The Girl with Wings

Chapter Eight

-Boy-

I hear a loud noise followed by a faint scream from the woods behind me.

It sounded like someone was hurt—

—bad.

I know my friend Boka is too far ahead to have heard it, and that I am much faster than him.

I shout quickly in his direction an "I'll be right back, I heard something," and run to the sound of the scream.

I find the source of the scream no more than 100 steps into the forest.

I find a small and bloodied pile of feathers. The small pile is quivering. The small pile is alive.

What do I do? The scream sounded human but this wasn't, and the hunter who shot it will be here any minute.

I pick up a stick to turn the creature and try to identify the type of bird this is but then I see a hand.

The hand is the same shade of pale brown as the feathers and equally as bloody, it blends in.

Looking closer I also see feet hidden amongst the feathers further away from the growing mass of matted plumage. Then a face freckled with dirt, melanin and blood.

I'm not sure what it is, but it isn't a bird.

I make a decision and call Boka.

"I need your help."