Chapter 6

     The figures swam in her vision as one of them pulled on some leather straps attached to the animals mouth, turning in her direction sharply. The figure shouted and pointed in her direction, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. The words sounded foreign in her ears, but she shrugged it off, waving at them half-heartedly with a big smile on her face. As the man got closer, she noticed that he was dressed in wierd clothing from head to toe, his face covered nearly completely by a black scarf. A large strip of metal bounced off of his side as he jumped off of the large animal and walked towards her. Spouting some more foreign sounding words, he seemed angry, but Kat could only stare at his eyes. They were the wierdest color she had ever seen, and for some reason she found herself giggling again, her head feeling fuzzy. They had white around the outside, with only a thin strip of color and then black in the center. She wasn't sure why his weren't like everyone else she knew, all one color, but she guessed that maybe she had died in those tunnels, and this was what heaven was really like. It was definitely warm enough.

     Smiling up at the man as he approached her, his steps faltered and he gasped as he looked at her face. "Are you an angel?" she asked curiously, feeling funny all of a sudden. A sharp pain stabbed through her hand, bringing her back to reality, and she cried out, clutching at it. The man whipped off the scarf around his face, causing some murmuring in the men behind him, but he ignored it. Grabbing her face, he turned it roughly back towards his own and rambled off something in his wierd words. Kat didn't understand, and realized that this was probably not heaven as the pressure of his hand began to make her face ache. All she could do was clutch her injured hand and stare back into the man's eyes, wondering again how they got that wierd mixture of colors. After what seemed like eternity, and more wierd words, Kat had had enough of this crazy angel. Jerking away from his grasp, she feebly kicked out at the huge man without even thinking.

    "I don't understand what the heck you're saying and you're hurting me. Just leave me alone!" Kat yelled, immediately regretting it. She suddenly felt like throwing up, but there was nothing in her stomach to get rid of, and she wound up dry heaving on the ground retchedly. Curling into a ball, she knew the man was watching her impassively but didn't care. She could tell he was just like her parents, just another bully for her to deal with. She figured it must be hell she was in, since there were bullies and pain here. The man merely watched her for a second before drawing the strip of metal from his waist and reaching out to grab her by the throat. A bright light flashed in Kat's vision and the man yelled loudly, the smell of burning flesh scenting the air when he came into contact with her necklace. Kat felt a bit of smug pleasure in his discomfort, but knew he wouldn't stop. Whatever protection the necklace provided her, it was only a small strip of metal. The man's face twisted in fury, and Kat closed her eyes, waiting for the bully to come at her again, with which he quickly obliged.

     Kat could feel the tingling on her skin again, as it did in the bushes ages ago, but she knew it wouldn't help her now. She wasn't prepared for the loud gasps and strange words muttered by the men behind her bully though, and she could feel that the man had stopped near her. The sound of metal on metal sounded, and she timidly glanced up, noticing that the mans metal was now by his side, a look of surprise on his face. Quickly he bent down and talked fast words in his weird words, reaching out and shaking Kat's shoulder roughly. When his hand came into contact with her skin, a different look came over his face, this one of worry. Kat didn't understand why, but the man quickly knelt beside her and put the back of his hand on her forehead. Snatching his hand away, he muttered something guttural and turned back to the men waiting behind him. Yelling at them and gesturing, Kat saw them all begin to dismount like shadows flowing down the sides of their animals. They began to dig in large leather packs and Kat felt the bully's arms reach underneath of her body. Lashing out in anger and fear, Kat felt her tiny nails scratch across the man's face, leaving three bloody marks underneath of his left eye. Grunting, the man did nothing but smile darkly at her, staring at her face with interest. Between the pain and her fear, Kat could no longer take it anymore, and she felt her body slump lifelessly as her eyes closed, her head rolling to a stop against the man's shoulder.