.

I dropped into the canopy of the trees and flew to where the smell was coming from, not too far from me. Within seconds I could see a figure passed out on the forest floor and my heart skipped slightly as I noticed blood covering the surface of a nearby rock and the person laying motionless next to it. Maybe it was a good thing that I'd decided to come and investigate.

I landed not too far from the figure and quickly shoved my coat on which had been tucked away in my rucksack, making sure my wings were hidden from view, before making my way over cautiously to the body. I could hear that the figure still had a heartbeat, so at least he was still alive, but the stillness of the guy still gave me cause for concern. A head injury could mean any number of things and could cause a person to deteriorate without the proper medical treatment.

"Hello?" I whispered into the quietness as I took precautionary steps towards the guy, "are you alright?"

I got nothing in response and so quickly crossed the last few steps so that I could reach the guy and get him some help. When I knelt beside him though I frowned and looked up at the sky in frustration. "Really? It had to be him?" I grumbled as I rolled my eyes and looked down at a passed out Jake, mud plastering his clothes and red matting his blond hair.

For a brief moment I thought about leaving him, letting his friends find him and get him to a hospital, but when I surveyed the area, using my heightened hearing to see if they were anywhere nearby, I knew I couldn't leave him. His friends were nowhere in sight, so it was up to me to make sure he got some help.

I groaned as I looked down at his face again before accepting my fate and pushed the hair from his eyes. "Jake? Jake, can you hear me?" I asked as I started to inspect the area. I had no formal training, but seeing as I'd been living on my own with no hope of being able to go to the doctors, I'd taught myself the basics in first aid. I just hoped it would be enough.

I got no response from him, but I kept calling his name as I inspected the area. It was a nasty cut, running a few inches in length between his right temple and his crown, but thankfully it didn't look too deep. He probably just needed a few stitches and he'd be alright again.

I finally got a grumble from him when I gently prodded the area around his cut, obviously causing him pain. I could smell cheap vodka on his breath though so hopefully the alcohol was numbing the pain for him a little. I'd had an injury not too dissimilar to this when I was younger. I had been running in the playground at school when I tripped and fell, hitting the side of my head on the edge of some stone steps, so I knew the pain.