Melanie
Zane's right eye flashed black and I considered taking a step back. Should he relinquish control to Kopa, he would become erratic and highly aggressive. The snow behind me crunched as Will began to approach. Zane snarled, baring his teeth at Will. The footsteps stopped as I lifted my hand as an indicator for Will to remain where he was.
"Keep back, Angel." He warned, his voice contorted as though he was speaking underwater.
"Alright, Zane," I tried to soothe, holding my hands up as I backed away slowly. "I won't ask. I'm going to leave now."
"Zane!" The three of us froze at the unfamiliar call.
I looked to the sky to see a blond haired angel with light pink wings preparing to land. The smell of flowers wafted into my nose and I assumed the scent came from the angel. Zane's eye returned to gold as the angel landed in front of him.
"Tobias?" Will said in disbelief.
The angel turned and paled when he saw Will. He saw me and if anything, grew paler.
"W-Will, what are you doing here?" The angel's voice was timid, maybe the same octave as my own.
Zane looked like he had seen a ghost and I was just confused. "What's going on? Zane, how do you know this angel?"
"You seem fairly familiar with him, Tobias." Will added, a slight note of disapproval in his voice.
Tobias lowered his large purple eyes and nervously poked his fingers together. Zane moved stiffly forward until he was partially standing in front of the much smaller male. I realized with a jolt he was protecting the angel, as though he perceived me and Will as a threat.
"Will. Let's go." I said, reaching behind me until I felt his wrist.
"Huh? But-" I looked at him and shook my head lightly.
"Don't." I murmured softly, "Let's just leave. My feet are losing feeling."
Will regarded my brother and Tobias. Tobias looked up for a moment and, seeing Will looking at him, quickly dropped his gaze. Zane's eyes did not waver from Will's face, and they elicited a silent challenge. With a rumble, Will looked away first and wordlessly stalked away. I followed closely behind him.
When we were inside the house, he turned on me. He grabbed my arm and pinned me against the wall with his arm pressed painfully into my throat. I gave a stunned gasp, my hands instinctively flying to his arm. My feet were several inches off the floor and I kicked them futilely. He looked livid, his red eyes boring into mine.
"What the hell was that? What is your brother doing with Tobias?" He demanded. "Are you demons up to something?"
I struggled, fruitlessly trying to pull his arm away. He lessened the force enough for me to choke out, "I don't know how Zane knows him! I was just as confused as you were!"
Fear pounded in my veins. Will didn't even look at me so hatefully when we were still enemies. He seemed to be contemplating whether or not he was going to believe me. Or, if he was going to kill me. I was so certain he was going to kill me I tried to channel lightning through my body, but my breathing was too quick and shallow to do much of anything.
"If this is a trick to kill angels, it won't work! I'll kill you before you even get the chance!" He declared, mistrust in his eyes.
I visibly flinched from his words, hurt. I asked quietly, "You think my feelings are a lie?"
My lip was quivering and Will noticed it. A look of uncertainty crossed his face and the pressure against my throat lessened minutely.
"I don't know what to think. Your brother is close with Tobias and I want to know why. You know something." He sounded ambiguous now, his voice quiet. But at the end of his sentence his voice sharpened and he glowered at me again.
"I don't!" I cried, my airway being crushed again. "W-Will, stop! I don't know anything! Y-you're hurting me!"
I could have gotten away from him, but that would require hurting him. I couldn't bring myself to. I stared into his eyes, trying to see one thing familiar inside them. I found nothing. Finally, I brought my feet up and kicked him hard as I could in the stomach. He released me as he staggered backwards, wheezing. I slid to the floor, landing on my hands and knees. I gasped for air for several moments. I heard Will move and flinched away from him, pressing myself against the wall like a frightened animal. He looked conflicted, as though he wasn't sure if he wanted to get back at me or comfort me.
"Mel, I-I'm sorry. I just, I don't want to believe you're lying to me about your feeling." He said quietly.
My fear of him morphed into anger and I shakily returned to my feet, my knees wobbly. Rayi purred at the burst of emotion radiating through my chest. She knew how much I despised being called a liar. I suggested darkly, "Let me put things in perspective for you."
My hand shot out and I grabbed his wrist, twisting it painfully behind his back. He hissed in pain as I forced him to his knees. He was about to retaliate and I wrapped my arm around his neck. When his long fingers brushed against the rough fabric of my tunic, I jerked his head slightly, enough to hear a pop. He froze and let his arm fall back to his side. I leaned forward until my lips were beside his ear.
"I could hurt you worse than you realize. I'm a lot stronger than I look."
I released him and took a step back from him. He quickly stood, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste. Will stared at me warily, a lingering trace of anger still in his eyes. I smiled sadly at him and shrugged helplessly. "But, I don't want to. I hate the idea of you hurt, worse if I'm the one causing you pain. It seems, though, you don't trust me still. Perhaps...I shouldn't come back."
I half expected him to protest, but when his expression turned stony I knew what he was going to say.
"Perhaps not."
I felt my smile break at the corners and I turned quickly away before he saw my pained mien. Forgetting about my book, I rushed out the front door into the storm.
It was blinding outside and the wind nearly knocked me off my feet. I ran until the wind stole my breath. My feet were stinging and quickly losing feeling. My socks would be no good and I had left them at Will's house. I had no sense of where I was going, the rush of snow and sleet destroying what little visibility there had been in the forest thick with trees. My arms were hugging my midsection as my teeth chattered. I stumbled carelessly through the torrent, Rayi screaming in my head to turn back.
At least turn into a raven and fly out of this! She growled.
"I can barely walk through this; it's too windy. I'd be blown away!" I yelled aloud, holding my hands close to my face.
Hours must have passed and I seemed no closer to the human settlement or the portal. It was dark now and the storm raged on. My bones were chilled and I had little feeling in my body. I was certain my feet were blackened and my skin blue. The snow was past my knees, making it difficult to walk. I had resorted to shuffling my feet. I was tired and wet. I had no air left in my lungs; whenever I inhaled, the cold robbed me of it. Sleet sliced my cheeks and hands until I had paper thin cuts wherever there was visible skin.
I ceased walking and fell to my knees. I shook my head and whispered, "I can't keep walking...I have no idea where I am."
My extremities were tingling and I had stopped shivering long ago. I couldn't even feel the cold. In fact, warmth had begun to spread from my toes to the top of my head. It felt like I had been splashed with warm water that seeped into my bones and chased the cold away. The warm sensation felt so nice it had started to tug on my heavy eyelids.
Rayi urged me to get back to my feet but any attempts were as clumsy as a newborn fawn. I sank forward into the snow, the wintry substance a brutal shock to my already frozen body. My eyelids drooped more as a blurry shape made its way toward me. I lifted my head a couple centimeters from my winter pillow.
"Will?" My words got lost in the swirling wind. As the figure grew nearer, I yawned and let my eyes close.
Melanie, something isn't right. Look at its shape: it isn't as tall as Will. Get up; we need to run now! Rayi said, sounding wary.
"I'm sleepy," I whined, not bothering to open my eyes again. 'Let me sleep for just a little while.'
Her screeching orders directed at me were lost as I slipped out of consciousness as the figure loomed over me.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
