Fly Me Away

“After the party there’s this big blank spot in my memory, but I woke up in the forest somewhere with this huge bear hovering over me. Obviously I just about died of a heart attack!”

Pip was now in the middle of a very animated story. Her arms gestured left and right as she gave the explanation for her current situation, making sure not to leave out any details. I glanced over at Pirro and he blinked innocently….I think. It’s hard to tell with bears.

We were sitting on logs around a fire, sort of a like some camping set up. Although it wasn’t quite dark yet, it was a little bit cold and Pip was receiving the back end of it. She still had her dress on from Saturday night. Jackson gave her his jacket to wear, which she was drowning in, and he also started a fire unnaturally quickly. I had this strange feeling we were going to be staying here a little bit longer that I first thought….

“I tried to hit him and he backed away,” she exclaimed, “Then I started running, which was so stupid, it’s not what you’re supposed to do when confronted by a giant bear, but I did. I noticed he wasn’t following me, which was weird, then I just fell over like a rag doll. I had no energy whatsoever. Then that darned bear appeared in front of me again! Oh, hey, no offence," Pip acknoledged Pirro sitting there behind her. Pirro nodded, " So anyway, I gave up, I was gunna let him eat me, but he kinda…sprouted wings. I thought I had died so I went with the bear and here I am. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it since then and there were some pretty fairy things floating around before. They told me a little bit but they were strange….”

I missed Pip so much, and I was glad to see she was okay, but…. I had other things on my mind.

I was the Queen of the damned….apparently. Jackson hadn’t gone into further detail yet, but it was coming. Pip was just intent on letting someone know her story, just to make sure she wasn’t insane, and I was happy to hear it.

But I couldn’t get that awful thought from my mind…

“Huh,” Pip peeped distractedly, glancing over at Jackson, “So Jackson was an Angel this whole time….figures.”

I smiled quietly to myself at that one. It did figure. When I barely made a response to Pips remark, Jackson placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and rubbed it reassuringly. He knew what I was thinking about.

Pip hesitated, watching us, “Are….are you two really together….?”

And just like that, there was a thick fog of tension.

“I mean,” Pip continued, “is that allowed? It doesn’t quite seem fair to us normal girls who can only date normal guys…”

Pip, bless her heart, never knew when to shut up. Jackson was looking out into the trees, a very stern expression on. I shrugged. I could tell her the whole story – that he’d decided to take my social life away from me to ‘keep me safe’ – but I wasn’t sure if that was true anymore.

Pip obviously couldn’t see this tension fog, “Not to say that it would be wrong…I’m sure you’ve got all the right equipment—”

“—Pip,” I growled. Too far. The best I could do was give her one of those ‘don’t even ask’ looks. “Just friends,” I murmured, clearly disappointed with my own answer.

The air suddenly got colder – Jackson and Pirro simultaneously stood up and stared away in the same direction. Pirro was an incredibly large animal, I hadn’t noticed before, definitely bigger than your average bear. Pip and I looked at each other bewildered for a moment, then there was a quick stabbing in my stomach.

Was someone here to get me….?

“Jackson,” I squeaked. He reached out and took my hand, not taking his eyes off the trees. The pain leapt up to my throat.

A man stepped out from the shadows and into the clearing – a man I recognized. A plain, short, middle aged man with a blank face; it was Neil, the angel with the nymphs. He walked over to us far too gracefully, it didn’t look right for someone like him.

“Neil,” Jackson acknowledged, squeezing my hand as he did. I relaxed.

Neil nodded, and on cue, those floating whimsical women glided out through the trees and flew around us inquisitively. They circled Jackson and I furiously, gasping and giggling to each other.

“Oh she does!”

“How was this not noticed before?”

“The Queen….”

“Can she be trusted I wonder?”

Jackson pulled me hastily to him and the nymphs leapt away. Not too far away though, they continued speaking, but too quietly for me to hear. It just sounded like wind whistling through trees. Pretty. I glanced between the three angels. There was a long silence and Jackson’s eyes darted from Neil to Pirro and back again. Pip was still frozen on a log beside the fire, mesmerized by the sight of the Nymphs, which I remembered she had already met before.

“Would that be best?” Jackson asked Neil. This seemed to be the first verbally spoken part of their conversation.

“Yes,” Neil replied, “Undoubtedly. We cannot have any more humans mixed in this.”

Jackson frowned and his eyes darted to Pirro, who made a low grumbling noise. Another silence ensued and I glanced back to Pip. She looked scared. Jackson hadn’t fully explained the angels ability to read each other’s thoughts to her.

“If this has something to do with me,” I stated, breaking away from Jackson, suddenly feeling a burst of bravery, “Then let me hear it.”

Neil’s eyes widened and Pirro dropped back down onto all fours. Jackson sighed, but nodded, “We are just discussing our plan Maggie.”

“That’s really rude, keeping us out of the conversation like that. I don’t even know who this bloke is…” Pip, encouraged by my abruptness, stood up and crossed her arms. The Nymphs got a small fright and gasped, then they flew into a chorus of quiet giggles as they watched on curiously.

Jackson gestured towards our little campfire set up, “take a seat girls.”

We obeyed, droping down to our original places.

He ran his hand through his hair, thinking whatever he was about to say through. Neil wandered closer, but still stood back at a distance with the Nymphs, who wouldn’t stop whispering to each other. I frowned at Jackson impatiently.

“We…we think it would be safest if we kept you two out here for the night.”

My mouth dropped open, Pip’s face just sunk.

“No way! Why!?” I snapped. Thoughts of my mother and Pip’s distressed family flooded my head.

Jackson sat down next to me and opened his mouth, but Neil interrupted, “The….opposition party, will be here for Queen Terra tomorrow. We don’t want to get anybody else involved; therefore we must keep you away from civilization.”

