6 Nathan

I woke up to a thump and the hair on my neck raised while I stared at my living room ceiling. It took me a moment to remember why I was sleeping in the living room but when I did I sat up roughly and looked down the hall. There was a flashing light followed by the soft male voices. I slipped silently from the couch, grabbing my pistol which was laying on the coffee table. I started to walk slowly toward my bedroom door where Arabel had been sleeping. Halfway there a hand appeared out of the dark bathroom that was between the living room and the bedroom and I was yanked back into the darkness with my mouth covered. It took every fiber of my being to not fight back but when I registered the familiar lighting bolts in my skin and heard the faintest of flutters from white wings I instantly relaxed and she slowly uncovered my mouth. As my eyes adjusted to the dark I saw her put a finger to her lips. She was staring at the dark door which was partly closed, allowing only a sliver of light to enter.

"She's not here boss," came a gruff voice from the bedroom. "If she was here, she's been long gone."

I listened as I realized that was what she was doing as well. There were two men in the bedroom and one of them was talking on the phone so that we only heard one side of a conversation.

"No, he was asleep on the couch." Which meant that they either saw me through the window or managed to get close enough to not wake me. Which meant they were trained, probably military.

"I'm telling you boss, she isn't here. The bed isn't even warm."

"What about the detective?"

"Got it boss." And I heard the click of a phone. There was movement coming from the room and I realized that they were heading towards the living room. I pushed Arabel toward the shower despite her emphatically shaking her head in disagreement. But I narrowed my eyes at her and pointed to the shower for her to get in until she begrudgingly complied; I was going to need space in the bathroom. I went to the door and glanced out, there were two men, dressed in heavy, black, combat gear. Both of them had pistols with silencers on them, armed and ready, it didn't take much imagination to know what their orders were. As they walked passed the door I inched it open and much like Arabel had done to me I grabbed the man closest to me, covering he mouth with my hand and pulling him quickly and silently into the bathroom, with one hand I wrangled the gun away from him while I wrapped my arm around his neck and tightened my grip until he couldn't even make a groan. He clawed at my arms with his hands and looked at me with terror in his eyes. I kept my grip tight until I saw the light dim in his eyes and they closed and his hands fell limp to his side. Once I was sure he was unconscious I set him down and looked at Arabel who I realized was staring at me with wide eyes. This time I was the one who held my finger to my lips. I moved towards the door but was stopped with her hand on my arm. I looked at her and she shook her head, to which I nodded and moved her hand off of me. I held my gun in front of me as I moved to open the door, again she tried to stop me but this time before she could the door slammed open and I felt a painful blow as something hard connected with my face. I groaned and shook my head before tackeling the man, ducking under his gun. A shot set off with its muffled sound but appeared to have hit the wall. I pushed him out of the bathroom and into the hall, it would be a difficult place to fight but at least it was out of range of Arabel. With a firm twist of his wrist I was able to dislodge his weapon and send it to the floor. I kicked it all the way to the living room. The man tackled me this time, and I felt myself get pinned against the wall and grunted as I felt his fist make impact with my ribs. But I pushed past the pain and pushed him back, turning to pin him against the wall this time, I threw several punches of my own feeling him buckle under them and then with one powerful throw that came in contact with his temple his whole body crumbled and he was out of commission. I rubbed at my ribs and ran back to the living room to grab his gun off the floor.

"It's all clear," I called back to Arabel.

"Nathan!" I heard her scream and in a flash of white I found her in front of me with her good wing wrapped around me. My first reaction was surprise. My second was horror as the realization hit me as she knocked me to the ground with her wing, her landing on top of me, that the window had shattered with a bullet. Laying on the floor Arabel groaned as she rolled onto her back and I saw blood starting to pool at her abdomen, her white dress quickly being dyed red. She groaned again and looked at me with annoyance.

"Why didn't you listen to me," she muttered, "god I hate guns." I felt a wave of panic in me that I hadn't felt since my first time shooting a man and I rushed over to her.

