Chapter 2: 'Bangs' of change

Her head spinning, Theresa opened her eyes. A throbbing pain pulsed where her head had hit the ground where she still lay. She groaned softly and pushed herself up in a sitting position, trying to clear her head. Alex was nowhere to be seen—which was a good thing, she decided after a few moments. A chilling wind blew by her, but she didn't feel cold at all. Instead, she felt pleasantly warm, as though she was being blanketed by a comforting, feathery outer layer. Feeling something from her arms drag across the ground beneath her, Theresa looked down to see what it was. What she saw caused her to scream in panic.

She was covered in orange feathers, but that wasn't what scared her; because attached to her arms from her shoulder blades was a pair of feathered wings. Theresa's breathing became more rapid, and, in sudden shock, she doubled over and vomited onto the damp ground before passing out again.

When Theresa woke again hours later, her head spun even more and she had to swallow hard to keep from vomiting a second time. She shakily stood up on weak legs, tears falling from her eyes onto the shining orange feathers that covered her. She was hardly able to put one foot in front of the other for lack of balance.

Looking down again, Theresa saw that instead of having human feet, in their place was a pair of clawed bird talons. Panicked, she put her hands in front of her face and saw talons instead of fingers there also.

"Ti loca…"

She murmured in disbelief.

Looking back up, Theresa found that she had absentmindedly walked to the bottom stair of her apartment complex. With a sigh, she dragged herself awkwardly up the steps to her door. She opened it and looked inside, surprised that it hadn't been ransacked and burglarized for the door being left slightly ajar. Walking cautiously inside, she seemed ready to jump at the slightest sound.

Theresa sat on the couch and buried her head in her hands, sobbing violently. After she had cried all the tears she thought she had, Theresa glanced at her appearance in the reflection of a hand mirror lying on a makeshift coffee table. She sighed, noting how badly she needed a shower.

"Later."

She muttered aloud to herself.

Wanting to figure out what to do first, she looked again at the wings on her arms and sighed.

A sudden voice from behind her split the eerie silence.

"Well, well, well. Looks like you're one of the freaks now."

Theresa jumped, startled. She knew that voice. It was the one that had gotten her that way.

"Alex…"

She whispered hoarsely in shock.

Alex, leaning against the wall across from her, smirked.

"Hey baby."

He took a step toward her.

"I'm willing to forgive and forget…all you have to say is yes."

Theresa frowned and turned her gaze to the floor, which suddenly seemed very interesting. Taking her silence for submission, Alex took another step toward her, his eyes glinting in the dim light of her darkened apartment.

"Come here, hun."

He finally got close enough to where he could put his arms around her.

"No."

Theresa willed herself to resist him, his comforting presence. Tears welled up in her eyes as she found herself unable o blink them back.

Alex's hands brushed through her orange feathers, ignoring her plea of protest.

"I love you, girl."

He bent his head down to kiss her, and she suddenly smelled the liquor in his breath. He'd been drinking. That was the only reason he had taken her back.

Theresa choked back a sob.

"Alex…you're drunk."

She again refused to kiss him back.

Alex pulled away and stared at her, the glint in his eyes now an icy flash.

"You can't turn me away, babe."

Theresa tried to turn and run, but his firm grip around her waist stopped her.

"No!"

She protested again, her voice rising as she felt a new flame of determination rising inside of her.

"Baby, you don't mean that."

Theresa responded with an icy glare.

"It's over, Alexio. Leave."

Enraged by her resistance, Alex stood his ground, still firmly gripping Theresa by her waist.

"Kiss me, Theresa."

Theresa reached up a clawed hand and swiped at his face, hearing a scream of mixed raged and pain from him moments later. Alex released his hold on her and clutched his bleeding face.

Theresa made a run for it again, but was stopped as Alex reached out and grabbed her wrist with a hand, twisting her arm at an agonizing angle, his fingernails digging hard past the feathers. Theresa let out a sharp cry of pain and crumpled to the floor, looking up at Alex through teary eyes, though the look within them still burned with the same contempt. Alex ignored the searing pain and the blood dripping from his face, but knelt down on top of Theresa without saying anything. Theresa was finished.

