Crossfire

Chapter 1

"Skylar, be careful! Mom'll kill me if you get hurt!" John yelled up.

Even from here, I could tell that he was smiling. John and I didn't get to see each other that often and the days that he came to visit were some of the best days of my life. I was high in the branches of a tree. He was supposed to be watching over me. He was older than me by about 20 years, give or take. He was my favourite out of all of my siblings and I was the youngest of eight. We had always gotten along. I locked my legs between two branches and turned upside down. I loved being in the open air with everything around me. It was so freeing. No one else was up here with me. I was alone. I looked down at John. Well, except for John, of course. John was wearing a white button down and khakis. He had his hands on his hips and looked like he was ready to scold me again, but the smile on his face gave him away. I let my arms fall over my head as the gentle breeze started to push me back against the trunk. My hair tickled my arms.

"All right, Sky, we've gotta get back to the house. Jackie'll be here any minute and I want you to meet her."

That was right. He was introducing his new girlfriend to the family today. That was the main reason that he had come home so early. I hoped that she was nice.

"Okay, John," I sighed, "I'm coming down."

I pulled myself back up and unhooked my legs. There were little red marks where the bark had pressed into the bare part of my legs. As I climbed down the tree, I felt the bark under my feet slip off of the branch. I had forgotten about the rain a few days earlier. The underbark was still damp and slick. I couldn't regain my footing. The momentum made me lose my grip on the branch above me. I started falling forward.

Everything happened in slow motion after that. I saw John running towards me and I could see the ground getting closer. That wasn't what scared me. What scared me was the searing pain that I felt in my back. It was between my shoulders blades. It felt like something was trying to force it's way out from underneath my skin. I let out a cry as two great wings emerged from my back. They caught some of the air and slowed my fall enough for John to catch me. The wings disappeared as quickly as they had shown up. The force of the fall was enough to throw both John and I to the ground. I could hear a loud snap and I head John curse. He never cursed.

He carried me to the house, calling for our parents. I couldn't feel anymore. I couldn't move. I laid limp in his arms. Mother screamed when she saw me. Rob, one of my brothers, ran to me. He checked for a pulse, confirming at least that I was alive. I had no doubts about that.

Rob, John, and our father drove me to the hospital. I was taken to a private room where they weren't allowed. They ran several tests on me. I could hear the doctors talking, but couldn't make out what they were saying. They left me alone in my bed. Slowly, I felt tiny pin pricks all over my skin as sensation came back to me. After a while, I could move again. I started by moving my fingers. Almost as soon as I made this discovery, a man in a crisp white lab coat and a neat black suit came in. He smiled at me. I didn't like him. I wanted to see John. I wanted my father. I would have taken anyone other than this man. His smile wasn't kind. There was a secret behind it. He knew something that I didn't and he was more than willing to hurt me. I could almost feel his malintent. I wanted to get up and run away, but I couldn't quite find my strength. It was all resigned to my fingers at the moment.

"Ah, Miss Skylar, you're awake. Wonderful. We have a few more tests that we would like to run before your family can see you. You're going to feel a slight pain. Nothing to be worried about." I winced at the needle. I could feel that. "And now you're going to go to sleep for a short while. When you wake up, this will all be over."

The world around me faded in and out of darkness for longer than I could keep track of. I could only make out snippets of what was happening around me and none of it made any sense. Most of it was medical terms. Some of it was laughing and people talking about their days from far away. It all blended together into one nonsensical blob. All I really knew was that I was scared. I wanted to call out to my brother. I wanted someone to come and save me. Surely my family knew that I was gone. They would have to be looking for me. Right?