White (The Wings Trilogy Book 1)

by Angelina J. Steffort

  I set the cup on the table in front of me and waited for the time to pass. “Where did you put his body?”

  “Buried it in the forest—far away from here.” Adam answered, his tone flat.

  I lifted the cup again and brought it to my lips with shaking hands. I took another sip. “Thank you.”

  After finding Nigel’s body, I was still sure this wasn’t the worst day in my life—the worst after my parents’ death, maybe. Still I felt shaky. I had no idea how many even worse days might follow.

  “I have to tell Sophie he died,” I eventually said.

  “I suppose so,” he agreed.

  I pulled the cell phone out of my pocket and dialed.

  “Hey, it’s me.”

  Sophie instantly started telling stories about her work after she had greeted me. It took some attempts until she finally listened to me.

  “Sophie, listen—Nigel’s dead. He died today.” I heard shocked silence at the other end of the line. “He passed away in his sleep,” I lied, protecting her from the truth.

  “That’s horrible,” she found her words again.

  “I know,” I agreed. “But at least he didn’t suffer.”

  We talked for a while, my guilty conscience building up more and more; I hated lying to her.

  “You doing okay?” she asked.

  “Sure. I’ll be fine.” I reassured her and said goodbye after a short while.

  Adam didn’t stop observing me like I was a volcano about to erupt.

  “I’ll be fine,” I told him after I had pocketed my cell phone. Chris entered the room with Jenna, Antonio at their heels.

  “Hello Claire,” Chris greeted me, and simultaneously the dog squeezed past him to lick my hands.

  “Hi Chris,” I composed my face only a little.

  “Oh my God, dear, you look a mess,” Jenna noticed and hurried over to hug me. “What happened?”

  “Someone died at the library while she worked there,” Adam answered for me.

  “Oh no,” her eyes were full of sympathy, “are you alright?”

  “And then when she came home she found her cat dead.” He finished.

  Chris looked at me with a serious face. “I’m sorry, Claire. How do you feel?”

  “A bit better now,” I mumbled. “Think I’m recovering from the shock.”

  Adam eyed me critically. “You should rest, Claire. It was a tough day.”

  “Yeah, I should.” I stroked Antonio’s head absentmindedly.

  “It’s late already, maybe you should go to bed,” Jenna told me, helping me up.

  “Alright,” I sighed and let them lift me to my feet. Adam led me upstairs and to his room. I sat down on his bed and rested my back on the soft cushions against the headboard. A minute later I had sunk into a deep sleep.

  * * *

  I was lying tangled up in the blanket and fully dressed. The room was dark except for the moonlight that fell in through the curtains. I groaned as I tried to roll to my back. Two arms pinned me to a warm body—Adam. I looked up to where I expected his face to be and saw the dim reflection of moonlight in his eyes and white teeth.

  “Did you sleep well, my love?” He asked into the darkness. I worked my legs free from the blanket and rolled onto him. “Mhmmm.” He helped me, smiling, and his arms curled tighter around me.

  The sleepiness diminished the pain of today’s memories to a dull feeling of weariness. I rested my head on Adam’s chest and he stroked my hair.

  “What time is it?” I asked into his shirt.

  “Almost dawn.” He kissed my head. “Go back to sleep.”

  I snuggled into his arms until it was entirely comfortable and closed my eyes.

  Next morning I awoke in the same position. Adam’s arms were still tightly wrapped around me and the steady flow of air in and out of his lungs lifted his chest slightly up and down in a rhythmic motion.

  I eyed him for a moment. He seemed to be asleep.

  Careful not to wake him up, I rolled to the side. His eyes flashed open as I stirred.

  “Good morning,” he breathed into my hair.

  We got out of bed quickly and I dressed in a hurry, so I would have some time left for breakfast.

  When we came running down the stairs, Geoffrey announced that breakfast was ready for us in the kitchen. I swallowed some cereal with milk and then directed my full attention to sliding into my jacket while balancing a glass of juice in one hand. We were running late.

  Adam dropped me off at school. He kissed me goodbye and reminded me to be careful, and that I should call if I needed him. I put on a brave face and headed off for the day.

  Amber and Lydia were waiting for me inside the main building, both with curious faces.

  “You never told us you were back together,” Amber blurted out. Obviously they had seen me getting out of Adam’s car a minute ago.

  “It’s no big deal,” I downplayed.

  “Seriously, Claire, it’s everything but no big deal,” Amber replied. “I’m glad you worked it out.” Lydia nodded at Amber’s words.

  “Really, let it go,” I was irritated. We walked towards our chemistry class and Lydia fell into step beside me.

  “You don’t look too happy. What’s wrong?”

  “Horrible incident—yesterday at the library.”

  “Are you hurt?” she looked alarmed.

  “No, I’m fine. It’s Colina, remember her?”

  “Yeah,” Amber interrupted, “the one that asked Greg to the prom.”

  I nodded.

  “What’s wrong with her?”

  “Well—she’s dead.”

  Both girls’ eyes widened in shock.

  “She collapsed between the shelves and the ambulance was too late.”

