Hey my lovely readers! Thanks for coming back for more! The more I've been writing this story, the more I've liked it so I hope you do as well. :) Oh, and just in case you were wondering, I changed my summary (hopefully for the better). Still the same old Post By-Half Plan plot, FAX and I didn't get this in before (I don't known, maybe I did?) but the rating is for mostly violence and do weapons count? 'Cause there are going to be some major weapon usage in my story. ;) And another thing! I probably won't be updating every Monday like it seems right now. I post when I have time to write really. Which is usually the weekends but I'm pretty busy these next two weeks because I'm moving, there are school play auditions starting Wednesday, I have to retake some quizzes because I failed miserably (ha-ha)...so yeah. But! Luckily I've already written out the outline for the next chapter and am half way done with the one after that!
Anyway, I'm talking way too much. Here's the second chapter of...
Wings
Chapter 2: The Girl
"Nick," James starts in a warning voice, gripping his best friend's shoulder tightly.
Said person is standing rigid, holding back the fear that wretches deep in his core. How is it possible that we can be seen? He thinks in utter shock and shame. In the courtyard there are large cement pillars, five them to be exact and from the angle the soldiers are marching, there is no way they could see past the pillar in front of the back door. At least, Nick was sure of it.
James slowly puts his hands up and walks slowly forward taking one quiet step at a time, shaking uncontrollably as well. "I knew this was a bad idea," he murmurs under his breath.
About fifty feet in front of the boys, the shackled girl stops and snarls, ready to rip whoever's throat out if necessary. She gives her best death glare at the General leading the group of ten army officers, but it doesn't seem to be working.
Nick quickly grabs James's white collar and pulls him back to their hiding spot. The lanky boy holds back a gag as Nick hurries them closer, this time directly behind one of the pillars so it will be impossible for them to be spotted.
The General stops and so do the soldiers. He motions behind him and they raise their guns. "I said hands up. Do you not understand, girl?" He waits but she continues to glower at him. He scoffs, "I cannot believe Emperor Hans wants us wasting our time capturing you…again. How many times must we tell you? You are Germanian property and you will not disobey us!"
Suddenly ten red dots scatter across the girl's body, one on each limb, three on her head and three on her chest. Her teeth grind together as she continues to snarl at her captors. "How many times do I have to tell you that I am no one's property? You are an even bigger idiot for thinking otherwise!" She stares coldly into each soldiers' eyes before centering back on the General, "Your guns don't scare me. Go ahead, shoot! The sooner you pull those triggers the sooner I won't have to deal with chauvinists like you!"
Well she's defiantly not crazy, Nick thinks to himself. She's hitting the nose, right on the dot. And she's so ruthless, as if being shot to death doesn't matter. As if it won't kill her or something!
"Nick, I really think it's time to-"
"Leave…I know. That's why I want you to get out of here," Nick says quietly as he continues to watch the mysterious girl like a hawk.
"What?" James exclaims as much as possible in a whisper, "Are you insane? I'm not leaving without you!" The tall boy holds his ground as Nick turns with what was supposed to be an icy glare directed to his best friend but it doesn't seem to work with him at the moment. Maybe he really doesn't want to leave his lifelong friend behind.
The General smiles wickedly, "You heard her boys…," he pauses for affect before lifting his right hand and points towards their target, "Shoot!"
"No!" Both the girl and Nick yell out together as ten triggers are pulled in sequence. The girl makes a jump for it, causing the bullets aimed for her head to hit the wall but sadly she has no such luck with the seven other marks. Though off their original destination, they still hit the girl, causing her to freeze and fall to the ground, withering in pain.
Nick on the other hand makes a snap decision and runs out towards the girl, ignoring the light brush of James' fingers on his back, obviously wanting to stop him. He kneels half way through running, sliding on his knees once he reaches her side. He doesn't even care that his khaki pants are now ruined and he's sure to have bloody knees and scraped shins. All that matters is that a mere young girl, perhaps sixteen or seventeen was just killed for who knows what sick reason the Germanian Empire came up with.
His breathing is shaky as his hands slowly reach forward, thinking out ways to make everything better even though its mere impossible by now. The girl has been shot in multiple places, her shoulders, her thighs, even a few nicks on her neck. He then becomes shaky when he notices the large amounts of blood beginning to pool around them. His fingers lightly brush into it and his eyes widen, he stares at it, "B-bloo-"
Suddenly images of his younger years envelop his eyesight. All he can see are the smiling faces of him and his mother. The times when they cooked; then there was them cleaning. Soon two babies are added into the picture. Then it's the four of them laughing and playing. Although for the first time, Nick notices the distant looks in his mother's chocolate brown eyes as they continue to read stories to the twins. The passive faces she makes when Nick's father would enter a room…
"You there," a masculine voice booms, "boy!" The General yells out in shock, "Where did you come from?"
