Project Songbird

Chapter 22

I peek open an eye as I hear footsteps make their way towards me.
It's Hailey.
"I wish we could bring you to the city with us." She sounds sad.
"It's quite alright, I have accepted that my presence could make things difficult for us." I take in a deep breath and then hold it for a few seconds before letting it out. I was working on meditating in the sun.
"Does it hurt to be so close to home?" She asks me.
"Surprisingly, no." I relax my shoulders.
"Do you want me to pick up anything specific?" She asks. She was full of questions.
"No thank you. Just be careful and enjoy the trip." I reply.
"Yup! I can do that!" She grins before she hurries off to join Wade's small group that was in charge of buying Festival of Lights decorations. I watch them leave before standing and stretching. It had been a week since we all took a bath in the hot springs.
It's been rather peaceful.
"Do you mind if I join you?"
I turn my head to see Tyler, "No, I don't mind."
He moves over to stand nearby and starts to do some stretches, "Amy says I need to stretch to keep my body from getting too stiff."
"It must be uncomfortable to sleep on your stomach." I speculate.
"A little bit." Tyler replies.
"Are you feeling better?" I shift my position and then let out a breath.
"Physically? I guess?" He mutters as he moves to copy me.
"Mentally?"
He doesn't answer me.
I stand up from my position, "D-do you need to talk about it?"
Tyler focuses his gaze on the ground, "I'd rather not."
Maybe I could get him to open up?
"Do you think I would like to read any of your books?" I change the conversation and go back to more yoga.
"Do you have any specific genres that you like?" He shifts his position, grunting at his stiffened muscles beginning to work again. I thought about his question, "No, not really."
"Well I mostly read romance." Tyler reminds me.
"Oh, right! I remember now." I nod.
"Yeah, I guess I just really enjoyed reading romance." Tyler shrugs his shoulders, he's trying to hold his position but his body is starting to shake under the new stress.
"Nothing wrong with that. I do have some questions for you." I turn to stretch one arm above my head, the other resting against the ground; stretching my chest.
"Shoot." He replies, relaxing slightly.
"Have you always been able to produce those giant walls??" I ask, referring to the wall he used to keep the soldiers out while we escaped.
"Yes, I have, but I don't use it very often because it just drains my energy to keep them in place." He answers.
"If Andrew was subject 00 and Felix is subject 01, what does that make you?" I move my position to stand up straight and shift my body as I slowly breathe in and out. Tyler shifts to a standing position as well. He looks up at the sky, letting out a breath, "I don't have a number."
"You don't??" I was confused, "Why wouldn't they give you a number?"
"Not sure. I'm the only guardian so they probably didn't think to use a number." He speculates.
"What did you do before all this started? Were you really a football player?" I decided to end my yoga session. I definitely feel like it's doing me good to stretch. I feel a lot calmer, but that also could be because of Tyler.
"It wasn't really a career." Tyler kept his gaze on the sky, probably taking in the beauty. It must be just as much of a shock to actually be outside and free.
"I didn't really have my purpose yet. I just job hopped until I came to this city. I was supposed to be clearing out trees for a company that hired me. I walked into the woods where they assigned me to work..." He trails off, his body tensing a bit at his recollection of his kidnapping. He lets out a heavy breath and brings his gaze back to the ground, shaking his head, "... it's hard to believe that we're here."
"Yeah, it's interesting." I admit.
"I want to thank you." He catches me by surprise.
"Thank me?"
"Yeah, I want to thank you for being so stubborn. We kept shutting you down, trying to get you to drop the escape idea, yet you kept shoving your nose into old wounds that we didn't want to face. Bringing to light that I had put everyone in danger by keeping so much information to myself. At the time I thought I was making the right decision. I thought I could shoulder it all. Everyone had other things to worry about, family, friends. I had no one. I thought if I could gather enough information, I could somehow find a way to free everyone." He takes a few steps back and rakes his fingers through his curly mop.
He's talking, that's good.
I move closer to listen to him.
"But as the years went by, I never got any closer to finding a way out. The problem just kept getting bigger and bigger." He turns away from me, pacing slightly now.
"Tyler? Don't stress yourself." I step to follow him, but he doesn't act like he hears me. He crossed his arms in a motion like he was hugging himself, trying to block out the memories that he was speaking through. "It just got worse. I should have spoken up a long time ago."
