Wings of Boden (30 page)

“Sick. She needs bed rest. You were right
about the spring water. It doesn’t do a thing for us, but it seems
to help you angels. You should’ve seen Elle when we drug her in. By
the way, where’s Celeste?”

“She doesn’t know yet. She’d cause a major
scene down here. I can only handle one thing at a time.”

“Dad, how come I didn’t get sick? That water
healed me?”

“It’s Source water, Ellie, underground. It’s
the reason we heal so fast. It’s piped into our house. That’s why
the tea makes you feel better. And it seems my visions were
correct. You protected your sister, no matter the pain. You and
your mother are protectors, honey. You’ll sacrifice everything to
do it.”

All I could manage was a nod. Dad turned his
gaze away and mine followed as Jaydenn strode to us, Angie a limp
blanket across his arms with her wings tucked under. He stood
before us, remnants of anguish on his face, swollen eyes
pleading.

Dad cleared wet hair off Angie’s forehead.
“Angie, my sweet angel, what did you do.” He lifted eyes to
Jaydenn. “Get her up to the house, Jay. Celeste’ll fix her up. Let
her know Ellie’s okay, and we’ll be up in bit. Just take care of
Angie.”

Jaydenn gave Dad a quick nod and was off
across the room and out the door.

“Well, Chris,” said Dad, “what’s say we show
Ellie around?” Dad pulled a few brown-wrapped candy bars from his
pocket, reached out. “Here’s a little somethin for Billy and
Jen.”

Chris returned an appreciative nod, took the
candy bars from Dad, spun around and walked toward the arched
opening. With my arm linked through Vyn’s, we followed. Vyn
remained silent, looking around in a confused daze.

Dad asked Chris, “How are they by the way.
Billy still addicted to candy, I assume?”

“Oh, yeah, he can’t get enough. And Jen loves
all that fruit you keep sending us.

That’s where all that fruit went, well that’s
just sneaky.

Chris added, “By the way, the manuscript will
be done in a few weeks, now that I have an idea for the ending. I’d
like to get it over to the publishing house as soon we can. This
one’s a special one.”

“No problem, I’ll get right on it. Celeste’ll
be happy to hear that. She loves your work, can’t keep her nose out
of it. Matter of fact, she thinks we should buy the company, a
little retirement present, name it Soepheea Publishers …”

Books?

Is that—
Oh my Source
. Chris?
Christoper Quintell? My favorite author of old-world human stories?
They’re fantasy novels … Are they fiction?

Did I just land on another planet?

This mesmerizing, bright and cheery world
brought to mind some weird science fiction film that could be
called “Planet of the Humans” or something. And I was right smack
in the middle of it, wondering whether I would wake up and find
myself in the audience, or behind the screen. I could almost smell
the popcorn and cotton candy on the air.

After Dad, Chris, Vyn and I had passed under
the archway to town, the floor narrowed into a cobbled road,
bordered by paving stone sidewalks and perfectly manicured lawns.
The domed ceiling, way up there, threw down the illusion of a
blue-painted sky. Light poured from some sort of artificial
sunlight fixtures in the ceiling. Fans pumping from somewhere
sounded out a light hum, oxygenating the air, I assumed.

Humans. Yes, humans, in grass yards in front
of cute little wooden houses, rows of hedges dividing the lots.
Humans were mowing their lawns, watering the grass, planting
flowers, lounging back on porches while a “normal day” went on. As
we traipsed along, we became a center of attention. Humans would
stop what they were doing, stare, talk to each other and wave.

“I love you, Elle!” the little voice of a
small girl called out while she sat still on her tricycle, on a
sidewalk in front a house.

Wait, she knew my name? Her parents, I
figured, probably in their mid-thirties, were relaxing in wooden
porch chairs at the house. The man in jeans and a T-shirt lifted a
glass of something, toasting us, while the woman in a flowered
dress offered a gentle wave. Dad and Chris waved back. My face
warming, I returned a humble, confused lift of my hand as if I was
on some kind of parade float. Vyn angled a helping grin at me, as
if he could tell I was embarrassed.

“Well,” Chris said. “Looks like Billy got the
word out.”

Even as we were approaching a sort of central
area of town, Chris said to Dad, “I take it the new war has
begun?”

