Flying Without Wings

The car Bear was driving skidded to a halt outside the Woodeared Inn. The pub was decrepit and dim. If I couldn’t hear a drunken murmur spilling out onto the street I would have thought we were in the wrong place, but Bear hadn’t let me down yet and I could feel Bastian was close. My heart was pounding and mind racing, I wrenched the car door open and jumped out before the engine had stopped coughing.

“Bea slow down!” I heard Bear shout behind me in his thick voice. It was as though all those years of not speaking had made it hard for him to get the words out now. I ignored his shouts and ran across the car park. The rain had turned the dusty parking lot into a muddied plane. I slipped and landed hard on my back near the front door. I looked up at the grayed sky above with hot tears in my eyes and a dull pain in my back. I felt so helpless. Bear grabbed my hand and pulled me up with ease. His big arms held me close, pressing the cold mud into my back. I looked up at the sky hoping for a miracle and one came, a dark shape flew overhead silhouetted by the dark sky. It had the leathery wings of bat and a white splat in the middle or its dark chest. “Marvillo?” I stammered as the long fluffy tail disappeared over the top of the pub. “MARVILLO!” I shouted again, but the black figure didn’t reappear from over the dark bricks.

“Shh get inside.” Bear hissed pushing me through the front door, I could see that the front door was once bright blue but had been chipped away by thousands of drunk pushing hands and now the cheap pine beneath was exposed. “Bea we don’t know what’s going on inside there yet, we might not be winning.” Bear pushed the gun I had held before into the back of my jeans and guided me through the noisy pub. Every seat in the squished pub was taken by a jovial, grubby man. It was almost as if they were all wearing the same uniform. Large brown coats, 3 day old stubble, big boots and a pint of beer, Montgomery would have fit right in. They were laughing and cheering and their happiness made me mad.

“I thought you said this place was usually empty,” I said starring around at the motley patrons.

“It usually is, something has happened.” Bear said gripping his own gun. “Freddy!” Bear shouted at the bar keep. He had hair like fire and a gash over his left eye. The wound looked fresh, it was seeping and badly dressed but hr smiled a goofy grin when he saw Bear.

“Mate we got him.” He spoke in an English Twang and his eyes were as bright as his hair. He blinked slowly as he saw me, his bright eyes resting on my blonde hair. “You probably want to head upstairs little lady, but prepare yourself.”

Bear grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd. “It’s OK, it must be OK or Freddy would be up there still.” Bear said, perhaps assuring himself more than me. A man with missing teeth and hair as dirty as I felt spilled a pint of beer on my as I snaked through the crowd, but I didn’t even care. I just cared about Bastian, about what I was about to find upstairs on top of this filthy pub. We climbed the spiraled staircase taking two steps at a time. It felt like an eternity, even though I knew it was only a floor or two. I saw a crack of pale light reaching through an old steel door that was barely hanging on by just one hinge. I pushed past Bear and ran to the top. The first person I saw was a stranger in a black fedora. He smiled and waved at me as I ran across the rooftop.

“You must be the one,” he said his, tanned face twisting into a smile. I had no idea what he was talking about and didn’t care. Next to him I saw a friendly face, Audrey’s she was crouching down. Her velvety red hair was piled on top or her hair and her chains chinked as she fussed over Bastian. I ran to his side and knelt down into a warm puddle. I was kneeling in a puddle as red as strawberry jam but new it would have none of the sweetness. Bastian was pale but breathing, the metallic smell of his blood made me feel even sicker.

“He is going to be fine.” Audrey said gently. “Marvillo is proof, look how calm he is, he is no longer in any pain thanks to Edgar.” Marvillo was curled around Bastian’s head, his snout gently nuzzling his ear. I leaned down and kissed Bastian’s cold lips, they tasted like salt.

“Dr Salem isn’t going to be happy about this.” A sickly voice that could only belong to one person rang out from behind me. Zenasia stood in the doorway of the stairs, her brown Angha Matilda was by her side. Zenasia’s white blonde hair was plastered into curls and her lips were twisted into a matte black smile. “Someone is going to have to tell him that his only son has been murdered.” Her voice sung, I could tell she was pleased. “Someone is going to have to pay.” Her yellow eyes rested on each of the people on the rooftop. “Who did this?” she said prodding Kent with her metallic snake skin boot. “Was it you old man?” she said looking at Edgar, “no, Bear maybe? Couldn’t be, you just got here, sister did you murder him? Maybe it was poor little Bastian before he got stabbed in the guts?” Zenasia was relishing each word. “I guess I’ll just have to tell Dr Salem you are all here, and all to blame, either way I have no business in this, this place.” She said wrinkling her small nose. “Fare-the-well sister.” She said staring at Audrey, “I would get out of here if I was you.” She turned flourishing a black lace cape, “Oh more suspects to add to the list.” She laughed as Gomez, Humphrey and Montgomery pushed past her and filed onto the roof top.

“Get out of here you wench,” Montgomery shouted waving his walking stick at her.

“Careful fool,” she hissed back. “Or you will be the first person I will tell Dr Salem about.”

“Are you threatening me?!” Monty shouted and turned to follow her down the stairs.

“Easy mate,” Humphrey said grabbing him by the back of his coat. “We still have a big fight a head of us. Come on let’s get Bastian out of here.” His long legs made short work of the roof top and he was next to me in seconds, “we’ve got a van down stairs with a mattress inside, we can take him to your house Bea.” He said gently moving me back from Bastian’s side. The four men carefully lifted Bastian and carried him down the twirling steps, Marvillo fluttered inches above his chest the whole spiralling way down. The men vigilantly lifted Bastian into the van and I clambered in after him. Audrey jingled in too and sat next to me. I tried to catch her eyes but she was avoiding me.

“I know what you want to ask, but I’m not the person to tell you, wait till Bastian is awake, then it will be time for him to tell you about the prophecy, it is your story after all.” She said smiling down to her ticking pocket watch.

I looked into Bastian’s tan smooth face, pushed back is long black hair and wondered just how much he had been keeping from me.