I wish you all the best.
I should have said something else, something more; anything, to stop them.
I should have put up more of a fight. Told them how much I hated the idea rather than thought bitterly about it.
And now, they were gone. And the last thing I had said to them was "I wish you all the best."
Could I have stopped it? Would they have changed thier mind if I just fought back a little?
I could have done something other than drink chocolate with them and listen to thier insane plan.
I had just sat there with that information and did nothing with it. I lied to Islet and let Yorkie and Sugercane go and kill those children.
I did nothing.
And I still was doing nothing while crowds of people gathered on the streets to mourn the caskets being driven in thier procession through the main road. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡudWT4ALNPY
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNNPNPzDW6
The mother had been a wildlife carer for The Golden Crows for fifty years. The father, a firefighter for forty-eight. They actually met during a wildfire both attended.
And the children; the poor children. Both girls were fondly known at the fire station that now led the way for thier bodies. Both girls weren't here for long, but they had made an impact on so many who gathered to weep for them. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtuxkc0du0
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlkNEPYysY
The woman who served them thier favourite sweets on the weekends sobbed into her apron. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIH8KFykGQ
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4d03CHLihT
The man who came to the park each day to paint, and who had painted the family together, mourned the loss. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDek4HWmoUh
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsjra3P2sW
Even people who didn't know the family shed tears when they walked past the crowded streets.
Despite all the love for the humans of the family, Yorkie and Sugercane were treated as equals in death.117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQjb80J3EQ
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsnfruycXT
To the extended family, they were friendly and humerous demons who wouldn't hurt a soul. They loved those children more than anything; they were Bound to each other after all. Thier split change in judgement was due to some bout of madness that had caused them to act that way. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3imKlKM9Bs
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkeiXsDqNL
They weren't being blamed at all. They had thier own friends crying for them when they were driven past; the first two caskets in the procession.
We were here to guide the humans back to the spirits. Even in death like this, they honoured that.
It was humbling that there was still kindness for them after what they had done.
I watched from the park overlooking the main street, sitting up on the brick pillars at the entrance so I wasn't crushed by the bodies below.
I had to come. The fact that I could have prevented this was tearing me apart. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIuVu7UZRa
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡehgeq4SEFu
I cried for the family, and from my own guilt crushing my soul. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7faX3upRLR
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsui1M6tJLK
I felt like I had to at least see them off. To make amends for what I had done.
I could have stopped it. I know I could have.
Islet and her crew were sprinkled through the streets as well, dressed in black. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8jvFT3VVP
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Those who knew dressed for the occasion. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcXWhBkX4J
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Others who still had been working stood out in thier uniforms. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TfGIob29o
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeoplUjTXJd
Everything paused for a moment of reflection before slowly and gradually continuing onwards when the caskets passed.
I watched the fire engines lead the way to the edge of town where they all carefully crossed the railway tracks and carried on to the funeral home, while the two with Yorkie and Sugercane split from the line to file onwards towards the next town.
I don't know what happened to demon bodies once the spirit returned to the others awaiting above. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnLj3oXLILQ
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGd4a0erBg
I knew humans buried thier dead; stacking them beside or even on top of each other in the ground, but I had never seen a demon burial ground.
Was it the same? Surely with a parade like this, we were given the same honor by being planted into the ground while our spirits carried our humans into the skies?
The morbid curiosity was back.
I wanted to know where Yorkie and Sugercane were going.
They did everything with thier family. I had heard how loved they were in the community, so why were they being seperated now?
They should be buried together.
I saw Islet wiping her eyes as she shuffled down to me. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYTa5I1LsC
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfWPlKiSWK
I gave her a small smile, turning back to the way the seperated herse had gone.
"Where do demons go when they die?"
Islet was confused by my sudden question, but not silenced by it.
"To the sky" she pointed a finger upwards "you know that, Teddy Bear."
"I mean, where do the bodies go?" I frowned at how insensitive I sounded right now "all the family should stay together, shouldn't they?"
