Starfire Angels (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 1) (5 page)

Black-clad figures rushed from the apartment
balcony they vacated moments ago.

["Fly! Don't look back."]

They soared over the city and beyond the
outer towers. Ocean stretched below. An island floated serenely in
the distance among the clouds.

["Where are we going?"] Padina shouted.

["The safest place we can. Open a
portal."]

The dreaded black clad figures closed in
fast.

Padina spread her brown and white speckled
wings and called forth a power that set the marks on her hands
aglow. In the sky above, lightening crackled and snapped around a
growing ball of light.

She slowed her flight, her eyes fixed on the
ball, which darkened into a black nothingness not far from her and
exploded outward into a spiraling black hole. Her hands glowed
yet.

["Hurry!"] Jerantis shouted.

Padina focused on the void until it grew in
diameter to three times her height. There it ceased its growth.

["It's done. The portal is ready. Let's
go."]

["You go. I'll be right behind."]

She hesitated and flew close to him. The
black formation split apart. Some held back while the others moved
around them.

["Go. Now,"] he said.

["I won't leave you!"]

He flew close and kissed her.
["Padina.
You
are the one they seek. You must protect the
Starfire. It's your duty as a Crystal Keeper."] He glanced around
them at the closing circle of soldiers. ["Go on. I'll make sure the
portal is closing before I go through, so they can't follow.
Hurry."] He pushed her away.

She flew to the portal but hesitated at the
brink and turned.

Shots flashed from two of the flyers.

["Jerantis!"] For a moment, she fell with
the stiffening of her wings.

After recovering from the plummeting of the
man, she turned and fled into the darkness.

The dream again. Raea tried to take control
as Josh had suggested, but the voices admonished her, or seemed to.
They forced her to watch. She could change nothing. When her mother
disappeared into the void, or portal, she gasped.

The voices roared in her head like a crowd
at a concert.
I can't understand you. Stop shouting at the same
time!

In answer, a burning pain shot through her,
ripping out her back. Raea screamed in agony. Tears of pain stung
her eyes.
What are you doing to me? What do you want?

The voices lowered, whispering among
themselves as the pain subsided.

Raea blinked at the dark of night and wiped
her eyes. Wetness cooled her fingertips. Tears. Then it hadn't been
a dream. She had really been crying.

What about the pain? She shifted but
something blocked her from rolling over. She was stuck, but not
completely. A dark shape hovered over her, blocking out the faint
light from her window.

In the dimness, she made out the outline of
a large wing. Where'd that come from?

Suspicions drove through her mind. It
couldn't be real. "It was only a dream. It had to be." Wasn't
it?

To be sure, she reached around her side.
Fingertips brushed soft feathers from a bulk of muscles on her
back. The wings came out of
her.
This was impossible!

What would Debbie—

Debbie couldn't see this. No one could.

Raea jumped up, intending to lock her
bedroom door, and staggered back. The wings added some weight to
her back, though she'd manage. On a second try, she reached the
door and pressed the button. The lock clicked. There. Now, she
could keep everyone from seeing what a freak she really was while
she tried to make sense of this.

But what could she do? She couldn't go to
school like this.

She'd have to stay home sick and wait for
everyone to leave before she could go out. Then what? She couldn't
stay in her bedroom the rest of her life. What kind of existence
was that?

It wasn't. She had to figure out a way to
undo this.

She had no idea. Nothing.

Her life was over.

But there had to be a way. She just had to
figure something out. Raea sat down on her bed. If she went out in
public, she'd be a spectacle. She didn't want that. Everyone would
make fun of her. Oh, Josh would love it, but he'd be the only
one.

What about Pallin? Why now? She was so close
to the possibility of a real boyfriend. After all this time being
teased as a freak, now she really was one.

She buried her face in her hands. The wings
shifted behind her. She hated this.
Damn voices. Whoever you
are, I hope you're happy now for making my life miserable.

