Wren : 5
"Where is Xylem?" I carefully folded the used towels and hung them in the bathroom. Mom was shoving all of our dirty clothes into a trash bag.
"There's multiple portals, Newt." She panted and slowly sank into the small chair next to the bed. Her hands were shaky and she had lost a lot of her color since this morning. I continued putting away all of our things. Lizzy was napping in the other bed, completely worn out from the pool.
"Wraiths somehow got out?"
"You could say that." Mom sighed. I paused in front of her and she gave me a weak smile. "I'm fine, sweetheart."
Car brakes squeaked outside and I tensed. Dad was here. I glanced up to mom and she put a finger to her lips.
Not a word about it around him.
The door lock clicked and dad strode inside, his lips pressed into a fine line, glasses slipping down his nose. I sat on the bed and kept my eyes down.
"I found a place we can stay for the time being." He said gruffly. Mom frowned.
"Isn't that a good thing?"
"It's in Akrisoulis."
I blinked. Akrisoulis was the underground hybrid city. I snuck a look towards mom and saw her frown deepen.
"You found a house there?"
"No, there's an older woman there who's willing to take us in." Dad looked over at Lizzy, glancing over me as if I weren't there. "She won't report us." He met my eyes. I quickly broke the brief contact. "She takes care of a lot of hybrids there, it's like a safe house."
"Thank you, David." Mom sighed in relief. "So when do we go?"
"Now. She's expecting us." Dad looked around the room. We had already packed up most of everything we had brought. Mom insisted we be ready to leave at a moment's notice. "You." He gestured towards me. I hesitantly looked up at him. "Come here."
I slowly stood and walked up to him. His rough hands turned me around so I faced away from him. He opened up my right wing, extending all 5 feet. I held it open, knowing what he wanted to do. The tip of my wing brushed the other side of the bed. He rummaged around in his pocket and then I felt the snipping. My flight feathers resisted the scissors but came off quickly as he worked. He moved on to the right wing and I watched the curved tips of my white feathers collect around my feet.
They'll grow back, sweetheart.
I looked over at mom. She was smiling, but it was a sad smile that didn't reach her shadowed eyes. I knew my feathers would grow back, but then dad would always clip them again. His hands grabbed my tail and I flinched at the sudden touch. He checked my tail lock, then dropped it.
"Clean this up." Dad ordered. I hurried away from him to the bathroom to find the dustpan and broom.
…
I stared out the window and watched the white Pegasus galloping alongside us. It jumped over guard rails and medians, dodged cars and trucks, and elegantly soared over buildings and ditches with huge white wings.
How was it that this imaginary creature could fly, while my real wings couldn't carry me?
Mom sat in the passenger seat reclined as far back as it could go. A blue blanket covered her and she leaned into a soft pillow. Dad gripped the steering wheel with white knuckled hands. He had slicked back his hair, the gel making his normally light brown hair look darker. Lizzy was next to me playing on moms phone. She seemed completely oblivious to what was going on.
The landscape outside was already changing. The city was becoming more spread out and apartment complexes and large warehouses were turning into small free standing homes with yards. I knew Akrisoulis was underground, but I had no idea what it would look like. Would we be living in caves with underground tunnels like moles?
I rubbed my stomach under my blanket as it growled. I suddenly regretted not eating breakfast earlier. I glanced towards mom. Maybe she had snacks? But then I saw dad, his face as hard as stone. Even if mom did have food, he never let us eat in the car. He wasn't in the best mood right now either.
Hungry. I pushed towards mom. She stirred and looked back at me. I met her eyes hopefully, but she just nodded and turned away.
"What are you two talking about?" Dad broke the silence. My heart skipped a beat as he glared back at me through the rear view mirror.
"Newt's hungry." Mom said quietly.
"Did he eat breakfast?" He held my gaze. I swallowed hard. No matter what my answer was, I knew his would be the same.
I looked back out the window as the silence resettled. The Pegasus was still with us.
…
A huge dome was up ahead. I eagerly watched it get ever closer through the windshield. Traffic was slowing down as a line formed at the entrance. The line curved with the dome and disappeared around it. The main walls were concrete, but the curved glass dome sparkled in the sun.
"Let me do the talking." Dad said as he rolled down the window. We inched closer until the top of the dome blocked out the sun. The entrance was a huge, curved archway. Several armed guards stood around as two main guards checked ID's. We stopped next to one.
"Name?" The man asked. I watched quietly as dad handed over his ID.
"David Arson. We're here to visit Mrs. Penelope Wren." He spoke with confidence, daring the guard to question him. The guard didn't even look up, just checked dads name off a clipboard and handed his ID back.
