Prologue
A figure, barely noticeable in the dusk, alighted on a bough of a sturdy oak tree, making barely a noise. It was humanoid in shape, but appeared to have large wings. Looking closely at it, it could be seen that the wings were attached to the arms, and that it had clawed paws instead of hands and feet. Sensitive, leaf-shaped ears trembled gently in the light breeze, listening. The figure was clearly female, as shown by the delicate cheekbones/muzzle, chest, and long, blond hair, if not the hips- in that regard it was masculine; they were almost none existent.
This was not pure human. Nor was it pure anything else. It -she- was a human-bat hybrid. It was not something you saw every day, even in this day and age. Scientific experiments like these were generally kept locked safely in cages.
But this one was free, having been determined as no threat to society.
She spotted a mouse on the ground, and was immediately on guard, ready to catch her prey.
Well, no threat to human society, at least.
She finished her hunting within a roughly an hour. She was tearing at her third rat, when she caught a sense that something was not right at the place she called home. The home of the couple who had taken care of her since she had been released five years ago.
She dropped the half-eaten carcass, and took to the sky, frowning. It took her roughly five minutes to get to the dwelling. As she drew near, she realised that there was a bright light emanating from it. Her frown deepened. They never left lights on this late- they knew that she preferred the dark, so didn't bother with leaving a light source for her. Her eyesight was better in the dark anyway.
As she landed, she realized it.
They hadn't left lights on.
The house was on fire.
She raced into the house, folding her wings and covering her mouth as she did so. She didn't usually mind smoke, but this was overlaid with the stench of burnt flesh. She ran from room to room, trying to find them. She found them in the lounge, expressions of horror on their faces. Blood ran from the woman's neck- her throat had been slit. The man had a bullet wound in his abdomen. Both were severely burned. And both very dead.
She made a slight whimpering sound. 'Don't get all emotional, you silly idiot. That's a daft thing to do' she told herself, swallowing the lump in her throat.
The child.
Of course. How could she have forgotten? The child. Her parents were dead, but she might still be alive.
She ran to the nursery, ignoring the thick smoke. As she entered, she heard a faint crying sound. She was by the crib in an instant, panicked.
The child was there, still alive and kicking. It was a miracle that she had survived at all, what with all the smoke she must have been breathing in. She froze in indecision. Dare she risk it? Ah what the hell. No-one could see.
Like something out of a bad horror film, two arms grew out of her chest, shifting to her shoulders, as her wings also moved back, to her shoulder blades.
When the transformation completed, she snatched up the child with her newly-grown arms, careful not to hurt her with her claws. Sprinting outside, she used her momentum to take off
After twenty minutes, she and her burden arrived at the place she had intended- a small hut. She knocked on the door, hovering just above the ground, not bothering to land.
A teenage male opened the door.
"Here," she thrust the child at him. "Look after her until she's two years old. After that, let her go to live on the streets. And don't cut her hair, or let her cut it herself. Got it?"
The boy nods. "I won't even ask why you want that, but I'll do it."
"Good. I'm off now, see ya later." She strode briskly towards the clump of trees that separated this place from the rest of the world.
"Hang on," the boy called after her. "What's her name?"
She turned around. Could she really tell the boy the child's real name? No, she decided, that brought back too many painful memories.
"She doesn't have one." She paused. "Call her Brimstone- Brim for short." And with that, she vanished into the trees, leaving the boy with the little one.