Airborne (13 page)

“I just, I wanted to see it but then I got lost. I thought something was chasing me so I ran...” She used every bit of energy she had left to make her story sound genuine.

She glanced up at the sky when she said it. Mason may have kept away from humans but she knew Eva wouldn’t. Once that harpie police officer got done chasing her, she knew Eva would be back.

“I’ll give you a ride back to town.” The man decided without hesitation and closed Avery’s door once her legs were clear.

The mix of uneven temperatures fogged the windows. Rubbing at the side window with her sleeve, she peered out into the night. The trees thrashed together and the flailing branches were distracting. The sky directly above her was clear, dark, and starless. She squinted desperately. Eva had probably kept flying but would inevitably double back. It was only a matter of time.

The truck bounced from an impact. Flinching, Avery tore around to glance behind her. In a hurry, she rubbed the back glass clean of the foggy condensation. The sight of familiar red flannel greeted her and she let out a pent up breath. The man had jumped onto his own truck’s bed. Too close for her to see detail, she heard metal clink and clatter until the man finished and resurfaced at the car door. But this time, Avery realized, he carried a long pump action shot gun. He held it up for her inspection before pushing it into the cabin with them.

“Not gonna hurt you but if there is really an animal out there, we don’t wanna run into it twice.” He climbed in making the truck creak on its pumped up suspension.

Inside, he hit the locks with a single click and threw the car into drive. It started with a bumpy shot and began to cruise. Realizing she’d dug her own fingernails into the grey plastic dashboard, she moved to fold her arms into herself. Avery grudgingly waited, uncertain of what for, but ready for any flash of white or grey. She was ready for the horrible grinding of a steel truck being dragged to a stop or a screeching pop of tires. She was ready for the harpies to attack. After a full ten minutes when none of these came about, the excruciating anxiety finally began to dissipate bit by bit.

Finally drawing her eyes back to inside the cabin, she noticed the plastic identification tag that had been draped around the rear view mirror. An old photo showed the man’s face with the similar but much darker red beard. The faint blue back drop was the familiar stars of Alaska’s flag. Heavy black text on the plastic card identified him as a park ranger. The park ranger waited until they’d bumped a mile down the road before staring at her from the corner of his eye.

Avery noticed herself that she’d been clenching her arm. She didn’t answer him before he added, “You should look under your seat.”

She did and found a hunter green tackle box. Lifting the box up onto her lap, she opened it. The scent of alcohol wafted out. Stuffed to its brim, the box held starch white medical supplies. Bandages and gauze sat on top. The man motioned to her and she picked through the plastic wrapped supplies until she found wrap at the bottom.

“Thanks. I owe you one.” She tore open the bag and unraveled the bandage.

“No problem, it’s my job.”

Avery concentrated on wrapping the bandage tight around her right arm until the better half of the black mark was covered. Below the skin, she felt just a hint of magic tingling. She knew she could manifest it now so at least she wasn’t helpless. The fact that she was okay with that idea was a big concern for a different day. Avery just wanted to get out of here alive.

Twelve

Downtown Anchorage, which lacked any dingy forests or dark creepy roadways, had come as a welcomed sight. The park ranger had been on his way to the city so not only did Avery take the ride there, she also took him up on an offer to be dropped off at the airport. She’d snagged up a ticket and was ready to go. The harpies would have to chase her down across the lower 48 if they wanted to get her now.

Sighing, she took a breath and tried to clear her emotions away. She’d made it all the way out of Hatcher Pass to Anchorage almost incident free. The trip took a few hours and though the car peacefully chugged along the interstate, the ill and foreboding feeling never stopped hovering.

The memory of the trip, crisp in her mind, kept the bad feeling around even now. Only an hour out, the park ranger’s demeanor had changed dramatically. Going from a generally jolly old man, he went stiff and quiet. The car still rumbled along at a steady speed but he gripped the wheel until his knuckles turned white. His pupils had expanded to take up much of his beady eyes and stayed steady on the empty road with absolute concentration.

“It’s just been a weird night.” He’d said once she’d inquired. His tone attempted to brush it off but she could hear the worry in it. “Thank god I managed to find you. I’ve just got a bad feeling.”

Avery didn’t know how to answer so she simply stayed quiet. It prompted to man to say more and he spoke softly enough that the words barely reached past his own scruffy beard. One of his hands absently cradled the wooden base of his shot gun.

“I’ve always had this theory about when things aren’t okay out here. Consider it natural instinct if you will, but the animals always know if something isn’t right. And tonight, the birds...the birds have really been acting up.”

Pushing it back in her mind and focusing on the present, Avery twirled the metal coiled cable in her hand and wedged the plastic phone head between her shoulder and chin. It still rang high and loud on the other side waiting for the recipient to agree to pay the collect call. She’d been trying contact her brother Chase for awhile-- especially considering she got a plane ticket to see him, but knowing his lazy habits, she’d consider herself lucky if he answered at all. Finally the incessant ringing halted and a gruff voice answered the phone.

