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In the Attic
Chapter 6
Zain sat alone on his bed, angry tears in his eyes. After Maschera left with a group of friends, (the younger members seemed to fear him), everyone that had been so admiring when he unfurled his wings made fun of him. Sentinella hadn’t ridiculed his fear, but he didn’t do anything to stop the others from making Zain fell like a stupid coward; he just stood there, analyzing him with a trained eye.
Fuoco stood on his shoulder and whined, nuzzling Zain’s cheek in sympathy. Riley knocked on the door, but Zain didn’t rise to open it. This place was just like everywhere else he’d ever been. He’d been laughed at, yelled at, chased away, even bombarded with rocks, but this was worst of all. He had actually been tricked into thinking that he could fit in somewhere.
Cursing Riley and the Shadows for deceiving him, he crept out the window onto the roof of the run down building adjoining the church, just as Riley opened the door to find him gone. He raced along the rooftops, as fast he could, until he reached the end of the block.
Zain jumped down onto the cobblestones, spreading his wings to slow the fall. At least these cursed wings are good for something… he thought, his temper calming. Fuoco flew behind him, trying his best to keep up with his master.
After running a while through dark alleys and over bridged canals, Zain finally began to tire. He searched for a place to hide, keeping an eye out in case Riley actually followed him for some reason. Soon he came upon a large wall that surrounded the grounds of a large mansion. Surely Riley wouldn’t dare to venture in here, thought Zain, as he scaled the wall.
He peeked cautiously over the top, a spotted a large stable beneath him. After making sure there were no guards, he jumped down onto its roof, and quickly ducked inside.
There were at least ten beautiful stallions and mares asleep in their stalls. The giant white Arabian in the stall nearest to Zain looked fit for a King. He read the gold plate on its door and saw that his name was . Zain crept toward the back, careful not to wake the horses and startle them. Thankfully, Fuoco somehow understood that he had to be quiet, and flew to the back, pointing out two empty stalls.
Zain was relieved to see that they were clean, and laid down on the soft hay. He tried to sleep, but found he couldn’t, so he looked at pictures of the horses that normally occupied his stalls. They were both black as sin, and fittingly, their names were Raven and Midnight.
Fuoco was playing with a single piece of straw, dropping it from the ceiling and then diving down to catch it before it hit the ground. Zain almost laughed, but then remembered where he was, and simply smiled. He wondered if the horses would be able to see him, then thought if they woke up, he might scare them. As he reached up to call Fuoco down, he heard something in his head.
It sounded like Reeku, but it was far away. Zain tried to block it, but when he felt the sadness and desperation in Reeku’s calls, he felt sorry for him. He was beginning to consider going back to show Reeku that he was alright. He got up in the stall and walked out of it, thinking. Just then, the door opened.
Framed in the moonlight were three people, though Zain only looked at one. She was a young girl, perhaps his age, and not only was she beautiful, she had a pair of angelic white wings. The other two were large guards, who drew their swords when they saw Zain. The girl just stared in amazement at Zain, who mirrored her astonishment, making no move to defend himself from the oncoming guards.
Suddenly, she screamed. The guards twirled around, and rushed back to her side. She said that she saw a hunter trying to get into the mansion, and the guards rushed off, completely forgetting Zain. She hadn’t even looked at the mansion. Was she… trying to protect him?
She ran over, grabbed his hand, and when Zain tried to pull away, she just told him to be quiet. The angel girl tugged him over to the side of the stable, where they were hidden by bushes. They crouched down, and Zain saw a large hidden hole in the wall. The only reason he didn’t make a run for it from the crazy girl was because she was the only other person he had seen with wings of any kind.
“You have dragon wings!” she blurted out.
“You have angel’s wings!” he said not a second after. He suddenly became wary. “Why did you help me?”
“They were going to kill you! Besides, you have dragon wings!”
“You said that already.”
“You have a dragon, too!?” Zain started.
“… You can see him?”
“Of course, I can. He’s right there,” she said, pointing at Fuoco. “How could I miss a dragon?”
“… Never mind.” Up close, he could see that she was wearing a tiara in her platinum blond hair. Suddenly, she reached towards him, touching his necklace. He flinched away; did she have no aspect of personal space?
“… Where did you get that?” she asked. Zain didn’t know, but didn’t let her on to it.
“Why should I tell you?” She reached into her blouse and pulled out a crystal necklace carved into a heart attached to a gold chain. Zain stared in awe. It was carved the same way, and had the same strange symbol on the back. They stared into each other’s eyes, his scarlet, hers blue.
“Who are you?” they said in unison. Then they heard the guards calling for a princess.
“I have to go,” she said quickly. She plucked one of her giant white feathers and gave it to Zain. “For good luck.” Zain looked quickly around for something to give her; it seemed only fair. His eyes landed on a bright purple wild flower. He plucked it and gave it to her.
“For friendship?” he asked. She smiled and nodded hurriedly.
“Now run!” She shoved him through the hole, and went back to the guards, saying she had just been picking flowers.
As Zain ran back towards the church, he savored the thought of his third friend ever, and clutched the feather tightly. He didn’t even know her name, but by God, she was breath-taking when she smiled.
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