"Penelope, what?"
"Oh! Um, Penelope Walters." I say, embarrassed.
"And?"
"Arthur Smith." That's one guard down.
The next part is trickier, the scanners.
"Arms." Says a familiar voice, Jace. We both hold out our arms, Jace pretends to scan them and allows us in.
As we walk through the crowd. I keep my black wig in place as I'm suddenly grabbed by the arm, I feel a sharp inhale of breath as I'm whisked onto the dance floor. I lift my head to meet the stranger's gaze, only to find it wasn't a stranger.
"De- I mean Danny." I say in surprise, remembering Dean's code name. He looks uncommonly pale but continues to waltz in time with everyone.
"We have a slight problem." He mutters. Oh boy.
"What?" I ask, trying to hide the panic from my voice.
"The… bird… isn't available." He mutters, bird Is the code name for our distraction.
"Crap. Can anyone else do it?" I mutter, he shakes his head. Fine, I'll have to take things into my own hands. I let go of Dean and spin as elegantly as I can onto the performance stage. I feel my legs propel me onto it before I can say stop. I turn and face the dancers and gossipers Dean's pale face wide with terror. I clear my throat.
"Ladies and Gentleman! I am your entertainment tonight!" I say, not knowing what to do. The dancers stop and everyone takes their seats.
"Tonight, I will be… singing." I say, before letting the thought form in my mind. Singing? I can't even hold a note! Oh shit.
I clear my throat again and take the guitar on the left side of the stage. I think hard for a second but remember a song I used to play when I was a kid. I start strumming, the cold strings feeling familiar and old in my hands. I start humming before finding the words. I see Dean dart off, away from everyone. It was working. I start getting louder, the foreign words feeling like my own language. I let the Spanish words fall from my mouth. I know I go too high on the low parts and to low on the high parts but I don't care. Finally, when the song was done, I dart off stage.
Time for phase two. I follow from where Dean had gone, down Castle stairs and into the dungeons, the Guards don't bat an eye as I hurl past them. They must all be allies. I close the dungeon door behind me, the hinges squeaking and groaning. I rip off my dress and change into jeans and a tank top, hidden there by Jace earlier. I throw my old boots away which had left blisters the size of Jupiter and grab some trainers I run back upstairs. This is it.
I run into the hall as I fling off my wig, I hear gasps and shouts as I make my way into the centre.
"Everyone who does not wish to get caught in crossfire, leave now!" I shout at any innocent bystander. Only a few move.
"Well, well, well. Foolish 0f you to come alone." Says the icy cold voice of Victor. My heart freezes but I don't flinch.
"You're the foolish one, Victor. Or should I say… dad?" I spit. I see the hint of shock cross his ugly face, good. I'm glad I can still do that.
"How did you-"
"Never mind how I know. Would you like to tell the world what you did too your only daughter, and to your only son, or should I?" I hiss, acting braver than I feel. His jaw clenches as Dean appears at my side, no longer dressed in a suit.
"Or should we show them?" I say, Dean grins and we both spread our massive wings. It's less painful now, I look at my white wing, as snowy as ice and my black one, as dark as death's shadow.
Gasps and whispers spread through the massive crowd of people.
"This man experimented and tortured his own children, imagine what he's done to every other child." I shout. I rip off the straight flag on my wrist, revealing my pink one, and Dean's bisexual one.
A lot of the crowd has disappeared, sensing the awaiting conflict. Still, a couple thousand remain.
I hear Victor's cold laugh echo in my ears, the ringing appears more painful, more painful because of the 50% of my genes I share with him.
"Yeah? You and who's army?" he chuckles. I grin.
"I'm so glad you asked that." I say as most of the guards and guests reveal themselves and stand with us, along with the massive tiger.
His face gone a strange colour of purple, his eye twitching.
"Get. Them." He snarls through gritted teeth. We pounce into fighting position, my gun pointed firmly at Victor. Chaos erupts. Gun shots fly over my head and into the enemy. I sprint to the stage and leap from it, landing on the nearest enemy. I hold onto her as she thrashes against me. I manage to get my gun steady; I close my eyes as I shoot. She crumples onto the ground, holding her injured leg.
"You bitch!" she yells. I feel a strange sense of guilty, I hate shooting people, I decide. I run further into the chaos, shooting down the enemy as I go.
"Dez! Is it ready?!" I yell as I run into him, with blood dripping down a cut on his lip, he grins and nods. I leap into the air and unfurl my wings. Our side stops fighting. We back against the walls, it's time.
I hear the explosions going off first. I yell for everyone to duck, some do. The roof above me explodes, shining in sunlight. With the help of Dean, we carefully guid large pieces of debris away from anyone. Casper and Flynn roll the screen out, the helicopters above with cameras and mics. We start playing the images, all found on Victor's computer. About the experiments and the torture, about his plans and about us. I close my eyes as the images flow through, Victor and his goonies had gone to a standstill. I guess the government hadn't approved of everything Victor was doing.
