Fly

Chapter 9

~Fiona~

I jerked awake, shivering. The afterimage of the inside of a cardboard box, and a pair of warm gray eyes peering from beneath a pile of rags, haunted me as I sat up. I couldn't believe I had forgotten about Dane! In the chaos that my life had become over the past few days, it hadn't really registered that I had left him to fend for himself on the streets. Not that he seemed like he was in immediate peril, but I knew that that wouldn't last forever. He needed help... and I was probably the only one who even knew he existed.

I rolled out of bed, glancing at my alarm. It was two in the morning, the Saturday after everything had happened. I thought for a moment, then rolled my shoulders and went to get dressed.

Less than an hour later, I was ready to go. I had eaten, and left a note for my parents that told them I was going 'hiking' for the day, and that I needed to be by myself to 'work things out'. They would assume that the supposed trauma of being kidnapped - which is what I told them had happened - would be the 'things' that I needed to work out, and would leave me alone. I had about eighteen hours before they would start to worry.

I hoped it would be enough.

I Changed on the front porch, making sure that nobody in our sleepy neighborhood was awake and watching, then took off into the night, powering my wings until I was at a low cruising height, then keeping a steady, pounding pace as I began to speed south.

I reached I-39 in less than twenty minutes, which astounded me. In a car, it would take around an hour to make it that far - though that was with stops, speed limits, and a more indirect route than flying. I knew it would be faster, but this told me that I could make it to Chicago in less than four hours - with breaks! I picked up my pace, and soon I was passing the state line, now heading slightly east as well as south. The countryside below me grew more and more populated, and I soon began to see highrise buildings and large patches of suburban homes. 

To the south, through the hazy, pale predawn light, I could see the glow of the airport, with the blinking stars of planes taking off and landing. I was a little concerned that they would spot me on radar and send someone after me, but I didn't see anything coming my way in the air. 

Then, along the faint line of the lake to my left, the outlines of buildings began to get higher. Soon, the double-needle of the Sears Tower came into view, a black obelisk against the misty background. I hadn't stopped for a break the entire way, so now I rested, gliding gently downward until I reached the top of the fog layer, before flapping slowly upward again and repeating the process. I watched the skyline get closer, wondering if I would be able to recall the exact street I had crash-landed on, and whether I would even be able to find the young man who had helped me.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that I didn't even know what I was going to do when I found him. I had put my allowance money in the pocket of my outfit that I had been wearing when I changed, so as long as I remembered to picture it there when I changed back... I should at least have enough to buy him a meal or two. Maybe some real clothes.

Still, that wasn't going to do much for his current situation. 

I thought about it as I flew, but by the time I was floating over the skyscrapers, I still didn't have an answer. Then a different problem presented itself; where to land.

I scanned the general area that I thought I had originally been in, thankful that though it was misty, it wasn't the dense fog that had blocked out my senses the night I crashed. I finally decided to glide down into an alleyway that I thought looked familiar. I circled the spot from far above several times, waiting for the few pedestrians out at 7am to pass, then dropped toward the narrow space, arching my wings high over my back like a parachute, so that they wouldn't catch on the buildings - again. I knew the instant I was on the ground, I'd have to jump behind a nearby dumpster and transform. If there were any eyes in the area.... 

But I was already committed, the building whooshing by on either side of me. I was coming in slightly faster than I had anticipated, but not too fast to land. I hoped. 

A few feet from the ground, I lowered my tail, striking the ground with it first, and rolling forward like a rocking chair onto all fours, loping forward a couple paces while I settled my wings and killed my momentum. Then I was dashing for the nearest collection of bins, ducking behind one of the smelly containers to change. I took the time to concentrate fully on how I should look and what I brought with me; the money, my cell phone and wallet, and a few other odds and ends that I thought might come in handy in case something happened. I knew instinctively that keeping my identity a secret was paramount - nothing good would come of me revealing to the world who and what I was.

Stepping out of the alley, I was suddenly just another passerby, someone out on an early-morning errand or just on a walk. 

I rounded a corner at the end of the street, and realized where I was. It looked odd from where I was standing, but about a block away was where I had crash-landed only a few days ago, and the alley where I hid was just yards beyond that. I jogged toward it, bracing against the wind which had begun to blow with the first light of dawn on the horizon. 

Reaching the entrance, the first thing I noticed was that it was completely clean. No sign of trash, no discarded bags or boxes... nothing.

Something wasn't right. 

I sniffed, catching a whiff of disinfectant, like mom's bathroom cleaner only stronger. It wasn't as if they had scrubbed the shoddy paving, but it almost looked as though someone had come through to erase evidence. But evidence of what?

I backed out, turning to leave, and ran almost face-first into someone's chest. Startled, I stepped back and looked up into the freshly-shaven face of... "Dane?"

He glanced around quickly, then motioned me urgently back into the alley. In spite of how dangerous it was, I somehow knew I could trust him. (The fact that he didn't take advantage of me when I was naked and alone probably had something to do with it)

"What are you doing here, Fiona?" something warm pulsed under my ribcage when he remembered my name. 

"Looking for you. I wanted to-" 

"Don't you realize how dangerous it is out here?" He almost seemed angry. "You could be kidnapped... again. Or cheated, or mugged, or.... you know..." He flushed, suddenly aware that he had just dragged me into an alley, and how that must look.

"I know," I said calmly, "I'm.... not without protection. But I came back because you obviously need help, and-"

He cut me off again, looking even more upset, though this time I was sure it was something more like fear that shadowed his face. "No! I don't need help. You're better off staying away from me. You can't help me." His eyes softened. "Thank you, though. For thinking of me. Kindness isn't something I run into a lot these days..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I was just going to buy you dinner..." I said tentatively, my shoulders slumping. I knew the kid probably didn't have a high opinion of himself, but seeing my suspicions confirmed kind of.... hurt.

His featured brightened. "Oh! Now that, I can do. I'm sorry for my outburst... I've become rather paranoid out here." 

His speech patterns suddenly registered in the back of my mind, making me think that he had come from a better place than this. His grammar and vocabulary were too good for a street rat. I put aside the thought for later, and grinned. "Great! I was hoping I wouldn't have to drag you by the ear. Come on!" I skipped up the street, the dawn light beginning to flicker on the tops of the buildings, reaching out it's first tentative rays and gilding the antennas and air units on the tops of the highrises around me.

Dane followed, his demeanor relaxing even further as he chuckled at my craziness. We rounded a corner onto a busier street, and I turned to him to ask him where he wanted to get food, when a shout startled us into stillness. 

"Stop! Put your hands in the air!"