Beauty in a Beast

Ch. 2 - What's Up, Doc, Must Come Down

I remember watching cartoons as a child. The volume was never loud enough to hear above my parents' screaming so I just watched the characters. My favorite part, no matter what, was when they ran off the side of a cliff or a balcony and just stayed there...suspended in the air, for a few seconds. It was like gravity had to think about it before deciding to go ahead and pull them down.
I always laughed at that. How hilarious that they didn't fall immediately. Right? Because that would never happen in real life... right...?

I was so wrong.

We were suspended, Jeremy and I, he had his back to the ground and I was pretty much straddling his lap, thousands of feet above the rest of the world.

He had the biggest, brightest smile on his face. He looked...triumphant.

I just followed a murderous psychopath out a window.

Awesome.

Gravity kicked in without warning and the force of the air rushing past stole my breath. I felt panic start to kick in and my fingers tangled in the cloth of his shirt.

He grasped my wrists and pried them away, smiling at me again, this time more reassuring and less serial-killer-like. He looped my arms around his neck and wrapped one of his around my middle, bringing our chests together. His mouth was once again mere inches from my ear and he whispered, calm as could be, "Hold on tight."

The arm not around me stretches out to his side, fingers extended like they were waiting for something to grasp. Here I was, thinking I was Rapunzal, getting saved from my tower by a fairy-tale prince...turns out he is a Jedi...or maybe Thor.

My eyes roamed to the quickly approaching city lights below. It was truly beautiful, being above them, nothing between us, not even glass. A feeling of peace washed over me. Strange, I know, to feel such tranquility when fast-approaches my death, but a small grin made it's way to my face anyway. If I were going to die, this was a beautiful thing to have seen last.

And then my body jerked to the side so hard my vision went black and all of the air whooshed out of my lungs yet again.

My hair fell to my shoulders, knotted, instead of whipping out above and around me.

Jeremy's legs split mine and he pulled me into a sitting position, again straddling his lap, but this time, there was something under us.

Something very much alive and moving.

"Rachel," Jeremy's voice was full of joy, exhilaration. "Rachel, meet your flying carpet, Someve."