NOVEL NEXT Book 2 Ch. 1 The Proposal
When I woke up, I was still writhing in pain. I didn’t know where I was. I knew we weren’t in that creep’s makeshift facility. The trees were palms. When I tried to move, I was met with force. As I tried to move again, there was a thump on my head.
“Stay still, my love. You’re bleeding.” I heard Taylor say. I groaned in defeat. My girlfriend worked fast to call her sister. Wherever we were, it wasn’t home. I didn’t hear any people, so apparently, we weren’t near any civilization. I tried to listen to what Taylor was saying, but the pain was too much. The blood was coagulating to my fur, making it feel more like plastic, rather than fur.
“Ashley is on her way,” Taylor said. As if to emphasize it, Ashley appeared before us.
“Thank God you were in Florida. We were starting to think that you went to another world.” Ashley said as she landed on my shoulder. I winced. Though the wound was nowhere near my shoulder, it felt like it was everywhere. She must have noticed me wince, because she flew over to her sister's shoulder. I heard another crack, and there was some weird woman coming through a portal, followed by Mandy. I couldn’t believe the look on her face when she saw me. It was as if she was seeing a ghost. You would think after some of the battles that we had; she would be used to seeing this kind of thing.
“Hey, I didn’t know you could teleport,” I said gruffly, trying not to breath to sharply. If only I could heal myself, but for some reason I couldn’t. I wondered if it was due to the goddess. “I can’t. Ashley can open portals between places remember. I needed to get something before I came, so Ashley opened another portal when I was ready,” Mandy said rushing to my side. With quick reflexes, she placed her hand over the wound. I could feel her energy flowing through me. I could feel each fiber of my skin as it slowly came together. The light emitting between her hand and my wound blinding me momentarily.
“By the way. Where is your dad,” Mandy asked. I forgot that she didn’t actually hear what that asshole had said. Sighing, I sat up, stretching my wings to full extent. It really hurt laying on my wings like that. I willed my wings to disappear and then looked at Mandy. There was something about her that I hadn’t noticed before. Though demonic in look, if you looked past the skin color, tail, and wings, she was very beautiful. I mean, I had admired her looks before, but seeing her now, I could really see just how beautiful she was. But so was Taylor. God my little cat girl was amazing.
“He’s not my dad. He is an imposter who used my dad's look to gain access to the island. He took Maddison, but that’s all I know,” I said, looking up at Taylor, hoping that she could tell us where he had gone. But she looked down.
“I didn’t see him either. Neither of them actually. I was so worried about stopping the bleeding and making sure to get Mandy here to save you,” Taylor said. I could see tears starting to well up in her eyes. Lightly, I brushed her cheek. I really hated seeing her cry. She leaned into my hand.
“Well, we need to get back. Mr. Carver will be waiting for us for an update. There is nothing that we can do right now,” Ashley said as she lazily waved her hand. With the sound of a crack, a portal opened in front of us. One by one, we went through the portal. I felt a chill run down my spine as I stepped up to the portal. I was never going to get used to these things. I vowed right then and there that when I needed to travel somewhere long distance, I was going to take a plane from now on.
After briefing Mr. Carver, he suggested that we go home and leave searching for that man to him. There was no arguing from anyone. I guess you could say we were tired of playing hero for a while. While I was happy about that, there was something deep down that almost made me want to vomit about leaving Maddison in that guy's hands. I may be tired of playing a hero, but I had a heart. I decided that I was going to do some digging when I had time.
When Taylor and I got home, I went straight for the shower. While Mandy did heal me, I didn’t plan on walking around with caked-on blood. Just the sight of it sent a pain to my stomach. I had just gotten out of the shower when there was a knock at the door. I heard the shuffling of feet, and the front door opening. I wondered who it could be, because everyone had decided to go home for the night. We had had too much action for one day. I was just about to get the drier when I heard a voice that brought a chill to my bones. Without much thought, I slammed the door open and immediately jumped at the person who looked like my dad.
“WHOA. WHOA. WHOA. Easy there. I’m not here to hurt you Angel,” the man said. In a split second, I opened my wings and pulled a feather out with one hand, while the other secured the man.
“WHERE IS MADDISON,” I yelled, holding the feather blade to his throat. I was going to get an answer out of him, even if I had to cut him into small pieces.
“I have no idea who you are talking about, but I can assure you, I am your father,” the man said trying to reach up and touch my face. I instinctively jerked away. I was not going to be fooled by this man’s tricks. He killed my mother, took Maddison, and stabbed me leaving me for dead.
