Beyond the Veil

Chapter 5: Even Bird People Fall from Telegraph Poles Sometimes

No matter how hard she tried, Bart couldn't stop thinking about the necklace that she was so compelled to pick up and take with her.

She had never been a materialistic person and it wasn't like it was particularly nice looking or expensive.

All she knew was that it was important and that there was a reason why she had picked it up.

She was so preoccupied by her thoughts that she almost didn't see the half naked winged man sitting on the telegraph pole. perching like a gargoyle whilst eating a hotdog.

She looked up, taken aback by the sight. The universe was practically screaming at her to stop and talk to this strange person.

She slammed on the breaks, swiftly opening the door and getting out.

"Hey mister" she shouted, gesturing with her gun.
"How'd you get up there?"

Her question was met with an utterly shocked expression.

The man was caught so off guard by this pistol weilding woman that he lost his footing and fell towards the ground, landing on his back with a thud.
The large black feathered wings breaking his fall and causing a mass of dust to be displaced as he landed.

Bart quickly rushed over to assess the situation. He looked to be in his 20s with a light beard and long black wavy hair coming down way past his shoulders.

His arms were covered with tattoos of weird symbols, skulls and other depictions of general dark and deathly weirdness.
There was a large ram skull on his chest, much like the one on the pendant Bart had picked up a few hours ago.

The only strange symbols that Bart recognise were the ones on the palms of his hands. She had seen this before, it was the same symbol that was on the lid of the box that the pendant was in.

She squatted down, poking him in the rib with the barrel of her gun, getting impatient.
"Are you dead?"

A groan came from him as his eyes fluttered open, met by the gaze of Bart who looked down at his weird looking eyes.
They were a mesmerising red colour and swirled restlessly, there were darker strands of deep red like blood in amongst the lighter red. That was definitely something Bart had never seen before.

The man came to his senses and scrambled to his feet, his wings twitching and stretching then shaking, causing the dust that was caught in them to fall back to the ground.

This sudden movement caused Bart to jump to her feet letting out a small grunt.

He was a lot taller than she had expected, so much so that she had to tilt her head upwards to see his face. All he wore was an old looking pair of black shorts and a pair of very old looking boots.

"H..how can you see me" he stuttered.

"You're sitting up there of course I can see you stupid" she said laughing at the obvious questions he was asking.

"No I mean, usually people aren't able to see" he continued, his wings now folded and behind his back.

slowly they began to shrink and wrap themselves around his sides, seeming to sink into his skin until they were just tattoos of large feathery wings, the tips of each wing almost meeting at the base of his stomach.

"Wow where'd they go" Bart stepped closer and prodded at the man's side where the tattoo wings were.
The man flinched as if he wasn't used to human contact, a frown crossing his face "Or even touch me..."

"Sorry mister I didn't mean to upset you" she said stepping back a little and shuffling her feet in embarrassment.

"No it's okay I am just a little shocked that you are able to see me" he said scratching his head and using a hand to brush his long hair out of his face.