Chpt.5
"Should we wake her up?"
"Shayera, she looks so peaceful. Just give her some time, she had a rough night."
"A rough night?"
"She had a nightmare. Her mom is really getting to her."
"I can understand why. This must be so stressful to her."
"Well, I'm just trying to help her de-stress. Once all the paper work and court stuff is done, then everything should be relatively smooth sailing."
"Do you know anything about child abuse?"
"I googled it."
"Well, I've done some extensive research. You need to treat this girl with care, Wally. Not just your usual Flash care, but extensive care. Her physical scars may heal, but her mental ones will take much more time."
I could hear people talking. A man's voice who I recognized as Wally's and a woman's voice, who I didn't recognize. I woke up on the couch, where I had dozed off hugging Wally the night before.
"Uncle Wally…?" I didn't know why I found myself calling for him quietly, but I felt pretty lonely waking up hearing him, but not seeing him.
"Hey squirt."
Wally was standing behind the couch in the living room but was quickly in front of me. I felt his arms coming towards me and I tensed for a moment, but he paused and slowly his hands were back at his side.
"Can I give you a good morning hug?" he questioned, and I slowly nodded. A hug didn't sound too bad.
Wally felt warm and part of me considered going to sleep again, but I immediately tensed when behind Wally, I could see a woman with red hair, tan skin, and green eyes.
"Wh-who are you?" I questioned, breaking away from Wally's hug to back up into the couch a bit more.
Is she a friend of Wally's? Will she try to hurt me? Is she some sort of lawyer for the case? Just who… wait… are those wings?
I stared at the woman in shock when I realized that she indeed had gray feathery wings protruding from her back.
"Are you an angel?" I inquired in a quiet voice.
"Not entirely. I'm an alien from a different planet." The woman informed, but smiled gently at me. "My name's Shayera."
"She's a really close friend of mine." Wally informed gently. "She's also a superhero called hawkgirl. I was hoping that she could take you shopping to get you some clothes while I make some phone calls about the court case.
I looked over at Shayera wearily, then back at Wally.
"You really trust her?" I questioned and Wally grinned while nodding his head.
"Yes, I really do. She's a wonderful woman and one of my best friends. She won't let anything bad happen to you. Alright?"
I slowly nodded my head.
"Okay."
"Great, now how about you get changed into some clothes Shayera brought over for you to wear and then eat some breakfast. I made some pancakes." Wally informed happily and I found myself smiling at him.
I hoped that Shayera would be nice. I really really hoped so.
~*~*~*~Later~*~*~*~
Shayera's voice was gentle, but there was most definitely a roughness to it as well. But I liked it. Her voice was so different from my mother's who's voice held nothing but anger yet managed to sound sugary sweet all the time.
Shayera really wasn't much like my mother and I was grateful for that.
She would show me different clothes and would ask me what clothes I liked, which came as a shock to me.
She… she's letting me choose what clothes I want? I remember mother telling me how stupid I looked and some days when she said some of the clothes I wore smelled she'd throw some clothes at me and told me that if I didn't like them then it was too bad.
"I… get to choose?" I inquired softly. I didn't want to mishear and then get yelled at when I told her what clothing I liked.
"Of course. You're going to be the one wearing them after all." The woman informed matter-of-factly with a shrug. Seeing her shrug was interesting because she hid her wings so when she shrugged she looked a bit stiff.
"I… I guess you're right."
With that I quickly became the proud owner of some jeans, and t-shirts with animals on them and some warm jackets for the cooler season and some scarves too.
"Thank you so much." I smiled up at Shayera.
"Not a problem, Lyf." Shayera grinned at me, her smile small but warm. "Do you want to get a haircut while we're out?"
"A haircut?"
"Yes, where they can cut your hair to make it healthy and into a style you want." She informed.
I thought it over for a moment, then slowly nodded.
"Alright… that sounds good."
I soon found myself in a store with strange looking chairs and pictures of woman and their hair.
Next thing I knew, I was sitting in a large chair with a woman I didn't quite know and she had something sharp in her hands.
And that sharp item was coming towards my head.
My eyes focused on the object and I could see that they were scissors. Suddenly I was in the past.
"You worthless rat!"
"Mom p-please put the scissors down!"
"Don't you raise your voice at me!"
"Agh!"
I still had a scar in my thigh from where she stabbed me.
I was shaking and shuddering in a corner of the room. Somehow I ran out of the chair.
People were staring at me in shock, but I didn't care. I just wanted to be safe… I wanted Wally.
"Hey, Lyf." It was Shayera's voice. "Why'd you run away?" her voice was smooth and didn't sound very angry.
"I… the scissors… and it hurt." I mumbled.
"What hurt? The scissors didn't even cut your hair."
"I… in my leg… mother." Something seemed to click in Shayera's mind because her face looked a little angrier, making me cringe.
"Lyf, this woman will just cut your hair. No one will hurt you with scissors, do you understand?" she questioned and I slowly nodded.
"Good. Do you want to sit back in the chair so the lady can continue cutting your hair?" Shayera questioned.
"O-only if you'll stand next to me. please… I don't…" I didn't have words to describe the terrified feeling in my gut, but Shayera seemed to understand.
"Of course, I'll be next to you the entire time." she informed in her gentle voice.
I was back on the chair and the woman had her scissors poised to cut. Shayera was crouched in front of me, holding my hand. I squeezed her hand tight when I heard the snipping near my ears, but I didn't feel any pain.
Soon my auburn hair was feeling lighter pieces of it littered the ground. I was given a simple haircut with the length stopping a bit under my shoulder and my curls were more defined. There wasn't so much hair that got in my face either since they gave me something called layers.
"Look at you." Shayera smiled.
"Look at you. Pathetic and ugly is what you are. You're lucky that I let you stay here and feed you. To think something as worthless as you came out of me." my mother's voice echoed in my head and I shuddered. However, Shayera continued,
"You're so beautiful."
I looked up at her in shock.
"Beautiful?"
"Yes, I can see your lovely face and your eyes are so bright." She grinned. I leaped toward her, hugging her as tightly as I could.
"Thank you." I smiled and I felt her arms wrap around me in a hug. I felt tears prickling the corners of my eyes, but I willed myself not to start crying. "Thank you so much."
