Title: Winged
Pairings: St. Berry, Hummelberry, Klaine.
Rating: M
Current word count: +70,000
Status: In Progress
Synopsis: In the world of Jesse St. James things are never quite as they seem and the rules of morality are faint and blurry. When he gets given an Angel, a beautiful, unearthly creature, by his parents, he thinks nothing of it. Until suddenly he finds himself falling for her and his world and everything he has ever known is turned on its head.
Warnings: Dark themes.
XXX
Just when you've lost the will to live
You see the sun
Drifting, Plumb
xxx
Jesse St James always knew he was privileged. And lucky. He had parents who, although they were always absent, had a free and steady flow of cash that they generally directed towards him. He lived in a large, if rather empty, with the exception of the staff, house and he was widely admired and popular at school. He was gifted and talented, so much so he regularly brought people to tears.
Jesse St. James was also not naïve. Sure, he was a teenager, be it an old one at eighteen. Some would argue he was a boy, some would argue he was a man. Either way, he knew what was going on in the world. He knew that there were many people who did not live the kind of life he and his friends lived.
He knew that he was lucky to live in a Seclusion Area, a place where people were protected from the horrors of the outside world. He also knew that there were others, within the Seclusion Area who lived a far worse life than he did. He saw them from time to time, when he had to pass through the sections of his own particular Seclusion Area- Area 9. The Area was split up into unofficial sections, where the rich and the poor lived, some in luxury and some in poverty. They were grateful though, even those who lived in the gutters, because no matter how difficult life inside Area 9 was, it was far better than being out there.
He'd been taught in history class that things weren't meant to be like this, not really. It used to be that people could go where they chose and there were billions of people, crowding the earth up, suffocating it. A chain of earthquakes had been set off, one after the other after the other. In geography class they had called it the 'Ring of Fire', stretching across the world in a chain of seismic earthquakes and volcanoes. Once one went off, the rest followed and emergency procedures were put into places as nuclear power plants exploded, spreading radiation across the land.
Jesse knew that he was lucky that his grandparents were rich. They had gotten into a Seclusion Area quickly, while they were still a young married couple and had gained wealth from others who were not as fortunate as them. Seclusion Areas, unlike the rest of the world, were carefully maintained to keep them prosperous and fertile. They stretched on for miles and miles and Jesse knew that he had never reached the edge before. Between the rolling country side, towns and cities it was easy to forget that once you reached the edge you would be faced by towering fences pumped with electricity and watch stations every few metres.
The original idea of Seclusion Areas had been that everyone would help out. That everyone would be equal and the food would be spread equally around. But like so many of the best laid plans, it did not come to fruition and so there were soon class divisions and the carefully thought out schemes of those in charge crumbled as they were replaced by new leaders.
But things went on for Jesse. He didn't believe in luck, even though he knew he was lucky. Hard work and knowledge were the keys to playing, and winning, the game. And he was a worthy opponent.
"Jesse!" Turning, he spotted his friend, Johnny, hurrying towards him through the crowded corridors of his high school. He stopped and people swarmed around him until his friend reached him.
"Hey, you alright?" Jesse frowned down at his friend, who seemed flushed, his eyes gleaming.
"I'm great- ecstatic actually. Let's go and I'll tell you about it." They started down the corridor together and the younger students parted easily for them.
"I can't come to yours tonight," Johnny began and Jesse turned to raise a surprised eyebrow in his direction.
"Oh? Why?" He asked, coolly.
"I asked Lauren out. We're meeting up tonight." Johnny smiled at him and Jesse couldn't help but grin back.
"Finally!" He reached over and patted his back firmly. "You've only been pining over her for what, five years?"
"Shut up." Johnny flushed a little, but he endured his friend's teasing through his happiness. "So I'm going to have to bail on you."
"Hey it's okay," As they stepped out of the main doors to the school Jesse opened his arms wide at his friend. "We've got a whole summer stretching out in front of us."
"Ten weeks," Johnny grinned, "Sounds good. I still don't understand why you're starting your college reading now, though?"
