Feathermore

by Lucy Swing

I was driving along, brooding about my strange, chaotic life, watching the headlights on the roadway ahead of me, when I caught sight of something up in the air. I leaned forward on the steering wheel, and just like that, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, Claire and Nate stepped down out of the sky, right in front of me.

  “Wh—what the hell!” I gasped, slamming on the brakes.

  They landed gracefully on their feet and walked toward the car. I stared at them, a little beyond freaked out. I hadn’t even noticed the doors were locked until Claire tapped the window with her fingernail. I clumsily pushed the buttons, and the windows started rolling down. I kept pressing buttons until I heard the doors unlock.

  They settled into their seats just as casually as you please. My body was shaking from what I had just witnessed. Definitely vampires, I thought to myself. I was still staring at them when Claire, ever the backseat driver, told me to please get moving. She had the same bubbly personality as always.

  “Are you kidding me?” I gasped. “You just walked out of thin air, and you just tell me to drive?” I felt my voice tremble. I certainly didn’t want them to think I was freaked out about what I saw, but then, that was a sight you didn’t see every day.

  “Would you like me to drive?” Nate asked.

  I shook my head. I would not show weakness. Why did I have this need to stay cool and take things in stride? “Where do you want me to go?” I said. “I was headed to my house.” I started driving in the direction I had been headed before they came along, going a few miles an hour under the speed limit of forty, lost in thought.

  “You know, you could step on it a little—it won’t hurt,” she said in a teasing tone.

  “How about you tell me,” I said with greater calm than I felt. “What the heck was that!” I yelled. It appeared that I wasn’t going to keep my cool after all.

  “You wanted to know what we are,” Nate said with a little smirk. “Well, this is us showing you.”

  “Well, how about you explain it a little before you start doing insane things like that!” I pointed my finger forward from the sky to the street.

  “Fine. You want the textbook explanation?” Claire asked in a bored tone.

  “Yes, please.”

  “You are a seraph,” she said casually.

  A deafening silence filled the cab while I waited for either of them to explain what the heck that meant, but no one continued.

  “And that means . . . ?” I left the question hanging for them to fill in, but they simply gave me blank stares. “Are you kidding me, guys? What the heck is a seraph? Some kind of vampire?”

  This they found immensely funny, and they started laughing—and I mean a good, grab-your-belly kind of laugh. Okay, at least now I could scratch “vampire” off the list.

  “No Jade,” Nate said, still laughing uproariously. “Come on, vampires are nothing but a myth.” I was getting a little annoyed at their being so furtive and secret about all this and then laughing at me when I tried to understand.

  “Well, you just flew here, and you can run up the stairs faster than the eye can see, and I just shoved Amy almost into the next county without even trying. So why don’t you just give me the facts and help me through this.” I shot them an exasperated look, and finally they seemed to understand what I was going through.

  “I’m sorry. We’re new at this whole explaining thing,” Claire said, putting on lip gloss. “You, Jade, are an angel,” she said softly, allowing each word to sink in.

  An angel? That sure explained the wings, but…

  We were all quiet for a moment. I was lost in thought, trying to figure out how it all connected, how I could possibly be an angel. “If I am one of those, why am I here in this two-street boondock town? Shouldn’t I be in heaven or somewhere?” I asked, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous I sounded.

  “Well, you were there at one point,” Nate said; “however, somehow, quite of your own accord and without even being aware of it, you fell down. Since you weren’t of age yet as an angel, your memory from your past life in heaven was completely erased. Angels on the mortal plane come of age at seventeen, so you just achieved that a few weeks ago.”

  This was ridiculous!

  “I’m sorry, but I . . . it’s impossible.”

  “No, it’s not. You fell and have been sort of stuck here. We are your protectors, and, well, we’ve been keeping you safe from unseen dangers.”

  “That creepy thing on the street…” I hadn’t been crazy after all! I had seen correctly.

  “Yep, it’s easy for humans to dismiss things of that sort, since they’re not used to it and would rather believe there is nothing to be afraid of,” Nate explained. “You’ve been raised in the mortal world for quite some time, and so you decided to believe what was easiest to comprehend.”

  Sure, if that had actually been the case. I hadn’t believed their explanations, but I had no other explanation for them, so I never pressed the matter.

