I couldn't breathe.
Seriously. I was suffocating and I didn't know why. It was as if I
was being tied up and two grizzly men were pulling on the rope. I
thought I heard Roc say something in the background. What it was I
couldn't really tell and I didn't care.
"PC?" I whispered
as quietly as I could.
"Don't talk, just listen. I need you
to tell me where Gozbud went into hiding after I sent you that
message." It took me a minute for the request to register in my
brain. "BREE!" PC snapped over the phone. "Don't zone out.
Where is Gozbud?"
"YC…NP." I responded.
"Yamnster
County…Nature preserve?"
"Yes."
"Alright thanks."
"…I..."
"There isn't anytime to talk. When you hang
up the phone …shut down and relocate yourself. I don't know if
this line is tapped. Do you understand?"
"Yes…please be
careful."
"I'll be fine…Now hang up." I slammed the
phone down on the receiver. I didn't want too but I had too. I felt
tears peeking out from my closed eyelids. When I heard his voice it
was almost as if PC were right there in the room with me. Hanging up
made me feel like I had lost him all over again.
"Who was
that?" Roc asked.
I wiped the seeping tears from my eyes and
said "A friend."….
I sighed heavily and
suppressed the knot in my throat. Clouds were rolling in from the
east, the sign of a future thunderstorm. I hurried back to the car.
Raf sat on the passenger side and he looked worse off than he had
been before. Light from the gas station hit the beads of sweat that
collected on his face making his skin look almost white and his head
hung forward.
"PC, I see colorful spots in my vision…is that
bad?" he said a monotony voice.
I turned the car on, "Make
sure you have your seatbelt on." Raf's claws groped the strap to
make sure it was secure. As I put the car into a reverse, I saw
crimson glitter on the back of Raf's chair. Gathering what bit of
serenity I had left, I sped out of the parking lot. I had been to
Yamnster County before, so this was a blessing that I knew where I
was going. The nature preserve was huge though and the trouble would
be trying to find Gozbud with limited light, natural hazards, and a
storm heading that general direction. It would take patience on my
part, endurance for Raf and a heck of a lot of luck. It took me 15
minutes to get to Yamnster County, due to the fact that I was driving
a little bit over 100 MPH, which took the lives of several squirrels
and a bunny…they will be sourly missed….OK back to the story…
As I pulled up to the entrance, I saw a hulking figure standing
there in the moonlight. To my surprise and relief it was Gozbud. I
parked the car and got out as he approached. "Bree gave me a
call…she said you were stopping by for a visit," he said coolly.
" That's right…my partner, Raf, He's hurt," I said
gesturing towards the car. There was something strange about Gozbud's
demeanor something gloomy, but I didn't question it, that would
have to wait. I helped Raf out of the car and Gozbud then picked him
up like he weighed nothing.
"Follow me," he said. Gozbud's
new safe house was almost exactly identical to his first; it was big,
well stocked, and underground.
" What was he stabbed with?"
Gozbud asked examining Raf's wing.
"A piece of pipe." I
replied…as I thought about what, Lyle had done. I would have
probably acted the same way Raf did.
"The damage doesn't look
to terrible. He won't be able to fly for a while."
"
That's…fine…I hate flying anyway," Raf said weakly. Gozbud's
eyes widened in surprise and looked at me momentarily. "If you will
excuse us, PC…I need to get him fixed up," Gozbud said. I nodded
and left the room. As I waited I couldn't shake the look in
Gozbud's eyes. He knew something and I hated not knowing what.
Surprisingly there were no cries of agony being heard from the room I
had left. I assumed that Gozbud probably put Rafmire under, but I
wasn't sure. An hour or two passed and finally Gozbud came out.
"
He's resting now…hopefully there aren't any problems that I
didn't spot." Gozbud said sitting down next to me. I nodded and
ran my fingers through my hair. "I am going to make him some
food…are you hungry?" he asked...
"Yeah."
"
Follow me." Food…food is great. It had been a while since I had
gotten a cooked meal from somebody that I recognized. Gozbud made
beefaroni and it was… Awsome, it was nice and gooey with chunks of
venison in it. Deer were easier to find where Gozbud was and it
spared him the trouble of sneaking into a closed grocery stores to
get food. Gozbud took some food to Raf and then sat back down with me
in the kitchen. He laced his fingers and watched me eat.
