Out of Darkness

by Cheree Alsop

  Tears broke free and trailed down my face. “When those gunmen came looking for Ava, you hid her without regard for your own safety. You were threatened at gunpoint, yet she was one of you, and you weren’t about to give her up. You are far braver than I was. I knew I could fight them, maybe not stop them, but I grew up training to fight and not be afraid. You didn’t grow up at gunpoint.” A few students laughed, but there were tears in the eyes of many. They watched me without speaking, and their expressions gave me strength.

  “I never thought our presence here would be a danger to you; it was never our intention to bring fear into your lives. Yet you have stood by us without shunning our differences. You allowed me to realize that it was me who had created the barrier between us, a barrier I am proud to say is gone.” I smiled and cheers went up. I held out my hand and they quieted. “I have something to ask of you now. It may be dangerous, but our hope is to eliminate any danger to you. It is the chance we need to track down the threat to Ava and put an end to these attacks for good.”

  They listened to my plan with such charged silence I felt every word echo back at me from the walls of the gymnasium. When I finished, I handed the microphone to Principal Kelley. I took a seat next to Ava. She leaned against my good shoulder. I slipped my hand into hers, borrowing strength from her touch. The pain I had pushed to the back of my mind surfaced. I gritted my teeth and waited.

  Not a sound followed. Principal Kelley watched the students carefully, worry clear on his face. “We’re going to vote,” he said. “The easiest way will be to vote by applause. Any who feel that Reece’s plan is too dangerous, please show it by clapping now.”

  If anything, the silence in the room increased. I realized I was holding my breath, and I let it out slowly. Saro reached over and squeezed my shoulder. I gave him a small smile.

  “Any who feel we should try Reece’s plan. . . .” The applause that answered drowned out his next words. He looked back at me.

  I nodded, feeling relief and as though a weight had been placed on my shoulders at the same time. I stood and Principal Kelley handed me the microphone again. The crowd quieted. “We must keep our plans quiet so whoever is behind the attacks won’t find out. This may be our only shot. I appreciate your support more than I can say. You have become my brothers and sisters, and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

  A roar answered my words. Students stomped in the bleachers and yelled; teachers instigated clapping and shouting. I met Mr. Bennett’s gaze. He nodded in approval. Principal Kelley accepted the microphone back. Ava and I walked arm in arm off the platform. The instant we were on the ground, we were swarmed by students.

  “I’m so excited to be a part of this!” Sam gushed.

  “Do you think I should bring a gun?” a boy with spiked hair asked. Several of the students gave nervous laughs.

  I shook my head. “No guns on school property. If all goes as planned, you won’t need it.”

  “I’m going to wear purple,” Alicia said. “Or maybe pink.”

  “Does that mean I have to rent a tuxedo?” a boy protested.

  The group around us laughed.

  “Do exactly what you would do for the prom,” I told him.

  He grinned, showing crooked teeth. “Overalls it is.”

  “Johnny,” the blonde-haired girl at his side protested, slapping his shoulder.

  I glanced over to see Randy talking with Ava. She laughed and set a hand on his arm. Jealousy surged through me. I turned back to the students with an effort. “I’ve got to go.” I was surprised to see disappointment on many faces.

  “You’re skipping school?” Brian asked good-naturedly.

  I nodded. “Doctor’s orders. You know Dr. Ray’s strict when all the Galdoni know not to go against what he says.”

  “How bad was it?” a kid I recognized from the party asked.

  I glanced back at Kale and Saro. They were busy honing our plans with the principal. I lifted up my shirt. The stitches Dr. Ray had redone along my side could be seen through the light dressing. Gasps and a few exclamations could be heard. I pulled my shirt back down.

  “How’s your shoulder?” Seth asked.

  I moved it experimentally, and hid a wince at the pain. “It took a few more of Dr. Ray’s stitches. If I keep it up, I’ll have more scars from outside the Academy than within.”