"You made the decision that you thought was the right one at the time. You didn't know that it was going to turn out this way, you can't hold that blame because nobody blames you." I tell him, "No one here thinks it's your fault. I think you are being rather harsh on yourself."
"Harsh?" He scoffs lightly, "Ethan, I knew everything and chose to keep it to myself. I don't think I'm being harsh enough."
"Tyler..." I start.
"No Ethan, you're not understanding what I mean. I knew everything." He cuts me off, stressing his words.
"You knew everything?" I question, trying to understand him. He nodded his head, "They showed everything in a conference with the people. From the creator themselves to the scientists. I knew from the beginning who was on the list to be kidnapped next. I saw everything. I saw all the changes to everyone. I could have stopped them yet I didn't. I just watched it from the sidelines."
"To everyone?"
"Yes, everyone. Andrew may have been subject 00 for Project Songbird, but they had been working on me for at least a year before he volunteered himself." His voice is softer now.
"You're the beginning."
"I was the very first. They knew if they were going to play God, they first needed some creature with the force to protect them in case of an attack. I watched it all unfold. The torture. The experimental testing." His voice breaks.
I don't know what to say. This information wasn't what I was expecting from him.
"...after me they found more humane ways to change DNA strands."
I take a better look at him, his scars.
The new ones were healed up well and would fade pretty soon, but there were scars that were deep and nasty looking.
I reach forward and touch his back.
He freezes. His back is warm.
"You've been through a lot." I whisper.
He doesn't move.
"To you these are reminders of a horrible time, to me they are proof that you held your ground. Your story litters your skin." I move my fingers, slowly tracing over the scars. "Maybe they look horrible to you, but I think they're beautiful."
"Beautiful?" He repeats softly.
"Yes, I think they are very beautiful."
He stays still as my fingers dance over his back, tracing all of the scars.
"Tyler, I have something to tell you, and maybe my timing is wrong, but..." I sigh before gathering my courage, "...I've had feelings for you for a while."
"Feelings?" He shifts around to face me and I glance away, afraid to meet his eyes.
"Ethan, could you look at me?"
I met his gaze. I can feel my cheeks heat up at my name rolling off his tongue. It makes my heart leap.
"You have feelings for me?" He sounds dumbfounded. As if it wasn't possible for someone to find him attractive, to find his quiet nature alluring.
I nod my head, afraid to trust my mouth to speak the way my heart feels.
"For me?" He points at himself.
I nod again.
"Why? There's nothing special about me." He says.
"There's plenty of special things about you. I love your caring nature. Your willingness to help others without a second thought. You're quiet, which makes you pretty mysterious yet it also makes you calming to be around, especially with everyone else's loud and clashing personalities. I love the way your eyes light up when you hangout with your friends. Or the way you seem to make everything easier. Around you I can think clearly. I forget my worries. I feel safe. Plus you're hot." I ramble.
His face gets redder the more I talk.
"I don't mean to bomb you with this sudden information. I just didn't know how to tell you, it never felt like the right time."
"That's why it caused the transformation." He utters, it finally clicks in his head.
"Yeah, and I understand that this is a lot right now. You don't have to give me any kind of answer. I just thought I'd get it off my chest, finally." I hope to ease his conscience. He's quiet and I can see that he is thinking everything over.
"Hey Ethan! Can you give us a hand!" It's Hailey, they must have gotten back from the city with the decorations and I'm sure she wants to tell me about the trip. I turn towards her voice and wave, "Yeah! I'm coming!" I turn back to Tyler, "I guess I'm going to help, why don't you relax in the sun?"
He gives a small nod.
I smile and turn away from him, taking a few steps but something grabs my wrist and tugs me backwards.
I don't have a second to think before I'm pulled into a tight hug.
"Thank you for everything." Tyler whispers. "It's been a long time since I've felt like someone is seeing me for me."
I hugged him back, "Of course."
He pulls away and lets me go.
His look doesn't give me overwhelming hopelessness, but it makes me happy.
"You look better when you smile." I smile as I turn to leave Tyler and go help with the decorations.