"I want to get a good start and that means getting a head start. Have a good time man, I'll see you soon." Jesse smiled at him and turned towards the parking lot. Clambering into his car, he drove down the plush streets towards his home. The streets were quiet, as they usually were. Not many people could afford cars nowadays and people occasionally stopped and watched him as he went past. Pulling up at the large gates that hid the entrance to his property, he nodded at the security guard, who let him in immediately, the spiked metal gate swinging shut silently behind him.
It took him a moment to spot the cars in the driveway when he rounded the corner to the house. He recognized the Mercedes as his mother's and the Porsche as his father's but he didn't know who the third, sleek black Ferrari belonged to. Parking swiftly, he looked at his parent's cars curiously. It wasn't often that his parents came home from their busy working schedules. He guessed that they could be here to see his high school graduation, but that had been earlier the previous week anyway. They were usually home for Christmas and, sometimes, his birthday. That was all.
Never one to wait around, he hurried up the steps towards the house and pushed the front door open. Leaving his bag by the stairs he made his way into the drawing room and was unsurprised to see his mother, cold and lean, and his father, well built and dressed in a suit, sat in separate arm chairs, and talking to a third man.
"Hey," It seemed a rather inappropriately normally greeting to two people who he hadn't seen for six months, but they took it in their stride.
His father looked up and smiled at him, although it was a flat, half sort of smile. "Ah Jesse, son, come in and sit down." He gestured to the couch and Jesse did as he said, sitting slowly and looking between the three adults with guarded curiosity.
"Is there a problem?" He asked finally, after a long stretch of silence.
"Not at all," his mother looked over to him and then back to the strange man who was leaning over some documents. When no more information was forthcoming, Jesse sat back in his seat and watched his parents and the stranger patiently.
His was the master of the showface, after all.
Finally, the man looked up and handed the document to his mother. "Everything seems to be in order Mr St. James, Mrs St. James, you just need to sign."
His father pulled a pen from his top pocket, unscrewed the lid and scrawled his signature on the bottom of what Jesse guessed was a contract. He flipped through and signed it twice more before passing it to Jesse's mother to do the same. Then, he turned to Jesse.
"Son," He said and Jesse's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, that was twice his father had called him that. He only ever called him 'son' when he was angry or feeling nostalgic, which was rarely. "We've taken the liberty of getting you a graduation present."
"A what?" The words slipped from Jesse's mouth before he could stop them and his eyes widened at his father.
"A graduation present," His mother stood from her arm chair and passed the contract to the stranger.
The stranger read through the contract once more and then looked up and offered Jesse's parents a thin smile. "Perfect, just one more signature." He passed the contract down to Jesse, who took it slowly, his hand curving gently around the thick paper. Immediately, his eyes zeroed in on one word.
"Angel"
He was glad he was sat down because otherwise he worried that he might have fallen.
Angel's were precious. Rare and luxurious items that had sprung up just after the apocalypse. The best explanations that anyone could come up with was that the radiation had somehow effected some people, somehow. It was the how that confused people. They'd done all number of experiments, years and years of expensive research, but nothing had ever come of it, which was probably good because otherwise people would be making Angels everywhere. Angels were one in a million, bought buy the wealthiest of people and shown off with pride. They were only available to those who had the money and could whisper in the right ears.
"An Angel?" He breathed finally. "An Angel?"
"Not just any Angel," His fathers poke proudly. "They found it outside."
Jesse's head snapped up and he stared first at his mother, then his father with astonishment. "Outside? But wh… how did they find it? Where did it come from?" Finding Angel's outside the Areas was what pushed the prices up to ridiculous amounts. Angels could be found at an early age in the Areas and trained up for owners. Only just under one hundred Angels had been found outside of the Areas, so far as he knew, and they were famed for completely outshining their counterparts. They had a sort of unearthly beauty, a wild beauty that made them so different to other Angels. Other Angels, though completely stunningly beautiful, were all very similar, always blonde with white or grey wings that arched off their backs. But Angels from outside… well they were always different… extraordinary.
"Nobody knows how it got there, they spotted it on a scouting trip. It didn't seem to have anyone with it. They found it about a year or so ago, so it's been trained." The stranger- an Angel Trader Jesse realised now- told him.
Jesse gulped and tried to still his suddenly shaking hands. An Angel, a real life Angel, for him.
