It is a story of girls who quite literally came back from the dead. Follow their journey as they explore the world of angels, as they seem to be part of that group.
Present, 29th April 2020,
I woke surrounded by trees.
I sat up, my head feeling like it had been through a grinder. I remembered nothing, except my name, Evanora Wilmott.
I had flashbacks of a thing watching me, attacking, fear and pain coursing through my veins, desperately holding onto Zellie's hand and then crashing to the floor.
Zellie, I remembered, she had been there. Then panic flared in my heart, I looked around, hoping for her to be there, and she was. She was still lying on the floor. A second stab of panic was she%u2026oh gods%u2026%u2026was she%u2026%u2026.no, I could see her breathing. There was no blood on her, she just seemed to be out cold. I looked at my hands, slightly muddy, like my hair.
I was dressed in a long white gown that was really annoying me. I stood up and looked around, my legs felt sore, like after lying down for a really long time.
Our surroundings seemed to be safe, free of any wild animals. That was good. As I looked at a large oak tree a bit far off, I felt that there should have been a treehouse there. I had flashbacks of running in this very forest as a child. This wasn't any forest, this was our forest.
As I moved to a nearby blueberry bush, I almost tripped over the dress. Gods, why was I wearing it. As I looked at my whole attire, I realized the dress had a hidden pocket, where I found a short dagger, perfectly balanced and weighted. Like the forest, it seemed familiar.
"Eva?" a voice asked from behind me. "Zellie!" my voice was part relief, part surprise as I ran to my best friend.
"Why do I feel like a sleeping beauty who had her head hammered the whole time she was asleep," she asked, groaning as she sat up. Then her eyes filled with fear. "What happened, I remember a thing trying to kill us, then dying, and I'm not dead am I. Are you an angel" She frowned at me.
"Any angel who looks like this needs an angelic makeover," I replied. She gave me a weak smile.
"We should find a way out of here, I'm pretty sure it isn't safe here."
"Right" I replied. She stood up and brushed some of the dirt off of her clothes.
We trudged through the forest, occasionally stopping when we heard a noise. I told Zellie to walk ahead, and the whole time I felt like there was something I should remember, something that I had no idea about. Once I heard a rustling behind us and my body seemed to act on its own. I turned and threw my dagger with deadly accuracy. It was just a deer, and it yelped as the dagger ran straight into its neck.
By the time I reached it, it was already dead. "Sorry," I said, pulling the dagger out of its throat. I wiped the blood on my dress, smearing red over its already dirty white fabric. "You killed that poor deer just like%u2026%u2026. like that" Zellie said, shaking her head in amazement. "I did say sorry" I grumbled.
As we walked, we kept hearing more rustling and an occasional twig cracking. "Probably another deer?" Zellie said nervously. I nodded and kept walking, suspecting that it was no deer that was following us. And if it was, that deer needed to learn to mind its own business.
We walked on and soon saw the outskirts of a small village. Just as we neared the edge, I tensed. Then I whirled around and held my dagger to the throat of our follower, or more accurately one of our followers. The boy in front of me was a tall, light-skinned guy with dark, mussed hair and bright blue eyes. Behind him, stood a different guy, ash-blonde with grey stormy eyes. The dark-haired one laughed "I have to be honest, I did not expect you to do that. Great first impression by the way."
He had a slight British accent. "I suppose the not expecting part was 'cus I'm a girl?" I said coldly.
"Not really, kind of, but not really," He replied, "Could you do me a favor and get the knife off my throat now?" He asked.
"That's a pretty nice dagger though. You could have killed him, saved all of us from his annoying jokes" Said the blonde guy, throwing a look at his friend.
"I forgot something," Said the dark-haired dude. "Was it your brain?" Asked the blonde guy, "Because I'm quite sure you've never had one."
"No, Introductions, I'm Zane," Said the dark-haired guy, Zane. "My friend here in Phoenix," he pointed at his friend. "Like the bird?" Asked Zellie. She hadn't spoken this whole time, but her eyes were darting between Phoenix and Zane.
"Like the bird, I'd like to call him chicken instead, but I don't really have a death wish so I refrain myself," Said Zane. Phoenix shot him a dirty look.
"You're new here right?" he asked me.
"Um- we-um-I-" I said, with excellent verbal skills. "We're not sure, we don't really remember anything," Zellie said, saving me. You can see why I need a best friend like her.
