Project Songbird

Chapter 2

I feel my wings drop down to the ground as fear begins to take hold of my body.
"Let's go!" Wade urges as Bob grabs my wrist tightly, jerking me in a direction.
I turn to follow them as we race out of the cafeteria and out into a hallway.
"Are we going to get away in time??" I turn to look at the door behind us.
"Mark and Jack still retain a bit of sense and should be able to keep Andy away long enough for us to get some kind of distance between us." Bob puffs as we jerk around a corner.
"Can you fly yet?" Wade asks me and then they both let out a sound. I guess they read my mind before I had a chance to tell them that I've had zero flight training.

They pull me into what looked to be a storage room. Wade stands near the door as Bob leads me over to an oak chest. "Stay here, and stay down."
Wade glances over to Bob as they stuff me into the chest, "Either Bob or myself will come to get you."
"What about you guys?" I ask, pulling my wings against my body.
"We'll be fine. This isn't the first rampage we've been apart of." Bob reassures me as he begins to close the lid. "Sorry for the small space." And then I was completely encased in darkness.
All I could hear was my heart thumping in my chest and my soft breath beat against the lid.

It was hard to tell how long I had been in the chest. I was beginning to get cramps in my back. I push against the lid to see if I could open it and maybe stretch for a minute.
The hinges creak as the lid slowly raises.
I sit up as I open the lid all the way and glance around the dark room. They must've turned the lights off to keep them off my trail.
I stand up and wince, stretching my wings out to relieve the cramping muscles, "Ow, note to self: never stuff a guy with wings in a small space."
"Here Birdie," I hear a teasing voice from out in the hallway and I feel my blood freeze in my body.
"Here, Birdie, Birdie, I don't want to hurt you. I just want to play a little game~" the voice continues and I see a figure slowly making their way towards the door.
I immediately drop down into the chest and swiftly close the lid.
"Ah-!" I slam my hand over my mouth as tears slip down my face. I had closed the lid on my wing. I bite down on my finger as the pain just jolts down my body. There was nothing I could do to fix it as I was certain that the man outside heard my scream.
The lid is thrown open and a hand grabs onto the front of my nightgown, jerking me up to face him.
"Let go!" I shout.
He grins at me, "Found you~"
Fear locks in on me as my eyes meet his. He no longer looks human.
His eyes were now a blood color, no white and no pupils.
His skin was completely black? Maybe tar? His fingers were now long, sharp claws and his teeth were just as sharp.
His grin widens, "This is a simple fix." He brings back his other arm and thrusts it forward. The sharp claws stab straight through my midsection and I cough out a mouthful of blood, "AH-!"
"I can't allow anyone to stop me from proving my power!" His voice grinds my ears as my wings pump, trying to dislodge myself.
He jerks his claws from me and then throws me through the doorway.
My head collides with the wall and my vision swims as I sink to the cold floor, blood oozing underneath me.
I'm going to die!
I couldn't muster the energy to move as he slowly stalks out of the room and stands in the doorway, "What's wrong little Birdie? No one taught you to fight?" His mocking voice sounds haunting as I begin to lose consciousness. He takes a couple of steps forward.
This is it...
I close my eyes and accept my fate.

