Six
1366 Words
Frankie:
The trees faded into the open, and the world I knew so well seemed to keep expanding, making me realize just how closed-off and small Pinnala is.
"We have many questions for you, just as I am sure you have plenty for us. Is there something you would like to ask, Frankie?" The dark-haired man who had been driving for what felt like an eternity spoke first, breaking the warm silence that I had managed to settle into so comfortably.
"Why did you come for me?" I couldn't help but wonder if they somehow heard my pleading with the moon.
"As my mate said, our children were stolen. You are the only one who could follow them through the path they have been taken on." this time, it was the icy man who spoke.
My eyes fled to the woman, the queen, who seemed to be lost in thought, lost in a trance-like state, just staring out the window.
"What makes you believe I can do that?" At this point, I was trying to keep them talking, and I needed to stay awake. I needed to watch every turn we took if I needed to escape later on. I would not dare to venture back this way. I would go anyway besides the way leading me toward Pinnala.
"Your father." I bit my tongue to avoid scoffing, which had gotten me punished in the past, but it came out anyway.
"I apologize, alpha. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. But you really must understand where I come from. I don't have a father, and I don't have any family." I bowed my head between my knees, fearful that if I didn't apologize quickly enough, they would throw me out of their vehicle on the spot.
"Frankie, you have done nothing wrong." the queen took me by the hand, and her energy swirled through my fingertips, filling me with an overwhelming sadness. Tears streamed down my cheeks from the heart-shattering feelings that had settled deeply into my bones.
"I am… I am not made for anything." My voice sounded strange, and the tone on my dry lips felt foreign.
Emotional vulnerability wasn't a skill I had mastered in almost eighteen years.
"You are made for far more than you know." The queen released my hand and gave me a slight pat on the hand.
I kept silent after that, feeling as though my need to stay awake was far less critical than my sudden urge to become invisible. I couldn't begin to describe it. The pure grief and sadness I felt must still be coming from the queen. But it was there and so strong it threatened to choke me out, turn me blue, and leave me for dead all over again.
"Am I… are these your feelings?" I asked the queen, who only looked at me with the same confusion I must have written all over my face.
Without answering, she looked toward her mates.
"It could be one of her powers." the icy man shrugged.
My lips parted as if my big mouth hadn't threatened to get me exiled enough today, and out came another sound. This one was more of a sound of disbelief than it was out of being disrespectful. I wanted to tell them I didn't have any powers. But again, that fear of them throwing me out here stopped me as I prepared myself for another forced apology for my behavior.
"She could be feeling the pain of her rejection." The dark-haired man looked at his queen in the little mirror on the window.
"Unlikely, I hate the ground that carries Tyner." I crossed my arms as a rush of cold filled my bones.
I admit that not having the only friend I could ever make hurt far worse than not having a mate. I knew I wouldn't be a mate for anyone. But, I thought he would remain my friend in secret at the very least.
"Even though you hate him, his soul and yours were once puzzle pieces, and because of that, you are going to feel that absence, feel the rejection. It is painful." The white-haired man spoke as if he understood despite having his mates at his side.
"I can't see myself grieving a love I never wanted." In truth, I did want it until he tried to force his hands into my pants. I even wanted it right up to the point I was face down in the dungeons. It was the moment when the mice tried to feed upon my infected flesh that I realized he wasn't coming for me, and he and I would never be anything more than enemies.
The vehicle turning along a path that led uphill stole my attention from the ways I would harm Tyner if I could. The hill seemed never-ending, yet the closer to the top we inched, the pain in my chest turned to a pain in between my shoulders that I would almost swear would kill me.
"Ah, it hurts! Help me!" I heard myself cry out as I fell over against the window that I had watched so carefully from. The cool glass felt like ice against my burning face. I couldn't help but wonder if this was the infection. I couldn't help but fear that it had spread throughout my blood.
Through the headlights, I watched the snowfall. I watched a kingdom nestled between towering mountains and dense forests come into view.
"I think I am dying!" I spat through my gritting teeth; the pain was becoming unbearable, and it was becoming too difficult to cling to my consciousness how I tried so desperately to.
"Oxnera is calling to her. I thought we had more time!" the queen said to the others after placing her hand on the small of my back.
"Come here, Frankie. I will help guide you to her. You don't have to be afraid. Just trust me." The queen closed my eyes after pulling me into her arms, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make them open again.
I melted into the comfort of the queen's embrace, and the pain between my shoulders seemed to find the same ease in her arms.
"Be safe, little flower. We will watch over you both until your return." the white-haired man called out to her as we both seemed to sink into a darkness that spat us out onto wet, cold stone that bit into my knees and palms as I landed. The pain in my back was worse here. I screamed so loud I felt the stone beneath me rattle.
"Get her onto the stone slab." A voice void of ethereal essence called clear, chilling me to my core.
I thought I would be ripped into as I was laid on a cold surface vibrating with the beating of war drums.
"Because of what she is, her journey to Valhalla will not be the same as yours was. If her wings aren't freed, they will be broken and useless to her." the voice called again as many hands touched my body.
"Wings?" I thought the word out loud.
"Shh. Don't worry, Frankie. It's Rowan. I'm still here with you. I will make sure you are taken care of." the woman I had only known as the queen whispered into my ear as the clothes that had been fashioned for me were torn from my body.
"Let's begin." a new voice spoke, making the beating drums echo louder through the stone my ear was pressed to.
As the hands moved away from my burning skin, and the darkness clouded my vision, moving in on a mission to take me under, I heard chanting all around me.
"By the shadows of the night and the power of mother moon's light, I call upon the ancient might to restore these wings of flight.
Feathers of dark and obsidian shards break the chains that bind so hard.
Moonlit water, pure and bright, cleanses the soul and grants new sight.
Nightshade's touch and blood's embrace release her wings, restoring their grace.
Let this fallen angel take flight by my will and her right."
- Writer
