The name's Alexandra Hart, or Alex for short. I just turned nineteen, and I'm not completely normal, and I want to be just a normal person, but I can't. I get complimented for my looks a lot, and my hair is the color of dirt and my eyes the color of bright, fresh grass. My best friend's name is Grayson Blackwell, and he is pretty cute, his hair the color of night and his eyes the color of freshly poured dark chocolate. This seems normal, but I'm far from that.
I stood on Grandfather Mountain in the early morning. I needed the fresh air. Mist covered the horizon and in the distance, the only color I could see was blue. The sun was rising over the mountains and started to peek up at me, magically painting the sky with pink and purple paint. I am cursed with a power that I want gone, but when I use it, no feeling can top it. I have to keep it a secret from everyone; they'd only see me as a monster, and I don't want that. I deeply inhaled the cool morning air, letting myself feel the cold spring air. My power was bursting through me, it wanted to be used. I tried to ignore it, but it didn't help, it never helps. I sighed, and let it free. I faced the edge of the mountain and jumped off. I spread open my wings that magically appears from my back, the color of snow. My wings opened completely and I floated and flapped them and flew around, laughing and having so much fun. I beat my wings harder and I circled the mountain and flew all around. This feeling is one of a kind. There's no feeling like it. I soared up to the clouds and circled for a few minutes, and then landed back on the mountain, closing my wings and let them disappear. Feeling relieved of all the stress it caused for keeping it all in, I exhaled deeply, happiness was all I could feel. But it consumes me. I stood there for a few moments, smiling, feeling the after effects of flight. I turned around when I heard footsteps and panting coming up the mountain. I was afraid whoever it was hated what I was and was out to get me because I was seen with my wings. Fear creeped through every part of me, and I stood, glued to the ground, unable to move. I let out a small breath of relief when I saw Grayson coming up the mountain.
"Thought you'd be here. You like the sunrise?"
"Yeah," I turned to the sun. "I do." I turned back to him. "So....what's up?"
"You need to go back into town."
I was confused. Was Grayson's mom doing okay? I've heard she just recovered from a mini stroke.
"What? Why?"
"Someone's looking for you."
"Who?"
"I don't know. He said that his name is Carter Hol, and he said something about accipitris, and I have no idea what that is. I know you know languages, what was he speaking in?"
I was quiet for a moment, and then replied, "Latin. He said hawk in Latin."
"Hawk? I don't understand. This town is hawkproof. We are just normal humans, who defeated the hawks in the war. We increased our security and-"
"Enough, I know about the war. It was terrible."
"Do you? Do you support the hawks? Do you?!"
"No, I don't! But this town has to open its eyes. We shouldn't be afraid of the hawks. We may have drove them out and locked up our hearts, we...... We just can't let them be shut out. They deserve love and happiness, they deserve all the rights that we have. Look at it this way. We-"
"No, I don't need your point of view on this. Hawks are filthy! Disgusting! Ugly! Heartless! They are dangerous, and we are safe here."
"No, I know the hawks perspective on this."
He crossed his arms, and said, "I'm listening."
"The hawks only wanted to serve out justice and help the helpless whenever I-they could. They wanted to help us and everyone, but two people, two human boys, they aggravated them. They destroyed what they had built. Incident after incident, they eventually had enough. People got paranoid and afraid, and blamed everything on the hawks. They were heart broken, they just wanted to live among us, and we started a war with people who just wanted peace. They retreated, and some still want love. Those people are me and my ancestors."
"You and your ancestors were human. Don't be stupid."
"No, they were hawks. We have evolved so that our wings can disappear into our back and we get reincarnated when we die. I'm a hawk, Grayson. That's the reason why I shut everybody out. I don't want to hurt anybody."
"You want to get thrown out? Show me, then! Show me what you are!"
I closed my eyes and concentrated on opening my snow white wings. I let the power be free, and I jumped off the mountain. I heard Grayson shout something inaudible. I opened my wings and soared across the sky. Grayson had his eyes wide watching me fly. He started to run away. I called his name. I slowly floated upward to see Grayson point to the left, and someone shot a dart on my side. I felt sleepy all of a sudden and found it hard to stay afloat. I've been drugged by hawk venom, designed by the humans. I'm a goner.
My vision started to blur and I felt even more sleepy. I couldn't control my wings. They closed and disappeared, and I fell. Down, down, down. But I felt like I was going up. Then everything went black.
I didn't know how much time had passed when I opened my eyes to see a gray ceiling and I was lying on a couch in some sort of basement. I sat up, and there were two men, one about six two and the other about five ten. The tall one had a deep voice that sounded attractive and manly, and the smaller one had a lighter voice, but still a little deep, but not as deep as the taller man. The tall man caught me sitting up. He was holding tools and put them down on the table with blueprints on them. I now could see his face, a flawless face with dirty blonde hair and striking brown eyes the color of melted chocolate. He was wearing a shirt that said: 'Black Hawks Matter'.
"Hey, Mike, the rookie's awake."
