I landed at the bottom with a little thump, my wing jamming up against a rock and pulling a little yelp out of me. Wincing at the sound, I scrambled to my feet and squinted around, my eyes quickly adjusting to the dank darkness of the little cave I'd fallen into. I opened my wing a bit, testing it. It seemed okay, not mortally injured our anything. Behind me, I could hear the two boys, talking quietly, yet unsure where I'd gone. Good, I thought, dusting myself off and taking a few steps into the cave, listening hard. It didn't seem that anybody else was here, though I could hear a close sound of dripping water. I frowned. It seemed to me the universe was determined that my wings would never get completely dry.
Above me, there was a shuffling sound, as if somebody was by the hole I'd fallen down. Cursing, I quickly made my way forward, towards the water sound, my feet slipping in the sand. The tunnel narrowed for a few seconds, then opened up into a small cavern, most of which was taken up by little pool of water. The dripping sound had come from an opening in the rocks above the pool, steadily leaking water down into the pool. It was nearly dark in the cavern, the only light coming from the pool itself, which was glowing with a strange light.
"Did she fall down here?" Came a voice from behind me, and I winced, looking around for a place to hide. My eyes settled on the pool once more, and I mentally cursed once more. I don't know what I'd done wrong, but somebody definitely did not like me today. I stepped over to the water, my wings tightening against my back.
"Maybe. Lets just check the Moon Pool out. We can see if she's there. If not, we can set up the camera and get going, before the moon's overhead." I sighed, steeling myself and slipping into the water as quietly as possible, my wings once again soaked. I ducked my head under just as the two boys walked in.
"Nothing's here," one said, his voice muffled by the water in my ears.
"Maybe she flew off with those wings of hers. Those were wings, weren't they?"
The other boy said nothing, and I pressed myself hard against the cool rock side of the pool, ready to spring out if need be and make a run for it.
"Camera's ready," one said, the dark-haired boy, I thought.
"Just on time. Here's the moon." I frowned. I'd always heard better than anybody else, but this time I wasn't sure I had heard right. Did he say the moon was coming?
Suddenly, the water around me to bubble, as if it was boiling. But that was impossible. If it was boiling, I'd be dead. Frowning, I swam a bit closer to the surface, being pushed around a bit by the water.
"There she is!" one boy yelled. Bloody... I thought, throwing caution to wind and popping my head, out of the water, glaring at them both. Everything was silent for a moment, the strange bubbling fading to silence. I stared at them, blinking water from my eyes, and half expecting them both to jump and try to grab me. But nothing happened. They just stared back at me, looking utterly dumfounded.
Then the blonde boy said,"I thought birds couldn't fly with water on their wings."
For some reason, that just made me angrier. "No," I snapped. "They can't. And neither can I. But you just about forced me into the water. Why were you following me, eh? Thought I was an angel? Thought you could catch me, sell me off to some museum? Or scientists? Maybe even a zoo? How about this? Did it every occur to you that maybe I don't want you to follow me? Because I swear to you,if you touch me I'll break both of your arms and send you off floating on that boat of yours for some sailor to find."
There was another moment of silence, then the blonde boy said softly "You're the one that flew into the clouds above me on the beach earlier."
Rolling my eyes, I replied, "Yes, that was me. Nope,the wings aren't fake. I think your friend there has blown a gasket."
Something soaked in the brunette one's expression, and he frowned. "You're in the Moon Pool. And its full moon."
Sighing, I swam over to the edge and pulled myself out, my wings running off what seemed about a billion gallons of water. "There," I said. "I'm out. Happy now?" I pulled my hair out of my face, unable to remember when I'd taken the pony tail out. Then I realized I didn't have a hair band, so I let it fall, frowning in frustration. "You two might as well give me a ride back to the beach now, as I can't fly back."
"You live around here?" the blonde one said, looking surprised. "What's your name?"
"Ava." I said shortly. "I don't suppose you've got one?"
The blonde looked a bit embarrassed "It's Will," he said. "And he's Zayn." He motioned to the boy next to him.
I smiled sarcastically "Charmed. What's the camera for?"
"What are the wings for?" Zayn blurted out. I looked at him like he was insane.
"What do you think?" I said. "They're not fake, I can assure you that, if that's what you think."
"They can't be real!" Zayn exclaimed. "Angels don't exist."
"For the second time," I said, stressing the second slightly. "I'm not an angel!"
"Then what are you?" Will asked in a soft voice. I was starting to notice he tended to speak in a soft voice a lot of the time.
"An extremely unlucky person, that's what I am," I muttered.
"But what-?" Zayn started, before Will cut in.
"Drop it. Let's just go home. Where do we drop you off?" he asked me.
"The beach you saw me at." I said, not knowing the name of it, or even the place I was around.
"Got it, let's go," he said.
It was probably about forty-five minutes later when I got home. The boys dropped me off on the beach and wordlessly roared off, though I knew they'd probably look for me later. The Zayn guy kept glancing at my back when he thought I wasn't looking. I picked up the phone and sweatshirt from the beach, pulling the sweatshirt on and walking home, following the street signs and popping into the air once when nobody was around. When I finally got in, the two white coats were waiting, as I expected. I frowned, wondering if anybody would notice if I set these two adrift in the ocean. This was going to be a long night.
AN: Again, sorry that took so long to get up. I had a bit of a rough... while. But this is Chapter Four! Yay! Noticed this was getting a lot more popular than I expected, so thanks to all of you who've read this, favorited me, or this story, or even reviewed! It's all really appreciated. I hope to get the next chapter up soon. Have a nice day, you guys!
