Ablackwing

Chapter 2: Angel heart

I stood in the balcony as my body trembled in excitement and fear. The excitement of watching a surreal sight and the fear of unknown. I observed that person lying in my backyard from the balcony in silence. My mind went blank for a while. It appeared as if time had stopped.

Some of the feathers floating in the air drifted near me. I couldn't stop my hand from reaching towards one of those falling feathers and grasping it. It was so soft. Velvet would be considered rough as sandpaper if placed for comparison. It was as black as night, but it had a metallic lustre as if it was polished. It would be blasphemous to compare this feather to the feather of any bird.

I let go of the feather and looked down again. After that person fell, his feathers fell after him. There were so many of them. I was going to have one hell of a time cleaning it all.

That guy was lying on his ground, motionless, as I looked at him. His wing was resting on the left side of his body. No human would survive that fall, but he was, after all... special.

The excitement I was feeling gradually lessened and fear took over. That person wasn't like other angels because he had a single black wing. It frightened me when I thought that person might a devil. The winds blew through the trees and the sound of rustling leaves made me realize I was doing nothing.

Whatever he was, an angel or a devil, he wasn't a human for sure. I should at least check if that person was alive before deciding anything further.

Positive. Be positive.

He's not a bad guy.

I tried to console myself with those thoughts. I didn't feel any bad vibes from that person when he was trying to reach me. There was no use in thinking the other way.

After affirming my thoughts, I ran. I ran through my room, down the stairs, across the hallway, towards the backyard. I ran the way I would if a calamity was to fall on me.

I opened the door to the backyard and saw him lying on his stomach. His face was facing the other direction. His long coat was covering him like a black shroud covering a dead body. I realized that he was wearing a white scarf. It was surprising that I couldn't see the scarf before. It was in total contrast to all the black clothes he was wearing. His silver hair must have hidden it.

He was neither making any noise nor showing any moment. I feared that silence. I was still frightened, but I took small steps. They say that we have to keep moving on no matter how frightful things might be. It doesn't matter how small those steps might be. All it matters is you keep moving on. While thinking of absolute nonsense, I walked towards him. I reached him quicker than I originally thought I would. I guess my steps weren't that small.

I sat down near him, on my knees. I was finally going to touch the wing of an angel! I didn't even know what he was, but my subconscious mind had already accepted that person as an angel.

My hand was trembling as I touched his wing that appeared like something crafted out of some deadly black diamond. But it felt exactly the opposite. It was like touching a cotton ball. No! It was more like touching clouds. At that moment, all I wanted was to keep rubbing my hands on his wing. I just caressed his wing.

Just then, his wing moved. It shook at first, as if it was a beast waking up from its sleep. I pulled back my hand and quickly backed off a few steps. The wing started to disappear from the point it was connected to his back. It crumbled within itself and started disappearing inside the body of that angel. I wondered how the wider part of the wing would go inside him, but that part just shrank to fit itself.

It was like a cat that looks big but is flexible enough to pass through any small place. Those freaky cats came to my mind, and I cursed myself for using the example of a cat. That wing was not like a cat! It was like a turtle hiding back in its shell. It was like a sword retreating into its sheath.