My senses were dull. My body was beaten. But I still pressed on… I had been bleeding a little on the floor where I woke up, mostly from my back. My pockets were empty and my fur was gray again. I got on my feet and checked where the hell I was.
I was behind bars. Caged… Opposite side of the cell was some sort of bed. On the bed there was a quivering lump covered by the sheets. I could feel there was something afraid there, but mostly out of curiosity I pulled away the sheet. “Please don’t hurt me,” A frightened MD-girl uttered and tried to cover herself with her arms. “Kimeera?” She seemed to fit the size of a 9 year old, and her hair had the same color as her sister’s. She dared a look from between her crossed arms. Her eyes were showed fear. “I’m Star’s brother… You know… Kitty’s friend,” She seemed to calm down, even let her arms down. I felt responsible for her being in this situation, and started thinking of how to get her back to her family. The SG’s will pay for dragging her into this… “So… You’re not gonna rape me?” “Where did you get that idea?!” I was mildly shocked to hear the word “rape” from someone as young as her. “Those men who dragged you in… They said you were gonna turn into a monster and… that you got all crazy and…” “I would never even dream of hurting you or any of my friends…” “But you hurt Kitty…” She broke me off. “What?” “You hurt Kitty…” She was feeling safer with me, and sounded calmer. “When did I hurt her?” “I don’t know…” “How did I hurt her, then?” I couldn’t remember to have inflicted pain to any other than SG’s and a racist MD. “You hurt her feelings… She’s been talking about you a lot…” I sink down onto the bed, and almost wished that I didn’t hear that. “She thinks you’re pretty and cool and… different… and she starts crying every time she says that… Why does she do that?”
I think I know how uncle Zaz felt when I asked him where kids came from… I took a deep breath and thought of something clever to say. “Oh, fuck…” I said and buried my face in my hands. I still had that silver tongue… My hands slip away from my face. “She hasn’t gotten over the first time we met,” “What happened?” The cell seemed to become darker. “It was a love at first sight thing… First thing we did was kiss…” “But why did you break up with her if you were in love?”
The innocence of youth made me feel sick, only because I miss my own youth. “We never got into a relationship… I already had a girlfriend…” My eyes started to get a bit watery. All those things that seemed as fun and games for 10 years ago would suddenly come back to you with a whole new meaning… You were no longer afraid of being kissed by a girl, but you found it harder to approach one.
Kimeera just sat there and looked at me. She shared many features with her sister… She looked so much like Kitty that it almost scared me…
I wanted to get us out of the cell and back to our homes, but I was too tired to do it at the moment. My skull was still aching, and I thought my wings were waiting to burst out of my back. I lied down on the bed, with Kimeera sitting curled up with the sheets in the foot end. I took off my shirt and put it on the floor. “Is it okay if I snuggle up with you…?” She asked a bit in doubt. “Be my guest,”
She settled her head on my chest and covered us both with the dull, gray sheet. “I don’t know what the odds for me are,” I thought out loud. “But you have better chances of survival than I do…” Kimeera turns her head and looks towards my face. She lays her hand on my belly, as if she wants me to stay with her. I took off my ring and put it on her finger. “This’ll give you luck, and something to remember me by,”
She pretended that she didn’t hear me.
The vision I had that night… A dead man walked the planet, in the shape of a birdman. His half decayed body wandered seeking a purpose for existence, trying to help those who still were alive. Almost like an angel… His hand radiated a mystical blue glow, and he bore a golden fox folded in a bag. He wielded a blade, carved out of the heavens of night, his feathers were black as the shadows.
The sunlight streamed between the bars of the window up on the wall and lit up the cell. It’s sharp, warm beams tickled my eyes. I picked up my shirt from the cold floor. It’s back was stiff as a board from dried up blood, the floor was stained. I put on my black shirt and went over to the bars, to check for guards and a clock or something. A bit down the hall there was a desk behind some more bars, in the same room there was a clock on the wall. About 8 in the morning… I couldn’t see or hear anyone else but myself and Kimeera. My 20-13 found it’s way from my clothes into my hands, and then into the lock. The lock clicked, and the unit crept back into my clothing. The door rolled smoothly aside, and I snuck towards the desk. All the other cells were empty… I picked another lock and went through the drawers of the desk. I found my phone and wallet, but the SMG was obviously not there. Sounds were coming closer, so I closed the doors behind me as I went back to my cell. From behind the bars I saw two overseers escorting Rhahl, then they shoved him into a cell close to the desk and left.
