Forbidden Heavens

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I was curled up against the wall, terrified, my heart racing. There was banging and thumping all around me, coming from outside. I was underneath the old vintage desk that belonged to my mother. I looked up, my seven-year-old eyes taking in my almost normal surroundings. My mother was in the kitchen. She had told me if anything like this happened, rush out the back door and around the side of the red-brick house. But something had smashed the door, leaving us trapped. I was smart enough to know that going out the front door this time was not a good idea. More banging and shrieking came from above me. I froze in utter terror. Whatever was making the noise, would find me.

The door into the study opened. I screamed. But it was just my mother, blood-stained and grimy. She had a few wounds on her. She bent down to my height.

"Get up, Thea, and run with me," she said, rubbing her hands together. "We need to go now, otherwise we won't make it."

"No! I'm scared. I must stay here!" I shouted, my voice trembling.

"I will grab Sooky the cat, Thea, and we must get out of here."

"What is out there?" I asked.

"Never mind that, I will be thirty seconds." She said, her tear streaked eyes glinting. She got off of her knees, and rushed out of the room. I heard more banging and shrieking. What was going on?

Mum dashed back into the room, kneeling down to my height and faced me. I snatched Sooky the cat out of her hand, which had been outstretched to hand it to me. Clutching her, she pulled me out from under the desk. She produced a black piece of material. She started to wrap it around my head. "This is for your own good." She said. I seemed to relax slightly. My mother was beside me, Sooky the cat was in my arms, and I was not going to see anything horrific. Mum heaving me up into her arms, she ran with surprising strength. I could feel ourselves going out the front door. She continued running, and I could smell distant smoke. I held my breath. She put me down after ten minutes of pure and inevitable terror. An explosion was heard in the distance...

...

I jerked awake, sitting straight up, breathing heavily. Groggily, I collapsed back onto my back, facing the dark wall of the dorm. I could sense that Arian lay nearby, snoring. What did that dream mean? Was someone, or correct me if I'm wrong, something, trying to communicate with me? Was this a vision or a memory? A sharp pain rode up my back; I had forgotten about my huge black, shimmering wings. I sat up again, facing the dark wall on the other side of the room. The pain receded almost immediately. I sighed in relief.

I missed my family. The past few days had been a blur; a traumatic, frustrating blur. I will never forget the shrieking of that weird Trackie in my house. The screaming of my family, the shallow breathing of my best friend on the ground, helpless and injured.

Arian continued to snore loudly next to me. I thought about our kiss last night. What did it mean? We had only known one another for a few days; I didn't want to ruin our short-term relationship by our obvious liking towards one another. I was confused; I had never had a boyfriend, been asked out once; you should have seen the scorn and disgusted look on my face. Never had I bothered with relationships, only had crushes on boys I had no chance with. I suppose every teenager does that, right? Crushing on people you can't be with. Arian turned over in his sleep, turning towards the wall, snorting. I sighed. That was so annoying! I grimaced as the button of yesterday's dream dug into my stomach.

I tiptoed over to his bed, where his shaggy blond hair spread around the pillow, looking like a halo. I got to work. He continued to snore obliviously, as I started to push him towards the edge of the bed. God, he was heavy. I managed to push him to the edge off the bed, and gave him a light shove. He sleeps like a log. He fell off of the bed, and I rushed to the other side of the room, to the bed I which I had slept. No harm in being a little playful, right? Damn, it felt good to play a little after the despair of yesterday. He jerked awake, and rushed to his feet, looking around frantically, as if something was in the room. I laughed at the enraged look on his face when he realised what had happened. His eyes softened when he saw me in stitches of laughter.