Elegy of Flight: Chapter Four (Bride and the Balcony)

Elegy of Flight:

Chapter four: Bride and the Balcony*

She ran away from the grasp of eyes, away from the door, down the hall, outside. Away, out and away; away into the air- the sky- away.
Naomi.
"Ouch"
Running blindly had not prevailed, running forward, seeing only the exit, seeing only the door, and not the person who stood behind it. That one feeling of dread. The feeling of falling.
The sudden sensation of falling backward. The split second when it is comprehended, just long enough to pull the heart out of the chest. Dazed. Travelling, flying.

~~

Where am I?

Where? Where was she? Carina shook her head, trying to comprehend what had just happened. The throb at the back of her head had cooled leaving a dull sensation trapped behind her ears. Everything was very quiet.

She had fallen. Hit her head hard on the step. It had hurt. A lot. So much that she had just laid there screaming silently, unable to understand the voices that were asking her things. She had been carried, in a daze, just let herself be washed away wherever they were taking her, just rested her head. She was then carried here. But where was here?

"What?" was all Carina managed to coordinate her tongue to say.

"Well it's nice to see that you finally stopped crying." That voice. That haughty voice.

"You... wait? Who carried me here?" Carina said to Anne. Anne leaned forward onto the arm of the chair and let out a little sigh, giving Carina one of those tired looks.

"I did."

Carina was tempted to let out a laugh and tell Anne just how ridiculous she thought it sounded, but she took a double take, and realized that it wasn't, and on top of it, now was hardly the time to make a fuss, especially in the presence of Anne.

"I have never been to this part of the school before." Carina stated, indicating that she wanted to know exactly what the place was.

"After you ran into me, I tried to take you to the infirmary. But it was completely locked and no-one was in." Anne said flatly. "So I took you here."

Carina scouted the room. It had two fully dressed beds, one on which she had been resting. A desk, a wardrobe, a couch and a small two chaired table by the window where Anne was seated now.

"This is my room, part of the dormitories for the school. My family moved away a couple of years ago, but I wanted to continue attending school here."

Carina rubbed her head, it hurt to the touch, and the more she thought about the hurt the more she noticed it.

“In that case that you are wondering why I bought you here,” Anne continued. “Is that you were obviously incapable of standing or even sitting upright. I assume that the pain medication tablets that I gave you have started to work now.”

“Why...” Carina moaned, although she wasn't sure what she was asking why to. Was she asking why to the fact that Anne had bought her here rather than seeking a teacher, was she asking why Anne had even bothered helping her, or was she asking why all of this was happening to her. Although she had been conscious the entire endeavor (though not lucidly so) everything seemed so abrupt and divided. So murky, like the thick ghostly fog of Naomi’s face that had kept appearing in her imagination.

“I assume you have a concussion.” Anne observed, “as soon as you are fit to walk we can go get help, and if worse comes to worse, take you into town." She spoke in such a matter of fact way, Carina felt nothing more than a science project, or a child that someone was talking over. She had fell perfectly into a role of an accident prone patient, which made her somehow feel inferior to the sophisticated girl. Carina’s heart was heavy, and her mind was torn; she could only achieve a faint reply to her her savior.

“Thank you, Antoinette.” Anne’s face shifted at the name, but she did not reply, and instead remained solemn. Carina let herself fall back down onto the satin pillow, face down, head down, tears down.

"No." Anne had practically yelled the words, the bite to her tone was angry and heated. She got up and marched over to where Carina was laying. Carina raised her head, not even bothering to hide the sobbing face.

"No." Anne said again harshly. She pushed Carina back firmly by her shoulders, turning them to face her. Carina almost cried out in surprise, but she was already too confused, instead she chocked on a sob that had already formed.

"Why do you deny it! Why do you act like this? Act like nothing." Anne yelled, her voice rough and stressed.

"What is your problem? It's like.. you are denying knowing her! Why was she obsessed in you!?"

Carina just stared, wide eyed at Antoinette's furrowed face, unresponding, letting the words sink into her and pass out through the back of her head. Anne pulled back and scowled.

