Sebastian's Daughter REVISED VERSION (COMPLETE)

Chapter 3

I collapsed onto an old, rotting log, and tried not to cry.

"This is pointless," I told myself. "I can't find him anywhere."

Then the burn of the handcuffs on my arms suddenly reminded me of their presence. I searched for something to break the cuffs as I chastised myself over letting those scientists do this to me.

Frustrated on not finding anything, I gave up and ignored the pain as I used some demon strength to pull the handcuffs apart, breaking the chain connecting them.

Now that my hands weren't tied, I began to search again for a way to get the painful cuffs off. I found a creek and put my hands in the water. Surprisingly, my idea worked, and I was able to slide the cuffs off in the water.

The scientists had probably heard me scream for my father, and were more than likely on their way to me. I left the cuffs by the creek so I could mess with them, then climbed a tree and waited, wanting to see the looks on their faces when they saw me, their rare specimen, fly out of reach.

They finally showed up about half an hour later. The woman found the handcuffs in the creek, and the man glanced over at her before searching the woods. The little boy was looking around in amazement, like he'd never seen trees before. He eventually saw me and waved.

I smiled at him as his parents noticed what he was doing. They gazed at me and smiled happily. They really thought they had me.

I noticed them start whispering to each other, and it confused me a little. I thought they would be frantically climbing the tree.

I unfurled my wings so they could get a good look at them before I took off, but as soon as my black wing was stretched out completely, I felt a sharp pain near where the man had touched it. I looked at the people on the ground, where the man was smirking proudly, but the woman seemed to be confused.

What did he do to my wing?

I stared at it and saw nothing visibly wrong. But I couldn't fly away if my wing was hurt. And that meant I was as good as dead now.

That man must have used a needle or something when he was feeling my wings. It would explain why I had gone crazy when he'd touched it. I need to get out of here!

I glanced up at the sound of hoofbeats on the ground. Their reinforcements were coming, and through the trees, I could see the carriages of hunters riding right alongside them.

"Hey," I nervously called down to them. "You only want to run some tests, right? The let me go?"

The woman answered. "Yes, of course!" Her husband seemed appalled at the thought of letting me go. She hit him.

"Well you may not be able to run your tests."

This caught their full attention, the man looking on with skepticism, while the woman frowned in confusion. "Why not?" he asked.

"Hunters are following your reinforcements. They'll kill me before they let you experiment."

The small family turned and noticed the carriages through the thick brush. They quickly turned back to me, alarm in the woman's voice as she asked, "Can you help us?"

I shook my head. "Not with whatever is in my wing."

The man glanced down at the ground while the woman glared at him. He suddenly pulled out a gun, and I was instantly on alert again. Only he wasn't even looking at me; he was looking at his son.

"Go up there and protect the girl. Only use this if someone gets to the tree and starts climbing, understood?"

The boy nodded, took the gun from his father, and climbed the tree until he was sitting on a branch beside me.

I leaned against a branch just as the hunters arrived with the other scientists. An argument quickly ensued, and I closed my eyes as I listened to their bickering. The substance that man had injected into my wing was making me drowsy, and I didn't think I could stay awake much longer.

The boy quickly shook me, and I opened my eyes, groaning. I glanced at him. He had his mother's blond hair, and such an innocent face. It was hard to believe that his parents could be people who would do something like this to me, or to anyone.

"Don't fall asleep," the boy said. "The stuff could kill you if you fall asleep. So please, don't."

I gave the boy a small smile as I sat up. "How do you know that?"

"Papa's been trying to make his weapon for you just right, and he taught me everything about it. But you're nicer than he said. I don't want you to go away."

My smile grew, and I sat up straighter, watching the fighting that had begun below. While watching, my mind began to wander. I thought about how I wanted to stay alive to find my father, and how I wasn't going to let this one mistake ruin everything I had worked for and suffered through. But I also thought about how there was a small part of me that wanted to die where I was, and not go through anymore pain. I'd been through too much in my life. I wanted it to be over. But I couldn't die. Not now. Not when I was so close. And especially not in front of the boy.

I managed to stay awake, no matter how much I wanted to die deep inside. The fight below us eventually ended, with the boy only using the gun once to scare a hunter out of the tree. Surprisingly, the scientists beat the hunters.

"Are you coming willingly?" the man asked, trying to catch his breath.

I stared down upon him, giving him the same skepticism he had given me. "Only if you promise to let me go and get this stuff out of my wing."

The man looked to his wife, who nodded to me, then climbed the tree to help me down. The little boy jumped down and his father caught him. I used my wings to help myself float to the ground, but it only left me more exhausted than before.

They helped me into their carriage, and the boy climbed in behind me. They told him to make sure I stayed awake, and the other two got up front. But honestly, I doubted I needed him, because once we started on our way, the ride was rough. So much so that a dead person could've been woken up.

The carriage came to a quick halt a few minutes later, jolting me away from the side of the carriage that I had been leaning against. I was about to give up when the door opened and the boy tugged on my arm.

I crawled from the carriage and stood in the tall green grass. I wanted to lie down so bad that I had to look straight ahead and tell myself repeatedly not to sleep.

I let the family of three guide me into a tall white building that looked like a normal home. We walked through the front door and into a room full of all the latest machinery. They sat me on a table and had me extend my wings.

But before my wings were fully extended, I lost the last bit of energy I had and fell asleep.