Angel wings

(I need help!!!!! This is for an important contest that can help me get into a summer program and get scholarships. I accident wrote two pages too much, so can people please review and give me parts I can shorten? Thank you!)

I looked through my drawers for the final piece of my costume. My mother, the richest woman on the earth, decided to tell me last minute about her party plans. Kings, queens, princes and princesses from all different parts of the world would be here. I decided to put together a costume from different parts of my old costumes. My little siblings were out with my mother getting a costume. I hate the crowds in the mall though. I liked to get creative, so this was a good alternative for me. I was very surprised to have been told that we were holding a party this close to my birthday, every year my birthday party was at home, and my sixteenth was coming up, so this was very odd that she decided to have one now, she usually doesn’t like all the stress of the parties she hosts. The animal have to be cleaned, the pond cleared, and the house decorated head to toes, which is much work or our butlers and maids because there are four main levels, a basement and an addict. Not to mention our pool house, and zoo party room.
I finally found my black and white feathered mask. I put it on my dress maker dummy, that is a personalized mold of me head to wasted, that was even as tall as I am. The dress I picked out was from last year’s Halloween party. I was a dark angel, and so it was a normal short white dress that went down to my knees, and was a silk material from my belly button down. The top was laced black over white in a beautiful flame design. What truly set the dress out was the long black feathers that fell down shorter in the front, then long to the ground in the back. Some feathers even dragged on the ground. I was going to wear my black heeled boots that I got for my first homecoming dance this past year. The mask was half white and half black, and I had a few other black feathers to put into my hair.
I got undressed, and put on my clear tights, I grabbed my strapless bra, and put it on. The boots then the dress. I decided to sit in front of my mirror, and fix my hair before putting on the mask. When I looked at myself in the mirror, my heart sank as it normally did as I looked at myself. I hated my white hair, and the fact that I had one red eye and one blue eye made life so much harder on me. I hated the glares people give me, and dye never stays in my hair more than a couple hours for some reason. I cut my hair down to the end of my skull, so that it was shorter in the back than the front, there were only two exceptions. The first was my bangs which dangled right above my eyebrows, and the second was a framing which went to the end of my neck on each side. It began to straighten my hair, trying not to think of how odd I looked. My mother says I got it from my father, but I never met him, so I honestly don’t know. My siblings all had a different father than me, but the same father for all eight of them. He was a kind man, however he died shortly after my youngest siblings were born. He had gotten into an accident on the way to the hospital when he found out my mother was having twins. All my siblings had his black hair, and their blue eyes were from both of their parents. My mom had a natural blonde hair that I wish I had gotten instead of this cursed color.
I sighed as I finished, unable to hold it back any longer. I only wish I had my looks from my mother. I placed in the black feathers carefully, one every few centimeters. I never wore make up, so after that I just put on my mask. I stood up and thought about what was missing, I then remembered my gloves. I walked quickly down stairs to our main maid. She had been with us since before I was born. She and our main butler were the only two, other than my mom, who ever met my father. It seems not even another living soul knew him, which seemed quite odd, and another reason I believe my mother is just telling me lies about him.
Our maid smiled as soon as I walked in, and held up my gloves. Her darker color skin always comforted me, we had no other colored people in our house working, so I always felt like she knew how I felt when it came to standing out. I hugged her and she helped me put them on. I looked at the clocked and noticed that I had only two more hours before the party.
The party was half way through. It was normal for the occasion. It was more like a social gathering than anything. I decided to walk through the zoo and something caught my eye. I stopped by the alligator swamped and stared at the rocks that formed a bridge for when we go down in it. My middle sister, who is only ten years of age was in there petting the oldest alligator. He was quite fond of her, and she loved him loved him as much as she did our dog. That wasn’t what caught my eye however. There seemed to have been a shadow that was out of place. I yelled for my sister to get out, but my distance, plus the depth from her made it impossible to hear. Suddenly from the shadows a figure of a man appears, he was dressed in all black and covered my sister’s mouth. I yelled for help then ran as fast as I could to the entrance to the alligator swamp. However, when I got there, she was already gone. I was shocked and mortified.
