Chapter 14
I landed abruptly on my knees, after being flung a couple of feet away. I let out a rush of breath. So far I'd been able to give more blows to Ben than him to me. Only problem was, his did much more damage than mine. My ribs could attest to that.
He might give the impression of always being calm, but Ben's aggressive side came out when he fought. I had fought against Greg before and won once. Yet with how this fight was going, I think he hadn’t really been putting his all.
I wiped the small spurt of blood from my lips. He definitely isn’t going easy on me. We’d been fighting for at least a good five minutes, and neither of us was letting up. I smiled. Good.
I needed to vent my anger.
He came at me again, and I jumped up in time to avoid the passing swipe of his leg. Dodging his fist, I moved to his side, where he threw another punch. I blocked it with my own arm, although I had to admit it hurt. Slightly.
I heaved my leg up to kick his stomach, and he caught my foot. He gave a twist, expecting me to stay stuck. Instead I let my entire body twist along with it, lifting up off the floor. Raising my other leg a little higher, I aimed it for his head. It hit its target. He let go of my foot with a curse, and I fell, landing on my palms and the tips of my feet.
He recovered quickly, making a grab for me. I rolled forward, being narrowly missed. He caught up to me though, and knocked me down with a massive punch to my spine. I hit the floor with a grunt and rolled off, just as his foot swept by where my shoulder had been. Immediately after, his other foot stomped to my other side. I tried to roll off, but was trapped between his legs. He smiled triumphantly. Just as he lifted his foot for a massive hit, I punched him in the groin.
He howled in pain, as I slid myself out from under and behind him. He turned around quickly, right when I was in the motion of kicking the small of his back. I hit him in the stomach instead. He bent a little before reaching for me. I back flipped, bringing up my feet to hit him in the face. The surface of my sneakers connected, and I landed on the soles afterwards. I'd hit him so hard my feet actually stung when I landed.
Ben staggered back a step. He brought a hand to his face, where blood dripped from his nose. “All right,” he breathed, “that’ll be enough for today.”
“Already?!” I complained. But I had to admit, my own body was hurting; he'd probably left a magnitude of bruises all over my chest, back and thighs.
He glared at me and left the room, probably to seek out Gigi. It was definitely practical to have a doctor living in the same house as you.
I sighed, moving over to the training facilities. As much as my body craved some rest, it was crucial I find something to do; I couldn’t bear the thought of thinking. Wait… Wasn’t that thinking? Arg!
I looked around the gym at my options. A punching bag dangled not far away. Finally I decided to go with a little boxing. I moved over there, ignoring the gloves that lay beside the massive grey bag. I began punching softly, and the blows quickly turned into lethal ones. My knuckles stung a little, and soon they became a harassing pain. Nonetheless, I didn’t stop.
The next thing I knew, Tony was yelling something at me. I glanced towards him slightly - without stopping my onslaught - just to hear what he was saying. It sounded close enough to “stop” but I couldn’t be sure. I focused on hitting.
"Crys! Snap out of it!" The next thing I knew, I was pushed aside and given a backhanded slap. I stared at Tony in bewilderment. He’d just done the most inconceivable thing ever; he’d hit me. He'd actually hit me.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he gathered me in his arms, "I'm so sorry. But you have to stop beating yourself up. It won't help."
Hurt myself? What is he talking- I stopped in mid-thought. I could feel something liquid and warm slithering down my hands and arms as I held on to Tony. Is that... blood? It felt like it. Had I really just been brutalizing my knuckles? By Tony's reaction, yeah.
That's why he'd slapped me. As much as I wanted to be mad at him for it, I knew I couldn't be. He'd only done that to snap me out of my turmoil.
All too soon he pulled away to hold me at arm's length. "Everything's going to be okay. I talked to Nicolas earlier and he agreed with me; you'll stay with us from now on. We have a vacant room here in the mansion with its own bathroom; it'll be perfect for you. And I promise I won't let any hurt you. Ever."
Light illuminated the dark path that my life had taken. It might not have been the rays of the sun, but there was enough to give me guidance on what was going to be a long journey. I smiled up at him. "I know."
He smiled back, flashing his gorgeous dimples. I moved into the cradle of his arms and inhaled his Hugo Boss cologne. He wrapped his arms around me and leaned his chin on my head. I slid my own arms around him as well, clutching to him like a lifeline. I never wanted to let him go.
