Short Stories

Forty-Six: Wings

 You tremble in fear as your friend slammed you against the wall. His teeth were bared, showing you the sharp fangs in his mouth. His eyebrows were furrowed into a glare and his pupils were small pinpricks. His wings were spread out and poised to attack and the feathers protruding from his face were raised up, showing his aggravation. His hands gripped your wrists, cutting off any blood circulation to your hands as his nails were sure to leave small dents. Your own body was flush against the wall, wings smushed uncomfortably against the rough walls of his nest.

He closed his eyes briefly, growling deeply as if trying to control himself. He looked into your eyes after a moment, his mismatched eyes staring into yours. His pupils were now of normal size. He quickly let go of your wrists and his amber wings were now tucked tightly next to his back. You stayed against the wall, trying to process what had happened. You rubbed at your wrists where there were now nail-shaped dents. Your wings wrapped protectively around you as you slowly got off the wall.

"I think you should leave." He whispered harshly, turning away from you. You agreed as you frantically stumbled your way to the door. You opened the door and walked out onto the porch before diving out his nest. His nest hung from the ceiling of the cave, and you flapped open your wings, carrying yourself far away from your friend's home. You kept your arms clutched tightly to your chest as you flew yourself home. You tried to wrap your head around your friend's strange behavior.

You opened the trapdoor to your own nest and flew inside, crumbling to the floor. You slammed the door shut and spread your wings out across the floor, trying to understand what had just happened. You both were the closest friends even though you knew practically nothing about him. You knew that he was an outcast due to his abnormal behavior, arguing with himself and lashing out in anger frequently.

You pulled yourself up and stood up, ruffling your feathers and wiping your clothes to rid of any dust that clung to you. As the best course of action, you decided to give your friend some space. Perhaps today was just one of his bad days. You walked across your small nest, only 10-feet in diameter, and fell onto your bed of feathers, fur, and soft wool. It was late, and his outburst had shaken you up a bit. You closed your eyes and hoped sleep would take you quickly.

Fortunately for you, it did, and you fell into a dreamless sleep. However, you heard the sound of someone knocking, correction, banging on your door, causing quite the ruckus. You rolled out of your comfortable bed and trudged to the door and cracked it open to see who it was. It was your friend with the mismatched eyes.

"Oh, hey, what brings you here at this time of night?" You question, fighting back a yawn as you blearily looked at his stiff figure. Before you can even process what's happening, a loud crack thunders through the air, and you're violently slammed into the other side of your home. You shriek in surprise and pain. His hand covers your mouth tightly as you scream into his hand. You stop screaming as you try to find a way out. You can slightly see behind him and see your door barely hanging on its hinges.

Your eyes focus on his face and see his eyes were wide, dark shadows hung below his eyes and his pupils were solely focused on you. His wings and face feathers were flared out. You hadn't noticed before, but you saw something at the edge of his eye. It was like a black mist that created a pointed triangle at the edge of his eyes.

"You. You belong to me." He snarls, his voice warped beyond recognition. You both hear voices behind you, and you both look at your door. You see other Winged Ones flying towards your nest, coming to investigate the noise. Your intruder snarls at them as they enter the nest. He grabs onto you tightly, bound to leave bruises, and bursts through the dome roof of your home. He unfurls his wings and carries you off and out of the cavern the Winged Ones live in. You can only tightly grip onto the boy as your wings are pinned between you and his arms. You can hear others chasing after you. But, the beating of their wings disappear and soon only his remain.

He flies for what seems forever, only finding land when the first light of dawn creeps up upon you. He dives toward the ground and crashes to the ground, leaving a deep trench where he slid against the ground. He keeps you tightly wrapped in his arms as he breathes deeply.

"You are mine." He growls. You can't recognize his voice anymore. And, you feel tendrils of fear grip at you as he lays there in the ditch, clutching you, unable to know what the future holds.