The Demon's Angel

Chapter 17

  Elizabeth
Warning: Gore / Descriptions of serious injuries
1 hour earlier
Tree climbing was difficult, but it was also exhilarating. My breaths came out in puffs as I grinned and steadily worked my way to the top. Finally, my head popped through the topmost branches. I flapped my wings a bit because, despite my lightness, the branches were still a little too thin to hold my full weight. I beamed happily at my accomplishment. "Kurt! Look!" I shouted. No answer. I looked down at the bench where I had left him, still grinning despite my mild confusion. It faded instantly when I saw that it was empty. Where had he gone?

    I flew down quickly, glancing around the clearing. No blue, just the greens and browns and reds of the park and surrounding forest. My heartbeat quickened as my search grew more frantic. "Kurt?" I shouted. I looked around the clearing. 'He could be hiding, playing a trick. I'm going to kill him if he's trying to scare me...' However, he was nowhere to be found... My eyes landed on a trail at the far end of the clearing. Its opening yawned darkly, as if it desired to devour all who entered it. As I stared, I thought I caught a flash of blue amongst the trees. "Kurt?" I felt my fear rise to a new level. Without thinking, I sprinted inside.

   The path broke off in several directions. Which one would he have taken? I looked around at all of them and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Kurt? Where are you?!" I took to the air frantically, scratching my arms and wings on sticks and thistles as I flew haphazardly just below the branches. Dodging the trees and countless other obstacles of the forest took a lot of effort, but it was still faster than climbing through the thick underbrush. I flew back and forth, calling for my friend and squinting into the forest below.

'Please be ok, please be ok, please, please, please...'  A scream, full of agony, echoed through the trees. "KURT!" I streaked towards the sound, but I still couldn't seem to find him. My breathing grew heavier, and the steady beat of my heart sped into a violent hammering. He was hurt. Badly. I flew in zigzags and circled back, dodging trees as quickly as they came. Finally, I caught a glimpse of a blue body, spattered with red, in a small clearing.

   I swooped down instantly, not thinking of the danger that the action could put me in. I didn't know or care if his attackers were still around. I let out a hysterical scream as I fell beside him; the red was blood, its coppery scent filling my nostrils and churning my stomach. His tail, which was normally constantly moving, lay limp on the ground. "Oh my God....." Horrified, I covered my mouth with my hands, and tears filled my eyes. This was almost exactly like my dream. My voice fell to a whisper. "Kurt..."  I wiped his matted hair out of his eyes. Cuts swirled across his face. They were so... meticulous, deliberate. I place a hand on his chest. His chest rose shakily, faintly. 'He's alive...'

    The tears pushed their way out violently, pouring down my face like a faucet that had been left running. However, I could still see that he was holding something. I moved aside his hands, studying the items. All of them were his: a Bible, rosary, and a simple cross necklace. I moved them gently out of the way, and froze. Against his chest lay a blood soaked photo of all of us: Amanda, Margali, Kurt, and I, from right before we left for Florence. He loved the picture, and he promised that he'd carry it everywhere. Obviously, he'd kept that promise. I sobbed, peeling away that treasured picture and placing it on top of his bible, so I could better see the torn flesh underneath.

    His breathing was slowing down. Blood poured from countless wounds. I snatched up a heap of cloth, probably once Kurt's shirt, but now it was torn and stained beyond recognition. I pulled him into my lap and cradled him as I tore the shirt into strips. I wrapped the deepest cuts first, on his tail and chest. The cut that swirled around his tail was so deep that it reached bone. I gagged. Then, I started on his arms and the rest of his chest. When I ran out of strips of cloth, I began to tear them out of my own shirt. The whole time, I was whispering between tiny gasps and sobs, "Kurt! Kurt, please wake up. Wake up. Wake up!" I realized something as I attempted to wipe the blood from his face. My voice rose with panic. "I never told you!" I sobbed. "I never told you that I love you! Kurt, you need to wake up! You need to be ok! I love you! I love you, Kurt!" I was practically screaming again. "Kurt! Kurt Wagner! Nightcrawler! Fuzzy dude! Please!" I clung to him, sobbing, rocking him back and forth, back and forth. I didn't care about anything in that moment except getting him to open his eyes, to look at me from their golden depths.