Fly Me Away

His eyes shot open and he fixed them on my face. I could tell he was trying to read it, wondering why I would ask such a thing. I just shrugged and looked at him shyly; my heart thudding in my chest as I waited for his answer.

He sat up as well, still not moving his eyes. They held an intimidating look of question, like he was trying to interrogate me. I began to blush, regretting asking the question at all. I didn’t even know why, it wasn’t that hard was it? Jackson rested his elbows on his knees and trained his eyes on the fire place, “May I ask why?”

I shrugged so slightly that he might just brushed it off as breathing, “I just...I don’t know. I didn’t really...see them the first time. I know it wasn’t that long ago, but that night is just a blur. It’s really up to you....”I rambled on, fidgeting with the ring on my finger.

He stood abruptly and moved over to the fireplace. He was facing away from me and he appeared to be warming his hands against it, even though he didn’t need to. I was definitely regretting bringing it up now.

“You really don’t have....”

But my voice faded away to nothing and my eyes widened to an immeasurable size as he raised his hands. He was unbuttoning his shirt.

My heart rate spiked and I was worried he could hear it hammering against my rib cage. I pushed myself back against the sofa in a vain attempt to muffle the sound. If he could hear it, he wasn’t paying attention. I faintly heard the last button come undone, then his hands dropped to his side and his shirt hung open as he stared at the fireplace.

The curiosity was churning in my stomach. “What are you thinking?” I asked quietly.

“I was just thinking about how well you’ve taken all of this Maggie.” He sounded like he was smiling, which was good. It felt like a weight was lifted.

He pulled the rest of his shirt off and my eyes followed it as he threw it effortlessly onto the sofa beside me.

“Are you ready?” he asked. I could tell he was facing me now.

I hesitated, still staring across at Jacksons crumpled shirt. I knew he was going to be stunning, and I knew I was going to be embarrassed, but that wasn’t the point of this little exercise. I was going to see his wings, so I looked.

I’d predicted he would be beautiful, but I hadn’t anticipated exactly how beautiful. I couldn’t keep myself under control. My eyes raked over his chest like a woman in a chocolate store, staring at a tray of thousand dollar truffle ganache filled Madelines. He was so lean and toned, like an athlete. It was just natural though, like there was no other possibility for him; He could never have looked any less perfect.

My eyes became roaming spotlights, I couldn’t help it.

Jackson raised his eyebrows, “Maggie, are you....are you blushing?”

I recoiled back, suddenly realizing what a shameless pervert I was being. After ripping my eyes forcefully away from him, I looked back down at my fingers and shrugged, “I am a girl Jackson....You have to admit...”

I inwardly grimaced at my weak ass excuse.

“I see...” He stood back to the fire and spun around. “Did you...still want to see them? Or am I making you uncomfortable? Would you prefer it if I put my shirt back on...”

I lifted my head and shook it, forgetting my shyness “No no of course I want to see! You’re just....” I cleared my throat, “...ugh, don’t worry. I just want to see.”

Good one Maggie.

“Alright,” he responded unsurely, casting me a worried glance over his shoulder. I just shrugged and collapsed backwards.

Without giving me any time to prepare, two dazzling white wings sprouted from his back and grew until they took up half the room. I breathed in sharply and my hand flew up to my chest in shock. It was all over so quickly and silently, and before I knew it, there was truly and angel standing in front of me.

He was motionless, leaving his back turned to me while I gained some composer I assumed. I simply gawked. They were real wings. Why could I not remember it the first time? They looked strong and fast, like an eagles, the only exception being that they where the purest shade of white I had ever seen. Like bleach, giving off a faint, warm glow.

“Wow...” I breathed, completely mesmerized. He shifted them slightly more into a folded position, but there wasn’t a lot of room. My hands were still settled on my chest and I folded my legs up in a pathetic attempt to make more space.

Then in the swiftest, most graceful movement I’d ever seen, he spun around to face me, the softest breeze brushing the hair back off my face.

“Good lord...” I broke my fixation on his wings to check his expression. He looked content...more or less emotionless, which was better than annoyed. That’s how I would be feeling if a little girl asked to see my wings.

My reverie was cut short when he asked in a monotone voice, “Is that enough?”

No, no it wasn’t enough. I reached my hand out toward him slowly, as if I was reaching out to touch a bird and I was scared that it would fly away. I saw him register what I was asking, and he wrinkled his noise unsurely, his wings twitching behind him.

I made a small helpless noise. This could have been my only chance – I wanted to make the most of it. “Please...?” I whispered with a pathetic, pleading tone to my voice.

He sighed – defeated. “Alright,” he murmured, running his hand through his hair. He didn’t look very happy about it, and this, in turn, made me feel guilty. If I didn’t want it so bad, I would have let him have his way. But I did want it that bad.

He flicked one wing out and spread his wing span fully before curving it around to the end of it was in front of me. I leaned forward eagerly and placed my hands softly on them.

They were so soft, yet rock solid, if that made any sense. They felt like an impenetrable barrier, lined with the most delicate plumage ever. I wanted to say something to him, but I couldn’t muster any words. I couldn’t even tear my eyes away from them, so I just smiled; it was a smile so big that it hurt the side of my cheeks.