And just as I was about to tell him, CJ walked in. Actually, more like ran in. Tony let go of me and I turned to her.
Looking worried beyond reason, she made her way to me. For as long as I'd known her, she'd always had this never-show-feelings rule. Yet for this one time, apparently she could bend her own rules. She crushed me awkwardly into what she must've considered a hug. But coming from her, it could be as uncomfortable as all hell and I wouldn't care. The thought was everything.
"I'd say 'good riddance', but they we're still your parents. I'm sorry."
I let her hug me for a few more seconds before pulling away. "Who told you?" I asked.
She indicated Tony with her head. "He called me this morning. I wish you would've, but I can imagine you were a little preoccupied."
I only nodded. She continued on, "I'd say let's go get wasted, but we got school tomorrow."
Tony came into the conversation. "I don't think she should go to school."
"Why not?" I inquired with a frown.
"Despite your family situation, you should take the time to grieve. You don't want to snap at school."
"Snap?"
He motioned his head towards the punching bag, which had small stains of my blood on it.
"Oh, right." I looked away, embarrassed by my somewhat breakdown.
CJ seemed to like that idea. "Great! Let's get wasted!" She grabbed my hand and yanked me out of the gym hurriedly. Tony slowly followed.
"What about you?" I asked, thinking that she too would have school.
"Aw come on Crys! It is my duty as your BF to help you through tough times. In this case," she smiled evilly, "it's getting drunk."
"You know I don't drink!" I whined.
"Easily rectified." She pulled me into the kitchen. Greg stood against the middle counter, mauling over his thoughts. CJ pushed me onto the nearest stool and moved to stand before Greg. "What's the strongest thing you got here?" she asked him.
"Huh? I'm not giving alcohol to minors!" he declared.
She wiggled herself up against him and practically purred in his ear. "Not even for me?" she batted her eyelashes and moved her hips against him.
I looked at her horrifyingly. Did she really think-
"Sure," Greg croaked with a visible gulp. He moved around her to go to a cupboard. She turned to me with an all-knowing grin and moved her eyebrows up and down. As disturbing as that was, I had to suppress a laugh.
Finally taking out a bottle of Vodka and some Whisky, he placed it on the counter, along with a couple of shooter glasses. CJ grabbed the vodka, poured some into three shooters and handed both me and Greg one before grabbing one of her own. She raised it for a toast. "To Crys!"
I eyed the glass warily and downed it in a shot. Then I choked on it for some time, earning laughs from the other two. Even Tony, who'd just come in, laughed. Luckily though, the next few shots were a lot easier to empty.
And for the next few hours, I drank, laughed, and fooled around with CJ and Greg. Tony didn't drink much, but it didn't stop him from enjoying our stupidities. Especially me, since I'd never gotten drunk before.
When it started getting late though, Ben got real irritated. He'd stomped his way to the living room where we were, shut off the blaring music from the radio and hissed at us. "It's 9h30 at night! Would you keep it down?!"
I put my hands to my hips and mimicked him. "Vould you mindz keeping down! Me gotta go sweep early like an old grandpa!"
Greg and Tony laughed. And CJ would've too, if she hadn't passed out on one of the couches ten minutes before.
Greg decided to join me. He pretended to be Ben and cry. "Wah! I'm not a grandpa," he moved his hands to suggest he had breasts, "I'm a grandma!" We both fell onto the couch laughing.
"That's it!" Ben came at us, fury in his eyes, ready to teach us a lesson. Both Greg and I jumped off the couch and ran for our lives. Yet neither of us could help but laugh at him still. We rushed into the kitchen, and barely missed the cabbage that Ben had grabbed off the countertop and threw at our heads. Drinking really did slow your reflexes.
"Nah nah. You missed." Greg taunted and then yelped as Ben chased after us again. We circled around the center counter twice before rushing to the hallway.
Suddenly I felt something sting my back. "Oh no! Mayday! I've been hit!" But still we kept running. Greg went back into the living room and I followed. The sting intensified and I had to wonder what he'd thrown at me.
"I've got you now." Ben crooned as he blocked the only way in and out of the living room. Tony still sat in the lazy boy, enjoying the show.
"Ruh oh," I spoke with my best imitation of Scooby-Doo, "what do we do Sammy?"
Greg didn't miss a beat. "I don't know Scoob."
And suddenly it hit me. Pain stabbed at my back, and I couldn't smother the yell that wanted to escape my throat. I crumbled to the floor.
