A/N: You people make me laugh. My reviewers, I -heart- you! )
And yes this took forever to update. I handwrote most of this chapter and it collected dust in my locker for a while and I really haven't had a lot of time what with school and such. Again, I apologize!!
Chapter 3
You Know that End I was Talking About?
"Everyone has everything?" my dad asked from the front seat of our car. We all nodded and our dog, Lilac, barked softly. Lilac was a Great Dane-wolf mix. She was pretty big and had short, grey-black fur. We kept it short since she had skin problems.
"Let's go Daddy!" Eryn said. I was grateful that Lilac was between us. Aunt Abbey kept wolf-hybrids and sometimes bred from them. That's how we got Lilac.
"Patience Eryn. Ivy, did you lock the barn?" my mom asked.
"Yeah. Sid and Jake both have some water and a flake of hay. They can get some more if they need it. And I called Kara. She said she'd come over and take care of them."
"Alright." She nodded to my dad, who started the two-hour drive to Aunt Abbey's. Eryn insisted that we listen to one of her little, cutesy fairy books on the way to her house. I, personally, put my earphones on and turned my music up to drown out the high-pitched voice of the fairy book reader.
I leaned back and closed my eyes, feeling Lilac put her head on my lap. I let the music fill my mind as I drifted off to sleep. It was pretty early and my back hurt. The doctor had helped us schedule an appointment with a specialist for next Thursday.
"Ivy, did you take your pain medicine?" my mom had asked before we left. I had, but it took a while to work.
It was at this moment that my drowsy mind recognized that all this thinking was keeping me awake, so I just listened and fell asleep.
xxx
"Ivy?"
My groggy mind recognized two distinct options: 1. I had a voice in my head and I was going completely crazy or 2. It was my mom and I could hear her because Eryn had stolen my iPod. My somewhat groggy mind, which was somewhat waking up decided option two and I opened my eyes.
"Huh?" I asked, sounding as tired as I felt.
"Ivy, we're almost there," my mom said from the front seat. My earphones were out of my ears, since I could hear her and the very end of the fairy book. I looked out of the window and attempted to control Lilac, who was getting quite excited. Then suddenly, I saw the long gravel road that led to their farm. Since there aren't a lot of trees in Illinois, or at least, where Aunt Abbey lived, I could see her house. It was like you would expect a quaint little farm to be: big white farm house complete with chickens, red barn with horses in a pasture outside it, and another field with some dogs in it. Okay, maybe the dogs are a bit much, but meet Aunt Abbey.
As we drove down the driveway I saw someone near the barn on a monster of a horse. It was either Uncle Joe, or one of his sons, Joey, Dan or Kevin. As we drew closer I noticed that it was either Joey or Kevin. I couldn't tell since they were two of triplets. Then my dad stopped the car and Aunt Abbey came out of the house, trailed by her daughter, Joey and Kevin's sister, Natalie. The triplets were my age and Dan was ten.
"Megan!" Aunt Abbey called when we got out of the car. She hugged her then said, "Nathan! Both of you, congrats!" She hugged my dad then was attacked by Lilac and Eryn. I smiled at Natalie. She was different than her mother. She was more down to earth, but not "with" the earth. If you get my drift. I decided that while Aunt Abbey was occupied with some ten-year-old and dog I walked over to where Joey and Kevin were. As I neared the barn, I picked out Kevin's red-tipped hair and saw it was him riding, without a helmet.
"Hey Joey!" I called. Joey was tall, being six foot four. I felt like a midget.
"Hey Tiny!" And he wasn't helping. Joey laughed and gave me a hug. I laughed and looked at Kevin on the horse. "That's Everest," Joey supplied. The last time I had seen Everest, he was just a little colt. Now he was huge with steel grey fur, a dark grey mane and a white stripe running down his face.
"Whoa! Easy there E!" Kevin called. He pulled this horse to a stop, dismounted, and tied Everest loosely to a fence post. He then walked over and hugged me. "Good to see you Ivy!" I looked at him, then at Joey. I felt even smaller now.
"Can we ride out farther later?" Kevin asked Joey. "Ivy can ride Luke." he shot me a wicked grin. He knew full well that when I was twelve that Luke had almost thrown me off of him.
