Wings

Chapter 4: The Stage

Brooke and her parents have been flying for eight minutes now, and the stage just came in view. "Melody where are we supposed to land?" asked Dareld to Brooke's mom, Melody pointed to an opening in the ground next to the stage "There." she said, Dareld and Brooke followed Melody to the opening in a park, the same place the stage sat. When they had their feet firmly on the ground they started to walk towards a guard next to a rope that would let them into the stage area. The rope was a light shade of brown that wrapped itself around the small stage that sat in the middle of the park. All around the stage sat about thousand chairs for each person in the city, and in every spot was a good view of the stage so no one could miss the main event. The stage was small and painted with the worse shade of gray, It had no back attached to it so that the chairs that wrapped around could see, and in the middle sat a necklace of rope tied to a tall wooden post, underneath sat a stool on top of a trapdoor. Around the stage area stood hundreds of guards dressed in black uniforms with huge black wings that hung down from their backs. Each of the guards had on huge pointy metal plates that was attached to their left side of their wing, only covering the top. The guards also each had on a metal helmet that covered their face, and in their belts each held a whip, and a gun just in case something doesn't go as planned.

Melody, Dareld and Brooke all walked inside, Brooke staring at the guard as he let them in, in curiosity of what he might look like underneath the helmet. Brooke stopped to see the stage at a bigger view. She felt someone propel her forward and make her almost fall, tons of people were streaming into the stage area looked for places to sit. Brooke felt an arm grab her left hand and pull her to the side, she saw her mom and dad staring her down with worried faces. "Keep up Brooke." said Melody with a sharp tone in her voice. 

"I'm sorry mom." said Brooke.

"It's fine, I'll see you later ok." said Dareld

"Wait where are you going?" asked Brooke

"I just need to go and sit with my workers, okay sweetie i'll see you after."

"Um Okay, bye."

"Bye." said Dareld waving back to Brooke and her mom with a smile. "It's Okay Brooke he will be fine, let's go and find a seat." Brooke and her mom found a seat in the middle on the end of all the chairs, and Brooke got a sharp look at the necklace of rope that hung onto the pole. Hundreds of people were now inside the fence filling empty seats. "Brooke?"asked a familiar voice  Brooke turned around in hopes that it was Ethan or Tristan who had called her name. But instead it was the one person she feared most that would say her name at a time like this, Blake. "Oh hi Blake." said Brooke trying to hide the fear that he would sit next to her. "Hey is anyone sitting here?" He asked 

"Nope..no one." 

"Great, ugh too bad I didn't bring any popcorn for the show." Blake laughed 

Brooke held her breath and let it out slowly. "Where are you parents?" Brooke asked trying to avoid the sudden urge to rip his throat open with her bare hands. "Umm I don't know, I lost them." 

"Oh well you are welcome to sit here Blake." said Melody 

"Thanks Miss Smith." 

"Of course." said Melody, as Brooke rolls her eyes and faced her full attention back onto the stage. A woman dressed in a black pantsuit and tan high heels walked up the stairs to the stage. Click Click Click. She brought with her a microphone, and a stand. The Lady set the microphone right next to the pole that held the necklace and faced Brookes direction. 

"Welcome, my friends...my family. I am so happy that you had joined us today, in this wonderful gathering." as she said this with a voice like a flower, the guards were closing in all around us. moving closer and closer, cornering us in like cattle, hands on their guns ready to whip them out. "We all know why we have come here don't we?" she asked, the people yell "Yeah!" 

"We have gathered here for one reason and one reason only. To make things right with our community!" 

"Yeah!" the crowd yells, others just sat in silence, Brooke included. Melody sits there nodding her head like a bobble head that was just set off. Brooke can hear Blake in the background screaming with the rest, his right fist wave high in the air. "We have come here for justice!" said the woman with the flower in her voice completely disappearing. 

"Yeah!" 

"Now who is ready!" she screamed, Then Brooke felt the ground shake just like it always did right before the sacrifice. It was the rumbling of everyone's feet hitting the ground, stomping it hard to their normal beat. Bum Brummmm Burmm Bum Bummmm Bumm! The ground shook, and Brookes stomach hurt more than ever now. A man dressed in all black came into the stage, and he carried the pale, blonde haired man. Brooke thought he looked like he had been beaten and smacked many many times. Their was blood all over his face, and dirt marks that looked like he spent his night in a ditch. The man who had been dragging him threw him on the ground of the stage, and left without so much of a flinch in his face. A guard was now upon the stage and grabbed the man by his arms which were tied together, and held him up for everyone too see. 

"We caught this man trying to escape to the other side. Do we ever try to escape to the other side!?" the woman screamed in the microphone. "NO!" screamed the people back to her who had by now stopped the stomping. "No we don't." said the woman nodding her head to the guard to put the man on the necklace of rope. 

"Wait!" someone from the crowd hollered 

"Wait! Everyone please stop this nonsense, there's no need for this violence. Please spear him, he is my brother" He was a young man dressed in a white shirt and a pair of jeans, talking with tears in his eyes and a crack in his voice. The woman looked at the man with a curious face. "And what do you supposed we do with this....this monster." 

"He is no monster I can assure you that. He is one of the most kindest people I know. Please don't hurt him, he is helpful and great with people. He was just curious, that is all." said the man now tears streaming down his face. "I said what do you supposed we do with this monster!" screamed the woman. "Let him go." said the man. The woman looked at the man for a while and then started to laugh. "You want me to let him go?" she laughed 

"Please he is the only family I have left." 

The woman stopped laughing, she now had a serious face on. "Never." she said a smile creeping on her face and an upward nod that had come from the woman's light brown face, with a head of dark brown hair. The nod signaled a guard to move up from his spot in line from the others that had blocked us from leaving. Slash, the guard pulled his whip out and....Slash. Slash. Slash. Blood was now streaming from the man who had on the white shirt. Slash. Blood everywhere. Some people in the stands were screaming, some looked aways, and some were smiling at the thought of justice prevailing. Blake included. 

The woman held up her hand, and the guard stopped. "Do you still think that this monster should live?" she asked the man in the white shirt, the man's head was facing down, and he picked it back up, glaring at the woman with hard eyes. "Yes, and I always will no matter how many times you whip me. You might have all the people fooled and scared of what you are doing here, but not me. I know your game.." When the man was saying this the woman's eyes narrowed and her lips tightened. "....you and your pets all around us, my dad worked for you people, and he came home and told us everything you people do. Do you think we were really born like this?! With--" Boom.