Descent (A Hidden Wings Novella: Prequel) (6 page)

BOOK: Descent (A Hidden Wings Novella: Prequel)
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That night she locked her windows tight, and pulled the curtains shut. She wasn’t sure if her father had
actually delivered the box himself, or if someone else delivered it for him. But, the thought of someone entering her room, without her permission, made her feel uneasy.

Alaine tossed and turned
and sleep did not find her easy that last night before her eighteenth birthday. Questions bombarded her mind. Questions she had no answers to, or how to find them.

She took the delicate necklace from the box, and held it in the palm of her hand, staring at the stone as if something magical were to happen. She wondered if it was, in fact, a real Bloodstone. An amulet of power and protection from the days of Christ.

She closed her hand over it, and as she did she felt warmth encompass her. Her muscles loosened, her brain became numb, and her eyes became heavy. In a matter of minutes, she fell fast asleep. 

The next day
was just as normal as any other, and she didn’t feel any different. Alaine got dressed, ate breakfast, went to school, came home, and quickly finished her homework. Throughout the entire day, her mind would not let her rest, and kept her wondering about the mysterious letter and her even more mysterious birth father. 

Her best friend Jessica
had planned a small birthday party at her house, so Alaine dashed up to her room to change. She finally decided on a pair of new blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a black long-sleeved sweater.

She stared
at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her long, silky, brown hair, and wondered if she looked anything like her birth parents. Alaine was stunning. Her dark features accentuated her flawless porcelain skin, and long lashes framed her beautiful chocolate-brown eyes.   

“Alaine! Jessica is here!” Mrs. Gray called upstairs, popping her from her thoughts.

It was 7:00pm o
n a Friday night, when Alaine jumped into Jessica’s car and headed to her house to celebrate her eighteenth birthday party. The town they lived in was very small, and their school was private, so there weren’t many who attended. It was just a few friends, some food and drinks, clusters of balloons with streamers, and a homemade cake baked by Jessica herself.

There were exactly
twelve in attendance, and of the twelve were four boys. None of which were boyfriend material. One of them was Jessica’s cousin Wesley, and the other three were his friends… geeky, band boys who looked awkward just standing.

The party helped
keep Alaine’s mind occupied. She wanted to share her letter with someone, but the warning kept her from doing it. She knew if she told her friends, word would spread like wildfire, and that was something she definitely didn’t want to happen. She felt alone with this new information. The transformation was so unclear, and Alaine had to fight to keep her mind in the party.

But
another detail, which Alaine had no clue about, was that her transformation would happen at the exact time of her birth, which was 11:23 pm.

As time ticked on, and the
party crawled towards its eminent death, its partiers also looked the same. It was only ten o’clock but some were yawning, and one girl had already passed out on the couch. The boys were huddled in the corner talking about god knows what. 

“Hey, why don’t we ditch this joint and
go to the cemetery! Maybe we can spot some ghosts if we’re lucky,” Wesley blurted.

“YEAH!” the guys
cheered in unison. They all jumped up and were revving to go.

“Are you crazy?”
Jessica scolded. “That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard! This is Alaine’s party, and she doesn’t want to go to some creepy cemetery to look for stupid ghosts.” She spun on her heel and glared at Alaine. “Right, Alaine?”

B
ut, Alaine actually thought it was an awesome idea. Things of the paranormal intrigued her ever since she was a small child, and right now, being in a cemetery, on an adventure of sorts, was much better than sitting in a boring house.

“Right, A
laine?” Jessica grumbled. Her foot tapped loudly, waiting for her answer.

“I don’t know…
it might be kinda fun,” Alaine mumbled, shrugging her shoulders.

“See, Jessica
! Alaine’s much cooler than you! It’s her birthday and she wants to have some fun, and I’m sorry to tell you this, but your party sucks,” Wesley countered.

Jessica
glared at him, crossing both arms over her chest. “Fine. But, I’m not getting out of the car.”

“Good. You’ll scare
the ghosts away, anyway,” Wesley jested.

By the time everyone loaded
in the cars and drove to the cemetery it was nearly 11:00 pm The group had now whittled down to seven members. Four boys and three girls, including Jessica, who technically didn’t count because she was too chicken to leave the car.

Susan, anoth
er classmate of theirs, agreed to tag along. She was a quiet girl who mostly kept to herself, but seemed equally excited about the adventure. Wide coke-bottle glasses covered her pretty blue-gray eyes. Her dull blonde hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. She was wearing baggy jeans and an oversized forest green sweatshirt with a picture of a cat on the front. She probably owned one, because stray pieces of pet dander clung desperately to her.

Wesley led the six of them
into the cemetery with a single flashlight. The boys treaded loudly together, making ghost sounds and trying to scare each other. Alaine and Susan trailed closely behind. 

This was one of the older cemeteries
in the area. The ground was covered with old dried leaves, and a wall of towering Fir and Alder trees surrounded the outer part of the grounds. It seemed like a sad place, which had been long forgotten.

A quie
t eeriness blanketed the area except for the soft wind stirring the leaves on the ground and rustling through the trees. The moon was almost at its fullest and the stars sparkled like bright diamonds. There were a few dark clouds spread out across the midnight sky, which seemed to add to the eeriness, along with a thin layer of mist which covered the earth.