"She's up, Carter?" Mike smiled and put down tools and his equipment.
Carter? He was looking for me.
"Where am I? Who are you? And who drugged me!"
"Feisty," Mike said. I glared at him.
"Welcome miss. Alexandra, I assume?"
"How do you know my name?"
"Hawks know who other hawks are."
"You're like me?" I said in a tone of voice that a shy boy would use around a girl.
He nodded. Mike's face had acne on his forehead and nose, his lips plump, his eyes gray like emptiness, and dirty brown hair.
"And what do you mean by 'rookie'?" I asked.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Carter exclaimed.
I gave him a get-to-it look.
I got up off the couch. He put out a hand gesture to tell me to stay.
"You've kept your hawk self concealed. So have we." He turned towards Mike, who just smiled and awkwardly waved. Carter smiled a little, the corners of his mouth raised.
"What does that have to with anything? Look, I'm just going to leave, and don't follow me." I turned toward the stairs, but Carter's arm wrapped around mine and he was strong, and he pulled me back.
"What is your problem?! What do you want with me!"
"We need you! We are hawks too! That venom dart was shot by a human. We saved you from hitting the ground! You should be grateful! If we weren't there, you would've been dead! Be happy you're still living! We are a group of undercover hawks, and we want you to join."
"What if I don't want to?"
"Then you don't have to. You can just get captured by another human or die from the darts. The humans are on high alert; they're searching for you. It's not safe. You have to embrace your wings and-"
"And what? Fly around completing our purpose? We were shut out of human hearts, kicked out, neglected. And you want to go back and get ourselves killed!? Is that what you want?!"
Mike removed himself from the heated conversation and went back to the table, ignoring the conversation.
"No, that's not what we want! But, your friend is in danger."
I crossed my arms and turned my head towards him. "I have a couple friends, you're gonna have to be more specific."
"Grayson."
My eyes went wide and I uncrossed my arms. "Grayson? What happened?"
"I'll have to start from the beginning."
I sighed. This will probably be very long....
"Go ahead, I'm listening."
Carter swallowed hard, and then spoke. "The Wicked War Hawks. Ones who support war and violence. They kill without remorse or emotion."
"Yeah, I know who they are. What does this story have to do anything with--oh no... They're using him as bait. How do they know me?"
"Some integrate into society as scouts where our hawks have last been. They've been watching you. They want hawk versus hawk war. It could devastate this town."
"I accept this war. I will beat them all! I will make sure the war does not start."
"It's not that simple."
"What do you mean?"
Mike spoke up. "If you want answers, come over here."
Carter led me to the table full of rusted tools and equipment and a blueprint.
"Why do you guys have a blueprint?"
"It's not just any blueprint. It's schematics of the War Hawk base."
"What? How did you get it?"
"We have other associates. Anyway, here's the plan."
A few minutes later
We all went outside and laid low so we wouldn't be seen in flight after flying for a few minutes, landing nearby the base. Me, Carter, and Mike landed and closed our wings. We were standing staring at the humongous base. It was made out of black bricks and it was very tall, as tall as the second tallest church tower, but a lot shorter.
"This is the place," Carter said.
"Yeah," I replied.
"You know, friendship is so weird. I mean, you pick a hawk, and you're just like, 'I like this one,' and just do stuff with them."
Carter laughed. I didn't, but I could relate.
"Come on, cutie, you don't laugh?"
"Shut up, Mike."
He held up his hands and said, "guilty as charged!"
I scoffed and pulled out my new weapon that Mike had made. He may be super annoying, but he makes good toys. I now have a mace, and I can make electricity spark on it, and it knocks people out. Untested, but we have to try it.
Carter elbowed Mike and started walking.
"What? If being awesome is a crime, I'd be serving a life sentence."
"Mike! Shut. Up!" I yelled.
His smile left his face and ran over to us.
"Mike, get your head in the game," Carter said sternly.
"Aye, aye, Captain!"
I gave Mike a cold stare. He got the idea and said nothing else. The sound of bells filled the valley and echoed all around.
"We've been spotted!" Carter exclaimed.
"Of course we have! If we had gone sooner, we probably would have gotten closer! Thanks, Mike, just great."
"What did I do?"
"Just come on!" I yelled.
Hawks flew in from above, their wings black as night and eyes the color of coals. They don't have maces like us, they have supernatural abilities, and they could destroy a life when they feel they are out of plans. I took out my mace and spread out my wings and entered battle. Mace to the face, mace to the head, a few cuts and bruises on my skin, Carter and Mike joined in. For a very annoying hawk, he can fight. Better than I could. He finished off half of the War Hawks before I wiped out twenty five of them.
"In awe?" Mike asked, cocking his head.
I smiled, and said, "yeah, sure. You are very talented, Mike."
He beamed. "Really?"
"Yeah. Come on, let's go in."
Carter smiled. I guess he was happy that I didn't say crap to Mike. I just need a bigger tolerance level at times.
All scouts knocked out, we flew up to a window, and I smashed it with my mace. The sound echoed around.
