2 THE FALLEN

Chapter II

PAIN:

A sudden jolt of pain swept through her entire body, consuming up her strength. She tried to fight it and kept walking. Lights glowed on her skin as little by little, her veins glowed beneath it. She tried to hold on with everything she's got. Then everything went dark and Ameriel hit the ground. The winds grew stronger, it started raining and lightning and thunder shook the ground with its might.

The next morning she slowly opened her eyes, she took a moment as she was trying to remember where she was. What had happened. She felt cold and damp, and she rose from the flooded ground. She turned around when she felt a tap on her shoulder. A middle-aged man stood there, holding out a bread for her.

"Take this and eat up. You're gonna need your strength."

"Why are you so kind to me?" "Most people in this place aren't". She said.

"Is that the first thing you tell a friend, who offers you bread?"

"I'm sorry.... Thank you, for the bread.... I'm Ameriel."

"I know who you are, even more so than you know yourself."

"How so?" Ameriel asked.

"I'll tell you all about it when the time is right."

"I'm Orionne, by the way."

Ameriel heard a group of boys laughing at a distance. As she glanced at her back to get a better look at it, a big ripe and rotten tomato landed on her face. Not long after, the whole village was standing there.

They started throwing crops at her. One hit her head with a stone, and she started bleeding.

"Freak!", "Witch!" "Evil!"

The people shouted.

A voice called out from one of the stands near them.

"Come on!, This way!"

The woman led them into one of the alleys and hid them at her house.

"Thank you." Ameriel exclaimed.

"Thank you. For saving us."

" No trouble". The woman answered.

"I'm Penelope." "I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"They're scared, that's all." "We all saw you last night."

"What did I do last night?"

said Ameriel recalling no memories from the events that night.

"Why, you don't remember anything....do you....?"

"You were glowing, child."

"That's totally absurd!, Why would I be glowing!?"

"The lady is telling the truth Ameriel."

Orionne interrupted.

Ameriel's eyes revealed a lot of thoughts, lots of questions running through her head.

"Aren't you afraid then?" She said.

"Mightily scared." The woman said.

"Why would you help someone like me?"

"I simply believe you still shouldn't be treated that way."

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door.

Ameriel and Orionne hid by the empty barrels as Penelope opened the door.

"Where are they?" said the man.

"Who are you looking for exactly?" Penelope answered.

"Don't play a fool with me, woman. I saw you with them."

"Oh! Be quiet and have a seat." said Penelope.

"You can come out now." she said.

"This is my husband Zach."

"You crazy, woman?!" Zach said.

"The whole village is looking for them."

"They're gonna hang us, kill us, or burn us with them."

"Then we should get going then." said Penelope.

"And go where?!" said Zach.

"Oh!, anywhere but here of course!"

"I've never really liked this place anyway."

Penelope hands Orionne a sack of supplies, and handed Ameriel a basket filled with bread.

"This will last us days." she said.

They sneaked out, passed the village and into a carriage and drove off.

"Where will we go now?" asked Ameriel.

"Wherever we can." replied Zach.

They travelled for months, one village after another. Then months became years, and so on.

"I know we have to be on the move, constantly. Don't you think it's finally time to settle somewhere? Grow something, raise whatever we can." Penelope said.

"No." Ameriel said.

"They are still on the move."

"Who, exactly?" said Zach.

"The soldiers are involved now, they are looking for us...., I can feel them."

"Young girl," said Penelope.

"Tell me, who are you exactly?"

"I don't know...."

"I don't really know who I am, or what I am."

said Ameriel.

"Who Am I, Orionne?" Ameriel asked.

"What am I....?"

"That's a story for another day.... It's getting late.... Go, get some rest."

"But it's been years...." " I have to know."

" Very well...." Orionne said.

"Please come closer."

Orionne held out both of his hands and placed them on Ameriel's temples.

Ameriel fell asleep in an instant in Orionne's arms.

"What happened?" Penelope and Zach asked.

"Ameriel, is unlike any of us.... Just as I'm not like any of you."

"For now, she will be on a very long and painful journey; and I don't know whether she'd be coming back to us, as we knew her; or as something else."

"What do you mean?" Zach asked.

"Ameriel's existence has always been about this constant battle of good and evil, and I know, we all go through the same thing. But for her, it's like a million times over."

Both Zach and Penelope looked confused and demanding for more explanation.

"Look, all I could tell you, is that, we better hope the Ameriel we know, comes out of that." Orionne said.

"In this moment, and in the years and world's to come, being by her side would both be the safest and the most dangerous place we could ever possibly be."