"Curfew is 8 pm. Enjoy your stay."
We followed the curved road as it entered the dome. We were in a large tunnel lit only with overhead bulbs.
"We're going underground right?" Lizzy asked. I had forgotten she'd been here, she was so quiet.
"Yes, honey. Just watch." Mom hushed her. I gripped the armrest of the door, my eyes scanning over everything. Eventually the tunnel opened up and my jaw dropped.
The inside of the dome was shaped like a large nautilus shell tipped onto its end. The road hugged the outside wall all the way around until it descended to ground level. But if you took the very center winding column, you'd go down more levels, deep into the earth. This level was devoted to greenhouses, hydroponics, and permaculture. 4 massive buildings at each side were the factories that processed all the food grown. Dad didn't slow down as he took the center column detour, winding us down past ground level.
The next level was much darker than up above, but far larger. Nearly three times bigger. Grids of dimly lit houses extended away from us as far as I could see. The center column we drove on was the brightest structure in sight and car headlights danced up and down it.
"Mrs. Wren lives in the Southern quadrant." Dad said to no one in particular. No one answered him either. Lizzy had her face pressed against the window just like me. Dad took the exit ramp and drove along the outer wall, slowly coming down to ground level. The roads winding between every house were terrible. Potholes and huge cracks were everywhere.
We passed by a large construction zone that was blocked off with cones and warning signs. People in orange vests worked and a large crane was hoisting up a huge piece of metal sheeting.
"It collapsed a few weeks ago." Dad said aloud. I watched the men carefully positioning the slab of metal. "The road caved in to the level below us."
"It seems…very structurally sound." Mom watched nervously.
My biggest concern about the city so far was that it was so dark. Light didn't travel very far and an orange glow bathed everything. Lights were built into the ceiling, but they didn't do much. Most houses only had one or two exterior lights, and most didn't even have windows.
Eventually we pulled up in front of a three story apartment complex. It looked like a giant, gray brick block with only faint lines dividing each floor. No windows, balconies, or decoration. The roof was even flat. Dad parked the car and turned off the engine. He rotated around in his seat and jabbed a finger into my chest.
"You will do everything I say, got it? No wandering, no talking, no touching." He hissed. I nodded and he got out of the car with a huff.
"I'm glad you made it in one piece. The collapse has nearly blocked off this side of the city." A woman was talking as she hurried down the front steps of the building. I stood by the side of the car and watched her shake hands with dad.
"You must be Mrs. Wren?" Mom smiled and shook the woman's hand. Mrs. Wren was slightly pudgy, a little shorter than mom, and wore her dark brown hair in a tightly curled bun. Her light pink sundress waved around as she moved to Lizzy next.
"That'll be me." She smiled as she shook Lizzy's small hand with her two wrinkled ones. She was older than mom by a lot, a grandmother.
"I'm Amy, and this is my daughter, Lizzy, and my son, Newton." Mom gestured towards each of us. Mrs. Wren reached her gnarled hands towards me and I tentatively shook them. They were weathered and warm, but gentle.
"Pleased to meet you all. Now, if you all will follow me, I have a room for you." She turned away and began walking back up the steps.
Inside the apartment smelled like old wood and carpet. A long hallway extended all the way back and several flights of stairs led away upstairs. Mrs. Wren took the last stairwell on the right and led us to a larger master bedroom on the second floor. A single king size bed sat against the center wall, and two twins sat on opposite sides of it. The floor was wood just like the rest of the building, and the plain white walls were slightly chipped with age. It was strange to be in a room with no windows.
"You dear," Mrs. Wren's hand caught my shoulder before I could step inside. I froze in place, looking towards mom. She had sat down on the king bed to catch her breath from the stairs. "You're not quite like other hybrids I've seen."
"What do you mean?" I said shakily and turned to face her, pulling out of her grasp. She stood in front of me, frowning.
"You have wings, a tail, changing eye color…" She stared at me. I gulped. "See, there. Now they're a light, icy green. That happens every time you're nervous, yes?"
"I don't know, I've never noticed." I looked towards the ground, away from her hard gray eyes.
"Telepathy usually accompanies that trait." Mrs. Wren smiled, exposing crooked teeth.
I couldn't say anything. Mrs. Wren nodded slowly, watching me quizzically. Then she turned and walked back downstairs.
"Which bed do you want, Newt?" Mom called out and I blinked, forcing myself to move into the room finally. Lizzy was already sitting on the right one so I automatically moved towards the left.
'You're not quite like other hybrids I've seen.' Mrs. Wren had said. I sat down on the bed and watched mom begin to unpack her suitcase. The statement made me both excited and uneasy.