"The trip was a lot of fun!" Hailey smiles as she is putting string through a few of the decorations. "I got to eat a hotdog!"
"Oh, yeah, hotdogs are pretty good." I chuckle at her enthusiasm, glancing at her father. Felix was sitting in a chair nearby, busying himself with trying to screw all the little light bulbs in place.
"How come the lights have to be screwed on?" I had never seen those before.
"Oh, the shop owner-"
"Manager." Wade corrects, putting up streamers.
"...manager said that it was all they had left." Hailey shrugs her shoulders.
"Hm, anyways besides eating a hotdog for the first time, what else did you achieve?" I ask.
"Well let's see," Hailey taps her hand on the table in thought, "We wandered around the city a little bit. Wade said that he wanted to check something out so he left the group at a park. It was beautiful and there were little children running around everywhere."
"Wade left you at a park?" Felix lifts his gaze, and despite the fact that he wasn't looking at me, I could still feel his intense glare.
"Ah, uh..." Wade turns around, "Only briefly. Everyone was perfectly safe and I was still close enough to read the area around them. They were in no danger whatsoever!" He's quick with defense.
"What was so important that you had to leave my daughter at the park?" Felix stands up, I can hear the hiss snake pass his lips. I turned to him, "Easy, Felix, everyone made it back alright, no need to get hostile."
His glare is turned on me for a fraction of a second and I can feel the icy chill slide down my spine. I shiver.
He looks back at Wade, "Don't make me repeat myself."
Wade shuffles uncomfortably, "It's kind of private information Felix."
The air in our little spot becomes thick and almost like there's static just floating through the air. The hairs on the back of my neck bristles.
Is he going to start a fight?? Now of all times??
I stand as well, unsure if I should jump in the middle of the situation.
"There's not a problem here, is there?" Tyler's voice suddenly reverberates throughout my chest and I relax.
He places a hand on Felix's shoulder, his fingers digging slightly into the man's skin as if giving him a warning. The tension eased just slightly as Felix shrugs Tyler's hand off before stomping away from the group.
"...he's angry." Wade gulps.
"I didn't mean to expose you Wade, I didn't know Father was going to react so harshly." Hailey apologizes.
"Don't sweat it." Wade waves off her apology, "He's always been that way. I don't think the Project did it either, he seems to be a naturally angry man."
"You think so??" Hailey watches her father's back as he stomps away from us. She didn't sound convinced that he was naturally angry.
"For all we know." Wade shuffles and goes back to putting the streamers up.
I tilt my head a bit and then go to follow Felix. Tyler grabs my wrist, he gives me a look of worry. I just smile at him.
It seems to reassure him enough to let me go on my way.

I managed to catch Felix as he was taking out his anger out on a nearby tree.
"What did the tree ever do to you?" I joke. He turns to look at me, taking his normal posture. Again, he glares.
"Do you need something?"
"I just wanted to make sure you are okay." I smile slightly.
He rolls his eyes and turns back to the tree, "It's nothing." He punches the tree and I can see his skin splitting on his knuckles; blood slowly slipping down his hand.
"You're punching a tree, I don't think it's nothing." I leaned against the tree that was behind me. He lets out a huff before turning to me, "What does it matter to you? Are you trying to be everyone's therapist??"
"Well no, but it clearly bothers you." I gesture to his situation.
"Just leave me alone." He requests.
"But you're snapping at everyone." I counter.
"So what!" He snaps.
"It's putting everyone on edge and we just left a pretty stressful environment." I state, crossing my arms.
Felix glares at me and I try not to show my discomfort.
"Ethan, you can't fix everything by talking. You can't fix me."
"Or you don't want to be fixed."
His eyes glow slightly at me, "I'm going to give you only one warning,"
"What? You're going to fight me?" I take a small step back, "I'm not trying to irritate you, I really want to help you."
"Well stop trying!" He burst, taking a menacing step forward. His wings snap out of his back and I remember back to the first time I saw him.
"You can't fix everyone! Sometimes people are just broken!" He takes a few more steps forward. Instinctually I take steps back, holding out my hands, "Alright alright! I'm sorry! I'll leave you alone."
"Then get away from me." He growls.
I nod and quickly turn away from him.
He's going to be a tough nut to crack.
I leave him to angrily punch trees.