Their Wings

Chapter 5: Scars

I woke up gasping for breath. Everything had seemed so real, the trees, the shadows, and Luke. I rubbed the heels of my hands into my eyes, trying to desperately rid myself of the terrifying images. I had never imagined a pain like that before. It had burned through my whole body and had me screaming by heart out. That hadn't been a dream, it was a nightmare.

I could hear Alice banging about in the kitchen downstairs and wondered how long I'd been out for. I looked around my room still looking for something to distract me from the fear that plagued me. The feather caught the moonlight that was sliding in from my slightly parted curtain. It looked almost silver now, still glowing almost imperceptibly. I took a deep breath, feeling my thoughts clearing slowly.

The images started to fade and I got off my bed. Someone, probably Alice, had thrown a comforter over me. I stretched like a cat, pulling my body taut. I yawned slightly and ran my hand through my hair, encountering tangles. Summoning a comb off the dresser I turned to the mirror inside my closet door ready to tame my dark locks, and I froze.

There, cutting a completely straight line from just under my jaw to bottom of my collarbone was a thin white scar. The kind made by a dagger. The comb fell from my fingers. Dreams did not create scars, at least not physical ones. So how could I have ended up with one in the exact place where I had been cut in my dream. Unless it hadn't been a dream. I lightly traced the scar with my index finger, feeling the raised line. It tingled slightly as I touched it, as if warning me. Suddenly my reverie was interrupted by Alice shouting upstairs for dinner.

I blinked and shook my head, looking again in the mirror. And the scar was not there. It had completely disappeared. I froze, eyes wide, trying to slow my heartbeat and calm down. Then I caught sight of the feather in the mirror. All of a sudden a feeling of calm descended over me. My heart slowed down and I began to breathe normally again. The feather glinted in the moonlight, as if winking at me. I smiled gratefully in the mirror. It had been a dream, a really creepy, scary dream. But a dream nonetheless.

Alice didn't thankfully ask a lot of questions, assuming I was having 'lady problems' as she put it. That night I lay in bed staring at the feather. It was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen, next to it's proper owner. I knew I couldn't keep going like this, obsessing over an angel who may or may not be attending my school. I resolved to talk to Luke the next day, or at least stare at him from behind my bangs to see any more resemblances.

                                                                                       ~O~O~

The next day I waited outside the door of homeroom, completely ready to greet him at the door. I couldn't help but feel a little weird. Little Miss Loner waiting outside the door for the school hottie. I had put the dream almost completely out of my head. The scar had not returned that morning and so I had convinced myself it was a dream.

Then he appeared. the crowd seemed to part as he walked through. As if he was a prince or celebrity. Everybody he passed turned their head to stare at him. He walked with an easy grace, it was impossible to imagine him tripping. His eyes locked on mine when he was a few feet from the door. I swallowed as the gold irises drowned me again. He reached me and held out his hand, just like before.

"Hey, it's you again, Ella." he said smiling. I smiled back and reached for his hand. But froze just short  of reaching it, because there reaching from wrist to elbow was a long thin white scar. The kind made by a dagger.