The smell was the thing that really pulled me away from my book. I placed the book down, standing slowly as I sniffed the air. I walked out of my room, trying my best to follow the scent. I crept quietly through the small house; it was around ten at night, past my bed time. I froze when I heard crashing coming from my parents room.

"Mom?" I called, walking up to their door. "Dad?" I coughed, covering my mouth. The smell was so strong it hurt. The sound of voices caught my attention before they went silent.

"Yes honey?" My mom's voice called. But it was different… There was no kindness like normal, just anger. I reached out and pushed on the door.

"Is everything okay." My voice died as I looked over the room. Empty gas cans littered the floor, the furniture was ripped and broken, and gas drenched everything. My dad was sitting on the floor, socked and rocking back and forth. My mom was standing over him, tears running down her face as she looked at me. My eyes fell on the lighter she held in her shaking hands. "M-mom? What is going on?" She smiled at me.

"Nothing sweetie. Just leave the house and go to the church…" Tears began to form in my eyes.

"Why?" I choked out, my hands clenching my sweater.

"We will not become one of them… We want to go back to the King." The king of Heaven? I thought. But only people who do wrong do not return to him. I stepped closer, fully crying now.

"Mom… please tell me." I was cut off by my dad screaming. My gaze shot down to him. He was shaking, his head thrown back in pain. A ripping sound filled the air. I screamed as two, bone wings shot from his back. "Daddy!" I yelled, running to him, only to be knocked back by my mother.

"Leave! Go to the church and don't look back!" With that she tossed down the lighter, flames quickly eating the room. My arms shot up to protect my face as flames shot out at me, only to burn both my arms. I watched in horror as my parents' bodies both fell to the floor. I screamed as I scrambled to my feet, running out of the house that was now completely consumed by flames. I ran to the ally that was across the street, hiding in the shadows as people started to come to the house.

I watched as they all worked to weaken the fire, eventually it died down. I flipped the hood that was on my sweater up, covering my pale blue hair, and most of my face. I walked past the crowed, listening to the whispers.

"I can't believe their gone, they where such nice people."

"They had a child didn't they? A ten-year old? That poor thing…"

"Who could have done this?!"

I
flinched as I listened to the words. These people had no idea what had happened, I didn't really even know what had happened. I made my way slowly through the city, finding a corner that seemed safe enough to sleep in.

X-x-x-x-X

The next morning I made my way up to the large church that sat in the middle of town. Mom and dad had worked there; Mom was a nun like person, and dad was a bishop. I walked up the large steps, nuns waving at me and asking if I was alright. I found myself in the library, I was sure this place could tell me what had happened. The fact that they had mentioned The King was a pretty good clue about where to start.

I began to skim book after book, but nothing seemed to fit. I sighed as I placed the books back in their proper places. That's when something got my attention. On the tenth shelf there as a spin that read, "Those Who Fly with Bone Wings." Bone wings are what had come from dads back! I thought, reach up to try to grab the book. But being only ten, I was too short. I heard a chuckle behind me; I spun around to see a tall bishop with dark hair, and a young blond boy next to him. The boy looked a good four years older than me.

The bishop moved forward, pulling the book I had reached for from the shelf. He frowned his brows as he read the title.

"I'm not sure this is a good book for a young woman like you." He said a soft smile on his lips.

"Oh…um… no I can handle it. My parents always read me stories like that one." I said, looking away to try to hid my bluff. It wasn't all a lie, but mostly.

"Where are your' parents?" The dark-haired male asked, kneeling down so he was at my level. I cringed at the mention. It hurt to already have to talk about it, manly when most people didn't know about it.

"T-they are at home. They wanted me to catch up on my studies since I have been sick as of late. That is the last book on the list." The man eyed me for a moment, before sighing and handing me the book.

"Well as long as your parents give you permission. Just please be careful." He glanced over to the blond behind him. "Alright Frau, time to continue with your studies." They both waved as they walked to another part of the library.

I harried over to a table, flipping through the paged until I froze on a picture. It was a shape of a man gripping his head, wings made of bone shooting from his back. I read the words the best I could.

"Those who reach the third wish are then mostly doomed to lose their soul. The Kor will descend back to it home in the underworld, along with the poor man who sold his soul." I glared at the words. Kor… that was a different word. I flipped to the back page to the glossary. I skimmed until the word fell into my sight. "Kor: A type of demon that will give three wishes to anyone who is willing to give away their souls. They are very dangerous, avoid at all possible. They can be removed if you make a deal and didn't mean to. But that cure can only be performed by one of the seven ghosts."

I slumped back into my chair. Kor…kor… I continued to repeat it until I heard the warning bells ring. I scurried off, heading back to my corner I had found the night before. I was not going to rely on the church. I was going to live through this on my own.

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