Golden wings

Chapter 25 - Night

A small glow lighted the room. A small candle shined.

Cecilia sighed, while she twirled a feather in her hand. Her eyes were fixed on it intently, with interest. She leaned onto her table, and then dropped the feather, feeling exasperated.

She felt useless. She had known where it had been. She knew. But the angel ended up fleeing. Ayako told them it was moving more. God knows where; she was finding less and less feathers...

She could have inspected those wings. She could have seen why they seemed to glow golden. They were more efficient; when mixed with herbs, it produced the best medicine she had seen in years. She could have had more, if those three had succeeded. If only Ayako stopped messing around and found it.

But it was just so... evasive...

To make matters worse, it was almost impossible for two angels to appear at the same area, not at the same time. They would be stuck like this forever. She would not be able to write about the new properties those wings had. She would not be able to help without analyzing-

She blinked and shielded her eyes with her tunic's sleeve, because a strong breeze suddenly flowed into the room. She gasped, left in darkness, because the candle's fire died out.

She lowered her hand slowly, and tried to adjust to the now dark room. She frowned and stood from her chair, to then lean a little and glance to her corridor. Her house now was... cold. The wind was flowing in, along the wooden walls and floors.

Did she...? No, she did not think she forgot to close a window. She always closed them all, when the moon rose, because the nights were cold. She was not good at lighting her fireplace.

Cecilia brushed the matter away; she walked through the corridor and opened the door that led to her small living room. There was more light in there, the moonlight peeked from a window. A window which, indeed, was wide open. The strong nocturnal breeze was making the drapes flow wildly.

She stepped close with annoyance, and then closed the window with a huff. As she did, the room was left dark again, because the moon was hidden once more. She raised a finger to her chin slowly, slightly confused.

"...Is the window broken?"

She nudged the lock, because she noticed something. Her eyes narrowed, trying to see in the dark.

Was she seeing...? Were those marks on the window?

She could not see... So she walked towards a small cabinet, and fumbled clumsily to try to find a candle.

Cecilia was beginning to worry that someone had messed with her window. Maybe a burglar, who wanted to make way for another night. There was no one in the room, so it had to be that, or the strong wind.

Either way, she had to fix the lock, because it looked broken.

She did not look up when she finally found a candle. She just looked at it, and lighted it with a relieved sigh. She turned again to face the window, with a determined expression.

Her firmness quickly faltered. Her eyes stared with confusion and shock, at what she could see now. She stared at the claw marks on the lock. She was shocked, ignorant of the two big wings behind her, which were lowering slowly from the ceiling. They began to cast huge shadows over her and on the floor, thanks to the light of the candle in her hand... She froze when she noticed them at her feet.

The shadows were intimidating. But the true danger was right over her.

The candle's light did not last for long.