Storm

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"Jade. Go take a walk." Christian's words were still fresh in my mind as I strolled down a path outside.

I had wandered around the manor until sunset, the golden hues of the sky illuminating the ground. I skimmed my fingers over the glass wall of an indoor garden as I stared at the plants inside it.

Flowers and shrubs of every color imaginable invaded my vision. I stood in awe for a second before continuing my stroll. I was in the middle of a large opening as I seen an unforgettable sight.

Oliver and another boy in a nook by some stairs. Oliver was backed against a wall with his arms on the other boy's shoulders. Oliver ran his hands through the boy's hair before slowly bringing their lips together. They eased closer and closer until there was no space between the two. After a while, The taller boy moved back and cradled Oviler's face in his hands. They both panted heavily as I stood there with a red face just watching the two of them.

Oliver slowly turned his head and spotted me, turning crimson red on sight. I backed away at the speed of light, but not after we shared a second of eye contact.

I hurried back into the garden room, heaving heavily against the door before sliding to the ground.

I tried not to dwell too much on what I had witnessed, but before I could give it too much thought, I heard a rustling behind a wall of plants. On instinct, I slowly stood, getting ready to use a weapon. Before I could summon something to aid me in a fight, a sleek ball of white feathers rolled towards me.

It was a bird, no, an injured bird it was. With one wing folded in pain, it hobbled over to my feet. There was a moment of silence as I stared at it, debating whether I should pick up a random animal.

After hearing its small, helpless cries of pain, I decided to look after it. I cradled the bird in my arms, its head resting in the crook of my breasts. An involuntary lackluster smile formed on my lips as we crept out from the garden and back up into my room.

After a quick search, I found that I needed to wrap its broken wing so it would heal. I fumbled around in a few dressers, hoping that there would be something I could wrap it in. I couldn't find any, so I ripped the bottom of a hideous shirt and cautiously walked back over to the bed where the bird was sitting.

It was a hawk. Turning on me with bright and large hazel eyes, it turned away from my assistance repeatedly.

"What the hell are you doing? Stay still!" I gave a hushed shout towards the hawk before it looked back at me one more time.

The next second, the bird was shrouded in dark fog, opposite of its white feathers. I stepped back, not entirely sure of what was going on. The next second, it emerged from the fog with a completely healed wing.

My mouth sat open as I watched the hawk hop from the top of my bed down onto the floor. I opened my window, prepared for it to fly out, but it just stood there, staring at me with its head cocked.

I kept it open as I left the room to go take a shower. When I emerged from my bathroom, it stood on my bed, with the carcass of a dead mouse at its feet. I stumbled back, clutching the towel against my chest.

"No thanks. Take that back outside...uhm, now, please." As if the bird understood, it flew gracefully towards the window, dropping the mouse over the edge.

I had assumed that the hawk would just leave after an hour or two, but no. It was the dead of night, the manor was quiet. All except for the hawk's repetitive coos. It had nestled into my bed, allowing me to caress its sleek coat.

We had fallen asleep in that position, the hawk's head resting on my side.

A soft, cuddly bird, with no name, built to kill. How lovely.

~~~

The next morning we woke up, I considered bringing the hawk downstairs with me. We shared a second of a stare and both decided to stay right where we were for a little bit longer.

"If you plan to stay with me, you'd need a name. How about...Elmer?"

The bird vehemently shook its head and began giving me a series of angry shrieks.

I had decided this bird was relatively smart, but not to the point where it could easily communicate a name it wanted. Hell, I didn't even know if it was a boy or girl!

I laid out two sheets of fabric, one blue, and the other pink. I figured it would choose the color generally associated with its gender.

the hawk hopped over to the blue fabric and sat down, a smug look on his face.

"That's a good start. What do you think of...Lance?"

After almost an hour of shrieks and bad names, we both settled on the name Storm. As soon as the word left my lips, the ruffled feathers laid flat, and the dark look in his eyes was gone.

Does this make him a pet?

Figuring Strom would never let himself be called a pet, I recognized him as a companion of mine. I watch him and he would watch me.

After I was finished dressing, and he smoothing his feathers down for the millionth time, he hopped on my shoulder, his long tail feathers reaching the middle of my back.

How graceful we looked, I would love to make an appearance downstairs. As I went to open my door, It slowly opened, startling Storm and revealing Oliver. My face reddened as I recalled last night's events.

"Oliver, what are you doing here?'

"I just want to get straight to the point. I-I saw you yesterday, and I'm pretty sure you saw me er-, us."

I looked down at my shoes as I couldn't look into his unrelenting eyes.

"I didn't mean to-" I tried to justify why I was there, why I caught them, but Oliver interrupted me.

"I trust you, trust you enough to hope that you won't say anything. We're not exactly...public if that makes any sense. Just keep it to yourself please?" his words came out in a rush, like he had said it in his head over and over again and just spewed it out to me.

It dawned on me that I had witnessed something that no one else in the manor knew about. Nobody else knew that Oliver was gay.

"Oliver, I would never say anything, trust me." He gave me a lazy smile, then stepped aside, looking curiously at Storm.

"Wow! He let you touch him? A ton of people have been trying to get him out of the garden room, but no one ever could. They all want him as a pet. He's so pretty up close. Well, would you look at that. I never would have guessed you would be the one to catch 'em."

"I think I just got lucky, he had a hurt wing when I found him." Storm brushed against the side of my face, almost as an unnecessary thank you.

Christians tall shadow looming over Oliver interrupted our conversation.

"Ms. Ebner needs you in her office, now." His voice dripped with authority, an almost intimidating tone.

"S-Sure I'll be right down." I could hear the tremors in my voice.

What was I scared of?

"You know, just because you're having sex with Sophia doesn't mean you can talk to people like that!" I was dumbfounded as Oliver, a boy no more than 5'11 rose his voice at Christian, a man well over six feet tall.

"Stay in your place, Oliver." Christian didn't deny the claim, in fact, he just about proved it to be correct. His smooth voice floated around my ears, surrounding me until it was the only thing I could see.

It made sense now, the way he was so formal, how he was always by Sophia's side, the chip in his hand.

Christian was a sex doll.

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