Love Me

The footsteps echoed between the plain brick walls as she ran as fast as her thin legs could carry her. The only light source was the moon, now when the clock was near 3 a.m. She had watched way too many horror films to know that running away in the middle of a night never ended well. But she had no other choice. Nobody wanted her. Nobody wanted a freak, and that’s exactly what she was. A freak. Her legs were becoming numb and she decided to slow down her pace. Her sister, nor mother, wouldn’t find out that she was gone until the sunrise anyway. It was all her dumb sister’s fault, or that was what she wanted to believe. It really wasn’t anyone’s fault but the one who gave her this disease.

”Madison, are you ready yet?”, her sister sighed outside of the bathroom.

“No! A few more minutes!”, Madison responded and turned back to look at her frightened reflection in the mirror. This sick pain in her back had been going on for weeks. When her mother kindly took her to the doctor, they couldn’t find anything unusual with her back. She had a perfectly fine, and straight spine. A couple of weeks later she could feel something slightly poke out of her left shoulder blade, like a tiny thorn. Like the curious girl she was, she had started to pick on it, trying to pull it out. What was pulled out of her shoulder blade was certainly not a thorn. It was a snow white feather, covered in some dark blood. Madison had freaked out and she cried herself to sleep that night, afraid of what she was becoming. During the past weeks she had continued pulling out feather after feather of her shoulderblades. And now it had grown to small angel wings.

Why? Why were there two wings growing out of her body? It surely wasn’t normal, and that was all she could wish for right now. That she would be a normal 14 year old. Her hand reached up to touch the right wing. The pain shot through her body and she let out a small whimper. She had never felt this much pain, ever.

“Seriously, Maddi. What are you doing in there?”, her sister yelled, getting slightly annoyed with her little sister. Madison looked at herself in the mirror again before replying, “Nothing. Just give me some time, yeah.”

Her older sister didn’t respond. Instead she went into her room and grabbed one of her bobby pins and started fumbling with the lock. The 16 year old girl had done this before when her mother had grounded her and she sneaked out in the middle of the night to go to some party with a few friends.

Madison started to panic as she heard the familiar sound of unlocking a door. She was only standing in her underwear when her sister got into the small room, feeling rather exposed as a pair of eyes scanned her body. The older girl’s eyes widened as she saw the white thing stick out of Madison’s shoulder blade. “What th-the hell is tha-that?”, she stuttered, glaring at her little sister in fear.

“I think it’s wings.”, Madison mumbled.

“Oh my God. You’re a freak! You’re not human!”

“Schh! Mom will hear you, Beatrice!” Beatrice didn’t care. Her little sister wasn’t anything human, and instead of taking care of this situation like an adult, she freaked out. For God’s sake, there were wings poking out of her sister’s body! This was something you just saw in movies or TV shows like Supernatural. This wasn’t something you were supposed to discover in real life. Angels didn’t exist.

“Please, don’t tell anyone. I’ll fix this!”, the 14 year old girl pleaded.

“I’m gonna go to my room and pretend that this never happened. Tomorrow, I’m gonna speak to mom. You belong in a fucking mental institution!” The older girl stormed out of the bathroom, leaving Madison alone with tears in her eyes.

Later that night she had decided to run away. It was the best decision. It would hurt her mother, and maybe her sister, for a few weeks, until they got to the conclusion that Madison Campbell had probably been murdered. Things were better this way. Even if Madison knew her mother’s heart would be broken by the sudden disappearance of her second born child, but anything could mend a broken heart. Of course, Madison hated to leave her family behind. She loved the blonde woman who she was proud to call her mom. Her mom was the most kind hearted person Madison knew, always putting everyone before herself. The woman had always made sure that every decision she made in her life were the best for her two daughters. Madison adored that side of mom, mostly because she did not inherit that side.

Madison was more like her father than her mother, and she hated it. Beatrice and Madison’s father walked out on the family when Madison was only five years old. Her father was a funny, but yet a smart man who loved to joke around with everyone. Even though Madison had inherited his good sides, she hated it. She despised the man who left three people heartbroken, and she would never ever in her life forgive him, even if he came back crawling on his knees begging for forgiveness.

After running for the past 30 minutes, her whole body was becoming numb. The small bag, with only the most important belongings, that was hanging over her shoulder was starting to get heavier the more tired she got. All she wanted was to cast a spell and make a king sized bed appear in the middle of the street.

“I can help you.”, a voice sounded from behind Madison. She turned around and faced a girl, several years older than herself with light brown hair with blonde dip dye that reached down just below her breasts. The girl’s beauty wasn’t what caught Madison’s attention though. It was the things on her back.

“Who are you?”, Madison asked. She wasn’t afraid of the girl, even if she had no idea who she was. She could be a serial killer and Madison wouldn’t know.

“We have time for questions later. Now, come with me.”, the girl said, stretching out her hand for Madison to take.

“How do I know that I can trust you?”

The girl let out a chuckle before responding, “Look at me. Who do you think you can trust the most, me or a human who would consider you as a freak?” Those words were enough for Madison to take the stranger’s hand. She knew nothing about what was waiting for her in the future.