"All you need to do is sign," His father extended his pen to him and Jesse took it, signing each box slowly until all were done and handing the pen and the contract back to his father.
"We'll get a copy made up for you," The man took the contract and shook his father's hand.
"See that you do," His father said, firmly.
"Enjoy." The man said to Jesse, smiling thinly again and as his father showed the man to the door, his mother said.
"It's upstairs in your room Jesse."
He felt his breath catch in his throat and felt torn for a moment before standing quickly and kissing his mother on the cheek very swiftly, embracing her for a second before drawing away. "Thank you mom."
Turning on his heel, he hurried up the stairs to his room, barely able to hear the clicking of his shoes on the stairs over his racing heart. Pausing outside his room, he stopped to take a few deep breaths and gather his courage for a moment. This Angel was his, all his.
Pushing open the door slowly, he stepped inside and immediately spotted her stood across the room from him. She was smaller than him and from the back he could see her slender figure only partially because it was obscured by two huge wings. The wings were incredible, they really were. Not at all like the ones he had seen on Angels from the inside of the Area. Those were white or grey and feathery and light, about half a metre in length. These were miraculous. Sprouting from where her shoulder blades should have been they lifted out and around her, at least a metre and a half long. They were strong and almost too big for her petite frame. And the colour. He had been expecting maybe a downy white or even perhaps a golden colour that he'd once seen on an Angel from outside, but these were a deep, rich brown, the colour or melted chocolate, barely a shade lighter than her long hair, which hung down her back in curls. She was wearing a lacy white dress which he assumed they must have put her in because there was no way you could get lace on the outside.
He coughed slightly to get her attention and she jumped violently, turning quickly, her wings arching forward, almost wrapping around her in protection. Well now he understood why they had dressed her in white. Her skin was like the mocha coffee drink he had seen Andrea drink but had never had a taste for himself, preferring black coffee from the uptown salons he frequented with his friends. It was tanned, but naturally so obviously, because there was no orange tinge as there always was with fake tan. And her eyes… they were like her wings, deep brown and so wide he thought they might swallow him up. Her deep lips parted as she sucked in a shocked, quiet gasp and he followed the tempting curve of her throat to the delicate gold chain that hung unobtrusively around her neck.
Taking a few quick steps forward he reached out to her trembling body, cupping her cheek gently and trailing his hand down the arch of her neck until he got to the gold chain. Picking it up, he fingered it gently between his thumb and forefinger, considering it. Once a collar had been put on an Angel it was impossible to take off, so it was important that the trader made the right decision. The necklace she wore was simple and elegant, but the way that it fell over her collar bones and hung in the hollow of her neck made it obvious that this was not just a necklace.
Stepping back a few paces he looked at her again and said, finally.
"Hello."
She stared at him, her eyes wide with uncertainty and fear as she wrapped her arms around her torso.
"My name's Jesse St. James," He told her, when she didn't answer him. "Your name is…?"
She stared at him again and he watched her expectantly, waiting as she battled with her nerves. "Rachel. Rachel Berry." She whispered finally, the voice barely audible as she watched him for a reaction, her whole body tensed.
"Rachel," He tested the word out, rolling it over his tongue. It was normal that owners would rename their Angel to something more suitable, but Jesse rather liked 'Rachel'. "But not Rachel Berry," He corrected her and stepped forward again. To his surprise she flinched away from his approach. "Just Rachel."
She didn't respond verbally, but he caught the slight twitching of her eyebrows into a frown. "Problem?"
She shook her head quickly, flinching away from him again and he wondered vaguely what they had done to her at the training facility to make her so nervy.
"You should be glad I let you keep your name," He told her, unnecessarily and she watched him silently as he took his book off his bed and sat down at his desk to begin reading. After a few pages he looked up at his Angel again, unable to keep his eyes away from her for long. To his surprise her large wings were stretched around her, cocooning her though she remained stood. He couldn't see her face, only the crown of her head stood out from the cocoon.
"Hey now," he said, standing. "Take those away."
She cringed away from him, but obediently pulled her wings away from her face and he was shocked to see that she had been hiding her face because there were tears trailing down her cheeks.
He couldn't help himself; he reached out and wiped away a falling tear, trying to ignore the way she trembled furiously whenever he was near her.