If I never heard that woman’s name again in my life, I would be very happy.

“Just for one night Maggie,” Jackson pleaded. I turned away from him, I couldn’t stand those puppy dog eyes.

“You can’t do this to me,” I argued “My Mom is… she’s worried! If I don’t make it home tonight….Pip’s been missing for 3 days now and her parents will be…. ”

“They will all be fine. It is safest for them all if they don’t know where you are.”

I looked to Pip for backup, but she just looked sad and… understanding. Had this been explained to her already? She hadn’t seen how worried everyone was for her….

“At least let me call someone,” I begged, pulling my cellphone out of my pants pocket.

Pip sighed, “No reception.”

“I’m sorry Maggie,” Jackson swiftly took the phone from my hands, “Calls can be traced, I can’t take you to service.”

My lungs deflated – I couldn’t stand the thought of worrying my Mom like that. He was right though, if this….this thing was going to happen tomorrow, I didn’t want my Mom turning up with a search party. We must have been so far away. I remembered the witch saying something about the borders of this region. I shivered at the thought. One night and the king comes for me…

“Neil and I will fly back to town and get you two anything you need for the night. Pirro and the Nymphs will stay back and keep guard,” Jackson explained, rising to his feet.

I immediately caught his hand, “Jackson….” I didn’t want him leaving. Selfish—yes—but wouldn’t you be if you knew you were going to get kidnapped tomorrow? I latched onto his hand for all it was worth and gave him the most pathetic pleading look I could muster.

He didn’t respond immediately. His green eyes were stern and still as he surveyed me trying to pull him back onto the log beside me. This was unusual for him; it was as if, for some reason, he was holding back. Trying to be serious with me, or trying to ignore me. After an unbearably long silence, my eyes flickered to Pirro, who had his head down, staring at nothing on the Ground, then to Neil. Neil’s eyes were wide and his mouth ajar – he was staring at the back of Jackson’s head as if he’d just said something completely unthinkable.

Or thoughtsomething completely unthinkable…

Jackson’s expression crumbled and he growled, then sighed, pulling me up to his level by my hand. “It has to be us, bears can’t walk into shopping malls.”

I wasn’t convinced. I didn’t need him to go and get me anything, I just needed him. I frowned like a child not getting her way. I’d used this before on him.

He sighed again, dramatically this time, and he placed a hand on the small of my back. That incredible feeling of being completely at ease came over me as he pulled me to him and pressed me softly against his chest. I took the opportunity to breathe in his lovely scent. His low, quiet voice rumbled through his chest, “Don’t be scared Maggie. Pirro is the strongest Angel here, you are in very capable hands….paws.”

“I’ll look after you too Mags,” Pip chirped from behind me.

I jumped. I’d forgotten she was there. Embarrassed, I wiggled out of Jackson's hold, and brushed some invisible dirt from my jeans.

Jackson grinned at Pip, then shot me that heart melting smile. Why was he making me swoon like this in front of everyone? My cheeks burned red and he placed his hands on my shoulders, “We won’t be long. Half an hour at most.”

------

It felt like hours. To be fair, only 10 or so minutes had passed since they left, but it felt like longer. Pip and I were seated in the same place, Pirro was walking around the clearing calmly and the Nymphs were prancing around, making themselves at home. Some of them were hovering over the fire with us.

“I’m sorry for getting so mad Maggie, I don’t know what came over me….”

“It’s okay.”

“No really, it wasn’t me. That night when I tried to attack you I just… exploded with anger. In my head though, it was kind of like I was watching and cringing as I did it,” Pip looked over at Pirro, then back to me, “I bet Pirro knows what it was. I’ll ask Jackson when he gets back.”

I nodded, still slightly out of it. All I could think about was how far away Jackson was….

“Do you fairies know anything about this ‘Queen’ Maggie’s supposed to be?” Pip asked into the air, knowing one of the many floating women would catch on and be eager to speak.

“Yes, we met her once,” one of the nymphs glided down and parked next to Pip on the log. Pip shivered.

“So captivating,” another one circled the fire curiously.

A light hand stroked my cheek slowly and I jumped. “And beautiful,” she giggled and flew away.

That didn’t sound like me – captivating and beautiful.

“Well,” I cleared my throat, “do you know what I am? Is it just a coincidence that I look like her? What’s going on?”

A few smiles disappeared and they looked at each other, puzzled.

“Uncertain.”

“Perhaps….a recreation.”

“Re-embodiment?”

“You do look like her. Very much so.”

A nymph took a lock of my hair and held it to her face, “you smell like her.”

“Margaret does not act like her however….”

“No. Queen Terra fell in love with a demon.”

“Indeed….Margaret is quite the opposite.”

Cold air chilled the side of my face and I knew a Nymph was there, speaking into my ear. “Queen Margaret fell in love with an Angel.”

They all broke into a chorus and laughter and began racing around in a translucent bright flurry.

I could feel Pip’s eyes burning a hole into my skull, yet I refused to meet them. Those stupid Nymphs, stirring everything like that. I knew exactly what she was about to ask and if there was any way the conversation could be avoided, I would have done it. I suppose….she deserved to know….

“…that true Mags?”

I shrugged, but didn’t get a chance to expand on it.

Pirro roared.

It was the most frightening sound I had ever heard in my life; A deep, glass shattering boom that shook the earth. Pip screamed, but it was barely audible next to the growl. I could see her from the corner of my eye watching me, her face horrified and her hands over her mouth. I tried to look around, see what has going on….but I couldn’t.

My hands where out by my sides, my head half turned and my knee’s slightly bent as if I was rising from my seat. There was a spasm of panic in my heart as I quickly realized what was happening.

I couldn't feel my body – I was frozen solid.