Beating Heart

Chapter 2

FLASHBACK (3 years ago)

I dream of dark alleys and empty rooms. Of silence, so loud its deafening. Finally an old man with piercing blue eyes and a black falcon flying around in those pools of blue. 

I wake up with a start. How odd. 

I rub my eyes and turn to face the ceiling to see if sleep will take me again when a sharp pain stabs my back. I hiss and sit up with a jolt. The sting is still there, in my shoulder blades, but it lessens when I sit up. My arms are bended behind my back at odd angles, trying to find the source of the pain, as I stand up towards my bathroom in the hallway. My fingers reach the stinging area only to find, not a stab wound like I dramatically imagined, but softness, fur-like softness. 

What?

I pick up my pace towards the bathroom and with my back to the mirror I look over my shoulder. I have to blink a couple of times to make sure I have nothing in my eye that is interfering with my good vision. But no, the black little feathers sprouting from my shoulder blades are still there. My face contorts into something ugly.

"What the...?"

Surely, some feathers of some blouse or my pillow must've stuck on my back. To prove to myself they are not actually inlaid on my back I pull at a feather. Bad idea. I yelp at the twinge of pain. As if mocking me, the tiny feathers grow a little longer, as if they are literally fluorishing out of my back. 

I turn away from the mirror and slap at my cheeks, pull my hair. No, I am most definetely awake. I must be seeing things. In the middle of my panic I consider calling my mom at work for help, but dismiss the idea a couple of seconds later. What am I going to say?

"Hey mom, I am growing feathers on my back, do you know about any disease that would cause that?" I scoff and go back to my room.

I throw myself on my bed, face down, and while sitting there the image of the man with blue eyes comes back to me, like a vision. The incomprehensible urge of getting in a car suddenly hits me. I start to robotically dress, I see my arms reaching for some jeans and a hoodie, but I can't stop my body from doing any of it. I have no control over my actions, but something inside of me tells me this is right and I stop resisting after a little while.

The cabbie is a little annoyed, I have no specific address and a stupid little girl is in his car, but I have cash. I think that is the only reason he's willing to drive me. I tell him what exits to take and soon enough we're in a residential area with big old-fashioned town houses. I have never been in this part of town before, the houses look like doll houses, their intricate designs mesmerizing me. 

They must've been beautiful when they were brand new. 

Some houses around me are falling down and others just have their paint chipping off their walls. Where am I? It looks like I just stepped into the scenery of Alice in Wonderland. Without knowing what I'm saying I tell him to stop at number 47, which is probably the only house that doesn't look completely abandoned and uncared for.

I give him his money and he's off, leaving me in front of the strange house. Its gray worn-out color indicates that it once was a pretty shade of sky blue. I look around for some sign of human life but its like I'm on an alien planet. The wind blows and if I didn't know better I would say it was pushing me toward the house. I stumble over the neat path surrounded by grass that seems a little too green and bright for the grim scenery around me. I look around and notice that all the plants around the house are green and blooming with life, like the house's inhabitant takes meticulous care of them.

The moment the heel of my boot steps on the house's porch the door opens to reveal a pair of ice blue eyes, the same ones from my dream. I tense.