Chapter 8: An unforgettable sight
The moment Goth tossed me from the branch, I let out a scream, not having expected him to do that. Luckily, Orestes caught me in time before I smashed on the ground. But he got attacked by Throbb, causing me to be thrown off once more.
Fortunately, I landed in a thick bush that cushioned my impact. As I had fought my way out of there I looked around for my friends. Orestes was still fighting Throbb in the air, but there was no trace of Shade and Marina. Goth and Winnie were also missing.
''They must've gone deeper into the forest'', I thought and hoped my friends found a good hiding spot from Goth. Speaking of it. I knew I should find one too. If only I hadn't jumped into the stream, we all wouldn't be here now. How could it be that these two were still alive?
Suddenly the ground trembled a little, announcing the arrival of heavy footsteps. Looking up, I saw a human male walking through the fake rainforest. From head to toe dressed in a white protective suit. He was holding a silver cage in one hand something that looked like a long dip net in the other.
Compared to me, this guy was a giant. Like a mountain he towered above me, his gaze wandering around as if he was looking for something. Soon after, Throbb and Orestes stumbled into the clearing, still engaged in combat. The man uttered a surprised cry as he saw them and turned his net around. Its end sizzling dangerously. Orestes managed to throw Throbb into the thicket with a violent flap of his wings, but then got hit by the metal bar and dropped like a stone into the net at the other end.
Seeing this I gasped and quickly hid deeper behind some leaves, not wanting this guy to see me. He put the unconscious owl into the cage and then looked around, most likely searching for Throbb. I moved a bit, accidentally causing a leaf to rustle, which caught the man's attention. He crouched down and peered in my direction. The sunlight reflected the transparent visor of his head, so it was difficult to see his face. I hoped that he didn't see me and just stood where I was, like glued to the spot, holding my breath.
''Now I know how Jack must have felt when he met the giant'', I thought and waited anxiously for the man to either look somewhere else or find and grab me.
''Russell!'' somebody called, and the man looked up, facing the direction the voice was coming from.
''Over here, Kyle. I just got one of the owls, but the bat got into hiding.''
''Forget it! We can get it later. The first cargo must leave today.''
''Yeah, I know. I know.'' With a groan, he rose, grabbed his dip net, and the cage with Orestes inside, and walked off. I gasped and run after the man, not wanting him to take Orestes away, but got stopped before I could even leave my hiding place.
''Where do you think you are going, señjorita?'' Throbb asked, my arm locked in his grasp. I tried to pull myself free, but the Vampyrum's grip was too strong.
''Let go!'' I commanded. ''Don't you see that we have to follow this man. He got Orestes.''
''What do I care about your feathered friend? Goth would only blame me for letting you go. And I really have no desire for that.''
"You...'' Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed the man from before meeting two other guys dressed in white protective suits. Together they headed towards the edge of the forest. The other two also had cages with them. In one of them lay Winnie, in the other Goth.
''Forget your cousin's anger,'' I said, nodding ahead. ''They're taking him away right now.''
Eyes wide, Throbb let go of my arm and stared after the men. ''What? No! No no. Where are they taking him?''
''No clue, but look if we follow them we get out of here and figure it out.''
Throbb looked unsure between me and the men.
''Come on. Or do you want to be here all by yourself? Because I'm definitely leaving.'' With that, I turned around and raced towards the three men. Only four steps later, I was grabbed by the shoulders and lifted into the air. ''What the ...? Hey, put me down!'' I protested, but Throbb didn't listen.
''¡Cállate!'' He hissed and fluttered after the humans with me dangling in his talons.
As they approached the stone wall, a hidden door opened with a hiss, giving access to an exit. Without losing time, Throbb followed them quickly through the opening and as unnoticed as possible. I almost twisted my neck trying to look back and watch the door close with a vacuuming sound. Hopefully, Marina and Shade had also taken advantage of the moment and were not trapped inside. Otherwise, I would have to think of something to get them out. But first, Orestes and Winnie needed my help. And since Goth and Throbb were out here with me, Shade and Marina were safe.
