Shadowglass

Alley walls loomed tall on either side of us. At the far end, cars cruised by in the street, their sour exhaust rising under my wings and spiking pain into my skull. My breath tore my lungs ragged. My jaw still stung where Chris’ claws ripped me, and my mouth felt coarse and raw inside. I fluttered limply to dusty concrete, my abused wingbones protesting, and leaned my hands on my knees to recover my breath.

I sweated. I hurt. I stung. Damn it, this sucked. All except the part about holding Andy’s hand, which I wasn’t anymore, because he’d dropped me from ten feet above the ground and now my feet hurt.

I’m not too good with flying at the best of times. Ashley (Purdy) can dart about like a dragonfly on heat, and Charlotte likes to swing from glowing streetlights and chase the moths, her hair fluttering in her own breeze. But not me.

Like usual, I barely scrape by compared with those two. And having my wings bent back by a mad knife-sporting banshee wasn’t helping.

I panted and squinted in the hot afternoon sun, the bricks knobbly and solid against my bare shoulder. Danny’s was a couple of blocks away. Any farther than that, and someone would notice us. “Are they following us?”

Andy lighted beside me, luminous wings weightless in the sunshine. “Nope. They can’t fly, remember? Though neither can you, by the look.”

Ah, now I knew why he hadn’t abandoned me. He needed someone to taunt. My hero.

I scowled, still catching my breath, and scratched my stinging chin as I straightened. The cuts swelled under my fingerpads, inflamed. “Like I’ve never heard that before. I’m more of a ladylike flutterer, okay?”

Andy giggled. Yeah, really. Not a giggly guy, my Andrew, but my efforts at flying sure raised a juicy one. Just when I think he’s a coldhearted centipede, he goes and does something like that.

I shook my wings at him in frustration, soaking him in droplets. “Water fairy, look. Water is my element. Air just gives me the shivers. Throw me in the ocean and see how I go then.” I love the ocean, diving under cool salty water, my hair streaming back in the gurgle of distant whale voices, jellyfish brushing over my skin. I fold my wings back and kick like a mermaid, and under I go. But my skin still shrivels like a prune if I stay in for too long, and I have to come up for air like everyone else or I’ll drown.

There’s always a catch, see. Charlotte will rip and suffocate in a wind-storm just like a human, and if Ashley gets too close to the fire, he’ll burn.

Our own elements, killing us. Welcome to life as a fairy.

“Okay,” Andy said, shaking my drips from his hair, the ghost of that cute giggle still teasing his lips. “Next puddle we see, you’re going in.”

I scowled again, in case he missed the first one. “And don’t even talk to me about heights. In case you were going to, ya know, in which case you can just shut up right now.”

“I wasn’t.” Silvery blood rinsed down his forearm in my water, and his skin sparkled in the sun. Static crackled blue, outlining wet muscles.

Metal boy. Shiny. Wet. Mmm.

Notes

Mama Grimm....thats a new one considering I'm only 16 lol
Hope you enjoy!

Stay Weird Baby Bats
- Grimm :)