Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
Beva
I’m going to die. Oh my gods, I’m going to die.
The last few days have been a blur. We’d made it to the woods before we were spotted by Security. All of us started running, but when Security started firing shots, we scattered. I’d lost sight of all the others days ago, leaving me alone in the woods. The only bright side? I’d lost sight of Security too.
Not that that helps me now.
I have no idea how to survive in the woods. It’s dark. It’s night. I haven’t had anything to eat or drink all day. I can hear wolves on the mountain and can barely see by the light of the moon. All I know how to do is keep going, hoping to catch sight of the others.
“Anyone?” I shout. “Is anyone there?”
No one answers. Not that I thought they would. I’m totally screwed.
Outside of Veric and Ari, I doubt anyone has been this high in the mountains since our ancestors first came here. I have no idea what member of my family was even on that trail. The records of my family were lost from that time. But now, I can’t help but think of them, lost in these woods, just praying to find someplace they could live.
How could they have known that Paradise Falls would change from a paradise to a prison?
I was so close. So close to getting out. One more fucking day, and I would have left this place behind and been safely on the outside.
Now, I don’t know what to do.
Wolves howl from my right side, and I startle, naturally moving toward the left as I continue to climb. Another howl goes up in front of me, and I freeze, unsure what to do. I start heading to my left, stumbling as I go from exhaustion and hunger. I can’t keep going much longer. Not that I think I’m going to survive long enough to starve to death.
“It’s just perfect,” I say, laughing to myself.
I’m not even sure I want to live on the outside. All I know is that it’s my only choice. There is no third option. There’s just Paradise Falls, and the outside. The thing is, I know nothing about the world out there, I just hope I might be able to carve out some small corner in it to read my books and just enjoy life.
Hopefully, that’s what life will be like for my family now.
Tears roll down my face. That’s the one blessing to all of this. That my family got out. At least if I’m going to die out here, I know they’re safe.
The wolves howl louder, closer, from behind me, from in front of me, from my right. I can feel them closing in on me. I know deep in my heart that I’m being hunted, that I’m their prey.
I just can’t do anything about it.
Moonlight catches on something near me. It looks like… a wall of thick vines. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to a place to hide here, so I decide to head toward it. Maybe if I can get deep enough in the bush, they won’t be able to get to me.
I reach the massive plant—a plant the likes of which I’ve never seen before— and start pressing myself deeper and deeper into the vines. The moonlight reflects on a surface… It’s almost like a green surface that moves and changes in front of my eyes, but maybe that’s just my exhaustion. My hunger. My thirst.
I start pushing on the wall of green and feel myself pushing against something like putty. It pushes back against me for a long minute, but I’m desperate. This hiding place is my only chance of surviving. The only place that the wolves might not be able to get me.
Finally, the putty seems to stop pushing me away… Instead, it starts pulling me in. Some foreign instinct causes me to struggle, but it’s too late; I’m yanked into the strange wall. Putty is in front of me, behind me, all around me. For a minute, I feel like I might suffocate. I might die.
I pop out of the putty onto my knees, and the air is instantly chillier than it was just a moment ago. Slowly looking up, I startle. There’s a glowing path in front of me lined with flowers. Mist hangs heavy over the air, and it appears… I’m on a giant branch.
What is this?
“Hello!” I shout.
Nobody answers.
I rise to my feet, instantly drawn to the glowing path of flowers. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
No longer scared about Security, I shout and shout, tears streaming down my face as I walk along the glowing path. Nothing emerges from the darkness. There’s nothing familiar even to cling to. If I thought I was lost before, I was wrong.
This place is impossible. It can’t exist. Am I losing my mind?
Finally, I collapse onto the path, dropping my bag next to me. I’m hungry, thirsty, exhausted, scared, and alone. I can’t do this anymore. I’m Beva. A book nerd. A future scientist. Not some brave explorer.
“Are you alright?”
My gaze jerks up, and I come face-to-face with the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in my life. He has long black hair that frames a face more beautiful than the best-looking guy in Paradise Falls, with gray intelligent eyes that tug at my heart. And he has… he has wings. Beautiful black wings growing from his back.
I wipe the tears from my eyes, then realize I’d done so with my injured hand and try to hide it from his sight. “Hello.”
He kneels down, looking at me gently. “Hello, Little One.”
I stare, unsure what to say. “Are you real?”
He laughs, his expression surprised. “Yes, I’m real.”
Except, he can’t be. “How can you be real?”
He shrugs his big shoulders. “I just am.”
I have a logical mind. There has to be a way to test if I’m seeing things, or if this is real. Think.
“Pinch me,” I say.
He looks horrified. “I would never want to hurt you.”
I frown. “It’s the only way I’ll know you’re real.”
With a lot of hesitation, he reaches over and pinches my arm lightly.
I jump. It hurts. “So, this is real? You exist?”
“Yes.” He cocks his head, looking at me with concern. “Are you alright?”
“I’m sorry,” I say, and the tears start falling again. “I was just running away from home, because they were going to kill everyone. They were going to kill everyone . Except then I was lost in the woods, and wolves were chasing me, and I didn’t know what to do. Then, I found this weird wall, and I pushed through it, and I ended up here… I don’t even know what here is. All I want is a warm bed and a book, but that’s just too much to ask for.” I’m rapidly wiping the tears from my face, hating that I’m crying.
He smiles at me, and his smile is breathtaking. “That’s not too much to ask for. I can give that to you right now.”
I stare at him, trying to decide if he’s kidding. “I don’t think you understand. I literally have nowhere to go. No home. No safe place to land.”
“You do now,” he says, without a hint of humor in his voice. “My home is very warm, with a big comfortable bed, and the walls are lined with books. If you want to stay with me, I’ll always take care of you. You’ll never be hungry. You’ll never want for anything.” His eyes are gentle. “I should warn you though, my life is very boring. There are only a few people here like me, and lots of empty homes full of books.”
“Is this a joke?” I ask, because what he’s describing sounds like paradise.
He shakes his head. “I’d never joke about such things.”
I hesitate, looking around. “I’m really safe here?”
He nods. “And if you realize you are not happy with me, I can simply take you right back here, and you can continue to cry and wonder what to do.”
I laugh.
He smiles. “You have a very beautiful laugh. It matches your beautiful face.”
For some reason, I show him my hand. “Not everything about me is beautiful.”
He cocks his head. “I’m afraid you must have trouble with your sight, because everything about you is wonderful. Don’t worry, we can get your eyes looked at. I know a man who can help.”
I laugh again and climb to my feet, putting my bag on. Going with him is crazy, right? I just met him. He could be planning on chopping me up into little pieces and eating me. He’s not even human.
And yet, what do I have to lose?
“I’m Beva, by the way.”
“Xarex,” he tells me.
I offer my hand and he kisses it, then slides closer, wrapping his strong hands around my waist. My heartbeat quickens as he looks down at me, and his gaze slides to my lips, but he just begins to flap his wings, and then we’re in the air.
And I might be crazy, but this feels like my kind of adventure. The kind I’ll survive from.