My eyes met Islet's shimmering ones before pulling back to the road out of town.
"They should be buried together" I whispered.
I felt her hand on my leg and saw Islet wiping her eyes again.
"Why don't you take the rest of the day off?" she tried to smile "go and visit them. I'm sure they'd like that."
I slid down so I could stand beside Islet.
"What about you?"
I saw hesitation for the first time, and felt uneasy from seeing it in a woman who obviously loved the two demons more than a business woman chasing doller signs.
"I don't think a human would be welcome in a demon cemetery" she mumbled "but will you see that they are properly taken care of? I know that they liked flowers."
Islet choked on her words while handing me a twenty doller note.
I leant in to hug her tightly. Her hands gripped on my shirt until they finally let me go so I could fulfil her wish.
Both bunches of discounted daffodils sat in the back seat of Lavender's car I had been able to borrow from her with a quick phone call.
She didn't join me though, choosing to return home with Dad who had followed behind in his own car. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLgkXk3SAv9
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUgODc5uqNK
Her uneasiness was clear as soon as I mentioned why I needed the yellow buggy on such short notice.
I felt like this was something I had to do alone anyway. And who knew how others would react to me bringing a human along to a demon's cemetary.
Hopefully, it was a nice place. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdBjfF3F95
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFB6YDiZkiH
Maybe rolling hills overlooking a nice view of the ocean. Perhaps even a few old trees whose branches created a canopy over the headstones of those now with the spirits?
That would be a nice place for them. It was just a shame they would have to be there alone while the rest of thier family remained together.
It was cruel to split them like that when they had no say in it. No-one else had even contested the issue when they were split up back in the grieving town.
But I was going to be here. Someone had to be, at least.
I was the only one too. No-one else formed a precession to trail behind the herse that I found again after some questioning and panicked searching for it.
I didn't want to lose it when I was so close. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaGQ2hCzyDK
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQQQ6nVF2P
I wanted to make sure Yorkie and Sugercane got Islet's flowers.
The route was scenic, raising my hopes for that peaceful rest I had imagined them being taken to.
The road between towns was surrounded with trees. The branches even touched in some parts to create a leafy tunnel with light streaming through the gaps that danced on the road.
The air flitting through my window was fresh, holding just a hint of tangy seasalt.
The scent of it only thickened in the breeze when the herses wound around the bumpy back roads.
There was no caution taken over the bumps that jostled the caskets in the back. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisuJNzgHDs
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSE8Jdip9DC
Each one slid into he railings by each windows and caused the single piece of red fabric laid down the length to slide from its position.
I followed nervously. The flowers in the back were tossed about haphazardly with nothing to keep them secure. I prayed they would survive the patched road that curved and dipped through its decievingly beautiful landscape.
I felt the tension release when both herses peeled around a roundabout and continued towards a stretching bridge ahead.
I followed behind, thankful that I had only lost one of the daffodil heads in the rough treatment earlier.
The relief was shortlived though. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvR1CUpial
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡobziHzbbAQ
We passed through the little town on the other side of the bridge and went straight past the church on the hill there. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTlaxmONMA
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLUU0coaLdw
I saw water sparkling in the sunshine to my right where people played and boated.
There was no sight of a demon cemetary here.
Where were they going?
The road dipped and curved, linking to another bridge that ended where the road turned to dirt on the other side.
The cemetary was over this way?117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsCvjGSe5w
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ZvNBVjs34
No, that couldn't be right?
The smell of seasalt suddenly turned sour when I crossed the bridge. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAoOEpbjz71
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqUwvFZznh
It was a faint change, but still a noticable one that didnt seem to bother the happy few still splashing in the water below.
As the herses veered to the left, I quickly stomped on the brakes so I could snatch up the flowers and toss them in the front passenger seat to keep them safe.
Then, I sped after Yorkie and Sugercane sliding and bumping thier way over the gravel road to on the last stretch of thier journey.
