Whispers on a Wing

Chapter Thirty Four

"Mum?" I whispered, turning onto my knees as I pressed my hands flat against the shield. "Mum?"
Dad was crouching above her, hand pressed tight to her chest as he tried to stop the flow of blood, but it was a failing task. The knife that Erik had thrown, the one that was intended for me, was sunk to the hilt into my mums chest, right where her heart was.
"Deb? No... no Deb you can't leave me," my dad cried, continuing his efforts in trying to stop the bleeding.
I looked over at her, her lifeless eyes staring up at the sky, and a small sob left my chest.
She was gone.
They'd done unimaginable things to me, tried to kill me twice and spent the last five years hunting me down so they could perform some type of witchcraft to banish me from the Earth, but at the end of the day she was still my mum. She was the one who fed me and clothed me, read me bedtime stories and made me chocolate cake on my birthday.
Yes we weren't always a happy family. They were quick to anger when we'd done something they deemed wrong and was left to play unsupervised for hours when they had something better to do, but I still loved them. They were my parents and that was a bond I don't think I could ever break.
Erik, Alice and Jake were silent behind me, their panting the only noise they made as they stared on at the scene in front of them. He'd killed my mum, the knife which was meant for me was buried in my mums chest and it was all because of that crazed idiot who couldn't stand the fact that he hadn't won, that I hadn't died.
Dad stayed kneeling at her side for another heartbeat, bowing to kiss her softly on the cheek as he whispered something softly in her ear, before standing up to face me. He was covered in blood, his fists clenched and shaking at his sides as he stared at me before flicking behind me to where Jake still had a frozen Erik pinned beneath him.
"Release him," he demanded, his voice though still strong sounded horse, almost lifeless. "Release him... NOW."
"You first," Jake gritted out, not moving from his spot on the floor.
Alice was standing above him, arrow drawn and aimed at dad's chest, ready to be released at the first signs of trouble.
"Let Kathy go and I'll do the same," he wagered, twisting Erik's arm further behind his back until he let out a shout of pain.
Dad stood there for a second, staring the three of us down and I couldn't help but let the tears fall from my eyes as I watched the man I'd seen as a wall of stone, someone so strong and indestructible, crumble before me.
"You know, it was always your mums idea to take on this mission we were given," he told me as he finally turned to look at me, his eyes full of sorrow as he stared down at his wife. "She was the one who was wanting to take this on, but I was always sceptical. You were so small... how were we supposed to..." he trailed off, lost to a memory I couldn't remember.
"Without her..." his voice broke, squeezing his eyes shut tight as a few more tears fell. "Without her here too... she was always the strong one," he sighed and I couldn't help the sorrow I felt as I watched my dad's heart break before my very eyes.
He turned until he was facing my mum, her cheeks still pink but her chest unmoving as she lay with unblinking eyes, staring up at the sun.
He knelt down at her side, his back to us as he stared down at her and I watched as he placed his hand over her eyes, pulling her eyelids closed as he did so. It kind of looked like she was sleeping, if it wasn't for the blood stains his fingertips had left on her skin, or the knife that still sat in her chest.
"I'm sorry Deb, I know this wasn't what you wanted, but you know me," he whispered, so low I wouldn't of heard it if it hadn't been for my sensitive hearing. "I'll see you on the other side," he said, kissing her cheek as he wrapped his uninjured hand around the hilt of the blade and pulled.
I flinched as the knife made a kind of squishing sound as it was pulled from her chest and my breath hitched as she remained unmoving.
She was really gone, I knew she was, but the reality of it was struggling to sink in.
Dad turned then, facing us again with the blade grasped tight in his hand, staring me down as I knelt there within my invisible cage.
"Dad?" I whispered, my voice thick with tears as I watched grief settle over my dad like a dark cloud.
"You're no daughter of me... but sometimes I wish you were," he shook his head, taking a step towards me as he tightened his grip on the blade.
I flinched at his words but otherwise didn't say anything. He'd said the same thing earlier, only now it felt ten times more painful, knowing the full extent of what they'd been planning to do to me.
"Watch it," I heard Alice warn from behind me, but I didn't turn to look at who she was talking to, Erik or my dad.
He took two steps towards me, until the tips of his shoes were touching the scorched grown that surrounded me, and froze.
"Live a good life Kathy, trust your instincts and you'll do fine," he whispered to me before raising his hand and throwing the knife, embedding it into the the centre of the blackened grass.
A weird kind of rush seemed to charge around me and suddenly I noticed the feel of a breeze as it brushed my hair back from my face.
I held my breath and tested the boundaries of my cage and released a breath when I realised my wings could span further than they'd originally been able to. Had he really done it? Had he actually done what he said he'd do and released me?
