Limitations

3) Nightmares

Rain pounded on the window my head was pressed against. The thunder in the distance seemed to fade to the background as my thoughts wandered. My wings gave a slight shudder when I felt a hand on them, and I turned my gaze to them, but I saw nobody. Jacks had gone to a friends house for the night, and I was left alone. Anna was at work, so the house was dead silent. I placed a hand on the window, and my reflection did the same. I heard whispering voices around me, voices I always heard, everywhere I went. I covered my ears, hoping that they would stop.  "I'm sorry." I said, covering my eyes. The voices grew louder, becoming chants. I wrapped my wings around my body, covering myself. Hiding myself. Hiding from the voices.

I closed my eyes, pulling my knees into my chest. I shook slightly as I began to drift off to sleep, the gentle rain acting like a lullaby, making sleep come easier. As my awareness of the world around me faded, so did the voices. 

I was surrounded by long grass that waved gently in the wind. The sun overhead was bright, and I had to look away to avoid the burning sensation in my eyes. A leaf blew by, and I reached for it. It landed on my palm, and I looked down at it. It was mostly green, but there were yellow-gold patches here and there. I released it, and the wind carried it away. "It's beautiful here, isn't it?" A female voice asked. I looked around, but saw nobody. I heard a quiet 'thud'  and a cloaked human appeared in front of me. "It seems you found your way here safely." The cloaked human was the one who had the female voice. "Who are you?" I asked. "Call me Alissa." She said, allowing the cloak to fall. She unfurled two wings, slightly smaller, and more colored than my own. The wings were a white-yellow color, with black on the tips of the lowest feathers and a layer of blue feathers along the top. Although I was surprised, I didn't let it show.

"Paradise Bird." Alissa said, smoothing some of the feathers. "They're pretty, but not useful for blending in." I nodded in agreement. "I guess I got lucky." I said, "As if any of us got lucky. We all suffer. We are all shunned by society." Alissa said. "We?" I asked. "There are more of us?" Alissa sighed. "Walk with me." She said, taking my hand, and leading me away from the grassy field. It seemed to stretch for miles, but she took flight, dragging me with her. I flapped my wings, and she let go of my hand. "Can you keep up?" She asked. "I think so."  I said, but in my mind I was doubtful. She zipped away, slowly becoming a dot in the distance. I tried to follow her, but my wings seemed stuck. It was as though something was keeping me there. I tried to move, but nothing allowed me to. "Alissa!" I called out, before my vision went black.

I opened my eyes, but instead of the ceiling I was used to, I was met by cold metal pressed against my front side , and straps around my wings, arms, legs, and torso. I tried to move, but, like in my dream, I was in an almost paralyzed state. "You're finally awake." A voice said, and a lab coat wearing woman walked into my line of sight. "Then we can begin the tests."  My whole body began to shake violently, and I coughed up some blood. The woman showed no sympathy as this happened, she just watched in amusement. She scribbled something down on a clipboard, and fished a needle out of her lab coat. "This is going to be even worse." She said, and stabbed the needle into my arm. I screeched in pain as the sickening green liquid was injected into my arm. The violent shaking subsided, as well as coughing up blood. My wings went numb, but at the very base I felt faint pain that slowly became more unbearable as the seconds ticked by. I screeched again, before yet another needle was jabbed into my arm.

After what felt like days of torture went by, I was given a glass of water and a granola bar, which had to be fed to me. They unbound me from the slab of metal, but bound my wings and arms again, before leading me down a hallway of the same metal. A door was pushed open, and I was pushed inside roughly, before the door slammed shut. I lost my balance, and fell, hitting my head on the cold metal floor. I cursed loudly as black began to appear at the edges of my vision. No. No. No. Not like this. No! I have to escape. It became a faded thought as I closed my eyes.

I sat up, breathing rapidly. The sun had risen, and I heard noise downstairs. I had a painful headache, but I got up all the same. My feathers were sticking up all over, but I didn't feel like smoothing them. I needed to find a change of clothes, but that could wait. I tugged on the edge of the shirt, before stumbling out of the room. The door ended up shutting on my wing, and I hissed a few unpleasant words. "Three! Watch your language!" Anna shouted, coming up the stairs. "Sorry Anna." I said, bowing my head. She ruffled my long-ish black hair, before heading downstairs again. I followed her, and I was greeted by the scent of bacon. My mouth watered, and I went to watch Anna cook it. It gave off a satisfying sizzle as it cooked, and I longed to eat it, but it would have to wait. Anna shooed me away, and I decided to ask. "Anna? Do you know where I can find some clean clothes?" I asked. "Yeah, just give me a minute." She said, and went back to cooking the bacon. She began humming as she cooked, but I payed no mind to it. I was too busy waiting for the bacon. ((Three Must Really Like Bacon))