It was an odd place to put a demon cemetary so far out of town and down such a long unsealed road. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PLJp2W3t1
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ks3zyJmcH
Nothing had been touched here. The trees grew thick and wild on each side, and there was no sign of housing anywhere on the only stretch of road.
The sour seasalt had turned rancid. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxc8qEyYCBd
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6jGzNQAY9
It no longer provoked pleasent images of waves and restfulness. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rBbqs8qQg
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0aTlXBJ4Ek
Winding up the windows and shutting the vents did nothing to deter the stench of boiling rot that seeped in anyway.
It made my stomach churn and bubble. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXWKwbaFgP
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpReEmCFk9I
I could feel the vile air coating the back of my throat and festering in my lungs. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgILSWlsyL
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It made me physically sick just to breathe. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡex1rtTESuY
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuSHaE87GA
I could even taste it. It had clung to my tongue like a second film.
This wasn't the way a cemetary was meant to be. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1ZwXsEF2F
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAq6L4jg1r
This was pure hell.
Flies swarmed the windows the further I followed down the bumpy gravel road. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6iHLYu6Ku
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOZeazWrTb
They were like a plague speckled in the air, growing thicker and more aggressive with thier suicide mission into the windscreen.
I hated this. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJv9IykQ7Zw
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19kA0RLG8b
The sick feeling in my stomach wasn't because of the stench anymore. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxOkwtMwXA
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I was dreading where this road was going to lead me to at the end of it. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGcIyabXCa
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7L0P0KVqw
I wanted nothing more than to just stop the car and take it straight home again. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPebklSP1f
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CCoERdQDm
I saw the daffodils still on the front seat and contemplated wether it was worth it anymore.
I wanted to give these to Yorkie and Sugercane, but I could tell I wasn't going to get the coastal paradise I had wished for them.
I was scared, more than anything. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDrNyhngLym
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyiA45ecJo
But I was more scared for the demons ahead of me who would never know what happened to thier bodies.
I had to find out for them and myself. Whatever I would find would be my fate when I left to join the spirits again.
I think that's what terrified me the most.
Gates rose ahead to greet the cars that passed through. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVCF0otJcIE
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LG6z6jvC7
They weren't glorious ones at all. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMP1TdY977V
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwasw4HbwJ
Rusted metal twisted into diamonds stood tall with pieces of plastic flapping against it, and moulted feathers twisting within spiders webs.
To the left was a single rectangular booth.117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8p20pdJPEe
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJlNO5i1On
It had no glass where the window frame was, leaving the demon inside at the mercy of the swarming flies.
He did have a cap on that did nothing for the pests he swatted at aggressively.
I pulled up to the booth and drew in my last, stinking breath that wasn't soaked with buzzing flies before winding down the window.
I saw the demon lean down to peer into the car in surprise, his scarred face looking around briefly.
The scar was a nasty thing that looked fresh; gougign along his left cheek and down through the corner of his lip to his chin. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvR3GE1RL74
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQuYFwJxnj
The fact that flies were crawling over the folds of skin and burrowing into the plasticy scar itself disgusted me. It irritated him too as he swatted them away uselessly.
"What are you doing here?" the gruff voice choked out quickly "there's no visitors here."
"I came with flowers" I called back, only to make the demon laugh at me.
He spat out the flies that made a dash for his mouth, licking the back of his hand to try and remove the crushed body parts that had been severed by his teeth.
"Oh, you're serious" he breathed, leaning further forward "Look, kid, you don't want to be going in there. It's swarming with bugs and smells terrible. Give me the flowers and I'll make sure they get them."
I looked at his outstretched hand that was missing the second finger, and refused.
The daffodils remained on the seat beside me.
"I'll throw them on for you" he insisted "honest."
I hardened my expression and scanned the mountain of lumpy, black trash before me.
"Just tell me the way the herse went and I'll go do it myself."
"Damn, kid" the demon blew out a breath, straightening up in defeat "follow the road. You can't miss it."
I wound up my window and pushed onwards once more with the trapped flies battling to escape.
