The Red Bird

Chapter 19-The Red Bird Almost Dies

It takes a while for me to get used to the emptiness that came over me after I "broke up" with Scott. I keep telling myself that it was the right thing to do, although I'm not entirely sure.

I find that Scott and I have been trying to avoid each other, which really stings. I don't blame him though.

Hannah, Gladys, and Scott's dad have noticed that somethings up. None of them have had the guts to point it out in front of us though. 

The days after were long and pointless. I trained for most of the day, although it was hard to do being distracted by my thoughts, and Scott locked himself in his room for hours on end. His dad went tried to go in a few times, but Scott wouldn't let him.

Clearly, I just ruined both of our lives. He probably hates me...

I'm broken out of my thoughts again as Gladys socks me in the face.

"Ow! What the-"

"Don't blame me! You're training right now, Carol! You need to focus or you'll die for sure!" Gladys beeps angrily.

"Maybe that wouldn't be so bad..." I mutter, rubbing my face where she hit me. That's gonna leave a mark. "Also, why on earth are you so good at this?!"

"I was programmed to be able to handle intruders."

"So, now your a guard dog too?"

"What did you just call me?!" she beeps a pitch higher than normal.

"You heard me," I say, trying to sound confident when I really am pretty much scared out of my socks.

"Why, you little!" she whirs toward me faster than I've ever seen her move before.

I squeal and dodge her attacks, circling around the living room in a panic.

"I can't believe you'd say something like that! After all I've done for you! Why I oughta-" she stops short and displays her 'smirking' face. "Fine, let's see how you'd like it if I insulted you?"

"I don't think that's a good idea... Last time I lost it, I almost blew Scott's head off with a fire ball."

"Scott, hm? That sounds like a great place to start..." Gladys says, ignoring my warning. "Speaking of Scott, have you seen him lately?" she asks, wheeling closer to me. "Yeah, me neither. I think he's hiding form the world. That is, if he still had a world. I think you shattered his world with your little 'break up,'" she continues.

I feel my blood boiling. The fire feeling starts crawling up. I make my way to the front door so that I can explode outside. Gladys follows me.

"Gladys, leave now unless you want to become molten metal!" I spit out as I strain to control it long enough to get away from her.

"Oh, so now we're threatening the poor little robot who took care of you for years? That's pretty low, even for you," Gladys continues to taunt me.

I take out my feather and turn into the red bird. I jump off the cliff in the backyard and fly upward, rising above the house. Gladys is watching, yelling stuff at me that I can't hear.

I can't hold it back any longer. The fire explodes and I'm caught in a vortex of flames. They swirl around, blocking my view of everything around me.

All of the energy escapes from me and the fire shoots out in all directions. My feathers fall off and I find myself falling. I make a mad grab for the cliff side, but I miss and start plummeting toward the ground below. It's the longest fall of my life. The sound of the wind rushing through my ears is deafening. 

I look up just in time to see a hand reaching toward me. I reach up and barely brush their fingers.

I then see Scott's face over the ledge. He's leaning down far more then he should. He grabs my wrist with both hands. I feel like my arm is getting ripped out of my body, but I do stop falling. He pulls me up and we fall backward in the grass.

We just lay there for a moment, probably trying to get over the shock of my near-death experience. I dare to look at his face. He's clearly trying not to cry.

He pushes me off of him and stands up quickly, brushing himself off. He then gives me one last look before going back into the house.

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. I sigh and let my head fall back onto the grass. I close my eyes and pray that all of this has just been a dream and that I'll wake up to find that none of this has happened.

A/N

I was TOTALLY gonna make you guys mad and stop the chapter with her falling, but I changed my mind. You're welcome.

Anyway, I hope you liked it! Stay tuned for updates!

~The Great Depatay