She laid down and pulled the comforter over
the wings and her head. Maybe she could go back to sleep and they
would disappear. How had these wings sprouted from her back in the
middle of a dream in the first place?

The answer hid within her, with those
voices. She wished they would speak clearly. Who were they? What
were they?

What the hell—or heaven—was happening to
her?

Maybe Chad was right—she really was a freak.
No. She couldn't think like that. There was a reasonable
explanation; she just had to find it.

Reason? What reason was there for growing
wings?

If she cleared her head, maybe the voices
would come back. Calm. She needed that.
Deep
breaths...Focus.
Each breath pulled her further away from the
anxiety. The quiet invading her mind coaxed her to the peace of
sleep.

A knock jerked her awake.

"Raea! Time to get up."

"Huh?" What time was it? A check of her
clock told her—time to get up for school.

Debbie tried the door handle but it only
jiggled. "Why's your door locked?"

Door locked? Oh, yeah. She'd locked it.
Then, that meant…

Raea reached around her back, and her
fingers brushed the soft feathers. Oh, no. It hadn't been a
dream.

"Are you all right?"

No! I have
wings
.
Yeah, right.
As if she could say that, but she had to say something to satisfy
Debbie or her aunt would never leave. "I...I don't feel good. Don't
come in."

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Um...I'm not myself this morning. I can't
go to school." She certainly didn't lie about not being herself.
But what was she?

"Can you unlock the door?"

"That's not a good idea." What would Debbie
think if she saw her like this? What would anyone think, besides
that she belonged in some circus side show?

"What's wrong? It can't be that bad."

"Oh, yes, it can!" If Debbie only knew. But
she never would.

After a pause, Debbie spoke in a tone of
defeat. "All right. I hope you feel better soon."

"Me too." Good. Debbie gave up. Now what
could she do? Raea couldn't hide in her room forever. Sooner or
later Debbie—or worse, Mike—would find a way to unlock that
door.

Raea's stomach rumbled, and she groaned. She
needed something to eat. She couldn't stay there all day, but at
least after everyone left, she could sneak out to the kitchen.

The morning passed slower than ever. For
once, she didn't care when Dave called out that she could have the
shower and all the cold water.

The voices and clatter of flatware on plates
from everyone eating echoed up from the main floor. Her stomach
grumbled in protest.
Easy. Soon they'll be gone. Then the
kitchen is ours, stomach.

When the phone rang, her heart leapt from
her chest. What if Pallin called? Raea groaned. The hottest guy to
ever show an interest in her would get away. The
only
guy to
express any interest in being with her. Someone somewhere was
having a good laugh at her expense. Why did this have to happen
now?

What did the wings look like, though? Could
she actually fly? Sure, and she hated heights. What good were
wings? Still, she might as well look.

Raea crawled out of bed and hesitated.
Curiosity had a cruel way of revealing unpleasant surprises. Maybe
she should stay away from the mirror.

Could she move her wings?

They weren't as heavy as she thought. And
moving them only took a thought. Like wiggling her fingers or
walking. But the wings didn't do exactly what she wanted.

Could she stretch? How far would they
go?

She tried, but her room blocked her from
what she thought would be a full stretch. Her bedroom barely
measured fifteen feet long. The wings had to be huge to support her
and still bend with each wingtip out.

I wonder
... Raea sat at the wall near
the head of her bed and concentrated on making one brown wing
flatten out in the morning light. Both stretched, one to the side
and the other back, knocking into her dresser and bumping it into
the wall behind her.

Stupid wings!

She took a deep breath and tried again. The
one wing easily pressed into the glass of the window and the
feather tips could have gone farther. How big were they?

A knock on the door startled her. She
turned, forgetting about the inconvenience behind her. Her
corkboard crashed to the ground.

"Raea, are you all right?"

"I'm...Yeah. Just knocked my board down.
That's all."

Stupid,
stupid
wings. If she couldn't
control them, how would she ever hide them?

