Page 311 of Nobody's Girl

He hangs back a little so I can catch up and fly next to him. I can hear water running, then I see a river running underneath us. We fly down as close as we can without hitting the tall trees which line it. I see a silver fish jump up out of the water.

‘Did you see that, Eden?’ I send him.

‘Yes, I did. Isn’t it amazing how everything looks so different, so much clearer?’

‘It really is,’ I send.

His head cocks to the right. ‘Do you hear that, Alyssa?’

I haven’t heard anything. I listen and then I hear it. It sounds like a jet engine. ‘Eden, is it a plane?’

Suddenly it passes right over the top of us. It turns around to come by us again.

‘Shit. Fly, Alyssa. Fly as fast as you can. We have to get away from this thing,’ he sends me as he takes off, flying faster and faster.

The plane flies over us again, really fast. Whoever is in it knows we’re unusual, to say the least. I feel very threatened. The jet turns around to come at us again.

‘Look down, Alyssa. There’s an open area in the woods. We need to land there, as close to the tree line as possible,’ he sends me. ‘As soon as you land, change back into your human form and run into the trees. He can’t follow us then.’

I do as he tells me. The jet is following us closely, but it can’t follow us down into the clearing. Once over the clearing, we drop quickly to the ground. When our feet hit the ground, we transform and run into the woods surrounding the clearing.

Eden and I stand completely still, just inside the tree line. The jet keeps going back and forth over the clearing. Then, to my complete horror, two sets of headlights come out of the woods on the other side of the clearing.

“We can’t let them find us,” Eden whispers to me. “Don’t let go of my hand, Alyssa.”

As if he could shake me off! Crap! Why did we have to go and pull all our clothes off? Damn bad timing!

I take Eden’s hand as he leads us through the pitch-black woods. There are so many sharp things under my bare feet, poking at them as we walk cautiously away from the area the headlights seem to be going to.

The headlights stop at the edge of the tree line. I can hear one of the trucks’ doors open. “Get ‘em, boy,” I hear a man’s voice say.

I squeeze Eden’s hand as the sound of barking dogs fills the air around us. Eden is running so fast that I almost fly behind him, my feet barely touching the ground. I hear the dogs gaining on us. Eden is running back into the clearing. I can hear the jet coming.

“Don’t let go of my hand. We have to change back. Stay as close to me as you can. We have to move fast. Don’t lose sight of me once we’re in the air,” Eden orders me.

He couldn’t lose me if he wanted to. I’m scared almost to death. I just keep praying for us to get out of this safely. My human eyes can barely make out the opening. Eden runs out into the opening, transforming immediately. I follow just as quickly. Two thunderous booms follow us as we change into the birds.

‘Stay as close to the tops of the trees as possible,’ Eden tells me, making sure to only tell me telepathically so no one hears him shriek.

The jet flies over us but keeps going. I guess his radar can’t pick us up when we fly this close to the trees. Whatever the reason, I’m happy to have it off of us.

‘We’re going to lose the trees as cover, Alyssa. We have to fly as fast as we can once we lose them. Straight for their house. Do you understand?’ Eden sends me.

‘I do,’ I send him, then I send an image of the jet to Kyle.

The trees begin to get fewer and further apart and then there are no more trees. Eden beats his wings faster, as do I. The familiar sound of the air collapsing around us as we break the sound barrier rings in my ears. Then I hear a third loud clap of thunder to find the jet back on our trail.

I can’t look back anymore. I have to get back to the house—back to the people who take care of us. The jet passes over us, going out to turn around. I see the lights begin to come into view. The house is not far now.

The jet has turned and is coming straight for us. I see Eden dive, trying to get to the ground. I follow him, tucking in my wings, and letting myself fall as quickly as I can.

‘Change as soon as you hit the ground, Alyssa,’ Eden tells me. This time he lets himself shriek out loud as he says it.

He comes down a little bit farther away from the house than we started off. I hit the ground and change back to my human form, running like crazy towards the house. He slows a little for me to catch up, then grabs for my hand, taking me to the side of the house where our clothes are.

I feel for my clothes, finding them. I grab my dress and throw it around me. Eden pulls his pants on and grabs the rest of his clothes. Taking my hand again, he runs into the front door of the house. Once inside, we stop as Eden locks the door behind us. Laura and Kyle come in the back door.

“What the hell is going on? Why is there a jet following you?” Kyle asks us.