Chapter 39: DEPARTURE - 2

"Finch," The boy spoke again. "Can you come out please?"

I can't. Finch wanted to tell him. Her glassy eyes continued to stare at the door. She hoped it was really Edmond outside, so she did not feel like she was being fooled.

Seconds later, she heard the boy sighed loudly. The boy then spoke again, "I'll wait for you near the river, if you want to come. I don't care if you turn into a bird. I'll look after you."

Then silent fell around her. As if the boy had given up and left her oasis. His words sounded so promising that she was left with a heartache.

The thought of leaving the forest and became a bird for the rest of her life was not something she was really fond of. She had been human her whole life. Even though she had only started interacting with people recently, she had tasted the joy and privilege of being a human. Being a bird was nothing more than a curse to her.

William had died. Now Edmond would leave the village. Her heart hurt from being left alone in the forest. Even Mosley, had left her.

Why could not she be the normal girl who lived in the village? Now she felt the urge to know her origin: where she really came from. How could she end up living in a forest with Mosley? Why did she have to turn into a bird if she stepped outside the forest? Who was she really?

Another loud knock startled Finch from her own thoughts. Her gaze snapped at the door, glaring at it.

Didn't Edmond just leave? Who was it?

"Finch, open the door, please!" A boy shouted. "Let me in, Finch."

Her eyes widened in shock and in fear. If she was scared to open the door for Edmond before, now she was terrified. It seemed like a lot of people from the village came to visit her that day. Even the one who was dead already.

She stayed still on the bed, turned frozen as she held her own breath. Who knew what the death boy could do.

"They're going to hurt me. I need to hide from them." Said the boy hysterically. "Let me in now!"

But the more the boy begged, the more terrified Finch became. Her body started shaking from the extreme fear that she felt. Her silent tears started rolling down her face. She felt like she was still in her dream.

"Finch!" Shouted the boy. The knock on the door now turned harder and harder, shaking the whole door and threatening to break in any minute. The girl prayed that it would not break. "Let me in!"

For a three seconds, the loud banging on the door disappeared. Then a sudden cry with a shrill voice pierced the air, deafening her ears. She closed both of her ears with her hands pressing on each side of her head.

The next second, the door was suddenly flown open. In the same time, a few things were flying inside the room. They all landed in front of the bed she was sitting on, making a loud thud noise. The girl's eyes peered on the things that were now scattered on the floor.

The first thing she noticed was two long strides that had a pair of black boots on each end of it. The second one was a shirt that got red colour on the bottom side of it. She then moved to the last thing that was round like a ball, except, it was not a ball but a head of the very person that she knew. His eyes were wide open, staring in horror. His mouth was agape. Blood was dripping from his neck that was separated from his shoulder. His head was not the only part that was disconnected from his body. The legs were detaching from his hips. The ground now was full of blood. The blood of her very friend, William.

Unable to handle the gore, Finch threw up immediately. As much as she wanted to scream from the fear and the shock she was experiencing, she could not. Instead, she let everything that was inside her stomach out. Slowly, she got off of the bed and started to walk towards the door that was now closed. To her surprise, it was still locked. As if the door was never opened at the first place. She wanted to turn around to see if William's torn body was still there but she could not. Her mind refused as she felt dizzy and the urge to throw up again was excruciating.

With her shaking hand, she unlock the door and pulled it open, to step out of the oasis and depart from the horrible scenes behind her.

Her step was wobbly. She felt like she was going to fall on the ground any minute due to her dizziness. Never in her life before that she felt this sick. She was not a normal human. How could she be sick like this?

As she took further step towards the south, which could lead her to the village, Finch legs turned weak and soon she gave in, allowing herself to fell on the ground, laying on her side. Darkness sucked her in as her eyelids closed and she fell unconscious.

When her unmoving body was discovered by a young boy, the boy was hurried to her side. He had been tiptoeing around the forest, glancing here and there as he knew he was not the only one that wandered around the forest that afternoon. With his strengths, he lifted the girl up and carried her in his arms. His eyes checked his surrounding, ensuring that no one saw him and the girl. He then took off from the forest.

He tried to walk as fast as he could with the weight he was carrying in his arm. His breath was quick, not because he was exhausted from carrying the girl but because he was afraid that another men would see them. In fact, the weight of the girl in his arms was significantly decreasing. It was weird. Did he get stronger out of sudden?

With the girl that became lighter to be carried around, the boy now almost running away from the forest. Minutes passed, he was reaching closer to the end of the forest where the river was. He would be soon in a safe place, he thought.

His eyes looked down at the girl and they went narrow as he noticed how the girl's body was getting shorter and shorter. Despite the strange state of the girl, he could not stop his step for he did not want to get caught by those men. So he kept running, ignoring the girl in his arm that had started to transform slowly.

Came the river into his view that got him absorbed by the joy, oblivious to the girl that was now started to slip off of his arms. When he completely stepped out of the forest, the girl in his arms had gone.

The sound of a thud on the ground in front of him and the light foot steps coming towards him, startled him. First, he looked to the person that came, who was now standing in front of him with a frown on his forehead.

"Neil, where's Finch?" Asked his brother.

Then, Neil's eyes looked down to the ground where the thud noise came from.

A bird, a yellow bird, was laying on the ground between his feet and his brother's.