The breeze was
chilled and sent a shiver up my spine, just as much as the creepy, gray tombstones jetting from the earth.    

Wesley led the group to the center of the cemetery
, where a large rectangular tombstone rested. Lying over that tomb was a beautiful stone carving of an angel. It was so detailed. Its arms were outstretched, hugging the tomb. Its face was hidden, resting within the nook of its other arm, mourning the loss of whoever had passed inside. Gorgeous wings were folded behind its back. Alaine couldn’t take her eyes off of it. It was the most beautiful, yet sorrowful, thing she’d ever seen.

The group
sat in a circle in the middle of the cemetery, just in front of the tombstone, and Wesley began sharing his ghost stories. Everyone seemed completely captivated. Susan even jumped a few times, and squeezed Alaine’s arm, but Alaine’s thoughts lingered elsewhere. Little did she know that time was slowly ticking toward her transformation.

It was
11:20pm, when a loud howling echoed from the darkness of trees in the distance, halting Wesley’s next story. Every head shot towards the dark trees. Suddenly, the quiet was filled with the most horrifying growls. Suddenly, four sets of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness.

Wolves.

There was talk in town of a pack of rabid wolves running wild in the area, but they hadn’t been caught. They were killing small farm animals and even attacked a few kids.

One
of the boys jumped up and sprinted towards the car, and as he did the wolves bounded out of the woods rushing towards them.

The rest of the boys
jumped up and screamed, darting toward the cars.

The wolves were
massive but very agile as they raced across the grounds.

Alaine
sprang up and bolted for the car, but paused when she heard a high-pitched scream behind her. Susan had fallen and was crawling around on all fours, desperately running her hands over the ground in search of her glasses.

She
had to make a choice. Run for her life, or go back and help her. Alaine chose the second, because there was no way she’d leave Susan, knowing she’d be torn to shreds.

In an instant, Alaine
felt a heat on her chest, and when she looked down her Bloodstone amulet was glowing bright red. A sense of strength rushed through her as she grasped it in her fingers. After a quick exhale, she raced back towards Susan. When she reached her, the wolves were only twenty yards away.

11:23pm.

A sudden
pain shot through Alaine’s midsection, dropping her to the ground. It echoed through every nerve in her body, incapacitating her. Her limbs felt like she was being poked with hot needles, all at once. Her head was pounding, feeling like it was on the verge of exploding. She writhed in pain, a pain she’d never experienced before.

“Alaine!” Susan screamed, grabbing hold of her arm.
“Alaine!”

A scorching heat
initiated from the top of her head, and surged downwards. But as soon as it hit her feet, it stopped. The pain immediately disappeared, and everything around her started to become fuzzy, like she was looking at the world through ripples of water.

Susan was hyst
erical. Screaming and crying and shaking Alaine’s arm.

Then something happened. Something strange. The
wolves stopped dead in their tracks a few yards away and sniffed the air and ground around them, as if they were searching.

Alaine
and Susan froze, bewildered by their sudden pause of movement. She slowly stood and helped a nearly blind Susan to her feet, and pulled her back to the car.

“My glasses! I need my glasses! I can’t se
e, and my parents will kill me because they’re expensive,” Susan bawled.

Alaine s
ighed and took in a deep breath. They were nearly ten feet from the car.

“Get back to the car, and
I’ll get your glasses,” she said, pushing Susan forward. As soon as she let go of her, Jessica’s wide eyes snapped to Susan.

“Susan!” she wailed. She reached over and threw the door open. S
usan jumped in, and slammed it shut, quickly locking it.

The wolves ran right pas
t Alaine and bounded after Susan, jumping on the side of the car, making it rock back and forth. Alaine could hear the girls screaming inside.

Why didn’t the wolves attack her? She was standing right there, out in the open!

She turned and started running back toward the tombstone. A glimmer of light on the grass led her to Susan’s glasses. She reached down and picked them up, feeling a bit dizzy. She nearly fainted when she heard a voice. It sounded like it was coming from the tombstone.

“Alaine,” the voice called
softly.

Alaine didn’t know wh
at to think, but the wolves had caught her scent and were heading straight back towards her.

“Alaine, don’t be afraid.
Your father sent me. Hurry!” A pretty girl appeared from behind the statue. She was about Alaine’s age, but had long red hair and green eyes. Alaine ran toward her, and they both ducked behind the stone.

“Who are you?” Alaine asked.

“My name is Aurora. Hurry, come,” she said sweetly, motioning Alaine to come. Alaine followed her to the opposite side of the statue, and as she did, Aurora started to blow behind her.

“What are you doing?” Alaine asked.

“Removing your scent,” she replied. “How are you feeling?”

Alaine paused. “Dizzy, and everything is hazy. What’s happening to me?”

“Your transformation. At the exact time of your birth, Nephilim are given a gift. It is only revealed after the transformation. You, Alaine, have been given the gift of invisibility.”

BOOK: Descent (A Hidden Wings Novella: Prequel)
10.01Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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