Feather: Book One

by Abra Ebner

  “Yeah well, where I am smart you are boring,” I spat, giving him a playful glare.

  He tilted his head down, giving my forehead a gentle kiss before dropping me on the couch, “Well you’re impossible.” He shook his head, walking out of the room in his hope to avoid the conversation.

  “Don’t think you’re getting off so easy mister!” I yelled over my shoulder. “I will find that phone!”

  I heard him chuckle from the kitchen over the banging of pans.

  “And don’t think you can shut me up with your cooking either!” I yelled again. Blood was pumping through my veins and I was enjoying this little spat far too much.

  In truth, I loved Edgar’s cooking. Over a thousand years of life had taught him well. As I sunk into the malleable leather, I finally began to calm down as I thought about the white cat. Maybe it really had been my imagination. After all, my mind was bored to tears trapped inside this house and yet, it was also nice being so close to Edgar. If I was going to face imminent death, at least I would have known what it was like to cry, love, and laugh.

  I thought about what Edgar meant by opposites, it was like, besides sharing a soul, we also shared a body. He was strong, I was sharp, he was able to create illusions, and I could manipulate the earth. That’s when I realized, it wasn’t being cooped up that was driving me mad, it was the fact that I was so far from nature, like the fish in the tanks of the hatchery, right next to the lake they so longed to swim.

  I sat up as the delightful smells from the kitchen filled my lungs. I shuffled into the room already glowering, my wool socks hanging from my ankles in lazy drapes

  “Edgar I need to get out,” I sighed.

  He gave me a cautioning look. “Elle please don’t start being difficult again. I’m afraid if you go out they’ll see you. Or worse yet, he will see you. For all I know they’re already out there, waiting for you to be dumb enough to go outside and expose yourself.”

  An angry growl rumbled in my chest as I sat on the stool and looked at my reflection in the copper counter. My eyes were like tiny pearls and I found myself staring. Edgar wiped his hand on a towel as he threw some pasta into a giant pot over the fire. He walked around the island and stood behind me, tracing his strong hands down my arms and placing his chin on my shoulder.

  “What would happen if I just didn’t eat? If we live forever, why do we?” I asked with sudden interest.

  He laughed, “That’s a good question. Remember how I told you Matthew was drawn, tired and old? That’s what happens. We may live forever, but everyone needs nourishment.”

  “Oh, that’s too bad. I was hoping if I didn’t eat maybe you’d give me some freedom.” I sighed.

  “Come on Elle, soon you can do whatever you want, we just need to wait.” His breath was intoxicating and it quickly clouded my mind. I sulked into the counter and he only made it harder for me as he wrapped his arms around my stomach, grazing my ear with his lips.

  “Edgar…” I paused, my mind becoming cloudy and distracted and my anger leaving me as I desperately tried to clutch onto it and keep my spiteful hold on him.

  “I love you Estella,” his voice was like a drug seeping into my blood, numbing every receptor.

  I melted into his arms, “Do you really though? You always get close, but then quickly back away.” My words were sassy, yet soft.

  I felt his mouth curl into a smile, his lips still touching my ear. “I do think about other things Elle, I am a man after all. But I also have the desire not to kill you and I think that’s what’s most important.”

  I blushed, realizing where this conversation was going. Edgar had succeeded in stupefying me, making me forget what I’d marched in here to say. His warmth was wrapping me in cotton, stuffing my thoughts and confusing my anger.

  “Yeah but I mean, even when we sleep, though you’re right there, you’re still so far away.”

  He exhaled with a mused chuckle, “Exactly, I’m trying not to kill you.”

  I heard his point, but it wasn’t enough. “But you used to,” I pried. I remembered the shape of the sheets that first day in my room.

  He sighed, seeing my point of view. “Elle you sound like an addict, and that’s what concerns me.” His grip around my stomach slowly released and he rounded the counter to look at me with deep blue eyes. “I understand your point, but we need to be careful, if we are the last of our kind, that’s really important,” his voice sounded taxed, but there was something else there, something he needed to tell me.

