The Forbidden Blood

Prologue

It was the dead of night, the rain pounding on the roof, the thunder sounding across the silence of the night. I sat on my bed in the attic, finishing my makeshift rope. It had to be tonight or the hounds would be able to follow me. I would escape through the window and run for the woods, and I wouldn't stop until my legs or wings gave out.

As I finished tying the last knot, I arose from my bed and walked to the window. As I opened the window, I looked into the vast night. It was beautiful and horrifying. I threw the rope out the window and tied the other end to a pole in the middle of the room, as I finished, I heard the hound's horrific howls approaching my room. In an instance of fear, I charged for the open window and started claiming down as the door opened.

As I reached the ground, I could hear the head nun screaming. "YOU CURSED CHILD! SISTER LIANNA READY THE HOUNDS!"

As the sound of hounds barking, and chains dragging, I took to the skies and flew as fast as my wings would carry me. I refused to look back, at the hell I had escaped. As I flew, the hounds vanished, and the howls that once scared me to my core were finally gone. No longer would I have to lay awake at night, wondering if every sound were the sisters, coming to whip me? I was finally free, free from pain and the anger of my existence. I could finally be me.

-----

Two days passed, and my wings were nearly numb, both from the cold and the continuous flying. I had spotted a landing in the woods and decided to rest there for a bit, perhaps hunt and find food to regain my energy.

I landed with a slight thud and took a few minutes to catch my balance. I had not realized how weak I had become, though I suppose not being fed for a week could do that. I quickly took the bow I had stolen off my back and hid in a tree, watching, waiting for a poor, defenseless animal to walk into its death. For a few moments, I heard nothing, saw nothing, and then-

SNAP!

I whirled my head around to the source of the sound, readying my arrow to strike, but what I found was not an animal, but a boy. I watched as he picked different plants and placed them into small bags and made small notes in a notebook. I dove to get a closer look when I fell from the branch I rested upon. My wings, still weak from exhaustion and hunger, would barely move and I plummeted to the ground. As I neared the floor of the forest, I closed my eyes, embracing myself for the fall, only to land on something soft.

"Are you alright?!" a voice yelled.

I groaned in pain, refusing to move, "My side...hurt...my side hurts."

I felt myself being lifted and felt air brushing against my face. I couldn't breathe, couldn't grasp the air around me. My lungs felt like fire, and my chest felt as if a thousand soldiers had taken place on it. It only took a few agonizing moments before the pain consumed me before everything went black and the last thing I heard, was the voice of my savior.

"Hold on, please, just hold on."

~~~

As all my senses slowly returned to me, I heard voices, all unfamiliar. "Where did you find her, Alfonso?"

"I told you, Father, she fell out of a tree nearby."

"But where did she come from?"

Once I was able to force my eyes open, I saw the silhouettes of three people. A young boy, the one who had helped me, and two older people whom I had assumed were his parents. The elder man, who had a pair of silver-green wings, had dark brown hair with a skin tone almost matching. The woman, probably his wife, bore golden wings and wore her beautiful light brown hair in braids popping against her fair brown skin color. The boy, who I realized had to be around my age, appeared the almost perfect mix of them both. On his back were a pair of wings of silver and gold, complimenting his dark brown skin and fair.