The road was the same gravel as the one leading here, but much narrower.
Towering black mountains blocked out the view to my left and right when I inched along the road that curved dramatically to the right and straightened.
I saw the back of both herses stopped on the road. Both were wide open at the back that were void of the coffins or the drivers.
I parked up behind them, trying to see around the mountains that ripped downwards over the crest.
There was no chance I was going to get around the cars. I was going to have to get out.
Hopefully it wasn't a long walk.
I grabbed the daffodils and threw open the door to slide out into the swarm.
I kept my mouth firmly shut, but could still feel the flies trying to wedge under my eyelids and twist into my nostrils. Even my flattened ears did nothing to stop the buzzing deafening me.
But then, there was a new noise.
It was definately mechanical. It was loud and droning continuously as the parts of the machine moved. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWL9FpIkTfk
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXKONu2Zw4Z
I could smell rusting metal and sharp oil over the festering flies.
And then, there was the screaming of seagulls that hovered in the sky.
They were as bad as the flies. They dove and dipped through the infested air to land on the mountains they covered in shit and feathers.
I reached the top of the crest, grateful to finally have some sort of look at which way I was supposed to be going.
But, there was no other way. There was only forward to where a bright yellow escavator was planted on the other side of a massive, gaping pit.
The escavator had its claw firmly gripped around one of the coffins that had the lid swinging wildly with each jerking movement from the machine.
I saw Sugercane's disfigured body tumble out and splatter into the pit that was lined with other battered and discarded bodies.
Seagulls speared eyes with thier beaks, fighting over scraps of skull and disfigured faces.
The humans did nothing to stop them either. They only directed the escavator to the next coffin planted beside them.
The daffodils slipped from my hand as everything suddenly went numb. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDgPF5sTZf
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9aGwX3vVq
My stomach churned and bubbled at the sight of seagulls hovering over Sugercane in eagerness for thier fresh feast.
No.
This couldn't be what happened. This wasn't it!
My feet tried to take me back to the car, but stumbled instead. My brain was frozen and unable to even think properly about what I should be doing.
Yorkie came tumbling out of his casket to smash into Sugercane and roll off her down further into the pit.
I saw his limp hand stretching outwards, as if trying to reach what he once loved again.
This wasn't it. This wasn't what they deserved!
"HEY!"
I screamed with a voice so shaken that it didn't sound right coming from me.
Tears blinded me to the humans who turned, all four of them standing there to stare at me.
I didn't know what to do. I wanted to scream at them all and rush down there to rescue Yorkie and Sugercane from the pit to give them the burial they deserved.
But instead, I ran.
I bolted back for the car that I jerked around to head back towards that fence line.
The wheels skidded when I tore around the sharp corner, slamming me into the door as I struggled for control.
I kept my focus in the road while each breath whimpered out of me with burning tears the trapped flies swarmed for.
The booth was in my sight when I noticed the lumpy mountains piled up around it had very distinct shapes about them.
I shouldn't have looked any longer. I should have just kept my eyes on the gravel and straight ahead.
It was only when I saw the mishappen fingers of a hand poking out from the mountain that my terror peaked.
Every single mountain around me was the body of a demon. Decapitated, dismembered, and crushed to fit as many as possible.
Demon mountains stained with shit and feathers forced me to acknowledge them on my narrow path to freedom. Seagulls tearing at the skin blistering with maggots laughed at my panic revving through the little buggy skidding along the gravel.
I sped past the demon in the booth without a second thought. I saw him lean out again to call out something that was choked in infested dust.
I could feel the panic heightening in me when the buggy finally found the split in the road that led to the bridge.
My hands couldn't get the windows down fast enough to get rid of the buzzing memories still trapped with me.
I could still taste the death and decay that had surrounded me. I could feel the grime and gore coated on my skin and writhing along my lips.
Each dragging, short breath tightened in my chest. I could feel the twisting pain in my lungs burning while my body trembled beneath the wheel I clutched.