A short bit after the police came. I answered questions, but their stairs caused by how I looked made me sneak off to our butler. He was Japanese and taught it to me since I was young. He was my best friend, even though he’s the butler who has been around longer than any of the rest, he’s by far the youngest, being only 30 years old. He was only fourteen when he came to work. He was more adopted than hired my mother always told me. I looked at him, and he felt sorry for me. I clinched my fists, “let me figure out this case. You know I can do it.” I told him. My mother would argue against it but he knew me well. He nodded his head. “I know you can.” He said softly in Japanese. I realized what he was doing, speaking in that language would keep anyone from understanding us.
He and I walked over to where she was kidnapped. I examined it carefully. Nothing really seemed out of place, but then I noticed one small little detail. A speck of gold. I picked it up. This meant the kidnapper must have been from the party, how else would he be able to afford gold that could so easily fall off? I explained this to Yuki, our butler, and he smiled and patted my head, a sign he was proud. We hurried to the main room of the house. The maids always listed when people entered and exited. We went through todays dated. The party started at four, so we checked three and forward. Everyone who came though, hadn’t left yet. That meant the kidnapper was still here. I rushed outside to inform the police that, but stopped at the back door. I smelt a faint smell that was all too familiar. A police man walked by me and I turned to him.
“Do you have a black light?” I asked him. He looked at me suspicious, then gave me the same look everyone does when they realize I’m a freak. I decided to use that for me this time. “Have a problem with how I look” I asked, which made him uncomfortable. He said no then handed me one without thinking. I took it and looked around using it. He didn’t know what I was doing, so he kept an eye on me. Yuki caught up with me, right when I found it. Blood. I didn’t like this, because now I had reason to believe my sister was either hurt, or no longer living. I needed to stay calm though. Living in a rich family means you have to deal with robberies and being taken hostage all the time. I’ve always had a natural instinct to protect my family however, and this was no exception. The foot step was in the form of a shoe so I began to look for more in that direction, and I did. I fallowed the prints to the garden. They began to fade so I give it back to the police man who still didn’t realize what I was doing. I handed it to him, “Sorry I wanted to see if my black light trail was still here, but it must have washed away.” I lied. He chuckled and shook his head leaving.
I look for any clues that would tell me where he went next, but heard a voice. I walked swiftly over to the cause of it, and see a man in a black suit with gold specks across his eyebrows for the party. I smile knowing this is the man. I listened to what he had to say. “I got the little girl. Send your man to bring me the oldest and I will take care of the rest.” And instantly me and Yuki had the same idea.
Yuki dragged me by the hair with a sock in my mouth. He wore shades and had a dull face. I whined in pain, then was shoved into the man’s car. Yuki got into the driver’s side. “The job is done.” He said. Marcia, our main maid, came up to the window, and the man rolled it down to speak to her. “Yuki and I want our money now. The man got into his wallet, but as he did, Marcia pointed a gun to the man’s head. Yuki shot a bullet into Marcia’s head, and I ducked crying. The man’s eyes widen. We all heard police. “Drive.” The man said. Yuki locked the doors. When the man began going through his papers, another gun shot went off. This time the man fell dead. Yuki smiled, then untied me. The man was unconscious, and we got out so the police could arrest him.
Marcia stood when we got out whipping off the ketchup. “I still don’t understand why you had to gain his trust before shooting him.” She said. The simple answer was to just say that the man had a gun, but Yuki explained it so in depth to her, I just ignored him. I opened the trunk, expected a dead sister, but she was alive and untouched. A huge smile grew, and she jumped up and hugged me crying. I did the same, holding her tight.
