Angel Wings

Chapter 1.2

Evabelle's eyes flashed open as she sat straight up in bed.  Her heart hammering in her chest, she took several deep calming breaths.  Once her pulse had slowed to a much more comfortable rate, she yawned, stretched, and finally rolled out of bed.  She opened the curtains and stared out of the apartment window.  The streets were busy as usual.  Even at this early hour there were always cars driving back and forth.  Slowly she turned away and headed for the small bathroom. 

Evabelle scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue at her reflection, a heart shaped face, with round honey brown eyes, and a large splay of freckles along her surprisingly tanned skin (considering she wasn't the most outdoorsy girl). It seemed to better match the scraggly bed head she saw there. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." She chuckled to herself as she turned on the water, and began to wash her face.

The young brunette always got up before her mother and her brother, Thom. She constantly told herself that she liked it, so she could have a little peace and quiet to herself. Well, as peaceful and quiet as it can get in New York. But she knew that wasn't the only reason. Evabelle had dreams, dreams she could never remember, but would wake her with a throbbing head and a pounding heart. She sighed as she tried to remember once more what she had dreamed. She gazed at her reflection without seeing it, biting her lip in concentration. There was something... A storm? A boy? There was something with... wings? Evabelle shook her head. The memory of the whole thing slipped away as easily as the water trickled through her fingers.

When Evabelle had finished in the bathroom, she returned to her bedroom. For a moment she stood in the doorway staring around the small cold room and in her heart she wished for a little more. Her life was simple and unexciting most of the time. Not much happened, around here. The most exciting thing in Evabelle's life was probably Azara, her best friend. If anything exciting were to happen to anyone it would be her. Aza was a crazy, wild child, and afraid of nothing just like all the heroines in Evabelle's books.

Absentmindedly, Evabelle drifted into the room and began to trace her fingers over her most prized possessions, those books that she had a tendency to turn to for escape. They held all the adventures she longed to have, all the princes and heroes that she dreamed would one day take her away on their white stallion, and all the happily ever afters that only happened in fairytales.

This is real life, she told herself roughly, wrenching her fingertips away from the many volumes that were spread along her shelf. They're all just silly make believe. But Evabelle could never really accept that.

Once Evabelle had finished getting ready she slipped out of her room and down a short hallway that connected to the small, gray and white kitchen. Her mother wasn't for anything impractical. There was very little color in their minute apartment. If Evabelle and Thom wanted anything bright and flashy it was to be kept in their rooms.

Evabelle walked over to the counter and sank onto one of the stools. Slowly she began tracing designs with her finger along the dark gray stone granite. One of Evabelle's earliest memories had been when a tall lady had come to the orphanage. She had been in a dress suit, with sharp hazel eyes that said she was not entirely sure about adopting, but in the end the papers were signed.

That had been when Evabelle was nine years old. That was how far back her memories went. Doctors had said that she had probably suffered from some sort of head injury. When Evabelle had told her mother that she didn't remember anything earlier, it had made her worry. That was what Evabelle knew very well about her mother. She worried. A lot. Although to remember absolutely nothing before that point was admittedly strange. And as much as it bothered Evabelle sometimes, it was nothing compared to what her mother went through.

Morgan Danes worked a fulltime job, and lived alone. Evabelle was aware that her mother's extended family had been in a terrible accident, leaving her without anyone. That's why she had come to the orphanage. It was also why Evabelle's mother was extremely protective. She had done limitless amounts of background checks on the daycare Evabelle had gone to. Parties or activities that went late were a big no. Despite being a strict woman, Evabelle knew her mother loved her. There was no mistaking that.