Refraction Of The Wings

“Who are you?” Ian asked.

The leader chuckled softly before answering, “That’s not what we came here for. To answer your question.”

“What do you want then?”

“Ah. That is what we came here for. To capture you all.”

Eliza couldn’t help but gave a small squeak. “What for?”

“It’s not up to us to give you answers, but I suppose I can spare a few. Before we take you in.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Sky spat.

The men started laughing loudly. Their laughs echoed throughout the alley. Sky shrank back and tried to look for a way to escape.

“Save your strength. You are not going to escape so easily. Best if you just come here, quietly.” Sky had never heard a voice with such coldness in it. It sent a shiver down her spine, but she steeled herself.

“Answer our questions first!” She shouted. “Why are you here? Why did you find us? How did you even get to know that we’re here? I saw you all; I saw how you murdered the nurse!”

A flicker of doubt flashed in the leader’s eyes. Listening carefully, she realized that he had a European accent, possibly an American.

“So you saw us.” He murmured. “Okay, where to start? Why are we here? Simple. We’re merely following orders to capture you all, alive. Although if I had it my own way, your bodies would be lying in your beds by now.” He paused to see the effect.

“Same goes for the second question. As for how did I even know?” He laughed softly again and pointed to himself. “I have ways. I know everything about you all. And perhaps your friends who was not injured as well.”

Sean gasped. “You mean you’ve got our friends as well?” Then he gave a groan and shifted his wrist.

“It only took me a second.” The leader shrugged. “Now, are you coming slowly…?”

“Never.” Sky whispered. She placed herself in front of her friends. She hoped that her friends had been taking martial arts lesson. It might not be useful against armed men, but it might help them stall some time before help arrives.

If the leader was surprised, he didn’t show it. Instead he nodded to one of the men. Sky didn’t even hear anything until she felt the pain in her right leg. She screamed. She looked down and saw a big gaping hole just below her shin. She fell down and gripped her leg tightly as if hoping to stop the burning pain from spreading up.

“Again, I shall ask. Will you be coming slowly…?” The man’s voice is dangerously soft.

“Enough! We will. Just, don’t hurt us.” Eliza shrieked. She kneeled down beside Sky and tried to calm her down but the pain was unbearable.

“She’ll survive. Now, let’s go.” He barked some orders again and the men started closing in upon them.

Ian reached down and tried to help Sky up by grabbing her arm. She gasped. The moment Ian had touched her arm; she felt her energy drained off. Everything started to get really blurry and she slumped on the floor, too weak to move.

However, she was strong enough to see what happened to Ian once he touched her. He began writhing and howling, all the while something seemed to be bursting out from him. Sean leaped away from him when his mouth began to shape into beaks, and his hands turned into claws.

He let out a guttural scream and arched his back. A deformed shape began to force them out from his back. To Sky’s horror, she saw that it was a pair of wings. He screamed aloud again, making them cover their ears as the sound pierced into their head. The men were frozen on the spot; only the leader had the sense to leap away as Ian took a swipe at him.

“Shoot it!” The leader screamed. Eliza looked at Sky and Sean with an expression of total shock. She moved so quickly and was about to shield Ian when Sky noticed something. If Eliza is over there… Then… Who’s beside her?

She turned and nearly passes out when she saw another Eliza standing beside her, her face knitted in concentration.

“Elizabeth! What’s happening??!! How did you…?”

Sean gave a yell as one of the men grabbed him and tried to pull him away. Sky tried to alert Eliza but she appeared not to have noticed anything. She closed her eyes and soon Sky was sure that she had fainted. A dozen of Elizas appeared right out of nowhere, all seemed to be very confused. But when they saw the chaos, they moved in quickly to help Ian.

Sky struggled up and hobbled over to where Sean was being dragged away. No one took any notice of her and with every strength she had, she kicked with all her might at the man. The man was too quick and his hand jerked on the trigger.

An explosion of pain shot through Sky’s lungs as the bullet went right through. Her lungs felt as if it was on fire, she refused to give in and continue kicking and punching every inch of the man she could reach.

Another pain shot through her arm and she gave a moaned as she realized the man had broken it. Her strength weakened and when she fell, she could only watch helplessly as the man knocked Sean unconscious. No one had seen anything, they were too busy.

