Wings of Scarred Ch. 01

(A better summary of this story)

Aria is of an ancient race of bird like creatures called the Skyians. Since the beginning of time they were considered angels or gods. However with every god there is a devil. Crows are what they call themselves. Aria is the offspring of both races and is considered a monster and is tormented everyday. One day she meets a human boy who accepts her and makes her feel worthy of happiness. They become friends but soon afterward, she disappears without a trace.

Years later the the boy, Nicholas, is a police officer and is investigating a series of kidnappings. There are no clues, no witnesses and he's at a dead end. Until the day he rescues a beautiful, shrouded woman from danger. Her face bears the same scars but before him was a woman afraid. Knowing only her name, they spent a night to remember together. She disappeared like dream soon after. Only to meet her once again at the scene of a crime- with wings!

Everywhere the crime happens shes there, every suspect he interviews knows her and she knows who is behind these crimes. Is this woman behind this? Or is she as much as a victim as anyone else?

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The wind. The birds. The beauty of the sunset.

These were Aria's favorite things. To her, there was nothing compared to soaring through the open air with the wings you were born with. She was a Skyian. Half human, half bird. She had always wondered what a human was like. Did they have wings, stronger bones, and larger lungs, like the Skyian body did? From what she had heard, that was not the case. The elders had said that the humans were dirty and greedy. They saw Skyian's as angels or gods in old times and prayed to them. The elders saw Skyian's as superior beings. As pure as newly drifted snow. But snow comes from dark clouds, Aria thought solemnly.

Aria swooped down to the water. In it she could see her reflection on the rippling surface. She could see her wings, her tattered clothes and her bruised body. As she looked down at the face that was her own, she wondered. "Is this the face of my mother or my father? Do these eyes match hers or my hair matche his?" She smiled. So did her reflection. She looked pretty even though she was bruised and beaten. How could that be?

Her mother had fallen in love with a crow. Her beautiful mother, a royal in Skyian society, fell in love with a disgusting crow. Aria had never seen a crow outside of a book. She was told that crows were horrifying, contorted creatures that preyed on living and dead things. That they were nothing but savage beasts and that she was no better. But she wasn't contorted. Was she? She hid, embraced by her gray wings. She felt so warm. She'd have stayed there but she heard shout behind her. "I saw a harpy, grandpa! " The voice pleaded. "I swear! It looked exactly like the one's you talk about."

"Oh shut up, boy!" Another voice yelled. "There ain't no such thing as harpies." The footsteps were getting closer. Quickly, Aria flew away. Soon she heard echoes of her people hateful words. The voices pounded in her head, over and over. She hadn't noticed the kites drifting around her until she got tangled in the string and fell. The ground drew closer.

She couldn't open her wings. She twisted and fought but couldn't get free. She hit the ground, her bones, stronger than metal, throbbed from the impact. Tears burned in her eyes as she tried to escape. The birds mocked her as they flew away, like she wished to. Her tears slipped off her dirty face onto the ground.

For a moment it was silent and, for that, she was grateful. Her body hurt and she wanted to cry in silence. The thin ropes were wrapped around her like a snake and the kite itself was stuck to her head. The position was so embarrassing. Sprawled on the forest clearing, tangled in a kite string. Aria sobbed a little harder. She couldn't do anything right. The silence made her sobs echo through the forest as a voice called out to her.

"Hello?" The voice called. Male. It was kind of deep, with the faintest accent that Aria couldn't distinguish. The voice was coming closer. Aria struggled to get free but the more she moved, the tighter it squeezed her already bruised body. As her earlier bruises burned in rebellion to her movement, she whimpered in pain. Panic started to set in but she fought for her composure. If anyone, especially a human, found her struggling and screaming, they would shoot her. That was what she was taught. Still she shivered as the boy came closer. The trees parted to show a human boy, taller than she was.

As he moved closer, she could see he was very handsome, more so than the Skyian boys were. His hair was as dark as midnight and wild as the wilderness around them. Her panic renewed from fear of rape, she was surprised when he moved very slowly toward her, like he was trying to calm down an animal. That made her mad, but she couldn't do anything about it now so she glared at him through her tears. She tried to at least.

"Hey now, you don't need to be afraid." he cooed at her, his voice low and soothing. Here she was, dressed only in a short dress; tied up, alone in a deep, secluded forest with a stranger who was larger and probably stronger that her and she shouldn't be afraid? Humans must be stupid if they expected that to work on her.

"You set this trap in hopes that you would capture me, didn't you?" She replied. Aria tried to sit up but failed and thumped down on the floor again. She sighed solemnly and stared at the boy. He looked genuinely confused, so she relaxed a little.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said with the slightest grin. Not a smirk, directed at those below you're status but a friendly grin. "But are you okay? You look hurt." His concern touched her but she wasn't used to kindness so she wasn't sure what to say. This human was being so nice.

I wonder if he saw my wings yet. She thought.