"Why
does Raf hate flying?" Gozbud asked.
"I don't know….I
didn't know he even had wings until a couple days ago. He doesn't
tell me much about himself and by the same token neither do I."
"What have you told him?"
"About my contract with Jeb
and the Network."
"Do you think it's wise telling him about
us?"
"He's my friend."
"FOX was a friend too."
"Whatever…" I grumbled. I hated admitting that I had made a
mistake. " Raf is good at keeping his mouth shut, though."
"I
trust your judgment…most of the time. Just be careful who you talk
to PC."
"Don't worry, none of the lunatics at Lab 7 know
about my connection with the Network."
"What about Fox?"
Gozbud asked.
"Fox is dead," I said.
"When did this
happen?"
"When Lab 7 started producing those new Erasers with
a 99 obedience rate. Fox was one of that 1 that was difficult to
control." I said gravely "But enough of that…How have things
been going … while I've been away?"
"Fine, although as
you probably know, the School has been working double time to ruin
our cause. They've been sending out more and more collectors
everyday."
"That's no surprise."
"Have you any new
information?"
"No…everything has been stable …they still
haven't come up with a suitable avian Eraser. They were almost
successful at one point but it failed…do to some uh…tweaking on
my part," I grinned.
Gozbud snorted "You've been with the
School for three years and it hasn't changed you a bit it seems."
"Hey, I said I'd work for them… I never said I would change
for them," I said pointing at Gozbud with my fork.
"You
better tell that to Reynard."
"Reynard? …Is he complaining
again?" Reynard was a fellow Ghost and a royal pain in the butt.
"As always…he says you'll betray us all someday," Gozbud
replied.
"Reynard is full of hot air…he'll get over it."
I said dismissively, popping a chunk of venison into my mouth. I
looked at Gozbud closely; a flash of hidden sadness could be seen
behind those emerald eyes of his.
After several bites in silence,
I couldn't take it anymore I had to ask.
"What's wrong
Gozbud?"
"Hm?"
"What's wrong …you look like
someone died."
Gozbud seemed hurt by the comment and for the
first time in a while I saw him frown. "Someone did die…," he
said with a knot in his throat.
"Who?"
"My little
brother …Lyle."……
I swallowed a steaming
hot ball of beefaroni and tried to keep a straight face as it
traveled down my esophagus and fell boiling in my stomach acid. "What
do I say?" I thought to myself...my thoughts turned to Raf… "OH
NO! Gozbud will kill him! He'll kill me!...this is bad…no better
yet this is FREAKIN' TERRIBLE!" I thought. Fortunately for me
while all this conflict was going on inside my head, I was as cool as
a cucumber on the outside and then proceeded to act like it was a
total shock. A little tactic I picked up from my "training".
I
sighed heavily and shook my head "I'm so sorry, Gozbud." I
wasn't sure if I was being sincere or not…but one thing was for
sure I wasn't going to tell him the true, like I would have
normally done.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Collectors…,"
he growled tears in his eyes. "He wound up with a belly full of
glass shards and a pipe in his back…h-he…he never meant anyone
harm ..." Alright I didn't know what to do. I had never seen a
hulking alligator hybrid become a nervous wreck.
"It'll be
alright…Gozbud." I said soothingly. "I will kill the ones that
did this to your brother."
"You will?" Gozbud looked up at
me.
"You have…m-my word," I said, my act almost slipped
when I made my fake vow. I was able to catch myself.
"Thank you
PC." Gozbud replied. I swallowed the last bit of beefaroni and then
took my dishes to the sink. "If you don't mind I would like to
talk to Raf…in private…You going to be alright?" I asked
looking over my shoulder before leaving.
Gozbud nodded "I'll
be fine." I nodded and left. I needed to cut the conversation
short. Even though I had been trained to keep a passive demeanor
through any situation, I feared that if the conversation went on I
might have snapped. The hallway was cold and unusually quiet and I
felt sick...really sick…I tried to ignore the tumultuous churning
in my stomach. Suddenly, an image of Lyle's mangled corpse flashed
in my mind's eye and that was the final straw. Before I reached
Raf's room, I veered off to the bathroom on my right and heaved. I
puked for what seemed like an eternity. Then after I thought I was
done…I puked some more. Warm tears came into my eyes and I quickly
wiped them away.