“Help!” She whispered. She saw the man advancing on her, his face a mask of menace. She was about to give up when a burst of energy came to her. No! I won’t give up easily!

A red film descended in front of her eyes and she felt her body changing. A wild instinct reached her and her consciousness started to fade away. It is as if someone was guiding her body. All she could hear was screams of pain. She was sure that wasn’t her friends’. Something is hurting the men, and she like it.

Soon, she became aware of her surroundings. She felt so tired and so worn out.

“Skylar! Wake up!”

“Wha-?” She opened her eyes and saw that she was still standing. Sean was still a few feet away, he appeared to be fine but he was groaning.

She turned and saw bodies all about her, and to her horror, she saw that her claws was still there, and it was still covered in blood. Most of the men were ripped and mutilated beyond recognition, and she saw some marks on the bodies that could only come from…

Ian was sitting nearby, still bearing the same freakish appearance as her. But Eliza was alone already. She was tending to Sean’s wound.

“Ouch! Careful with my wrist!”

“Sorry!” Eliza was flustered, trying to get him up without touching his wrist.

“What happen?”

Ian winced and replied, “You took them down.”

Sky would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so dangerous then.

“I took out a gang of men, a gang of armed men?”

“You weren’t yourself. Neither was I.” Ian hissed.

“What do you mean…?”

Her friends avoided her eye contact. She felt a sense of dread. How could I have done that? This isn’t me!

Eliza spoke up. “You were tearing men apart with your… claws. You seemed unstoppable until all of them had died.”

“But… I was hurt. How…?”

“Not now. We have to get away. The noise had alerted the police. Can you fly?”

The question seemed so odd to her. “I-I don’t know.”

“You have to. Carry Sean. Eliza, grab my shoes and socks. Be careful not to touch me.”

Sky was about to argue but she heard sirens wail nearby. There was no time to lose. She locked her arms under Sean’s armpit, taking care not to tear into his clothes. Bracing herself, she tried to move her wings, as how she would move her arms.

To her surprise, her wings began flapping. Soon, they were in the air. It was so bizarre to be up in the air with only wings supporting her. She saw Ian flapping harder and follow suit, until they were high up in the sky.

“This is cool!” Eliza yelled. Sky couldn’t suppress a smile. Not that she could smile anyway with that beak of hers.

It is indeed. The stars are blinking down at them, the cold night air blowing, helping them to gain altitude as they soar above the city. Sky prayed that no one would happen to glance up and see them. Two humongous birds carrying humans…

Just when she felt that she can’t flap anymore, they arrived at the field nearby Sky’s house. They circled overhead before landing on the badminton court. Sky immediately let Sean go and sat down. Pretty soon, she felt her claws changing back to hands and beak back to her mouth. With a sucking sound, her wings melted back onto her back.

“Okay, I think we really need to figure out what in the world is happening.” Sean said. Dried blood was caked on his face, covering one of his eyes.

“It’s like; we’ve turned into mutants or something like that. You know, like ‘X-Men’?”

“And why did those men wanted to hunt us down? This is seriously getting way offhand.”

“Why not we just inspect more of our powers, or talent, or ability?”

“Agree.” Sky turned to Eliza. “How in the world did you do that? You just close your eyes…” She snapped his fingers. “And poof! I thought I was seeing double.”

“I don’t know either. It’s like… I just knew how to do it. I don’t know how to explain, but it’s as if this is just second nature to me.”

“Can you do it again?” Sky asked eagerly.

“Maybe. I’ll try.” Eliza closed her eyes and silence fell. They waited for a few moments.

“Whoa!” Ian exclaimed, pointing.

It’s like a scene being replayed again. A dozen Elizas suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Now, it is clear that the replicated Elizas does not have a sprain ankle, unlike the original Eliza.

“Well, that’s awesome!” Sky said. She reached towards one of them and was surprised that she felt real flesh. She didn’t know what she expected, but it’s certainly not flesh and blood.

“Self-multiply! I never thought I’d see that for myself.”

“Which one of you is real?” Sean asked.

“Any one of us.” They replied in unison.

“It’s probably because they replicate from the same DNA.”

“That’s handy if you’re in a fight.” The Eliza beside Ian replied. She closed her eyes once more and a moment later the other Elizas disappeared.

“Look! Her ankle was fine!”

“Now I have to say, that is seriously cool.”