"That's going to attract attention," I said, pointing the obvious out. "We should probably get inside and get moving."
"Agreed," Carter answered.
Mike just nodded, he seemed afraid.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing," he replied, "I've never been in a spot where our lives are at risk."
"It's okay to be afraid. It makes us a hawk."
We all entered the building. Prisoners are kept at the top, the twelfth floor. We made our way up the stairs, occasionally encountering the War Hawks. We eventually entered the prison ward. There were many doors on either side of the long hallway. The floor was made out of black marble and the walls painted matte black.
"He could be in any one of these doors,"Carter said.
"Yeah, but which one?" I asked.
We looked through each barred window, and they were either empty or had a War Hawk in them. Those hawks were awaiting death row, and Grayson was in that same hallway. Door number ten held him. I heard footsteps coming our direction. We all looked at each other, feeling fear. They stopped at the beginning of the hall. They turned to our direction. I cloaked ourselves with camouflage, and they walked right by us and turned the corner. I let go of the camouflage cloak.
"How'd you learn how to cloak multiple people?" Carter asked.
"I can only cloak myself," Mike said, looking down.
"I don't know. I guess my ancestors were stronger than I once thought."
"Anyway, that was brave. Did you know you could do that?"
"No," I whispered back. "I didn't. C'mon, let's open this door."
The door was locked. I thought on what I could use to open the door. I just remembered that if my mace is hot enough, it could heat metal and might be able to melt it.
"I'm going to try something." I told Carter and Mike to give me some space. I took my mace and electricity sparked off. I connected it with the lock and the knob. The knob came off. I opened the door and told Carter and Mike to hang back. I entered the room. Grayson was lying on a cot facing the opposite direction. I looked closely to see if he was alive. His chest was heaving up and down, he was still breathing.
"Grayson?" I asked and touched his back.
He quickly whipped around and held out his fist. He lowered it when he recognized me.
"Alex?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"What are you doing here? How did you even get in?"
"No time for questions, let's go."
"But-"
"Come on!" I pulled him off the cot and hauled him into the hall with Carter and Mike.
"Who are they?"Grayson asked.
"Friends of mine. Don't question it."
"So, this is the guy. Not too shabby, am I right?" Mike said.
Carter glared at Mike, then said, "Grayson, this is Mike. And he can be very...well you can tell. I'm Carter."
Mike gave Carter a look. "Really, buddy?"
Carter elbowed him in the arm.
"What?"
"I'll deal with you later. We have to leave."
We ran for the exit and outside the base, only to see a horde of humans with hawk venom in bottles or nerf guns. All pointed at us.
"Human killers!" One man yelled.
"They work with evil!"
"They'll kill the boy!"
"Kill them!"
"Wait!" I yelled. Everyone was silent but still aimed at me. "My name is Alexandra. Alexandra Hart."
"I know her," someone said.
"Liar!" A few people yelled.
"Everyone! Just stop!" Grayson shouted. Everyone stared at him. "She is who she says she is. I'm her best friend."
"They've poisoned him!"
"Listen! She is a hawk, and I know we want them gone for good. But they are not monsters. This hawk, Alexandra Hart, is the most kindest and caring person I've ever met. She was born as a hawk, and she knew our history. So, she shut her hawk self out and tried to be one of us. We all have different perspectives, but when did the hawks murder someone?"
"Never," the crowd said.
"When did they rob banks or break any law? Never. They never did. They did nothing to us. It's okay to be afraid of them, we fear the unknown. That makes us human. We need to let them in our hearts, be friends with them; that's all they wanted. Alex knows the story."
I swallowed hard, a little nervous, and saw that the crowd was listening. "We hawks, we were very lonely. We come from another land. That land was taken from us, and we searched for a new home where we could live in peace. So, we came here, and we came in peace. But you humans started to push us away. You started a war that we did not want a part of. So, we left, heartbroken and homeless. I know if this happened to a human, some might've done something about it. But we didn't. Why? Because we didn't want to cause any harm to you. You have everything you could ask for. But we have nothing. You humans can have big hearts, I know you can let us in."
The crowd started to mumble to themselves. They dropped their weapons and looked at us.
"Sorry," a woman wearing a shawl said.
"We were foolish." A man with a hoodie added.
"Anything we can do?" Someone asked.
"Yes," Carter answered. "We would like shelter and food."
"We also want the same rights as you," Mike said.
"And," I added, "we want to be part of society and be seen as citizens. If you'd like, we could host a yearly party where we have activities for the kids, and a flight experience. But no worries, we won't fly too high; we'll keep them about ten to twelve feet in the air or lower. We could bake cookies for them and if you want, the adults could have some drinks."
"That would be wonderful," a woman said and stepped forward. "I am an official of this town and I will make sure everything comes true."
"Thank you so much. We appreciate it."
"Hawks! Hawks! Hawks!" The crowd chanted.
Grayson took my hand and we locked eyes.
"I love you, Miss Hawk."
"And I love you, Mister Human."
We pressed our lips together and broke apart laughing. Best day ever.
