Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings
and learn to fly.
All your life, you were only waiting
for this moment to arise
-The Beatle's Blackbird
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Elaine's POV
I remember the night clearly. My brother and I were fast asleep in our room that we shared in the one-bedroom apartment. When you're on the run, your resources are low, and you get what you get. Declan and I shared the one room, and Mom took the couch. We were awoken that night by yelling and crashing from the living room. I got out of bed quickly, Declan clinging to me as I tiptoed to the closet. "You stay here," I whispered, gently pushing him in.
I could see the protest in his eyes, but the sound of another crash from the living room had him curling up into a tiny ball in the corner. I quietly shut the closet door and went over to the nightstand. Opening the cabinet underneath revealed a safe that I made quick work of the code. Inside laid various important documents with a handgun sitting on top. Mom had been training me on what to do in this situation for a while. Now that it was happening, I was terrified.
My hands were shaking as I picked up the gun and undid the safety. I crept to the door and opened it just enough to see a little. I counted three men. One of the men was keeping watch at the front door. Another of the men was walking the perimeter of the room. The third man was yelling at my mother in the middle of the room. The yelling was in French, and despite knowing the language my brain was too frazzled to translate for me. I inched the door open a little more, but it was too much. The man walking the perimeter saw and started walking to the door with his own gun at the ready. Everything was moving too quickly, so I did the only thing I could think of and fired just as he did the same.
The first thing I realized was that there was now a man bleeding out on the floor in front of me. Mom had never liked the beige carpet that much, and now it was marred with a pool of blood. The second thing I registered was a burning in my arm, but I didn't have long to process it. Because the third thing my brain registered was that everyone was now looking in my direction, and the men didn't look too happy. The fourth, and final thing, my brain cataloged was a little hand tugging at my shirt. So much for staying in the closet.
The next few things seemed to happen in slow motion while also being all at the same time. The man at the door charged to us and grabbed Declan before I could react. Declan's screaming is what cleared the fog as I acted on pure instinct and swung around clocking the man in the temple with the butt of the gun. I then grabbed Declan into my arms, who started sobbing into my shirt. There was a crash followed by a thud behind us and I turned around to see the third man on the ground next to a broken vase.
Mom made her way to us with a smile that anyone but a scarred five year old would have known was fake. She wrapped her hands around my shaking ones. "Give me the gun, sweetie, and take your brother into the bathroom. Go ahead and get the first aid kit from the cabinet."
I blinked a few times as my brain caught up, then did as she told me. Declan was still crying, and the burning in my arm was intensifying. The moment I looked into the bathroom I gasped, well that explained the pain. My pajama sleeve had blood where a butterfly design had once been. It wasn't a concerning amount, but more blood then should have been coming out of my arm. There was a gunshot sound from the bedroom, causing me to jump despite having expected it. Declan's sobs got louder, and looking into his eyes I saw pure terror. "It's going to be okay," I said, trying to convince myself too.
I used my good arm to open the cabinet and pull the first aid kit down. There was another shot, and another jump, before Mom entered the bathroom. "Are you okay?"
"It's just a graze," I told her. I mean that's all it was in my mind. Anything worse would have caused a lot of problems and slowed us down from what I was assuming another run for it.
Mom gave a nod and bit her lip as she took the first aid kit from me and turned her attention to Declan. "Dec, I need you to take that towel and hold it to your sister's arm as tight as you can."
Even as young and as scarred as he was, he knew now was not the time to question an order. So he nodded between tears as he picked up the towel and held it to my arm. I could tell he was trying not to hurt me as his little hands trembled. "It's okay, buddy, you can't hurt me." That seemed to do the trick as he tightened his grip, and I bit back a grimace. "Good job, bud."
I then used my good arm to place him on my hip. We then followed Mom out of the bathroom as she told Declan to close his eyes. We stepped over the three dead men, and I briefly felt bad for the poor landlord. He was not going to have a fun morning. Though it wasn't the best neighborhood, so it probably wasn't the first time he had seen something of the sort.