Nick shakes his head, all memories of the past put into a folder in the back of his mind. He remembers now where he is and what's happening, making him immediately stand up. He takes a few steps forward, not seeming to stand in front of the girl, almost in a protective state. "Murderer…" The school boy mumbles quietly, his face as hard as stone again.
The Chief Officer raises an eyebrow and cups his ear, "Eh? What was that, boy? Did you say something? Answer me! What did you just see?"
This time Nick says it a tad stronger, "Murderer."
And this time, the General hears. He opens his mouth to say something but decides not at the last minute; instead he tightens his big red, hairy fists and straightens. "Well, I see you answered my question easier than I thought." He motions for the soldiers to arm, "You see, boy. I am no murderer. I am a solver. I solve the problems we have in this world. That girl behind you," he moves his green eyes to the half dead girl back to the school boy, "was a problem. She was an inconclusive, irrational experiment that brought us nowhere. Germania has no need for such an uncooperative wench so I was assigned to take care of the issue. That girl," he clears his throat, "that animal, has escaped many times before this, we've given her even more chances but now," he laughs half-heartedly, "now was the time to…what would be the appropriate word?"
He turns to one of the soldiers who shrugs, not sure if he seriously wants an answer or is just being rhetorical. He snaps his fingers, "Now was the appropriate time to retire that, that thing."
Nick's jaw clenches and his stomach drops as he notices a few red dots appearing on his bare arms. His breathing begins to become erratic and he can hear his pulse, pumping blood heavily in his ears to the point of deafness.
"So, looking at it from my perspective and the laws, I am in no such way a murderer as you so eloquently used. I am merely the problem solver." The General finishes with a proud smile and turns around, to his small group of army officers, "Take care of him, will you? He's merely another problem that Germania really just doesn't need at the moment."
"Sir, yes sir," the ten men say in unison as they take better aim.
Is this the end? Nick thinks in a daze.
Suddenly a hand is wrapped around Nick's own calloused palm. He doesn't have enough time to turn and see who had just done that when everything goes pitch black around him. He looks from left to right but see nothing but the darkness. It feels cold, he decides. A light forms above him like a spotlight on a stage would the main actor as he prepares for the opening of the show.
"You don't want it to end this way, do you?"
Nick looks behind him but turns back around. Who had said that? It sounded like a girl but no one is here… He's still standing in pitch darkness, underneath a bright spotlight.
"Answer me." The feminine but fierce voice says again, this time more sternly. "Do you wish to live?"
Nick nods quickly, "Yes." He's not sure what's going on but his ears are still pulsing and it's getting harder for him to breath. Is it a panic attack? Of course it is…there are guns pointed straight at me. How can I not be freaking out? I'm pretty sure this is it. The boy lowers his head as more things begin to swarm his already cluttered mind. …But what about James? Is he still here? Or did he escape? Ella, how would she feel if I never showed up again? I know we're not entirely related, though I consider her my older sister but after what happened with our mother… Also, what about Gazzy and Angel? They-they need me.
"It seems you have a lot to live for." The voice quips.
The corner of his lips twitches upwards. He runs a hand through his black hair, "Yeah, I do."
"Hmm," a figure acknowledges quietly as it walks closer towards Nick from the black nothingness.
The teenager gasps as he notices the blonde hair, the slender frame, and the bright but cold blue eyes he only saw briefly before she was shot down. He also notices once she stands only a foot before him, in her blood soaked clothes. He looks at her wounds, noting that they are still indeed bleeding.
"Do it for your siblings. Do it for your older sister. Do it for your friend. You can save us, I can feel it. Now I ask again, do you wish to get out of this alive?" The girl's face is expressionless, yet her words are filled with warmth and meaning, making all the icy chills Nick once felt before slowly melt away. The girl takes the boys hands, causing images of Nick's childhood to flood his memories. From when he was born, his mother holding him tightly in her arms to him being left on Ella's front steps at the young age of ten, Angel and Gazzy in his own grasp from then on.
Nick grits his teeth as the painful memories flash before his eyes. Many are of the memories that have formed his very being; the reasons for why he is the way he is, and most importantly the very hate that dwells deep inside him for the world's only superpower, Germania. He despises them for taking away his freedom and his mother.
They told everyone that if they disposed of all the sick and different people of the world then the future would be much better for all. There would be less poverty, less diseases and epidemics, no hunger or indifference. What they dubbed 'The Perfect Society'. Yet the world is still filled with it all. There's still starvation in Africa, there's still millions of homeless people across the world, so few have actual health insurance, and violence and crime is still very common to this day.
"Yes, I do wish to live," Nick finally answers, this time much more sure.
The girl nods, "Then I grant you my power, the power of the Angel, so long as you grant me my ultimate wish. Do you except this contract?"
