Black Hearted Angel (EDITING)

Chapter 9

The fire is small and offers little warmth but it was something and we greeted it with open arms. I looked at Am's sleeping face, so peaceful, so innocent. Mrs M yawned and stretched out. I could tell she needed some rest. After sleeping in the car this morning, I was not tired but Mrs M thought otherwise.

"You need rest. We all do. They are not going to find us if we put the fire out now." She grabbed the bucket of water and a handful of bark. I nodded reluctantly and she doused the fire. I curled into a ball, forming a triangle with Am and Mrs M. Surprisingly, I fall asleep quickly. 

***

I woke just before dawn and yawned off sleep. Sitting up, I smile as I watch Am and Mrs M sleeping. It gives me some time to myself. I quietly grab the knife that Mrs M brought along from the drama room and head off to get more fire wood. Being out her alone, I unfurl my wings, allowing myself this forbidden pleasure. Mrs M had unfurled them the moment we entered the forest, but I was too preoccupied that it slipped my mind.

"What is happening, God?" I ask, hoping some sort of answer will come my way. Nothing. I find a large tree and with one thrust of my wings, I am halfway up the tree, I flap my wings again and this time I emerge above the tree tops. I close my eyes and tilt my head back, enjoying the bliss of the warm sunlight of early morning. As far as the eye can see is forest, save for the road in between to two sections of bushland. I violently drop as pain once again rages through me like fire. I desperately try to flap my wings, but they fail me. I land heavily on the ground and I roll onto my back, groaning in pain. I sit up and look up at the gnarled branches, like clumsy fingers that tried and failed to catch me. I remember being diagnosed with the curse. I was seven.

"It's nothing too serious." The doctor told my parents as I lay on his examination table. "Nothing that we can cure, anyway. I'm afraid to have to inform you, but it's the curse from Satan."

"Satan?!" Daddy was furious, and I watched his face go red. "What has he got to do with any of this?!"

"He cursed her ancestor, and it's been carried down in the bloodline." I saw mommy turn away and daddy was still shouting at the doctor.

"Oww . . . " I groan as I bend over to pick up the firewood  and painfully make my way back to camp. I am surprised to find Am and Mrs M still asleep, so I quietly place the firewood in the pit, but decide to light it up. Once the flames are growing, I lie back down, resting my head against a nearby log.

"Ugh . . ." Am slowly awakens since yesterday’s events, and I sit up, alert and ready as she sits up. "Gaz?"

"Hiya." 

"What? - "

"We were run off the road and crashed. You were knocked out."

"No wonder it's all foggy," she said rubbing her head. "How long have I been out?" She crawled over to me and hauled herself onto the log. 

"'Bout 14 hours." I say, looking at my watch which has miraculously survived theses ordeals. "It was 'bout half past 4 when we crashed."

"It's only 6:30." She squinted, sounded disgusted. Yawing, she looks at me. "And yet I'm still tired."

"Just because you were unconscious, doesn’t mean your body was resting." Mrs M stands up, smiling at us. "Good to see you are awake Amana."

"AHH!!!" Am shrieked and fell off the log. She recomposed herself and turned to face whoever it was.

"Oh, hey Mrs M . . .Didn't see you there . . ." she mumbled, scratching the back of her head looking down. 

Scare the shit outta you? I ask telepathically.