“Oh! My turn!” Sky started to say. She could feel the energy surging through her veins again.

“No.” Ian replied flatly. His voice had lost the note of excitement that was in it moments ago.

“But…”

“Believe me; you won’t be able to control the instinct.”

She frowned. Surely she would, the last time when she lost control was because she was unconscious. Then, she ignored Ian and searched her mind for anything that would let her control her transformation.

Suddenly, the wings burst out again, but with the absence of her claws and beaks. Also the wild instinct seemed to be gone too.

“Ahah! That’s the way!” She whooped. Ian muttered something nonchalantly and turned away.

“Perhaps the shape is the best thing for her. She’s already acting like a demon.” Sean laughed. Sky growled at him and he backed away. She pulled her wings back and made her claws appear. “She also heals fast, did you realize that? Her wounds were gone.”

True enough, Sky felt perfectly fine. The gunshot wounds were gone; her broken arm was healed too.

“Ian? What about you? Do you have powers like Sky too? Your broken rib had healed right?” Eliza asked. Then she smiled. “Powers. Sounds odd isn’t it? I never thought the day would come where all of us would have powers.”

Sky felt a sense of alarm as she thought of Ian’s power. If he’s aware of it, he could be the most dangerous person among them.

“I’m not like her.” Ian whispered.

Eliza and Sean looked puzzled. So he knew, surprisingly.

“He’s an empath.” Sky answered for him. Sean was stunned.

“An empath? Now that’s freaky.”

“What’s an empath?” Eliza inquired.

“It means I can absorb people’s powers. In another word, it’s called power mimicry.” Ian replied. “Well, that’s what they say in the show ‘Heroes’.”

“Exactly. Which is why when he touched my arm just now, I felt so faint. Thank goodness I was able to heal fast. He might have drawn out my life too if he had kept his hands on me.”

Eliza edged away from him and kept a good deal of distance away from him.

Sean narrowed his eyes at us. “If you three had powers, then what about me?”

Others looked at him; it never occurred to them until now that Sean has not shown any extraordinary powers.

“Well, can you try to do something?” Sky suggested lamely.

Sean kicked at a stone nearby. “Do what? I don’t even have a single idea what my powers is going to be, if I have any.”

“Don’t say that. You’ll have powers too.”

“Well looking at the situation now I think I’d prefer NOT having any.”

Sky was stung by his bluntness. It’s true, if the men were willing to kill to get them, she couldn’t bear to think how vicious their real leader is. But the biggest question was, how in the world had they acquired such powers?

“Do you think the earthquake today had anything to do with it?” Ian’s voice broke into her thoughts.

“Possible. But why? I mean, what actually caused it? This is getting really confusing, and I don’t even know how to phrase the questions anymore.” Sean said.

“Ditto.”

“Okay, so first we must find out what had happened. And why those men had wanted to capture us badly. Besides that, did you realized that one of them mentioned capturing the rest of our friends? What does he mean by that?”

“Maybe he’s referring to the rest of the students that was with us when the building collapsed?”

Eliza frowned. “I don’t think so. How can they even catch them?

“Well, they did manage to sneak in to the hospital didn’t they?” Sky retorted.

“Still… It seemed so absurd that they just kidnapped at least two hundred students, just like that.”

Ian interrupted her. “I don’t think they did kidnapped two hundred, maybe only some of us.”

They sank into their thoughts again. Sky was getting increasingly frustrated over this matter. Why? There’s absolutely no reason for people…

“Was it just me, or those men really had a European accent?” Sky voiced her thoughts out.

“I noticed the accent too. He sounded like some guy from the military or somewhat.” Sean replied.

“Now that doesn’t even make sense. Why would people from the military come and kidnap us?”

“Since when did our life made any sense even since the earthquake?”

“Point taken.”

“So, what do you purpose we do now?” Ian asked.

Sky thought for a moment. “Well, since the men said they got some of our friends, why not check out their homes and see if they are there?”

“But how do we know who has been kidnapped?” Eliza wondered.

“We’ll just randomly pick some of the houses.”

“So… Whose house first?”

Sky already had an answer to that question. She pointed to one of the houses opposite the park.

“Tsukoyumi.”

At that precise moment, something struck her head and she struggled to see her attacker. Red spots appeared before her eyes and they got larger until she can’t see anything else. Her last thought was, what happened?