Crossfire

Chapter 6

I leaned back against the wall. Erik was almost finished packing. Since we had spoken outside of the bank, he hadn't said another word. He was again deep in thought. I thought about trying to change the subject, but I couldn't think of what to say to him. I had already said the one thing that had been on my mind for weeks. I was hoping that it had gotten through to him, or that it had at least given him something to think about. He was a good man, I knew it. He just needed to see it himself. I would be to him what Monica was to me. I would show him the good parts of the world.

I knew that it wasn't just people like the banker that he hated. It was also the humans. He believed that they were all like that. And who was I to blame him? Hadn't I thought the same thing for eight years? I had nothing else to go off of. I wasn't even sure that my own family would have accepted me once they knew the truth. I had even doubted John. I had no reason to believe that he hadn't hated me once he knew. After all, my wings had expanded when I was falling from that tree. He must have seen them. He knew. I closed my eyes. I didn't want to be thinking about him. Not right now. I had more important things to worry about, such as what we were going to do once we were in Argentina. I pushed myself off of the wall and finished packing all of my things.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

"Let's go." He responded.

Erik never took a second look at that hotel. There were some things that he didn't want to remember. I could understand why this would be one of them. I was prepared to deal with whatever mood Erik was in today. We walked into the airport. Erik went to buy our tickets and I waited patiently for him to come back. We checked our bags and boarded the plane. I sat in the seat by the window. I looked outside. I started to wring my hands. I didn't like this. I felt like I was in a cage again. Erik looked at me curiously.

"What's wrong, Sky? You've turned rather pale." He asked.

"Planes. I don't really like planes." I said. "I prefer the open air." I added quietly.

"I've never seen you in a plane. I forgot about that." Erik took my hand.

"It's not a great time for me. But I'll be fine. Just give me a minute."

"You need the open air."

"No, no, it's fine. Just 22 hours, right? I couldn't fly that long anyway. This is a quicker option."

Erik looked around for a moment and then held out his hand. A few pieces of metal flew into his palm. He put his other hand on top. A moment later, he opened them. There was a small set of metal wings in his palm.

"To help give you some comfort." He shrugged.

"Thank you, Erik."

I held onto the wings so tightly that there were tiny cuts in my palms. Erik tried a few more times to calm me down more. It was the alcohol that he ordered that really helped my nerves. I just leaned back into the plush seats and thought happy thoughts. Like actually flying on my own, with the wind in my feathers. I let out a shaky breath. Erik put his hand on my leg to keep it from shaking. He tried his best. I had to give him that. There wouldn't be anything that could calm me down from this, but I knew it was our only way to Argentina. I wouldn't have been able to carry Erik all that way, despite the strength that I had. I barely would have been able to make it myself. It would be almost a day of flying. I hadn't tested my limits, not really, but I had been able to stay in the air for several hours. I didn't know exactly how many, but it had been a long time, I knew that much.

I couldn't wait to get off of that plane. I spent a little time sleeping, although most of it was spent taking deep breaths and thinking about my childhood before everything had gone to hell and the year with Monica before it all had gone to hell. I wondered sadly for a short time how long it would be before it all went to hell with Erik. That was about the time that I fell asleep. I had another nightmare that woke me up, but it still wasn't as severe as the last one, and a few hours later, we landed in Buenos Aires. I was more than glad to get off of that plane and into the open air. Erik went to fetch our luggage. I looked up at the sky and wished that no one else was around. I had an urge to fly of my own accord. Naturally, it would have to wait. I needed to sleep before I could do anything and I would have to find a secluded part of the woods before I could do anything else.