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The false angel laid beneath the cold, hard ground, clutching feebly at the stab wound left on her abdomen. Blood soaked her hair, the wings on her head tainted with a deep, crimson red as she struggled to breathe, the sound loud and shaky.
She felt vulnerable. Like a dying insect with its limbs sprawled on the floor, unable to spread its wings to take off and fly. She opened her mouth in a futile attempt to cry for help, but yet nothing came. She couldn't speak, she couldn't get up, she couldn't even bring herself to fight back. Defenseless and broken, without a strand of hope to hold onto.
It was a pyrrhic moment, the weight of her exhaustion holding her down like an invisible force. The moment her head lolled to the side, a sudden pain shot up from her throat as blood began to spill from her mouth. She let out an agonizing scream, a sound of distress that nobody would hear.
"IT HURTS...I C-CAN'T ANYMORE..." The sound of her voice came out a raspy, shrill cry like that of a banshee's, vocals cracking with every word she spoke. "I CAN'T TAKE IT, IT'S TOO MUCH."
As her vision faded into a jet black, she felt the touch of feathers against her face. Her eyelids fluttered open, gaze meeting with a blonde haired woman, smiling at her as she let the false angel's head rest under the stranger's lap.
She opened her mouth to say something, but again, she couldn't bring herself to speak. She wanted to fight back, to push herself off and flee into the darkness, but she could feel her limbs growing weaker as time passed.
"You have no need to feel afraid, my love." She heard the stranger speak again as she put a hand upon her chest, her voice an airy melody that soothed her ears. "Everything will be okay. I'm here to protect you."
In a hesitant manner, the false angel placed a hand on the stranger's wrist and held it with a weakened grasp. For the first time, she felt something she never felt before, an emotion so unexplainable to her. It was an overwhelming sense so difficult to overcome as she lay limp while the pain wore out.
For a moment, everything stopped — like a frozen frame captured in the midst of passing time when the world seemed to slow down. Everything seemed to vanish, leaving the two of them alone in the vast emptiness.
The false angel let herself relax in the stranger's arms, letting go of the distrust holding her back.
"You'll be okay...you're safe in my arms. Let me protect you." She brushed aside the hair covering the false angel's face. "How do you feel?"
She didn't respond. She was obliged to do so for a moment, but something within her involuntarily pushed it away before she could talk. She nodded instead, a gesture of acknowledgment that expressed her emotions without bringing herself to talk. Her throat still felt sore from earlier, but the ache had subsided, giving her time to recover from the aftershocks.
"I'm glad you're okay. Do take your time, my love. I'll be here for all the time you need."
The false angel's eyes momentarily flicked towards the wound on her abdomen. Strangely, it had already healed, almost as if it was never there in the first place.
"Everything will be okay. I'm here to protect you." The stranger's words echoed in her mind over and over again, a soothing mantra that embraced her wholly.
"Oh, do tell me. What is your name, my love?"
At last, she chose to speak. After a long while of hesitation, she could trust herself to open up to the stranger. Even though she knew that she shouldn't mindlessly trust anybody who happened to come across her path, this time she sensed genuine benevolence from her, a kindness that refused to waver even at the toughest times.
"...Sara...miah..."
The stranger smiled, tilting her head as she waited for her to finish speaking. "Saramiah? That's a very pretty name, my love."
The false angel's consciousness began to waver again, watching as the image of the stranger blur in front of her eyes with slow blinks. Seconds before she would pass out, she heard the stranger say something once more, though it was too faint for her to make out. Her eyelids began to close shut, letting herself spiral into unconsciousness in the arms of her carer.
"Rest now, Saramiah. I'll aid you in your recovery."