The guys, thinking I was acting, stared at me in wonder. But when I wouldn't stop screaming, they knew something was definitely wrong.
I could hardly see through the tears in my eyes, only capable of seeing vague shapes crouch over me. Even my hearing was lessened from the pounding in my ears. The only thing I could make out was "What's wrong?"
I opened my mouth slightly, but as I felt something protrude into me, I cried out. Tears ran down my face. It took all my strength to speak. "My.....back"
Quickly, while trying not to hurt me, they turned me onto my side to expose my back to them. I screamed even louder that time, not from their motions, but from whatever was trying to pierce my skin. "What did...you throw...at...me....Ben?"
"I only threw the cabbage," he declared.
So it obviously wasn't that. Suddenly, the pain grew worse as it didn't feel like a piercing anymore, but as though something was clawing at my skin.
"Oh shit," Greg exclaimed, "they're coming out!"
"What?!" I screeched out. My back kept tearing apart, kind of like when you stretch your lips so much they crack, but ten times worse. It was as though every skin layer was peeling off.
"Your wings," Ben stated.
As if on cue, the pain exploded. I screamed my heart out as bones pierced and ripped my flesh. Nevertheless, if something was going to come out of me, I wanted to see it. I mustered just enough strength to lift myself up on my knees in a sitting position while supporting some weight on my arms. I turned my head towards the left, able to see a slight part of my back and everything to my left.
One long appendage came slowly out of my back. Yet it was only the skeleton of it, nothing more than bones. The other one came out in the same fashion, and hurt just as much. By what I could see, the frame of the wings had large and hard bones. The rest were slightly thinner and smaller, forming all in all, massive wings. They even looked bigger than I was.
The guys sat away a little, not wanting to be in the way as the bone structures came out. Then, as fast as lightning, a mass of body fluid slithered out of me.
No, I wasn't losing blood. By some unknown force, the mass of pure red came out of me and directed itself into position, like an army soldier. Crisscrossing on the bones, it enclosed all of the skeleton and the gaps in it, until the only thing visible was blood. Small lines of red and blue made their way all around. By the looks of it, they were veins. They covered most of the blood mass. Then, thickening quickly, the blood and veins formed what was obviously a first layer of skin.
Funny thing was, it didn't hurt anymore. The moment the wings had come out, the pain had disappeared. I could only stare in awe at the one wing in my line of vision.
Then, just as miraculously, something soft touched my back. At first I couldn't tell what it was. It's only when I saw a large amount of white gather on the appendage that I understood. Feathers. Just like the blood before, they gathered all around and assembled together. The top portion had small feathers, and as they got near the bottom, they became bigger ones.
It was all magnificent. As the last feathers reunited, they seemed to fuse into the skin slightly, becoming another part of the anatomy. When all the feathers had been assembled, they gave a faint white glow.
Suddenly, what must have once been a huge gap in my back, moved. I winced as my skin stretched back into place, while also accommodating the new addition. Thankfully though, it was only a faint stinging compared to before.
And just like that, everything stopped. Nothing else changed, moved, happened. Although I felt somewhat shaky, with one hell of a headache, I was fine. More than fine, I was amazed. I had wings.
I stared in stunned silence at what had come out of my body. I wanted to touch them, but wasn't sure if I could. Would it hurt? Were they fragile? I decided to take a chance. I extended my hand to touch a wing. As if knowing what I wanted, it came closer to me. I laughed nervously. Of course it would; I could probably control it, since it had come from my own anatomy. It was part of me now, just as much as my hands and feet.
Finally near enough, I touched the texture of the feathers. The feathers were soft indeed, but I could feel the rigidity of the wing itself. As I examined it, I could see that not only were the wings glowing, I was as well. Just like Tony had been the day I saw him as a Shifter.
Speaking of Tony... I turned myself around, as did my wings. Only, they were so big, they knocked the ceiling light. Thankfully though, the guys had had the sense to move some of the furniture away from me. Finally looking at them, I had to smile at their expressions.
All three were looking at me in complete awe, mouths and eyes opened wide. They kept looking from me to the wings and back. Tony was the first to speak. "Beautiful," he whispered. The other two could only nod.
As much as the compliment warmed me, I started getting more and more tired. Not a sleepy tired; it was one of those instantaneous drowsiness that took you out as fast as it came. And it did.
I passed out without another thought.
