Page 83 of Glass Wings
The shackle around her ankle clinked from her movement, reminding her again of her place here in this home.
“As fun as all this is, I will now excuse myself. Sheng should be back here tonight, and I must prepare the rest of the house.”
Hadley screamed again, this time a low growl, feral. How dare he lock her in here and leave her in this state? If there was one person who deserved a light crucifixion, she would volunteer him without a second thought.
With that, Amis walked out of the closet, turning the lights off and closing the door behind him.
She then sat in complete darkness, the sudden absence of light swallowing her senses. She thought of Hector and wondered if he was still in the apartment or if he had decided to move out of the city without her. The two of them were always quick to act, constantly running from their pain and fear of rejection. She hoped he went and never looked back. She hoped he was successful and his hard work paid off during any future auditions.
The pain in her shoulder blades was coming in faster waves now and seemed to speed up every couple of hits consistently. She clenched her teeth and clung to the floor, not able to do anything else other than shout or hold her breath.
There was no way of knowing how much time had passed, and Hadley couldn’t tell if Amis had walked out of the room ten minutes or two hours ago. She thought of her mother, the day that she died, so frail and thin in the hospice bed that sat as a fixture in their humble living room.
Her mom’s eyes were bulging out of her head, her face also reflecting pain but still surprisingly gentle. Her mother had put her hand on Hadley’s cheek that day.
“I have a daughter your age. You should meet her, dear,” she had said to her. Hadley’s eyes had teared up at that. There was so much kindness and love radiating from her, but the visual of it would haunt her memories forever.
“Please tell my daughter that I have gladly given up an extraordinary existence so she could have one. She’s so special,” Allienna continued before trailing off, staring into an empty corner of the room.
Hadley held onto her hand on the side of the bed, which went limp as her mother faded away, dying right in front of her.
Another blow of the axe hit her in her back, but this time, it was different. This time, the pain was sharper, and an audible, wet pop haunted her ears. Hadley could feel a river of blood seep down her back as the bone pushed through the skin while the blows of pain came quicker, more continuously.
A weight began to hang off of her back, bringing a new kind of agony in between the blows. She had no control over her back muscles, which were sore and exhausted, so she just continued to lay there as large wings were pushed out of her shoulder blades inch by inch while more and more blood created a puddle around her.
Barely hanging on, Hadley cried out weakly for help once more. Her back was so heavy it felt like she had an entire person sitting there on top of her, digging into her already sore skin with their knees. She realized her hands were shaking and closed her eyes in defeat, waiting for the next blow to strike, but it never came.
She lay there hesitant to move in case she could trigger her body to continue breaking apart, but after many breaths, after her heart slowed down and her head stopped pounding, she realized whatever this was was done.
Thank fucking God.
She sat up, the weight of whatever hung off her back toppling herbackward. She tossed her hands back to support her, a soreness making her wince as the alleged wings pressed against the floor.
They were a part of her, a new limb that felt the coldness or heat in the air. It was unbelievable to have this sudden new sense of the world around her, of this closet. She was a newborn calf, not strong enough to stand or balance, but she felt so healthy.
Raising a hand to her nose, feeling the bones in her face, she was not surprised to feel that the injury seemed to have disappeared altogether. Any weakness she felt, other than untrained muscles, was non-existent. She laughed, still sitting in the dark with a shackle around her leg. This wasn’t a story or a play she could have written even if she had tried.
The sound of the door sliding open caught her attention as the fluorescent lights overhead blinded her once more. She was getting sick of that.
Amis emerged from the door, his eyes fiercely studying her.
“The screaming stopped, so I thought I would come in and check on you.” He smiled as if he were doing her a favor.
Asshole.
“Your slip has ripped. I would offer to get you more clothes, but they surround you.” He pointed around her without taking his eyes off of her, off of the wings hanging from her back.
Amis was right. The back of her slip had ripped down the middle, leaving her completely exposed from behind.
“Why don’t you try getting dressed in the dark?” she snapped back. “And how the hell am I supposed to get a shirt over these things?”
Amis laughed, his belly vibrating as if this was an entirely new sensation.
“You can pull them back in. You are not cursed to walk around for the rest of time with them visible. Although they're fresh; I imagine you’ll want to give yourself a break before you have to experience that pain.”
He walked past her, skipping over her chain elegantly andfumbling with the rack behind her. Hadley felt mortified, her wings and bottom exposed.
“Here,” Amis said, tossing a black sleeveless shirt and some black sweatpants to her.