"A deals a deal," he said, filling the sudden silence as he gestured to Erik who had gone still and silent beneath Jake. "Release him."
Jake took a second to comply but he finally released his hold on Erik, letting go of his wrist and removing his knee from his lower back.
Erik lay there, frozen, staring up at my dad with so much fear in his eyes I was surprised he hadn't started hyperventilating.
"Roger, I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, shifting onto his knees with his hands held high and out in front of him. "I was aiming for her, I never meant to hit Deb, please you have to believe me," he pleaded.
We all watched as dad walked around the scorched circle I was still crouched in, frozen at the scene going on around me.
"The court will decide what to do with you," he growled. "But if you want a hope in surviving your trial you better do as I say and keep your mouth shut, understand?"
Erik stayed silent for a second, looking over first at me then at my mum who was still lying lifeless and covered in her own blood behind us, before finally looking back up at dad, an angry but defeated look in his eye. "Yes sir."
Dad ignored him after that, turning for the first time to face Jake and Alice who had been standing there, keeping guard over both Erik and dad the whole time. They froze as his eyes shifted other the two of them, but to their credit they didn't waver and they didn't back down.
"Take good care of her and don't trust anyone with what you've learnt today, do you understand?" He demanded, staring Jake down as he drilled his point home. "You never know who you can and can't trust."
They both nodded, Alice finally relaxing her hold on her bow as she stared my dad down before finally flicking her eyes over to mine.
A thousand words were shared in that moment, the regret and fear and relief as we realised we were both getting out of this alive. I'd treated her like shit the last time I saw her, screaming at her for no reason other than my lack of trust in her friendship, but she'd come back for me. Through it all she'd run in head first, willing to do god knows what, to come and rescue me from my parents and Jake's psycho friend.
She offered me a small smile, one of reassurance and understanding, of apology and acceptance, and I could've collapsed right then and there as the weight of my guilt left my shoulders. We'd be alright, after everything I'd done to her and everything I'd said we'd be fine.
Jake on the other hand seemed to be working overtime to not catch my eye, using Erik's movements as he pushed himself off the floor and walked over to my dad as an excuse to not look at me. I felt my chest retighten at the prospect that I'd lost him, that my wings and the fact I'd not trusted him with the secret was potentially the final straw in him wanting to be around me. Whatever he decided I'd accept, if he wanted me gone from town and never to see me again I'd understand. It'd hurt, leaving someone I felt so deeply for, but for him I would do it.
My dad walked over to my mums body, crouching down at her side as he whispered something in her ear so low even I couldn't hear, before tucking his arms under her left and shoulders and lifting her bridal style off the floor.
Blood dripped rhythmically onto the grass below her, the drip drip drip echoing in my ears as it splashed against the scorched grass. I couldn't tear my eyes away from her as dad slowly walked around the circle of stones, where I still sat crouched on the floor. My tears matched her blood, dripping onto the grass as the rolled down my cheeks and fell off my chin.
"You take care of yourself Kayla, stay vigilant in your efforts to hide. We... I may not be after you, but there are many others who would be more than happy to claim your capture and death as their own for their own self gain."
I nodded as I stared up into his icy blue eyes, feeling a chill settle over me at their coolness.
It reminded me that even though he was no longer looking to kill me, the death of my mother and his wife killing that drive within him, he still didn't see me as anything other than an abomination.
"This isn't over bitch," Erik spat at me from behind dad's back, quiet enough that I knew he couldn't hear him. "This was all your fault, your mum dying, me going to trial, none of this would've happened if you'd of just done what we were supposed to do before and die."
I stared at him wide eyed as I watched him glare down at me.
"I will get you for this, sleep with one eye open because I will find you and I will kill you."
A bead of sweat trickled down my spine but before I could respond Alice released a snort that broke the tension in the air like a popped bubble.
"The only thing you're killing is that line Erik, don't try and be Liam Neilson because the only thing you're doing right now is embarrassing yourself." She squared up to him, bow clutched tight in her hand as she grinned up at him."And just so you know, if I find out you're come within one hundred miles of this place and us ever again, I will not hesitate to put an arrow in your brain."
"Erik come, now!" Dad yelled from up the hill. He was close to their little hut now, his grip remaining strong even with the injury Alice had given him earlier.
"Yes, run along like a good boy," she smirked, shooing him with her free hand.
Erik seemed to almost growl as he stared down at her, jaw clenched and muscles tight. "Watch out little girl, you're getting in the middle of something you have no business understanding."
Alice just snorted and gave him an almost sarcastic wave as he turned and followed dad up the field.