On the other side, we found ourselves in a bare, white-painted corridor. On the ceiling hung at regular intervals tubular lamps whose light illuminated the walls and the equally bright floor. With this brightness, they would discover Throbb and me in no time. There I spotted an open ventilation shaft in the ceiling with a lonely ladder below. Probably left there for some repairs. I guided Throbb over to the shaft and didn't allow myself to breathe until we were safely inside.
After he set me down, I leaned my back against one of the metal walls and let out a deep sigh in relief. ''Gosh, I'm so glad nobody saw us.'' I could only imagine what kind of turmoil that would have caused. A Vampyrum Spectrum on the loose and a shrunken human girl. Nope, it was good no one noticed us. And to make sure it stood that way we needed to keep moving.
''Now what?'' asked Throbb while I glanced around until I spotted that the tunnel we were inside lead ahead and around a corner.
''Let's move that way'', I said.
Throbb huffed and muttered something under his breath. I couldn't understand it since it was Spanish but I had the feeling that it wasn't a compliment.
We moved along the corridor until at one point light penetrated through another ventilation grille into the tunnel. Carefully, we got closer to it and peered down. Beneath us, about three dozen men and women dressed in white lab coats were scurrying around. They were inside a vast laboratory, which, like the corridor, was kept completely in white. On the walls there were all kinds of machines and shelves, and in the middle stood two rows of long tables that took up the entire room. On top of these were glass boxes that were connected to each other with holes on the sides for the scientists to put their hands through.
''Dios mio!'' said Throbb ''What's going on down there?''
I wondered why he looked so worried all of the sudden. There were just a bunch of scientists working on some kind of project. With a frown, I bowed down a little deeper, hoping to catch a glimpse of what was going on when a bloodcurdling scream hit my eardrum, literally knocking me over. Before I could even ask what that was, I heard another scream followed by wailing and sobbing. But looking down again, I saw anything disturbing. The Scientists just kept working as if nothing was wrong. Did they not hear the screams and cries for help?
What was going on down there?
I kept looking around until I glimpsed something moving in one of the glass boxes. It was a bat. But I couldn't tell if I knew it or not. Two scientists sat opposite the box and reached through the holes in the glass with gloved hands. The bat tried to get away. But one of them got hold of it and held it backward on the ground, while the other one grabbed a small razor. What followed was a whirring noise, combined with a startled cry from the bat.
Paralyzed, I watched how the scientist exchanged the razor for two different objects. One looked like a small metal button, the other was a sharp needle. The captured bat tried to free itself, but its situation was hopeless. Without warning, they inserted the needle into the bare skin on the bat's belly. Its cries and pleas for mercy ignored.
It was horrible.
Over and over again, the poor creature got stabbed in order to sew the button-like object onto its belly. Then the scientist who was performing the cruel work picked up another device. Something which looked like pliers which he held to the bat's ear. What followed was a cry of pain so loud that I flinched. Never before had I witnessed animal cruelty. At most I had read about it or seen videos of such acts on the internet. To experience it in real life was a thousand times worse. Especially since I could clearly understand the animal's cries of fear and help. I wanted to jump down there and give those bastards a good thrashing for what they were doing plus free all the animals. But that was impossible.
''We should get out of here,'' said Throbb. His harsh gaze fixed on the humans below us.
I nodded slowly, not saying anything myself. Though I wished I could do something. If only I knew why they were doing this to them.
At the other end of the laboratory, the door opened and three men in military outfits walked inside. They were immediately spotted by one of the scientists.
''General Neal,'' he said, approaching them, ''what an honor, for you to come to us personally.''
''Professor Payton. How is work progressing on project rainstorm?''
''Good. My team has prepared almost all the selected animals for today's mission.''
''Mission?''
''Señjorita, come!'' called Throbb but I lifted my hand, signing him to wait while I kept listening to the two men. Wanting to know what they were talking about.
General Neal nodded. He had short white hair and a long scar on his had that run from behind his left ear down to his neck. ''Very good. But hurry up. I want the bombs to reach their targets today.''
''Don't worry, sir, they will.''
