Fallen Angel (ON HOLD)

Bleed Red

Two days later, Mrs. Basi gave me a key. It was a fancy old fashioned one, and she found me a ribbon so I could wear it around my neck like a peice of jewelry. I was to keep it out of sight, though. She didn't think her husband would recognize it, but better safe than sorry.

The next day, I hurried through my chores. Mrs. Basi was away planning a celebrity's wedding and Mr. Basi was working. The first chance I got, I disappeared into the west wing.

I knocked hesitantly and unlocked the door. I opened it.

"Skyler?" he whispered, lifting his head.

"It's me," I said, closing the door behind me.

His eyes lit up. He was sitting in the window seat, wings wrapped around him. He smiled at me.

"Come, join me," he said softly.

I smiled and sat across from him on the seat. He was dressed him beat up jeans and a grey t-shirt with big slits in the back to allow for his wings, and only one cuff, around his left ankle.

"I was worried you weren't coming back," he said.

"I couldn't get through the locked door," I told him. "Your mother gave me a key." I held it up for him to see. "Now I can visit anytime."

His eyes brightened. "Everyday?"

"If you want me to."

Alex nodded eagerly. I laughed.

"Then every day it is. But I won't be able to visit on Sunday. That's my day off and I've got church in the morning."

"That's okay. Mom spends all Sunday with me. I won't be lonely."

I smiled, spotting a book in his lap. "What are you reading?"

"Midsummer's Night's Dream," he replied, holding it up for me to see.

"I love that play!"

"You do?"

"Yes, it's my favorite."

He smiled. "Mine, too. You know a lot about me, tell me about you."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything!"

I laughed. "Well, I have an older sister named Keersten. I live with her about a hours drive from here. Her and her dog."

"Does she work for my parents, too?"

"She's a nurse where your father works."

"I see. Tell me more."

I hesitated, but there was something about him that made me want to tell him everything. I found myself telling Alex things I'd never told anyone or prefered to not talk about, like my parents' deaths. When I finished talking, he reached over, took my hand in his, and laid it on his wing.

"Is he really going to get rid of them?" I asled, slowly stroking his feathers.

"Yes," he replied, his eyes saddening. "But not yet. He has to talk to Mom before he can do anything, but he says its what's best for me."

"How old are you, Alex?"

"I'm twenty-two."

"Then he can't decide what's best for you. You're an adult. You can decide for yourself."

Alex shrugged. "They've always made decisions for me."

"Well, they shouldn't anymore."

He smiled hesitantly. I smiled back.

"So you've never been away from home?" I asked.

"No. Father's afraid of what will happen if people find out about me. Mom's afraid I'll end up as part of some freak show or something. I probably would. I'm a freak, a monster."

"No, you're not. You're just like everyone else. You just have... wings."

"Exactly. I'm not like them."

"Alex, let me see your hand."

He gave me a confused look, but obeyed. I spread his fingers and lined them up with mine.

"Look. Five fingers, flesh and bone. You have hand like me." I touched a cut on his knuckes. "When you bleed, you bleed red. Just like me. We all bleed red."

"You don't have wings."

"So negative. What's with you? Why can't you accept the fact that you're just like everyone else?"

He shurgged. "Father's always telling me I don't fit out there." he motioned to the window. "There's no place for me in that world. I just... don't belong."

Silence fell, but was soon broken by the lunch bell. I reluctantly left.

Pic on side if Alex Pettyfer a.k.a. Alex, but you already knew that, didn't you? Isn't he just yummy?