As the last strap fell to the ground, she slowly pulled her arms in front of herself and let them lay limp in her lap. I wasn’t sure why I was staying at this point. I really couldn’t afford for her to find out who I was, but something about her vulnerability did more than just entice me.
I was beginning to feel an emotion I had only previously felt for my sister, although it was obviously a little different since there wasn’t a complicated set of emotions hidden behind it. But as I held her, I slowly began to realize that I wasn’t going to be able to leave her side unless she asked me to.
Because I wanted to feel that emotion, without the extra shameful stuff associated with feeling it for the wrong person.
‘No,’ I silently chastised myself. ‘She can’t know my secret. No one can.’
Without warning, I slipped my hand underneath her knees and abruptly stood, causing her to gasp. Her entire body was trembling as I began moving, but I ignored it, instead focusing on walking back the way she and her attacker had come. I could smell gasoline in the air, and after walking almost half a mile I found a white box-van parked at the edge of an abandoned street.
Identifying a more feminine smell amongst the others, my nose picked out the scent of lip gloss in the van — I suspected it might mean her purse was there too. With my wing, which was very much like a large bony hand with webbed fingers, I reached out and opened the side door, before reaching inside and hooking the purse’s strap with the tip of my wing’s finger.
I then held it open with both wings in front of us, carefully sticking my hand inside while continuing to support her legs in the crook of my arm. She was still trembling, her eyes closed with her arms wrapped tightly around herself now. Finding her phone, which had been turned off, I powered it on and waited for it to load. The sudden bright screen caused my pupils to shift their shape slightly, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that the light prompted her to open hers as well, to see what I was doing.
I quickly dialed the number to call the police the moment I could. However, I then hesitated just as I was about to start the call, deciding to speak to Gabriella for the second time. I glanced at her as I began, seeing that she had been eyeing me, before abruptly looking away when I made eye contact.
“Just to get our story straight. Obviously, someone rescued you, killing your would-be murderer, but you didn’t see who it was…” I paused. “Or what it was. Understood?” She nodded quickly, still looking away. Satisfied, I gestured with my hand. “Take the phone,” I instructed.
She slowly complied, and then upon seeing the number on the screen, she hit the appropriate button and held it up to her ear, still averting her gaze. The call barely rang once.
“What’s your emergency?” a female voice asked abruptly.
Gabriella hesitated as she tried to speak clearly. “Umm…I need help. I’m…I was…kidnapped.”
“Do you know where you are?” the woman asked in a quieter tone.
Gabriella shook her head, as if forgetting that the person on the other line couldn’t actually see her. “No. I’m outside.”
“Can I use your phone’s GPS to find you?” she requested.
Gabriella looked up at me then, as if she wasn’t sure if she needed my permission, so I nodded in response. She replied slowly. “Umm, yes.”
After a few seconds, the dispatcher spoke again. “Okay, sweetie. The police are on their way.” She then lowered her voice. “Is your kidnapper near you?”
Gabriella shook her head a second time, prompting me to smirk at her for gesturing again as if the woman could actually see her nonverbal responses. Her face flushed when she realized why I was suddenly grinning.
Sounding embarrassed, she tried to focus on answering the dispatcher. “N-No. He’s dead.”
There was a brief pause on the phone, before the woman finally responded. “How did he die?” she asked cautiously.
Gabriella glanced at me again as she replied. “Umm, someone saved me.”
The woman’s voice sounded urgent again. “Is that person with you now?”
I quickly shook my head, even though she should know the right answer, not wanting to even chance Gabriella giving them any indication that she’d spent any time with me.
Nevertheless, she hesitated in her response. “N-No…I’m by myself.”
“Okay, sweetie. The police should be there soon. I’m going to stay on the phone with you until they arrive, alright?”
Gabriella glanced at me again, as if wondering what she should say, but I had turned my head away from her. In the distance, I could hear a rapidly approaching vehicle speeding down the road. I doubted it was a police car, because it didn’t have any sirens running. However, I could hear a scanner in the vehicle spouting out police codes.
There was also something familiar about the sound of the engine — a clanking sound, as if one of the bolts holding the engine was loose.
Snapping my head to look at Gabriella, I held out my hand for her to give me the phone, her knees still in the crook of my arm. She complied immediately, and I hung up on the dispatcher. I then slowly lowered her to her feet, but when her knees buckled underneath her, I lowered her to the ground instead.
I quickly replied to her confused expression. “Like I said. No one. Don’t even tell your friend. Understand?”
She nodded slowly, just as confused as before, but then she heard the car approaching too. As she looked away, I used the opportunity to silently disappear into the trees. The sudden headlights on Gabriella’s face caused her to shield her eyes, and she then looked back toward where I had been standing. When she realized I was gone, she quickly looked all around, seeming to search for me urgently as the car slammed on its breaks.
I watched as my sister jumped out of the vehicle, gun in hand, and began running up to Gabriella with it pointed at the ground to the side. “Where is he?” she demanded.
“W-Who?” Gabriella asked, sounding scared.
Serenity looked at her in confusion for a second, before clarifying. “The serial killer.”
“He’s dead,” she replied quickly.
It took Serenity a second to register her words, visibly relaxing a little. “Are you sure?”
Gabriella nodded in response, and my sister hesitantly holstered her gun, glancing around one last time before kneeling down and wrapping her arms around her friend. They both began crying again.
“Oh Gabriella! I was so worried! I’m so glad you’re safe!”
I could finally hear sirens in the distance and decided to get ready to leave before a ton of police showed up. I waited a few more minutes while my sister and Gabriella sobbed together, before finally dashing further into the forest.
Finding a good spot where the canopy above was thinner, I quickly climbed to the top of a tree, as far as the branches would support me, and then leapt high into the air to take flight.
Once I was high above the forest below, I continued to scan the area for a while longer for any signs of danger, before finally heading home. On my way, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, only to pull it out and see that my sister was calling. Of course, I couldn’t exactly answer it while flying, so I let it ring until the call dropped.