Miss Paint was not kidding when she said that she is stronger than she looks. I fell down every time I tried walking without support and she would catch me before I hit the ground. Note to self, no running in this weakened state.
It took quite a while to get back to the dinning room, but when we did I could already see the that my dad and the Batterwitch had gotten bored since they were playing cards. The Batterwitch was the first to look up from cards. "Is he alright Miss Paint?"
"He took a spill in the hallway, but he should be fine. He must have worn himself out with the running he did." Miss Paint helped me to my seat.
"You shouldn't be running for at least two more days. You barely got back to walking." The Batterwitch smiled, pushing a bowl of stew over towards me. "Here you go."
I could only sigh before starting on the bowl. "John? You sure you're alright?" Dad asked cautiously.

"I'm fine."

"He's probably just stressed out. You didn't exactly do the best job with telling him what he is before he had found out. The kid was scared half to death."

"I told him he was an angel all the time."

"I didn't think you meant literally!" I try standing up, but I end up slipping and fall back into the chair roughly. My wings hit hard, pain shooting down both wings. I give up, laying my head in my arms on the table.

"Careful there John. You keep forgetting that you need to be mindful of your wings." Batterwitch states. I tense up when I feel someone touching my wings. "Calm down, you hit your wing on something. Miss Paint, can you get a first aid kit?" I hear footsteps heading out of the room and feel warm hands gripping on tightly to my wing.

"What did he hit his wing on?"

"I don't know, you're the doctor here!"

"That doctorate was not a medical doctorate."

"And I'm guessing that accident in Circe de something was really an accident?"

"It really was."

"How do you accidentally shave someone?"

"I don't know what came over me, but that was the result."

"You're always interesting company."

"So are you."

Footsteps approach and I hear something being placed on the counter, the container clicking open. "Now don't freak out. I'm going to wrap up your wing." There was the sting of what was probably rubbing alcohol and then something winding tightly around my wing. "There you go, all bandaged up. You finished your stew quickly again, I'll get you more."

"That's a lot of stew."

"Trust me, this isn't much. Something like this happened to my sister and she had to eat a lot. John is very similar. First two days you could barely give her anything because she was so tired, then the next five she really choked down, and then she could go human another two days later. She relaxed for about a week afterwards just to make sure she was okay. I think she was seventeen when that happened." I lift my head in time to see long brown hair trailing after the Batterwitch as she walked into the next room.

"How are you feeling son?"

I felt as if I was sentenced to a fate worse than death and would be stuck in it for too long to be necessary on any level of punishment. "I'm feeling alright, kind of tired though."

"That's good to hear. I'll do anything you want while I'm here, but if you want to talk to your friends that's fine too."

"They still haven't come online, so I can't. Maybe we can play board games?"

"I saw some in the study." He stopped when a bowl of stew was once again placed in front of me. I'm still hungry, but this was getting ridiculous. "Still hungry?"

"I don't know how, but yeah." The stew was warm, and if it wasn't made by the Batterwitch would receive four stars. Take that Batterwitch, it gets a three. That wasn't much of a rating deduction, but it's the thought that counts. Just like the thought that she loved me made what she did seem so much worse. Curse this stew for for being amazing. I still eat the stew anyway because the woman who experimented on angels probably knew a thing or two on how they regenerate their energy.

"Is it good?"

"I give you three stars."

"I'm thankful for every one of them. I heard that he wanted to play games. Which one first?"

"Monopoly!"

Monopoly was a terrible idea. I was good until I started getting sleepy, quickly drawing closer to losing with each move. I didn't have time to lose, because I ended up falling asleep halfway through the game.

When I wake up, it's in my soft bed again. I sit up to see Miss Paint standing to the side patiently. She holds a finger to her lips, taking a few steps closer before placing a folded piece of paper on the bed next to you. She leaves silently through the door.

I open the note, finding the room with a few transportalizers sketched out like a blueprint and each one labeled with where they headed to. I quickly noticed her little note in the corner, reading the swirling cursive letters silently.

Dear John,

I got the layout for you, but this was the easy part. I

still don't have the code for the containment units,

but I should be able to get them within three months.

I'm trying my hardest, so please hang in there! Also,

tuck this note into the bottom of your mattress frame

so your dear aunt won't find it.

There is no signature, but I know it's Miss Paint so it doesn't matter. I climb out of bed, tucking the note deep into the mattress frame before hopping back into bed again. Three months would give me enough time to get the other pieces of the plan in place, and sadly give my aunt plenty of time to rip more energy out of me.

Speaking of that evil woman, she came into your room at least five minutes after I had hidden the note. "Hello John. How is my little angel feeling?"

"Terrified."

"Don't be scared." She hugged me, just scaring me even more. "No one is going to hurt you."

"So, the thing with the... what you did to me won't happen again?"

"Sorry, but it will." She hugged me tighter as I started shaking. "Shh, it's alright. It won't hurt, it will just feel strange. I made sure of that." She was stroking my hair calmly. I was pretty sure the test or experiment or whatever she wanted to call it had hurt, and the time after it definitely hurt. Her heartbeat was surprisingly calming to listen to, and with my head being held to her chest I didn't really have an option in the situation.

"Everything will be alright, I promise." She continued stroking my hair. My wings were sprawled out around me as I started falling asleep again. She started humming something and I was asleep before I even knew what was happening.