"Hey, hey," I said grabbing her head, "i didn't know there was a third man." I whispered, brushing the hair from her face. She grimaced as she covered the bullet wound with her hands. I turned towards the couch that was now blocking our view from the window and wondered if I should see if I could find our attacker.

"He's gone," Arabel hissed through clenched teeth as if reading my mind.

"We need to get you to a hospital," I said urgently. She shook her head,

"We need to get Kristy and get out of her." She rolled onto her side and with one hand pushed herself off the ground, I helped her up although medically I was pretty sure that was not a good idea.

"Do you have a car?"

"An SUV," I said and she nodded, looking relieved.

"We're leaving." She grunted again and doubled over to cough and I saw blood splatter from the effect, she groaned again.

"You need a doctor." I tried again and she shook her head. So I went to the door and looked into the hallways. It was three in the morning and thankfully the hall was deserted of people. I motioned for her to follow and we were able to make our way to the parking garage undetected. I opened the trunk and lowered the backseats to make the trunk space even larger for her to fit in. She slid in gingerly, both her broken wing and her gunshot wound obviously paining her. She laid back with a hard thump and made sure to tuck her wings in completely before shutting the door.

I rushed to the drivers seat and the car sputtered to life. Thankfully I had a full tank of gas.

"Remind me again why we aren't taking you to a doctor?" I grumbled as I peeled out  of the parking garage towards the hospital that Kristy was taken to, "we are going to the hospital anyways, I'm sure we can swear someone to secrecy."

"It's not up for discussion, OW!" she cried out and groaned again as we ran over a pothole. I cursed under my breath as I sped down the streets. I pulled into the hospital and ran inside, flashing my badge I asked where they had Kristy and then ran in that direction. I burst in the room and saw Kristy sitting on her hospital cot with a laptop, thankfully she was dressed and not in a hospital gown.

"Detective," she said and I shook my head.

"We need to leave," I said urgently, "you're not safe here." She jumped out of bed understanding.

"I need my things," she said and I shook my head.

"No time," I said and she started to look panicked. But I saw a tote bag on the floor and had an idea, grabbing it and dumping the contents I went to the cabinets in the room and grabbed as much gauze, medical tape, and bandages that I could find. Then grabbing Kristy's hand I began to pull her back down the hallways. We had a few people yell after us but we made it unhindered through the doors and back to the car. I told Kristy to take the passenger side. When I got in myself Kristy was staring at me,

"What is going on!" she yelled and I realized she was in full on panic-mode now. I looked in the rear and saw that Arabel had moved in a position that allowed her to see us now. I reached back there and gave her the tote bag.

"Atleast stop the bleeding, or slow it down, until we can get that bullet out," I snapped at her and she glared back at me. This caused Kristy to look back there and she let out a sharp gasp.

"You're the- you're her!" she amended her words when she saw Arabels mouth open to yell at her.

"Ok time for that later, where are we going now?" I asked, knowing that Arabel had a plan. She winced and her breath seemed shallower but she gave me an address.

"That's my grandparents place," Kristy exclaimed, and Arabel nodded. I punched it into the dashboard GPS and gunned it.

"Why are we going there?" Kristy asked.

"To drop you off," Arabel hissed as we rolled over the hospital speed bump. I looked at her through my review mirror and she met my apologetic gaze with her own understanding one.

"So you mean you knew who she was the whole time?" Kristy then turned to me and I could see the conspiracy cogs turning.

"I wouldn't have known who she was if you hadn't stopped me outside of the precinct. She broke into my apartment that night." I said, remembering her surprise when I caught her and I couldn't stop the smile that formed on my lips. I felt Kristy watching me with curiosity and wiped the smile away, but I saw the look of shock and recognition on her face and felt my neck burn. Then she turned back to Arabel, to ask more questions no doubt but I felt her panicked hand patting my arm and I glanced in the back to see Arabels head hanging limply and her hand had fallen from her wound. I felt a growl escape my chest as I slammed on the accelerator until we pulled into the driveway of a small suburban house. Kristy jumped out and ran to the door and started to pound on it. I watched as lights turned on and the door was wrenched open. An elderly man, looking like he was in his 70s opened the door and stared at Kristy in shock the sleep fleeing from his eyes.