When I open my eyes again, there's a bright light above me and I wince, covering my eyes.
"Oh, sorry about that." I hear a voice and then a bit of a clicking sound, "There, should be dimer now."
I move my hand from over my eyes and blink a few times as they adjust to the lower lighting.
My gaze slowly makes it around the room before landing on a woman standing near me, "You're awake now, you feel okay?"
"Kind of tired..." I reply.
"That's normal." She nod as she looks at me, "But you were given a life threatening injury, and you almost bit the dust, luckily for you; Tyler showed up when he did."
"...what happened??" I look down at my abdomen, where it was wrapped tightly with bandages.
"Andy found you hiding in the storage room and he violently stabbed you through your midsection. From what I heard he threw you out into the hallway before stepping forward to finish you off but you lost consciousness right as Tyler tackled Andy away." She explains, gesturing to Tyler. He was sitting in a chair, his long legs stretched out in front of him and his head resting on his arms as he was hunched over in an uncomfortable looking position, sleeping.
"Is he a-alright?" I express concern.
The woman gives a smile, "Oh yeah, he's just sleeping."
"I mean from the fight." I explain.
"Tyler suffered minor injury." She gives a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, "His tougher skin makes it extremely difficult to cause him bodily harm."
I nod, taking in the information, looking back over to Tyler. He seemed peaceful.
"How long has he been there?"
"Only a few days." She answered.
"A few days-!" My voice squeaks and I clear my throat, "What?"
"Yeah, he's been sitting there since you were brought to the medical ward." She shoves her hands into her scrub pockets, her blonde hair bouncing slightly as a knock at the door grabs her attention.
There stands Mark, Bob, Wade, and Jack.
"Amy, can we come in?" Mark tilts his head to peek further into the room.
"Yes, you can, the patient is awake and speaking." Amy replies as she scoots out of the way of the men hurrying over.
"Ethan, are you okay?" Mark asks.
Jack narrows his eyes and smacks the back of Mark's head, "What kind of question is that? Clearly he's not okay, he's been unconscious for several days fighting for his life."
"Guys, guys, I'm alright." I try to ease them so they don't start a squabble.
"I just wanted to thank you guys for helping me."
"No problem." Bob smiles.
"Andy hasn't made his way in yet, has he?" Wade turns to Amy.
Why ask her? Can't he just read her mind?
"No, not yet." Amy shakes her head.
"Telepaths can't read everyone's mind." Bob starts to explain, "And the scientists probably want Andy to try and interact with Ethan while he's human to hopefully change his mind about power dominance." He rolls his eyes.
"Andy is supposed to come here to me??" Dread grips me, "Why would I want to see him?? He tried to kill me!"
I take in a breath and let it out as my hands start to shake with nerves.
"He doesn't have to enter the room if you don't want him to." Amy chimes in, her hand carefully grabbing mine.
Her touch is cold and it shocks me out of my panic, "You're cold."
"Yup, vampires aren't warm blooded." Amy smiles and then I see some of her pointy teeth, I guess her fangs.
"Vampire doctor?" I question.
She laughs, "Kind of weird, right? A blood drinker working with blood."
I blush, embarrassed, and stammer as I try to back track my words, "Wait, that's not-"
"It's okay Ethan, I'm not offended. I've had years to come to terms with what they have done to me." She pats my shoulder before walking over to a little side table to grab a clipboard.
I nervously chew on my bottom lip.
"Ethan, are you okay?" Mark spoke a bit softer, his warm hand clasps mine.
"...just a lot to process." I utter.
"You can talk to us if you want." Jack smiles gently.
"You can't go in there!" Amy's voice comes from outside the room, "Andy stop!"
The room immediately fills with tension as Andy steps inside.
I stare wide eyed at the man.
He had light hair and dark skin.
His eyes were kind of a yellowish color that reminded me of a cat.
He was somewhere between the height of Mark and Bob.
He wore a plain t-shirt and jeans.
We stared at each other.
He looked annoyed to be here.
"I'm supposed to apologize for almost killing you, so I'm sorry."
His voice sounded flat.
He didn't sound sincere, clearly he was just doing as he was told by those above him.
I wasn't sure what came over me but I just started to cry.
The tears rolled down my face.
"Get out Andy!" Mark growls.
"Not until he accepts it!" Andy growls back.
"You're just stressing him out!" Jack barks, shoving the slightly taller man towards the door.
Andy shoves Jack back causing Mark to catch him. Andy jerks forward like he's going to strike both men when a large hand grips Andy's wrist and jerks his arm upwards, "They said back off."
It's Tyler.
He towers over everyone and he narrows his eyes at Andy.
His voice is gravelly and a light baritone that reverberates deep within my chest.
Andy steps back, trying to jerk his hand out of Tyler's grasp. Clearly the giant makes him extremely uncomfortable.
The fight between them must've been brutal.
"Fine, fine...jeez..." Andy mutters as Tyler releases his wrist and glares as he leaves the room.
Amy hurries back in, "Are you all okay?"
"Physically? Yeah." Jack dusts himself off. Tyler turns and then makes his way over to me. His harsh glare melts into a soft look, "It's good to see you awake, are you comfortable? Do you need anything?"
"Oh, uh- no, no I'm okay, thank you though." I stammer, heat rushing to my face at his kind words. Now that he was closer, I could definitely see why they said he was a stone giant. His skin was rough looking, as if the stone was just barely hiding below the surface.
"Alright guys, that's enough visiting for today, we need to let Ethan rest. You all can come back tomorrow and see how he is doing then." Amy's voice breaks through our eye contact.
His eyes slowly move over my figure and then he stands up straighter.
He gives a quiet goodbye and then heads out the door.
Mark, Jack, Bob, and Wade also say their goodbyes before following Tyler out the door.
"Tomorrow we will check how well your wound has healed and then we will try to get you up and out of bed." Amy smiles at me as another knock comes from the door. We turn to see a woman. She smiles softly, "Amy, are we still on for tonight?"
"Yes, I'm just finishing up here and then we can head out." Amy smiles back and then turns to me, "Try to get some rest. The night staff will be here soon and if you get hungry, you can request something to eat."
"Amy," I start.
"Yes?" She asks.
"Are we trapped here forever?"
She falls silent at my question. Almost like she didn't know the answer herself, "I think once you're a bit more healthy, we'll explain everything to you."
"But-?"
"It's a lot to take in and I don't think you are mentally stable enough right now. Mark informed me that you believe you have been here for a month and both Bob and Wade confirm that you arrived here only two weeks ago." She shakes her head, continuing to speak but my thoughts were spiraling out of control.
Two weeks!
Two weeks!!
I have only been trapped here for two weeks!!!!
The sudden jarring of time made me shudder violently.
"...and when things calm a bit, we'll talk." She pats my shoulder before turning to leave the room with her friend.
"Two weeks..." I whisper, "... impossible."