I caught her. I caught her just in time as I jumped, sliding for a few painful centimeters on the rocky and beaten up road on my back as I landed.
"Ow-ow-oww…geez…" it felt like my whole body was burning, but it didn't matter. The girl was wrapped around my arms, her wings still twitching as I held her tightly.
I could see her face quite clearly now. Her eyes were still shut, but I knew that she was awake. Slowly, they began to open, the two pearly-white irises immediately landing on me.
"Uh…hi there, hehe" I said to her, trying to keep a straight face.
She immediately began to squirm out of my arms, I was still disorientated from the impact to even try and stop her. She stood up and backed away, her wings falling behind her and sliding on the concrete as she moved.
"Ow!" she suddenly cried out of pain. She touched one end of her left wing, flinching. There was one long tear at the flat surface of the wing that ended on one of its joints. There was blood, but not much. The tear looked more like an old wound that reopened rather than a fresh one. Was this why she couldn't fly properly?
I got up on my feet. Her eyes darted back towards me.
"You're hurt, let me see" I said, taking one step towards her with one arm out. And just as before, she moved back a step herself. I returned to my spot and let out a huge sigh of frustration.
"You'll die out here if you keep this up" I said bluntly.
Her expression changed, a fierce look was now in her eyes. She was angry, but it didn't feel like she was angry at me.
"Maybe…maybe I want to…!" she hissed, as tears began to fall down once again.
She really is just a kid… I thought to myself. She's not a monster, she wasn't someone who would gobble me up and spit my bones out for the police to find. No, if anything, she was more of a danger to herself than to me.
I unzipped my jacket and took it off. I wrapped it around her shoulders before she could notice. "At least have that then" I said to her.
A look of confusion adorned her face. "I-I can't just…"
I shook my head and gave her a smile. "You're gonna need it more than I do"
There was a moment of silence, with her looking and feeling around the jacket. "T-thank you but-"
"You're welcome!" I said, turning around and casually walking away.
Having to finally return to the sidewalk felt like this entire ordeal was reaching an end. That I was never going to see her nor my jacket ever again, and that this was going to be the conclusion to the most surreal and extraordinary moment in my life…
"Wait!!!" but as expected, things weren't gonna turn out that way. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to see her running towards my direction; the jacket now neatly folded in her hands. "I can't take this…" she told me, extending her arms up to me.
I didn't know what to do next to be honest. It didn't feel right to just take it back and leave her all alone again, but so did insisting on leaving her with it too.
"Why don't you come back home then?" I asked her.
She was quiet. Staring only at the ground, as she lowered her arms and shook her head saying no. I didn't know what kind of things she went through--or going through--nor where did she even come from, but I knew leaving her wasn't much of an option either…
"Wanna come home with me then?" I suddenly blurted out.
Her face lit up with shock and she suddenly began shaking her head. She stumbled a lot on her words before managing to say "N-no! No! I-I can't do that! I don't wanna bother you…I'll just-"
"It's no bother! Really, it isn't," I assured her. "My room's uh…well, it's tiny and a little cramped at times, but…hey, I can definitely say that it's a lot better than sleeping in there" I said, cocking my head towards the old house we were previously in.
"I-I don't know…I…I don't know…" she mumbled, her voice turning practically into a whisper.
I took the jacket from her tiny clawed hands and wore it around me. "At least until I find your…umm…" I was hesitant to say anything about her parents. She didn't look like an orphan per say, but she probably wouldn't be running around in abandoned houses way past her bedtime if she had a kind and loving mother or father looking after her. "At least until we can sort things out" I started again.
It didn't sound too good of an idea honestly, but like hell was I just going to leave her there. Obviously, if she was going to stay with me for a while, the babysitting service would have to go, and most of my time will be dedicated to getting her to the right home that she needs. Considering her…unique appearance alone, it was going to be hard to tell how long will that take.
Not just that, I would also need a new job, and one that can fill two stomachs everyday. But even with that in mind…I wasn't worried. I was more than willing to exert extra effort into taking care of her as best as I could for the time being.
Whatever the case would be, her being inside my life would never be a burden. In a way…she'd be the one who's helping me get my life in order. Like I said, I just needed a good reason…
Her white eyes darted back and forth from me and back to the ground. This went on for a good solid minute…before she finally stared back right at me and slowly nodded.
A smile had crept its way to my lips. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get out of this creepy neighborhood…" I exclaimed a little too eagerly.
I held out my hand to her. I wasn't really expecting her to take it…but she eventually did. It felt…a bit prickly, but warm. The kind of warmth that was enough to melt my heart…
"My name's Dina by the way, what's yours?" I asked her, as we started walking down the sidewalk.
"Dri…na?" she asked, having obviously misheard my name.
"Oh no, no, no, hehe, it's Dina. As in like 'Day-na' but with a 'Dee' instead" I explained.
"I-I'm sorry…" she suddenly muttered under her breath.
"Don't worry about it! It's alright, I…I get that a lot actually…" yup, mom really was great at naming her kids.
She nodded quietly to herself, as if trying to keep that in mind. With a face as cute as that, I was already convinced that I made the right decision. This was going to be a new start, not just for me, but for her as well.
"What about you? What's your name?" I asked her again.
"I…I don't have…" she mumbled.
"Well…how about Drina?" she gave me a look, then turned away again, probably thinking about it.
I couldn't help but compare my situation to the universe of cheesy horror movies again. Normally, a scenario like that would end in me getting eviscerated by the crying girl, after she turned into something of an unspeakable horror; possibly with long spiked tentacles and a mouth that would unhinge at an impossible degree for her to eat the entirety of my body and possibly my soul…And then cue unnecessary jumpscare!! God, that would've sucked…
Goes to show how expectations can mislead you. Even if a person can consider her as a monster, or a freak or whatever…
It doesn't have to end like that….
"…I like that name" she said to me.
"Hehe, me too Drina"
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