Authors Note: Hey look! I finally finished the chapter! Sorry for the long wait, little bit of writer's block, I'll work on updating faster. Thank you guys so much for being patient, enjoy!
I did eventually get tired of flying, takes a lot out of you. We touched down near a lake and set up "camp" by a lone tree. Behind us were densely packed bushes. I placed Kaleb down on a patch of dry dirt and sat down next to him. I felt my large ears, claws and other bat features disappear and, although he was trying to hide it, I noticed Kaleb staring at me as they did so. I was going to say something about it, but I generally like to avoid an argument.
"I got your bag." He said, handing it to me. "The girl clothes kind of confused them, but not as much as the dagger, matches and large amount of money would have, had I not expertly concealed them." I reached in the bag and found that a secret compartment had been sliced in the back, where the dagger, matches and money were hidden. "May I ask what the dagger is for, exactly?"
"Um… precautionary measures." To be completely honest, I had no clue why I took my dad's dagger. There were some awful memories surrounding it, and looking at the thing almost pained me. Then why did I bring it? I thought to myself.
"Whatever you want to do. They did take all the food though."
"Oh. Great. Well I guess we'll have to go get some more tomorrow." The sun was setting; it almost looked as if the sun was being submerged in the lake. I had somehow managed to fly all day with a few rests and I only dropped Kaleb once! I know, that's bad, but I was still trying to get the hang of it, I only started a few days before.
"What is your mutation, exactly? I've only seen you do it once, from a distance." I mentally slapped myself, what a dumb question!
"I can turn shadows into a solid matter, any shape I want." He spoke without looking up from the ground. He lifted a hand with his palm facing the tree behind us. I watched as the shadow pulled away and into his hand. He brought his hand forward and held up the black, shifting blob so I could look at it. He pulled it into the shape of a rod and wrote his name in the dirt with it. He pushed it back into a blob and then dropped it. The blob reshaped itself and became the tree's shadow once again. He looked up at me and I saw he was sweating and breathing heavily.
"Not too easy for you huh?"
He shook his head. "No. It doesn't make sense really. Shadows are not a physical matter and were never meant to be. I defy the laws of nature! The laws of physics! Why can I go against the very fabric of the world? Turning nothing, into something. It states somewhere that the same matter that is here now, was around when the dinosaurs were around. You cannot create matter, and you cannot destroy matter. But me, I can do both anytime I want. Why?"
I thought about what he was saying. I had just witnessed the impossible happen. Kaleb was distraught, he wanted to know more. But I was fine. I didn't mind at all.
"Maybe it doesn't matter." He shot me a weird look. "Maybe it's ok that you can do the impossible. Most of our kind does some pretty impossible things. I think its ok you defy the laws of nature and physics. That's who you were meant to be. And I guess I was meant to be probably the weirdest living organism anyone has ever seen. I shouldn't exist! But I do. And you do the impossible." Kaleb nodded.
"I guess you're right. Still kind of bothers me though." He lay down on the dusty ground and closed his eyes. "Goodnight Lindsey." The sun was already down, the moon low in the sky.
"Goodnight Kaleb." I whispered. My wings were still out; it was difficult to align them with my spine after flying for hours on end. I lay down a little ways away from Kaleb on my back. It was so cold, the night air breezing over us. Kaleb was asleep, but shivering. I pulled my sweatshirt from the backpack and laid it on top of him. Within a few moments he was no longer shivering. Lying back down, I wrapped my wings around me like I was some sort of bat-burrito. Heat pulsed through them and warmed me up too. Before long I allowed sleep to wrap its arms around me and take me.
"Lindsey. Bat-girl. Come on, get up." I opened my eyes to find Kaleb's face above mine, his expression still ever difficult to read.
"No, I'm still tired." I closed my eyes and turned over onto my side, my wings had slid back during the night. I heard him sigh and I could just picture him rolling his eyes.
"Linds, you need to get up, it's already late."
"Bite me." I said groggily. I've been told I get feisty when I'm tired. He sighed again and I felt him walk over and sit down near my face.
"Get. Up." I opened my eyes again and looked at him. Within a few seconds I had a solution. I opened my mouth and began to sing a lullaby. His eyes started to close as he began to fall back asleep. He caught on quicker than I expected though and plugged his ears.
"Ugh. Fine." I sat up and brushed myself off.
"Thank you. We need to get food and water, so we need to find a town or gas station or something." I nodded.
"How are we supposed to find one?" I asked, gesturing to the nothingness around us.
"Maybe you can fly up and scope one out."
"Um, I'll try." My wings were still really sore and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do it. I went over to the tree behind us and climbed up to one of the middle branches. I jumped off and attempted to fly up. I only got a few feet before I plummeted to the ground, but it was enough.
"This is like a little fishing town! If we walk down this way there's a path between the bushes that leads up to a little town." Kaleb put the pack on and followed me as I ran. You know that saying "blind as a bat"? Totally not true. I can actually see better than most people and noticed the small dock and the path long before Kaleb could see it. We stopped running when we noticed there was someone with a boat at the dock.
"Well shoot. Ok, just walk normally. Maybe he won't notice us or say anything." Kaleb whispered. I nodded carefully and continued to walk at a normal pace. When we got close he looked up at us and I got a better look of him. He almost reminded me of my grandfather, scruffy and well, old. He had a sailor's way about him. He seemed like the kind of guy I would avoid.
"Well good morning! What are you kids doin' out here on a Saturday noon?"He asked. I opened my mouth and began to say something, but Kaleb elbowed me in a way that said "Let me handle this."
"Very sorry sir, we were just thinking we might see our father out here. He's probably just in the town somewhere, so we'll be heading off." We started to walk towards the path, but the old fisherman spoke again.
