Chapter 6
Ector
She wants to share her food with me? But why would she do such a thing?
It was bitterly cold and freezing outside. My wings were frozen, encased in ice, almost about to shatter like glass into a thousand pieces.
My father was furious, I never understood why.
A question that never got answered. Screams left his mouth, directed at me and my mother, telling us how worthless we were, that we will never be anything other than useless, that we should give up on ourselves because we will never be more than the dog shit underneath his shoes.
He grabbed my arm, dragging me behind him on the hard wooden floor. My mother was screaming at him to stop what he was doing, that he was hurting me. But he wouldn’t listen, he never listened. It didn’t matter that her scream could cut through someone’s soul, he didn't care about a single thing.
“You’re the biggest mistake of my fucking life! I hate you, you piece of shit!” He roared at me, his brown boot landing right in my stomach.
Salty liquid was building up in my eyes.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
“Are you fucking crying? Why the fuck are you crying? You’re so incredibly weak and worthless! There is no chance that the two of us share blood. Be a man and grow up, Ector, stop being so fucking emotional. Keep crying and I’ll give you a reason to cry.”
Knowing that I needed to stop crying, my sobs only grew louder.
“If you continue crying, I will hurt her!” He yells at me, pointing at my mother.
Not mom, don’t hurt mom!
“No!” I screamed back at him while trying to calm myself down, not wanting him to do anything to her. Which turned out to be a huge mistake.
He grabbed me again, dragging me to a small moonlit silver metal cage and throwing me inside. Then I heard it, the sound that was my greatest fear.
Klick.
The cage was locked.
Grabbing the cage, he threw it into the pitch-black, freezing forest with all his strength.
Snow was surrounding me, and it didn’t take long before my naked body began shaking.
“NO! Alekksander stop!” My mother yelled, begging him to stop.
Her body launched for me, but his arm pushed her down before she had the chance to stop his doings. And little did I know that it was the last time I would ever hear my mother’s sweet and comforting voice.
Everything hurt.
I grabbed my chest, expecting to find a hole where my heart had once been.
It hurts.
The cage landed on something hard. My body was hurting, I couldn’t breathe and the cold, the shock, made me shake brutally.
Mom.
Mom, please!
Mom help me…
I was so scared.
All I wanted was to be in my mothers arms, feeling her hugs and her warm embrace, while hearing her soft and calming voice, telling me that everything would be okay.
But she wasn’t going to help me.
Because while I lay in that cage, shaking out of fear, my father was busy stealing her life from her, stealing her wonderful soul.
I was in that small prison without food for three days.
On the fourth day, my dad sat before me and ate delicious food.
Potatoes, meat and broccoli. One of my favorite meals.
When he was done eating, he opened the cage and told me to lick the plate just like the dog I was.
Then he kicked me. He kept kicking and hitting me and told me to act right so I wouldn't end up like my mother.
Dead.
Killed by my own father.
“You smell awful. Did you shit and pee yourself? You fucking animal.” He shouted, making me feel embarrassed to exist.
After that, he never shared food with me again, I had to get it for myself, whatever it took. I had to eat insects, leaves and dead raw animals.
My body never stopped hurting.
“Are you okay?” The voice of a girl interrupted my thoughts, making me snap back to reality.
Genevieve.
”Yes, sorry. No, I’m not hungry but thank you.”
“But we’ve been walking for a long time and it’s important that both of us eat.”
She cares about me.
I feel cared for.
“It’s your food, I can find something else, sweetheart.”
“No, it’s fine, I promise. I truly want to share it with you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes of course. What do you want?” She responds with a calm voice, making the situation feel more comfortable as she holds out what she brought with her.
”Maybe some berries, if that’s okay.” I hesitate.
“Yes, take whatever you want!” She looks up at me with a smile that could stop wars, or create them.
Sitting down by a small river, we eat together in peace, both of us enjoying the beautiful view before us.
Big willow trees surround the river. Leaves are drooping down and the sun is casting small rays through them, reflecting on the water that gleams in a mesmerizing hue of sapphire, creating a view of captured magic.
“Wow.” Genevieve says.
But all I do is stare at her, because she embodies that. That’s the exact word for describing her, both her personality and her appearance.
The river is filled with seashells. They must’ve been placed here by mermaids, sea people, or pirates.
One time, I was swimming in a lake that was filled with both rose quartz and seashells. Usually fairies can’t swim because they can’t fly if their wings get wet and heavy, but since I don’t have any, I’ve taken some time to learn that skill, swimming.
I hadn't eaten anything today and the berries Genevieve gave me tasted amazing, absolutely delicious. Suddenly I can’t seem to remember if the berries have always tasted like this or if I’m being compelled by the thought that Genevieve wanted to share them with me.
Lying down in the grass, I can’t help but look at her while she eats her apple. As she looks back at me, I can feel a smile growing on my lips. I haven’t smiled like this for years.
“What?” She says with a confused expression on her face.
“Nothing.”
“Why are you smiling like that?”
“I’m not smiling, see.” I say, making an angry face.
A laugh escapes her throat, it’s the most beautiful laugh I’ve ever heard, and suddenly I feel jealous of the fairies who get to hear it every day. But she’ll never know that, and I won’t tell her because this ends as soon as we get to that well and return to Fairy Village.
We can’t have a romance, I’m not capable of loving someone in that way, I’m not capable of it now and I don’t think I will ever be. I wasn’t born to love, I was born only to survive.
I am not interested in giving her false hope or leading her on.
I can’t hurt her. She’s the sun, and she deserves someone worthy of her, someone obsessed with her.
Not a broken guy who doesn’t know what to do with himself.
Because I don’t. I don’t know what to do with myself.
Especially not if I fail to find the well and get my wings back.
That’s all I want. That’s the one thing that would bring happiness back into my life, the one thing that would help me heal.
It’s my only wish.