Chapter Four
"Cooro! There you are!" Nana came running out of the house with a big smile, only slightly tinged with uncertainty. She doesn't know how to deal with my strangeness, and the fact that, when once we where friends, I am now her son.
It is kind of weird, her being my mother, but at least now I have parents...
I turn to Nana and smile, ignoring the thoughts. I wonder what could have called her out the this remote part of the garden, surrounded by thick green shrubs that smothered rather than sheltered, aand threatened rather than shaded.
"There's a girl at the gate for you. Says her name is Bree."
I shake my head, and ignore Nana, trying to drown out the other thoughts, the ones that strengthen when she is mentioned.
Let's go talk to her! After all, we haven't made any other friends.
No. "I don't know who she is."
"Are you sure? She seemed pretty ceertain that she was looking for you."
I nod grimly and Nana leaves, disappointed. She wishes I had more friends, she worries. Ignoring her, I struggle to keep my wings folded against my back. I am in control.
*
Bree looked at the house, feeling a half-remembered tinge of sadness. Had she lived in a house like this once? She had vague memories of two smiling, people, warm arms, kind voices, and...Her thoughts shifted to her first clear memory, from nearly seven years ago.
There was a bitter-sweet smell in the house, thick and cloying. Sweat and sickness, and the sharp, bitter scent of blood. The girl shivered, rracked with the same hacking cough as her parents had been. Blood splattered the floor. She didn't like coughing, she wanted it to stop. Tears filled her eyes as she tugged at her mothers sleeve. Mommy and Daddy were lying on the big bed, the blankets twisted around them. They were sleeping, but they'd wake up for her, they always did.
"Mommy, I don't like it. Make it go." She whimpered, clinging to mommy's body, it was cold. It had been hot before, but now it was cold, and the contact made the little girl shiver. Mommy didn't wake up, just stared at the roof, the thin, cracked roof, Her hands clenched and hard like they'd never been before. "Mommy!" Her thin body shook again with more coughs, and tears trickled down her face, she didn't understand why Mommy wouldn't wake up. Her stomach growled, Mommy and Daddy had been asleep for four days already, and she'd eaten all the fruit and bread. Mommy said that she must never touch any of the other food by herself, understand?
She heard a voice in the other room exclaiming, bad words Daddy had said, but he still used them. Teh girl coughed again, still tugging on her mothers sleeve, but it was getting hard to stand up, she was tired, and so thirsty, likie a fire inside her was burning her up, Like it had burned Mommy and Daddy.
"****" There's someone still alive hre! A little girl!"
"THe doctors said that after three weeks, it's no longer contagious, its been nearly a month."
"SHe looks pretty sick to me."
"We can't just leave her." The girl was dimly aware of two Grownups in the room, standing over her. Their voices were deep and rough, like Daddy's. Those were her last thoughts as she drifted into darkness.
*
This is a flashback, bree didn't actually pass out, but if the chapter didn't finish here, it would be several times longer than any of the others, any way, I hope you liked it! Especially Kate and Grace Raven who have reviewed! Yay! And Anime gurl who reviewed and inspired Bree, Yay! Yay!