We were lying on the ground at a defunct gas station, then floated up into the black sky. Higher and higher we went, disheveled, Liza practically mangled and still unresponsive, until a spot not far beneath the Cloud opened up, and a metal disk revealed itself, still a dark color that blended in with the sky. No lights and just the sound of forceful wind wooshing against us.
The fleshy, orange-colored wings settled when "Mother" stepped on top of this disk and rested. Her arm clung tightly around my waist and strained each breath. I nearly puked. Even as she relaxed, she wouldn't let us go. Then I watched the metal surface under her feet open up, and we dropped into a bright room lined with screens on all sides. Only then did she let me go, and I managed to sit up despite an overwhelming, burning pain ravaging my body.
