Bent over squashed remains, I tilted my head to try and make out what it used to be.
Standing on the hot road, I was grateful to have my shoes back on to avoid the thick humidity I could feel peeling upwards. The heat from the sun had helped burn them back into something dry after I carefully picked my way off the outlook and back through the trees to this sizzling tar this morning. My pants were currently burning into my backside and my shirt was tied across my forehead, flapping along my back like a cape to try and shelter my bright feathers.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTeRXXfUOw
Leaf picked at the broken tail of the mush, jumping back. I nudged it with my foot, trying to flip it over.
The guts were sprayed up the road in chunks. It had been here for so long that the black marks from multiple tyres crushing it relentlessly were now ingrained into the pulp.
It didn't even have a head anymore. Was that clumped fur or some sort of shattered bone?
It fascinated me. I checked the dead road to make sure I wasn't about to be the next victim.
"Come on" I jerked my head forward as Leaf took another chance to tug at it, jumping again "it's been dead for a while."
And it was just sitting here, going to waste.
No. I had to keep going.
The crow slipped out a bone, hopping along with it while trying to juggle the scrap in its beak.
I peered back at the pulp, then to the happy crow.
It couldn't be that bad if it was eating it....
No.
But...
That was gross.
But also so natural.
Fuck it.
I powered back to the roadkill and squatted down, using two claws to pick up a shattered piece of the body and wrinkle my nose at it.
What was I doing? I wasn't starving. I didn't need to do this.
Leaf clicked before snatching the lump from me to gobble up. They shoved their head around me to tear at the body.
"Is it really that good?" I eyed it.
It kept snapping its beak into the mangled ribs, twisting out bits of inside.
Urgh. I didn't have to do this...
The doctor did say I had to embrace my instincts. Eating Adrian had been one of them for a while now. In my dreams, his insides tasted amazing.
Would this be the same?
Forcing my finger into the body, I gouged out a pulpy black chunk. Leaf snatched up the body, dragging it as it hopped away before deciding flying was better.
Well, it was just me and this little bit....
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and shoved it into my mouth.
Chewing through the stench of rubber and iron and the pungent smell of deteriorating meat, I felt myself lurch at how the mixture of textures cracked and squashed between my sharp teeth. I could hear the crunching inside my head when I hit something hard.
Was that bone...?
Separating it with my tongue and picking it out, it was a fragment of tar.
Bone mixed with the pulp. I pulled those tiny shards out too.
When I dropped all the foreign objects onto the road, I swallowed the minced meat, bracing myself.
Soon....
Any moment now.....
Sighing, I knew there was no use waiting for a reaction from my stomach that grumbled at the tiny sliver of pungent meat.
It actually wasn't bad. The taste could have been much better, and I guess a fresh body wouldn't have the hard tar caked across it. I looked around for where Leaf might have dropped it.
It was gone. I pulled myself back up, putting my claws into my mouth to suck them clean.
Not bad. Was this the taste that Tawn craved so often? I could see why now.
Why hadn't I tried it sooner? Was I just too scared of the judgement to embrace being a creature made for killing?
Without wings, I wasn't going to be doing any of that. The element of surprise was beyond me now.
Continuing to walk, I picked past the mush squashed into the cracks of the road winding further.
Not many trees here out here to offer shade. They were all gathered around the cliff I turned to grin at while walking backwards.
If the crows nest hadn't occupied the area so close, I probably would have made a home on that outlook. The view from up there sparked something inside me that made me feel so alive, just like when I twirled and flipped in the air for my shows.
I missed them already. There was no sense of freedom and weightlessness out here as I walked along, aware of the weight I carried and how slow I was venturing on foot.
I couldn't change that. I would have to adapt to life as a grounded bird. Other creatures couldn't fly and they survived just fine out here, so I could too.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqfJcfveqRG
I saw Leaf swerving around in the air as I continued onwards, feeling the sting of sunburn setting into my hot skin. My feathers pushed outwards to try and capture any slight breeze. Non-existent as it was, I could remain hopeful.
I saw barbed wire fencing pushed across the grassy landscapes on my left and right. Some trees speckled within to offer a miniscule amount of shade for the livestock that nestled beneath it. Others roamed for the best cuts of dry grass.
There sure were a lot of cows out this way. Majority were black with thick white bands around their middles. From back here, they looked like ribbons. I smiled at how silly that was.
Beneath one tree to my left was a dog hybrid. Leaning against it as they sat, they noticed me too. I waved, walking onwards, they returned the gesture and kept watching the livestock.
Another approached the fence further up so that I would cross paths with it. It had matching black fur to the cows, white smeared down the middle of its head and across its chest instead of in a band around the middle.
This collie was bigger than the normal one barking beside it. The fur was longer and the face larger. There was a collar on this one that the normal one didn't have.
I soon realized that the reason for the large size was so it could accommodate for the extra eye I spotted blinking behind the usual set, or the mouths that opened up to pant where the white met the black on the face, flopping two tongues on either side of the nose.
