Page 16 of Birds of a Feather

An army of custodians mopped, vacuumed, swept, and waxed the hospital floors after the hippos were lured away and put back in their marsh. The mess they left behind would take most of the night to clean. Food, supplies, and clothing torn and trampled sat in messy piles nearly everywhere. It looked like a horde of giant toddlers had been left unsupervised for hours and trashed the place.

Lyla sipped the hot chocolate—not for pleasure, but out of necessity to replenish her sugar reserves—as Agent Stone and Sparks bombarded her with questions.

A trickle of sweat slid down the side of her face, and she pushed the sleeves of her sweater up to her elbows. Since bodies burned more energy trying to stay warm, Dr. Brown had instructed the staff to turn the air conditioning to her room off. She didn’t want to risk Lyla being too cold while she recuperated. A pile of sugary foods and drinks sat on the table next to her bed, waiting to be consumed. And boy was she hungry.

“That’s when you noticed Gabby was gone?” Agent Sparks dabbed at the sweat on her own forehead before brushing a redcurl out of her face. Her medium brown skin seemed kissed with gold as the setting sun shimmered across her face.

Lyla nodded. Various agents had her retelling her tale all afternoon. When she mentioned the worm, they made her wait for Agents Stone and Sparks. When they finally arrived, they wanted to hear everything from the beginning. Lyla started with her trip to the library, the worm sighting, and then the hungry, hungry hippo exhibit in the hallway of the hospital. Her tale ended with finding Gabby missing and the state of her room.

“Back to the worm.” Agent Stone’s brown eyes narrowed. “Did you see the front of it?”

“No…” Lyla cocked her head sideways. She thought back to what Gabby had pointed out.Worms don’t flop.“Maybe it wasn’t a worm after all. Could it be something’s giant mutant tail? Like a rat?”

Agent Stone and Agent Sparks exchanged a knowing glance, something unspoken passing between them. “We had Agent Kipp scan the security cameras. I cannot reveal what he found, but he did identify the species of intruder we were looking for earlier. We can have him recheck for anything else out of the ordinary in case we missed something during the ordeal.” Agent Stone slid the tiny notebook into his breast pocket.

“You mean the hippos charging through the halls?” Lyla snickered.

Agent Sparks rifled through her purse before setting a card on the table next to the smorgasbord of sugar. “Here, so you can have our cell numbers. We want you to reach out to us if you think of anything else.”

Without another word, they left Lyla to her food. Lyla polished off the hot chocolate. She eyed up the rest of the treats, but it seemed weird to be eating food she associated with celebration when her friend was missing. Her stomach growled in protest.All right.She supposed she could eat some of thedew melon. Maybe drink more of the apple juice. She needed to replenish her energy. Feeling bad about herself or blaming herself for Gabby’s disappearance would get her nowhere. It definitely wouldn’t get Gabby back.

A thought occurred to her. If she could gain her strength back, she could fly out to try to track down Gabby. The more eyes looking for her, the better. Though there were a few ASS agents on the job, it couldn’t hurt to have an extra bird out there.

But how much of a risk would it be to shift again?

She glanced to her IV bag, which had been plugged back into her hand, and sighed. It didn’t feel like she was starting over, but it felt like she erased most of her progress.

No. That wasn’t true. She didn’t feel overly exhausted. When she’d first arrived at WANC, the numb fingers of fatigue gripped her brain, threatening to pull her back into sleep. She passed out so easily from exhaustion in the beginning. After her first interrogation by the agents, she slept a whole day. But now…

Lyla looked from the pile of food to the window. The sun was beginning its descent, sending pink and purple rays out from the pastel horizon. She’d need all night to get her strength back up.

All she could do was hope that Gabby was okay.

Gabby struggled to sleep with the creaking branches around her. She tried to brush it off as the wind, but she shuddered to think what would happen if Dr. Grimm found her again. She nestled further down into the vacant nest she’d found, glad its occupants didn’t need it tonight. Her human arms were crossed tightly across her chest, trying to keep in the warmth. Though the summer day was hot, the night air didn’t hold much heat. The oak tree where she tried to sleep didn’t offer much protectionfrom the wind. She’d never tried to sleep as a crow before. That probably wasn’t helping. She feared she’d turn back into a human in her sleep and fall out of the tree.

