Avian

Straight Forward (Melanie)

The girl stood in the middle of swirling darkness, shifting shades of black and darker black, eyes flickering to and fro. Terror filled her, bubbling up from a deep place in her heart, filling her lungs, forcing its way up her throat, into her mouth as she opened it to scream.

And then the scene changed, colors flooding into the ever-changing black, painting bright streaks across the dark canvas. A meadow appeared, colorful wildflowers bending in a lazy breeze, sun warm on her skin, sky blue above her head. And a boy. Elfish features and golden eyes and white smile, holding a hand out to her, calling out her name. She reached for him, fingers brushing soft skin before he dissolved into pooling mist, the meadow disappearing.

She dissolved, too, white feathers falling into a pool of blood, a wickedly glinting knife plunging downward, strange eyes filled with bloodlust . A scream that grated her ears, made her blood sing with power, reminded her of an eagle plunging to its death on broken wings. Another scream. This time, she realized it was her.

                I sat up with a jolt, gasping for air and dripping with sweat. A hand clutched the front of my shirt that clung to my chest and my legs were tangled helplessly in the sheets. My heart pounded, filling my ears with the roar of pumping blood.

For a moment, I was still, willing my heart to slow, breaths to even. Damn these nightmares. This was the third time I’d woken up in a cold sweat because of them, fear and adrenaline coursing through my veins. It was always the same thing, that darkness, the boy, those visions. That scream. I didn’t know what it meant, but it was costing me sleep. Sleep I couldn’t afford to lose.

A sigh left my lips as they turned downward, swiveling my head to glance at my alarm clock. The glowing red letters informed me that it was four minutes before six, the sun just starting to tinge my windows confirming that fact. My alarm would have gone off soon, anyway. I guess it was no big deal.

A yawn escaped me as I slipped from bed, bare feet cold on the dark hardwood floors. One hand ruffled my hair as the other pushed the curtains open the rest of the way, letting the weak morning sunlight spill into the room. The distant horizon was awash in brilliant shades of pink, red, gold, and orange, dazzling me for a moment. We’d been here for almost a week, and the brilliant sunrises and sunsets, rearing up behind the mountains that vaulted skyward, still amazed me. I watched the colors pale as the sun continued creeping upward, trying to clear the craggy mountain peaks, when my phone’s ringtone made me tear my eyes away.

I lunged at the cell phone, located on the table on the other side of the bed, feeling it brush against my fingers before grasping it tightly, still chirping. I flicked it open and pressed the microphone to my ear.

                “What?” I greeted, voice more irritated than I’d meant it to be.

                “Morning, sunshine. You almost dressed? The bus leaves early, y’know.”

Faint mumbles spilled from my mouth, cursing the earliness of the morning, and the person at the other end of the line laughed.

                “I’ll be there in a minute. I’ll help you pick out your outfit.”

Ten minutes later, not one, mind you, a faint knock sounded at my door. I vaguely waved a hand, yelling something incoherent around the toothbrush and froth in my mouth. I was just washing out my mouth and replacing my toothbrush in its travel case when Kelly, best friend and adventurer extraordinaire, burst through the bathroom door, a disapproving look on her face when she caught sight of me

                “Please don’t tell me you intend on climbing a mountain in your pajamas.”

I flashed a smile, striking a pose. “Oh, come on. I hear this was the best fashion for rock climbing these days.” That only earned me an eye roll and another disapproving look.

                “Alright, let’s go, pajama climber,” Kelly commanded, grabbing my arm and dragging me from the bathroom. I let her, though trailing my feet the whole way. Can’t make it too easy.

“You have all your gear, right?” she asked, and I nodded, turning serious. We’d been looking forward to this climb since eighth grade, planning and plotting and scheming, working long hours at summer jobs to create a budget for ourselves. And, finally, it was spring break of senior year, and we were ready to climb Mount Manata, which loomed high over the tiny town of Spring Oak Falls. This had been our dream, and now that it was finally happening, we were all thrilled.

“Of course I do,” I replied with a wave of my hand, sitting on my bed as Kelly started rummaging through my drawers. I’d folded all of my clothes neatly in the drawers when we’d arrived at the little inn nestled within the town, though it wasn’t staying that way now that Kelly was practically throwing things across the room.

“We’re going mountain climbing, not to Cinderella’s ball,” I whined. Kelly was ever the fashion bug, and usually picked out all of my outfits for me, which I didn’t usually protest about, considering I had the fashion sense of a poodle. Today, though, I didn’t know why she was bothering.

“We may not be going to a ball, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a prince waiting for you somewhere, Melanie,” she chided, holding up a pretty pink tank top, the collar dipping dangerously low. I made a face.

“I’m not wearing that without something over it.”

She turned to me with a pouty look, bottom lip trembling slightly, those puppy-dog brown eyes pleading at me. Anyone else, especially a boy, would have crumbled at that look, but I only laughed.

                “You’re infamous Puppy Face hasn’t work on me since we were seven, Kells,” I informed her, and the pout turned into a scowl.

                “Damn your immunity to that face,” Kelly swore, shaking a fist toward the ceiling dramatically, which caused me to laugh again.

                “Now I remember why you got the lead role in the school play,” I snorted, and Kelly turned back to me.

                “Please, Mel? Pah-lease?” she begged, shoving the top at me. “It’ll look great on you! I promise.” She just got another face from me, and, with a mournful look at the top, slowly shoved it back into the drawer.

The next hour consisted of choosing my outfit, which ended up being a collar-high green tanktop and faded jeans, brushing my hair and putting it into a ponytail, and checking, double-checking, and triple-checking that we had all of our gear.  With nods and brilliant smiles, we linked arms, backpacks slung over our shoulders, and made out the door and down the hallway.

Jake and Ben were waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs, identical backpacks strapped to their shoulders.

                “Ready?” Ben asked, eyes gleaming, and me and Kelly nodded. We’d been waiting for this for a long time, and, finally, we were almost there. Together, we turned toward the front door of the little inn we were staying at, and walked out the door.