Windswept (The Airborne Saga) (4 page)

“Avery, it’s not like that. I meant to explain—I told you I wanted to talk to you. I just wasn’t sure about everything...not until just now.” Leela defended herself but didn’t let her voice rise. Leela apparently was the only one
who remembered they still stood outside and in the vulnerable open. She made a violent gesture for them to go inside. Avery didn’t take the bait.

             
“The harpie that brought me here is injured. I had to leave him…” Avery whispered. Her eyes went back to the woods. “Maybe I can help him. I may have to go back.”

             
Leela’s hand found Avery’s arm and gave her a firm tug.

             
“We’ll get help, Avery. But you can’t help him now… Please, come inside. You can’t fight this!”

             
“Adalyn didn’t charge me. Maybe if I…” Avery’s thoughts still wondered, and she flexed her arm. She couldn’t feel the magic react.

             
“No, Avery! You don’t know what you’re up against!” Leela’s voice cracked when she caught a volume between a yell and a harsh whisper.

             
Avery double took again. “What am I up against? Leela, what’s going on?”

             
Leela pressed her hands to her mouth and didn’t answer. Silently beckoning Avery, she went for the door. Avery followed like a drone. Her mind wasn’t on her feet that led her back to the dorm. Leela animated enough to pull out her phone and dial it—Nate no doubt. But what she said in a flurry of hushed voices, Avery didn’t know. They cleared the door to their dorm room when Leela ended the call. She turned on Avery again.

             
“I have something to show you. I think it’s best you see it…it’s better to figure it out for yourself than listen to me trying to explain it. Sit…” Leela waved at one of the twin beds pressed up in the corner. Unable to obey or do anything besides an anxious dance, Avery hovered until Leela returned with something.

             
“Here,” Leela said as she handed over the large paper that was difficult to hold. Avery took on a different approach and spread it out on the bed.  Once opened fully, she could identify the paper as a map of Alaska. The names of the cities were printed in bold. Anchorage, Wasilla, Juno. Mayweather didn’t quite make the map but the city nearby, Seward did. Scattered around the map were small orange stickies that didn’t pin to any city but exact coordinates. Avery could tell by the brutal life of the fraying map and crumpled stickers that Leela had beaten it down for precision.

             
“What is it?” Avery asked for details that weren’t quite obvious. She didn’t recognize anything marked there but for the fact that it was somewhere in the wilderness. A few bordered Seward but even those weren’t very close.

“Check this
out too.” Leela pushed another messy stack of white paper at her. The stack made up at least sixty sheets, most with text and some laden with photos. Nothing stood out to her. They showed pictures of men with bushy hair, sullen eyes, and unrecognizable faces. There were empty woods, scraps of remaining buildings, and twisted metal that once had been cars. 

There were too many pages, too much information. Anxiety making her act, Avery threw the stack down.

“I don’t understand,” she admitted exasperatedly.

“They’re news articles. I got them from the web when I began. It blew up so quickly. I’m sure I don’t have them all.” Leela gestured towards them the second time around. Reluctantly, Avery looked and pressed her brain for answer
s.

This time the headers on the pages stood out to her. They were all newspapers, news stations, and blogs. Below the title, dates of accidents were printed in bold. She caught on before sh
e could voice it. These people, these faces, were of the dead. The pictures held the scenes where they had died. Suddenly cold, Avery dropped the bundle again and read with her arms curled around herself.

Avery read through the first few lines.

“These people were killed in supposed accidents. But they weren’t accidents, were they?” she asked.

The report at the top talked about the brutal claw marks the man had died from. It had been in the woods in places that few humans would ever go. No trace of the attackers
was found, Avery knew, as if they’d flown away without a trace. This wasn’t the work of bears or wolves. “They were harpies,” Avery answered herself.

Her stomach
already heavy as lead, she swallowed to keep any bile down. Avery had been the first to really know of the potential of harpie attacks, but nothing like a string of serial murders.

“Who were these people? Were they important?” Avery asked next and flipped
the page to stare at the black-and-white inked people. It didn’t seem right. The faces seemed so empty and yet so normal. Each one was just another scruffy Alaskan.

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t have put it all together if they didn’t all share one thing in common. They were all hunters and mountain men out in the wilderness alone. That’s the way the stories managed to pop up together.

“You see, these hunters could have crept up on anything—even harpies. And most people wouldn’t automatically shoot someone so human even if it did have wings. It made perfect sense. But the humans paid for the discovery with their lives.”

Suddenly sick of looking at the photos, Avery flipped the stack back onto the desk and hid the faces away. She posted herself
on the wooden table and folded her arms again. After a moment, she voiced what came next.

“I understand it was probably just bad luck on their part. They ran into the harpies and were killed. But harpies just don’t hang around the middle of nowhere. What’s the third factor?” Avery asked.

Leela was far from the person Avery thought knowledgeable on harpies. In fact, if her instinct hadn’t kept her asking, she’d have been bothered by the fact that Leela brought up anything at all. Leela was quick to answer anyways.