I always knew something like this could happen, especially since Mom had taken Declan in. Now that it was happening, everything Mom had said to do in this situation was swirling around my head at alarming speeds. Declan and I climbed into the back seat of the car as Mom put it into drive. "Once we get far enough out of town, we can look at your arm. If you start to feel worse let me know."
"I'm fine," I said, well as fine as one could be in this situation at least.
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The car ride was silent other than Declan's soft hiccups as he continued to cry but no longer had any tears to shed. He still kept his little hands on my arm as I whispered lullabies. When we were outside of the city lights, Mom pulled over and climbed into the back seat with us. "You can let go, Dec."
"You did a good job, buddy," I praised, running my right hand through his curly hair. "You are the bravest bluebird."
He gave a tiny nod as he sunk into the seat next to me as Mom moved to work on my arm.
I winced a little when she rolled up my sleeve and started cleaning my arm. "You were right it's a graze. It's deep, and it's going to need a few stitches, though." She started pulling out what she would need to do the stitches. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," I replied, giving her a nonnegotiable look and continued before she could argue. "What happens now that they've found us?"
Mom talked as she stitched up my arm, which was good because it kept my mind off the pain, well, some of it anyway. "Remember me telling you about the safest place I know?" I nodded. Mom had told us stories of this place for as long as I could remember. I knew she had stayed there as a teenager and deemed it the safest place she knew. She had never given much detail about her time there, but I knew enough about it in case of emergencies like this. "I'm taking you guys there."
I didn't like the sound of that. "What about you?"
"I'll be back, but there are a few loose ends I have to tie up. We can't hide forever as we learned tonight."
That wasn't good. Those words were never good when Mom used them. Declan looked up at Mom. He didn't like those words either. "You're leaving?"
"Just for a bit, bud, but you're going to have so much fun. Did you know it's called the Mansion of Birds? You're my bravest bluebird, so you'll fit right in," Mom comforted momentarily, leaving my arm to run a hand through Declan's hair.
Mom loved birds. I realized that maybe this place had something to do with it. We all had bird associated nicknames. Declan was bluebird, I was dove, and Mom was blackbird. I heard Mom call out for a hummingbird once in her sleep, but I didn't have the heart to ask her about it.
"It's our next adventure," I told him. He was still naive enough that every scary thing could be made a little less scary by proposing it as an adventure. I missed that innocent belief in myself.
As Mom finished with my arm, she started giving me instructions for what to do at the Mansion of Birds. "When you get there, there will be a guard's shack at the gate. If there is someone there, identify yourself as a friend and tell them The Blackbird sent you. Inform them you need to talk to Mr. Rossi. Tell Mr. Rossi you need protection. Do not give him your last name, or mine, or the people you need protection from. It is much safer that way. If no one is in the guard shack, you will have to wait it out till morning. The window in the guard shack can be opened with a little fiddling, and it's big enough to climb through. You'll at least have shelter until Mr. Rossi takes his morning perimeter walk. While you're at the Mansion of Birds, I need you to be on your best behavior and don't worry about me. I'll be okay. Listen to everything Mr. Rossi says because he knows what he's talking about."
"How long?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even.
"I don't know my Dove."
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The rest of the ride was quiet. Declan had stopped crying and instead sat much too still for a five-year-old. Mom had stitched me up and gave me something for the pain. It was now just a dull ache numbed by my worry over Declan. Fittingly it started raining as Mom once again pulled over. Mom pulled her black leather jacket off and handed it to me. "Put this on."
I took my time, relishing those last few moments in the car. Mom also handed me a blanket from the passenger seat to use to cover Declan up as we trekked through the woods. "It's just a straight path right?" Mom nodded.
The moment we got out of the car the cold went straight to my bones along with the sinking worry over everything that was about to happen. "This is it," Mom said.
I allowed myself to be pulled into a hug. "I love you, Mom."
Mom kissed my forehead. "I love you too, Dove." She then kissed Declan's forehead. "I love you, my bravest bluebird."
"I love you, Mommy," Declan whispered.
I knew if we didn't leave then, we never would. With one last look, we turned to the forest and started our walk to our new life for an unidentified amount of time.