The tail wagged, splitting into two. It didn't look like it wanted to attack me, but I stayed at my safe distance up on the road.
What the hell was that thing?! I hadn't seen anything so bizarre in my life, and my life was made to be a spectacle of such things.
I couldn't take my eyes off it. Even when it bounded along the fence after me, I was too nervous to show my back to it.
The end of the fence line was way off in the distance. I'd just have to keep walking with a turned head until then.
I moved to the other side of the road, just in case. The dog barked with the hybrid, determined on driving me away.
The livestock on this side had another hybrid that just looked like a larger banded cow. It lifted it's head over the others, blinking back and chewing the grass dangling from its mouth. The others followed its gaze, watching me from afar. When they saw I was just walking past, they dropped their heads back down.
It was safer over here.
Ahead, I saw dirt trampled across the road from one field to the other. There was even a sign stating that it was a livestock crossing. I felt my heart drop when I saw both sides were just open for free flow.
Nothing would stop that dog hybrid from coming after me when I reached it.
Past the open gate was a home settled around more trees and a little brown fence. On my side was a large barn I could see a figure walking around the opening of. A blue quad bike rested beside the shelter.
Well, if I did face problems, at least there was help nearby.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuHn648EqP
I tried to steady my hammering heart when I felt the dirt roll beneath my shoes. Leaf flew ahead, cawing as they circled the field for any source of food or water near the barn.
Keeping a nervous eye on the hybrid that started to race along the fence from behind me, I saw I had caught the attention of the person around the barn. They had a pitchfork propped upwards as they watched me. Inside, a piled wheelbarrow was manned by another person. I noticed a third poke their head from inside to stare as well.
On show again. I just smiled and waved, making sure they saw me before the hybrid got to me.
Picking my way across the stream of dirt, I saw the hybrid stop at the open side of the gate, pacing and barking relentlessly. The other joined in to make sure their owners heard the commotion.
One got on the quad to roar it to life. I picked up my pace to try and avoid a confrontation.
The dirt here sure was thick. Dried under the sun and stamped with hundreds of hooves, it was splattered with lumpy piles of shit I dodged. My feet rolled over the uneven ground as I tried to hurry across the danger zone.
The quad was on the fence line in no time. It buzzed over to me, the person controlling it leaning over to yell and catch my attention.
I stopped to face them.
A young woman sat there in a light blue singlet that was covered with a checkered green and white over shirt. Blue denims were tucked into black boots with dark mud caked under the bottoms. When I saw the mud was mixed with grass and smelled the familiar warm, grassy aroma now surrounding me, I knew it was shit.
Her orange hair was plaited and hidden under a black cap branded with a faded logo of some car company. She stopped the quad but didn't kill the puttering engine as it idled.
"Hey!" she called "where are you going?"
Going? Even I didn't know for sure.
"To the next town, I guess" I shrugged, lifting a heavy finger.
"You've been walking for quite a bit" she looked me over "did you want to get out of the sun? Have some water?"
I smiled at the offering and nodded. I pulled off the shirt from my head so I could flip it and put it back on normally.
"That would be nice."
"I'll pick you up" she grinned "don't move."
I could do that. I stepped back and planted myself at the edge of the road, right before it fell into a dip.
The woman zoomed off, pulling up a wireless radio to tell the others her plans. I looked over to see them wave and continue their work.
When the quad dipped down onto the road, she whistled for the smaller dog who came speeding up to jump onto a grid on the back. It hung it's head out the side, barking at me as she sped over and stopped beside me.
"Get on" she tilted her head and gestured behind her.
She wanted me to hold onto her? There wasn't enough room to not make that a possibility.
I was instantly aware of my claws, grimacing down at them.
"Hold the grab bar if you have to" she smirked "like a sissy bar."
"A what?"
"Just get on" she sighed, giggling.
I advanced and planted a foot on the hold to swing my leg over. Gripping into the sides of the hard seat, I nervously leant my arms back to clutch the hot metal bar behind me.
This didn't feel stable at all.
The dog panted, licking up the side of my head that I tried to turn from it.
"You good?"
"Yeah" I groaned, grumbling through the horrid breath of the animal as it tried to sniffle my cheek.
The woman turned back around so she could lurch us forward over the dirt. Once we were on the other side, it took off, making me yell out in panic as my heart was thrown into my mouth.
She said something that was muted by the wind whipping and whistling through my feathers. The drone of the quad cut out all other noise.
The road peeled beneath us and ran into a smear of colour with the grass below. This woman covered more ground in a few seconds that I could in several minutes. Just walking from the cliff to here had taken hours at my steady pace.
She indicated for an open dirt road to our right. Lowing and curving towards it, we were bumped around as the quad rolled over the uneven adjustment.
"Still there?" she paused briefly to check.
I swallowed, trying to remember words over my flopping heart.
"Y-Yeah."
Laughing, she took us up the dirt road towards the house. Veering onto the grass before the gate at the fence, the dog leapt off to bark and wag its tail before we had even fully stopped.
I waited for the woman to cut off the engine, instantly feeling pins and needles prickling across both arse cheeks.
