The Unknowables

Chapter 7

We finished our respective drinks in short order. Shay quietly stands and discreetly scans the store, her dark eyes sweeping back and forth, no one is paying attention to us. She gestures for me to follow her and without hesitation walks through the kitchen door. I quickly get up and follow closely at her heels. The kitchen is empty of anyone to stop us from exciting the back door and going into the alleyway beyond. We reach the street and start walking, Shay leading the way.

"Might as well introduce you to Kitty and Lance today. There's no point in putting it off."

"You mean right now?"

I immediately started worrying about my appearance. I know I look bad today; my clothes are winkled, bags under my eyes from lack of sleep. I worry about not making a good impression on these people. Just telling Shay about what I was went against nearly every instinct I'd developed over the past few months, and now I was going to be telling two more in the same day? The thought sends my stomach turning into knots.

"We have a few hideouts all over the city. Some come and go. The one we're using right now isn't too far from here."

"How do you keep other people from finding your hideouts?" Shay smiles.

"Simple, we find places where only people with our 'condition' can reach."

We exit the ally and continue walking for several blocks. The buildings become more and more run down looking as we walk but the side walks still have several people going about their business. So I'm surprised when Shay makes a sudden turn into another small ally, and leads me into the shadow of a three-story condemned brick building. All of the windows up to the second floor are solidly boarded up to prevent squatters and anyone else from entering. Even the back door is blocked with solid wood boards. I look at Shay.

"How are we supposed to get in?"

"You do know how to fly don't you?" For a moment I don't know what to say.

"Umm... no. I've only had my wings for less then two days, and I haven't the first idea how to fly." Shay seems slightly surprised.

"Oh well, no matter there's another way up. Follow me."

Shay walks up to the neglected apartment building behind the condemned one we're looking to get into. The windows on this building are either so dirty they would be near impossible to see through or the blinds are pulled, hiding their inhabitants. She hoists herself on top of a dumpster and eyeballs the distance to the fire escape.

With impressive agility and amazing strength, she jumps and grabs the rungs of the hanging ladder. She swiftly climbs up and lowers it enough for me to grab ahold and pull myself up. Soundlessly she leads me up to the fourth flight of stairs and looks across the gap to the brick building. From up here I can see the way in, there's a rooftop door on the condemned building but even as I look the gap seems to yawn before us.

"Don't tell me your planning on jumping."

She looks at me, hands on her hips.

"We are going to jump. Don't tell me your afraid of heights because that's just ridiculous, you have wings."

"It's not ridiculous. I'm not irrationally afraid of heights, I have a rational fear of falling, and I don't know how to use my wings yet." Shay snorts a condescending laugh at my logic.

"Besides, won't someone see us up here?" I'm desperately trying to come up with some way out of this.

"Who's here to see? This apartment behind us is mostly empty and the people who do live here are likely at work. Not to mention that normal people don't usually look up." I must not looked convinced because she continues.