The sight of the bodies tumbling out was still there when I closed my eyes. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5a1wjgpsZh
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuktxrYjgD
The wide, split eyes of Sugercane bore into my soul. The way Yorkie reached for her in death rattled every numb nerve.
I needed to get away from it all. I needed someone to take the pain away.
My hands fumbled for my mobile that I dropped into my lap. My fingers slid across the prompts until I was trying to steady the phone with both hands.
The whirring of the dial tone drilled through me. It sounded just like the machine shaking out the bodies like they were garbage.
A giant tip for all those demons to be compacted into...
"Hello?" Sprig answered.
I couldn't speak between my sharp breaths to cry for her. I felt so useless and helpless just sitting here in a trembling mess that could barely string together a few words.
I wanted my Mum. I wanted my Dad. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zHwOxezNx
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT88RHcFVEu
I didn't care how old I was suppose to be; I felt like a rattled child witnessing the most terrifying nightmare.
"M-Mummy!" I whined, wailing loudly "MUMMY!"
"Teddy?" Sprig panicked "what's wrong? What happened?"
"M-MUMMY!" I warbled, trying to breathe through my dribbling lips from the tears and snot.
There was panic on the phone I clutched like my life depended on it.
It wasn't the comfort I needed right now. It couldn't make the noises go away. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Kq8qkzZlA
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlCuaWz91S
I could still hear those seagulls screaming while they fought over the bodies...
"Teddy? Teddy! Where abouts are you darling? We are coming to get you right now."
"Mum" I whimpered to her voice "t-t-t...."
"Shh, it's OK. Deep breath."
I heard her inhale deeply and then exhale. She did it again and I tried to copy her, only to spit all over my phone when I exhaled.
"T-the tip" I choked out "b-birds. B-bodies."
I broke down again, whimpering to the phone that had fallen silent.
"Mummy?"
"I'm here, darling" she replied to my sniveling "we are on our way. What town sweetie? West Port?"
No. That was where people had lined the streets for the family. This was away from the public eye; a disgusting place shielded from the happy people only mere meters from the line of trees that blocked the view of that gravel road.
"Du-Du..."
"Dunpar? Duneside? Dunrie? Are you at Dunrie?"
I nodded at her correct guess, frantically whimpering out what she needed to hear.
"Don't hang up the phone" she spoke seriously now "we will be there soon, OK?"
I nodded again since words failed me.
I just wanted to be away from here.
I didn't want to smell this sour smell that I knew was the air tainted with death. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaco7oX6qD
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Seagulls still sailed the skies here, devouring chips being thrown to them. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKaS6kqZTy
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I didn't want to hear thier shrill bickering; their fighting and screaming. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNziEPZUUq
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsNAOuLj4m
I wanted it to be quiet. I wanted go home right now.
I wanted to go home. I wanted to go home. I wanted to go home...
"Mum" I begged.
"We're coming as quick as we can" she soothed "breathe, Teddy."
I inhaled with her again, placing Thr phone in my lap and closing my eyes to focus this time. When I exhaled, I opened them and felt the panic spike through me again when I saw my hand curved around the wheel.
Claws replaced my fingers. White feathers speared through my skin and up to my shoulder that I swatted at to try and brush the feathers off of.
"MUM!" I screamed in panic now "MUM!"
"Teddy! What is it?!"
The phone clattered to the floor as I tried to jolt away from the feathers piercing through my other hand that mutated.
Claws curved where my fingers had been; white like the seagulls' that had hovered around me.
No. Not them. Not that.
Thats where I was going to go. When I joined the spirits, I was going to be dumped and crushed there too.
NO!
I groaned out as the feathers continued to grow along my arms and pull out into the back seats of the car. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qX0XqvQbl
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qaSlobUTu
Each feather bent when it couldn't freely grow further, twisting pain back into my arms from the angle the feathers bent at.
I forced myself from the car and scrambled for the phone still laying where my feet had been.
My claws were too large to hold it efficiently, only making it slip from my grasp and tumble back where it had been.
