Dust (Of Dust and Darkness) - By Devon Ashley Page 0,50
on me. I can almost imagine what a life with him would be like, and that it would have been better than spending life alone. My last day in the Hollow was the first time he ever tried to talk to me alone. Did he like me? Is he curious at all about where I went, or does he really think I’m flighty enough to just take off and take the world on all by myself? Though I’m glad he sees me as someone strong and brave enough to do that, my independence all these years may be why no one’s bothered to think twice about my disappearance.
And that saddens me. Did I not open up to anyone enough to make them realize the difference? Not even Poppy? All those years we spent together as close friends and roommates…does she not know me at all?
I’m not sure what time it is when I awake, but I don’t see anything topside to make me believe Jack has come yet. As I rise to sit up, a blood-curdling scream comes roaring out of me.
Oh-my-Mother-Nature! MY WINGS!
Every part of my wings, the cartilage, the veins, the nerves that connect to my spine…I’ve never felt such excruciating pain! Tears rush out and I’m screaming, moaning, and heaving uncontrollably. Anything more than a small breath increases the spinal pain tenfold, so I’m forced to take short, quick breaths, but they’re so jerky it amplifies my pain anyway.
I can’t take it…I can’t take it!
I throw my stomach back on the ground, scraping skin along the jagged pieces of earth, and probably bruising the bones that no longer have any protective padding. My eyes are pinched tight, but I see my eyelids change from black to pink, and hear Jack saying my name as he lands beside me.
“Please,” I beg between gasps, choking on tears, “Please knock me out.”
I don’t wait for his help. Unbearable pain driving my actions, I lift my head off the ground as high as it will go and slam it back on the rock without hesitation. Intense pain radiates from my temple and spreads throughout my head, and all I can do is weakly moan, too exhausted to move anything more.
Frantic, Jack yells, “What are you doing? Stop!”
Drool seeps from the corner of my mouth and all I can think is how much I want to slam my head again. “Please,” I plea with a weak puff of air.
“I’ve got it, I’ve got it.” I hear metal scraping. When his fingers stroke my back I let out a scream I didn’t know I had the lung capacity to give. The adrenaline causes my back to recoil, lifting my head, shoulders, and bent legs off the ground so my body fomrs an awkward U-shape. When it collapses, my head slams hard into the ground again. There’s an intense shot of pain, then my world goes dark.
There’s a warm glow on the other side of my pale red eyelids, bathing my eyes with a soft, rosy pink. My eyes flutter as I awake, shaking loose some of the crust encapsulating them. I groan as the grogginess in my head intensifies, the strain behind my eyes the main source of my discomfort. Surprisingly, Jack sits across the way, leaning back against the wall. His arms are crossed and his head hangs low, so I think he’s nodded off.
My back aches a little, but the extreme shots of pain bursting through my nerves have ceased. I grumble as I lift myself up on my arms. I never want to feel that way again. I like to think I’m tough enough to handle anything Finley’s willing to throw my way, but that…breaking my wings to the point…I just hope my nightmare of no longer having wings doesn’t come true.
I slowly sit myself up to the butterfly position, careful not to nudge my wings against even the slightest of touches. A rush of dizziness hits me as I rise but levels out a moment later. Beside me lay a gray cotton shirt smudged with blood that was protecting my poor head from the rocky floor. I reach up to examine my head and hiss when I find the sensitive cut on my right temple.
Across from me, Jack stirs and bobs his head a few times before waking. It dawns on me that he’s bare-chested, and that the shirt used to protect my injury came straight off his back. I’ll admit the guy is pleasingly fit. His body resembles