Did I just hear right? Bombs?! Did they seriously intend to use bats and owls as weapons? They couldn't do that!
''Señjorita!'' With an energetic growl, Throbb grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away from the ventilation grille. I protested a little bit, wanting to hear more details. But eventually allowed him to pull me away.
A few meters later, we discovered a hole in a wall. Through the opening, daylight and ice-cold air flooded into the tunnel. I shivered a little and rubbed my bare arms while Throbb carefully peered outside. ''Looks like this is our way out,'' he said.
I barely listened to him. My thoughts were still with the poor animals in the lab and the conversation between the two men. Why did they sew bombs onto living beings? And where were they planning to drop them? I needed to find Shade and Marina. We had to warn the others and rescue them. The only question was: How?
''Well, I know how to be ignored by Goth from time to time. But that's pretty rude.''
"'Huh?''
Throbb let out an irritated sigh. ''Señjorita, I've asked you three times already to come with me. If you don't answer me now, I'll go alone and leave you in here.''
"But we can't go", I protested.
Throbb tilted his head. ''What do you mean?'' he asked.
"We must go back and free the others'', I said.
''And how are we supposed to do that?'' He shook his head. ''Forget it, Señjorita. Wild goose couldn't drag me near that room again. You saw what your people did to those bats and owls.''
''I know,'' I looked down in shame and wished I wasn't human. Not that it changed anything about the situation. But I felt that Throbb was blaming me for what my kind was doing. And he surely wouldn't be the only one.
''Vanessa?''
Startled, we both looked in the direction of the hole and noticed Marina's bright head peeking through.
"I knew I recognized the voice. What happened? How...?'' she gasped as she spotted Throbb in the shadows.
''It's all right Marina,'' I soothed her while glancing slightly back and forth between the two bats. ''We..eh..have some sort of truce at the moment.''
Throbb raised an eyebrow. "Do we?''
''Well, you haven't tried to eat me yet. And besides...'' I quickly added before he could say something, ''There are more important things right now. We must free the other animals as quickly as possible. They are all in great danger.''
''What do you mean?'' Marina asked. Her eyes glistened with concern. ''Does it have anything to do with what those other humans were doing in that big room?''
''You know about that?''
She nodded. ''Shade and I were hiding under the cage where they had captured Orestes,'' she said, ''We tried to get him out but then we came into this room and had to hide before we were seen.''
''I see,'' I replied. But wait a second. Where was Shade anyway?
As if reading my thoughts, Marina closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing her story.
"All those screams and that terrible stench of fear. I wanted nothing more than to get out of there. But Shade insisted that we stay. He wanted to know what the humans were doing and even flew closer to get a better look.''
I suspected the worst.
"I tried to stop him, but...'' Marina paused for a moment then continued. ''One human saw him and pointed a long stick at him. It happened so fast. One moment to the next Shade was in a net and he was carried to one of those glass boxes.
''No!''
Marina did not need to tell me more. I knew from what I had witnessed what had happened to him. And I felt sick. Especially since I remembered that the same thing must have happened to Orestes. As well as with Chinook and his family.
''How did you get out?" I asked hoarsely.
''After they put Shade in a container with some other bats, another human carried him outside. I followed him and watched how he placed the container in one of the flying machines over there." She nodded over to a large open space where several military aircraft were standing next to each other. ''At first, I wanted to go there and try to free Shade but there were too many humans and I was also worried about you.''
''It's okay, Marina. I am fine,'' I said. ''But we should hurry. Frieda, Ariel, and all the others. They must be warned and leave this building immediately otherwise they will all suffer the same fate.''
''Do you know why those humans are doing all this?''
I hesitated and wondered if I should tell her about the bombs, but then decided against it and shook my head. ''The exact reason is unclear to me as well Marina. But I still don't want them to go through this ordeal.''
Throbb walked closer to the hole, causing Marina to flinch back. But the Vampyrum wasn't paying any attention to her. He simply looked outside with a frown on his face.
''If I were you, I'd hurry about what to do,'' he said. ''Looks like one of those things is about to take off.''
