Losing Her Wings

Chapter 4

The boys were just deciding to call it a night and turn in when they heard an almighty scream that caught them off guard. It was well after midnight by then and they didn’t expect anyone else to be on campus grounds, outside their dorm rooms, since they had never seen anyone else wandering around during one of their midnight games. They knew it couldn’t be Ryan because the scream came from nothing other than a girl and out of instinct, they all jumped to their feet, grabbed their stuff and went off to explore the sudden sound. It was pitch black out, with only the moonlight to guide them through the courtyard as they soon heard sobbing that guided them into the middle of the garden. Devin was smart enough to use his lighter to give them a better look at things until they reached the rockery area and found that it was lit up by little garden lights all around the walkway.

And there they found a girl, sitting hugging her knees on the grass verge, crying her heart out. Niles and Devin looked at each other, confused as they signalled for Jones to take a wander and see if there was anyone else around who could be responsible for making the girl cry. If she had been attacked or chased, they needed to know as much as they could in case they had to call the police but when Hamish took the initiative and stepped forward to gain the girls attention, lightly touching the top of her head, she screamed at him not to touch her, letting them all know that something was seriously wrong. Girls didn’t scream that for no reason and Devin was on the verge of suggesting that they just call the cops and leave it for them to handle when the girls suddenly looked up and backed away from them in a panic.

“Are you alright?” Niles asked with a touch of worry in his voice as the girl stared at them as if she couldn’t speak and so he thought that in case she really couldn’t, he would try the usual universal gestures for kindness, starting with offering his hand to help her get up. It didn’t seem to work as she physically flinched as if he was going to hit her and Devin couldn’t help but place his hand on Niles’s shoulder, shaking his head when he looked around at him, telling him not to touch her. But he didn’t know what else to do, he was only offering to help her up and she was acting like he was going to slap her around. She looked so fragile and lost that he just wanted to help her.

He tried the visual methods again, in case it wasn’t her ability to talk that was the problem but that she simply couldn’t hear him. Once he was at eye level with her and she was looking up at him again, he smiled and attempted one last time to talk, in case she could read lips. He didn’t really know what he was doing but he was trying his hardest to think of every possible scenario that would make her so afraid of him. “We won’t hurt you. We just want to make sure you’re okay.” Standing up again, once he was sure she saw exactly what he said, he reoffered his hand and after a few tense moments, just when he thought he’d be better giving up and letting someone else try, a small hand appeared on his, making him smile as he pulled her to her feet, surprised to see that she didn’t seem to have much strength herself.

“There. You’re not hurt are you?” He asked softly, only getting a shake of the head in reply and he was glad to know that no-one had tried to hurt her, or at least succeeded in doing so. He didn’t think any of them would be able to live with knowing that a girl had been attacked or chased on campus while they had just been a few feet away and they hadn’t helped her. When he picked up her rucksack, at her feet, he really thought she was going to run again as he saw her almost bracing herself for a blow, clenching her fist as if she was ready for whatever he did to her. She seemed almost surprised when he simply handed it to her with a smile.

“Thank you.” She spoke for the first time, surprising them all, only to go on again and talk even more. Niles guessed they could rule out being deaf or being unable to speak and he realised she was probably either in shock or just absolutely terrified out of her skin. “I’m Skylar and I’m sorry.” She explained, apologising at the same time, only for Niles to smile to himself.