Draiks and Angels: Twins

11 - Pet

Ava opened her eyes suddenly. She could feel someone's hand on her head. She looked to her right and saw a slightly surprised human policeman. The hand was taken away. She looked to her left and saw Satiya, upset but trying to look calm.

"Ava..." Satiya said softly.

Oh no. "Tadeas?" Ava asked.

"Gone."

Ava tried to roll over, but there were short railings on the gurney she was laying on. The policeman rushed over.

"She should still go to the hospital-"

"No!" Ava cried, trying to shuffle over onto her front.

"Sir, I have removed the drug from her system, and we can heal whatever other damage there might be. We need to hurry to assist our companion before... before anything happens." Satiya assured him.

The cop ceased trying to stop Ava and she finally got to a place where she could crawl backward off the gurney. She went up to Satiya and looked at her pleadingly.

"Let me sit down," Satiya said.

The black-winged Angel sat at the table where Ava and Tadeas had rested and closed her eyes. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, and her vision darkened. An image grew. She was zipping down a road, faster than flying, higher than a car. A sign shot by, but Satiya was able to see it said "SR31." The image slowed down until it stopped and turned left, showing a dirt road coming off the paved one. There was a gate across it and a mailbox. The mailbox was unusual. The post looked like a very thick section of chain standing of its own accord. Probably it was just welded to look like that, but the effect was whimsical. There was a flash showing barbed wire strung across trees. Another flash showed a board with nails pointing upward hidden under leaves. A flash and everything went dark.

Satiya opened her eyes to see Ava and Husani sitting across the table. The policeman stood unobtrusively to the side.

"Looks like there is a dirt road coming off a paved one called 'SR31.' We'll be able to find it by a mailbox with a chain as its post. There's a good chance there will be booby traps. Also seems likely there will be too many trees to fly."

The policeman came forward, "I'm sorry, what just happened, here?"

Ava looked at Satiya impatiently, but the older Angel put a calming hand on her arm and answered, "I am an Oracle, and I just made myself have a vision of where to find Tadeas and hopefully Nancy. We will do it ourselves, but I was wondering if you knew where the road called 'SR31' was?"

The cop looked thoughtful, but replied, "It's about sixty miles from here. It's not a terribly long road, but can be tricky to find. Uh, from the ground I guess."

"Do you think you could draw us a map?" Husani asked. "Or if you have one you can show us that would be good, too."

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Tadeas could feel pain. It burned from cuts on his chest and arms. He could hear sobbing. His wrists hurt. The fiery pains on his arms slowly faded away. The sobbing gradually ceased. The pain on his chest condensed into a single spot. His wrists still hurt. He opened his eyes.

He was looking at a dirt floor. His head felt fuzzy, and he didn't try to lift it as he turned to look at himself. He was on his knees. His wings hurt horrendously, and he could see they were held open by the same clips the Sisterhood had used, clamped to the second major bone of the wing arms, but tied to two wooden poles by short ropes. His hands were unsurprisingly bound behind him, but as he tested them, they appeared to also be tied to something. It felt like wood and was round. A large pole, probably. There were multiple tight ropes crossing his chest in an "X" that seemed to go in between his wings and were tied to the pole as well. There was some tee shirt fabric stuffed in his mouth and held in with rope wrapped around his head. Apparently, the texture of the fabric was different enough not to trigger a flashback. At least not right then.