Flesh and Feathers (19 page)

After several hours, I realized I had sadly misjudged my abilities to get to shore. The sea was merciless, and the waves became heavy–crashing against the boat.

I killed the engine, saving what little fuel I had left. I decided to wait for dawn to break. Maybe I would have a better chance when daylight came of finding land. Even that too seemed hopeless, but I had to try.

I lay down on the floorboard of the boat, looking up at the stars that were swiftly vanishing from the sky. I waited for the sun to make its way over the horizon. But when it did, I didn’t get up. The more I thought about it, the more impossible it seemed. Even with the sun, there was nothing but ocean. I would never make it to land in time…. I would never make it to Jen in time.

Rolling to my side, I pulled my knees to my chest. My stomach rumbled with hunger, and I wonder what would kill me first… the ocean or starvation.
 

A flock of seagulls flew above me, squawking loudly as they headed out to sea for their morning feast. I envied them as my stomach grumbled again. But as I lay there, I became aware that the hope I had clung to, was completely gone.
 

Another flock of seagulls flew above me. They were graceful, and I thought how freeing it must be to soar through the sky.
 

Suddenly a memory it hit me…. I remembered Gage had told me about the birds when he had taken me out in the boat. They flew out in the morning to catch fish, and then they would fly back to land in the evening. I jumped to my feet, looking in the direction that they had come from. I squinted my eyes and could see a landmass far off in the distance.
 

It took a couple of tries to get the boat started, but luckily it did. I plowed through the waves, heading towards the land. It was far enough away to make me worry about the fuel, but I tried to push that thought out of my mind and focus on getting there.

I felt relief when I got close enough–if I had to–I could swim to make it. It was a sandy shore, and there was nowhere to dock. I drove along the shoreline, my hand hitting the steering wheel repeatedly with impatience. Finally, I drove up to a remote home that sat on a hill in front of the beach. There was a long dock that led out to the water.

The boat bounced off the dock as I jumped out. The hunger I felt earlier had been replaced with adrenaline. I ran at full speed up the hill to the house.

I wasn’t sure where I was and needed help. Trying to keep low key, I knocked on the door softly instead of banging on it like I wanted to. However, my eagerness got the better of me–and I knocked again, this time with a little more vigor.
   

A little old lady came to the door, holding a small with dog with pink bows in its hair. She looked somewhat uneasy about my presence and spoke through the glass door, not opening it. “Can I help you?” she asked.

“Hi, I’m a little lost.” I tried to keep it short and casual. “I just wanted to see if I could use your phone to call a cab.”

“That’s strange. How did you get here? I’m quite a ways off the main road.” Apparently this lady was a lot smarter than I gave her credit for.

I pointed down to the water at the boat that was beginning to drift out in the ocean because I hadn’t tied it to the dock. “I’ve been in the water all night.”

“Oh dear, are you alright?” With the knowledge of me being lost at sea, changed her demeanor.
 

“Yes, ma’am. I just really need to get to Hillside Cemetery. Do you think you could call a cab company for me?” Hearing the name of the cemetery roll off my tongue made me swallow hard. I had just been there visiting my mother and Mr. Parker… and now, I was going to try and save my friend.

“Hillside Cemetery in Los Angeles?” she questioned in a tone that clued me in that I was much further away than I had hoped.

“How long do you think it will take to get there?” I asked.

“Well, since you’re in Santa Barbara, it’s hard to say. An hour and a half with no traffic, but it could take up to three. I’ll call the cab. You sit out here.”

I smiled and gave a single nod. “Okay. Thank you.”

I sat down on the steps, waiting. A few minutes later, I heard the door open. The lady came out and took a seat beside me.
 

She handed me some toast and a glass of tea. I looked at her strangely, but then remembered how hungry I had felt in the boat.

“I thought you might want something to eat.” She smiled in a way that only spoke kindness.

“Thanks.” I took the toast from her and began tearing it with my hands.

“I’m Ella.”

“Azaleigh,” I responded, holding a hand to my mouth, trying to keep food from flying out.

Ella looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. “Storm’s coming.”

I scowled a little and then looked up. The sun had risen well above the horizon, and I could only guess that it was around eight o’clock in the morning. However, I didn’t see a single cloud.
Was she just trying to make small talk?

“How can you tell?” I asked curiously, but I was having a hard time focusing on the conversation. I kept thinking about Jen.

Her eyes closed like she was trying to hone in on her sixth sense. Opening them, she turned her attention to me. “Things are never what they seem, Dear. There is always something waiting in the midst. You just have to look for the signs.”

For me, that was a sign and maybe a warning to burn those words in my head.

The cab driver pulled up and honked the horn. I turned to Ella as she held out her hand, and I placed mine in hers to say thanks. She pressed something into my palm. When I opened my hand, I realized it was money.

“Oh… I can’t accept this.” I said, trying to give it back to her.

“No, Dear. You keep it. I’m an old lady and have no use for it. It will pay for your cab and for you to get something to eat.” She paused and smiled at me. “Besides, I haven’t seen someone with so much hope in them in a very long time. Thank you.” She drew out the word “you”.

I gave her a wink and took off for the cab.

An hour into the ride, the sky turned a sea of black. The storm began to spit rain.
 
Drop by drop it turned into a solid sheet that pounded against the car. The downpour was so heavy, it was blinding.
 

“Ma’am, we’re going to have to pull over,” the cab driver shouted over the sound of the rain pelting the car.

“I really need to get there. It’s important,” I said, trying to manage the frustration in my voice.

“Sorry, Ma’am, but if we’re going to get there in one piece, we’re going to have to wait until it lets up.”

