Chapter Two
Kira’s body felt like it was on fire. Power surged through her and she soared into the air with full-grown white wings. Her skin sparkled in the sunlight, highlighting her most prominent features. Her bright eyes, soft jaw, the perfect-shape of her light eyebrows. Kira held up her fingertips, which were also glowing. She shot them straight out, and a burst of light lit up the area around her, blinding her.
Kira woke up soaked in sweat. She was disgusted by the sticky liquid that smelled like the boy’s changing room at Wings Academy (don’t ask how she found out. It was an extremely unpleasant experience). Angel girls rarely sweated. Kira’s dream came rushing back to her. She stomped out of bed, tore her notebook out of its drawer, and opened it to a fresh page.
Day #729,
BE NORMAL
Kira had to find a way to hide her accidental crime. But how? Surely her fellow Angels would notice how her wings had grown two feet overnight. She pushed the thought out of her mind and quickly got into the Rinser to clean the sweat off her shaking body. Kira was too anxious to eat, so she decided to spend as long as she could getting ready. She got in the Rinser once more to actually bathe, then changed into a white uniform. She pulled a strand of hair from the front of each side and tied them together in the back of her head. She spent a while going through her huge collection of lip glosses, trying to find the perfect shade, and put on her eyeliner so straight, a professional couldn’t do any better. Kira puffed on some blush, and took a while pulling on her white lace-up shoes. She glanced out the window to see where the sun was. It was almost time for her to leave! Kira rushed through the kitchen, oddly empty, and ran outside. She waited for a moment, but no silver wings came. Her brows furrowed in confusion. Why were they not there? Kira unfolded her now full-grown wings and it hit her. She was ready to fly. Kira knew how to fly already, of course. She had learned with the metal braces. But she hadn’t flown with her own wings. She gave her wings a little flap, and stumbled as they lifted her into the air about an inch. She did it again, harder this time, and slowly began to rise into the air. The ground below her got smaller as she flew. Up, up, up! Kira was flying! She put all the energy she could find into her wings and started towards the school. Someone was waiting for her at the entrance. Vence Kaelester. His dark hair was gelled back, his hazel eyes tracking her every movement.
“Hey, Kira!” he said as she landed. He studied her wings. “I didn’t know you could fly yet! Aren’t you the first in your grade?”
Kira tucked her wings back into her uniform through slits cut into the sides and shrugged.
“Hello, Vence. I got tested the other day. They said my wings were big enough to fly with, so…” The lies felt odd on Kira’s tongue, and she hoped they sounded believable. “And I believe Bethamy Polmer was the first.”
“Hm,” Vence said.
Kira uncomfortably adjusted the straps of her schoolbag and offered a tentative smile.
“Um, I have to get to Mr. Mindoz’s room to help out,” she said after a moment.
“Mind if I come along?” Vence offered.
Kira thought it rude to say no, she wasn’t interested in a relationship at the moment, and she was fairly certain that Vence had a crush on her, but she could do nothing but shrug.
“You can,” she said, her voice flat.
“Are you sure?” he replied.
“I mean, it would be nice!” Kira forced some emotion into her voice. “He has a lot of books to sort through. It would be great to have a hand!”
Vence smiled and followed her as she headed into Wings Academy. Mr. Mindoz was sitting at his desk, still sorting through the files from the previous day.
“Good morning Miss Hazel. And you, too, Mister Kaelester. Will you also be helping me out this morning?” he said.
Vence offered a respectful nod and said, “Yes, sir.”
“Fantastic. Miss Hazel has been working hard on my many bookshelves for a while. It would be great to get an extra set of hands on those books.” Mr. Mindoz smiled at them.
They kneeled in front of different shelves and set to work. Vence made an occasional comment such as, “I love this book” or “This one’s good.” Kira was flattered when he pulled out her father’s book and said, “This is one of my favorites! Didn’t your dad write it?”
She blushed and nodded.
“You should be very proud,” Vence added, and went back to work. Soon the bell rang, and they said their goodbyes. Kira had a smile on her face through all her morning classes. Vence even sat with her and her friends at lunch! But her smile disappeared when she arrived at Talent class and spotted a fuming Mr. Kewoski. She gulped and tucked her wings tighly against her back, sure they would leave bruises later.
“Class!” he said once everyone was seated, his voice oddly calm. “My vial of Enhancing Serum was not returned to my desk yesterday.”