"How about I ride Scipio?" I said. Kevin laughed. Scipio was my favorite horse out of all the others here. Of course Sid and Jake won hands down, but they weren't here.
"Maybe we can manage to drag Natalie along," Joey said. Kevin rolled his eyes. Even though they were close, the triplets were different. Natalie preferred the dogs to the horses, but mostly stayed inside and cooked. That was her thing.
"We can probably get Dan and Eryn to go play school or something. Or maybe we can sick the puppies on them," I said and we all laughed.
"I need to go put E away," Kevin said and walked back to his horse.
"Come on!" Joey said and walked back to the house. I walked with him. Eryn and Dan had disappeared into the house. Uncle Joe had come out and our parents were talking. Uncle Joe had an arm around Aunt Abbey.
"Hi Ivy," Uncle Joe said.
"Hey Uncle Joe," I said and smiled. Joey and I sat on the trunk of our car, waiting for Kevin to walk over.
"Ivy! I've completely ignored you all this time!" Aunt Abbey called as she noticed my presence once more. She walked over and hugged me. "Quid agis hodie?"
I gave her a crooked grin at her Latin. "Optime!" I responded enthusiastically, as my mother had tutored me. I wasn't that great at Latin in school, but I love it. I heard my mom laugh.
"Come on Megan, it's been how many years? I can speak a little Latin! I double major in it!" Aunt Abbey laughed and my mom laughed too. "Let's get your stuff inside." I got off the trunk and Joey did as well. My dad popped the trunk open and I grabbed my suitcase. I would be sharing a room with Natalie. I pulled on my backpack and walked inside.
"Hey Nat!" I called into the kitchen.
"Hola!" she called out. Of all of Aunt Abbey's children, only Natalie took Spanish. Latin was a big part of their life. But Natalie was very different from her mother. I dashed up the stairs and put my stuff next to the cot in Nat's room.
"You know Ivy, you really remind me of myself."
I turned and saw Aunt Abbey in the doorway. It had been a bit since I had seen her. She had lost some weight and had gotten her hair cut. It was now just a little below her ears. Her brown eyes glittered in the light of the room and her teeth flashed as she smiled.
"Is that I good thing?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That depends on the day of the week. Come on, Nat just made some cookies and the boys want to go for a ride."
"I can smell the cookies, and yes. Kevin wanted me to ride Luke."
"He's just like me sometimes too."
"I told him I'd ride Scipio."
"Ah, Scipi. He's a great horse. I named him after my favorite Roman general. Scipio Africanus. He--"
"Defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama to end the Second Punic War. I know." I smiled. Aunt Abbey laughed and put her arm around my shoulder as I walked out of the room. Her hand lightly brushed one of the bumps on my back. A burst of pain shot through it. I winced.
"Is everything okay?" Aunt Abbey asked.
"Yeah. Just some rebel something in my body. I've got these bumps on my back that hurt. That's all."
"Have you seen the doctor?"
"Yeah, I did."
"All right. Well, you know where we keep the meds if you need anything." I nodded and went into the kitchen to have a cookie.
xxx
"There's more blankets in the closet if you get cold," Uncle Joe told me as he checked on Natalie. I nodded, but knew I would be fine. I was burning up already. The bumps on my back had not stopped hurting since Aunt Abbey touched one earlier. I was also getting a headache. I had decided to sit out on the one ride and promised the boys that I would go tomorrow. I guessed I was just tired.
"Goodnight you two," Uncle Joe said and closed the door. The room was immersed in darkness and I rolled over and closed my eyes. Suddenly a man's face flashed before my eyes. One of his eyes was covered by some metal eyepiece. Then suddenly, I saw two people flying of all things. They were wearing some sorts of blue outfits. One of a boy and the other a girl. Then it changed again to show six kids, three of them about my age, maybe a little younger, and the others getting steadily younger. There was also a dog. They too were flying, even the dog.
Then suddenly everything went black as a voice said very loudly and clearly in my mind, Ivy, it is time. Remember the Flock. And look West.
xxx
Either this was the worst dream I had ever had, or I was really hurting and in trouble. The pain I felt again confirmed it was choice two. I could barley move, I was so stiff. What had happened? I opened my eyes and had to squint them shut again. It was bright out! What the heck? I had just gone to sleep!