  Chuckles met my words. It felt good to joke about the Academy and the way things had gone at the school. The fact that we could laugh about it together made me feel like I was one of them. Alice threw her arms around my neck. “Thank you again. You were so brave.”

  Several of the other girls followed. I glanced over to see Kale and Saro watching me with wide grins on their faces. I backed out of the tight embraces. “Uh, you’re welcome. You guys were the brave ones, coming to my rescue like that.”

  “I led the charge,” Brian pointed out.

  I held out a hand. “Thanks, man. The distraction saved my life.”

  He shook my hand and I smothered a cry at the pain that ran through my shoulder. “Anytime. You think we could get Coach to let you play football? You’d be unstoppable as a receiver.”

  I laughed at the thought. “There’s probably a rule against flying on the field.”

  “And if there were any fights, the other team would be gonners,” he said with a laugh.

  The thought made me sober. I nodded and forced a smile. “I’ve got to go. Thank you, everyone.”

  I left them talking excitedly about the plans. Even though we were impinging on the prom, students were talking about dresses and flowers as if they didn’t mind. I passed Ava and Randy on the way to the door.

  “What do you say? Want to go to the prom with me?” Randy asked.

  My blood ran cold. I ducked out the door into the sunlight. I leaned against the wall and let the golden warmth fall on my face and shoulders. It was a warm contrast to the chill inside me.

  Ava was my girl.

  I shook my head, correcting myself. She was nobody’s girl. She could do whatever she pleased, and she deserved to be happy. Randy was a star on the football team, he fit in with her circle of friends, and the way she smiled at him made my stomach turn because it was close to the smile she gave me, not quite, but close. I wanted to beat him senseless. My hands clenched into fists.

  I had to stop resorting to violence to resolve things. Even entertaining the thought of watching him cry was wrong, though I had to admit it brought a bit of joy to think about. I had to learn to control my anger. Ava deserved better.

  I turned and leaned my forehead against the rough red bricks. The sun bathed my blue wings with heat. Ava didn’t deserve an animal who couldn’t control his rage. She needed someone she could trust, who had the normal life she wanted. I definitely didn’t have a normal life.

  “Are you okay?”

  I turned at the concern in Saro’s voice. The Galdoni’s golden wings gleamed in the sunshine.

  I nodded. “I’m fine.”

  His expression said he thought otherwise. “It’s probably time we get you back.”

  I grimaced at the thought of the medical floor’s white walls. “Any chance I could stay for class?”

  Saro looked me up and down. “I don’t want to point out the fact that you look like you’re going to fall over, but you do look like you’re going to fall over. Besides, I thought we all decided it was best if you and Ava didn’t enter the school again until prom to keep it from becoming a target when we’re not ready.”

  I nodded. “You’re right. I think I’m just tired of waiting.”

  A smile hinted on his face. “We just came up with the plan.”

  I studied at the sidewalk. “I mean waiting for my life to begin, to find where I fit in and to make my own place in this world.”

  A shadow of concern crossed Saro’s face. “I thought you had that here.”

  “I thought I did, too,” I admitted quietly.

  He fell silent. It was one of the things I re
ally appreciated about the Galdoni. When he didn’t have anything to say, he let silence speak. There were so many things I worked out about myself in the amiable silences we shared.

  I was surprised when he broke the silence first. “You know no life is normal, right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He nodded toward the gymnasium. “You would be wrong to think a human has a normal life. No two lives are the same in there.”

  “It’s got to be more normal than what I have, living in a bare room on the floor of a building filled with killers who eat together and train together as if we weren’t the product of a blood-thirsty society.” I regretted the words as soon as I spoke them. I had made a point never to complain because the Galdoni Center was so much better than the Academy there really was no comparison. Now I couldn’t take the words back.

  Saro stood with his hands behind his back and his head bowed for a moment. With the sun behind him, he looked like a winged angel lit up in gold. My conversation with Koden came back to me and I remembered the picture of the angel with the lamb in its arms.

