Vagabonds

Chapter Nine: Vindicated

Standing before the gates of the Eckelson mansion, it was easy to convince herself that she was losing her mind. The night was silent, broken only by the ragged sound of Eliza's breathing after the long trek here. Tori's bike lay discarded in the grass. Eliza pressed her forehead to the gilded gates, willing something strange to happen.

But the mansion just stared back at her, smug and elegant and still.

"Come on," Eliza whispered, wrapping her fingers around the bars. "Come on."

Her eyes were fixed on the upper window where she'd seen the shape of that boy. But her mind was elsewhere. In another time, another place, when Eliza had pressed her face against the iron bars of a different institution shut down for the evening.

Sunset Hospice Center, where the old and decrepit went to die.

The last place on Earth a nineteen-year-old girl should have ended up.

Eliza slammed her fist against the metal, snapping the quiet night with a warbling metallic sound.

"I know you're in there," she hissed, scrubbing away furious tears. "Show yourself."

But she didn't know anything. Her therapist had told her to be careful of delusions. Had she made the whole thing up to escape her pain? The thought made her lean into the metal slats like a tree bending in heavy wind.

She glared at the mansion, heart sinking.

She would have to go back to the dorm. Apologize to Tori. Tomorrow, Joe would be waiting for her on the steps. They'd get breakfast, go to homeroom, deal with the endless taunts and jabs and whispers and sneers. She'd take her history exam and probably pass because of Joe's help.

And everything would go back to normal.

Eliza sighed, her mother's words echoing back to her from another day, another mistake.

One of these days, Elizabeth, you're going to have to grow up.

Shoving off the metal bars, Eliza trudged over to the stolen bicycle. She picked it up, prepared herself for the long, lonely ride back to campus. Pausing, she threw one last look over her shoulder.

That's when she saw the shadows on the roof.

She froze, her eyes straining to make out the two figures darting between spires. For a moment they were nothing more than blurry smudges in the night, visible only because of their movement in the stillness. But then, as a cloud rolled away and the moon's light made the gilded trim shimmer, they were thrown into relief. One gangly and narrow with glinting eyes.

The other burly, muscled, and unmistakably winged.

"Holy shit," Eliza breathed, dropping the bike and darting back to the fence. She fought the urge to blink as the figures made their way to the corner of the vast roof, teetering over a gutter bed. Masculine whispers floated toward her on the breeze, accompanied by the burst of a tenor laugh. The winged boy put his hands on his hips. The other threw out his arms. Eliza could just barely hear two cajoling words.

"Come on..."

And then, as if bursting out of her very dreams, the boy's wings unfurled.

Eliza couldn't help it.

She gasped.

They were huge, almost double the boy's height, thickly feathered and iridescent even at this distance. He beat them once and she could feel the distinct whomp of shifting air. The skinny one let out an excited cackle and leapt. Eliza pressed herself closer, heart pounding.

But there was no need to fear, because the winged boy swooped off the roof, twisted in midair like the most graceful gymnast Eliza had ever seen, and hit the shape of the falling body. There was another whomp, another beat of those glorious wings, and then their misshapen shadow was rising into the night, illuminated by the moon like a creature of myth.

For a moment, Eliza could only watch, a triumphant grin unfurling on her face. She'd been right. Damnit, she'd been right. Screw Tori and Mr. Eckelson and all the councilors who told her to get her head out of the clouds.

She'd give a million dollars to show them what she'd just seen.

With a jolt, Eliza realized that the boys were gliding over her, growing more and more distant.

Heading into town.

"Wait, wait, wait."

Eliza lunged for Tori's bike, leaping onto it before it was even straight. It wobbled precariously, threatening to tip her into the bushes for another tumble in the trees, but she managed to find the pedals and propel herself forward.

It was probably the most dangerous ride of Eliza's life as she chased after the gliding shadows, barely glancing at the road in front of her. Twice she had to veer precariously to avoid a car swinging around the bend, and once her back wheel jerked as it slid off the pavement, but she managed to follow the flying shapes all the way into central Scottstown. Even from this distance, she could hear the steady thumping of air, almost feel the power of those wings. Her whole body felt electric and giddy and wildly alive as she ignored the questions and pumped her legs as fast as she could. They were fast, but she was beneath them, chasing them, zigzagging into town.

Someone honked behind her, forcing her to look away. She moved to the side of the road, throwing out one leg to prevent herself from toppling over. Swearing under her breath, Eliza righted the stolen bike, kicked off the curb, looked up.

And froze.

The sky was black, the silver clouds shifting in dizzying, unpredictable patterns, none of them the one she was looking for.

She'd lost them.

"No you don't..." Eliza breathed, tightening her grip, shifting back into motion.

This night wasn't over yet.