Nick begins to feel an odd, tingling feeling start up in his fingers, soon moving to the rest of his body. "Yes," he answers again, feeling two parallel lines shoot down his back, though not painful but very prominent.
Once the girl nods, she lets go of his hands and collapses behind Nick like she had when she was shot to death. The spotlight over the them dims and their surrounding go back to normal with the cement wall splattered in red blood, James standing behind one of the pillars, ready to leap out in a moment's notice, and the group of army soldiers armed and ready to shoot as the General walks away.
The pulsing in Nick's ears stops and his mind is cleared in a flash, making his panic attack stop all together. He oddly can think more pristinely now, taking in details like a camera would a picture. An air of confidence swarms him and he turns to James, "I know you have them on you, now is not the time to deny it. James, throw every smoke and stink bomb you have hiding in your uniform at me! Do it now!"
The tall, lanky boy doesn't quite get what his friend is getting at but since he's practically at death row and James could always make more, if they get out of there alive, he tosses them all within seconds, making a large cloud of fog form around Nick and the girl.
As the dark haired boy had planned, a gust of wind pushes some of the smoke towards the army officers, making the entire area unrecognizable. "James, this way," Nick yells out as he quickly picks the still bleeding girl up bridal style, making sure he has a firm grasp around her knees and shoulders, before making a run for the alley way on the opposite side of the building they had come in at. "Come on, big guy! You're a pro at this! Follow my voice," Nick offers loudly as he passes the now completely disoriented group of soldiers that are too loud, yelling about what's going on, to actually take notice to the escaping trio.
"Nick, hang on, where are we taking her?" James tries to question again as he speeds down the highway, off to the side though so no one will see they have a dead girl riding along with them.
The dark, quiet boy swallows hard as he stares down at the, what seems to, be lifeless body of the girl that had saved them, in a way. Nick still isn't quite sure how they had gotten out of such a mess so easily. One minute he had been close to having a heart attack, then the girl had appeared as if she was alive and well yet her clothes were drenched in blood as they are presently, saying things to him that he still doesn't completely comprehend to the fullest, after he had accepted whatever she was saying he was able to think so clearly and had gotten not only himself and James out, but her as well.
James' voice finally registers into Nick's newly reformed mind, which he still isn't quite sure how exactly it had occurred, and he sighs. He looks from their left, which from a top the high way is denser with the city and to their right that is slightly sparser. He decides the latter, "Go right. Keep going until we're in some unoccupied meadow or something."
His long time friend understands and keeps heading the same direction.
Soon the trio reaches what Nick is looking for exactly and the scooter is shut off. James sits on the bike awkwardly as Nick slides off the back, the girl still held tightly to his chest. He watches his friend take smaller than normal strides towards an area of the pasture with the least grass and plant life.
Nick cautiously kneels down and sits on his heels as he lays the beautiful girl on the ground. He stays silent and just sits there, watching her still, lifeless body for a few moments before standing up again.
James rushes over, "Nick, what are we going to do?"
The boy raises and eyebrow and stares at his friend with a questioning look.
His friend gapes, "Nick! We just ran away from the Germanian Army! We watched a girl get killed and don't forget you almost got shot too! Now we have a body that you for some reason took with us and…and-" James opens his mouth to say more but stops when Nick does or says nothing. "Why aren't you freaking out over any of this like me?"
The teenager walks around the girl and begins digging with his bare hands since he doesn't have a shovel, "Figure there's no point crying over a dead body. Tears aren't going to bring her back to life. Besides, we got out of there, didn't we? We're safe and that's all that matters."
James nods and begins helping with the digging process before mumbling, "Why is it you can be faced with imminent death one minute and cool and calm the next?"
Nick ponders over that question as the boys finish digging the hole and burying the girl respectively before heading back to James' scooter. How can I be like that? Does death and danger not affect me the same way as others? Or is it that because I've been surrounded by the burden of a death most of my life that I'm just use to it? Ever since I can remember I've been in danger. No thanks to my father… It's always been the danger of being attacked or kidnapped or worse, being found out about my true identity; so few know the truth, my real name. If anyone were to find out that I, Nick Anderson, were actually Nick Gunther-Hagen, son and first in line for the throne of Germania…I'm not quite sure what would happen, to me or to the twins. All I know is I vow to protect them from any harms way. Be it my father or the rebels plotting against him, I will keep Gazzy and Angel safe from them. …Even if it kills me.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Review?
Oh, I almost forgot! Thank you Cupcake for your amazing review! Since the review was anonymous I couldn't reply back in a private message so I'll just do it here! Now onto my new segment \/\/\/
Fun Fact of the Week:
When someone fails, a friend would say sorry, but a best friend would just make fun of you. (Read top Author's note, this is what happened to me today! ...By many!)