Cautiously dragging my other foot across the seat, I slid down and off the seat. The woman noticed my uneasiness and giggled at it.
"Come on" she led the way through the gate she hooked an arm over to unlatch.
I followed, letting the dog pass as it barrelled through to the front door of the house.
Both sides of the path up towards it were teaming with flowers. Thorny ones branched out with beautiful bloomed heads of orange and yellow. Some ran red like a sunset through the pale petals.
Running along the edge of the home were deep green leaves teaming with bright pink berries. Around some berries were clumps of white balls sprouting small tendrils from them.
Stairs led up to a verandah shading the front of the house. The woman led the way and bent down to pat the dog while I took in the view of it all.
The massive field with the hybrids and cows was to the right. Despite being starved of water, it still has some greenery about it in contrast to the black and brown road.
There was two chairs and a small round table nestled on that side of the verandah. In the middle of the wooden table was a vase of the large flowers from the front.
Walking up to the left, I saw the road stretching onwards for what seemed like forever. Way off at the end of it, a few trees grew to obscure the way. It ended when it curved to the right and started to pull up into another mountainous outcrop.
Leaf powered ahead for the trees happily. It cawed out as it did, making me smile.
The mountain we had come from could be seen from the stairs of this shaded place. Way off in the distance was the familiar peak and bare patch of the outlook.
I had actually travelled that far....
"It's quite beautiful, isn't it?" the woman admired the view from the open door "that's the joy about having a place out here, compared to the city."
"The city sucks" I wrinkled my nose as I entered the house to immediately be met with an open-plan living arrangement like Adrian's "it's noisy and smells bad."
"Breathe in as much fresh air as you want here" she commented as she took off her shoes and plopped them down in a tiled area to my left where other shoes sat. The rest of the house was a light brown zig-zag pattern of small wooden slats.
I followed suit, pushing my socks into the shoes I planted on the edge of the tiles.
There was a dresser against the wall to my right with photos placed along the top of groups of strangers. Above the dresser was a massive mirror that had golden wheat circling the outer rim, speeding like curved rays of sunshine.
"That's an old one" the woman spoke up from around a wall ahead "mum's had that for years."
"The other people were your parents?" I asked, pulling myself from the statement.
"Oh, no" she laughed, disappearing again "that was Minny and Axel. They come to help me muck out the pens we have for some of the cows on calf watch. Luckily there's not much to do."
"Lucky" I smiled, drawn to the dining table across the room on my left.
The wood on it was tinted blue with streaks of white. The centre ran green from the leaves out the front. The pink berries poked out, with the sprays of white dotted along.
Around each wooden chair were cork placemats depicting people sheering, mustering sheep, or standing in old corrugated iron towns. From the signatures, I was supposed to know these seemingly famous prints.
The cushions tied to each chair were patched together from old fabric. Every one was different but equally colourful and interesting.
There's were six seats here but only three people I had seen. The way this woman spoke about the other two made it sound like they were just friends and not family.
Did she live here alone?
I turned to look at the wall running from the right side ahead, right next to a barn door on black rails. Across there were wood and iron shelves with books settled across them. Some had little vases of pink masses with curled fingers facing inwards. Others were red, and some were yellow. Spikey silvery green leaves sprayed out from the funny looking flowers.
Laid across the floor was the skin of a cow. With it being brown and white, it wasn't one of the ones this woman tended to. It did have an odd symbol branded into one side though.
She emerged from the room beyond the wall, holding a pitcher of water crammed with all sorts of fruit slices. In her other hand she carried two glasses.
"Take a seat" she nodded to the table I still lingered at "your feet must hurt."
They did, but I had just been trying to ignore the pain now throbbing back into my soles. I was surprised my shoes hadn't fallen apart from how much walking I had been doing lately.
"I'm Arisa by the way" she smiled as she sat down next to me and poured the glass closest to me first.
"Avery" I replied with a small smile.
"Funny name" she commented "is it common for your kind to have bird-themed names?"
"Oh" I started to giggle "no. Just me. It was easier."
"Than....?"
I let out a little chirp that rose to a peak at the end. To an untrained ear, it kind of sounded like "ay-we" type noise.
Mum was usually quiet on the nest. When we were fed, she would croon to us. That was the sound she associated with me. It was soft and loving, just as I remembered it.
"Avery is easier" I commented.
I made it myself when I left. I took what I loved most and turned it into a name that everyone had to use. It was a constant reminder of the love that I had been missing for years now.
"Much" Arisa giggled, drinking.
I copied her, feeling how cold the glass was compared to my hand holding it.
The water was bitter when I drank. Or was it sour? Whatever it was, it confused my taste buds expecting something refreshing. The rind itself was leeched in to make it all so much potent.
"You don't like the fruit?" Arisa asked when she saw me looking it over instead, pressing my tongue to my teeth to try and get rid of the odd sensation prickling across it.
"Oh, no" I forced a smile "I just wasn't expecting....that."
"Ah" she realized "I guess this is a bit different to the stuff out there."