  “Also, in the mortal realm, as we are at the moment, now that you are of age, other seraphim and supernatural beings can see you for what you truly are. And in your case, it certainly didn’t help that you finally found Avan.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, for starters, you fell because of him. You sort of fell in love with him, and somehow you found your way down.”

  “Isn’t that, like, not allowed? Didn’t angels get prohibited entrance back to heaven for falling in love with mortals?” I said the last word carefully. It felt strange on my lips.

  “Angels are created to love, Jade,” Claire explained. “They fell because they mated with mortals. Now, that is not allowed.”

  “So, you mean . . .” I couldn’t get the words out.

  “Bingo,” she said. “You can’t be physical with Avan unless you’re ready for the consequences. And let me make it clear: do not even think about it.”

  I could feel the blush creep onto my cheeks, and hoped it was dark enough that they didn’t notice it.

  “As an angel—and a pure one at that—you have a certain glow that others can see,” Nate said. “When you met Avan, and your soul recognized him, your glow went from a mere flashlight to a freaking lighthouse, allowing all kinds of beings to see you. If you don’t learn to control your powers, you will keep on shining that light—and everyone wants you, Jade.” He finished by giving me a pleading look, as if somehow it was entirely my fault.

  “Okay, let’s see—have you guys been drinking, by any chance? This is all crazy talk. This is not happening. I am dreaming or having a terrible nightmare. Either way, this isn’t real.” There really was no way. How could I be any such thing?

  “So you will not believe you’re an angel, but you were perfectly comfortable with the thought of being a vampire?” Claire chided. “Come on, Jade, grow up a little.”

  “Before you said I was a . . . Sarah film or something—what’s that?”

  “Seraph” Claire said, adding a little eye roll at my ignorance.

  I had just about had it. They couldn’t just waltz down from the sky, tell me I was an angel, and expect me to know it all. It was too far-fetched, and even though I had seen wings come out of my body, my mind knew better than to believe any such thing.

  “Stop here!” Claire yelled.

  Obediently, I did as she said, and hit the brakes.

  “The cemetery?” I hoped she was joking. No way in hell was I going in there. As I looked at the tall, forbidding iron gates, all I could think of was all that I had lost. I really didn’t want to go in there. “It’s closed, Claire; let’s just go,” I said.

  My excuse didn’t work—no surprise there.

  Nate and Claire got out of the car with their supernatural speed. That would take some time to get used to.

  I lingered in the car, letting some of what had just been said seep in. It was not possible, as I well knew. So why did it feel right to believe I was an angel? I rolled my eyes at myself. I hadn’t been feelin
g all that angelic lately. In fact, I was becoming the complete opposite.

  Claire tapped on my window. “You coming?”

  Did I have a choice?

  I opened the door and zipped my hoodie as I walked over to the gates, where Claire and Nate stood. I rubbed my hands together as the icy air enveloped us.

  “Well, Jade, darling, here’s your first lesson.”

  I looked from her to the gates and back, not really sure what she meant.

  Claire pointed at the heavy steel lock. “Open it.”

  “How, exactly, do you expect me to do that?” I said. I don’t have any lock-picking tools—not that I would even know what to do then.” I grabbed the gigantic padlock with both hands. It made my whole body shiver. It was engraved with unintelligible words that had long ago been obscured by rust.

  “Use your mind. Concentrate on the lock and wish it open.” Nate got closer to me. “Close your eyes if it’ll help, and just wish it to be open,” He repeated.

  I did as was told, not expecting much in the way of results, but I still gave it a shot. I wished hard, and nothing happened. It was after the fourth time that I heard the clicking sound that meant I had succeeded. I opened my eyes, and sure enough, the huge lock lay open in my hands.

  Just as I pulled it free of the steel bars, a cold wind blew bitterly, chilling me to my core as I pushed open the rusty old wrought-iron gate. The creaking whine as it opened sent an echo through the dark graveyard. This is so wrong, I thought to myself as we walked along the path.

  We got to a massive stone sculpture of an angel pointing north. “Don’t tell me this”—I motioned to the stone angel—“leads to some kind of lair.”

  They shook their heads and laughed gleefully, which seemed altogether inappropriate in this somber setting, and I looked furtively around the grounds for anyone who might hear us. But I wouldn’t find anyone. The keeper’s cottage was on the far west side, and there would be no way he could hear us from way over there.