"What's wrong?" He asked, cupping her cheek and pulling her face up to look at him gently. "Rachel?" When she was not forthcoming with details he said, more firmly. "Rachel, tell me."
"I…" Her voice was broken with tears, but even so he could hear the musical timbre of it, rich and rounded and full, much like his own. "Are you… are you going to… to take me?" She whispered the last sentence and a shiver ran down her spine.
He sighed when he realised what she meant. It was traditional for a master to take his Angel to bed with him. It wasn't seen as bad or immoral, having an Angel was like having a mistress or a courtesan. If he was really honest, the thought had crossed his mind… and other parts of his anatomy.
"Come here," He took her hand in his and led her towards the bed, having to encourage her to sit beside him. "How old are you?"
She glanced up at him unsurely and then cast her eyes back down to her lap. "Sixteen." She replied softly.
He sighed heavily again and squeezed her hand lightly. "Rachel, I will not take you. Not without your permission, not like this, with you so terrified." He had always thought that Angels wanted to be with their master as much as their master wanted to be with them. He had never even considered that young Angels like Rachel could be forced into doing things they didn't want to. It was barbaric, especially for one so young.
He felt her relax heavily beside him, tension washing from her body.
He got up and shut his book, sliding it to the side as he made his way back to Rachel, who was perched on the bed where he had left her, staring down at her intertwined fingers. She had her lip between her teeth, nibbling on it nervously and as he neared her he leant down and gently pulled it from between her teeth. She looked up at him in surprise.
"Don't do that," He frowned and she nodded quickly.
"You don't say much do you?" He said as he made his way over to the carrier bag in the corner of the room, where his parents had put her things. Inside he found a hairbrush, a toothbrush, a change of clothes, nightwear and several pairs of underwear.
He hadn't expected her to respond to his statement, so he was surprised when he heard her voice from across the room.
"I'm sorry."
"What for?" He looked up at her, surprised.
"Not saying much," Her voice was quiet.
"Well then say more," He told her, bluntly and pulled the brushes from the bag and put them in the en suite bathroom.
Grabbing the clothes, he leant down and began to clear out one of his drawers.
"You don't…" The words were out of her mouth quickly, tumbling over one another and she flushed when he looked up at her in surprise.
"Go on," He said.
"You don't have to do that… if you don't want to." She looked uncertainly at the drawer full of night clothes that he was bundling out.
"Well I want to," He told her firmly, narrowing his eyes slightly as he began to put her clothes away in the drawer. "Humour me."
She didn't say anything more, not that he expected her to. When he was done putting away her clothes he beckoned her forward. She came hesitantly, skittish, like a nervy kitten.
"Are you hungry, tired, thirsty?" He looked down at her as her lip went between her teeth. "Rachel." His voice was dark and severe, filled with warning and she immediately shuddered, letting her lip go and flinching back from him. "Better. Now, hungry, thirsty?"
"I'm… a little hungry." She sounded almost petrified of voicing her thoughts but he just nodded, starting down the stairs, sure that she would follow him. She did and when he arrived at the kitchen he heard the audible gasps of the cook and the other staff in the kitchen. He ignored them and sat her at a large table. Looking her over, he turned and poured her a glass of milk, setting the liquid in front of her and saying.
"Drink this, it's good for you."
She did so without argument, although her nose crinkled slightly at the rich texture.
"Leave us," He told the kitchen staff, who hurried away and began to make her a sandwich. By the time the ham sandwich was made and laid in front of her she had finished the milk.
"There, eat it all, but slowly. If you haven't eaten in a while I don't want you getting sick." He sat beside her and watched as she hesitated over the sandwich. "What?"
"I…" She glanced up at him unsurely. "I… can't eat meat."
"Why not?" He demanded.
"I'm a vegetarian," She told him, softly and he raised an eyebrow.
"There are some much needed proteins in meat and fish, you are not a vegetarian, do you understand me?"
She looked ready to argue, but he raised his eyebrows challengingly and she nodded, a soft sigh leaving her lips.
Slowly, she reached out and took hold of the sandwich, his gaze on her the whole time. She took a careful bite and he watched with satisfaction as she chewed and swallowed.