"The boys and Mike left. It's just me here.
Are you sure I can't come in?"

"No!" She sounded panicky. That wouldn't
help matters.

"I can stay home and help you."

"No. Don't worry about me. I just need a day
to rest." And figure out how to get rid of or hide those wings.
Running away was always an option. But where would she go?

She was stuck.

"Really. There's nothing I haven't dealt
with."

"I can take care of myself. Thanks
anyway."

"All right." Debbie's footsteps faded from
the hallway outside her door. Finally!

Soon, the house would be hers. Raea could
sneak out, clean up, and grab something to eat. She listened for
the click of the door and the hum of the garage that would mean
Debbie left.

While she waited, she decided to finally see
for herself what she had become. Raea swallowed her hesitation and
approached the full-length mirror in the corner of her room. After
a moment, she took a deep breath and stepped in front of it.

No doubt about it—she had wings. Dark brown
feathered wings that matched her hair and eyes. She twisted to see
where they came out and noted the tears through her nightgown in
back. What had she become? She looked like...like her mother in her
dreams.

Raea gasped.

Her dreams...and the voices. What had she
been seeing? Her mother wasn't human. That was obvious now. She was
something else. But what was her mother? What was
she?

A light knock on her door made her jump.
Raea put a hand over her racing heart.

"Raea, open up, please."

Debbie wasn't going to give up. Raea should
have expected that of her aunt.

Okay...Deep breath...
Raea grabbed
her flower-print comforter and threw it over her back to hide the
wings. Sooner or later she had to face her aunt.
Might as well
get it over with.
If she could trust anyone, it would be
Debbie.

The door handle might have been set to bite
her for all the apprehension restraining her from opening it. She
unlocked it though and opened it only a crack.

Debbie couldn't have worn deeper furrows in
her forehead. They smoothed out a moment later. "Thank God you're
all right. Can I come in?"

"It's not a good idea."

"Please, Raea. I heard you scream early this
morning. I'm worried."

"You did? I mean, I did?"

"Yes. You sounded hurt."

Debbie had good ears. But had Raea really
screamed out loud?

"Are you okay?"

"Not really." Raea looked out beyond her
aunt. Debbie was alone.

She didn't have much of a choice now and
needed to trust someone. Better Debbie, she supposed, than anyone
else.

Raea stepped away from the door and threw
the comforter off. "Not if this is all right."

Debbie didn't look surprised or worried in
the least. Okay. That was odd.

"This happened last night?" Debbie motioned
for her to turn. "Was this why you screamed?"

Raea stepped around on the spot. "Yes. It
hurt. And I can't go out like this." Why didn't Debbie act more
surprised?

"No, you can't." Debbie sighed. "We'll have
to do something about it."

"What can we do? I can't hide them. I can't
even
control
these wings. What am I supposed to do? My life
is ruined."

The smile on Debbie's face said otherwise.
Oh, please, let her aunt have a plan.

"I know someone who can help."

Someone else? "What? No. No, no, no. No one
can know about this. I'll be picked apart." She could just imagine
the doctors and scientists. If Chad wasn't bad enough, being
examined would really make her feel like a freak, if she survived.
She wouldn't have any part of that. No one else could know.

"Relax, Raea."

Relax? How the hell was she supposed to
relax about this?

Debbie's hands on Raea's face stopped her
from panicking, her calm, motherly touch the one Raea wished had
come from her real mother. "Your mother hid your wings when you
were three."

What? She had
not
just heard that.
Anger flew through Raea and she backed away from Debbie. "You
knew
about this? And you didn't tell me?"

"Your mother wanted you to live a normal
human
life. I promised to obey her wishes."

"I don't believe this. You lied to me?"
Tears moistened her eyes. Emotions flared strong inside. "You—you
lied
to me? How could you?"

"Please, Raea. I didn't mean to hurt you.
Your mother wasn't from this world. She came here to protect
you."