  “It was your choice to live in a bare room,” Saro reminded me gently without looking up. He rubbed his hands together slowly, studying the burn scars that ran along his skin. “And yes, Galdoni are killers, but we are also so much more. We live, we breathe, we dream, we hurt, and we love just like the humans here.” He glanced at me. “If you put someone in a box, you will only be disappointed when they break free. No one, not even the Galdoni, deserve to be classified in a box any more than we deserved to be chained in cells.”

  Guilt pounded through me at his words. I knew them, and by his kind tone, I knew he knew that as well. He continued, “I’m grateful for this blood-thirsty society.”

  Surprised, I stared at him. “Why?”

  He shrugged with a small smile. “Because first of all, we wouldn’t be here without it; secondly, I feel that the humans’ understanding toward violence is why we’ve been allowed to integrate into society. Since they created us, in a way, they understand us. We’re more similar than both sides want to admit. That’s why this will work out; deep down we know we’re the same.”

  His words brought a small smile to my lips. I glanced back at the gymnasium. He was right. Brayce’s need to control his life at school because he had no say over what had happened at home was one I could understand very well. When the Galdoni attacked, I saw students who protected each other at the risk of their own lives; that’s what I had done. The opposite of violence was compassion, and I had seen that when Ava came to Crosby High. They took her in like she was one of them, and that compassion had spread to me through my actions. Ava was right to want a normal life here. It was a good place to begin.

  Kale, Principal Kelley, and Ava came through the door. Ava smiled when she saw me and crossed to my side. She set her head on my shoulder. “I lost you in there.”

  “I think it was the opposite,” I said before I could stop myself.

  At her questioning look, I forced a smile and lifted my arm. She ducked under it and leaned against me.

  “Looks like we have our work cut out for us until Saturday,” Principal Kelley said. “We’ll see you guys soon.”

  I lifted my wings. The movement pulled at my shoulder that was very sore from its second set of stitches. I gritted my teeth and pushed them down. The others rose into the air around me. I put a hand to the wound. Pressure against my shoulder eased the pain of working the muscles, but not by much.

  “We could take a taxi,” Kale said.

  I threw him a smile. “And miss flying? Not a chance.” I pushed my wings down harder. Ava laughed and kept up with me. It reminded me of the first time we had flown together. She had chased me into the clouds and told me about Superman. There were no clouds that morning, but the feeling of the sun was radiant as we broke above the buildings. I spread my wings out to soar; it put a lot less pressure on my shoulder to ride the wind.

  “Let’s fly to the ocean,” I proposed.

  Kale smiled. “You’re avoiding the Center.”

  I shook my head. “I’m avoiding Dr. Ray. He didn’t approve of our flight this morning.”

  Saro chuckled. “He was the one who recommended the taxi.”

  “Give the man some wings,” I said. “Then we’ll see who choses riding in a car.”

  I watched Ava fly. The feathers of her dark gray wings ruffled gently with the breeze. It caught her hair, making the long black locks flow over her shoulders like an ocean current. There was a look of pure enjoyment on her face as if she felt exactly the same way about flying that I did. Her hands opened, catching the wind and making it dance over her fingers. She glanced at me. A smile spread across her face, lighting her sea green eyes. It was the smile she saved only for me. Pain flared in my chest.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I tipped my wings toward the Center. The others followed. Kale and Saro landed on the roof. I dove toward the medical floor. I expected Ava to land on the eighth, but she followed me. The door buzzed on the print reader. Ava’s footsteps echoed mine as I went to the small room filled with monitors and equipment. I grabbed my toothbrush and the clothes I had been wearing when the Galdoni attacked.

  “What are you doing?” Ava asked in surprise.

  “Going back to my room,” I replied shortly.

  “Didn’t Dr. Ray want you here for a few more days? He said you needed monitoring in case you got an infection or the stitches pulled through.”

  I glanced at her. The concern on her face was more than I could take. I felt my control slipping. “I’m not a weakling, Ava. I can take care of myself. You do whatever you want. I’m not going to stop you.”

