War of Angels and Demons

Chapter 13

Jas's POV

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My head jerks up at the voice, and I cover my mouth. A small girl, about the age of 10, walks out of the woods with a knife and a hatchet. Her medium length, light brown hair is stained red with blood and caked with dirt. Her face and arms are covered in scratches, but there's no denying that there's a natural beauty underneath all the dirt and blood. I know exactly who this little girl is. She knows me as well. It's hard to miss, she looks exactly like our mother, while I look like our father.

"Autumn? Baby girl, is that you?" her head nods furiously, and she drops the weapons, running up to me and hugging me tightly. The impact stuns me, my wings immediately wrapping around her, protecting her. I feel her shoulders shake, and I hug her, silently crying next to her. I look at her back, and I realize that her wings - her beautiful brown wings - are gone. The only thing's left of them are bloody stumps with a few feathers. I sob and hold her tightly, cradling her close to me. She slowly stops crying, and she just sits there, hugging me. I don't know how long we've sat here, hugging each other for dear life. I haven't seen my little sister since she was five when our father was killed by his sister. I've been trying to find our aunt Becky for over four years, but she disappeared off the edge of the Earth. That's when I met Hannah when I flew to the base of the mountain, weak and close to death. She found me and called a few others to help, and they carried me up the mountain. I've been on that mountain for years, trying to get the courage to fly and find my family again. I never meant to leave Autumn and our mom for so long. I was so consumed with finding our aunt. But now I have my little sister back. I need to ask her what happened to her, to mom, but I don't want to upset her any more than she already is. I stand up and pick her up, carrying her in front of me. I look down at her, and I see she's fallen asleep, the tears from earlier wiping away some of the dirt and blood. I shake my head, wondering what had hurt her. I look around and stop, hearing the familiar trickling of water, and I follow it. After about three minutes, I found a small river. I smile and look at Autumn, shaking her awake. She opens her eyes and looks around, fear clouding her eyes, and she drops from my arms, scrambling away.

"Autumn, hey, it's okay. It's me, Jas. You're okay." she sobs and gets up, walking over to me and hugging my legs, and I pick her up, bringing her over to the river. I set her on one of the larger rocks, and I take my jacket and dip it in the water. I lift her head up, and I gently wipe away all the dirt and blood from her face, revealing a little girl who's scared and upset. I finish cleaning her face, and I step in the river, the water coming up to my thighs. I motion for her to follow, and she carefully gets off the rock, grabbing my hand and walking into the water. I make sure she's able to keep her head above the water and I search and find some mint leaves and a few other herbs that I know will help with the cuts and also clean her skin and hair naturally. I grab them and walk over to Autumn. I help her wash her arms, legs, back, and face. I leave her clothed, not wanting to embarrass her and make her uncomfortable. Once she's clean, I start on her hair, washing out all the grime and blood. I try to avoid the stumps, but she turns to me and looks up at me.

"Can you clean the stumps, please? Their itchy, and they hurt because of the dirt." she looks at me innocently, and I nod, turning her over some so I can clean them. I use my jacket to clean them instead of my hand, not wanting to hurt her any more than she already is. Her body relaxes, and she sighs in relief. She looks back at me and gives me one of her smiles, a real smile that can light up any dark room. I can't help but smile back at her. Her body twists around, and she hugs me, knocking me back in the water, and we both laugh. We sit up after a few minutes, and we walk out of the shallow river, the sun coming out of the clouds and drying us naturally. I look down at her and pick her up, our faces close together.

"I'm so glad to have you back, Autumn." she giggles and tucks my bangs behind my ear, causing me to do the same to her on instinct.

"I'm glad to have you back too, Jas. Promise you won't leave again? Not without me?" she looks at me, her eyes broken and sad with a few flecks of hope somewhere in them.

"I promise Autumn."