Did she think I was a wild hybrid? She honestly didn't know, did she?
"You don't know who I am?" I took another sip.
She giggled, following with a skeptical look.
"Should I?"
"Paragon? Chains and ribbons?" I promoted her.
Arisa thought, laughing.
"Is that a strip club?"
I snorted, shaking my head. She honestly had no clue.
That was kind of refreshing. I didn't need to be so guarded around someone who sat across from me obliviously.
"How long have you been walking for, Avery?" Arisa drank again, keeping her interested eyes on me.
Was it just yesterday that I got stuck in that swamp in the early hours of the day? From keeping up a steady pace with nothing but the sun and moon to track departed time, it felt a lot longer.
"A day" I replied.
She made a sympathetic face that was laced with a little bit of disgust.
Oh. She could smell me. The river water mustn't have done a good job of removing the stale swamp odour at all.
Sleeping in the dirt wouldn't have helped either. My wet clothes had baked in the sun, but would have done nothing to remove the musty smell I was now made aware of.
"Do you want to take a shower?" she grimaced, trying to remain bright "I can wash your clothes too."
It wasn't a request, only disguised as one.
I wouldn't be winning over any more kindhearted help if I repelled them with my stench. This was the once chance I'd possibly only get.
I was still somewhat human. I needed to remember that.
"Thank you" I blushed back.
She was up in an instant to lead the way to the barn door on the wall.
Sliding it across, and smirking at me when I watched it run along the metal tracks, I stepped into a narrow hall.
Down at the right was a window with a cow hide chair pressed beneath it. In the wall sat an integrated bookshelf adorned with plants, statues, and candles amongst the reading material.
Up to the left was a closed door that had a hanging sign indicating it was a toilet.
On the wall across from us was another barn door closest to the toilet. In between that was a gap, before a second barn door sat in the area before the book nook.
"This is the bathroom" Arisa led me to the first barn door to slide it across and open it up to me "I'll take your bag and wash everything inside too, including your socks by the front door."
I held onto my bag when I swung it from my shoulder, looking down at it.
"There's things in there that look like junk, but they aren't" I warned her "please don't throw them out or ruin them."
"Oh, you're one of those bower-bird types" she giggled as I carefully handed my bag over "am I going to find a bunch of blue pegs and bottle caps in here?"
I frowned back, puzzled by what she meant. Nothing of mine was blue.
"Go" she gestured to the bathroom "use what you have to. There's an open cupboard opposite the shower that has towels in it. Just dump it in the bath when you finish using it. Don't forget to use whatever shampoo, conditioner, soap, or body wash you want, ok? If I'm taking you to Shalemore, I don't want to be trapped with that...smell...the whole way."
Shalemore. Was it a small town? A city, perhaps? Maybe just a stretch of wilderness with one or two houses along it?
I smiled, aware of my sharp teeth I flashed at her face that slowly changed. Turning to the bathroom, I quickly closed the door so I didn't startle Arisa any more.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcVXOFeTkD
The soft slapping of my burning feet on the cold grey tiles had me looking down at the grown nails curving slightly over the ends like the begining of strange talons.
Lint from my socks was stuck under them and along the nail beds. Between my toes was more of the soft fabric.
Peering back at the door to make sure Arisa wasn't lingering, I leant across to slide across the lock.
It looked like one more suited for a cage, not a bathroom door. Still, it felt familiar. Something like that was nice in a place so strange.
There was a sink to my left that was shaped like a bowl on a floating wooden cabinet. The mirror above the sink was another golden one, made of sunflowers this time. To the right, and on the wall between it and the curved bathtub with golden clawed feet, was an integrated wooden column of square holes that were nestled with light yellow, light blue, and white towels.
Looking behind me at the glass partitions sprouting from either side of the patterned floor of the shower, the whole front was open. There was no door for this shower, only two barricades either side.
Wouldn't the water hit the sink and the wood? I studied the plush pebble-shaped bath mat for any signs of water around it.
Pulling down my pants and walking past the shower to the bath to drape them on it, I felt how cold the metal was beneath my hands.
Tugging up my shirt to lay it beside the pants, the smooth sensation had me returning to run my hand along the length on my way back to the shower.
The window above the bath was curtained so that the land outside was obscured behind a sheet of light blue. Still, I could see the blob of the giant hybrid and dogs running within the field stretching back the way I had come.
A vase of pink berry branches and sunset roses sat in the corner. They gave off a sweet smell that could do nothing to disguise the stench stained into my skin.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTo0IWXzEjn
The water warmed up almost instantly when I twisted the olden-styled taps and gratefully stepped beneath the hot water smothering me. It pounded across my feathers and leeched into my skin, washing down a wave of sticky tackiness I didn't know I had accumulated.
I found the shelves of soaps and washes on the other side of the glass. Leaning out to grab a lavender soap and orange body wash, I was quick to greet the pounding water again pushing billows of steam up towards the dripping roof.
The thick wash was like syrup in my feathers. It bubbled and lathered into white foam when I scrubbed it through, seeing some feathers pull out and swirl for the plughole from the roughness of my treatment.
