Page 345 of Nobody's Girl

I smile up at him as he takes me into his strong arms and begins twirling me around to the music. I drop my head to his shoulder and watch as seagulls fly through the orange sky as the last rays of the sun slowly fade out. My mind is blissfully at ease. All seems right in the world again.

CHAPTER 72

ALYSSA

“This is crazy, Eden. We can’t do this. We have no idea of where we are going or how to get back here,” I say.

“Our senses will be different once we transform, don’t worry,” he reminds me. “All you have to do is follow me. Once we see him, I’ll pick him up with my claws and you’ll move in underneath me. I’ll get as close to you as I can and drop him onto your back. He’ll instinctively put his arms around your neck and hold tightly to you. Then I’ll lead you back here. It’ll be easy, Alyssa.”

My frown shows him I have little faith, even though he shared his premonition with me. I’m so unlike myself this evening. “Yeah, that sounds so easy. I hope it goes like that, Eden.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Eden tells me, and then transforms instantly, a loud clap of thunder sounds out around him.

I follow his lead and jump into the air, transforming into my bird form. I can hear and see so much more clearly now. The night doesn’t look nearly as dark as it did before.

We fly away from behind the little shack in the back of the house that we were brought to, and that we will bring the little boy back to once we have him. The sweet smell of spicy chicken cooking somewhere fills my nostrils.

I look down to see the trees we’re flying close to, hoping they will hide us from the radar of both South and North Korea. With them both so ready to kill each other, what we are doing could start a war of great proportion. The need to do this as quickly as possible weighs heavily on me.

Eden falls out of the sky just in front of me. I look to see that he’s found a clearing he’s landing in. I follow him down. A huge bolt of lightning fills the sky and the rain begins to fall immediately.

‘Damn, that was fast, Eden,’ I send to him.

‘I told you there would be a sudden storm,’ he sends back to me.

We walk under the cover of the thick trees. They keep the rain from battering us too badly. The wind howls around us.

My eyes scout the area for the little boy. It’s difficult to see with the rain and wind. A bolt of lightning brings light to the wooded area and I think that I see movement. My ears pick up a cry. I move toward a sound that’s faint because of the howling wind.

‘There he is, Alyssa. Just keep an eye on him. We have to wait for the storm to subside before we pick him up. Don’t let your eyes off of him.’

The little boy is crouching down, holding his head down on his knees as he wraps his arms around them, keeping himself in a tight little ball. I find I want to transform back into my human form and go pick him up and comfort him. I want to do this so badly, it’s hard to stop myself.

‘You can’t do that, Alyssa,’ Eden’s voice rings out in my head.

‘He’s so tiny, Eden. He’s freezing and so afraid. I have to do something to help him,’ I think to him.

‘You are, Alyssa. You’re taking him to a family that will love and care for him. This is a hard time for him, but it will soon be over, and great things are ahead for him after this. Have patience. The storm won’t last much longer,’ he tells me.

The little boy hasn’t seen us yet. I shudder at the thought of how afraid he’ll be. As if this storm and the fact he’s lost isn’t enough for him to go through, he has to see a couple of monsters as well.

There is a huge bolt of lightning, then an enormous clap of thunder rings out, and as suddenly as the rain started, it stops.

I can’t believe the weather here. Its harsh, to say the very least.

I look to see that the boy is still huddled up against a tree, not moving.

‘I need for him to stand up. I’m going to fly up and make a small sound. I need you to be ready to fly underneath me, so you can catch him. Be ready, Alyssa,’ Eden sends me, and then he flaps his huge wings, lifting his body up off of the ground.

My eyes are trained on the tiny boy. I hear Eden shriek and the boy’s head turns up to the sky. He screams and stands up, running as fast as his little legs will go. He’s heading right toward me, but he doesn’t see me, as he keeps looking back at Eden who follows him with his claws stretched out to pick him up.

I flap my wings to bring myself up into the air, readying myself for when Eden picks him up. The boy stops as I rise up in front of him and screams again.

I cringe at the fact that we’re terrifying him. I see his eyes full of fear as Eden grabs him up by his shoulders, lifting him off of the ground. The child’s screams climb up a notch and hurt my ears.

I fly underneath Eden as quickly as I can. I feel the weight of the boy as he falls onto my back. He almost weighs nothing.

I’m reminded that this poor child has been neglected terribly. This is his only chance at survival. Maybe one day he’ll look back to this horrible scene and realize we helped him.