Sonope

Chapter 11

Erin saw them off with a hug, sending them into the night to finish what they came to do. After they were a few feet away she started back inside and disappeared without a trace.

Darby and Gabriel took flight once more, flying in silence as they approached the city.

They lightly landed in the park where Darby last saw Taylor, and Darby was overwashed with memories of the week before.

She sat down on the bench after pointing out the brownie hole to Gael and stared at the ground, tears welling up in her eyes. He set the package down and sat next to her, not saying anything, but just comforting her with his nearness.

After several minutes, she motioned for him to go.

"I'll catch up, I have a decent sense of direction."

He simply nodded, resting one final hand on her knee before taking off and heading home.

She sat there for a while, drinking in the memories of better days; even if they were more hectic, at least they still had each other. She remembered first meeting Olive's friends, her days in school, her music practices and performances, her friends. She thought of the things that could have been if they weren't Turnings; maybe they never would have met, but she thought about how they would have grown up in a great world, all ten of them together. Rou, Andrew, Paravi, Erin, Taylor, Quinn, Naman, Jason, her, and Olive. She would have never met Gabriel, but she would have had her friends. They could have had a normal life, talking about boys with the girls and Taylor, talking about girls with Erin, everyone having relationships. Well, maybe not Olive, since she had never shown any interest in romantic relationships, but she could be there for advice and chaperoning. Darby thought about all the fun they could have had, and the bad decisions they could have made together, all the inside jokes they could have shared, the team they could have made, together.

And she cried.

She cried, her soul coming out through her eyes with each heavy tear as it trickled from her face. The streaks they left were a lot with chills as the wind caressed them gently, and she kept thinking. She thought of all the things they would never get to do, and she hated every moment. She cried out of anger and sadness and hopelessness and despair, and she sat like that for what seemed like hours.

But her tears were silent. As they fell, she screamed in her mind at the injustices of the world, but no sound escaped her other than the ragged breathing.

When her tears ceased to fall, she slumped on the park bench and curled her wings around her, seeking comfort and finding none.

She blinked away the tears and wiped her face, taking a deep breath do she could be prepared to face the world.

Then, she cast once last glance at the package awaiting her friend and took off, back into the night and its twinkling stars.

But her sense of direction was not as good as she thought, and she veered a bit to far to the east, finding herself along the coastline and the victim of off-key singing.

-:-:-:-:-

"This is duuuuuumb! Who can heeeeaar meeee? Dead of niiiiiiight! Why the siiiiiiiinging?"

Darby's eye twitched and she laughed a bit. She landed on a ledge halfway down the cliff to try and get a better glimpse at who was attempting to sing.

There was a boy down there, on a rock surrounded by crashing waves.

"What even was that?" She called down.

The boy's blond head shot up to stare at her. "That was me trying to lure people to their deaths, since its my job. Since you're there, did it work?"