The Angel Experiment

Flying Lesson

Harry waits about twenty minutes to unfreeze time, so we've gained a few miles on Franco and his men. Gemma looks completely worn out. I sigh and tell Harry that we need to stop. Our lungs are stronger than hers, now. We have to remember that.

"Gemma." I say. She looks up at me.

"Hmm?" She looks up at me, breathing heavily.

"We need to be up in the trees if you're going to be catching a breath." I inform her. She nods. "Harry." He looks up at me, raising his eyebrows. "Ready for your first flying lesson?" I ask. He hesitates, his eyes wide, then he nods.

"Yeah. Let's do it. "

"Gemma? Can you climb?" She nods, so I point to a tree close by. "Try to climb that one. We'll meet you in the middle. Harry is getting a flying lesson." I smirk and she nods, jogging to the tree. 

"Wait. What?" Harry looks at me and his eyes are wide, but I can see some excitement.

"You're flying. Come with me." I tell him. He nods and follows me as I run across the open field. Once we're at the end, I take my jacket off and tie it around my waist. "Ready?" I ask. He nods. "Okay, so first, slowly open your wings and move them up and down. It seems easy, but don't go crazy. Lean in the direction you want to fly. We're going to the middle of that soft pine over there." I tell him and lift myself into the air. He furrows his eyebrows as he figures out his new limbs and slowly rises into the air. I laugh as he sloppily flaps his wings, trying to get the hang of it, and nod for him to follow my lead.

After showing the correct way to move while the flies, I lead him into the top of the tree where Gemma is pulling herself up into the same spot. Harry surprisingly sticks the landing and proudly brushes off his shirt with his hands. Gemma smiles and takes a seat on a branch.

"Pretty good for your first time." I grin, patting Harry on the shoulder.

"Thanks." he smugly shrugs.

"So how long is our break going to be?" Gemma asks.

"Um . . . I'm not really sure. Gemma, can you read minds to a certain distance?" I ask, wondering if it was safe to fly above the trees.

"Yeah. Up to about a mile. Why?" She sits forward with her hands under her chin.

"Is there anyone out here besides us?" She makes a thinking face for a minute and looks back up to me.

"No. We should be safe." She smiles and I nod.

"Okay. You two stay here. I'm going to look for the end of the woods. I need to find the city limits." I inform them. They nod, so I take that signal to fly straight upwards into the sky. It takes me a while to get to the height I need,  but when I do, it feels great! I look far north and smile when I see the end of the woods only about two miles away.

"Alina?!" I look down and frown. Gemma is leaning out of the top of the tree with a worried look.

"What's wrong?" I shout.

"Something is wrong with Harry!" My eyes widen and I immediately spiral downward toward the tree when something hits my wing. I yelp and begin flapping to see an arrow stuck in it. It hurts, but not as bad as a bullet. Whoever shot it didn't get it into my nerve. Its in the part of my wing that they had to fix after the arena.

I pull it out, wincing at the pain and hold onto it as I land in the tree. Gemma is standing next to the trunk of the tree and I look next to her and gasp. "Oh no."

"Oh no, what?" Gemma asks. Harry is stood next to her with his eyes wide, looking down at his invisible arms.

"They must not have finished the process." I walk toward Harry and grab his shoulders, making him look up at me. I smile at him and hug him before speaking again. "They use these needles with a clear liquid and inject us with them. It's like an invisibility serum." I stop talking as Gemma takes off her backpack. She opens it to reveal tons of needles with different serums in them. They each have labels. Thank God!

"Gemma, you're a genious!" I grin and lean forward, then look through them until I find a couple of the right vials. "Come on. We need to get to the end of the woods. That's where everyone is waiting." I tell them.

"Wait, why can't he just take it now?" Gemma asks.

"It will knock him out. We'll never get there on time to run Franco out if we do it now." I  tell her, and step back, looking at Harry. "You good?" I ask him. He nods and I take my hands off of his shoulders. His invisible hand grabs mine and it startles me, but I smile afterwards, slightly squeezing it.

"I hear someone coming. We need to go." Gemma says. I nod and grab the arrow that struck me from my boot.

"Wait. Where did you get that?" Harry asks.

"It hit me when I was flying." I shrug.

"Are you okay?" He asks, looking at my wing.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I haven't been able to feel anything in that wing since the accident." I chuckle. "Come on. Let's get out of here. No more flying." They both nod and we climb down from the tree, heading toward the little town that Shaunda called Holmes Chapel.

***

"Alina . . . " Harry mumbles after we've walked for almost an hour. I turn around and frown. His entire arms and shoulders have gone invisible.

"Hey." I walk closer to him and hold out my hands. He takes them slowly, but suddenly he lets go and wraps his arms completely around me in a tight hug. I'm tense from surprise at first, but then I calm down and relax. He just holds me like that for who-knows how long, until Gemma clears her throat. Harry pulls back and grabs my hand before we begin walking again. And then I hear familiar voices - well, thoughts - making me tell them to follow faster. We reach the end of the woods and just as I told them, they're parked right on the outside of the woods, the bus parked under a beautiful bridge made of stone.

"Alina . . . This . . . Is Holmes Chapel. This is where I am from." Harry smiles and I just gape at the amazing scenery.