Blocking the plug further as I slathered my arms and face, I moved to work on my sore legs now trembling from having to stand again.
My feet pulsed heat into the bubbly water pooling around them. Lowering myself down with a grunt of pain, I sat under the water instead to continue cleaning myself.
Plucking feathers from the plughole threatening to be blocked by my arse, I made sure every inch of me was scrubbed and rubbed with the fruity wash. After it spilled from me, the soft lavender was forced through the suds to my already slathered skin.
The lavender tingled my nose when I made it my new essence. It warmed my lungs as each breath was tangled with the thick, powdery aroma.
There wasn't a trace of the swamp on me. I smelled like someone else; someone who didn't have gold leaf integrated into their veins or years of stains and sweat packed beneath their skin. I felt lighter too. The water washed away my stresses of Paragon life and ever returning to it. The further I got, the more hopeful I became. Masking the city filth with country dirt and perfumed toiletries, I was slowly renewing myself into the person I didn't even know anymore.
It was nice just to sit here and let the water drown out everything else.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfr6Scz2WD
A soft knock pulled me from my sleepy stupor after a few minutes. Forcing weight beneath my feet and finally cutting off the water, I shuffled over to tug down a towel to try and saw out some of the weight now soaked into my feathers.
The ones plugging the drain were poked around the flowers on the sil to act as some sort of gift for this kind stranger.
"It'll be about an hour before it's done" Arisa spoke through the door "then another for drying."
Two hours? I sighed at how quickly time was getting away from me. It'd be night when I'd have my belongings returned to me, and I'd be searching for another place to stay, yet again.
Would all this time and effort into being clean be wasted? I'd probably end up somewhere in the dirt again.
"I also put your phone on charge in the kitchen" she continued "and your things are on the bench out here."
"Thank you!" I called back as I kept messing up my feathers with the towel before wrapping it around my waist and tucking it on itself to secure it.
Grabbing my clothes from the bath, Arisa was waiting for me at the door to whisk them away. She deliberately kept her eyes focused on my face to avoid letting them slip downwards. I noticed the effort she went to not to glance out of curiosity.
"I'm sorry I've got nothing else to wear" I called after her.
"It's alright! It's only for a little bit!" her voice came from further in the house "relax! You can get into those missed calls you got while you were in the shower!"
Adrian was still trying to contact me? Instantly I felt horrible at leaving him without closure to my whereabouts. A vague message wouldn't have kept him quiet, like I had hoped.
Id have to face facts and talk to him. I was far away now that the possibility of him coming here was slim.
Checking the hall that I walked out into, I still felt self-conscious about walking around with only a piece of fabric giving me decency. My hand gripped the knot on the side to make sure it wasn't going to fall away accidentally.
Arisa powered through from the kitchen when I approached it. She smiled as she passed, pointing to the small wooden island in the middle that my phone was connected to. All of my trinkets were laid out carefully on the kitchen bench to the right.
There was a bowl of fruit here. It looked real when I saw the dimples in the orange and spots along the red and green pear skin.
"Grab some of you are hungry!" her voice called out "I've just got to duck out for a minute! Will you be ok?"
"Oh, sure" I replied while turning to watch her briskly walk for the front door where the dog was waiting.
It closed and I returned to the kitchen in my towel.
At least I didn't have an audience. I didn't feel so weird now just pulling up a stool from the island and sitting on it.
Spinning it around, I eyed all of my things while reaching over to grab a pear to bite into. My other hand reached for my phone to see it flooded with all sorts of icons across the top indicating missed calls and messages.
Surprisingly, Adrian wasn't the last one. It was an unknown number that had left a message stating it was someone called Flower.
Flower? Did I know that name?
I took a bite from the pear that dribbled down my chin while looking to the boards across the roof as I combed my interactions for some hint at who it was.
It didn't sound like one of my team, and it certainly didn't belong to the others. They had odd names; nothing like 'Flower'.
I guess I could call it back, like what it was asking to.
Pressing the number and putting my phone on speaker, I crunched on the pear as it whirred noisily.
"Hello?" a female voice picked up after a few seconds.
I heard clicking and tapping in the background. There was rustling of papers and someone mumbling for assistance that the person brushed off with an annoyed noise.
"Hey, you called me?" I spoke up, still working through the pear and juice I smeared a hand along.
"Oh! Holy shit!" they lightened up instantly "Avery! I didn't think you'd ring back!"
"I'm free now" I shrugged "why are you calling me? Who are you anyway?"
There were little laughs from the back. I heard this "Flower' scoff in offense, scratching something near the phone.
"Uh, your sound technician?" she bit "the one who makes the show actually sound good and in synch? I can't believe you don't know me!"
"I don't know a lot of people" I replied lazily, crunching away as she fought through her frustration "the way Bruce likes it."
"Speaking of him, that's the reason I'm calling you. I.."
"How'd you get my number anyway?" I leant forward when I interrupted her, as if i'd be able to see this person's face through the foreign number and talk time covering the screen.
She scoffed, grumbling.