Gasps sounded around the classroom.
“If anyone knows anything, and I mean anything about where it is, please come and tell me. I don’t care if it is just the last person who had it, I need any piece of information possible.”
All eyes turned to Kira, and she was sure her face was red as Meriden, the sticky cherry-flavored artificial meat most common in Angel homes at dinnertime. Mr. Kewoski eyed her suspiciously, but turned his gaze to the blank board in front of him. Kira quietly pulled out her notebook and poised her pencil over a fresh page.
“Today we will go into further detail about what the Enhancing Serum can do.”
He spent the entire class talking about the side effects of the serum. You would go through a sudden growth spurt, and develop quite a few Talents if you had not already developed one. There were certain Talents you could get from Enhancing Serum, some you could get without it, some you could not. The ones you could get without it were; Changer, Sparker, and Swarmer. The ones you couldn’t get were much more dangerous. There was the Controller, the Angel would’ve been able to control a person to an extent. And a Foreteller. The Angel could see things a bit before they happened. The Foreteller especially interested Kira, though she wasn’t sure why. And then it happened. A wave of nausea overcame her and a scene bounced before her eyes. She saw Chantelle, one of her younger sisters- she could tell it was Chantelle bu the pink headband (Ailsa and Chantelle were identical twins)-, falling onto the hardwood at the Hazel house. Blood coated the floor, flowing freely from Chantelle’s head. The vision faded and Kira tensed. She didn’t know when this would happen, but she had to get home. The bell was just ringing, and Kira quickly shoved her things into her white schoolbag. She was about to leave, when Mr. Kewoski blocked her path. He waited until the rest of his students had left before speaking.
“You have it.” It wasn’t even a question, just a statement. Kira nodded guiltily and swallowed.
“It was an accident, I swear,” she said. She was tempted to make a run for the door, but knew he would most likely follow her.
“Tell me.” Mr. Kewoski let out a long breath and sat down, preparing for the worst. Kira told him the entire story, not missing a single detail. She even explained her encounter with Mirriam. Mr. Kewoski didn’t say anything for a bit, and the silence stretched until Kira thought it would break.
“Has anything happened yet?” he asked finally. Kira nodded. She stretched her wings, one of them bumping into a desk.
“The wing braces didn’t show up this morning and I was able to fly. And… I had a vision. During class,” she admitted. Mr. Kewoski turned pale. He pressed a practitioner pass into her hand.
“Go to the practitioner’s office. Tell her you threw up. I’ll cover for you. Go sort out whatever you saw,’ he said urgently. Kira nodded.
“Thank you, Mr. Kewoski. Thank you so much!” She was tempted to hug him, but decided otherwise. Kira hurried out of the room. Just as Mr. Kewoski had predicted, the practitioner sent her home. Kira sat at the dining table, which was where she had seen Chantelle fall. She waited for what felt like hours, but was most likely only half an hour. Finally, Chantelle and her twin, Ailsa, arrived. Kira grabbed Chantelle immediately and led her to the twin’s bedroom. Fortunately, it had carpet flooring. She sat Chantelle down at her desk.
“What’s going on?” Chantelle asked, confused.
“Just stay out of the dining room!” Kira said, forcing cheerfulness into her voice.
“Why?” Ailsa snapped from the doorway. Kira looked between them, and realized that the twin she had thought was Ailsa was really Chantelle. The real Chantelle rolled her eyes and walked off. Kira ran after her, but she was too late. She heard the crash, the crack, and rushed over. A wave of deja vu washed over her as she saw Chantelle, bleeding out on the dark floors. She cried out for Ailsa, who came running into the room. Ailsa passed out on sight of all the blood. Kira couldn’t do anything. She had one bleeding sister, and another unconscious one. She did the only thing she could think of. She ran outside and forced her wings to work, but not before wrapping Chantelle’s entire head. The nearest practitioner was an hour’s fly away, and the one at Wings Academy had already gone home. So Kira hoped against hope that Ailsa would wake up and take care of Chantelle until she got back. She flew as fast as her wings would allow, but it still took her a while. The practitioner packed up her stuff as fast as she could and flew back with Kira. But when they got back to Kira’s house, Ailsa was still unconscious and Chantelle had bled through Kira’s poor bandaging. The practitioner did the best she could, but she told Kira it might be too late. Jesiah Bewick, Mirriam’s husband, arrived at that moment. He took one look at the bandaged Chantelle, and said he would go and fetch the rest of the Hazel family. Kira’s siblings and parents soon arrived. Kira had to make up a story of how she was doing her homework and had heard Chantelle scream. Ailsa had passed out at the sight of the blood, and Kira had flown off to get the practitioner. Her father wanted to know when she had been tested for flying.