This was just one more obstacle I would have to accept. I couldn’t say that I hadn’t been warned, as I replayed Ella’s words in my mind.

After sitting for over twenty minutes, the rain had let up enough for the cab driver to see out of the windshield. It took another hour after that–with traffic and the rain–to make it to Los Angeles.

I threw the money at the driver and jumped out. The storm was starting to regain its strength as I ran to the front of the cemetery. The gates were chained shut. I grasped the iron bars as I peered in, the coldness of the steel caused chill-bumps to run up my arms.

Looking up, I knew that there was no way to climb the gates, so I jogged along the fencing looking for any kind of opening. At the north end of the cemetery, there was a break in the fence at the bottom. It appeared that the rain had washed away the soil–leaving a small gap in between the bottom of the fence and the ground.

I lay down and started to slide underneath of it. The wrought iron came to a point, and as I maneuvered under it; the sharp spikes tore into my shirt–leaving small scrapes on my skin. I couldn’t help but choke from the pouring rain that stung my face.
 

Once on the other side, I got up and looked around at the empty graveyard. The statues seemed strange in the darkness and took on a life of their own. The rain was so thick now that I was only able to see a few feet in front of me. I didn’t know where to start.
 

The muddy terrain made it hard to move quickly, and it pulled at my feet as I trudged along. In the near distance, I could see the first of the angel statues. The closer I got to it, I realized it was the statue I had missed on my last trip here. Its solid wings were spread out, and his hands were raised–reaching towards the sky. It was the angel Dekalabrie–Kale.

A nearby tree limb snapped, crashing to the ground with a loud thud, which caused me to stagger back. I needed to get out of the rain. The storm was crippling, and I was unable to think clearly. My feet shuffled quickly, carrying me over the saturated ground. There was a mausoleum in the center of the cemetery that I could take shelter in. I took one final step, but my foot didn’t touch the ground. Losing my balance, I fell forward into a large hole and landed at the bottom.
 

My breathing was rapid, and in the process I had landed in a foot of muddy water. At first I was disorientated. However, that quickly passed. The smell of dirt was overwhelming. I could feel the wet soil all over my clothes–slimy and gritty. I sat up on my knees, frantically wiping my soaked hair from of my face.
 

I was starting to panic, and all I could think about was how to get out of here, when I felt something moved underneath of me. A pale face surfaced from the murky water.

I screamed as I scrambled back against the dirt wall. I dug my fingers into the soil, trying to pull myself out, but the ground was too wet and gave way. I huddled close to the wall that was furthest from the body. I couldn’t look directly at him.
 

I stood there for a few minutes. A mixture of tears and rain covered my face.
Who was this person?
I forced a quick glance at him, noticing that he was roughly my age.
What could he have done to end up like this?
–A nameless, forgotten body in an unmarked grave.

The more I looked at him, the more curious I became. He was wearing a blue collared shirt with a name patch that was covered in mud. I leaned over him, holding my face back. With one of my fingers, I wiped the soil and blood from the small patch. “Oh shit,” I gasped as I read the name, Mitch, embroidered in dark blue.

Jen’s face entrenched itself in my mind. Staring at him, I realized how wrong I was. Mitch would have never hurt Jen and falling in love with her had led him to his death. Now I understood what Jen had meant that day we stood on the north tower.

That still left me concerned with what had happened to Jen. I knew she was still in danger–I had to find her as soon as possible.

I looked around for another way out. My fingers barely touched the top of the grave, and I knew that the ground was too wet for me to pull myself up. I looked over at Mitch. He was my only option to get out.

I placed my hands in the water, wedging them underneath Mitch’s back. I took a deep breath, held it, and faced away from him as I heaved his body inch by inch, until I had him sitting up against the dirt wall. This was the single most disturbing thing I had ever done in my entire life, and I felt sickness edging its way up my throat.

With a quick fluent step on his shoulder, I was able to hoist myself up far enough, so that my elbows were fixed firmly on the ground above. I dug my feet into the dirt wall and used my hands to drag myself out of the open grave.

I rested on the ground, letting the rain beat on my back. Once I had regained enough strength, I pushed my chest off the ground. I was ready to get up when I saw feet planted in front of me. As I rose, my eyes followed the figure up until they were level with his face.

Kano stood directly in front me. The rain ran from my hair and into my eyes, stinging them and blurring my vision. It was hard to see any definition to his face, so when he spoke, I couldn’t see his expression. “You are the Arch?” His words were ridiculing.

I stood in front of him wet and covered with mud. My anger over ran my better judgment to be silent. “Yes I am. And you’re the asshole chasing me, correct?”

He smiled slightly. “You are also bold…, much like your friend Genevieve.”
 

“Where is she?” I asked thinking of Mitch at the bottom of the empty grave and praying my friend had not suffered the same fate.
 

Kano stood in silence.

 
“Please…, just tell me she is okay.” I looked up at him. His face had lost some of the solidity, and I wondered what he was thinking.
How could a creature with no morality or feelings look so distraught?
However, it only lasted for a moment.

I was irritated with his stillness. He wouldn’t respond. “You better pray that Kale doesn’t find you,” I hissed.

This aggravated Kano. “You place too much faith on your precious Kale. It was not long ago that you were weeping with the belief that he wanted another.”

I took one small step back, looking at him puzzled. “How did you… know that?” I asked, almost stammering.
 

The rain continued to pour, running down my face as I tried to put the pieces together.
How did he know about that?
The vision of seeing Jen and Mitch at the bar together filled my mind. I had mistaken Mitch for Kale. Then I recalled what Mr. Parker had said. Kale had come by twice and had acted strangely.