Landed Wings - By Skylhur Tranqille Page 0,40
I start to back up towards the closet. A garbled voice rings out from one of the faceless men.
“Don’t move!”
I stop and one of the men begins to walk towards me. The suit distorts his movements, making him look alien or insectile.
“Don’t move. Now if your friend here gets any ideas, I slice him. Do you understand?”
I walk forward. One of the men slaps the back of Mocha’s neck and he falls forward onto his knees. He smiles and swings his leg out. The guy holding me starts to fall, then grabs the corner of the dresser that isn’t cut off. He has to drop his sword to break his fall. Everything happens so fast after that, it seems like it was over before it starts. Mocha picks up the sword, leaps off of the floor, sword in one hand, BB in the other. He hits the guy he’s taken the sword from in the head and the guy collapses. He moves swiftly, all of this happening in about five seconds. The second guy is backing up warily, sword outstretched. Mocha slices open the unconscious guy’s suit at the neck, tracing a thin line. A drop of blood rolls over the silver. Mocha yanks the guy’s suit back and exposes his head. Mocha aims the BB at his head. I stare at him, shocked. He shoots and the guys head blackens almost instantly. In a few hours, he will be nothing, as the cells die and break off. The last guy runs towards the door with Mocha running after him. I heard another thud and some rustling. Mocha comes back, his face calm and cold. I sit on the bed, frozen. We’ve been attacked and Mocha has just killed. He comes back, and I notice that the bodies are gone.
“Ash, we have to talk about this.”
I don’t want to talk.
“We have to move she knows where we were.”
I laugh and it is a pitifully weak sound, almost indistinguishable from a cry.
“What makes you think she won’t find us wherever we go? What’s the point of all this? Is this how it works? People die? Can’t you see? She’s playing with all of you Mocha. You think she doesn’t know when and where everyone is at all times? She called your number. She knows about you. All the information you think you have- all lies. It’s all pointless. Any battles you win, she lets you win. Because it benefits her. You ever think about that?”
“That’s not true Ash.”
“Then how did she they know?”
“Well we’re not really hiding, are we? Every chance you get, you’re spreading your wings, I’m surprised it took her so long to come for you.”
I am silent. He’s right, I was careless. There is another issue on my mind, one I can’t ignore.
“You’ve done that before, haven’t you?”
“Done what?”
“Killed.”
“I do what has to be done.”
A little laugh escapes from my mouth. I can immediately see the irony.
“You know, that’s exactly what she says when she hurts
people.”
“This is part of what we do Ash.”
“Not what I do.”
I walk out and lay on the couch, not even pretending to sleep, my eyes wide open. I hear Mocha get up and go to the door. I want to tell him they had used their swords to slice their way through. But I don’t say anything. There is nothing I can say to him right now. I close my eyes. Surprisingly, no tears leak out. My world has just changed, it will never be the same again. I know this is real and I can’t understand how that could be. As I drift off to sleep, I know there would be no peace for me, not in the waking world and not even in my dreams, dreams where I am doomed to relive the day I found out how different I really am.
Chapter 26: HOPELESS
ASHLYNN
Ash’s nine year old feet hit the ground with a dull thud. She didn’t weigh much and the sound barely carried. It was nighttime, and the nurse was gone! She wiggled in happiness and dashed towards the door, skidded to a stop and poked her head out of the hallway. Her black curly hair swung as she looked left and right. A grin lit up the thin brown face and she cautiously stepped outside into the deserted hallway. Ash closed her eyes and threw herself backwards against the wall and shimmied along it, pretending she was a spy. Finally she could contain herself no longer and flew down