Destiny

Chapter Five: The Anger

"Why did you just lie to Sam?" Nathan asked after a while.

"It's none of your business," I spat. I would not tell Nathan that the reason I had lied to Sam was because I wouldn't see him again. That would only tempt Nathan to ask why I'd never see Sam again.

I didn't particularly think that Nathan would be too happy that the reason I wouldn't see Sam again was because I'd decided that after I was strong enough to fly and fight and fend for myself, I'd go off alone in the hope that I could find the Realm of the Fae.

I'd help the Fae because it was what my father had asked me to do, but he had never asked me to stick around after that.

***

Once again, I couldn't sleep.

When Mary and Rob had offered me some tea, I had refused and eventually everyone had left me alone. Even Nathan, though he was the last to go.

I kept seeing that face. The face of the man who had killed my dad.

He wasn't human. For a start, his fingers were deformed, too long and too many. He'd had black, empty sockets for eyes, and creatures like maggots had crawled from them. His skin was grey, but it had been torn from him, so that it flapped in the slight breeze and his bones could be seen.

However, his bones were charcoal black and cracked. His mouth had been stretched, and sharp jagged teeth had protruded from his gums. He had smiled at me, and blood had poured from his mouth. He'd made a gurgling noise and had said: 'I'll come for you next.'

The...thing had haunted me since. He had been a grotesque creature and I was sickened by what he had done. The fact that he was after me next didn't bother me, he could kill me like he had done my dad for all I cared.

Shuddering, I peeled back the covers, threw on Sam's jacket and the shoes from earlier and crept over to the window. I always slept in the clothes I'd worn in the day, I don't know why, really, it was just something that I'd never grown out of.

I hadn't grown much at all, really.

I pushed open the window, extended my wings and flew from the house. I wobbled in the air, still not used to flying. I was just thankful that I was far enough from everybody else in the house, that their wings wouldn't just sprout out.

It was chilly out and the inky black sky was even more daunting the closer I was to it.

I didn't know, really, what I'd hoped to achieve by coming out here. I supposed I just wanted to get my mind off off the skeleton man, but really, nothing was too good a distraction.

Instead, I decided I'd fly the streets and make myself a sort of vigilante. Maybe I could stop somebody from being murdered like my dad. And, if not, at least I could say I'd tried this time.

***

My wings ached and I was out of breath. I'd exerted myself far too much, and it was late in the morning. Mary and Rob had probably gone to work; Nathan would once again be furious at me for sneaking away.

I decided to walk the rest of the way. I passed quaint houses, and couples walking their dogs, who smiled kindly at me as we passed each other.

Once I'd make it to the house, deciding that I just didn't have enough energy to fly up to my window, I knocked on the front door.

A few seconds later, the door opened. Nathan stood there with bed hair and sleepy eyes. He wore black pyjama bottoms and a tight grey shirt. As he took in my appearance, his eyes widened.

"What the..."

I limped past him and only just made it to the leather sofa before I collapsed.

Last night, as I flew in the air, a woman had been walking. She'd been crying and wasn't paying attention. A group of men had jumped her, and she was too distraught to run away. I'd flew down a few feet away and come to her aid.

Of course, I'd been so caught up in the idea of throwing myself into dangerous situations and helping someone like I had't helped my dad, I hadn't really thought about what would happen. Adrenaline had coursed through my veins and I knocked one out of the six men that there were, but the other five had been stronger than me and they'd taken a lot out of me.

The woman had scrambled away once the men were focused on me, so I was left alone. I'd sprained my ankle, and as I pushed my converse off, I saw that it was swelling up pretty bad. I had a cut lip and a bruised eye that was trickling blood down my face. My arm was bent at a weird angle and my jeans were ripped where one of the men had tried to force them off.

Of course, walking down the street, I'd cast a spell to make myself look completely normal, and that was what had taken the rest of my energy.

Somehow though, even though my heart was going like a jack hammer, and everything hurt, I was so glad, because for a few perfect moments, I'd forgotten who I was, what had happened to me, and how much of a failure I was for not helping my dad.

I grinned manically and leaned back against the sofa.

"Are you completely insane?" Nathan accused.

He stood before me, but now he looked wide awake. His jaw was clenched, his hands were drawn into fists at his sides and he looked incandescently enraged.

I realised that this was the second time I'd done this is two days and I had to seriously think about the answer to that question. I thought back to the skeleton man. Maybe I was insane, after all afters seeing that, who wouldn't be?

"Possibly," I mused.

Nathan began to shake and his wings popped out and began to flutter swiftly. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Six guys, one girl. I may be Fae, but I'm not that strong."

Nathan unclenched his fists and then clenched them again. "Six guys?"

"Well there were seven, but I knocked one out," I stated, proud of myself for actually being able to do something for once.

"For Christ's sake," Nathan muttered. He sighed, unclenched his hands once more and dragged a hand haggardly down his face. "You're a Fae monarch! You can't just get into fights whenever you feel like it! You have responsibilities!"

I stood up, exasperation flooding through my body. "I think you're forgetting that I'm a person, too! I didn't know any of this existed until a few days ago! My father died, right there in front of me! I had to watch that...that monster shoot him straight in the head and there was nothing I could do about it.

"So, yes, I get it. You're only bothered about the fact that I'm supposed to end this petty feud between the Fae and Pixie. But I'm more bothered about what I'm going to do about the skeleton-"

I broke off, my eyes going wide. My mind was buzzing, screaming at me to stop. I was on full alert; I was just about to give away everything I'd tried to hide from everyone. The skeleton man.

I slumped back down on the sofa and put my head in my hands. Moments later, a weight settled beside me and I knew it was Nathan. I'd never been this close to another male apart from Sam before.

"What skeleton?" Nathan enquired in a soothing tone. He smelled faintly of oranges and mint, and I couldn't help but want to smell more.

I didn't answer and, after a moment of hesitating, I felt Nathan's strong arms encapsulate my waist and pull me closer towards him.