“Looks that way. We’ll get you out of here as
soon as we clean up the mess up there.”

“It’s been a long time, Phil. We appreciate
everything you’ve done for us. All the years of construction,
what’s it been now, forty? I was just boy back then. I wouldn’t’ve
made it without you, none of us would’ve.”

“It’s always been my pleasure. You were a
good boy back then. You wanted to work. All I had to do was give
you some tools. You kept this town running smooth all those years,
and became a successful author at the same time. I only wish we
could’ve taken care of this sooner. But, as you know, we had to
wait for the visions. It’s all coming together now. Just hang tight
a little longer.”

“Dad, um, why can’t they join us? I mean, up
there?”

Chris stopped, spun around, halting us all to
stand together.

As Vyn tightened his grip on my hand, I
wondered if I’d said something wrong.

“We can’t yet,” Chris said in a serious tone.
“It’s those drekavacs. We’re more vulnerable than you angels. Just
a few words from a drek can turn us. We can’t take that chance.” He
gave Dad a confused look. “Shouldn’t she have learned some of this
in school?”

“We considered it,” Dad replied. “But we
didn’t see any reason why the children should know about all the
darkness. Children should live in peace. They shouldn’t have to
worry about such things. We instructed the schools not to teach
that type of history. It may be wrong, in a way, but our children
don’t live in fear, up till now. But we’ll take care of that.”

Chris compressed his lips, nodded. “Well, you
know where I stand. We’ll do anything we can to help. Some of us
never been in the sunlight, the kids. We teach them in school, of
course, but it’s not the same. The last time we attempted to show
them”—he glanced at me, back to Dad—“Let’s just say the dreks are
too many now. We can’t afford to take that chance.”

Dad gave Chris an understanding expression, a
trace of sadness, as if he knew Chris had lost a loved one. He laid
a hand on Chris’s shoulder and said, “I’d say it’s time for
redemption. It’s time we showed the children the light.”

“Elle, I have to go,” Vyn said with a hint of
excitement. “I have an idea.”

“What, no. Stay with me, please.”

“I can’t, Ellie.” He leaned a peck to my
cheek and was gone before I could say another word, leaving me
stranded.

“Let’s go, Elle,” Dad prodded.

As we walked through town, Dad and Chris
continued to explain things to me. They told me about the years of
construction during the times of my childhood. They answered all my
questions, and informed me about the other town entrance where
trucks deliver supplies and such. Came to find out that’s where the
road behind the house—which I had thought dead-ended into the
mountain—leads to. When Angie and I were children, we used to play
next to the iron-covered cave entrance, throwing rocks at it just
to hear the echo,
plung, plung
, rock after rock. Back then,
Dad had told us it was blocked off due to safety issues, now I knew
he wasn’t referring to
our
safety. How many other hints had
I missed over the years?

A building came into view in the distance. As
we drew closer, it became obvious it was a one-story school
building; red brick, windows all around, a wooden sign posted on
the lush front lawn that read
Phillip Soepheea Elementary
.
My Source. And to add more surprise to my wonder salad, next to it
stood a brick library with a giant boulder on the lawn that was
engraved with the words
Elleria Soepheea Library
. You’ve got
to be flappin kidding me.

Evidently, Dad noticed me looking at it as he
stopped us and said, “Since you love books so much, I dedicated the
library to you. Angie’s name is on the hospital.”

“That’s. I just, don’t know what to—”

A bell rang out. The doors of the school blew
open. Kids came running out and across the lawn, cheering and
celebrating the end of their school day. I remembered my
childhood.

“Elle,” Dad interrupted my visions, “this
way,” then led me off.

A hanging bell tinkled above the door as we
entered a town store. Such a clean, rustic little shop, I noticed,
while drifting my gaze around the room at shelves of cans and boxes
in three aisles. Fruits and vegetables filled cooler bins against
the left wall. On the right wall hung a shelf of trinkets,
treasures and figurines, one of which was a large glass-blown angel
with its wings spread wide. It looked like Aron Arod, the Source
angel of progress.

At the sound of a box dropped to the wooden
floor I snapped my head around.

