Chapter 12

I looked over the horizon, and watched the lights turn off one by one as the sun came up. A gust of wind blew through my hair, knocking off my hood. I closed my eyes, and just sat there, letting the breeze hit my face. I thought about what I had to do to find Sara. I just had to think about it. Think.

"That's it," I muttered. I finally figured out what to do. I closed my eyes, held onto the ledge with all my might, and focused on Sara. I focused on talking to her, seeing her, holding her. I swear, I was trying to hard to think about her, my eyes stung. Cursing out the world, I gave it my all to try to find her again, but nothing happened. There was no connection, no signs, nothing. Tears rolled down my face. I tried to blame it on the pain, but there was a part of me that knew I couldn't. I gave up. This was it, I lost her.

Suddenly, a huge wave of pain washed over my brain. I grabbed my head, screaming. In my mind, I saw flashes of a scenery. Buildings were crumbling, plants were dead, and no one was around. There was an amphitheater, with a single being in the middle, chained to the ground. Then, I saw flashes of people in hazmat suits. They surrounded it, trying not to harm, but observe. Then, there was a close up.

It was Sara. Before I could watch the rest of the flashes, my blood was boiling. Whoever did this to Sara was going to be dead by the end of this week. I went to get up and fly, but whatever was giving the flashes kept me off my feet. The pain was unbearable, but I needed to finish what was given to me. Sara was beaten to a pulp; eyes black, bruises everywhere, and as weak as I've ever seen her. The suited people only watched her. A girl walked up to Sara, maybe about age twelve. She had frizzy hair, and worked like a robot.

"Holy shit!" I yelled. The flashes stopped, and I lost balance. Off the side I went, trying to gain my balance back. I unfurled my wings about sixty feet from the ground, and turned on a dime. I flew west, away from Vegas. As I flew, the weather became worse, and worse. As the heat rose, the humidity doubled. The closer I got to California, the harder it rained, and it's pattern became more irregular. I found a small diner about three hundred miles away from Los Angeles. I threw my hood up, walked inside, and took a booth to myself, right side facing towards everyone else, hiding my scars.

"Hi, sweetie," a waitress said. She must've been a few years older than me. Her blonde hair was straightened to the bone. She modified her waitressing outfit to be less than modest by a lot. She looked at the right side of my face, trying to look past the hood. She brought over the complementary glass of water, which I gladly took. "What can I getcha?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," I said, shaking my head.

"Want me to come back in a few?" She batted her eyes lashes at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Naw, I'm good, thanks." The waitress rested her elbows on the table, half a foot from me.

"All right, suga'. If you want anything, just ask for Abbie," she said, winking at me. If she was trying to make me blush, it didn't work.

"Right," I said, taking a sip of water. "If you're looking for me, then ask for Oliver." Why did I use that name? It's my dad's name. He's a very honorable man, so it works for me. Plus, I look like an Oliver. Suddenly, Abbie sat next to me. Thank God it was on the same side.

"That's a nice name, sugar," she said. She stroked my leg with her fake French tips, and I scooted in the booth more. "It's a shame that you're just Oliver, with no girl by your side." Her fabricated country accent was giving me a headache.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm already tied down," I said. Technically, I wasn't, but I had a feeling Sara would be jealous if she was here.

"Where is she, then?"

"Working, I'll be picking her up in two hours." I was a talented liar by nature, which has saved my ass a few times.

"That's too bad," she started rubbing my thigh again. "A lot can happen in two hours, Olie."

"Trust me, you wouldn't want me." She was really getting on my nerves at this point.

"Well, I think you're lookin' pretty sexy right now..." There's the straw that broke the camel's back. I threw off my hood, and looked straight at her, exposing the scars and gray eye.

"How about now?" Abbie was horrified, which I liked. A sick smile appeared on my face at the sight of her disgust. The anger that boiled inside me was ready to pour over. I wanted to kill someone. What was happening to me?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the news bulletin talking about me. Someone got a blurry close up picture of my face, showing the scars. "Dammit!" I jumped up on the table, and flew straight into the windows as the whole diner called the police. I flew as high as I could, as fast as I could. In a minute or so, I couldn't see the ground. I just watched the clouds under and around me fly by. They were puffy white, pure.

As I flew, I thought about the flashes: where they were, what they meant, if they were even real. They had to be real, right? Why else would I picture that? Nothing came to my mind. I couldn't come up with a reasonable place, yet I flew in the "right" feeling direction. Eventually, I saw the coast of California. Following the coast was a mass of blue, the Pacific Ocean.

"It's not or never, Xavier," I told myself. Once I started flying over the ocean, there would be no going back. I couldn't land, sleep, eat, anything. This was a straightforward path. No more breaks, this was it.

I flew for God knows how long. I lowered myself down to about sixty to a hundred feet above the ocean. It was smooth sailing, until the sun went down. At an instant, the sea came alive. Waves came at me from every angle, followed by rouge, ninety foot swells. With every gust of wind, I was knocked further off my path. It started pouring gallons of rain onto me, like someone was trying to kill me off by controlling weather. Lightning was hitting the water, and frying any fish near it. The thunder that followed boomed and rung in my ears, almost deafening me.

This is the end, I told myself. I was in the middle of no where, surrounded by water.

"I'm sorry, Sara!" I screamed over the storm. Right then, thunder boomed, and I blacked out. The last thing I felt was the rush and pain of sea water swallowing me.


This dream was different. I was in that amphitheater, chained as Sara was. Well, so I thought. Looking at my bound arms and legs, my body was morphing with the cement. My wrists and ankles melted into the ground, and I still couldn't speak. I sat up as much as I could, and felt a body against my back. I turned, and saw Sara. She looked even worse. I could see her ribs, hip bones, just about everything stuck out. I realized what they were doing to her.

They were starving her, killing her. That was why I was here, too. I heard her soft, weak breathing. The suited men around us just watched. No writing, no recording, jut observing. Then, the blonde girl appeared in front of me. She had a stitched up slash across her lower right part of her chin. I couldn't help but feel giddy, knowing I did that.

"Maybe you are starting to understand, Xavier. Too bad, though. It'll be too late before you can even try to save Sis." She laughed evilly that matched her grin. Hopefully, she was right. I need to get on her ass about what's going on. I know I could prove her wrong.

I will save Sara.