"There's a sheet with everyone's numbers on it that he has" she rushed through "that's not the point here! I need you to do something for me."
I leant back, making sure that my next bite was crisp and loud. Instantly, my suspicions were raised by the stranger. I wanted her to know she wasn't of importance in my new plan.
"Depends..."
"I'm making something to get back at Bruce" she breathed, slyness edging her voice now "something massive. I need you to send me through videos of your life out there before your gross fingers become too big to press a keypad."
I paused, looking down at my claws then back to the phone with a glare.
"Why?"
She dragged it an irritated groan.
"I just told you! Do you not listen?"
This woman was really starting to irritate me. All I got were jabs and insults from the simplest thing. My question was about why I should bother with her request at all.
"You want me to send you videos of where I am?" I scoffed back at her, laughing "fat chance. You just want to trick me so you can send more people after me."
"Look, I heard about all that, and I'm not going to do anything that stupid" she grumbled, hissing at another interruption before scribbling again "just make a bunch of videos of stupid shit like you walking along the grass or something fun to show you are happier out there, and I'll figure out the hard stuff, ok? If you've got anything else you've taken photos of or filmed while here, send it over. I need all the evidence I can get to throw Bruce out on his arse."
Her tone was condescending. She was belittling me, even when she needed me to cooperate to make her plan of revenge work.
I could do that, but she didn't need to be so cruel about it.
"I'll see what I can do" I muttered back, biting off the neck of the pear to crunch on the top.
"Save my number so you don't forget my name again" she sighed, slamming her hand down to make me jump from the noise "and stop eating so loudly when you are talking to me! Honestly, you Stars are always so rude!"
I slowly moved my finger across to the red symbol as Flower kept ranting at me, pressing it quickly mid-sentence to cut her off.
I was left staring at the fading screen that returned to the multitude of other tasks I had to finish.
I forgot to chew as I just sat there for a moment, recovering. When I did blink myself out of my frozen state, I batted the phone closer so I could saved her as 'Flower from Paragon.'
Hopefully that was the last I'd hear from her.
The vibration and new message popping up told me otherwise. Flower from Paragon was calling me an arsehole in messages now.
Sighing, I swiped it away and moved past Adrian's calls to find that Alowyn had tried to ring me around them. I could deal with him before ripping off the bandaid for the endless wall of frantic dials.
Reducing the pear to its core that I threw into the bin I found integrated into the island itself, I pressed Alowyn's contact and moved to the bench to my left to wash the stickiness from my hands and face.
The phone barely got through its first whir before it was replaced with blowing wind.
"Hang on!" I heard him call out under it all "I've got to land!"
I chuckled to myself when I heard the beating of wings cut through the noisy wind. There was a slashing noise as the wings quickened to help slow down his descent.
He was doing bird things. I could hear Adrian's voice in my head telling me again, like he had the first time.
A branch groaned, snapping slightly. I heard Alowyn let out a breath and juggle the phone.
"You there?"
I wiped my hands, laughing.
"Yeah."
"Thank god" he composed himself, drawing in another breath "GUYS! WE'LL SEARCH HERE!"
I heard bird call in response. There was a shrill whistle that sounded almost like an explosive being dropped.
"What are you looking for?" I returned to my phone now "are you ok?"
"Yeah...not really" Alowyn's voice broke at the end and he drew in a shaking breath "Soren and Bronte are missing."
My heart dropped. I took a seat.
"I don't know if they fledged and I missed it" he began to babble "or someone somehow...." he paused again "climbed a massive tree to take them, but I'm kind of freaking out."
"They'll be fine" I tried to soothe him "they're babies. They wouldn't have gotten far."
"That's what I thought" he replied "but I've searched the area and everywhere else around it. I even searched inside the tree, in case somehow it rotted or they fell down it while I was locked up."
Locked up?
"Hang on, what happened?" I leant in closer "you went to jail?!"
"Not on my own terms" he huffed "Paragon was raided. They locked up all the hybrids they could get their hands on. Questioned a bunch of us."
I heard a long whistle ascended from afar, cutting off when the branch groaned again.
"Nothing yet" another voice came "August is going to take Boyce and search over to the right; Reed, Joshua, and Hendrix are going left."
"Ok" Alowyn's voice grew small.
"Who you talking to?" the voice grinned before I was snatched away "well, well, well, Avery! What are you doing calling Onyx and not me? Am I not good enough now, you bastard?"
I laughed when I recognised the voice now shouting playfully down the phone.
"Hello, Oliver."
"Trust you to get out of all the important work, you slacker!" he quipped "we are busting our feathers out here while you live it up... where are you exactly?"
"Living it up with fruit and water" I replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, right" he snorted "the sun's fried his brain. Knew a glittered hoe like him wouldn't cut it with the ones who actually know what they were doing."
"Right" Alowyn chuckled, rustling down the speaker before becoming the dominant voice again "he's just jealous he has to actually leave his sewing needles back at work with his balls."
"Oh ho!" Oliver laughed out "you want to go? Huh? Huh?"
