6
SAM
I'd never been so afraid of anything in my life.
Leaving the airport in my car had been a strange sensation. I couldn't explain it, but I was following the totem back toward the city. I could feel it in the distance, like GPS had turned on in my brain and was leading me right to it. I made the twists and turns methodically, then pulled into the car garage, and drove to the top floor and parked. And there it was, there she was, just like I knew she would be.
But as terrifying as all of that had been, it didn't match my fear of seeing the totem held over the edge.
It was the kind of terror that froze your heart in an icy grip. Colder than the frigid air on my unshielded skin. I don't know why, but I knew if she dropped the totem it would cause immense pain.
Not just to me, but to her.
It felt right in her possession. A calming sensation came over me once I neared her, approaching on hesitant feet on the roof of the parking garage. This woman had the totem, and could never let it go.
"Please," I said, trying to find a way to explain it to her. To convince her not to do anything crazy.
And then she did something.
For the briefest moment, I could feel her cold fingers on the totem. Squeezing it tight the way the fingers squeezed my heart. And then she touched the gemstone, and it clicked in my brain, with the pleasure of a sexual release long held back.
And then the world turned to fire.
I was blinded by light, everything around me dimming to nothingness. Every nerve ending in my entire body flared at the same time, and in that moment I felt every single twitch of agony: feet, legs, torso, and head, most of all my head, like my skull were being broken into a million tiny fractures in slow motion. I screamed but could not hear my voice, and felt like I was falling to my knees, but they never struck the ground, My back muscles spasmed and contorted. It felt like my clothes were shrinking, suddenly tight against my skin before ripping, and tearing, and finally falling away. The goosebumps on my skin burst open and then the cold was gone, banished by a feathery blanket of warmth. My vision returned slowly, the light dimming until objects came into view: the ground, and the woman with the totem, and the distant Denver skyline, and with a quick focus I could see every window and floor of each skyscraper.
And when I breathed, I breathed with the lungs of some great and terrible beast.
I stood up on my legs and stretched, legs and arms and another set of appendages on my back, but it felt natural so I didn't question it, I only spread them--my wings--as wide as they would go, feeling the sunlight on my blue feathers. The pain was gone now, and I could feel my body with greater sensitivity. It had been within my chest all this time, demanding to break free, and now that it was it felt so right.
The woman screamed, a blood-curdling shriek which jolted me back to focus. She tried to scramble away but there was no where to go, only the cement wall her legs were pushing against helplessly, and she fell to the ground and cradled the totem to her breast.
Fly, the beast within me demanded, and damned if I could tell it no.
I leaped into the air and beat my powerful wings. They pulled me up with immense strength and power, a sensation like being pressed back against the seat inside a very fast car. Within seconds I was high in the sky and climbing faster, because there was no such thing as enough height, the entire blue expanse above me was mine. I leveled out and soared toward the downtown skyline, flying over Mile High Stadium and then the Pepsi Center, and then the skyscrapers were below me. It was unusual seeing them from this angle, having them so far below like they were only toy structures made with Legos, but it felt normal all at the same time.
I'm flying! I thought with wonder.
I pulled my arms and legs close to my body and twisted in a dive, feeling the rush of air against my feathers as I accelerated. I could feel the lift generated by my speed, the forces pulling me back up, and I fought against them for a few heartbeats before relenting and leveling out.
I spun, and dove, and shot back into the air in my own little roller coaster, savoring the feeling of this body instead of questioning it.
And while flying, the totem constantly pulsed far below.
I was aware of it in my head, like a sixth sense. The same sensation I'd had while following it into the city in my car, but heightened in this state. And I could feel her too, the wonder and fear and shock in her mind as she watched me from the top of the garage. She had somehow triggered this, a voice in my head whispered. She and I were connected through the totem.
And then I felt a spike of shock, and her fear increased rapidly. And not because of me.
She's in danger.
I whirled back around and dove toward the parking garage.