“A person came through last week,” she lied, and it was easier this time. “I guess I forgot to tell you.”
Her father gave her a knowing smile that said, tell me later. Kira nodded. She told her father all her secrets. But could she trust him with this one? She hoped so. Her mother insisted on staying with Chantelle incase she woke up. Ailsa finally woke up, but Berrin insisted she sleep. He tucked her in. Berrin Hazel was a handsome young man, twenty of age, and the second-oldest brother, third-oldest sibling. Kira’s father pulled her aside after everything was settled and Mirriam, taking over her mother’s duties for the night, began to make dinner. Jealousy made Kira’s nerves tie themselves into a tight knot that kira thought might never come undone.
“Hey, Ki. What’s up? Are you okay?” her father asked as he led them into his office on the second floor. The walls were a chocolate brown, with a mahogany kidney desk in the center of the room with dark bookshelves and a wide-open window behind the desk. He closed the curtains and sat behind his desk. Kira took her usual seat across from him.
“Well, not really…” She twisted her hands nervously, and could do nothing but tell him everything. Her father’s face remained impassive, and that made her nervous. The knot tightened, and it felt like it couldn’t get any tighter. Her father opened his mouth to say something, but closed it.
“This is… quite the mess you’ve gotten yourself into,” he said finally.
“What do I do?” Kira asked desperately.
“Well, from what I know about Enhancing Serum, your Talents will come in a few days,” he explained, leaning forward on the desk and clasping his hands together.
“About that…” Kira began, remembering she hadn’t told him about the vision she’d had. Her father paled as she explained what had really happened with Chantelle’s fall. The knot squeezed tighter as guilt joined nervousness and jealousy in her crazy mess of emotions. Her father clenched his jaw and took a deep breath.
“Okay,” he breathed. “It’s not your fault. I know, it’s not your fault.” He repeated the phrase a few more times before looking her in the eye.
“Kira. I know you did your best. I know it’s not your fault.” He paused, as if to gauge her reaction. Kira nodded. “Is there anything else you’d like to share?”
Kira opened her mouth to say “no”, but then something else came to mind. So, instead, she said, “Yes.”
Her father made a “go on” signal.
“Father,” Kira began slowly. “Do you ever think… I’ll be the first to do something? In our family? Mirriam was the first to graduate. Mirriam was the first to get a job. Mirriam was the first to get married. Mirriam was the first to have a kid. Mirriam was the first to get married.”
A confused look crossed Ermin Hazel’s face for a moment, before his thin lips, with Kira also had, curved into a smile.
“You can be the first to jump,” he said. Her father then dismissed Kira before she could ask what he meant. She was silent all through dinner, as was everyone else. Their minds were on Chantelle. Kira’s mother and Ailsa were not at the table. Kira went to bed without so much as a “goodnight”. She felt exhausted as she got into the Rinser and changed into her nightgown. She drank her sleeping serum without the water, hoping she would fall asleep soon. Her last thought as she laid in bed was, I’m really a Foreteller.
Fantasy
Comments are closed.
1 Likes
967 Views
Share:
Your imagination is wonderful! For a second there I thought I was reading the next great fantasy novel. I think to make this even better you need more detail in certain places. I am aware that this is the second chapter and so I am guessing that you did most of the introduction of the world in the first chapter, but I think also in the second chapter you need to continue to introduce us to this world. Like for example, I was really curious about how they sat in there seats with there wings. So I’m guessing that the desks in their world are structured in a way to fit their bodies. Vence–if you haven’t already mentioned in chapter one–why does he like her?
And I think there also needs to be more of an emphasis that Kira has taken something that is not supposed to be in her possession.
Also, I think you should take a little more time with the scene with Chantelle and Alisa. I was a little confused as to what happened, so add a bit more detail and add more to describe the significance of that moment.
But for the most part great start and I can’t wait to see where you go with this.
Thank you for bringing these to my attention! Some of what you are mentioning I have explained in later chapters, or I will try to. Thank you so much for your feedback!
No problem my love. Just keep pushing away it, writing isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.
🙂