Kimeera was still sleeping. I snuck over to Rhahl’s cell. “What did they stuff you in here for?” I asked him. “Ah… You still breathe, child. Have you knowledge of a way out?” “Uhm… No, but I’m pretty sure the doors marked EXIT leads somewhere,” Rhahl smiles and steps closer to the bars as I pick the lock. “Worry not too much… Jonah will come to our aid when we need him the most,” “Did you see if there were a lot of guards on your way in?” Rhahl shakes his head. “I saw only those who lead me in here and a few others, but no more,”
And I was unarmed… How was I supposed to handle armed guards? “I sense you are forgetting something, child. You actually believe you lack a weapon?” “Well, yeah…” “Can you not remember how you got blood on your hands?” “When I turned into that monster?!” I almost found it strange how Rhahl could know so much. He nodded. “I don’t want to do that again! I’ll probably just lose control of myself and kill everyone in sight!” I was afraid the raging flames of past memories would break out and burn away my sense of judgment. “You are wrong, my child. You will have the power to control the beast. Focus on your goal and who you fight for, then you will have no problem coping with your inner demons,”
I drew a deep breath. “Alright… I’ll give it a try…”
I woke Kimeera and took her to Rhahl. I stripped down so I wouldn’t ruin my clothes and gave them to Rhahl. I showed him the phone, while trying to cover my “parts”. “Do you know how this works?” Rhahl looked puzzled at the device. Seeing him as hopelessly old, I handed it to Kimeera instead. “You know how it works, right?” She nodded and tried not to stare too much at my naked body. I turned my back to them. “If I don’t make it, call Snowen,”
I started to concentrate on my body. An anger swelled up inside, but I managed to suppress it. My heart started beating harder and my breaths grew deeper. I drew a deep breath… I felt my heart stopping, my sight went white. All seemed so still… Upon catching my breath, everything felt so clear. I could hear the breathing of Rhahl and Kimeera behind me. My sight returned and I saw that I stood taller than usual. Rhahl and Kimeera looked shocked at me. The small door leading out of the prison-area was too low for me, so I had to almost crawl out. The following hall had mirrored glass and doors along the sides and a double door at the end. I was pretty sure there were offices behind the mirrors, but stomped through the hall anyway. Rhahl and Kimeera followed me at a distance. Pushing open the double, swinging doors led me straight to overseer-central. My guess was that there were 6 or 8 of them in the big, lobby-like room. As soon as one of them caught sight of me and flipped his pistol in my direction, all the others noticed me and did the same. “FREEZE!” one of them yelled. I picked up a desk and threw it at a group of 3, knocking them all down. The others started firing at me, but none of them made a kill-shot. The pain started spreading to my brain, giving me “nasty” thoughts. I ran over to the nearest overseer and picked him up. Holding his body firmly with my left hand and his head in the other, the others stopped shooting. “Let us go or I’ll snap his neck,” The poor guy I held in my hands pled for his life. Rhahl and Kimeera walked out of the station, I followed them walking backwards with the overseer still at my mercy. On the outside, the weather was cold and bright. “Where’s my bike?” I asked the overseer. “It’s around the corner… Please, don’t kill me…” The brave man had met his worst nightmare… and survived. I let him go, he ran like the wind to his colleagues.
My bike was there… But it was too small for me in this form. I helped Rhahl and Kimeera onto the bike. “Read my mind, Rhahl,” He understood what I meant as I knelt down to him. He touched my forehead and concentrated for a few seconds, then he grabbed the handlebars and fired the beast up. I started running along the road and the two on my bike could easily pass me, but chose to ride alongside me.
After running for 15 minutes, at a pace that kinda baffled me, I felt I had to stop. I felt so drained of energy that I collapsed in the middle of the road… I rolled my massive body onto my back. They stopped the bike and hurried over to me. As I lay there, I panted and felt I was growing weaker. “Just give me five minutes…” I said and closed my eyes. Next thing I knew was that I was at home in my room…