Soulmates Trilogy #1: Wings of Love

Wings of Love pt. 2

The girl known as May Lehman flew alongside the boy known as Austin McPherson. In reality, both of these were fake names. May’s real name was April Sanders and Austin’s was Julian Clark.

Their black wing tips just barely avoided brushing as they pumped themselves forward, albeit not with much strain. Both April and Julian weighed barely anything compared to a normal person: Julian weighed around one hundred pounds, while April barely tipped the scales at eighty. Both of their wings were black with a white starburst, but while Julian’s starburst spread from where feather met flesh, April’s came from the first joint of her wings. His wings were also longer than hers to accommodate for his larger size and weight, a total of fourteen feet. Delicate, tiny April with her copper hair and electric green eyes had wings that spanned only thirteen, but looked like they might get a little bigger after a few years.

April looked over and admired Julian’s strongly beating wings and longish blonde hair that tangled in the wind. He caught her looking and smiled at her, blue eyes twinkling mischievously. She didn’t blush or look away; instead, she smiled back at him before looking back down at the ground flowing under them.

In their own peculiar way, that had managed to acquire a house out in the country, far from civilization, which was fine with them both. It was little more than a shack in the middle of a forest, with no road or trail leading to it. The shack suited them nicely, and they decorated it with things they had acquired on their travels: blankets, chairs, a table, various battery-run electronics, and a small cooler.

They circled high in the air above their home like falcons after prey, looking for intruders. Seeing no visible signs of destruction, they swooped down and landed lightly on their feet, prepared for an attack. There was none, and so they relaxed slightly and stepped into their home. Nothing appeared to be disturbed as they looked around for anything out of place.

“I think we beat them here, Julian,” April said, having told Julian about the boy on the way to their home.

“We should leave soon, then. They could get here at any time.” He pulled the cooler over to the little gas stove they had been using. “I’ll make some food for us and then we can get outta here.” April nodded. “I’ll start packing,” she said. This was the first time they had ever had to evacuate their home; they had been living there for nearly five years now.

From the table beside the one bed, she grabbed a sizeable drawstring bag with a wide mouth and began shoving all of their belongings inside it: the blankets from the bed, the two pillows. In the other room where Julian was cooking some hotdogs, she folded up the table and shoved it in as well. It looked as though there was no way it could have fit, being twice the size of the bag folded up. But this was a magic bag, able to hold anything that you could put inside of it, a gift from a passing friend a few years back. This was the first time its holding capacity had ever been challenged, and it seemed to be doing quite well.

Two more chairs, a radio, and the cooler joined the dozens of batteries for flashlights and other things already in the bag. By this time, Julian had finished cooking the hotdogs and April joined him on the lone rug in front of the stove. There were twelve hotdogs in buns with mustard and ketchup smeared on them. Julian slung an arm over her shoulder and lifted a hotdog into the air. “Cheers,” he said with a smile.

“Cheers,” she agreed, copying him before taking a big bite out of hers. This afternoon snack was mostly to give them the necessary calories to help them get away. Julian, growing boy that he was, devoured seven of the hotdogs, leaving the other five for April. She munched at them happily before leaning back on the floor. Julian looked down at her. “Time to go?” she asked. He nodded sadly. “Alright.” She sighed and put out a hand for him to help her up. Gently, Julian pulled her to her feet and she slipped her backpack over her shoulders, careful of her wings. Before leaving the house, they looked out the window to see if there was anyone outside, but there was no one. Together, they ran a short ways, wings out and beating furiously to get the lift they needed for take-off. It was evening now, and they didn’t stand out so much in the sky. Still they climbed high into the air, nearly a thousand feet up where they would be tiny spots in the heavens. It was much colder up this high, but they had put on coats before they left and so they were warm.

“I can’t believe he’s still after you,” Julian muttered. It rang with crystal sharpness in the cold air.

“He’s after both of us,” April said firmly.

“Yeah. Right.” Julian rolled his eyes. “He could’ve come after me today instead of you, but he didn’t. You’re the only one he’s ever talked to. Plus, you’re a girl. That pretty much proves my point. Why would he be after me?”

“Maybe he wants to study us. We do have wings, after all. That’s not exactly normal.” From the way she spoke, Julian knew there was no winning this battle. April had a tendency to be extremely stubborn, and this was one of those moments. Julian unconsciously clenched his jaw for a moment before relaxing in the air.

They flew fast and silent now, no conversation passing between the two. This was where their weight came into play. If either weighed much more, they would fall out of the sky and die. With their light, hollow bird-like bones, they weighed much less than a normal human of their size. The bones were also surprisingly strong, able to withstand plenty of pressure. Both of them were tall and thin and moved with a lithe grace on the ground, one learned from extensive martial arts training with a side of street fighting.

Within an hour, the light had started to fade and they unanimously chose to land and find somewhere to sleep. Luckily, there was a forest down below them and they spiralled down to it. A sign outside identified it as a National Park, and both realized that they might find a place to sleep if they were lucky and careful. They skimmed the tree tops, looking for an old lean-to abandoned by a hunter or a ranger hut that had been forgotten. Their search brought good results; they found a burned-out cabin that only had three walls and the roof still standing. Immediately, they began setting up in a corner of the room, pulling blankets and pillows out of the bag. April wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and leaned up against Julian with a sigh of content.

“Even though we’ve been chased out of our home, it’s still pretty nice here,” she said with a tired smile.

“Yeah,” Julian agreed and kissed her head. “Go to sleep. I’ll watch over you.”

“Alright,” she whispered, already half asleep. “I love you, Julian.”

“Love you too.” He stroked her hair as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed. She looked so at peace. He loved her so much. It was too bad he would have to kill her.