When Wings Burn

2 | TATE

I didn't know what it was like to feel truly hesitant before I first saw Harper. I did not intend on viewing a human, nor did I sense one awake. It is only a short time before dawn and the light is slim and troublesome. I have been instructed a specific and easy mission, to take note of the surroundings. A routine check for our kind. An easy feat, with no complications, particularly for one of my talent.

And yet here I am, and here is she. I don't know why she's awake at such an hour. I simply didn't expect her.

I take my time in the fresh night air, smelling the aroma of the grasses and feeling the wind. My mother taught me to appreciate the natural land when I was very young. I think it was the last thing she ever had opportunity to show me. She was killed after that, and I was left, eight years old, touching dirt warmed by the sun, memories fogged by the whimsy of childhood.

Harper's house is of similar stature to those in and around town, all tin roofing and walls of beaten timber. I suppose I could have guessed her room would have been in the attic, but until I saw her, I didn't think to look.

Her presence surprises me, which is an alert on its own. I am, as we all are, trained to see movement as it happens. I don't know how she got to the window without my trained eyes noticing. Her dusty blonde hair is highlighted in the dark surroundings and the moonlight dips to look at her too. One small hand holds the curtain at the window, and motionlessly, she stares out. She doesn't see me, for I've dropped to the dirt. To the human eye, I'm as much as invisible. Her second hand snakes its way around her waist like a small and useless shield. The defensive stature is not rare. It's a human thing. They know they're the weaker race, for their government reminds them regularly. I fear for her then, and that's how I know she's something different. Empathy has never come naturally before. The hesitation hits right after that, because swallowed up in the mystery of night, I want her to see me.

I've never really wanted to know somebody who didn't know me first. And I'm not sure if it's right to let her see me. We do not like humans to know about our activity. We prefer not to engage in such irritations. I watch her, breathless with curiosity. I've never seen one so bold, but so young. Her youth is evident to me even here. Human girl, I roll the title around on my tongue. And I like the way it sounds. Her figure is clothed in light grey, swallowed up in the dark of the night. She is luminous.

Definitely human, yet so very much of a mystery. The girl could be supernatural right now, for her entire being has enchanted me.

And so I don't know why I stand, but I do, and I'm unapologetic. Alone on the plateau of darkness, risen out of the swaying grasses. The moon hits me too, and I see a flicker as her eyes take me in. My father will be furious.

At this point, I'm blinded by curiosity, intrigue and plain desperation to know more about this human girl who has the audacity to not only stand, but salute me, an unknown figure in the night. She is no ordinary human and for that I am bewildered in my judgment. I have no clue that I'll fall hard in love with her, and for that, I am blissful with unawareness. I laugh silently when she salutes, and watch her horrified response at my lack.

Child, I think.

I wonder if she's responding, monster.