  I kept watching with a skeptical eye, waiting in silence.

  He walked back toward the fire, averting his eyes from me, “I need to go down to the college for a bit this afternoon, it seems the teachers that are still here are getting suspicious.” He was frowning, “I guess one of them was actually dumb enough to try and touch me but instead their hand passed right through me, the hologram, you know?”

  I felt a sudden burst of rebellious thought run into my head and I saw him take notice. His eyes glared at me, a much darkened shade of blue grey. “And don’t start thinking that means you’re going to find the phone,” he said bluntly.

  I gave him a mischievous grin, “What makes you think I’d find that?” My voice was pitchy and fake.

  He snorted, “I’m serious Elle, this is for your own good, don’t do anything stupid.”

  I breathed hard through my nose and slouched into the stool, “Fine.”

  He looked at me then, his eyes still serious and dark, “Promise me Elle?”

  I exhaled, refusing to agree, “Yeah yeah, ok, I’ll be safe.” I was swatting him away with my hand but my mind was still vindictively thinking.

  He served me a bowl of Juniper Berry pasta and I winced at the smell, “This smells like a pine tree!” I protested.

  He looked at me sideways, “Seriously, you’re really testing my patience today Elle, just eat.” He pointed at my bowl with a spatula in his hand and a stern face.

  I took one bite and my taste buds were again bursting with flavor. Rolling my eyes with joy, Edgar looked at me with relieved approval, gently kissing me on the cheek as he went to grab his coat. I looked around the room when he left for a hidden closet, trying hard to search out where he could possibly stuff a phone. If he could so easily hide a giant painting, it was hard to say what else was hidden as well.

  When he walked back into the room he had his black boots and wool coat on and my chewing slowed as my eyes watched him. His handsome and unearthly beauty was breathtaking. Every day was like living with an angel, but as I looked in the mirror, I too was amazed at what I’d become from the almost constant lethal touch of his pearly skin.

  My eyes darted to his hand as his eyebrows rose until his face contorted into an evil glare. I let out an annoyed sigh. In his grasp he held an old looking dial phone, the cord still attached to the back as though ripped from the wall.

  “Just in case,” he smiled, dangling it before me with sick satisfaction.

  I gave him a sour frown. “Whatever,” I spat, but he just laughed at me. He was obviously pleased with the torture he was putting me through.

  He walked up to me and pecked my temple before turning and leaving the room. I heard the door slam as he left the house through the garage and I dropped my fork in the bowl with a loud irritated clang and ran to the window where I saw him walk out the side door, his black figure loping across the field with the eloquence of a mountain lion.

  He looked back briefly before diving into the trees, obviously content that there was nothing behind him and the house invisible in its massive glory. I dragged my feet back to the kitchen where I stabbed my fork irritably through another bunch of noodles and shoved it in my mouth.

  The ticking clocks all over the house were beginning to make me mad, every day without fail, ‘tick ‘tick ‘tick. It was enough to drive the sanest man into insanity. Maybe Edgar Allan wasn’t writing about Edgar’s decent into madness over lost love, but his stupid love affair with clocks.

  I
kicked the wall below the island, finally furious beyond reason. I threw my fork in the sink and stormed upstairs. I was tired of being trapped. This was stupid and childish, for goodness sake, I was eternally eighteen and by human standards, a legal adult a few times over. I ruffled through my closet as my mind let go of all the rules that had been binding me here. I searched until I found my shearling boots and sweater and pulled them on with such veracity that I broke a sweat.

  I stormed downstairs to the hall closet and grabbed my coat, wrapping it around me and pulling the hood over my head. I fished in my pocket for my gloves where I pulled them gruffly over my hands without a second thought about what I was doing. Tromping to the door, I grasped the brass handle with determination, letting out an annoyed grumble as I twisted it and quickly walked onto the porch, letting the door slam behind me in my stubbornness. I had no idea where I was going but I figured anywhere was better than here.