But I wasn't in Natalie's room.
I was in a small section of forest that lay just to the west of Aunt Abbey's farm. Okay, I lied. There are some trees in this part of Illinois. I struggled to sit up and saw mud dried on my legs and on my arms. I could feel sticks in my hair.
What the hell had happened?? I stretched my arms and my legs and my wings.
Oh… holy… crap…
Wings.
What. The. Hell. Was. Going. On.
Then all went black again.
xxx
When I woke again I noticed that I wasn't as stiff. I sat up again and turned around so I could get a better look at my new appendages. I almost fainted again when I saw them. That's also when I noticed I was wearing jeans and a green t-shirt, which was about to fall off it was ripped so badly. Lying next to me was Kevin's big leather jacket. I was also wearing my hard riding boots.
I reached back and touched them. And I felt myself touching them. They were real. I looked up at the sky and noticed that it was probably about six or seven. The sun would be setting soon. Don't forget. Look West.
I jumped. There was that voice again. I groaned and put my head in my hands. I reviewed the situation. I was alone, lost and had wings. By the look of me I had been gone for several days and no one knew where I was. I needed to get somewhere.
I stood up slowly and looked around. Some of these trees could be climbable. Maybe I could get a glance of the farm from up there. Somehow I knew to fold my russet wings in before I started climbing. I reached up and grabbed a branch and pulled myself up with ease. So now I was strong too? Great. I made it above the other trees easily. I was near the edge of the forest and looking east I could barely see the farm. Before I realized what I was doing, I whooped for joy and jumped into the air.
Naturally I began falling but a deep, new instinct ripped my wings open and told me to beat them down, hard. I rose into the air, above the trees. Only that instinct kept me up. I was scared out of my mind. But I was also amazed. Obviously I had undergone some other changes to, to be able to actually fly. Climbing the tree had taken some time. With difficulty I turned and looked at the sun. It was setting for real now.
As I watched, seven small dots became apparent, and bigger. I watched as six kids about my age flew closer and closer.
"Circle!" I heard a girl call. The seven circled around me. I looked at each. The one who appeared to be in charge gave me a hard look. To her left was a dark haired, dark looking boy. Next to him was another boy who really wasn't looking at me. Flying beside him was a small, Scotty looking dog. The other three were small kids, two really young and blonde, the other about Eryn's age.. "Who the hell are you? And how the hell did you get wings?" The leader girl asked.
"I could ask you the same thing," I said, suddenly defensive.
"It's okay Max," the smallest girl said. "She's not with them."
"Them? What the heck?" I asked, now very confused.
"Aw Max, give her a break. She's really scared and confused," The girl about Eryn's age said.
"Angel I trust your 'analysis' and you too Nudge, but still," The girl, Max, said.
"It's getting dark," the dog said. "Can we settle this later and set up camp?" I looked at the dog. "What?" he asked, like a talking dog was normal.
"Let's land," Max said and the seven gracefully circled down. I tried to mimic them, but ended up landing flat on my face, literally.
"Nice," the dog said.
"Shush Total," the little girl, Angel, said. "She just got her wings."
"But how is what I'm interested in," the boy who wasn't really looking at me said.
"Right Iggy." Max turned to me. "Spill."
"I have no idea what is happening to me!" I cried in desperation. "I'm clueless!"
"Great. Just great." Max did not look pleased.
Don't worry, Ivy. Just go with the flow. Try to answer as best as possible. Things will be clear soon.
Thank you Mr. Unknown Voice?? Let me put this simply: what is going on?!
You will find out in time, Ivy. All in time.
Great.
A/N: Yay! Chapter done! Things clearer! More Latin! Yay Flock!! And I know I said in an earlier chapter that it would be "nineteen more days" but Ivy is special!! )
Translations: Quid agis hodie How are you today
Optime the best
rainbowwriter96: Here's an update! Review! ) Thanks!
Alamodie: Yes they talk funny because of the lab and also the suppression equipment and what-not. And I will try to update sooner. Thanks for your review!
Griffon's Flight: Latinam amo! Heck yes Latin is awesome! ) Thanks!
Neko signing out!!