“Very well, I guess I have to prove it,” the man said with a sigh. Without warning, a pair of white wings materialized behind him. The wings were much larger than mine, the tips of each feather encased in gold. They were the most amazing wings I had ever seen. But dad didn’t have wings. He couldn’t. I had known him my entire life and never once did I see him with wings. This had to be another trick, but I didn’t want to be wrong.
“Tell me something that only you would know. Something that even that creature, or whatever the thing is wouldn’t know,” I said. YES, now I could catch him in the lie and finally find Maddison.
“When you were about 9, your mom was at work. I caught you in our bedroom with your moms dress on. You said you wanted to look just as pretty as she was,” he said. I would have said that he could have learned that when he stole my dad's identity, but there was something in his eyes that told me that he was speaking the truth. Slowly and shamefully, I willed the feather away and got off of my dad. I allowed him just enough time to sit up before pouncing him again, hugging tightly against him as the tears came pouring down. When I was a boy, I would never have done this. But, now in this body, it felt right. My dad didn’t say anything. Just sat there, wrapping his massive arms around me, holding me just as tight.
It was several minutes before I finally let go. Then it dawned on me again. My dad had wings. How was that possible.
“I can see the look in your eyes, and I will explain in due time. I just wanted to come and make sure that you were alright. After the funeral, that thing came and locked me away. It wasn’t until your friends were cleaning the facility out that they found me,” dad said. I nodded, though I was a little upset that he wasn’t going to tell me why he had wings. So, the goddess didn’t give me these wings. I wondered briefly if her powers just morphed with whatever I was. Before I could say anything else, my dad put a finger against my lips. “I can tell that you have had a rough day. Get some sleep and we can talk about it tomorrow. I hope you girls don’t mind an old man crashing with you tonight. I don’t really feel like driving home.” I shook my head, then looked at Taylor.
“I don’t mind if fuzz Butt here is alright with it,” Taylor said before sticking her tongue out at me. I copied her, grumbling to myself as I got up off the floor.
After a well-cooked meal, dad, Taylor and I sat down to watch a movie. There was a bit of an argument over which movie we should watch. Eventually we decided on Ten Things I Hate about You. Yes, I know, stereotypical girl right. What could I say. I had always been into what people called chick flicks. Don’t even get me started on
Titanic. I could watch that movie a hundred times, and it still wouldn’t get old.After the movie was over, Taylor and I headed to bed. Dad took my old room for the night. Strangely, it didn’t feel weird having dad staying here. My only question was, where was my sister. My guess was, she was at my aunts still. I hoped she wasn’t worried. But then again, my sister was a pretty smart girl. She got that from mom. Not that dad wasn’t smart, but, my sister had always been more like mom, while I was more like dad. Well, other than being a girl.
“You were reckless back there. What were you thinking my love. What would I have done if you died?” Taylor asked as the tears began to well up again in her eyes. At this point, she was going to make me a puddle. I reached for her and pulled her into me. For a girl who was very controlling in bed, she seemed so delicate right now. I wondered if part of it was due to her parents. After all, they had thrown her out for something that she couldn’t control. Instead of answering her, I wiped her face and just held her.
Once she was finished crying, she looked up at me. I could tell that there was something on her mind, but I was worried about what she was going to say next. I could feel her body start to shake, and her hands, though placed on my back, were trembling. I started to panic. Was she having an anxiety attack? I could only imagine what she had felt, me lying on the ground bleeding out. How had I been so stupid.
Without warning, Taylor broke our embrace. There was a look of fear and pain in her eyes. It was a look I could have lived without seeing. Slowly, Taylor took my hands and held them up between us. She bit her lip for a long time. So long, that I could see where her teeth were starting to tear the top layer of skin off them.
“Angel....I... Know we haven’t known each other very long, but...in this time of confusion and chaos, I have learned one thing. Life....is too short.... to live it alone,” Taylor said before pausing. She looked down at her knees for a moment, her lips moving faintly. My guess was that she was talking to herself about something. She seemed to be encouraging herself to do something, though I was starting to worry.
“Taylor, I am sorry I was reckless. I promise with everything in me, I will not put you in that kind of position again. Taylor looked up at me and gave a weak smile, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she looked back down at the ground and continued her little talk with herself.
After a few more moments of her inaudible talking to herself, Taylor looked up at me with a very determined look. It was as if she was at a spelling be and she knew how to spell the word. Slowly, she took a deep breath and said “ Angel....Will...You...Will you marry me?”
