The Angel's Flaws

Chapter 4

Ivy lurked Tashby into some suspicious-looking, narrow street. Street lights stuck out of houses, next to people's doors. The road was messily tiled.

"What's happening?"

"We'll get to safety and I'll explain," Ivy replied, somehow annoyed, before changing the direction and tugging Tashby behind her. "There."

It was a normal door into a building. As Tashby approached, a "Rooms For Rent" sign emerged from the darkness. Ivy took out a key and unlocked the door.

A lobby was inside, with the warm light of a lamp illuminating it here and there. Nobody was there but a lady at the registration desk, but Ivy only nodded at her for a greeting and walked past, to the staircase.

"Careful."

All that time Ivy didn't let go of Tashby's hands. She was acting patient, not asking any questions. She wondered why they didn't think of an elevator.

The third floor was lined with a red, slightly dusty carpet. Ivy just led her into one of the rooms. The interior was modest: two rooms with beds, a bathroom, and an armchair.

"Alright, now," Ivy cleared her throat. Tashby looked up at her from the bed, her legs together on it.

"You're the one with no wings, right?" She said, half-whispering.

Tashby frowned, feeling suspicious, and nodded, wide-eyed. This woman knew too much about her.

"Weird... Okay, so as you've probably already understood, everything we do here is top secret. So no telling!"

"Alright... What is it?"

Ivy sat down next to her.

"I don't have wings either. They were clipped when I was a teenager."

Tashby backed up.

"For what?"

"Long story. Either way, they kill people who naturally have no wings. And being one of them, you need to hide."

She shivered.

"And why?"

"They want their world to be perfect. But perfection doesn't exist, so the wingless people ran off to Laora. That's where you're going. That's where I went."

Tashby nodded, looking away. She needed to think about what was happening. She always knew that she'd be a little disliked, but being killed was too much. The government wasn't made up of tyrants.

"So I'll never return to the cities?"

"Not unless they accept us."