I heard the tree shaking violently now. He was jumping up and down on the branch to try and dislodge Alowyn. I could hear it cracking further.
"Just go" he snorted "the Stars are talking."
Oliver scoffed.
"Pompous."
"Prick" Alowyn joked back before wings beat their way off into the distance.
"You two seem to be getting along" I noted.
Alowyn sighed, amused.
"Yeah, well, he's already lost his place to me. Put up a good fight though. Wouldn't recommend getting under those claws. I think he sharpens them with an actual whetstone in his spare time, to be honest."
A wet stone? I tried to picture how that would give him an advantage. Still, I knew Oliver was unforgiving with his words; he wouldn't hold back in a fight if there was an outcome that advanced him personally.
"Are you ok?"
"I'll be fine" he pushed my concern away "the more eyes I have looking for my brother and sister, the better. Stupid stuff like that can wait until later."
I nodded.
"How about you?" Alowyn asked now as soft calls rang out from somewhere nearby "Oliver told me you were going to try and walk the whole way home."
"I don't exactly have wings anymore" I joked back.
I didn't feel bad talking about my painful reminders with Alowyn. He listened and understood my deep-seated pain on the issue. It could be a good distraction for him from his missing family.
"Right" he smiled back "I guess legs are it then."
"I've been kind of lucky" I looked around the kitchen I sat in, getting up to check behind the door next to my drying trinkets that revealed a small laundry lined with blue wood countertops and tangled with the artificial scent of crisp cotton "I'm getting a lift to Shalemore once my clothes are dried."
Alowyn let out a noise of disbelief.
"You actually found someone who is cleaning your clothes?" he breathed, on the verge of laughter "and feeding you fr..."
"Fruit and water" I smiled over him "yeah, yeah. I know how it sounds."
"Does she need another pet?" Alowyn joked "Oliver is a little feisty, but I bet they could turn him into a singing canary in no time."
"Arisa is...."
"Arisaaaaa" he dragged out "ooohhhhh! She has a name!"
"It's not like that" I giggled back "she just saw me walking past her property and drove me up here. People can be nice for no reason."
Alowyn didn't believe me and made a noise to let me know.
"Just be careful. Some kindness can have strings attached. You can't get away quickly without wings; people will take advantage of that."
I rolled my eyes, smirking.
Arisa was nice. She didn't even know who I was.
"I'll be fine."
"I'm serious" he warned.
"It's ok" I insisted "you've got more important things to worry about than me."
Alowyn was quiet. I could hear the other's garbled chatting and calls further out as they kept up the search.
"You'll find them" I reassured him again "they're small."
"Yeah, I know" he sighed back "I'm just...."
He let out his breath.
"I fed them this morning, you know? And everything was fine. They were happy; I was happy. Then this afternoon, they were just....gone. I wasn't even gone that long. When I couldn't find them, I could only think of everyone at work. I had this stupid thought that maybe they went there, or maybe someone from there came here."
"Your place isn't recognisable" I reminded him.
An unsure noise was my reply. It made my stomach clench.
"I've been practicing with the ribbon Claire let me take on one of the branches that stick out near the top" he revealed "it's quite noticable. I use it as a guide from the sky now. They both watch me while I put on a little show for them. It's kind of cute."
So the hollow was compromised then. Alowyn wouldn't have known better. In his mind, he was only getting better for the position he had been forced into.
"It'll be fine" I told myself more than him.
"You think.....?" he paused for a little bit "that the cops would have taken them? They kicked Balae off her nest, and took a baby from the monkey here. Apparently, they destroyed a nest Elsie was making. I didn't even know she was pregnant. Do you think they would have followed me and got them then?"
"They couldn't" I frowned over the idea now "no, they'd have to have hybrids with them and...."
"They have. A bird was working there when I was being questioned. They've got a whole team of different types."
Shit. Maybe they could have then?
Alowyn took my silence for an answer, agreeing.
"I thought so too. But why?"
"I don't know. Maybe it wasn't even them?"
"Then who?" he seemed exasperated now, looking for an answer "the timing is just too coincidental. It has to be, it just has to."
Someone to blame. He needed something logical for all of this to make sense. The unknown was causing him to spiral back into panic.
Better a cop scale a tree than a predator swoop in and take them. It was completely absurd, but I didn't think rationality was sticking with Alowyn anymore.
Why take baby hybrids that weren't even shaped by human features like the rest of us? They wouldn't be obedient like the ones currently working for them.
Even Leaf was somewhat shaped with human features from the sporadic hikers, and it barely understood instructions. Leaf was more useful than Alowyn's brother and sister.
It was all too confusing. I just hoped Alowyn was able to find them before night set in. It wouldn't be long now.
The branches groaned again as someone joined Alowyn's side.
"We should keep looking" a little female voice I didn't recognize came now "there's nothing here."
Another noise. There was a crack.
"We've got a few hours left until dark" a male joined them "we should leave the night hunting to Oliver, Bonny, and Strigo. Only a few of us can see once the sun starts to go down."