"Focus…" I muttered. I closed my eyes and
tried to make my mind draw a blank or at least sort out my emotions.
"Focus…Focus…." I spit up another froth of partially digest
food. I fell to my knees and began to breathe heavily some how puking
your guts out makes you tired…but then again I was still tired out
from our fight with Lyle and hours in the car.
"Something
wrong?" a voice said. I whipped my head around and saw Raf leaning
on his good shoulder in the doorway.
. "Oh Raf…its you," I
said. I quickly reached for some toilet paper and wiped my mouth.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Is there something wrong?"
Raf inquired. I threw the wad of toilet paper in the toilet and
flushed my vomit down the drain. I slowly got to my feet
"Yeah…we
need to talk…Why are you out of bed?"
"Why are you puking?"
"Right, come on," I said sullenly……
Raf and I walked out
side of Gozbud's safe house. The night was cool and the dark storm
clouds were closer than ever now. Raf sat down on a rock cradling his
shoulder.
"So what's up?" he asked placidly. I hated Raf's
ability to distance himself from anything and everything. It was a
talent I was bad at and it scared me at how well Raf could do it.
"Lyle…Is Gozbud's brother," I replied starting to pace
slowly. Raf whistled and brushed some of his hair away from his face
"That is bad."
"You think! ...GRAHH! How can you be so
calm? We are in deep…deep."
"Trouble?"
"EXACTLY!"
"You mean you are…I'm not, After all, he's your comrade."
"Well you were the one that had to freak out and stab his
brother with glass."
"He was going to KILL YOU!" Raf
retorted, wincing as he made a sudden move with his bad shoulder. "If
you would have preferred it, I would've let him pound you."
I
snorted and paced faster. "Do you have any suggestions?"
Raf
followed my movements with eyes several times before answering.
"No
I don't," he sighed, "…the only thing that instantly comes to
mind is getting as far away from here as possible."
"We can't
do that," I said.
"Why not?"
"Because…No wait we
could actually."
"Hm?"
"I promised, Gozbud I would
kill the ones responsible for this." Raf made a strange noise that
I assumed was his version of laughter, because he was smiling and
shaking his head.
"I wonder how you are going to pull that
off."
"Shut up," I snapped. "That fake promise was more
beneficial than I thought. Gozbud won't suspect a thing if we left
tonight…but that all depends, Raf…do you think you can travel?"
"I'm not sure… I don't get injured very often…Given the
circumstances I think I can handle it."
"Alright then, once
we spilt we can take up residence somewhere else. I think I could
sleep better if I didn't have to worry about a 500lb. gator
hybrid."
"I would have to agree," Raf said standing up with
a smile. We turned to go back inside, but instantly froze as we saw
Gozbud standing in the doorway…
Oh no…this couldn't
be good. I remained calm, there was no real way to know for sure
wither or not Gozbud heard us.
"Hey Gozbud," I said. He said
nothing and glared at me. "What's wrong?" What a stupid
question. He snorted and crossed his arms over his chest. I held my
breath.
"You mind telling me why I found traces of vomit in the
bathroom?"
"Sorry, I guess I ate to fast," I said still
holding my breath. Gozbud then threw a rag to me and said " Be kind
and clean it up. You're not the only person that comes to visit."
"Okay, okay I'm on it."
"Uh huh, I'm going to
sleep. I trust you two can look after yourselves," he replied
exasperated. I continued holding my breath until Gozbud was out of
sight, then I exhaled.
"That was close." I said relieved.
"Yeah too close," Raf said. We ventured inside and I cleaned
up the mess I made in the bathroom. Sleep didn't come easy that
night. I didn't know if it was guilt or just the fact that my body
still ached, which kept me weaving in and out of sleep.
Crows…I
dreamed of them often…their black silken feathers and their
shinning beady eyes. They were flying all around me in a large
feathery whirlwind, letting out coarse cries to the dull grey sky
that loomed above me…I was…crying and I looked very young. I
didn't know why...but I was bawling. I was pressing myself against
something soft and warm that was slowly going cold and stiff. Among
the sound of beating wings and crow cries I heard a voice very harsh
and commanding.