The cameras pointing at us glare in the sun, I move away slightly.
"No, no, no." I hear Victor mutter. The helicopters start to disperse silently away again, I guess they got all the needed. I see Jace tip his cap out the chopper as it flies away.
BANG!
The shot rings in my ears, I gasp as I tuck myself into a corner. I'm not hit. I look down to see Casper, all good. Flynn, grinning at me. Alec looking stoic as always, Dean flying as well as normal. Then Dezzie. I see his wide innocent eyes as he removes his hand from his stomach- revealing blood. The gun shots continue as the chaos erupts again. But I barely notice, I zoom down and catch Dezzie just as he tumbles from his chair.
"Where are you hit?!" I yell hysterically. I have to pull myself together, for Dezzie.
"Shhhh, it's ok." I sob. I lay his head on my legs, covering him with my body and wings.
"I don't want to die." He sobs.
"You're not going to, I'm right here. And tomorrow we'll be back at our new home, ok?" I say, biting back tears. Not Dezzie. Please god not Dezzie.
"Sing me the song." He croaks. With all my willpower, energy and strength I manage to croak out the Spanish song. The one Dezzie and I always sang when we were kids, he taught it to me when we were in cages.
I sing and sing, barely able to look at Dezzie. Finally, when the song was done, I look down.
Tears sting my eyes and I feel like my lungs are made of lead. My best friend, gone. But I have to put this aside for now, I have to turn the pain into anger, or I might explode.
"Victor." I spit, walking towards him.
I pull out my gun, thinking only of Dezzie. I got to squeeze the trigger but stop. I can't.
I look around, thousands of dead and injured lay on the floor. Our side has overpowered them.
"Tie him up. Wait for the police." I croak distantly, the room had gone silent. The boys looking tearful and worried, do as I say and Victor is forced to the ground. I go and sit on the steps, feeling numb and strange. I should be happy, our side won, we're free. But yet I feel as if the worst thing in the world has happened. Maybe it has, how can I ever continue without him, my cage partner, my soul brother. I bury my head into my arms, the pain medication had started to wear off and my shoulder and ankle aches distantly. But the pain in my ankle is nowhere near the pain I feel for Dezzie.
"Hey." I jump up, fists ready. Dean looks in pain, I don't want to be here, but I let him sit next to me anyways.
"The police are here. They're arresting everyone on Victor's side, got no choice really. The cameras went on live stream, to everywhere." He mumbles. I sigh and rest my head against his shoulder. I feel hot tears well up, and a pain like none I've ever known well up from the pits of my stomach. I squeeze my eyes as hot tears spill rapidly, making me sniffle and shudder. Dezzie's gone, Josephine's gone, Noah's gone. Dean's grip on my arm tightens as he begins to cry too.
"There's no one left." I sob, my eyes stinging. Alec, Casper and Flynn join us, all crying silently.
"There is, there's us. And the kids." Dean mutters through tears.
We're led away in vans, to hospitals and the kids are reunited with teachers and friends. I sit in my hospital room, my shoulder bandaged and my ankle in a cast. I feel the thin knitted blanket between my calloused fingers as the doctor enters.
"The government has made an announcement, have you seen?" he says eagerly. I shake my head, not looking at him.
"Victor and his followers are being put on trial, most of them are already in prison! And you lot don't have to live underground anymore…" I hear him trail off. We're free? Finally? It should be a relief, but I can't stop playing everything on repeat in my head. I know we won't get any rights, at least not yet anyways. The government is still run by homophobes, at least for the time being. But I can't focus on that now. The doctor leaves sometime later, muttering about the 'generosity of the government' and what a 'miracle' my wings are. I black out after some heavy doses of medicine; I've been weaning off it for some time, but the sleeping stuff is the only thing that'll make me sleep. I wake with a jerk as a nightmare floods my brain. I wipe my sweaty forehead and reach for my new glasses, the same frames but without the cracks.
"Mercury? Is that you?" I hear, I jump and flip the light switch. There, in an oversized hospital gown, stands Venus.
"Venus! Hi!" I say, putting on my best childlike voice. She looks taller, and bigger, less skinny and frail. Still, she has the same childlike glint in her eyes.
"Mer! I found you! Guess what, I got to buy a new toy!" she squeals, I nearly laugh, a new toy for kids like her, kids like me, is like all the Christmases and birthdays rolled into one.
"No way!" I say and grin. She hops onto the end of my bed and shows me a plastic car.
"I have to go now. I don't want to get in to trouble, but I found my mommy and daddy and I get to go home soon." She says, suddenly serious.
"That's fun!" I say as animatedly as I can.
"Will you come and visit?" she says quietly. I'm taken aback, but nod and smile sadly. She leaps off the bed and flutters away.