  I walked past her into the hallway. I had definitely pushed myself too far. The thought of flying up to the ninth floor felt like too much. I walked to the balcony anyway.

  “What are you talking about?” Ava asked, following me. “What is going on, Reece?”

  I forced my wings to open. The pain of the movement had intensified after the long flight. I put a hand against my shoulder, willing it to ease.

  “Maybe we should take the elevator,” Ava suggested, her voice filled with warm concern. “You’re pale and I can tell you’re hurting.”

  Anger that she thought I was weak flooded through me. With the pain and the loss of control I was feeling, I snapped. “I’m fine. You’d be better without me, Ava, and you know it.”

  I stepped off the balcony. It wasn’t my smartest moment. My muscles had locked up and my right wing didn’t want to respond at all. The left managed only to slow my fall and spin me enough so that it looked like I would smash into the Galdoni Center before plummeting to the ground. That would be a fine death; the honorable crashing into a building before plunging to a bone-breaking stop on the sidewalk. They didn’t teach us that at the Academy.

  A hand grabbed mine. I looked up to see the determination on Ava’s face as she pushed her wings hard to slow my descent. We landed on the grass and I collapsed on my back. She joined me, her chest rising and falling as she fought to catch her breath from the exertion.

  “That was stupid,” I admitted when I could get my mind around the fact that I wasn’t dead.

  “Yes, it was,” Ava replied. There was anger in her voice. She rose up on one elbow and demanded, “What were you thinking? That falling to your death would be fun?”

  I held up a hand, but couldn’t gather the strength to do more than that. “To be honest, I thought I could still fly.”

  She shook her head, her black hair sliding past her shoulder. “Why do you think I suggested the elevator? You looked like you were nearly dead already.”

  I cracked a smile. “I thought you suggested it out of spite. I’d rather die out here than in there.”

  She let out an angry huff at that and slapped my good shoulder. “Reece, you need to pull it together. I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”

  The worry in her tone ate at my stubborn pride. I wanted to fight, to hit so
mething and put all of my anger into it, but at the moment I couldn’t stand and so I had to settle for the truth. “I heard Randy ask you to the prom.”

  Ava fell silent. I glanced up at her, but she was silhouetted by the sun. I shielded the light from my eyes in an attempt to see her expression. When I did, my heart skipped a beat.

  “You thought I would say yes,” she said quietly. She touched my cheek, her hand gentle. Her eyebrows pulled together. “Why would I say yes?”

  I forced myself up onto one elbow. “Because he’s your key to a normal life, Ava.”

  A slight, sad smile touched her lips and she shook her head. “There are no normal lives, Reece.”

  “Have you been talking to Saro?” I asked.

  “What?” She gave me a confused look.

  “Never mind.” I took a calming breath. “I just feel like I stand in the way of the simple life you want. With me, you’ll always be reminded that you’re different. You should go with Randy. Don’t worry about me. You have my blessing.”

  I studied the grass under my hand. After a moment, I settled back so that I was laying on it once more with sunlight bathing my face. I closed my eyes. It would be easy for Ava to leave and save face. She didn’t owe me anything. She was her own person.

  “I told Randy no,” she said.

  There was a funny tone to her voice that made me open my eyes. I glanced up at her, forgetting about the sun. It was so bright it made my eyes water. I shielded them from the light. “What? Why?”

  She gave me a little smile. “Because we have nothing in common. All he wants to talk about is football, and I was hoping somebody else would ask me even though he hasn’t shown any indication of doing so.”

  I frowned at that. Another surge of jealous filled me so strong my hands clenched into fists. “Who? Brian?”

  Ava laughed. The sound was so light it chased the anger from my chest like a balloon popped with a pin. She pushed my shoulder. “You, silly. I’ve been waiting for you to ask.”

  Realization flooded me. I covered my face with my hands. “I’ve been so stupid,” I said.