"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP THIS NOW RAFMIRE!"
"NOOO!" I screamed clutching the something that was now cold.
"We can't get through! Not with all these birds!" I heard a
voice say. A few moments later I heard shots being fired and crows
slowly started to drop. I felt rage boil inside me and the crows
descended on the distant voices. Surprised cries could be heard along
with gun fire. I closed my eyes and hugged the cold something…it
and only it gave me comfort. I opened my eyes slightly to see what
was going on. I noticed that I could see through the flurry of black
feathers and saw three people, one who I recognized. When I saw him,
I felt like I had been stabbed. Then I looked at the fallen crows.
The sight of their small battered bodies stirred up my ire even more.
Raising myself slightly I let out a scream and the remaining crows
joined my cry. They rallied together for one final attack. Then
suddenly something struck me in the side of the neck and I
collapsed.….
My eyes snapped open and I instantly began to
survey my surroundings. The room was dark and I could hear PC purring
in the bed next to mine…what a dork. A pain was burning down my
right side and I realized that I had been sleeping on my wounded
shouldered. I opened my mouth in a silent scream and slowly turned
over on my left shoulder while mouthing obscenities. After I was in a
comfortable position again and the pain had subsided I fell back
asleep…dreams don't scare me…reality does….
I woke up with a bitter
taste in my mouth…I must've slept with my mouth open. The room
was still dark, but there was light creeping in from under the door.
I looked over to see the bed next to me was empty.
"PC must be
up already…I wonder how long I've been asleep," I muttered. My
shoulder throbbed as I positioned myself to get out of bed. After
getting dressed, I went out to see where PC and Gozbud were…
The early
morning was bright and the air was still cool. After eating my ritual
burrito and coffee I had decided to walk around the safe house to
sort some things out in my head. The butterflies in my stomach never
completely went away, ever since Gozbud revealed to me that tiny bit
of information about Lyle being his brother…MAN! What were the odds
of that! We took a big risk coming here. The risk was so large that
it made me sick to think about what would happen if things didn't
run smoothly. My life had never run smoothly since my parents
betrayed me. The memory was like a wound that was never stitched. If
I had the chance to rid of myself of that dull ache that gnawed at me
on some nights when I wished I was back home…I would. I never asked
myself if I some how found my parents again if they would want me
back. It didn't matter though I was already old enough to take care
of myself. If I could meet them again I would want to know why they
gave me up. My mind shifted gears back to my current situation and I
was hoping that Rafmire would wake up soon so we could get out of
here. The guy sleeps like corpse and to wake him up, was just as
risky as calming him down when he had glass under his control. I
tried to act natural every time I saw Gozbud, make eye contact smile
and nod…Lying was a not as painfully acquired as some of my other
skills. I could fool the polygraph machine and not even break a
sweat. I could portray and suppress any emotion I chose…That
faltered yesterday. I had no problem lying to a complete stranger,
but to a friend…one that was close…that had saved my life more
than once…it took guts to say the words I said. I just hoped that I
would never have to tell Gozbud the truth.
"PC." The hair on
my neck stuck up. Controlling myself I made every effort to turn
around naturally as if I had known that Gozbud was behind me the
whole time.
"Hey," I said with a smile.
"You're up
early," Gozbud commented.
"I always am. It's a habit I
guess…by the way, Raf and I will be leaving today." "Today? But
Raf's wound hasn't completely healed, you can't possible expect
him to travel." I looked at him, eyes half lidded. "He was fine
last night. I don't see anything wrong."
"What if he needs
to fly?"
" He won't, Gozbud, Raf is not like other bird
kids in case you hadn't noticed. He hates the sky…he goes out of
his way not to look at it."
"I still think you should wait
one more day…at LEAST."
"I'm telling you that we—."
"We are leaving today," Raf said as he stepped outside...
"You should be in bed
resting." Gozbud said sternly. Raf ignored him as he passed and
stood near me.
"We need to go, Gozbud." I said again. "This
is for your own safety."