''What?'' Eyes widen, I leaned out and saw that he was right. Engine sounds came from the plane on the far left that Marina pointed at when she told us about what happened to Shade. We probably had barely a few seconds to decide what to do now. "Okay, listen! Marina, you fly back into the forest and warn the others. Meanwhile, Throbb and I will try to break into that plan.''
"Hold on," he protested, crossing the arms. ''Since when did I agree on helping you?''
''You didn't. But what if Goth is there too. Don't you want to safe at least him?''
This caused Throbb to go silent.
''But Vanessa. I can't leave you alone with that guy.'' She nodded over to Throbb who huffed in response and looked away.
''I will be fine. But one of us has to tell Frieda about what's going on. She will know what to do.''
Marina hesitated for a second, then nodded. ''Alright. But promise me to be careful. I don't want to lose all my friends on the same day.''
''You won't. I promise!''
After that was cleared, Throbb climbed out of the hole first. Then I followed with Marina's help and climbed onto his back. Though, this was easier said than done. Because Throbb decided to hung upside down on the outside wall I had to get on him while being upside down myself. I could feel my heart beating up to my throat at this activity. One wrong move and I would drop right to the ground. Headfirst. The fact that the cold wind was blowing my hair through my face made it no better. Fortunately, everything went well.
Afterward, Marina and I wished each other good luck, then Throbb flew off towards the departing plane while my Brightwing friend went to look for a way to get back inside the building.
- Meanwhile, a few moments earlier -
With a grunt, Shade landed nose first on the bottom of the box. He tried to get up but then another bat came through the opening and fell right on top of him.
''Urgh!''
It was a Brightwing. Shade feared it was Marina. But then he realized that it was actually a young male. From the pile of fur around him, an unfamiliar Silverwing freed himself and rushed towards the Brightwing. Judging the way they hugged each other, Shade guessed that they were friends.
''Shade!''
Without warning, another bat collided with him and almost crushed him with a tight embrace. He immediately recognized the smell and when he turned his head, he also recognized the fur color and hairstyle.
''Chinook", he was honestly surprised how happy he sounded to see him here. ''Um, Chinook, do you mind if you loosen up a bit? I can hardly breathe.''
"Oh, of course. Sorry,'' He let go of Shade and took a look over his shoulder. "Hey everybody, this is Shade Silverwing! He is a great hero. He's gonna know what's going on here!''
Shade stared at him, his mouth agape. Chinook calling him a hero. Was this a joke? But Judging the look on his face, Shade knew he was being serious. He nearly laughed, but then noticed the hopeful looks of the bats around him. Like him, they all had a black metal disk hanging from their stomachs and a silver button stuck in their ears. Shade took a deep breath, knowing he won't be giving them the answers they wanted.
''How did we get here?'' asked a long-eared bat.
They took many of you in your sleep,'' Shade said. "Hundreds of you. The humans came right into the forest and pulled you from your roosts.''
''My parents?'' Chinook asked and Shade could hear a hint of fear in his voice.
He nodded. ''They too. And your uncle Hector. They must be in a different cage,'' he added reassuringly.
''How do you know about this?'' the strange Silverwing wanted to know whose wings were still wrapped around the young Brightwing. A slightly older Brownwing male with a banded arm had joined them. Concerned, he looked Shade in the face.
''I was not caught at the same time as you,'' he said, and in a few sentences, he told them about his escape through the stream and how he had gotten into the room where the humans were doing all these terrible things to the bats. He did not want to talk about his experiences with the owls and Goth. He felt too exhausted for that. The metal disk was pulling heavily on his belly and his ear was still throbbing with pain since he had this thing stapled there.
''Did Marina come with you?'' Chinook asked. Shade nodded.
''Yes, but I think she managed to avoid being caught.''
Chinook nodded and a smile danced around his lips. "Of course she did. She's too smart to get caught.'' He moved a little closer to Shade and lowered his voice to a whisper. ''So did she, you know, miss me?'' Shade blinked, hardly believing that Chinook was asking him something like that in their current situation. ''I'm pretty sure she likes me,'' he admitted to him.
