beaming | keith kogane

XXVI | growl

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I GROWLED LOUDLY, others screaming and yelping before moving aside and avoiding me. The amount of fear that I instilled in others was hardly my concern at the moment. I could just hear the cars in the distance and smell her scent getting stronger. I passed a few more blocks, sharply turning and scaling a few fences on the way.

People walked too slow for their own good.

I stopped, my nose twitching as I ran forward, quickly crossing a highway. I almost got hit by a car, but my senses kicked in and I jumped back instead. "For once, thank you," I sheepishly thanked my sprite, sprinting to the other side and evading another car swiftly. My ears flinched, hearing them honk their horn. 

I stopped right in front of a highway bridge meant for pedestrians, freezing in my tracks. "Y/n. . . ?" For some reason, my voice came out as a nearly silent whisper. Y/n was holding onto the railing of the bridge, her knuckles turning white at the strength of her grip. Haneul was beside her, on his knees and completely weak.

His skin was the color of snow and the Hangul on his neck was visible even from my position. His eyes were dull and lifeless, his bandages completely unraveled except for one bind. He looked at Y/n, tugging at the hem of her shirt before suddenly collapsing as he disappeared in a cloud of red. I knew that wasn't his doing and Y/n didn't dismiss him either. 

Move! Move! I urged myself. Why can't I move?!

I panicked, struck with fear and shock as Y/n slowly pulled herself over the railing. It just passed her abdomen before I found myself screaming her name. She looked towards me once, eyes wide before she collapsed just like Haneul did. As I ran towards her and scooped her up, I realized just how dead she looked.

Her skin was whiter as well and black bags hung under her eyes. Even then, she was still beautiful. I found myself staring at her more, starting to move as I ran towards the nearest hospital. I pleaded myself to go faster, but found myself heaving for breath as my heart beat against my rib cage.

Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay! Don't let me be too late!

I found myself repeating a desparate mantra in my head, coughing violently as I continued to run. It felt like my lungs were on fire; like they could give out any moment. Suddenly, I felt something rip through my back. It was almost. . . freeing. It took a bit to get used to but I realized that if I pushed down, I went up and vice versa.

That was all I needed to know for now.

And all of a sudden I was flying, pink wings beating rhythmically against the air as I sped down the sidewalk. People shouted, screamed, and squealed as they avoided the blur of pink flurry heading their way. My jacket flapped against the wind, the zipper barely grazing my right hip in the process. I hissed, feeling chills swipe against my skin.

I bit down on my tongue, knowing that there was more of a serious situation at hand as I tried to calm myself down. I stared below me, blinking. It felt weird not having any footing, my sneakers practically floating midair. However, that didn't matter right now.

My jacket didn't matter.

Neither did the fact that I could feel my sneakers slowly slipping off.

Or the possibility that my new wings could give out at any moment.

All that mattered to me now was the girl limply laying in my arms.

I zoomed through the crowd and the pain in my lungs lessened as the pain in my back intensified. I'm pretty sure this was from my love sprite and as panicked as I was about both events, I tried my best to keep my cool. How was I going to retract this?! Would I get there on time?! Is she okay?! What the Hell is going on?!

Okay, maybe I wasn't currently my coolest. I could feel my back aching and my wings getting ready to give out, but before they could I skidded to a stop in front of the hospital, nearly tumbling down as my wings suddenly disappeared. They went into the air like pink sparkles, but that was the least of my worries.

I ran inside, quickly stating the emergency as they took her away on a stretcher. I sat in the waiting room like the lady had instructed as she patiently asked me questions, my foot thumping against the ground impatiently. That was the difference between us; she wasn't worried and I was.

She sighed softly at my growing anxiousness, "You need to relax. Is there any family or friends of hers that you can contact?" My eyes widened at her question. They were still waiting at the karaoke place! I nodded quickly, jotting down something on the paper she offered me. "This is her landline. Um, she lives with her grandmother."

I let out a sigh of relief as she took the paper from me with no question, going back to her desk to call her as I called over my friends. None of them responded at first, probably because of the loud karaoke music, but I knew Perla was more likely to check her phone for texts, so I sent a text instead.

keith | 9:02 p.m.
meet at the hospital on main st.

keith | 9:02 p.m.
y/n's injured. 

dumbass 🐳  | 9:04 p.m.
what?!

birb 🐣 | 9:05 p.m.
how come? 

dad 🦾 | 9:05 p.m.
we're on our way.

pearl 🦪 | 9:06 p.m.
stay safe and stay calm.

pearl 🦪 | 9:07 p.m.
we'll be there soon.

princess ✨ | 9:10 p.m.
hang in there!

I let out a breath of relief, letting my head hang back as it bumped against the end of the chair. They weren't kidding when they said they'd arrive fast since it took them merely ten minutes to get here. "Is she okay?" Lance seemed to be the most concerned, which was understandable since he was often the one in the hospital instead.

I looked at their freaked out forms, my leg still fidgeting. "Let me explain. . . "