My birthday came and I sat up eager. I jumped out of bed in my silk night gown, and put on my robe. I ran down stairs expecting something huge, but I was shocked whenever my siblings were still asleep, the only maid and butler up was Marcia and Yuki. They were drinking coffee at the table while my mom sipped her wine. The summer sun was high in the sky, so I didn’t understand what was going on. My mom looked up at me, tears running down her eyes. I didn’t understand. I walked towards her, but she jumped back. She stared at my feet. Underneath of each step I took was ashes. I stumbled over to the walls, and touched the light switch, and the lights exploded. My eyes widened with fear. Not understanding I fell to the ground. “Everyone left the house, the nanny took the kids out to the amusement park, and everyone else has the day off.” Marcia spoke. “You need to try and stay calm, Zera” Yuki said to me walking over. He laid a hand on my shoulder to try and comfort me. After a minute or two he helped me stand and walk to the table. The wooden floors no longer burned now that I was a bit more aware of what was happening, but still was quite scared and confused.
I couldn’t believe did what I just did. For the first time since I woke, my mother spoke. She choked on her own words, “Just as I feared… Fire and electricity….” I could hear her crying louder now. “Ever since I saw your eyes I could see the fire like your fathers, and the electricity of your grandmother.” She was on her knees crying. She muttered, and I could swear she was praying. My own mother couldn’t even look at me now. I was a freak. I thought I was a horrible curse before, but now. I ran to my room crying. I needed to do something. I fell at the end of my bed sobbing. “God…. Why?” I cried out to him. As religious as I was, I never understood his plans. I couldn’t bare this any longer, I ran to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. I stormed up stairs still crying. I went up to the addict, which had two rooms. Marcia, Yuki and my mother stood in the hall connecting them. Marcia spoke to me, handing me a large golden bell that had a cross on it. “I know all this is really overwhelming sweet heart…. If you wish for answers, then go to the room on the left and ring the bell. We all will understand if you choose the right though.” Knowing that would be where I took my own life. They left me to make the decision on my own.
I went to the door on the right and held the knob. But my heart thumped and I turned to look at the other door then the bell. I cried out. I dropped the knife, and walked over to the other door. I needed to know why I was cursed. I went in quickly, and fell down on the floor crying. The room was completely empty. I bit my lip and forced myself to stop crying. I rang the bell.
I heard flapping outside the window, and went to it. I see a dove landing on the window seal. I opened it up, and it flew over my head making me duck. The window shut behind him. I turned around to see the bird, but no longer did I see a dove, I saw a winged man…. An angel. He was talk, with well-defined muscles. He crossed his arms. He must have been six foot tall. I leaning on my arms to sit up. He had white hair and red eyes. He looked at me sternly. “Who are you? I am a busy man, I do not have time to mess around kid.” He narrowed his eyes trying to understand his surroundings. His eyes widened a bit. He left the room, I fallowed behind quickly.
He flew down the stairs, which caused me to run. “Wait.” I called for him panting. My mother was at the bottom of the stairs, and he landed at the top of the first deck of stairs. He stopped looking at her, and his eyes lit up. He ran down the steps and kissed my mother. She wrapped her arms around his neck and the held each other. “Oh Rachel, how I missed you so.” He said in between kisses. “Daniel.” She whispered. He pulled back and looked at her. She turned her head to me. I was breathing heavily, and his eyes widen bigger than I’ve ever seen anyone’s eyes look. He flew up to me and held me in his arms. I knew who he was and my eyes wielded up and tears fell again. I dug my head into his shirt and hugged him back. My father. I thought he was dead. I pushed him back. “What is going on?” I demanded no longer just allowing things to play out.
“Zera, I’m your father.” He said as though it wasn’t obvious. Yuki and Marcia came in knowing that I was smarter than that. “Your mother had gotten mugged, and your father was her guardian angel. He stopped the bullet, which was against the rules, but he had fallen in love with each other. They went home and you came nine months later. He was called back to heaven before you were born, so he left the bell for when you turned sixteen. He knew that your powers would set in and you would need training.” Yuki explained to me. I looked at him. I didn’t have wings and so I didn’t quite understand how I was related, though then my mother was also human so I figured that could make since. However this didn’t seem real at all, if he hadn’t transformed right in front of me, I wouldn’t believe a word they said.