I growled at my lack of success, whining when I saw how the feathers along my arms had spread into large wings tipped with edges at the longest peaks.
Just like a seagulls.
Wait, just like a birds'!
Wings would take me away from here. I could go home where it was safe.
"Mum!" I called out to her, pressing my face against the side of the drivers seat to try and make myself hear to her "I'm going home! I've got wings!"
They were so large too. Disgusting wings from those body-eating birds, but still what I needed right now.
The mutations wee not going to stop this time either. They accelerated with each shaky breath and tearful groan of twinging pain.
Feathers covered my body that bulged to accommodate them. The sudden mass tore through my clothes, to leave me completely naked while the fathers moved desperately to cover me.
I didn't want to turn into something like this.
I just wanted the wings to take me home. Just what was needed, not all of this.
But there was no stopping it. No matter how much i pleeded and cried for it to, it just kept growing and spreading like a disease.
It had to be what I had seen that was doing this. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡei55EF9aNp
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNJy7lx0Wvn
The relaisation that I had nothing in this world when I joined the spirits again.
And what about River? Would he be like Yorkie rolling down the pit, or Sugercane shattering when he was shaken out of his casket by those metal claws?
My heart jolted when I thought of Able and her short time here. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bI7E4CVtK
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Pistachio would be the one to guide her soon, and she would be left to be dumped like garbage. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAgl0RaJ9h
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqMXUHcGxLT
She hadn't even lived for long enough to experience most basic joys of the world, and she had no idea what was waiting for her.
There was no such thing as a demon cemetery. Nothing that good would ever come to us.
Tears spilled over my feathered face at that thought.
Did the humans know about this all along? Did Mum know? Dad? Even Sprig?
Did they?
Please no. Not them.
Tears splattered onto the hot tar when I wailed again. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ0a6nB9Cke
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My agony tearing through me shrieked through the air. It screamed like the demanding birds by the water, wavering with the final moments of my humanity ebbing into the feral monstrosity consuming me.
Not them!
I shoved away from the beast to send myself into the air, hovering there.
The massive wings beat effortlessly to keep me airborne while I stared at them in disbelief.
My legs dangled underneath me when I didn't need them to support me. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTvI8u1QyQB
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoOwVmBRma
My tail was thin and feathery, ending in a fan at the end that mimicked the ones River sometimes mutated.
Everything was adjusted for freedom. I felt weightless in the air here. My feathers moved to each sweeping gust of wind pulling upwards.
I had nothing tying me down now. I could go home and hide from the horrors still seared into my mind and wait until I could report for an upgrade on my tag that dangled in my feathered ear.
An upgrade. The thought of it made everything turn bitter inside.
What was the point? To keep track of who was going to give them more struggle when they went to the tip? To know which ones they could harvest for more valuable parts? 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuQ1Bbs2lN
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My old antlers weren't sectioned up to be disposed of. They were going to be mounted on some wall or turned into some trinket that collected dust on a shelf. 117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF8m9SLM2yg
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsXwrODfOh
They only wanted what they could track.
But now, I was free.
Humans couldn't track what they couldn't catch.
It was bittersweet. I had lost everything just to gain what I didn't know I had been missing this whole time.
Would my own family even be able to recognize me or understand me anymore? Anytime I tried to talk, it was just screeching.
I was an animal now. As wild as River had been.
I would be put into isolation if anyone caught me. There was going to be no mercy waiting for me.
And who knew when I would see daylight like this again? I was still waiting for River to come back to me.
It was the choice I had to make.
I shook off my feathers and took to the skies cautiously.117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDVdb7bq9Lm
117Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XV3i4K2T7
There were no limitations up here, but it all still felt to weird to not be pushed back where I could be monitored.
I liked it. And I hated it.
I would head back to where i knew it was safe before deciding anything else. I needed somewhere quiet to escape the reality of everything for a while.
Then, I would decide if I could trust my family with my freedom, or if it was just another lie I had been led to believe.
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