“I wondered that. But then the simplest answer is usually the best one. I mean, what do harpies and this whole state have in common?”

Avery perked up, catching sight of Leela’s brown eyes. There was no doubt in them.

“M
e of course,” Avery could only manage to whisper. Mason was right to worry. He was so very right. And nothing about that could stop the crippling guilt that seized her. Had these men died because she had to come home? If Leela saw her eyes glisten, she didn’t comment directly on it.

“Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wasn’t sure it was happening here and I wasn’t sure it was even safe at the harpie island with Mason. But I watched for a while, mapped it out. They always get close to Mayweather but never came
straight to it. I never thought...not this soon.”

Leela gestured towards the map the second time around. The orange stickies made more sense. And she was right. The attacks all circled Mayweather. Avery cleared her throat and managed to speak. She’d been through shock and heartbreak before.
She knew that meant one thing: she had to keep thinking and had to keep moving. She could cry about it later.

“They can feel the magic. Adalyn was probably circling, maybe even waiting, and then she rushed over when she felt it. I don’t understand why she wouldn’t have j
ust waited at Mayweather though,” Avery explained. Her mind went to Adalyn’s beaten and bloodied appearance. “It was so weird, Leela. Adalyn had been run through the ringer. She said she’d came to warn me about something, but maybe that something had chased her off before she’d gotten the chance. It would explain why she wasn’t just sitting in one place.”

“Warn you about what? Th
e woman’s already tried to kill you, Avery. Tell me you’re not taking that bait.” Leela headed for her desk and dug through the drawers after dismissing Avery’s thought. She pulled out another paper but held it to her chest. “I think it’s about Samuel. Her father died when he tried to protect us, right? Something tells me she’s probably a little angry about it.  One more photo, Avery. Then this is all I’ve got and you’ll know everything I do.” Leela fished the last printed paper out of the pile and held it out. Avery’s throat closed. In splotchy black ink sat a building burned to ashes. A caption and location sat in the corner, but Avery didn’t need to see “Portland Oregon” printed in the font.

“Samuel’s compound.” It had been burnt to the ground. Crooked timbers and clumps of dirt made up the massive building Avery had stayed in barely a few months ago. Avery could almost smell the bitter smoke.

Samuel had died a few months ago, but apparently someone felt the need to destroy his home too. Avery glanced towards the date. Two weeks after Mikhail’s demise and too recent to be connected to any other incident. Her mind kept branching out into too many directions for Avery to focus on just one thought. She chided Leela instead.

“Thank you for the research but never pull this stunt again
,” Avery said. Her fingers blindly sought her cell phone and she dialed the digits as she raised it to her ear. Mason’s number rang but didn’t answer. Voicemail reaching her, she let out a breath.
Perfect timing for this one, Mason
, Avery snipped mentally.

Their
door snapped open so quickly, Avery flinched. Everything she held dropped and skidded over the floor. It took another second for her to recognize Nate. He went straight for Leela. Avery dodged out of the way before the two could embrace, and she pressed against the bed.

“I called the state troopers.” Nate said, breaking away from Leela and making eye contact with Avery. “School’s security was also alerted but they aren’t armed. The numbers will probably give them an advantage anyways. They’re searching the woods.”

Avery’s jaw slackened.

“Are you insane?”
she accused.

“Insane would be doing nothing! The stupid birds only got us the last time because we waited. Besides, they won’t come if they’re outnumbered.”

Avery eventually nodded, still bothered by it. The delivery harpie might have still been somewhere in the woods. Even if police weren’t attacked, one of the world’s biggest secrets might be let out. Avery hit redial on her phone as if some extra seconds between calls would have made the difference. The voicemail answered again by the time Leela had drawn away from Nate.

Avery reluctantly settled on her bed and Leela joined her. The tight weight of anxiety still managed to loosen as the minutes ticked by. Avery mused. Adalyn hadn’t even lifted a finger to touch her. Nothing about it seemed right. It didn’t seem scary or typical. Trying to let her mind stay on it and cause her own exhaustion to rise, she rested her head against the wall and let her eyes close. The room was warm and her eyelids heavy. She fell asleep to the sound of nearby students creeping through the vents and laughter and clatter sounded through the hallways. And yet it took another hour for anyone to really speak and Avery to stir.

“Avery, the attacks have been sparse. I don’t think Adalyn will be coming back for a while anyways. Not according to the statistics.” Leela went to the map she’d already shown Avery. She had learned to use her numbering skills for something other than class.

Avery nodded in agreement. Nate was the only one who paced now. The boy refused to ever even call the creatures by their real names—birds, pigeons, freaks
, were his terms of choice. He probably refused to acknowledge them because he refused to believe in them. Only the torn-up hood of his car and map that was laden with highlights on the wall wouldn’t necessarily let him forget. He was just afraid now and acting on fear.

She took the moment to glance between him and Leela. They’d never been quite so lovey dovey before. The clear desperation and sentiment made the entire room feel all warm and fuzzy. Oddest of all, Avery had already approved the relationship. The two would protect each other. Just like she and Mason did
—just without the head bashing.