The three of us watched as they made their way further and further away, entering the hut without a backwards glance before slamming the door shut behind them so hard I heard the whole wall almost ricochet from over here. We waited another beat, the silence stretching on as we all held our breath to see what they would do next, but when neither of them reappeared Alice let out an almighty whoop as she dropped her bow and came running up to me.
We almost crashed into the grass with the force she hit me with, my arms that were still bound tight behind my back making it difficult to keep my balance, but thankfully I managed as I braced.
"I'm soo happy you're alive," she squealed into my ear, squeezing the life out of me as she gripped me in a tight hug.
"You're suffocating me," I wheezed into her hair, the mass of curls trying to escape the hair tie she'd tried to put them in.
"Sorry," she grinned, looking anything but as she pulled away so she could look at me at arms length. "I was so worried we weren't going to make it in time, but thankfully Jake drives like a damn maniac and we managed to catch up with you before they got too far into... whatever it was they were doing here," she said, looking around at the burnt symbols in the ground and the rocks covered in blood.
At the mention of his name I looked up and caught Jake's eye, trying to figure out where we stood with each other now the threat was over. Were we good? Did he hate me? Did he want to pick up where my parents and Erik left off and finish the job for them?
Before I could ask, Alice dragged me to my feet and out of the circle of stones, muttering about spells and weird rituals and not trusting anything.
"Let get you out of these ropes," she said once we were fully out of the scorched ring and back onto fresh grass.
She gripped the handle of the knife, pulling it with all her might to try and release it from the soil, but no matter how hard she tried the blade wouldn't budge.
"What the hell?" She stared down at the blade with her hands on her hips. "It couldn't have been lodged that far into the ground could it?"
I shrugged over at her, just as confused as she was. "It's fine, I can wait until we get back to yours-," I started to say but froze when I saw Jake finally move.
For the whole thing he'd been frozen, staring at me as he no doubt tried to process everything that had happed today. "Let me try," he said, staring at me as he took slow steps towards where Alice and the knife sat.
"You can give it a go but I don't see how... what?"
We both stared, almost open mouthed as Jake seemed to pull the knife out with ease, as if he was pulling it out of a lump of butter rather than the ground.
"I don't understand, I literally put my whole weight into pulling that thing and you just come along and pick it up like it's no big deal?"
Jake just shrugged and stared down at the blade in his hands before offering it over to Alice.
"No you cut her free, I've got to go and get my arrows. The last thing we need is any trace of us around where a large pool of human blood is," she said as she started walking around, picking her pink feathered arrows up off the ground and out of the soil. If you asked me she was doing it a little too slow for her to be natural.
Smooth Alice, real smooth.
I stared at Jake for a second, my heart picking up speed again as I stared up at him. This close I could smell his body wash on his skin, see the different colours of green flecks in his irises as they flickered between me and the knife. This time though my heart wasn't beating from fear, it was nerves.
He'd caught glimpses of my wings when my dad was here, but this was the first time he was going to be able to see them with zero distractions or interruptions, and I wasn't quite sure if either of us were ready for it.
"I can-" I said at the exact moment he said.
"Do you mind-".
We both stopped and stared at each other.
"You go," I gestured with my head, offering him to talk first in this weird awkward silence we were currently experiencing.
He released a slow breath before he finally spoke. "Do you mind if I cut you free?"
"Oh," was all I was able to say. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting him to say but that hadn't been it. "Yeah, no of course, sure," I nodded, looking up at him one more time before slowly turning so he could get access to the rope tying my arms back.
I heard him suck in a small breath as he got his first up close experience with my wings, but to his credit he barely stuttered in his task as not a second later I felt his fingers on the skin around my wrists.
"Stay as still as you can," he muttered, his breath fanning across my bare shoulder causing a small shudder to wash over me.
"Mmhmm," was all I was able to get out as I felt the cool edge of the blade touch the skin at my wrist, right next to where his warm hand had been.
I was a mess of emotions, feeling overwhelmed as the fear and relief of the day mixed in with the grief of my mum and now the excitement and anticipation of Jake finally knowing about me.
My head was swirling as Jake used the very knife that had killed my mum to free me from the bounds she'd put me in.
One by one I felt the rope loops break, the knife cutting them almost effortlessly, and before long my arms were finally free from behind my back as the rope fell to the floor
We stood there for a second, both not saying a word as I felt the heat of Jake's body seep into my back.
It was a good sign he hadn't moved yet, right?
"Kathy I-" but before he could finish Alice came up behind us with a loud clap.
"Alrighty then, I say we get out of here before your dad decides to change his mind and come after us after all," she said as she spun on her heel and started walking back the way they'd come.
I nodded and released a slow breath as I felt Jake take a step back from me, our bubble broken.