Skybound (Aviary Issue #1)

Chapter Five

There was a saying somewhere that a person should never meet their heroes.

Avery knew that the chances of something like that could never happen since her heroes were never a part of her reality. The legends that were once upon a time Talon and Dare, along with the rest of the team, only existed on the pages of the comic books that passed through her workplace.

However, as much as she knew this, as soon as that siren went off, she felt a chilling sense of dread wash over her body as if a bucket of ice water was tossed over her back.

That siren was only used for one thing. To announce the presence of one of Vortex's men.

It had different tones, sure, to indicate what kind of level they stood on the hierarchy but that didn't mean much to the ordinary citizens. Power was still something that most of the population didn't have and that meant that there were always people that would try to take advantage of them. A villain was still a villain after all, and a lot of them become so from greed. Some did it for the money and the comfortable lifestyle that it would bring from working with Vortex, those that didn't have a choice because they were scared to be sent to wherever the heroes went and then you had the worst ones.

Those that did it for the thrill of hurting others.

Avery had encountered one of those villains before and even though it was years ago, she still had memories of that day. A living memory still existed in the guest bedroom of her house, plagued with the loss of her legs as well as parts of her mind. The thought of encountering another one of those people made her blood run cold in her veins as she tried to look around for a way off of this bridge really quickly.

The crowd around her heard the siren as well but no one had spotted the direction in which the danger was coming from so they stood around like a bunch of birds as they scanned for the danger. A loud scream came from straight ahead.

Then the chaos really started.

"Run! Someone yelled out in the crowd. Everyone seemed to scramble at once as the mass of people started to push each other aside to get back to the safer part of the bridge. Avery tried to move fast but got shoved aside and against the fence that looked over the river.

She had no choice but to hold onto it as the people pressed her against the barrier. Her heart beat fiercely in her chest as she tried to look up instead of at the river.

Please don't let this thing break. Please don't let this thing break.

She pleaded with the universe that this would be over as the brunette shut her eyes tightly, trying to tune out the chaos of people that were only pressing her more against the fence as they went but it seemed impossible.

Avery needed to get out of here.

She knew that she could fly above the crowd but the shaking in her limbs wasn't helping. What was she thinking anyway? Every time her feet so much as left the ground, she freaked out.

"Well now, who do we have here?"

Avery's breath caught in her throat. The voice came directly from behind her. Much too close for her comfort.

She turned her head slightly to see something not quite human staring back at her in amusement with a pair of golden eyes set in a pair of slanted sockets. The smile on its mouth made him look as if he had no lips and there was an oddly greenish tint to its skin that made him look like it was ill.

"Didn't you know that it's rude to stare?" It asked her before it shot its hand out and grabbed her by the back of her shirt, pulling her back with a painful yelp as her hand came away from the fence in an unsettling show of strength.