"What on earth," he said and kristy grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the car. I stood to the side as he registered who was in the car.

"Open the trunk," he said with a commanding tone. I obliged and he climbed in, for a man in his seventies he had the strength and was as limber as someone much younger. He kneeled next to her limp body and cupped her cheeks tenderly and for a moment I saw pain and moisture in his gaze.

"Arabel," he said in a tender voice and she stirred, lifting her head up to look at him with glazed over eyes. I heard a soft chuckle escape her chest,

"Henry… you got old." She said and the man laughed.

"And you haven't aged a day." She nodded and then her body went limp again. He laid her back down gently and then came out of the car.

"Who did she take the bullet for?" he asked looking between me and Kristy.

"Me." I said begrudgingly and he nodded and looked to Kristy.

"Which means, she broke her wing for you." Kristy blanched and looked over to me, her grandfather had noticed the wing but she had not. I nodded my head at her to confirm it.

"I didn't know." She said slowly. Henry shook his head.

"You were studying into those stories again." He chided but it felt half-hearted but still she shrunk back at his tone.

"I had to know," she said. Her grandfather shook his head,

"How many children of mine does he have to take," he said to himself and looked torn.

"It sounds like you know who's threatening us." I stated and the man nodded. Then he looked at me,

"You need to take her to the orphanage," he said, motioning towards Arabel. When he saw my blank expression he sighed and then proceed to give me directions to a place hidden in the mountains of Ontario, including directions on a road that would get past border police.

"That's gotta be eight hours," I said, "she wont make it."

"She will," he said. I shook my head in disbelief.

"You haven't known her long have you," he asked me.

"I only met her a week ago," I said softly and he blinked in surprise.

"You must be something, if she's shown you this form in only a week. I knew her for five years before I knew who she really was." He said, and seemed almost jealous. I frowned in confusion but then looked at Kristy.

"She wanted Kristy to stay here to be safe."

"We'll watch her." He said, "you get her where she needs to go." He said and I nodded both at him and at Kristy as I got in the car. I began driving following the map that I had painted in my mind by the man.

It was the longest eight hours of my life. The smell of blood beginning to fill the car. Arabel stirred only twice, once when we had gone over an unforgiving bump in the road that made her cry out in pain and a second time I wasn't sure what caused her to stir, I only felt her hand on my arm and then as quickly as it was there, it slipped away. My ears popped from the pressure change in the mountains as I pulled into the driveway of a large mansion, it looked more like a castle. There was a sign at the entrance that let me know we were entering Caomhnóir Orphanage but I didn't know what language that was in, nor what it stood for. I pulled to a stop at the entrance and saw some children playing in the snow. They ran up to the car in excitement. As I stepped out I heard a flurry of languages, English, French, Portuguese, were somethat I recognized. I opened the door and saw the children peering into the car, they must not get visitors often.

"No don't" I said, not sure if I should let them see her.

"Ah!" one girl, likely about seven or eight years of age looked at me with wide eyes after peering in through the window.

"Mademoiselle Arabel!" she cried out with a distinctly French accent and then with one last fearful look towards me she ran into the orphanage crying out Arabel's name. The other children now stared at me with wide eyes. I wasn't sure how to act, clearly the children knew Arabel. The French girl returned with two burly men and a young woman who hurried over.

"Henry called to tell us you were coming," the woman said, she glanced into the window of the car so I opened the trunk.

"Oh dear," the woman said wringing her hands. She motioned for the two men to come near. Gingerly, gently, they pulled her out of the vehicle. The men held her wings gently and I realized, no one here was surprised to see her like this.

"Take her to my medical bay," the woman said, she looked behind her where the young French girl was hiding, grasping her pant leg.