“My phone is history.” She said truthfully. Maybe it was the constant falling but the once baby blue flip now resembled scrap metal.

“Avery!” He shouted, this time annoyed. Rustling on the other line told her he was now up and moving, probably one step from diving in his old Ford to come on a rescue mission. The best quality about Chase was also his worse. Chase was absolutely over protective

“I’m fine.” She amended. “Look, I’ve been thinking about what you said and decided to skip town for awhile and check out what else California has to offer.”

The silence on the other line didn’t come unexpectedly. In fact, it sounded both reminiscent of the park ranger and her mother when she barely put up a viable excuse. She wouldn’t try either. Even basking in the heat of the building with fries and a burger settling in her stomach, she didn’t feel up to it. Chase’s voice finally came over at a steady and deep pitch.

She had spoken to her mother earlier only to find out that Mayweather Academy had been calling her mother incessantly since she’d disappeared. They probably did it to decide whether they needed a truant agent or a corpse search team. After apologizing profusely, she’d just told her mother that she’d gone on trip to the Anchorage and spent the last few days horsing around in the city. Avery had spun a convincing tale about how there was too much drama in school and her mother had no problem with her taking a weekend break in California. Her mother swallowed this easily-- she had, after all, raised Chase who was an absolute hell raiser. In comparison to anything Chase did, Avery cutting a few days a school would be laughed off.

Her mother was easy to talk to, but dealing with Chase would be a different matter. The mere fact that Avery needed a so-called break from school meant that Chase needed to kill somebody on her behalf.

The overhead speakers boomed and Avery’s attention shot to the gate entrance on her left. Outside sat the tiny silver plane waiting at the tarmac. For some time, there’d been a line of twitchy people but they’d finally started boarding. She squeezed the heavy plastic phone receiver.

“I gotta go. Just pick me up please.”

“Avery.” He stopped her before she placed the phone back in its cradle. “Be careful.” He sighed.

She nodded even though he couldn’t see her and then hung up. It would turn out she hurried onto the plane for no reason. The only other ten people had already found their seats and the flight attendant hadn’t even completed the safety lecture. Avery dropped into her seat, abruptly exhausted, and gave a passing glance to the other people. She didn’t recognize anyone and no one had the characteristics of a harpie.

Most times Avery hated planes. The cabin was stuffy and the small fan blowing ventilated air smelt too much like gasoline. Today though, it didn’t bother her. This had to be the way to fly. A nice, granted mildly unpleasant, closed environment with no one trying to kill her and no chance of being dropped.

The plane took off and her dream had begun before she even realized she’d fallen asleep. Instead of being in the plane seat, she stood on soft grass and breathed in cool, fresh air.

The sharpness of the detail of a hearty garden full of overwhelming flowers could have tricked her but Avery realized it wasn’t reality. To her left trickled a tall marble fountain in a circle of polished tiles. Multicolored purple and blue accent lights focused at the center of the fountain giving the whole area a healthy glow. The lights lit up the red and white rose bushes that bloomed around the pathway. She admired its beauty for only moments when a voice demanded her attention.

“My highness.”

A gray haired harpie appeared at the edge of the garden and fell into a sweeping bow. The harpie looked older than any she’d seen before. The skin on his face drooped over hazel eyes, and he walked bent over.

“How are you?” She asked, the words slipping from her like they were already scripted.

She paced toward the fountain and perched on the edge. From there she caught a glimpse of herself in the rippled water’s reflection. Sharp green eyes stared back. Even through the distortion, she recognized her own reflection as the prominent face of Jericho. It seemed she was Jericho.

“I come on behalf of the Counsel, Jericho. We are concerned about the amulet of Willow.” The gray haired harpie said, standing close but also refusing to stand on the same tile pathway as she did.

“Aw, so quick to business. How’ve you been Samuel?” She said politely, and with her tiny nod, harpie Samuel took a few steps closer. Now standing just a foot before the fountain, Samuel seemed more relaxed.

“Always well these days, my lord. You know my daughter is soon to be married.” Samuel‘s voice rose with the pride, and his chest puffed with elation.

“Mason’s a strong boy. Mason will get over it.” With that, she abruptly dug into her pocket and retrieved a book that barely filled her huge hand.

“Speaking of this though, I would like to break the news to him myself. So we should make haste.” She then held the book out to Samuel as an unspoken offer and said, “This is all I can tell you.”

Samuel eyed it wearily before snatching it in one motion and flipping through it in the next. The pages inside were worn and abused by too much pressure and far too much fountain ink. From where she stood, it resembled more jibberish than anything else. But when the Samuel closed the book, she remembered the insignia clearly. In silver embossment, a crescent moon decorated the cover.