  My body was still invisible as I stood on the stoop, looking around the field with caution, but also a soaring heart. Everything was silent, but not too silent, and that was good. I raised one rebelliously firm foot and planted it in the deep snow as a sense of utter satisfaction flooded over me. The soft crunching sound it made was inviting as I released my other foot, stomping it down with the same force right next to the other.

  Exhaling, I twisted my head around and looked at the now empty field behind me. As I turned back, I looked up at the expanse of blue sky as I let the now sunny sky soak into my skin and warm my shoulders. My gaze then tilted down to my feet as I began walking forward, my eyes watching how the pristine snow collapsed under my weight. Keeping my eyes on my toes, I noticed that the footsteps behind me magically re-inflated, leaving no trace of my presence as though I were a ghost of life. My face was bright with amazement and I put my hand to my chest where I felt for life until a small flicker of delight was audible in my soul.

  A content breath fell from my lips but as I went to inhale I jumped as a distinct rustle rumbled from the woods in front of me. I glanced up as my horrified eyes watched as the treetops silently moved as though disturbed, but there was no wind. I began to back away as I looked behind me but to my horror, I realized that I didn’t know how to get back inside the house. The breathing in my chest quickened as I searched the open field for a place to hide, my mind beginning to accept that this could be it, the moment I was waiting for.

  I found myself hopeless as my body began to shake. It was then I saw something dodged between the trees, and I froze, hoping that it wouldn’t sense my presence. My breathing was hushed as I knelt close to the ground, the thing now emerging into the meadow from the shadows. At first I was a little shocked that what I saw hadn’t exactly been what I’d expected. Still breathing hard, I squinted as I tried to recognize the figure, straightening my stand as my interest got the best of me. I took one careful and slow step forward as it advanced; its pace rapid but calm.

  The silence ceased as it spoke. “What do you think you’re doing out here?” the figure boomed, his voice full of sarcasm, not hate.

  I cringed, finally recognizing the irritating face of my past, “Sam?” I looked at his angelic expression in a daze.

  He laughed, “The one and only.”

  I looked at him sideways, “What are you doing here?” There was something about him that was very strange, but my mind was still racing in initial fear so it was hard to discern.

  “Just doing what I came here for,” he replied.

  I crossed my hands against my chest, my breath escaping in steamy clouds, hot with sudden anger. I wasn’t sure exactly what he’d come here for, but I hoped it hadn’t been me.

  “Oh come on,” he grinned, “Don’t be like that.”

  I snorted, “Like what?” I glanced at his strong features. His hair was still the same scruffy brown and his face unshaven. His skin was a lot like Edgar’s, smooth and young, but much paler and there was a hint of blue under his eyes. I looked down to his clothing and I gawked at the fact he was still wearing gym shoes, even in the snow.

  A sudden menacing laugh echoed through the meadow. “I realize their impracticality.” He was looking at his feet.

  I pushed my brows together and he looked at me but I quickly looked away, his gaze electric and somehow invading. How had he read my facial expression with such ease?

  “So,” he began, “As I was saying, what do you think you’re doing out here? I’m pretty sure you were told to stay out of trouble and stay inside.”

  I shot my angry eyes back at him, “What do you know about my rules?”

  He winked, “I know because it’s my job to know. I was appointed to watch you.”

  I threw my hands down to my sides, shifting my weight onto one foot with sass, my mind now accepting that he wasn’t a threat, at least not a threat to my life. “What?” I screamed, the echoes reverberating off the neighboring trees, “He hired you to watch me?”

  Sam smirked at my utter disdain.

  “And how exactly are you going to protect me?” I snorted.

  His smirk was unchanged, “Well, it’s kind of what I’m made for.” He walked closer to me, his body now just a foot away and it was then that I realized what was so strange about him. My eyes widened as I looked over his shoulders at the two large humps that protruded from his back. To my surprise, tucked close to his spine, was a full set of muddied grey wings.

  I gasped, quickly stepping around and behind him as I circled his body in amazement, “Wha…” I began, but Sam cut me off.

  “Yes Estella, they’re wings, I am aware.” He sighed, moving them slightly in his attempt to amaze me further.