"Damn this, I've had enough." She turned briefly on her heel and marched right out the door, pulling it shut behind her so it made a heavy clunking click.

~~

Carina sat still as she had been for the past ten minutes. She had simply been sitting upright on the bed, legs tucked under her, her heart beat amplified by the silence. He eyes were fixed on the door as they had been. Anne had left. Anne had left her in here. Trapped in here. She had left her trapped behind that hard wooden door. The beating intensified, the idea of being locked up alone scared her, her head had been murky enough, but now it seemed so much brighter.

Sun diffracted trough the large double-hung window on the side wall of the room. It puddled on the carpet and small table leaving the edges and the walls swamped in shadow. Carina stood up and stepped carefully toward it. Her head swung for just a moment, but her balance was gained quickly enough. Outside of the window was a small ledge surrounded by a short barrier, just large enough to keep a few potted flowers, or in Anne's case, a trough with creeping vines hanging off the edge. The window itself was misted with dust, which gave the sun a hazy but warm sensation. Carina brushed the dust away, expecting it to fall easily, but most of it stuck, clinging to the window like frosted glass.

Mustering up strength, Carina got leverage under the slide and pulled up, the window shuddered at first but then moved up smoothly, the latch fit cleanly to hold it up. The room was on the second storey of a three storey building and putting her head out of the window, Carina caught a glimpse of gold from below.

"Carina! Hello!" Georges smiling face peered up from below his top of yellow curls. "What are you doing up there?" Carina felt a sudden urge to cling to someone who was not less that friendly. She almost smiled as she poured our her grievances to the small boy.

"I think I've been locked in... I was left here."

George paused for a moment, thinking, "Well the window is open."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Nah it should be fine," he beamed up at her through the brightness. Carina turned to look behind her back into the room, to check for any other hints of a way out, but there was nothing. She stuck her head and shoulders back out the window, about to yell back to George, but he was gone. Strange, but she could still escape on her own.

Pulling herself forward, Carina climbed up over the wall, ducking under the top half of the pane, she tested her foot on the small ledge, it seemed solid enough. Swinging the other foot over she got a firm stance on the ledge with her toes just behind the short barrier. She stood upright to get a better look at how high up she was. It was a bit too high to jump down without getting hurt, even though there was grass below, but if she could manage to sit down and swing under the ledge by holding onto it she would be able to safely drop down.

Bending her knees Carina moved her body away from the window and the wall until she was at the edge of the ledge.

"What the hell are you doing Carina!" Below Anne had appeared on the path back to the building, accompanied by Alistair.

"What is your problem?" She continued to scream. "Are you insane!?"

Carina shifted slightly, soil fell down from beneath her feet, "You locked me in! You're the crazy one!"

"What are you talking about?" Anne continued to yell making urgent hand gestures. Carina tilted forward and got a firm grip on bar of the little barrier, now she just needed to swing down.

"Stop moving!" Anne's voice sounded urgent, "Just stay still."

Carina looked at the girl below her and then focused on her hands, now that Anne was back she could go back down the easy way, but she was this far already. A firm force took her by her abdomen, lifting her up from behind and pulling her back so that she was seated on the window frame. Alistair then lifted her back and into the room. While she had been distracted with Anne he must have run up the stairs and into her room. He looked at her with such an expression on his face like he was tired, or fed up.

Anne burst into the room, coming to a halt from her velocity. "Whats wrong with you? It seems Naomi was actually onto something..." She sounded angry.

"Whats wrong with you?" Carina snapped, "Locking me in your room like that."

"The door was not locked" said Alistair.

Antoinette glared, "Of course the door wasn't locked, why would I do that? Did you even try it?" Carina gulped and stared at the door. She hadn't... She had just... assumed. Her mind had been fogged. Had she really jumped to such a stupid conclusion? Carina put her forehead in her hands and slumped down into the chair. How... how..

Each of her arms were greeted with a solid grip, Anne at her left, Alistair her right.

"Come on" said Anne, much more sympathetic now, "Lets go get you checked up."

_______________________________

*on the title, Carina, I couldn't resist, (inside joke)