Chapter 2

'Use your hands.'

Danielle froze. She looked around her. She couldn't see anyone. Yet, she was very clear that she heard a voice. 'Maybe you're mistaken.' Danielle told herself.

'You're not mistaken Danielle. Use your hands. Place them above the wound and think about making it heal.'

That voice again! Danielle looked around her frantically. There was no one in sight, nor anyone near enough for her to hear them speak. She looked at her hands. Use my hands? What could her hands do? However spooked she was, Danielle obeyed. With shaking hands, she placed them above the wound. She closed her eyes and thought of nothing except healing the squirrel and that voice. Then, she could feel heat on her palms. She opened her eyes. To her amazement, there was a glow of light coming from her palms! When the light dimmed down, she looked down at the squirrel's tail. The wound was gone! The squirrel, finding itself freed and healed, scurried off into the woods with the half opened nut in its paws.

Danielle stood up and brushed the leaves off her dress. She turned around, trying to find a face to the voice. But yet there was none. Finding her courage, Danielle spoke.

"Who are you? Where are you?"

"I'm here, Danielle."

Danielle whirled around to find a lady dressed in white and a man next to her. They weren't there before. Where had they come from? She didn't even hear them approach.

"Who are you?" Danielle repeated. She was careful to keep a safe distance away from the two even though they didn't look threatening to her.

"My name is Kaitlyn," the lady spoke. "And this is Daniel."

"You're not from here, are you?" Danielle asked, noticing the thick accent in their voices.

"No, indeed we're not," the one named Kaitlyn said.

"Kaitlyn, we do not have much time. We need to return before sundown," Daniel said.

"Danielle, I would have preferred to break this to you in some other way but time is really pressing, so I suppose this will have to do," Kaitlyn said.

Break what to me?" Danielle asked curiously.

"Danielle, you're an angel," Kaitlyn said gently.

"A what?" Danielle echoed, not daring to believe what she'd heard. Afterall, angels were only part of fantasy.

"Well, actually only a half angel," Daniel amended. He didn't understand why Kaitlyn had to break this 'slowly' to this charge of theirs. He only understood that orders were to be fulfilled, and time was running out.

"Half angel?" Danielle voiced, getting more and more confused by the minute.

"You were chosen among many. You had a powerful and determined aura around you, one that a half angel possesses," Daniel hurriedly explained. "For 20 years you were left in oblivion, because we felt that you were not ready to accept your task. But now you are."

"Sir!" Danielle exclaimed, holding her hands up in front of him. "Just let me digest what you're saying."

"Now you're saying, that I'm a half angel, that you've picked among many. What does that mean for my life? Will I die?"

"No," Kaitlyn answered instead. "Like angels, half angels are immortals too."

"That means I have to watch my loved ones pass me by?" Danielle asked.

"Yes," Daniel answered, walking towards her. "It is part of your duty. Now kneel down in front of me, girl. The time has come."

"What time?" Danielle questioned, slowly backing away as Daniel approached her, his hands outstretched towards her.

Out of nowhere, Kaitlyn appeared behind her and forced her to her knees in front of Daniel. Danielle could do nothing but watch on as Daniel placed his palm faced down on her head, his eyes closed as he went into a chant that she couldn't understand. Fearfully, she spoke.

"What are you doing to me?"

"We're giving you your powers, and your memory of your past life back so that you may recover your aura," Kaitlyn answered, holding Danielle down firmly.

" My—"

Danielle was unable to finish what she had wanted to say, for the pain that passed through her as the blinding white light enveloped the three of them was so excruciating that Danielle felt like her head was being split open. Flashes of a girl in medieval dressing, with flame red hair, running in the woods. Memories of the pain and sorrow that the red head girl had felt came crashing onto Danielle, now holding her head in her arms, hoping to cushion the pain but to no avail. The noise and screams were getting louder by the second, and when Danielle thought she was going to die, the light dimmed, the world around her fell silent.

Danielle looked up, panting, tears streaking down her cheeks. The two strangers were gone. Weak and overwhelmed, Danielle laid on the ground, looking aimlessly at the sky while the recollection of memories continued to roll in her mind, playing it out. Suddenly, she was back there, where she first died. She was hiding behind Cole, him defending her as best as he could. Then suddenly, she was all by herself while Cole lay on the ground, blood gushing out from his chest. He turned towards her, as she crawled on fours towards him screaming his name. Through her tear filled eyes, she read the message in Cole's eyes, telling her to run. Then his eyes closed and his body went limp. She turned to look at her assailant, fear and pain giving way to the anger that surfaced. She stood up, and ran towards her assailant, ramming her shoulders into his stomach. Her attack merely caused her assailant to take a step back. He swung his arm towards her, and she flew back, landing on her back, staring at the sky. She watched him walk towards her, his axe hovering above her, his lips turning up into a sick smile at the knowledge that he would hear her scream when the blade came down. Unwilling to give in, Danielle defiantly turned her chin up towards him just as the blade swung down towards her in slow motion. She bit her lips, stifling the scream that threatened to escape, closed her eyes and made a prayer.

Danielle let out a gasp and sat up in her bed. Panting slightly, she looked around her dark room, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. Soon, she came to the realization that she had been dreaming about her past. Again. Sighing, she ran a hand through her ruffled hair, wet with perspiration. Disgusted at how she was feeling now, Danielle got out of bed and headed for the bathroom, shedding her perspiration soaked clothes and got in the shower. She let the water remain at full blast, hitting her flat on the face, desperately trying to wash away the memories, the pain that she still felt after all these years..