“Ellie, Ellie, Ellie!” an excited, bubbly
voice as a girl skipped across the wooden floor to me, hopping and
clapping her hands together so fast I couldn’t keep up. Her pinball
motions infused me with energy as my eyes twitched and head bobbed
just to follow her movements.

She was around my age, it seemed, though
about a foot shorter, I deduced when she finally stopped hopping
around and stood before me. Pixie-cut brown hair framed her narrow
feminine face. Porcelain-smooth skin. Hazel eyes gleaming like
gold. Form-fitting jeans covered her slim legs. Flats on her feet.
Actually, except for the lack of wing-flaps, her lavender shirt
looked familiar too, as if she could’ve just raided my closet.

“Oh, Ellie,” she said, wound with energy, “I
missed you so,
so
much.” She let out a little squeal, jumped
onto me and hugged while I stood in confusion. She drew back to
stand, beaming. And just starting talking, “I’m so happy you’re
finally here. We have so much to talk about. Oh, just look at you,
you look just like your mom. That shirt I brought you fits you
perfect. Don’t worry, I made all the gawking boys turn around while
I put it on you. Sorry about the wing-flaps, all I had were
scissors and safety pins. Oh, and by the way, where did you get
that bra? I want one. Did you get it from that new store I heard
about, Angel’s Closet?” She paused for a breath, looked at me.
“Don’t you remember me?” She did a funny lip curl and scrunched up
her nose … then grinned. “That’s okay, Ellie. It’ll come back to
you.” She waited, folded her arms over her chest and tilted her
head, tapping her foot to the floor while I searched my mind.

Memories began to drift as I held my gaze on
her. I tucked some hair behind my ear. When I was a little girl, I
had a friend. We were inseparable, playing in the flowers, talking
about kid stuff, in complete confidence and holding a pact to be
friends forever …

“Penny?” Emotions rushed through me as I
pulled her into a hug. “I thought you were gone. I. I thought the
hunters took you?”

We released the embrace, stood
face-to-face.

“Nope,” her voice tinkled, “just a drek, and
your dad saved me.”

I turned to Dad. “You saved her, how?”

“Well, honey, there were a few humans with us
back then. To protect them, we told everyone they were angels with
wing disorders and had to have their wings removed. Then the drek
got to Penny. I brought her here before she could turn into one of
them. Told everyone a hunter took her. We had to block that memory
from you. It was part of your nightmare memories. We knew how much
she meant to you so we adopted her. She’s your sister, Ellie.”

“Yep, Ellie,” Penny chimed. “I was a hybrid
for a while. But I’m all better now.” She spun around on her toes
like a ballerina. “See, full of light.”
Giggle
. “You have to
let me show you around. You’re coming with me, sis.” She started
her hopping light clap again. “Oh, oh, and, we can have a sleepover
too, yes, that would be so much fun.”

“One step at time, Penny,” said Dad.

“Oh, Dad,” Penny sighed, and gave him a
pouting scowl. “Don’t be such a downer.”

She called him, Dad. Um, she called him, Dad.
It was all so new to my brain.

Dad blew a sigh … said to Penny, “I’ll give
you a few hours for now, but she has to come up tonight. I’m sure
Angie would like to talk to her.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Penny frowned, and lit right
back up. “Okay, but soon, okay, Ellie?”

All I could manage was a dazed headshake, the
threat of tears building in my throat. My best friend stood before
me, smiling, full of life and—

The door cracked open with a bell tinkle. We
stepped back as a tiny blond girl in a dress peeked her face around
the door, staring at me, cautious, as if she wasn’t supposed to be
there.

“Come on in, Cassie,” said Penny. “It’s
okay.”

Cassie stepped in and made her way over, one
little step at a time. She stood silent before me with her curious
green eyes up to mine.

“Um, are you a angel?” Her soft voice matched
her size.

“Yes.” I smiled.

“A real, live, girl angel?”

“Yes.” A
giggle
slipped out.

“Reeaally. What’s your name?”

Tucking some hair behind my ear, I crouched
down in front of her. “My name is Elle, and you’re Cassie,
right?”

“Well, my name is Cassandra, but people call
me Cassie. That’s what my mommy used to call me too.”

“Well, it’s a beautiful name.” My heart was
so warm.

“You’re really a angel? You’re really,
Elle?”