The bough shuddered under the nest as a gust of wind caught it. How did real birds do it? It was terrifying. Her mind filled with images of her falling asleep just before the breeze knocked her out of the tree. The anxious thought ended with Dr. Grimm waiting at the bottom for her, ready to scoop her up into a tiny birdcage. A shiver trickled down her spine just thinking of it.

In her mind, Gabby plotted her course back to WANC. As a bird, she could tell exactly where she was by using the Earth’s magnetic field as a compass. Though it wasn’t as easy as using a GPS or map, she knew what direction she needed to start heading in tomorrow, but not necessarily how far she had to go. She wanted to put as much distance as possible between her and Dr. Grimm. With any luck, she’d lose him before getting back to FUCN’A. Then the agents could deal with him.

She watched the silver moonlight trickle through the long oak leaves, leaving dark shadows around her. Gabby liked the dark. With her black feathers, she could easily hide, blending into the darkness. She could use the night as a blanket. But during the day, it would be more challenging. Though there were many crows and ravens in this area, she had a feeling she was the only one sporting human arms.

Gabby tried to keep her eyes on the moon, watching it slip farther toward the west. Soon her eyes grew heavy, and even the wind couldn’t keep her awake. She needed her rest if she were to face Dr. Grimm again tomorrow. If he found her once, he’d be able to do it again.

11

The golden rays of dawn gently brushed across Gabby’s eyelids. She opened her eyes to a pink sunrise. The color was a perfect match to Lyla’s hair. Gabby had a sinking feeling in her gut that she’d never see her friend again. Suddenly, she regretted that she hadn’t asked Lyla to go to the party. The thought became needles in her brain. She shook the feeling away as her tummy growled. There wasn’t time to forage for food. She needed to get back. And fast.

She stretched out all four of her upper limbs. It was slightly easier to control them but still awkward at times. Occasionally her brain signaled the wrong set to move. She nearly fell from the air a few times last night before spotting the vacant nest in the oak tree. With a shake, she ruffled all her feathers, ready to face whatever horrors the new day might bring. Hopefully none, but it didn’t hurt to be prepared. Gabby found it best to lean toward being realistic instead of optimistic.

Her sharp eyes scanned the ground for any creature that didn’t seem to belong. Robins and chickadees hopped around, searching for worms. The morning welcomed her like an old friend. Birds chirped and called all around. Before taking flight,she scanned the skies. A hawk flew in lazy circles above the yellowing grass of the nearby field. Her stomach leaped into her chest. Sandy, her previous captor from last year, shifted into a red-tailed hawk. But this one appeared to be of the wild variety. When Sandy shifted, she was a human-sized bird. This creature could easily perch on the outstretched arm of a person. And while hawks sometimes did go after smaller birds as prey, Gabby was a crow. They were seldom bothered by birds of prey.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. And if there was anything she’d taken away from camping as a kid, it was that if the birds were chirping, there were probably no predators—or pesky humans—lurking about. The songbirds urged her out of the nest with their cheerful melodies. She needed an early start to the day to get back to WANC and ask for help. If she could make it that far. Gabby wasn’t used to solely navigating as a bird. True, she took small trips around her neighborhood, pre-kidnapping, that was. To her, it was like taking a walk around the block. But she never flew distances this great. And she was a year out of practice. But what choice did she have?

She spread her arms and nearly hopped out of the nest to her death. So much for having control of her new limbs. Then a crazy thought occurred to her. What if she shifted back and flew while in human—or was it now angel— form? Could she travel faster that way? Maybe. But it wouldn’t be safe. Who knew what could happen if the humans caught sight of a naked woman, soaring through the skies on black wings. They’d think the end of days had come. She could possibly start a panic. No. It was easier to be a crow even it if took her longer to get back. Plus, she didn’t want to think about the trouble she’d be in trying to explain to both FUC and ASS why she thought it would be a great idea to fly around looking like an angel who forgot her heavenly robes. She’d be in big, big trouble for sure.

Not to mention, that semi-shifted form would make it easier for Dr. Asshole to find her.

Part of her wanted to be found, though. She wanted to make him pay. He needed to never hurt anyone again. She would break him like he’d almost broken her. She shook her head, swallowing up the wickedness that wanted to bubble up inside her. Gabby couldn’t cross that line. She wasn’t a bad guy like those who hurt her and the others.

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