  “So what kinds of things can I do with my mind?” I asked, feeling a little shiver of excitement. I followed them among the graves, looking down at my feet to make sure I didn’t trip on anything.

  “That is what we call manifesting,” Nate said. “You can actually do anything you want, manifest anything your little heart desires.” The moment he said it, a red rose appeared in Claire’s hand.

  “Wow, that is so cool,” I said. “So I can manifest . . . well, clothes?” I asked.

  “Anything. Clothes, money, cars, electronics—anything you want,” Claire said.

  I nodded, but my mind kept coming up with questions.

  “You never really explained to me what a seraphim is,” I said, speeding up my pace to keep up with them.

  “Seraph—singular,” she said, but didn’t continue right away. Then she said, “Seraphim are the highest-ranking angels in the heavenly realms. They’re described as ‘the burning ones.’ Not as in literally burning up, but since in the Hebrew Bible it’s a synonym for serpents, they claim the burning is the sensation from the poison.” She stopped walking and looked around, as if trying to decide which way we should go.

  “Does it mean I poison people? How Christian is that?”

  “Oh, Jade . . .” Claire shook her head and laughed.

  “Well, does it mean that burning sensation in my back?” I asked her, pretty sure that I was once again making a fool of myself.

  “That’s your wings. When you get really emotional, if you don’t know how to control them, they’ll spur out. Trust me, you do not want that to happen—not in public, anyway—which is why we’re here.” She locked her arm with mine and led me to a clearing. Tall evergreen trees surrounded us, keeping us hidden from prying eyes, if any were around.

  Dark clouds blotted out the full moon from time to time, casting the centuries-old cemetery into blackness. Claire nudged me in the ribs and pointed at Nate, who had his eyes closed. He made two fists and raised them to shoulder height, and as he opened them two bolts of light flew out and hovered about fifteen feet from us, lighting the clearing.

  I stared in awe at the balls of light and suddenly remembered the light I had created when I pushed Amy. Before I could speak, Claire pulled me into the center of the clearing.

  “We’re going to have an impromptu basic training session to get you started,” she said as she positioned herself in front of me. “For one, you will need to allow your wings to come out. You will need to learn about them, their feel, and how to control them. It is imperative that you learn. However, you really shouldn’t try these kinds of things without us around—it will call other entities to where you are.”

  “So how come I can do it with you guys?” I asked, feeling like a student on her first day of supernatural school.

  “That’s what we do—it’s our job. Besides, you don’t know how to defend yourself yet. For now, let’s see if we can provoke those little wings to make an appearance.”

  I stood there for a moment but couldn’t feel a thing.

  “It usually starts burning when I’m mad or sad,” I finally said. “Or when Avan is around.”

  “Figures,” Nate added. “But since we don’t have him . . .” He shoved me forward.

  What the hell? I turned around to face him, and that’s when Claire pushed me, almost making me lose my balance and fall on my butt. Right then it started, the faintest tingling on my back.

  “Think of something that really pisses you off,” Nate said. “Think of what Amy said to you earlier.”

  How did he know? Had they been there? Spying on me? It didn’t matter right now. As they kept pushing my buttons and I started thinking about Amy and how rude she was, it made my back burn worse than ever before. The burning turned into outright pain. I could feel my skin ripping, parting for the wings to come out.

  I let out an unearthly scream and fell to my knees. That was when I heard the flutter of wings above me—not mine, certainly. I looked up and saw all kinds of birds and other flying animals above me. There were hundreds of ravens, but it didn’t stop there. Everything from bats to owls, to pigeons had shown up—even an eagle.

  “Wow, Jade, you seem to have called in a small air force with that piercing little scream,” I could hear Claire say from behind me. “This is good—might come in handy someday.”

  I was instantly reminded of the night my parents were murdered. How I had unleashed something from inside me, and the ravens had been there immediately, attacking in my defense. I looked up at them and smiled through the pain.

  I was brought back to reality when a new wave of pain crashed over me. I wouldn’t be able to do this—it was just too agonizing. I dug my hands into the cold dirt, trying to hold on to something, and just as I thought I couldn’t take any more, it was over.

  15. SERAPHIM