"Olivia, that is enough," the woman said sternly, "he would not have brought her here if he was a bad man. He is not the one who hurt her," she said, then looked at me inquisitively, "right?"

"She saved my life," I said and she nodded then looked back down at the girl.

"See, he is like you," she said.

"Orphelin?" the girl asked and the woman chuckled and shook her head.

"No, sauvé," she said and the young girls eyes widened again before nodding and running back into the orphanage.

"I am sorry, she is still new and has not seen Arabel as much as everyone else has." The woman said.

"What is this place?" I asked. The woman shook her head,

"We will have time for that later, I need to remove that bullet from Arabel." She said then nodded her head as she rushed inside. I followed, bewildered, behind her. When I was hit with the warm air inside the orphanage I realized just how cold it was outside and chills wracked through my body.

"Here," a young man handed me a thick fur-lined jacket. "you must have been in a hurry." He said before walking away as quickly as he came. I thanked him for the jacket and put it on not sure if he had heard me but grateful for the warmth. I didn't know where they had taken Arabel so instead I peered through the hallways. I heard children laughing, teachers teaching, and the place seemed filled with a peace that you don't find anymore.

A young woman, about highschool age, walked out of a room carrying text books. Her head was covered in a light pink hijab and I recognized the fashion from my time spent in Iraq. I cleared my throat gently to alert her to my presence and she spun around. When I saw the faint remnants of burn scars on her face my heart broke, realizing what that meant.

"Salam," I said softly, not sure if she understood. She did not respond but the surprise in her eyes let me know she knew what I said. She lowered her head slowly and then moved into another room.

"You speak Arabic?" another man walked up behind me, he was significantly older than anyone I had seen so far and had a gentle smile on his face. His grey hair was brushed neatly and he looked well kept.

"I am dean Martin," he said, extending his hand. I shook it.

"Only a little. I served two deployments in Iraq." I said softly and felt the man bristle slightly.

"First time she's brought home a soldier." He said in contemplation. I looked down at him, realizing he was not very tall.

"Is this a school?" I asked.

"It is an orphanage and a school," he said, "children are brought here from around the world by Arabel and some are left here by their parents. She's saved many lives from tough situations or dangerous places, like Sarina whom you just spoke to. Her village was bombed by rebel soldiers, she was the only survivor and I shudder to think what the soldiers would have done if Arabel hadn't gotten to her in time." I nodded, understanding, and also hearing his implied warning.

"Do they still get adopted? This is such a remote place." I asked.

"We are part of the adoption choices just like everyone else." The man said.

"And if they don't get adopted?" I asked and the man smiled as if proud.

"Arabel doesn't turn anyone out. If they are here until the age of eighteen then they have three choices. She will pay for their continued education at a university or college of their choosing, they can stay and work in the orphanage, or they can leave and head out on their own, but the doors will always be open to them if they choose to return. And they are always open for someone who has stayed and wishes to leave. Everyone is here by choice." I stared at him in awe but remembered the story I had heard from Kristy, Arabel loved children.

"How come no one is surprised to see her like that?" I asked and the man chuckled as he motioned for me to follow him so I did. When we entered a massive library with a few students lounging around I understood why no one was surprised. Above the fireplace was a large painting, it looked as if the painting was of the orphanage but the building was black and smoke billowed from it. The picture was relatively gruesome and I was surprised to see it in a place visible to children. In front of the burning orphanage kneeled Arabel, her wings stretched behind her stained with soot and blood. But what stood out was the tall man hovering over her, shoving a long medieval sword into her chest. Like her the man had jet black hair, but unlike her, he also had jet black wings spreading out behind him. In the picture she had her hand on the sword and even in the painting you could see the tears that were streaming down her face.

"So that's how he betrayed her." I said to myself, remembering once again Kristy's story. My thoughts were interrupted by a scream and a loud crash. I rushed back into the hallway, aware of others following me. A door burst open and Arabel ran out shirtless and in a pair of shorts, crashing into the wall,

"Wait," the young woman who had met us at the car chased after her, cradling her hand.