  My mind had been getting sharper over the past weeks, but what I saw before me was still considerably confusing.

  I walked back around to the front of him and looked into his golden brown eyes in shock, “Well, so then you’re like, an angel?”

  He nodded, “A Guardian angel actually.”

  I raised one eyebrow, “Are you serious?” A sharp mocking exhale passes my lips, “Really. You’ve got to be joking.”

  He spread his large wings and I watched in amazement as they stretched out eight feet on either side of him, “I don’t think these would lie, do you?”

  I stared at the layers of feathers, all delicately placed as they fanned out in thick sheets. They were somewhat pearly, but more a metallic silver and not quite as brilliant as Edgar’s. Their warm grey was unlike anything I would stereotypically guess of angel wings and their sheer size was shocking and surreal.

  “Okay, so say I believe you,” I finally said.

  Sam gave me a dubious half smile.

  “Then how long exactly, have you been watching me?” I now felt as though my privacy had been violated, Edgar hadn’t even asked my permission and I was angry with him. I thought about that day in class, when Sam had weaseled his way next to me, Edgar had looked so amused by my utter discomfort. Originally, I figured he was going to be furious that some strange and eerily handsome man was treating me with such interest, but now it ends up they were friends, or rather business partners.

  Sam seemed to wait to answer my question until my thought process was done and I looked at him with an apologetic face as though sorry that I’d kept him waiting.

  He crossed his arms. “Oh no,” he chuckled, “I’ve been watching you much longer than that, and for the record, I wasn’t hitting on you. You were being absolutely impossible and that’s all. Edgar had warned me, but I had to see for myself.”

  I grumbled at him.

  “It’s okay Estella. Just, you know, being that I can read your mind, be careful what you think around me. I don’t need all your life details.” He was smiling at my dumbfounded face.

  You can read my thoughts? I was testing his theory.

  He nodded, “its part of the protection plan, hearing your thoughts makes it super easy for me to protect you, no secrets.” He smirked again and I grumbled at him even more.

  I spoke without thinking, “The
woods that day when I walked to the waterfall, you were there weren’t you?” I was infuriated that he was not only invading my privacy, but also my mind.

  He nodded, “Gave you a bit of a start huh?” he chortled, patting me on the arm.

  I grabbed his hand and threw it off me but when my skin touched his I squealed, “You’re freezing!”

  He laughed again, his wings still outstretched, “I’m dead Estella. I wouldn’t really expect my body to be all that warm.” He looked behind him over his shoulder as his wings retracted further until they were hidden behind his back, as though they weren’t there.

  I glanced over his shoulder as well, but wasn’t seeing what he had.

  “Guess you’re in trouble now,” he teased, “Edgar’s coming.”

  I looked at his angelically white face and powdery brown hair, “I don’t care, let him be mad. I think it’s me that deserves to be angrier.”

  Sam shrugged, “It’s your funeral.”

  I glared at Sam’s eyes as Edgar entered into the field. When my gaze flickered to meet his, his face was stone cold and angry, but as soon as he approached Sam, his look had somehow changed to one of amusement.

  Edgar put one hand on Sam’s shoulder, “See you’ve got my girl here.” They both looked at me with twin glares.

  A defiant snort shot from my mouth as my arms crossed with disobedience against my chest, “I’m not your girl if you lock me up like a dog,” I smarted toward Edgar, realizing Sam had already heard my reply in his mind.

  Edgar laughed, “You’ll always be my girl Elle and you can’t deny that.”

  I glowered at him with sharp eyes, flustered by the truth in his comment.

  Edgar turned to Sam and they both snickered about something they were secretly thinking and I felt my blood boil.

  “Thanks Sam,” Edgar said, “I can take her from here.”

  Sam nodded and gave me a wink before turning and walking back into the woods, his wings hanging strong against his back through his same leather coat.

  Edgar’s expression changed as he grabbed my arm with a firm grip. My face turned to a scowling frown as he removed his glasses and the full fury of his eyes were now exposed. “What do you think you are doing?” he snarled under his breath.