"No, it's ok" Alowyn sighed, lowering me "we'll head back and search closer to the tree again. They won't be out this far."
"Are you sure?" the female quietly asked.
"They can't fly" he whimpered back "it was stupid to come this far anyway."
"Hey, it'll be alright. It wasn't stupid at all. We'll find them."
"We will" the male chimed in.
I heard rustling and Alowyn's breath down the phone again.
"I've got to go" he spoke softly "it was....nice talking to you again."
"You too" I swallowed the lump in my throat as he let out a little wavoring sob.
Calls from the others rang out in the air. I heard their wings beat as they passed on their flight back to the hollow.
His feet shuffled. He was ready to join them. I had taken him from something very important for far too long.
"Bye."
"Good luck" I replied, not knowing what else to say, before he hung up to continue the search.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrz7NhjIvGv
Sitting in the front seat of the bumpy ute in warm, crisp washed clothes smelling of fresh linen, I couldn't help but feel that my good luck wasn't deserved.
Arisa drove, shifting the cracked gear stick into position. The faded and cracked leather stuck to my skin clutching the edge of the seat. The old seatbelt strained when the car lurched and putted noisily up along the mountain road.
With the sun setting behind us, the road ahead was darkening, lit with the headlights spilling outwards.
Everything was working out for me. My mind couldn't shake from Alowyn and how he'd still be frantically searching for his family as the light faded too quickly.
I didn't deserve this. He did.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZ30obIvkw
Music played from the lit radio between us that Arisa sang and tapped along to. She grinned when I didn't know the words, trying to teach them to me.
Leaf bumped around in the back of the ute, huddled against the metal wall separating us as he tried to sleep. Fluffed up and with feathers being whipped about by the momentum of the drive, I wondered if he felt the cold. I sure did. Without this jacket, I would be shivering under my tiny feathers.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSVWrmLm3Y
Not many words were exchanged as I watched the passing trees, staked properties, and tarred, winding road disappear in a veil of darkness.
When it was completely covered, the light casting a curtain of whiteness before us nervously led the way. Bugs flew towards it like flecks of misty rain, disappearing just as quickly. The wind of our momentum rattled the loose pane beside me, groaning through the metal itself.
The whole ute smelled like sun-dried hay and old oil. It kind of reminded me of the same sting the gold leaf gave me nostrils when I smelled it packed into those containers. The leather seats didn't help by adding to the musty smell currently replacing the fresh air whipping past.
Each bump and squeak of the car felt like it was about to topple off the edge. A curve turned into a swerve for the crashing fall to the unknown; a grind of the gear left us rolling for the free moments where a truck could speed around and smash into us.
I hated this feeling of fear and uncertainty. Up on the ribbons and chains, I was confident because I knew my routine and the people behind it. Out here, a simple road was lurching my heart rate with this ancient car.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaA8EQZQl3V
Arisa drove me to the edge of the town where an overgrown home was nestled. Parking out the front, a sign had been mounted in the front on the fence that stated it was a bed and breakfast called "Nan and Pop's."
With a quick call to the number on the bottom, we were met by an elderly man in striped blue pyjamas.
His white hair was combed over to try and make it look manageable. He wrapped a grey nightgown over his pyjamas to be decent, apologizing for his appearance.
With a few words of my situation spoken between them, I was ushered towards the fence where the gate was opened.
Leaf woke from its sleep to groggily hop off into the darkness somewhere to the right of the fence.
Arisa smiled and waved me off, shouting goodbyes so she could begin the trip back home along that winding, dark road.
Just like that, I was somebody else's problem.
14Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ26n34rjF3
I wrapped my arms around my bag and shuffled within the fence, along a path choked on either side with thick foliage acting as some sort of wall. An elderly woman smiled from the open front door, also in a closed grey nightgown that matched her hair tightened into curlers.
I was gently guided to the left and the door immediately there. The light was flicked on and flooded the room with a dull orange glow.
The large bed in the middle of the wall was slathered with a puffy quilt made of all sorts of different colours and patterns. At the end of it was two folded towels arranged into a cross with a bar of soap planted in the middle.
A wooden chest with deep ethnic carvings sat at the end of the metal poles of the bed. Opposite it was a vintage dresser with round mirror attached.
There was a sort of smell to it all that felt homely. Kind of musty, but soft in a way. It was hard to put my finger on it, but it made me feel safe.
Fishing out eighty dollars for the sleepy couple who made sure I was fine to be settled in and warmly wished me goodnight on their way out, I was left to drop my bag on the chest, flick off the light that slowly burnt out, and slip under the cold quilt with my phone for company.
Clutching it close as I stared at the mountain of messages and calls, I knew I couldn't delay it any longer and make things worse.
I got a taste of that anxiety today through Alowyn. I knew Adrian would be the same, and I had cruelly been the one to prolong it.
With a deep breath, I settled in to begin my plee for forgiveness and understanding through curled, serrated claws fumbling through the first sentence to Adrian.
I had to make things right, before my only form of communication with him would no longer be an option and I truly would become a beast.
ns18.188.59.124da2