"Move, move, move," Arabel hissed a she ran through the hall, she noticed me and ran past. I felt a wave of heat beat into me as she ran past.

"Make sure no one follows me," she hissed quickly before she burst through the door we had came from. Without thinking twice I ran after her,

"Keep every one inside." I yelled at the dean as I followed her through the door. When I got out I blinked at the harsh whiteness of the snow filled mountain. I couldn't see Arabel anywhere, but I saw patches of melting snow as if someone had ran through them on fire. I followed them to the left of the orphanage where there was a heavy wooded area. As I got deeper in the foilage I began to feel the air get hotter and felt water dropping on to me, dripping, melting, from the trees around me. Not long into the wooded area and the trees thinned and opened into a large clearing with a frozen lake, and I stood face to face with the largest bird, I had ever seen. The bird stood as tall as a horse and was three times as wide as one. Like the Astrapia birds that I had seen once when I was briefly in Papua New Guinea, the bird had long white tendril of tail feathers that were longer than her body length and fluttered like ribbons in the wind.. The bird's beak was bright orange and looked powerful enough to snap me in half, and the tallons were large enough to likely carry me away, or rip me to shreds. A felt a wave of fear ripple through me but when the bird turned its head to face me I saw the surprised crystalline blue eyes that I knew well. I looked at the birds wings and saw that one was bound in my leather belt.

"Arabel?" I whispered, despite knowing the answer. I had seen her change into other animals but they were animals I recognized. This creature was like something out of a fantasy book. I stepped towards her and she both purred and trilled. She hopped towards me and gave me a shove with her powerful head sending me backwards into the snow. I registered the immense amount of heat emanating from her body and saw her feathers turning red with blood. She stepped backward, putting more distance between us and I saw smoke trailing from her beak and nostrils, this time I couldn't blame it on a trick of the eye as it was very evident. She threw back her head and a piercing shriek escaped her, the sound was numbing. Following the shriek was fire. It was everywhere, surrounding her and engulfing her. I wanted to run towards her but the heat was excruciating, even with the distance between us. But as I looked I saw the fire move around her as as if it was dancing with her, and the bird looked relieved, I saw its wings and shoulders deflate as if it could finally breathe and I realized the fire wasn't burning her. It was a part of her. The snow around us quickly melted from the heat surrounding her. Among the flames I saw her turn and face me, I saw her eyes glowing as if they had flames inside them, they were no longer the blue eyes of a human, but with slit pupils they looked eerie, beautiful, and feral all at the same time. I heard her lower her head and give a mournful trill of notes and then she turned and dived into the lake behind her which had melted with her heat. A billow of steam rose to the air joined by sizzling and popping noises as the lake boiled.

The air filled with a mixture of steam and smoke I saw the fire starting to dissipate. I heard a familiar sound of bones crunching and flesh tearing and when the air finally cleared enough to allow me to see, among the melted snow mixed with blood and mud, laid Arabel. Her eyes were closed and the lower half of her body was still in  the lake. But her wings were gone and my belt lay unused next to her. I watched as the makings of a brassier and shorts stitched themselves together on her, at a much slower speed than usual, realizing that was probably all she had the strength for, and in a matter of seconds it was done. She had no more evidence of the bullet wound and I wouldn't have believed she was once shot, if I hadn't seen it for myself. But I did recognize, in the center of her chest, nestled between her breast, a three-inch long scar, jagged and rough, as if left by a dull sword. I touched it gingerly and felt that familiar bolt of electrcty as I had so many times, only this time it felt stronger, pulsating throughout my entire body and it was accompanied by a burning heat that coursed through my veins.

'Stay with her,' I heard a whisper in my head that sounded ancient and old but I didn't recognize it. I frowned and scooped her up in my arms. As if I could ever leave her.

…........

Translations:

Caomhnóir - Gaurdian

Orphelin - orphan

Sauve - saved

Salam - peace