New Wings

Chapter 2

"Due to your latest episode, we've come to the sensible conclusio--" Cress flushed in fury. She was growing tired of these moments.

"Episode? Mother, you knew those shoes were too tight, yet you forced me to wear them to the Parkinson's party. My trip over the carpet was nothing more than--"

"HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT YOUR MOTHER!" Her father bellowed, causing Cress to lose all confidence as she shrank back into the cushions.

"I shouldn't have expected anymore from her, dearest Richard, we both know how wild she is..."

"If only we'd had that son, instead of this little freak! Embarrassing us at any social event, having to nerve to ask for school books instead of the latest fashion trends, when she very well knows we want her married off. What kind of useless idiot would think a man would want her for her brains? Foolish little mink you are!" He yelled mercilessly, so red with anger that strands of spit landed on Cress's trembling face.

"You deserve punishment for the way you think, for you are wrong. You are a mistake, and I can't abide to look at you!" Her mother added furiously, slapping Cress with so much force that the shocked girl tumbled to the floor, landing hard on her elbow. Ashes flew up from the fire on impact, and Cress bit back a scream as her hand became coated in the white hot debris.

Her parents didn't notice.

"Though you might wish to stay there and rethink your dreadful behavior, we have scheduled you an appointment with the renowned Dr. Harper. It took your father a while to agree, and heaven knows he had good reason to be weary, for if anyone sees you there.." Her mother shuddered. "But despite that, we must have you go, because I can't keep you from society next season without someone of importance noticing, and I can't take you to the public next season either, because you are sure to disgrace us. So you've left us with no other options than to cure you of this, well, this disease." She curled her lip at her daughter as Richard dragged her to her room, where she'd stay for the next week.

The memory faded to grey, her mother's last words repeating over and over to the rhythm of the wheels turning.

A disease. You have a disease. You are a disgrace to the family...

She woke up screaming, clawing at the armrests of the chair before realizing where she was. Gasping for breath, she pushed the loose hair out of her face, unaware that the bun was now completely gone. She'd been thrashing.

Cress took one last stuttering breath before checking the clock on the wall. They still had about thirty minutes before they arrived at...well, wherever he'd planned.

The last images of the memory haunted her. Cress bit her lip, trying to imagine what her parents would do when they found out. Outraged, that's what they'd be. Their reputation would plummet unless they released the news of her anxiety, but that would raise questions about the cause of her 'illness.'

Pushing the thoughts out of her head, she turned to watch the signs streak past as they flew underground from one destination to another. They'd passed by her intended stop a while ago.

She let out a groan, overwhelmed with the mess she'd just gotten herself into. What had she been thinking? This was downright madness. Maybe her parents had been right to call her ill.

Then again, if Cars well's story was true...It was like a thorn in her side that she couldn't get out; the fact that her parents had gone that far was unbelievable.

Maybe they were right to call her naïve.

Her flurry of thought was halted as the door opened, and a disheveled Mr. Thorne entered. He was looking at the floor, a slight grin on his face. She coughed politely and he glanced up, his smile shifting into a sheepish look.

"Ah, well then. I must've wandered off." Cress glanced at his face, noticing the smear of something reddish across his cheek. Wandered off, eh? She waited for the apology, but it never came.

"So how far away are we? Till we get to the station I mean." He said, glancing out the window as he stretched.

"I'd say about fifteen minutes now. Mr. Thorne,"

"Please, just call me Thorne. I doubt there's any need for manners involved when it's a kidnapping."

She gripped the arms of the chair, startled. "Kidnapping? Whatever do you mean, Mr.--er, Thorne? I came willingly."

"Well yes, but no one else knows that. And that will cause some problems for us. Let's just hope we can travel faster than the news."

Cress looked down at her hands, fiddling with the glove that hid her scarred hand. A question formed in her mind, one that she really should have asked before jumping on a train with this man.

"Thorne, where exactly are we going?"

He sighed and ran his fingers through the dark mass of hair, relaxing into his seat again. While she waited for an answer, she peeked at him through her lashes.

He was much younger than she'd initially thought. Probably only twenty six or so. The dark hair she'd been wary of actually had streaks of blonde running through its waves. His eyes glimmered, with mischief or mayhem, she didn't know. It made her nervous, but somewhere deep down, the brave part of her was intrigued.

"That is an excellent question, but I have one for you too, and until you answer this I'm afraid you won't know our destination." He shrugged sympathetically, but the knowing smirk ruined it.

"You don't have any idea where we are going, do you?" She squeaked, suddenly a little panicked.

"Now now, calm down, I didn't mean that. My question for you is this; I know your recent past, but I don't know all of it. I still don't understand why your parents ruined you, or how. So what I want to know is, what are you really running from?"

He'd hit a nerve, and they both knew it.

"What business is that to you? You know enough, and I don't owe you anything."

"A, a, ah, that's where you're wrong. Who became your wings? Who bought you a very expensive train ticket?" She frowned at him.

"You're much more vexing now than when you were proposing marriage." She grumbled, fiddling with her glove once more. He was right, and she hated that. Cress didn't want anyone to know her past, because she didn't want their sympathy. It was no use to her. "Look, I'm simply not ready to talk about it, and besides, it's not the most important matter at the moment."

He paused from his internal gloating and looked at her, really looked at her. She shrunk back, used to that kind of intensity coming only before a hit or slap.

A moment of confusion passed over his face, but he regained composure so quickly Cress wondered if she'd just imagined it.

"Alright, you win lady. We are headed to the superb and glamorous streets of Brooklyn!" He spread his arms wide, like an announcer at a circus. She blinked.

"Brooklyn? But isn't it a little...unsafe?"

"That's the whole point. Your parents wouldn't think that we'd stop in a place so close to home, and such a dirty place at that. Besides, my friends own a bed and breakfast over there, and I haven't seen them in years."

"Why?" She asked, noting how his eyes dropped suddenly.

"You have secrets, and I'll keep mine, we clear Cress?" He said, so quietly that she gaped at him.

He avoided her gaze and stood, grabbing his bag just as the metro shuddered to a stop. After a seconds thought, she took one last look at her purse before grabbing the money and dropping the rest onto her seat. Cress was ready to move on. (That realization alone was enough to make her knees wobble.) She stood and followed him, more confused than she'd ever been before. Right before they exited the train, he stopped and turned around.

"One more thing; the marriage was simply an idea. We can use it as a cover so we stick by each other. Otherwise," He flashed her a triumphant smile, his mask slipping back into place, "you'd be absolutely lost without me, darling."