''What are these things they put on us,'' asked a hoary bat with a squeaky voice, tapping tentatively on the metal button on her ear.
''I don't know,'' said Shade.
''And these heavy disks, what are they for?''
I don't know,'' Shade repeated, feeling anger rising within himself.
The Silverwing by the Bright- and Brownwing looked at him with a frown. ''If Arcadia was here, she would know,'' he said. ''She was right about you. You are just a troublemaker. Do you even know anything?''
''Raven, drop it.'' The Brownwing placed his hand soothingly on his friend's shoulder.
''I know we need to get out of here,'' Shade replied angrily "Have any of you ever tried to find a way out yet?''
General headshaking.
"Just Great,'' Shade thought, "They're all useless chumps. Do I have to do everything by myself?''
''Why should we try to get it out?'' asked a banded Greenwing. ''How do we know this is not part of the Great Promise?''
''Fine, you stay here then,'" Shade said snippily. ''I for one am getting out of here. Who's with me?''
A depressing silence ruled for a second and then...
"Me.''
It was Chinook.
Shade felt a wave of gratitude and relief pour over him. "Then let's go.'' He hurried over to the small opening in the side where he dropped in. With a sudden jerk, it was closed with a sliding flap and the total darkness caused panic and horror among the bats.
''What's happening?'' one whimpered.
''I want my mommy!'' cried another.
''Help!''
Their voices overlapped and increased fear and urgency. Shade tried to block them out. With his echo vision, he checked the sliding flap and heard a distinct metallic click, coming from a tiny hole halfway up. He needed a closer look.
"Chinook, help me, will you?''
The larger Silverwing crouched down so Shade could climb on his back. It was just enough for him to reach the tiny hole with his claws outstretched. With all his weight he tried to pull the flap back up but it just wouldn't move. Somehow it was locked near the hole.
Suddenly the container began swinging wildly back and forth and Shade fell from Chinooks back. He could hear the heavy footsteps of humans. They were being carried somewhere. A door opened with a hiss. And then it became much colder. The steps crunched. Snow.
"We're outside," he heard Chinook whisper.
Shade's heart almost broke with longing. On the other side of this container was the world, freedom. If only he could get out of here. He would spread out his wings and lift up high into the sky. Far up, where the humans could never reach him. Frustrated, he hammered with his fists on the metal walls until the pain brought him back to his senses. It was foolish to waste his strength like that.
Suddenly the steps became louder and harder and echoed. Apparently, they were now inside something. With a crack, the container was set down. Loud, slow voices of humans resounded around them like a wailing wind. Shade wishes Vanessa was here and could tell him what they were talking about. On the other hand, it was probably nothing important. The cage jerked roughly back and forth, causing him to fell against Chinook.
Other bats were here as well. He could hear their terrifying lamentations like ghostly howls outside his container. It reminded him of the voices he had heard a long time ago in the echo chamber of Tree-Heaven. Frieda had taken him and Vanessa down there to tell them the story of the great battle and Nocturna's great promise.
Nervously, Shade wondered what would happen to them now. He felt Chinook moving closer to him, then heard a horrible noise of metal crashing against metal. Then silence. But only for a few seconds. A deep, powerful vibration rose around them, crawling through the bottom of the cage, into the bones of his feet, his spine, and his chest. Shade felt like he was in the belly of a huge mechanical animal. There was a stream of air and it cracked in his ears. Shade swallowed and looked at Chinook. Both of them too frightened to speak. The vibration grew stronger and seemed to come directly from the marrow of his own bones. The entire container rumbled.
They were moving, not just the cage, but also what was surrounding them. Shade felt that something infinitely strong was starting to move. First slowly, then with increasing speed. The cage tilted slightly and he instinctively spread his wings to keep his balance.
All bats were immersed in anxious silence. Only a few murmured a few words to themselves. Presumably prayers to Nocturna. Shade felt hollow and useless. He knew he should think and do something. But all he could do at the moment was wait and see what would come next. Suddenly, the vibrations ebbed and Shade felt the familiar feeling of weightlessness under his feet.
''We are flying'', he said.