"What's your name", Asked Zane. "I-uhm-" she turned bright red. "I'm Evanora, Eva, Wilmott, and my friend here is Zellie, Zelenia Omen," I said, holding out my hand. Zane shook it, holding my gaze long enough to make me blush. Phoenix shook hands with Zellie and he held on a moment too long for my comfort.
"Dude, this is really uncomfortable, can I do it? It's not like they can see or anything" said Zane.
"I'll let you know that I can see perfectly well," I pouted. But he didn't seem to hear me. How rude. He flexed his shoulders, and bright red wings sprouted out. I stared, what the HELL just happened.
"You're an angel," said Zellie. We stared at her. I don't think the poor innocent girl realized what she had just said. Phoenix looked astounded, Zane seemed confused and I shot her a look that hopefully said, 'Girl, we are SO talking about this'.
"Uhm, I meant, you have wings, so you must be an angel" Said Zellie, blushing so red, she would be giving off sparks soon.
"I'm a reckoner, actually", said Zane, recovering from his shock.
"A reckon-what-now", I asked.
"There are different types of us. There are 5 different types of wings. Angels, Empire wings, Reckoners, Death reapers, and Warriors. Phoenix is a warrior. Collectively we're called The Heaven's Wings. After we die, we sometimes stay to help the living. Humans can't see our wings, so how can you." I looked at my shoulders or tried to. They felt itchy like bony feathers were trying to break free. I flexed my shoulders and immediately felt relieved. The others stared.
"What? You're all looking at me like I'm the one who just sprouted wings" I said, pointing at Zane accusingly.
"Actually, you did," Zellie said in a hushed voice.
"Did what", I looked at my shoulders and yelped. There was a pair of dark blue wings sprouting from my shoulders. I jumped trying to shake them off, which, looking back on it, must have looked pretty funny.
"Urgh, get them OFF", I yelled.
"Just flex your shoulders again", Phoenix suggested. I did as he said and the wings disappeared. I shot him a grateful look, smiled, and mouthed "Thanks".
"Let's just go," Zane said, for some reason looking annoyed. "We have to get you registered."
"Hey!" I said, catching up to him. "Your wings were red, but mine was different, why's that'' I asked. Zane looked at me and his expression softened. "Red is the color of reckoners. Justices have gold, while angels have white. Warriors have silver wings, like metal and Death Reapers have black wings."
"What about blue", I asked. "There are no blue wings", Zane looked up in shock.
"Night Wings," I said. The word had just popped into my head.
"What?" Zane asked.
"Night wings, what are they?" I asked.
"They're legends, though there have been some myths about them," Zane said. I fell back next to Zellie, who was watching Zane.
"You're probably the in-love type of angel" I teased. She shoved me.
"No," Zane said, "She's probably a Night Wing too. Look at her wings, they are the same blue as yours, but with hints of purple."
"Huh say what now?" She said, glancing at the huge pair of dark-blue wings attached to her back.
"It matches your hair," Phoenix said, referring to her pitch-black hair which had almost darkened to a shade of dark blue. The heat rose to her cheeks and I could swear she looked like a tomato. "Uhm, let's go" I interrupted, feeling disgruntled.
Phoenix said, "You know some belief%u2014" I never got to find what those some believed because Zellie had just gasped. Her dark blue-purple wings dragged behind her like a cloak as she ran over to a memorial of some sort. "What's this?" her voice sounded worried.
"A memorial. Two girls went missing in 1938, in this village. This memorial is a tribute to them." Zane said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, and the only one Zane's giving tribute to is on the left. He thinks she's good-looking, that it's a shame she's dead" Phoenix elbowed Zane in the stomach. The other looked embarrassed and glanced at me.
"What? I asked.
"What are their names" Asked Zellie.
"Whose?" Phoenix asked.
"The girls in the memorial," Zellie said, not stuttering for once.
"Evanora Tilly Wilmott and Zelena Oh-my-god" Realization dawned on his face. "What are your names again?" He asked. But we didn't need to answer. We all knew.
"Eva it's us," Zellie whispered. "That's you on the left and me on the right." She looked terrified.
"Well, at least Zane got his wish. The girl's alive" Phoenix tried to joke, but no-one smiled. How were we still alive? Even if we hadn't been missing, it had been a century. We couldn't, shouldn't be alive. Unless we were dead. I remembered what Zane had said about some of the wings staying back. What if we were one of them? But I felt alive.
"Are you sure that's your name" Asked Zane.
"Yeah, maybe we're the staying back kind," Zellie suggested.
"Still is that your name" asked Phoenix.
"Why would a dead girl lie?" I asked