  “Oh my God,” Amber commented, “that’s awful! Are you sure you’re alright?”

  Why did everybody keep asking me that? I was running around—alive.

  As I had expected, Colina’s death was the topic that day. Almost every group of people we passed was talking about her, some of them taking guesses at the reasons, others weeping.

  Only a few people at school knew I was working at the library, so hardly anyone made the connection that I had been there when it had happened.

  On our way Gregory joined us. He fell into step beside me and took my arm to stop me from walking on. Amber eyed us for a moment until I nodded at her. She understood my hint and walked away with Lydia.

  “What do you want, Greg?” I shot at him, not able to take any more accusations from him. “I know it was wrong how I treated you. I’m sorry. I love Adam. That’s never going to change.” I didn’t try to be considerate, I just let the words roll off my tongue.

  “Yeah,” he was astounded by my speech. “I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry, too. I used your moment of misery to lure you out, and now I’m blaming you—that’s not right.”

  “Thanks, Greg.” I was glad it was nothing like our last conversation.

  “Shall we?” I took a step in the direction of the classroom and he followed my lead. It still felt a little awkward with him.

  “I heard what happened yesterday—at the library,” he started. “Was it bad?”

  “Actually, the doctor said whatever we would have tried wouldn’t have changed anything. It was too late.” Gregory looked at me, miserable.

  We entered the classroom together and I headed over to Amber and Lydia, and sat down in my usual spot next to Lydia. Having so many people around me gave me a sense of security, and didn’t leave a lot of time to think about what had happened—and what could.

  The teacher reminded us of the celebrations this afternoon. I had completely forgotten about the fiftieth school anniversary of Aurora High. It had been fifty years since its founding and ten since the complete renovation—a double celebration. Some important people had signed up for speeches and so on, all very formal. For students attending the celebrations was obligatory. I wasn’t exactly happy, but it was better than classes—better than h
istory, I smiled to myself. So, I lived through the morning and the first few classes in the afternoon without complaining.

  Around one o’clock we filed into the assembly hall. I followed Lydia to a row of chairs. Amber was sitting one row in front of us, talking animatedly to a boy I didn’t know. He was lost in her words like he had never heard a more beautiful voice before, and his eyes were fixed on her face like he was looking at an angel. I laughed at the irony and turned to watch the crowd settling into chairs around us.

  It took almost ten minutes until everybody was seated and quiet.

  “Dear students, dear colleagues,” the principal’s voice sounded into the silence, “today should be a day to celebrate the history of this amazing school.” He flashed a smile and then his face became serious. “But given the incidents of yesterday afternoon I have to ask to you to pause for a minute to commemorate your fellow student, Colina Fernandez, who died yesterday.”

  The silence in the room grew even more profound and the minute stretched while the images of Jaden crouching over Colina’s body, his hands at her heart, ran through my mind over and over again.

  “Thank you.” The principal turned and walked away to sit down at the far end of the podium, his face still a serious mask. And then the speeches began, all starting with a few words about the tragedy of Colina’s death, all followed by a few seconds of silence. The speeches seemed endless. One after the other claimed the microphone for an all too similar and uninteresting flow of words. I didn’t listen. I watched the big clock on the wall behind them instead. The hands were moving disturbingly slow. Lydia giggled quietly as she noticed my longing gaze. Officially this was going to be over by three. This meant we would be free in less than twenty minutes.

  I started counting the seconds in hopes of making time pass a little faster, without success. This only focused my attention on what would happen when I didn’t get out of here on time. I knew how apprehensive Adam was about me and I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea about what was going on, so I pulled out my cell phone and started texting.

  * * *

  Might be late—school-anniversary-

  celebration-thingy. Love you,

  Claire.

  * * *

  I pressed the send button and went back to counting the seconds. Around four-hundred seconds later—I counted—the phone vibrated in my hands.

  * * *

  Waiting for you in the parking lot.

  Take care. Love you more,

  Adam.

  * * *

  I pocketed the phone and rolled my eyes incredulously as I noticed that the clock hands’ progress was infinitesimally slow.

  When we were finally released we headed outside together. I pulled up the collar of my jacket as the cold wind touched my neck. I shivered.

  Now, I needed some distraction from all the heavy that was going on around me. I needed some happiness; I needed to forget the constant danger Adam and I had been in for the past few weeks. It was Friday night and I was so caught up in the mess of my own life that I was simply yearning for a break.

  “You look horrible,“ Lydia stated. ”We should do something fun tonight, to get you in a better mood."

  "Round of pool later?” Amber nodded.

  This could be just the distraction I needed.

  “Nine o’clock alright?” Amber called over the noisy crowd as she headed for her car.

  “I’ll pick you up,” Lydia offered.

  “Thanks,” Amber smiled, waved and was swallowed by the crowd. I was standing on tiptoes, trying to see over the mass of students.

  “I think Adam’s going to drive—if it’s okay, I’ll bring him with me? You could bring Richard…”

  “Sure,” Lydia answered. “Nine then. I’ll bring Richard.” She headed off as well and vanished in the endless stream of students emerging from the main building. Looking after her I pulled my jacket even tighter and shivered in the freezing cold.

