Feathers That Won't Fly

Chapter IV Maybe We Are the Monsters Part I

"ALRIGHT GUYS! HAMBURGERRRRRS!" Azlyn squealed. You're probably wondering why she's so happy rather than being her usual moody self. That makes two of us.

Hungry hands scrambled to grab their plates. The only ones that didn't grab a plate belonged to Lilly. Azlyn picked Lilly's up and brought it over to a table.

"Come here, Lill!" Azlyn called.

Little Lilly hobbled over. Azlyn cut Lilly's hamburger into bite sized pieces. Lilly grabbed each one that was handed to her, swallowing them in a few seconds at a time. After Lilly finished eating, Azlyn sunk her teeth into her own food. It was delicious. Beef melted into cheese, which fell into tomato, falling into lettuce, which melted into onion. The juiciness of each ingredient held hands and hung on tight.

"Hey." Haddix slid into the seat next to her. Well, more like scooted, the bench was full of blisters.

"Yeah?" Azlyn said.

"So, this guy you've been perceiving through. Do you think he's close?" Haddix asked. Obviously a conversation starter; this was a dumb question.

"Well, he's on foot, we have a car, so he should be close. He's probably figured out what happened back in New York, so he's most likely headed there as well," said Azlyn.

"Yeah. How's your arm? You should probably remove the bandage," Haddix said, changing the subject.

Azlyn carefully tore off the bandage. It stung like hell, but she continued. The cuts looked mostly same, minus the blood. It wasn't as irritated as before.

"How are you?" Azlyn asked.

"What?" Haddix said, his cyan eyes shifting away and back.

"Don't give me that. I know you're upset. The knocking your feet, the anger when you saw Tom," Azlyn said.

"It's nothing. Honest," Haddix said. That's what he said, not what he showed. He's cyan eyes swam around. They looked dead, like they didn't belong in their sockets.

"Is it your mother? You miss her, right?" Azlyn asked. She put a hand on Haddix's back. I wish he'd shrugged it off, but he didn't, gross.

"I guess, but it's no use talking about it," Haddix answered. His eyes did another lap.

"No, it's not. All you can do is wait. Wait for the deadness to slowly subside. You'll learn to live with it," Azlyn said. She was watching Haddix's cyan eyes swimming around. They were not swimming in tears, they were just swimming. He was dead inside. She didn't know much about Haddix's parents, so she couldn't know how close Haddix was with his mother.

"If I'm honest with you, will you be honest with me? I need to know what Tom was talking about with the 'murders' and crap. I think it's eating you alive," Haddix said.

"Sure." Azlyn smiled. The fakest smile I have ever narrated in my entire life. It was the smile of a lie. She wouldn't tell Haddix, surely not ever.

"I was really close to my mother. You'll never know how close, but I can try to tell you. My story isn't as horrible as yours, but it isn't fun either," Haddix started. "I lived with my mom for a majority of my life. I never knew my dad. Mom said he died before I was born, in an accident. It was so boring with only Mom, she was always working late."

"Yeah?" Azlyn encouraged, twisting her golden brown hair in thought.

"I wanted a family, not just Mom, but she always got angry when I mentioned it. She didn't want to 'replace' dad. One day, I finally got her to give in. She was stressed out from a long day at work. She came home at one in the morning. Mom scolded me for waiting out on her. I told her 'Do you really want me to grow up fatherless? Do you really want me to grow up without one of the most essential parts to having a childhood? Well, maybe if I had a daddy, he would put me to bed, and I would be asleep! It's not fair! Not only that, I won't be able to have a little brother or sister! I'll be alone! Like you were without Dad!' I was only seven back then, and I guess that's what tipped her. She cried a lot, and I apologized. She told me it was okay, and a few years later she came home with someone. It was Dad, my future one at least. I was so happy. A few years later they married and had Lilly when I was eleven. Mom made a family because of me, she was happy. She was happy because of me, and I was happy because of her. She spent the first nine years of my life sulking and upset. She spent the next eight happy. I'm just sad that she died so horribly because we were so careless." The child didn't even pause to breathe. He needs an award, so I'll give him my metal of being one of the most interesting characters I have narrated.