Unchained

Chapter Twenty Two

I started to get tired when the sun went down. I was basically flying - or hovering, whatever it is - over the city when I realized it was getting really late. But I was having so much fun. I mean, I'm a normal kid (up until now), and I've dreamt of falling off a building and flying back up to the top. I've stared at birds in the sky, envying the way they moved their wings, wishing I could soar through the sky just like them...

I've just never imagined it would be happening to me. Me.

I was downtown, so I turned my body back towards the direction of my home and started to move myself. I can't really describe it - it's like running, only I'm barely moving, and I have to stay alert or else I'm going to drop like a rock (yeah, I tried it). It's sort of like you're in water, except you don't need to move your body as much. Just a gentle tug and then you can flow for a few seconds before pushing yourself again. But for however many hours I was flying, I was already getting the hang of it. And it was amazing.

I dropped into my neighborhood and sprinted all the way back home, excited to lay in my bed and think about what a weird day I had. The encounter after school with Mr. Hauge. David's sprint to my house. A toss out the window. And now... I could fly?

Through the night sky, all the lights in my house were on. It was weird. I headed through the backdoor and into the kitchen and the first thing I saw was my mom, slumped on the couch, sobbing into a pillow.

Ryker. "Has something happened to Ryker?" I asked, my voice cracking.

My mom tossed the pillow on the floor and looked at me. "Avaley!" she gasped and then she was hugging me. "Avaley's back!" she yelled to no one in particular. "She's okay!" and then she started to squeeze me again.

"Mom!" I gasped. "You're choking me! I was only out - " I glanced towards the clock on the microwave.

11:27 pm.

WHOAH, that was a lot later than I expected. Flying really takes its toll on you.

And then my dad rushed in from upstairs. "Avaley!" he cried, running a hand through his hair like he always did. "You're all right!" my mom released me and let me hug him, and then they turned on me.

"Where were you?" my mother demanded harshly. "We were worried sick!"

"We thought you were with Sean, but when you didn't come home for dinner we had to call him." My dad explained. "The poor boy, he was just as worried as us when he didn't know where you were."

"Luckily," my mom interjected, shooting a look at my dad. "Your friend David called us and said that you were at his house, doing homework." she sighed, shaking her head. "You really need to keep us up to date with all of your friends, Avaley."

I blinked. "David? David Pearson?"

"Yes, that boy," my dad said. "You know him, do you? Or were you out drinking?"

"Honey!" my mother snapped. "We know that Avaley wouldn't do that! How dare you accuse her so harshly!"

"Well, I guess coming home at midnight is just saying she likes to study?" my dad shot back.

"How dare you!" she hissed, and then looked at me. "Avaley, you can go to your room now. I'll come up and talk to you later."

My dad laughed, a bit uneasily. "Right, and I'm not allowed to talk to my own daughter?"

"I figured you'd want to go out and buy a couple more rounds of beer," my mom said as-a-matter-of-factly. "It's your tradition, isn't it?"

"And yours is spending 'business trip' nights at that local hotel down the street with that affair of yours," my dad said quickly.

I couldn't help but gasp. I couldn't watch them argue like this. First they were mad at me but now they were yelling at each other. I sprinted up to my room, slammed the door and hid under my covers, clutching my stuffed bear. It was a long day. I really just needed to go to bed and sleep everything off.

But as I tried to fall asleep, a loud yell from downstairs woke me up. I didn't need to know it was my parents. I checked my phone - no messages from Tamara and Shayline. And David? I didn't even want to think about him. I mean, he lied to my parents and told them I was with him. Obviously something was up with me. And let alone, he threw me out the window. There was obviously some problem with that. With him.

I listened to some music for a bit but I could still hear yells bellow me. I wished Ryker was here - he'd always do something funny to entertain me.

So I pulled out my laptop and decided to do some research on what was going on with me. I Googled "Can anyone fly" and saw some fake people claiming they could fly on Yahoo Answers. Personally, it was really dumb, that person posted some really, really inappropriate links, and after that I shut the laptop. 

I internally groaned. This was going nowhere. The internet sure couldn't help me, and David just wanted to throw me out the window. So what was going on?

For some reason, I wished that beautiful woman from the hospital was here. It seemed like she had all the answers.

Depressed, exhausted but excited with what I could do, I steadily slithered into a sleep that kept me occupied with dreams for the rest of the short night.