She'd had enough .With a sudden burst of fury, she screamed. And earsplitting shriek cut through the air, but something else happened as well. Jagged, purple hypersonic waves emitted from her mouth, colliding with Alex, who clapped his hands over his ears while being blown backwards fractions of a second later.

Theresa clamped her mouth shut and scrambled back as far as she could, her eyes wide in horror of what she'd just done. Shortly recovering from the blast, Alex shakily stood up and ran out of the door without looking back. Theresa stayed where she was against the wall, not caring if anyone would come and burglarize her apartment from the open door. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on top of them, hugging herself as she drifted into a fitful sleep.

Waking the next day to sun streaming through her window, Theresa stretched and yawned with her eyes still closed, forgetting for a moment what had happened the day before until something comfortingly soft rubbed against the side of her face. Her eyes fluttered open, and the memories flooded back.

"So I'm not crazy….it wasn't a dream…"

Tears again blurred her vision, and she brushed them away with the back of a feathered hand. Noticing the blood staining her claws, Theresa remembered the mark she had inflicted to Alex's face. Probably permanent, she decided grimly after a moment's contemplation.

She also decided that she needed a drink.

Theresa stood and walked to the door, again noticing her reflection in the mirror as she passed by.

'What's the use?'

She thought dejectedly as she walked out the door.

Heading down past the stairs of her apartment complex, she immediately noticed that something was different from the time she had fled from Alex on her previous escapade. The streets of the slums were quieter than usual, not occupied with their accustomed flow of gangsters, punks, or any of the lower class citizens of downtown Dakota City. Nervous, Theresa swiftly made her way to the small tavern at the end of an alley. A sign hanging on the door caught her eye, reading,

"No Bang-Babies Admitted".

Theresa cocked her head in confusion before placing a hand flat on the door and pushing it open, walking in.

The loud tavern sounds reached her ears at first, but as soon as she stepped inside, everything turned a deathly quiet.

Theresa could feel the stares pricking at her back as she approached the counter. The bartender shrank back in fear, eyeing the claws on her hands.

Theresa frowned. Something was strangely amiss. She didn't see or hear the man creeping up behind her with a gun in hand until it was too late.

A shot echoed throughout the tavern as Theresa crumpled to the floor, grasping her shoulder and writhing in pain. Her lips separated to let out a scream, and the hypersonic purple sound waves crashed into the occupied bar, sending its occupants to the floor. The bartender grabbed a gun from behind the counter and aimed at Theresa, his finger on the trigger.

"Die, mutant bitch."

He muttered before pulling the trigger.

But instead of hearing the sound of the explosion from the gun, Theresa heard the man cry out in pain, the weapon falling from his grasp. Theresa opened on eye and gasped. A boy her age looked down at her, his fists engulfed in flame. His flaming red hair was streaked with blonde, and his eyes flashed in defiance.

"Come on."

He told her impatiently, throwing sideways glances at the other people still in the tavern to keep them cowering away from him. Theresa stared up at the stranger with wide eyes. The stranger glared at her.

"Hurry up! Look, do you want to stay here?"

Clutching her wounded shoulder with a clawed hand, Theresa slowly stood up and limped in the direction of the exit. The boy sighed irritably and rolled his eyes up at the ceiling.

"Ebon…"

He called in a bored, singsong manner. The tavern suddenly felt cold, as if it had been robbed of all its warmth. A looming shadow stretched from the corner and moved toward Theresa, taking the shape of a human form.

"Need a lift, birdie?"

A male sinister voice asked from the shadow as glowing white eyes became visible in what appeared to be a face. Theresa nodded hesitantly. The shadow-man narrowed his eyes at her in an intimidating manner, watching as she cowered back in fear.

A/N: Ti loca—(I'm pretty sure this means) I'm crazy