The Unsaved

Chapter 4

The breeze fluttered the leaves in the trees. The sun shone in broken rays on the soft grass of the forest meadow. Not another human in sight, it was just nature and me.

This is my safe place, no worries, no responsibilities, just rest.

Birds sang softly in the background as I sat against a tree, watching two squirrels chase each other up the tree across from me.

As I sat, I let myself go into a state of peace and didn't think about anything except the calming sounds of nature. This is where I went to just take a break from life and the heartache and stress that it brings. This is where I get away from it all and can be myself and not worry about the thoughts and feelings of others and how my actions might affect those.

Soon, my butt started to go numb so I got up to walk around some. I winced as I stood, my ribs were still sore from the other night. There was a large, nasty, purple and yellow bruise on the right side of my ribs and multiple smaller ones all across my back.

When I got home the night of the incident, Dillan was already asleep and Angela, the part time nanny, left with only a few words of the always perfect behavior of my little brother. I could tell that she noticed the scratches on my face and the limp in my walk but she hadn't said anything. I was able to clean and treat myself without anyone knowing the better. The next day I had worn makeup so that Dillan would not realize or worry about me.

As I walked through the soft, spongy grass, I breathed in the fresh air. You could not get this kind of freshness in town and I relished the times when I could come out here and soak it in.

A butterfly floated and fluttered just past my face, tickling my nose. I smiled and laughed a little. Butterflies are so innocent, they're unaware of the danger and the evil in the world.

Right then, as if on cue, a huge gust of wind came and threw the butterfly into a tree. I shuddered, why can't the little bit of good in this world be left to its own?

I continued walking, trying to shake off the terrible scene I had just witnessed.

Something rather large flew past me, blowing up my hair and startling me. I looked around and saw a blur continuing on deeper into the forest. It was about the size of me, a little smaller, and was yellow and white.

I followed the creature, full of curiosity. I had heard all the tales that were told across town of mythical beings dwelling in the forest, but never did I believe that they could be true. Was I really witnessing something supernatural? I would soon find out.

The creature moved swiftly and with great speed, it was difficult to follow and I was soon very aware of how out of shape I was. Maybe I should not have had an extra donut before I left the house.

I blinked and the next thing I knew, I couldn't see the being anymore. It was too fast, or maybe it had just been a hallucination? With how bad things had been lately, there's no telling where my mind would wander just to get away from it all.

I went a little further in hopes that maybe it had just stopped. I turned around a rather large tree and stopped in my tracks.

There, in front of me, was a girl. She was short and fair, she had long blonde hair that was straight as a board. She was wearing a short white summer dress that went only just past her knees. The thing that dropped my jaw though, was what was protruding from her back.

Long and white, the most beautiful wings you've ever seen. They are covered in flawless feathers that look like they would be softer and lighter than clouds.

Crack!

She turned around sharply, startled by the twig I had just carelessly stepped on. It turns out that the wings weren't the most jaw dropping part of this whole thing...