"There you go," He smiled at her. "Not so bad was-"
And then his Angel was retching, her whole body quivering as she doubled over, clutching her stomach. Even her wings trembled and he stared at her in horror as she threw herself from her chair and glanced around frantically for what he presumed to be a sink. She found the sink quickly, fortunately and braced herself against the porcelain as she was violently sick into the bowl. Standing he made his way over to her and reached out to pull her hair from her face, although her wings made it difficult. He rubbed her lower back gently until finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, she stopped retching and was left quivering beside the sink.
Reaching out he filled a glass with water and handed it to her to swill out her mouth.
"So…" He said as he directed her back to her seat and disposed of the sandwich. "A vegetarian?"
She seemed almost apologetic. "It's because of the wings," She explained softly. "They just makes meat and fish taste vile; I find rich food hard to eat as well."
"Noted." He told her.
"Jesse?" They both looked up in surprise at the sight of his mother in the doorway. "What are you doing in here? Oh."She caught sight of Rachel and examined her, cocking her head to one side as she did so and Jesse saw Rachel flush lightly at the unwanted attention.
"Jesse, why did you bring it down here?" His mother frowned at Rachel who remained as still as a statue, barely even breathing under his mother's scrutiny.
"I had to feed her." He said, glancing over at Rachel. "Look how thin she is, I bet they barely even fed her at the training centre. "
"Of course," his mother stepped further into the room, still watching Rachel as she reached out for the pot of coffee that was always stood ready. "Coffee?" She offered him and he accepted easily. She handed him a cup, milkier than he would usually take it, but he hardly expected his absentee mother to know how he took his coffee. Leaning back against the counter, he watched as his mother took a long sip of her coffee, still watching Rachel. Even from far away he could see that she was trembling, her large wings cramped around her back and quivering ever so slightly. Her hands were clutching together in her lap, her knuckles white and there were goose bumps appearing on her exposed skin.
His mother took a step towards Rachel, leaving her coffee cup on the counter beside him. "The wings… very unusual. Do you like them?" His mother glanced back at him and he nodded. "I mean, I know they aren't what you would usually get, but they're certainly different."
"I like it," He assured her and she moved closer to the Angel, who looked completely petrified.
"Get up," His mother barked at the Angel and she hurried to her feet, standing before his mother. His mother reached out to lift her head but Rachel, as he expected her to, cringed away from the touch. His mother bristled and Jesse almost dropped his coffee cup when her hand collided soundly with Rachel's cheek, the furiously loud snapping sound echoing through the otherwise silent kitchen, followed by a soft cry from Rachel, who was forced sideways by the force of the collision. His mother huffed impatiently and turned to Jesse. "They said that they'd trained it. But you know what Angels from the outside are like, they always take a firmer hand, especially if they're caught as old as this one was." She smiled at him. "I trust that you can handle it though Jesse."
"Yes mother," He told her, automatically and she nodded once in satisfaction before taking her half full coffee cup and leaving the room.
Once she was gone he made his way towards Rachel, who was stood where his mother had left her. Her cheek was a dark red, a very obvious handprint appearing and Jesse was pretty sure that it would bruise.
"Are you okay?" He asked finally, feeling awkward. She nodded in reply and he added, because he felt that he ought to, "you shouldn't have moved away from her. If she wanted to touch you she could."
"I'm sorry," Her voice was soft and feathery light and he ran a hand through his hair, tugging on in.
"Here," Leaning over he passed her an apple from the fruit bowl and said. "We'll start simple, do you think you can eat this?"
She nodded again, her hands curling over the rounded object and she held it between her cupped hands almost reverently for a moment before she started taking small, tentative bites out of it. He led her upstairs again, keen to be away from the prying eyes of his parents and the staff.
Xxx
Okay then! Welcome!
This is my new fic, which I have been working on for… months? It will be dark but to those who have read my other fic, it will not be like that.
One Hand One Heart stretches over a long period of time and deals with many different plot lines. This fic stretches over a very short stretch of time and has one main plot line, which I hope will be obvious.
As I said on tumblr, this is a story about love, but it is first and foremost a story about freedom.
I would love it if you could leave me a review, it would be much appreciated and if no one leaves them well… I'll think no one likes it and not post any more.
Okay, leave your thoughts!
Thank you,
~ Ray