Chapter Two: l'heure de Vie

A feather drops on water. Ripples echo noiselessly across the whole pond, starting from where the feather fell and eventually reaching the shore. A voice said, "with one flutter of its wings, a butterfly in China can create a hurricane that will end up in America." Figures running on a dark, slick cobblestone street. Blood flowing down a gutter.

I woke with a start, breathing heavy, adrenaline coursing through my veins. As soon as I sat up, a lightning bolt of pain laced my shoulders. A man was thrown against the wall by an unseen force. He got up and walked towards me with a slight limp. He placed his palm on my forehead.

The voice said, "stay still."

I froze. The man pulled out a huge needle filled with a purple liquid. I felt a prick, then warmth spread through me down to the tips of my toes. I found that I could spread my wings without pain.

The voice asked, "Feeling better?"

I replied, "Much. May I ask.... what is your name?"

"My name? What do you mean, young girl?"

"What should I call you?"

"I tell no one my true name, but you may know me as.... Vie"

The man started to chuckle. I noticed that my whole conversation I had had with him had not been with words. This thought made Vie laugh even harder.

He was in my mind?? Then I found him; he was just a hint of silver in my otherwise white mind. I finally found my voice.

"GET OUT!!"

My outburst made him retract.

"Or what?"

The bed I had been sitting on flew out from underneath me, folded in half and contacted Vie straight in the stomach. His breath was forced out with a loud "Oooff" as the folded metal bed crushed him against the oppisite wall. His torso slumped over the top, unconcious. The door opened in front of me. I ran into the dimly lit hallway. I began to hear footfalls behind me. I ran faster. As I looked behind me, I noticed that I probably wasn't too hard to follow; every two or three yards, a downy feather would float softly to the black linoleum. At the end of the hallway, white double doors almost glowed in the darkness. I ran towards them. They flung off their hinges in front of me. A chilling gust of air blew out. Thank God. A Balcony! I took a step onto the it, and I realized why everything was so freezing; I was dressed in only a hospital gown. The land around me was depressing. I was on a tall building in a tundra in the middle of nowhere! I thoughtI heard voices in the hallway behind me. And with a flurry of feathers, I jumped off. The people I had heard finally reached the balcony. The looked down at me. I began to fall. My wings started to throb again. The pain was unbearable. I got the notion to look below me. The ground was rising to meet me fast.

I screamed.

As soon as I felt the bite of the snow beneath me, my wings unfurled with a 'swoosh' and I rose into the gray sky in a tight arc. The dissapeared as I vanished into the icy clouds. I started to shiver uncontrollably.

I decided I didn't want to be that far up. I directed my feathers down. Miraculously, they obeyed.

It was all I could do to fly in a straight line. After I had flown for a few hours, I started to see the landscape begin to change from snowy to green. I got a strange feeling to look upwards. Above me, a black helicopter emerged from the clouds, with a white eye insignia on the side. It had been following me all along! I looked below me. A similar truck was pursuing me. I tried to flap harder, but I couldn't get anymore speed. I returned my gaze to the helicopter. A man leaned out the side. As I squinted to see, I realized it was Vie. I also recognized what he was holding; a dart gun. I watched as a dart hit my left wing. My body was numb; I couldn't move! I began to fall, feathers trailing behind me, as my world turned black.