“I’m… I’m half angel?” I muttered. My father smiled, “You’re closer to three fourths. As you get older you angel DNA gets stronger than you’re human, so in a couple of years you will be a full angel.” I looked at him shocked. “Tell me Kiddo, how many lives have you saved so far?” He rubbed my head, and I looked down. My mother spoke happily, “She definitely takes after you. If she wasn’t here, my ten year old girl would have died four days ago.” Her words made me blush. His grin grew. “You took after you old man I see.” He paused before snapping “Other kids?!” He went into another room to speak about this with my mother, and I heard a lot of yelling. He came back in, I walked down the stairs, and he brushed his hand through my hair.
I looked at him, “Why couldn’t you have come back sooner?” I said choking. He let out a soft sigh. “If an angel is seen by a human, he can be seen by all humans, so he can’t work as a guardian angel any more. When that happens you work on other planet’s protecting different species, you just have to travel back and forth because humans are God’s true love, and so he doesn’t give all the rest twenty four seven protection. I would only be able to come back once, or…” He paused. He looked away. “Or what?” I said. “Or I would have to stay on earth as a dove. I couldn’t live like that now, I couldn’t handle watching people die and not being able to help them.” He said hugging me again. “I want to take you with me this time though, we could work together.”
This made me jump. “I can’t just leave everyone. I have a family here!” I snapped at him. He looked at me surprised. “Well you won’t be turned to a dove because you were born of a human, but once you become a full angel your aging will slow down and finally stop as does all angels.” He said looking at me. I shrugged. “I don’t care. This is my home.” I said. He gave a small smile to me. “Your wings will be forming soon, let’s get you prepped for it.” He said. He led me up to my room. I couldn’t believe that I about stabbed myself. I wouldn’t have ever learned this. I closed my eyes send a small prayer to my father above, thanking him, then returned to listening to my father tell me stories.
When we got into my room he made me lay down on my stomach. He began to rub lotion onto my back, and prayed over me. I listened to him as he prayed and I began to felt something. At first it was just irritating but soon it hurt. He put hand cuffs on my hands and my feet. Cuffing them to the bed. I began to scream as the pain grew, and I pulled hard on my hand and legs. I’ve been stabbed, shot and even poisoned once, and nothing was as bad as this. It was a pain that was hard to describe. Finally the pain stopped and I passed out.
When I woke, my father sat by me, while Yuki and Marcia paced around the room. My mother came in with water, and I started to sit up. I felt something soft touch my skin. I turned my head to see two snow white wings. I spread them a little and marveled at them. My father looked at me with admiration. “Your eyes are so beautiful.” He said. “You got one like my mothers and one like mine.” He said stroking my face. My mother had a soft smile, one I hadn’t seen in a long time. My father helped me stand up and held my wings out. “Let’s start with flying. Training is extremely easy, because most of it is just you. You just have to get the hand of it with practice. Not much I can do.” He said leading me out of my room and to our basement. The ceiling was high so it was perfect for the occasion.
After my father taught me to fly and control my gifts, he explained to me that being able to hear, smell, and see things most humans can’t. It made much since because every time I took down any bad person, it was always because I was able to notice something other people couldn’t. My father was such a great man, but now he had to leave, and my heart sank. We went up to the addict room and he looked at me.
“This is your last chance you come with me Zera. I won’t be able to come back to earth once I leave.” I look down about to cry again. I ran to him and hugged him. My wings dragged on the floor, and my heart felt just as low. “I don’t want you to leave. I have a life here already, but I don’t want to lose you again daddy.” I muttered into his white shirt. He held me close to him. I felt one of his own tears fall down onto me, though I couldn’t hear any signs of him crying. He softened up on the hug, and looked out to the setting sun. He sat me down on the ground and looked me straight in the eyes. He took off a necklace that was hidden by his shirt. It had a cross on it, and he put it around my neck. I laid my hands on my legs, trying to be strong for him. He stood straight and transformed back into a dove. I closed my eyes waiting for him to fly off. I didn’t hear any wing flaps though. Instead I felt the soft feathers. I opened my eye to see my father, a dove. I looked outside, the sun just about gone. I didn’t quite understand. If he didn’t leave he would stay a dove forever. I opened the window figuring he couldn’t do it himself, but he just looked at me. I realized then what he was doing. I hugged the small bird close to me. Never again would my father and I be separated again.