  I spotted Adam’s car in the far corner of the parking lot and headed there quickly. Before I reached it, I saw Adam standing at the hood with a cup of coffee in his hands, looking like he had been made just to fill my heart with pleasure. I hurried directly towards him, looping around the people in the parking lot.

  “Sorry I’m late,” I almost fell into his arms and kissed him. The touch of our lips was like a soothing balm. I couldn’t get enough, however often it happened, my heart still flared and stuttered when he pulled me to his body and kissed me back. “I missed you,” I admitted, out of breath.

  “Me too.” He kissed my forehead once before he curled out of my hug and opened the door for me. I got into the warmth of the car quietly and waited for him to do the same.

  “How was your day?” He looked at the street, concentrating.

  “The whole school is talking about Colina.” The name dragged up the memories, but I swallowed them bravely and went on. “Then there was the fifty year Aurora High School anniversary celebration—boring speeches, complete waste of time.”

  He laughed halfheartedly.

  “And Lyd, Amber and I decided to meet for a game of pool tonight,” I scrutinized his face. The change in his expression let me know he wasn’t okay with that plan. “Lydia’s bringing Richard, so I thought we could go there, too.” It was a lie. It had been all my idea in the first place, but he didn’t have to know that.

  Adam didn’t react to the information in any way but the change in his expression. I didn’t know what his silence meant, but I decided not to upset him for now by going into detail. Instead, I watched his perfect features concentrating on the traffic and his hands’ hold on the steering wheel becoming more tense. I was positive he would break it in two if he increased the pressure only a little more. He was apparently angry about my plans.

  I kept quiet for the rest of the way. He was taking the route to his place. The frozen town slid by the windows. Adam had the heater streaming hot air at me. He himself wore a light shirt under his open winter jacket. It made the difference between him and the rest of the world seem enormous again. He—the untouchable, indestructible immortal creature, immune to hot and cold, and me—the freezing little thing, unable to protect herself, falling into a dark hole, pulling everyone she loved down with her.

  At his place we went straight up to his room. The expression on his face was composed, the irritation seeming to have vanished—or it was buried behind the mask, I wouldn’t know. I dropped my bag on the beige couch beside the door and threw myself next to it a moment later. I was annoyed at myself for disgruntling him, and I was annoyed at my life for twisting into this complicated direction. I wasn’t annoyed at Adam though, he was just trying to make the best out of what was crushing down on us.

  I folded my arms and waited for Adam to settle down somewhere in the room. Instead he floated around the pieces of furniture as if he was trying to herd them like sheep. I was starting to imagine the chairs trotting together like a herd of lambs, but they remained still on the spots where they were placed. Adam on the other hand sat in one of them and finally stayed still for a while.

  The movement that had vanished from his body seemed to have transferred to his eyes, which were searching the room wildly. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in his head, but he should have started to sense the disturbance I felt by now.

  In the meantime I was actually starting to freak out. Adam showed obvious signs of distress but did not explain. I wondered if my suggesting the trip to the pool hall tonight had been enough of a catalyst to cause a reaction that intense.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked meekly, I didn’t want to egg him on, he already was a ticking time bomb. I just waited for the all consuming explosion.

  He breathed in and out slowly, his eyes finally locking on mine, rigid and green. “What do you think is wrong?” he answered in a dangerously low voice.

  I shrank back. He looked deadly. Less a heavenly creature than he ever had. Even when he had tried to ban his gifts from his life, when his eyes had be
en lackluster and gray, he had been a dovelike creature; gentle and somehow broken. What was playing in his every muscle now, in his expression, in his eyes, was different, not gentle, not heavenly. It was plainly inhuman and scary.

  “You’re angry,” I whispered, not trusting my voice, and measured his reaction. He nodded once—a quick motion—and continued to stare.

  “With me,” I concluded and felt bad for my naivety—how could I have thought this would work out after what had happened to Colina and my cat?

  The dark cloud of hopelessness enveloped me tightly. It was set then—no more normality in my life, no more fun—just being on the run, cautious. I felt like I was stumbling towards the edge and he was the only one who would be able to hold me back.

  Adam didn’t respond to my words this time. But he did to my feelings. Something lightened up in his eyes instead, a familiar glow. He relaxed ever so slightly and unfroze from where he sat. His eyes set mine free and I blinked to convince myself I had regained full power over them.

  “Sorry,” he purred. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” He glided over and sat down beside me, taking both my hands into his. “It’s just—you’re so precious to me, and you seem to simply not understand how dangerous it is to give them chances to attack.”

  “Why can I go to school then? There are as many people there as at the pool hall or in the streets …why school, but not the pool hall?”

  “It’s less likely the demons will infiltrate a school than a pool hall and other public places.”

  “Why did you take me to your mother’s concert then? That was public,” I challenged.

  “Not really. My father has known all the attending families for years now. I don’t think they are demons. Nobody knew you were going, except for me. There was practically no risk at all.”

  “Who would know I would be there tonight—except Amber and Lydia?” I countered.

  “Yes,” he admitted. “True, but you don’t know what kind of people will be there.”