“Come on, you’ll miss it!†The little boy has found a wonderful thing, a great thing; a very mysterious thing deep in the woods near town just a few moments ago. He had told others, but they only laughed at him, since until now there have only been rumors, and now he drags his sister through the darkness. The little boy knew she would believe him at least… “Hurry it up,†he called to his sister, who was struggling to keep up with his pace. She was carrying her favorite stuffed bear and wearing a light blue dress; she was definitely not dressed for running through the woods. She didn’t even have shoes or anything to cover her feet. The little boy didn’t care. His selfishness wanted to figure out what he saw fall, and was displeased with his slow his sister was moving.
“Why did you drag me out here, anyway? Mummy and Daddy said we shouldn’t be out here during the night.â€
“It’s not that far. Come on!†He called out again in an encouraging voice.
“Why did we come out here?†his sister responded again, meekly. She was two years younger than he was, only six years old, her high-pitched childish voice seemed to come from all directions even as a whisper. She then added: “Slow down…â€
The boy stopped. He spun on his heels to face his sister, look her in the eyes. The boy was out of breath and panting, breathing heavily, his heart racing not only from running but the excitement he felt. There was the biggest grin on his face; he was proud of his discovery. “I’ll tell you why we’re out here! I saw an Angel tonight!â€
“Angel? But those are only stories! Angels and Demons are bedtime stories.â€
Though the sister didn’t seem convinced, but the boy knew what he saw. He started running again, beckoning his sister to follow. She followed reluctantly. What he saw, it looked like a falling star in a way, perhaps even a meteor or something, leaving behind a trail of feathers. Certainly, it couldn’t be magic? He didn’t know much about magic, but he knew something like that didn’t exist… Though perhaps it was fake, a trick. Could his eyes be playing tricks on him, could it be the work of magic he wondered? No. What he saw was real, it just had to be. And he absolutely had to see it and prove to everyone he was not just some story teller who made things up. He was telling the truth. And once he found the Angel, he would take her back to town and do just that, and then everyone would be sorry they ever doubted him.
With every step he took, the boy’s grin grew wider, satisfied with his little fantasy. He wanted to see her. Would she be beautiful like they say Angels are? Would she have wings of pure white, just like the pictures, story books, and paintings? Such things don’t lie, right, so she had to have pure white wings, long hair, and dark and mysterious eyes. She would be beautiful… She would wear armor and wield a mighty sword, and she would be a brave warrior, swooping in to slay all the nasty demons that dare stand in her way. Yes, this was the ideal Angel… this was exactly what she would be like. It had to be true because he was told as much; adults always know best.
Sadly, the little boy would never get his wish, for what he saw before him crushed him almost completely.
His jaw dropped in a fear stricken awe as the Angel he wanted so badly to see lay dead before him. Her clothes as well as her wings –cream in color, nit pure white like he had imagined– were almost torn completely off, her bones broken, sticking out in places, and her entire torso was split open like something had been ripped from her. There was no armor, no sword. Her frozen countenance held a sad expression plastered upon it which made it look like she had been crying. The Angel’s eyes were wide with fear, however, so perhaps the fear was so great it caused her sorrow. Nonetheless, even in death, covered in blood she was just as beautiful as he’d imagined. He turned to his sister, half mad from the unexpected sight, smiling, and satisfied. “Now do you believe me?†The little boy asked. His voice was shaky from the shock. He was trembling all over; half with fear, half with excitement. He couldn’t believe it! A real Angel before him even if she was dead!
The little boy slowly walked closer to Angel, kneeling down he ran his fingers through her long, red hair. Her body was cold, but her hair was soft. He could have sworn that there was something strange about this, but he disregarded it, not having the mind to comprehend such potential danger. This Angel was dead but he was determined to make her live on, if not physically then mentally. He would still take her back to town, yes, then everyone would believe him!
“I’m getting a bad feeling, let’s leave and go back home before Mummy and Daddy find out we’re missing,†the sister said, sounding both impatient and nonchalant. She tugged on his shirt, but was swatted away, and then pursed her lips. “You promised me an Angel, not a dead person!†She then shouted, hoping to get her brother out of his trance.
In a fit of rage, the little boy faced his sister, slapping her across the face. “Dead person? Don’t you see it? This is no ‘dead person’ this really is an Angel!â€
The sister only fell back in tears, said: “I’m telling Mummy you hit me!â€And then began to run back towards the town. She began to go down the old path but suddenly something stopped her from advancing.
A large, bird-like shadow loomed in the distance that made both children look in its direction. It was unlike anything both children had seen before, and it was needless to say they were curious. Perhaps it was another Angel? Oh how ignorant the boy was! This was no Angel, but a demon, more than likely the very same one that has been snatching people for quite some time now. It has been in the news, it was the talk of the town, but in his young age the boy never pays much attention to gossip. It was said that a large bird-like monster was snatching people, and then they would be found a few days later with no memory of what happened, usually unscathed. The boy always laughed at this, but little did he know it was going to cost him dearly.
He narrowed his eyes, still trying to make the figure out, when suddenly it moved at an incredible speed, knocking him right on his behind. The little boy stood up as quickly as he could and looked around frantically when he discovered his sister was nowhere to be found, “Sis!†He called out, looking up once he heard her scream his name, asking for his help.
In the moonlight the Demon bird’s outline was more visible, and he took notice that she had his sister in her talons. It was a strangely beautiful sight, seeing such a creature just circle him like that. She was a solid black color, from what he could tell, and covered in feathers like a bird would be but there was also something human about her. Was this another Angel? No, she couldn’t be –the Angel was dead. This… creature, this thing was no Angel. Indeed she was a demon. No Angel would snatch up a little girl like that; ANgels protected people, not kidnapped them.
Something dripped down and landed upon the little boy’s head. At first he thought it was raining, but the thickness of the liquid told him it was blood. Blood from the Angel, or perhaps the bird herself was bleeding? Either way reality settled in quickly for the little boy, almost too quickly for someone his age that he almost couldn’t handle it. The blood had been from his sister. Fear overcame him as he tried to find it in himself to become brave. His sister needed to be rescued.
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Today had not only been a good day, it had been a great day. Through the price of a few battle wounds she he was able to get her hands on an Angel heart, which was a delicacy to all Demons, and now it seems that human children have let their curiosity get the better of them. When she and the Angel first fought, Sva’alti he knew that the moment the boy, having seen the Angel falling to her death, ran back to town he would eventually return and take the bait. Her waiting as paid off well. Humans were like that, they were curious creatures, too curious for their own good. Over the years she has always been somewhat neutral towards them, but it was not long before they began to amuse her, and despite the fact that she was often quite nice to them her hatred grew.
Judging from the look on the boy’s face he was regretting his decision to come here. The boy began to throw rocks at her, and he was now begging her to bring his sister back.
Rather than intimidated, Sva’alti was simply amused by the way the little boy was reacting to her little game. He was shouting at her, demanding that she bring his sister back to him, and she only flew higher, higher. The little was calling back to him, her voice hoarse from the combination of crying and shouting, wriggling in hopes of freeing herself. This would only make thing worse for them; because the more the girl squirmed the deeper Sva’alti dug her talons. The louder the girl screamed, the higher she flew and farther from the boy, now climbing the nearby pile of rocks where the Angel lay dead.
Curiosity indeed kills the cat and she was not going to let this little boy get away with his childish curiosity. Ah, but what was the real reason she was doing this one may ask. It was simple really: she just wanted to have some fun, especially because of her rare find. She also has not had a decent taste of human blood in quite some time, let a long a child’s. And so with a satisfied smirk, Sva’alti flew off into the night.
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