" Safety? What do you mean?" My
mind went into overdrive fabricating a network of white lies, half
truths and so on. But before I could open my mouth a burning
sensation began to slide down my spine. I tried my best to remain
straight as if nothing was wrong. Suddenly I heard gun fire and
Gozbud roar in surprise as a dart with enough tranquilizer to put out
an elephant buried its point into his thick hide. I saw Jawz crawling
out of the wood work. NO! HOW DID THEY FIND US! They were closing in
on Gozbud .NO THEY WEREN'T TAKING HIM. My emotions broke through my
training and my judgment and I charged in. I felt Raf's clawed hand
close around my wrist, but I yanked it away and charged the first
Jawz in my path. It whipped around and threw a punch. I dodged it and
with all the strength I had punched it in on of its weak points, a
soft area directly beneath its rib cage. It grunted and let out an
annoyed snarl and socked me in the jaw. I heard Gozbud roar and hiss,
snapping his jaws at the Erasers, killing two of them with his
powerful tail. I advanced on the same Jawz that had punched me, he
back fisted me in the throat with his muscular arm and I fell back
coughing and gagging. Raf rushed in and pulled me away.
"PC!
Help me!" I heard Gozbud cry as he was being overwhelmed with the
effects of the dart and the Jawz trying to chain him. I was getting
ready to engage them when Raf clamped his hand around my wrist, he
had a surprisingly strong grip.
"Don't…If you want your
secret to be safe. Stay put," he whispered. Suddenly cars and vans
and a truck arrived on the scene. Lab 7 and School personnel were all
over the place and we just sat there and watched as Gozbud was
finally brought down. I clenched my fists as I saw him being dragged
away.
"Rafmire PC,"Dr. Risa shouted as she walked towards us.
"Ma'am?" I said formally.
"Are you two alright?"
she asked. For a moment I thought I saw a flicker of concern in her
ancient features, but it soon disappeared.
"Not really." I
said. "One of your Jawz attacked me and Raf has been injured too."
Dr Risa took a quick look at Raf's wound and then said "Alright
you boys come with me. We will let them wrap this up." We followed
Dr. Risa to one of the cars. I looked at the truck that they had
stuffed Gozbud in and then got inside the car closing the door with a
SLAM...
The car ride back
"home" was long and it took everything I had to pretend that what
had occurred back as the safe house was just another experiment
capture. Rafmire seemed to be handling it pretty well, but then again
he had bigger things to be concerned with, his wing for instance. It
seemed to be a surprise to Dr. Risa that Raf had wings. I wondered
how he was able to conceal them so well. You could easily spot a bird
kid in a crowd, because they either had slits in the backs of their
shirts or you would see a small hump on their back, if you looked at
them from the side. But if Raf's you couldn't see a hump or even
slits…it was cool but bizarre. As we arrived at Lab 7, I began to
think about what repercussions Gozbud's disappearance would have on
the Network. No doubt with me and Gozbud "out of the picture" so
to speak things were bound to get chaotic.
After the Whitecoats
had patched us up, we were given a decent meal and were allowed to
enjoy the rest of the day. I spent most of my time in my room lying
on my bed like a sack of potatoes. I may have looked lifeless, but my
brain was still ticking. I knew the Whitecoats were watching me at
all times inside my dismal suite and I wasn't about to give them
something interesting to observe. So I just laid there and stared at
the ceiling. I heard a Whitecoat remark once that I was the laziest
and most boring subject they had ever observed. In my mind I was
trying to figure out where I went wrong to get Gozbud caught and how
the heck I was going to set him loose without getting in trouble. It
was risky business and it was something I would discuss with Raf
later, once I was able to concoct a plan that would somehow work. I
stared at the watch that sat glittering in the light of my lamp and
then it hit me… OF COURSE! YOU IDIOT! I glared at the tiny piece of
hardware and resisted the urge to throw it across the room. How could
I have been that STUPID! THAT CARELESS! I racked my brain beating
myself up mentally without even having to punch myself once. Images
of Bree kept popping up in my head. Was she safe? Did she get caught?
I wouldn't know for sure until one of her birds arrived with
another message for me. But I had a feeling deep in my gut that Bree
was still safe. After a few more minutes of chewing myself out, I
massaged my temples and put my mental energies to work to come up
with a plan to free Gozbud …..