"Oh well who's your father?" We just stood there and I looked at Kaleb, hopeful he had one for that.
"Did I say father? I meant dog. It's very important that we find him soon, so we should head into town." We walked briskly towards the path.
"Oh, well good luck finding him!" The man called after us. Once we were in the bushes we started to walk normally again.
"You sure are quick on your feet." I told Kaleb.
"Thanks. You should have heard me when I was telling those children's service guys what we were doing on a highway." We both laughed a little bit. Kaleb was an interesting person. He seemed full of confidence and I'm sure most of the time he can appear strong or tough, but certain things just drove him down. I guess that's just part of it, being you-know-what. He had told me, I make him open up. Why me? Was he more closed off to other people? I could almost imagine how he acts around other people. Probably the strong, silent type. Or perhaps he was more rash, quiet most of the time, but quick to jump up and defend himself. I turn him into something else. He talks to me, telling me his darkest secrets, and is aware of my flaws, silently pointing them out by giving me a dark look or staring at my strange features. It hit me right then. Scared. Kaleb is scared of me, so he opens up.
"Wow." He said simply. I looked up and saw the town. Ever seen an old western movie? Yeah, that's what the town looked like. Very basic with only the necessities and a few houses.
"And I thought Cove was small." We walked in and looked around. People were working around their shops, we actually saw a small farm with people up and working. All around children played, running around and tagging one another.
"I guess we can forget about finding a computer. How did you even manage to get us here?"
"Um… Hey look, a general store!" Kaleb rolled his eyes and we began to walk towards the store. To tell you the truth I actually dozed off towards the end of the flight and when I woke up we were above a lake and the sun was setting.
"I'll go in and get us the food and water. You see if we can figure out where we are." Kaleb told me. I nodded and went to go talk to some locals. Now, if you hadn't noticed already, I'm both socially awkward and clumsy, so don't be too surprised at what happens next. I walked up to a nice looking woman to speak to her.
"Excuse me," She turned around at the sound of my voice. "My friend and I just walked into your small town and were wondering, where we are, exactly?"
"Well this here town is called Boonville. You won't find it on most maps so look for Boon Lake; it's actually larger than this part of the town. There are a few houses that belong to the fisherman that are on the lake though." Her voice had a bit of a twang and she was so full of smiles.
"Thank you. I know this will seem very strange, but can you please tell me what state this is?" A confused look crossed her face.
"Well you're in Idaho sweet pea! Where else would you be?"
"Right of course. Idaho is just where I need to be. Thanks a ton." We were standing right near the bushes that separated Boonville from Boon Lake and it looked like it was on a hill. I turned around and it was almost like everything happened in slow motion. I ran right into a guy pushing a wheelbarrow full of potatoes, knocking them all to the floor. Kaleb walked out of the store at that exact moment. He began to run over, but we both knew he wasn't going to make it in time to stop me from falling down that hill. He pulled the shadows from the people around him and they became a whip at his commanding touch. He lashed it out and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me back to where he was standing, right in the middle of town. We looked around and everyone in town was staring. He dropped the shadows and they went back to their owners. We heard murmurs, most including the word "mutant" several times. They all cautiously walked toward us.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered quietly to Kaleb.
"Shh." As they walked they got louder.
"Mutant. Mutant. Get rid of the mutant. Save the girl, get rid of the mutant." One person came up and grabbed my arm, snatching me away.
"Kaleb!" I shouted as they pulled me in. The lady I had just been talking to held on to me and started pulling me away from the crowd.
"You need to stay away from him, he's a mutant. I'll take you somewhere safe."
"No! Kaleb! Kaleb hold on!" I shouted, hoping he could hear me, hoping he could get away.
"Your Kaleb is dangerous. He probably didn't even tell you he was such a freak. Damned things." Right there, right in that moment, I was so scared. I was scared they were going to hurt him and I needed to save him. I felt it, my face was elongated and I could feel my fangs. My wings came out the holes they had ripped in the back of my long sleeved shirt. My hands became claws and I had lost my shoes a long time ago, my feet becoming bat-feet. My ears moved to the top of my head and became tall, my already enhanced hearing becoming better.
"KALEB!" The lady released her grip and stared at me. "Don't mess with the dark partnership." I made that name up right then and there, really just to scare her. I ran back towards the crowd, singing loud to give them headaches. They all dropped to the ground, clutching their ears and moaning. Kaleb was smart and had plugged his ears. I grabbed him around his upper body and took off, over the brush and to safety.
"Thanks." He said.
"Oh no don't thank me! I'm the one who got you into that mess in the first place. I'm really sorry."
"It's alright. You sure are clumsy though."
"Yeah, I'm working on it. Oh, and by the way that was Boonville Idaho. Won't show up on most maps, but Boon Lake does." He nodded thoughtfully.
"The dark partnership?" He asked in an almost mocking tone.
"Well I don't know. Shadows, obviously dark, and when most people think bats they think 'oh no! scary bats!' so, dark. It was really just to scare her though." He nodded again.
"Well I kind of like it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Let's keep it. Oh! And also, we should get to the freeway again."
"Oh! Yeah, let's do that. Maybe we can make Wyoming by tomorrow night."
"Did you say Wyoming?" he asked, suddenly very curious.
"Yeah. Why? Something wrong with it?"
"No, let's just hurry to the freeway." There was something in his voice; I couldn't quite make it out. It was almost like he was choking on his words.
"Are you ok?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." We neared the freeway and I preformed another excellent crash landing in field.
"Ready?" I asked. He nodded briskly and we set off, towards Wyoming and who knows what else.