“You like that?” Jackson asked softly, not really understanding my fascination. I glanced up at him, but kept my head towards the wing in front of me. He was....almost smiling now. Almost.

“You know how when you’re a little kid and you see something with feathers,” I laughed quietly at the memory, “and you just wanna touch it...” I murmured absent-mindedly, stroking his wing gently. When he didn’t respond, I looked up, realizing my mistake, “Oh, I mean....well, you won’t know what I mean, but...”

He smiled and shook his head, watching my fingers weave through the layers of thick white feathers. I didn’t know what that meant, but I didn’t care, as long as he didn’t mind too much. I could have sat there and played with his wing for hours, so I wasn’t going to let up until he decided I’d had enough fun.

“Children like to touch things,” he said finally, then he lifted his wing up and out of my reach from the sofa. I frowned sadly, but let it happen; it was fun while it lasted.

Jackson was still smiling lightly, his eyes following his wing as it came back down again, this time, it went past me and curved behind my back.

I made a small surprised noise as it curled around me and lifted me up off the sofa. I held my arms up and grabbed hold of them, trying to regain my balance. Slowly, Jackson shuffled me forward until I was standing within a meter of him. I tried to read his face to find out what he was doing, but it was unreadable; his expression hadn’t changed, he was still smiling carelessly.

“What are you thinking?” I asked curiously, a playful edge to my voice.

Then something changed.

Jackson completely folded his wing around me, pushing me right up to his side. I was sure I would have enjoyed it had I not been so wary. “Jackson what’s—”

He held a finger to his lips to hush me. His other arm shot out and locked around my waist, then pulled me tight against his concrete body. My cheeks flushed pink, but he was tense – I could tell something was wrong. The wing behind me obscured my view of the room, which I was instinctively trying to scan.

With nowhere else to look, I peered up at him, ignoring how incredibly close we were. My face begged him for answers, but he was distracted. His chin was high and his eyes were staring out at nothing; I was beginning to get scared.

The fear grew in my stomach as I watched his eyes fixate on something in the center of the room. His body became rigid and his arm tightened around my waist, catching me in a vice grip. Then something happened again, whatever he was looking at did something he didn’t like and his jaw locked. He suddenly looked fierce.

“So she knows....” a deep, grumbling voice hissed from behind me, “interesting,”

My heart pounded in my chest. Something was out there.

Jackson glanced down at me, but only for a second, then trained his eyes back on whatever was in the room with us, his ferocity not letting up. He didn’t speak back to it, but pulled me closer again protectively. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was in the middle of an Angel/Demon showdown.

“You should just give her to me boy—”

“Shut up!” Jackson spat viciously.

I made a strangled whimpering sound involuntarily and slipped a hand up over my mouth. I didn’t want it to hear me cry. I felt Jackson tense up a bit more, and try desperately to make me calm down, but his angel drug wasn’t working this time. All I felt was a weak, out of place feeling trying to overpower a much stronger one.

Fear.

I never looked away from Jackson. All I had to go by was his face, which I needed to read to know what was going on. I felt a tear fall down across my cheek bone and over the hand on my face.

“Don’t be afraid Maggie, you’re safe,” Jackson whispered softly, his expression waving for a moment, but his eyes not leaving our unwelcomed guest.

“You’re scaring her. Come here girl, I’ll make you feel—”

“Enough!” Jackson barked, raising his free hand and placing it on the back of my neck, pulling my head down to rest on his shoulder. That was it; I couldn’t read his face anymore. Maybe that was what he wanted. Maybe I was just getting in his way. All I could do now was listen.

The demon hissed.

“Tell me what you want with her,” Jackson ordered. His voice was held an undeniable authority.

“Oh she doesn’t know? What a useless guard you are, if you...” It cut itself off, obviously thinking it over, “Alright, just to make the game interesting, I’ll tell you.”

I tensed up this time. I was positive whatever it was about to say was going to change my life.

“Now that your little human girl is 18, she’s a trophy. A pretty valuable gold—”

Then suddenly, Jackson wasn’t holding me anymore. I let out a cry as I grappled the thin air where he used to be in confusion. A gruesome shriek came from the middle of the room and I spun around, my eyes filled with tears.

Jackson was there, wing’s fanned out, staring at something on the floor. I took a step closer, but he held out a hand to stop me. All I saw was a long black tail, something that belonged to a snake, the rest was obscured behind the sofa – Jackson didn’t want me to see it.

He pointed his hand towards it, palm first and it burst into flames. I gasped and reeled back – it wasn’t normal colored fire, it was white. As beautiful as it was, I had to look away; so bright and so horrifying – A white flame that burned demons.

“You’re alright now,” he assured me, and I turned back to look.

Jackson just stood there, fists clenched, staring at the now bare floor.

I didn’t know what to do. I was suddenly aware that my face was becoming more drenched with tears by the second. I took a step towards him and he looked up apologetically at me. I shook my head and started to wipe furiously at the tears. I was going to be brave. Jackson took care of that....thing as if it was nothing. It was the least I could do.

Jackson’s wings folded closed before they disappeared all together. He looked normal again; no eerie angel glow anymore. I leaned down to the couch and picked up his shirt, then threw it over to him. He caught it with one hand.

“Better put that on,” I joked lightly, still rubbing my eyes with my wrists. I managed to put on a smile, even if it was weak.