by Azzurra Nox
“Jon,” her hand caressed his cheek in a tender gesture, “I didn’t see any bird.”
“It’s got black wings. It mingled with the night. It hid behind the clouds.”
“Are you even listening to yourself? That sounds ridiculous. Like some emo crap a drama nerd might say.”
“But it’s true….I saw it!”
“You’ve been acting strange all night. Maybe we should just go home when we get back down,” pulling at a strand of hair. She must be angry, he knew this. Whenever she was pissed she always started pulling at her hair in signs of agitation.
“Look…I don’t know. I feel weird. Maybe I’m not good with heights,” he lied but he didn’t want her to start questioning his sanity. “It’s night. The dark is playing tricks on my eyes.”
She offered a small smile, pulling him next to her. “It’s okay, baby. I just wanted to bring you here, because I wanted to say how much I love you.”
The phrase lingered in the air with the same weight that the scent of violets did. Jon couldn’t reciprocate the phrase.
He merely nodded and murmured under his breath, “I know, Milly. I know,” and kissed her before she had a chance to speak and question his lack of a positive response. If he had been on terra firma he could’ve easily have found a way to disentangle himself from this predicament, using the vendors as a way to distract Milly from the moment. However, stuck in a cabinet that was so far up in the sky gave him very little opportunities to escape, and keeping his lips upon hers was his best way to keep her from further investigating his deficient desire to open up his heart as she had done. Even because he knew that he couldn’t state the truth. He was in love, only not with her. The devastating truth too cruel for him to utter.
In the distance, the mysterious creature with dark wings flew away from the Santa Monica pier. The people below were unaware of its existence, it had flown too far up for it to be heard. Taking with it the scent of violets down past the horizon.
Chapter Eleven
The girls hovered over the bulletin board dressed in leotards and en pointe slippers. A fragile sheet of paper that was worth all their anticipation and preoccupation was kept in place with a tack. It held the lock to their destinies. It was the casting sheet for Phantom of the Opera. Lena stood on tip-toe to look over the other girls’ shoulders to see if she could make out her name. She bit her lip in fear, but then everyone turned to face her.
“You made it…you’re Christine!” Bethany exclaimed. “I’m your alternate though,” was her quick reply whilst the other girls circled Lena to congratulate her. She was beaming. Usually she was one who didn’t readily expose her emotions but it was difficult for her to contain her happiness as it was manifested by the huge grin on her face that made her look like she was one of those girls on a toothpaste advert.
Dizzy with glee, she made her way to the locker room to change into her street clothes because Jon had promised to pick her up. He also mentioned how he wanted to talk about something important in relation to the black feather. She quickly changed out of her pale pink leotard and slipped into a short black dress with black ruffles at the bottom and red ribbon tied in bows along the edges. Sitting down, she pulled on a pair of black and red stripped socks and fit into her usual black Doc Martens boots. Then she released her long blonde hair from the tight bun and combed through it with her fingers, before placing her signature black bow in it, and slipping her mother’s silver rosary over her head. She stole a quick glance at the mirror over the sink. If a stranger were to see her, they’d find her pretty, almost doll-like in her Gothic Lolita attire and delicate frame. She heard her mobile ring and that was her signal that Jon was waiting outside, so she rushed out the door, grabbing her messenger bag on her way out.
“Hey babe,” he rolled down the windows leaning over to open the car door for her so that she could get inside. The infamous Marlboro dangling from his lips, his eyes shaded by a pair of dark Ray Bans.
“What’s the occasion?”
She knew he was referring to her outfit. “Nothing,” she shrugged. “I always dress this way, you just don’t know cos you’ve only seen me in the school uniform.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” he made his way back on the road heading in the direction of the Pacific Coast Highway.
“Where you taking me?”
“Santa Monica. It’s where it happened.”
“What happened?”
“I saw it.” He spoke quickly. “I swear to God, I saw it.”
“What are you talking about Jon? And slow down a little, geez,” she looked at the speed and saw how he was driving twenty miles over the speed limit.
“I saw that thing….bird…whatever it was…that you found the black feather to.”
Sitting up in the seat, suddenly interested, her attention perked. “What do you mean you saw it? Was it a raven?”
“It’s not a raven. It’s too big to be a raven.”
“What did it look like?”
“I couldn’t see it ‘cause it was hiding behind the clouds but I saw its wings. They were huge.”
“Wait…how could it be hiding behind the clouds? That means it had to be pretty damn far up!”
“It was!”
She sat back in the chair, thoughtful as she watched him smoke pensively in an agitated manner, taking long drags, the car filling up with smoke.
“Look, you’ve gotta believe me. Milly thinks I’m nuts.”
“You told her?”
“She was there with me when I saw it.” He took his eyes away from the road, his focus running on low.
“Oh,” she hated how she sounded so forlorn in just that one single word.
“Get out of the way!” He shouted suddenly swerving to the left, trying to dodge a cyclist on the road. Lena rolled towards him in her seat letting out a frightened yelp.
“Are you crazy?! You almost hit him!”
“You gotta tell me that you believe me!” ignoring what she had said completely. Then he pulled off the road and stopped.
Lena’s heart raced like she had just been on a mad car chase, scared and shaken up. Taking a few deep breaths before she shouted, “Were you trying to get us killed?” undoing her seat belt, getting out of the car, fuming angry with him.
“Wait!” he rushed out after her not wanting her to walk away.
“What? You’re talking like a madman, you’re driving like a lunatic, and you almost hit a guy and got us killed!”
“I know,” he said quickly, “I’m sorry, but just listen to me, please,” he took a swift drag of the cigarette in his hand.
“And stop smoking these, they’re disgusting,” she pulled the cigarette free from his mouth with a glare. Then broke it in half throwing it on the ground and stomped on it with her Doc Martens.
Jon just looked at her surprised. He made no attempt to stop her and now was momentarily at loss for words until he mumbled a soft, “I’m sorry,” and cleared his throat, “I’m just scared,” he admitted, “That thing…whatever it is, it tried to kill me last night.”
“What do you mean it tried to kill you?” she looked at him with suspicion, squinting her eyes for the sun. She brought her hand over her forehead to create a pseudo shade.
“What I’m saying is, its wings are so potent that the wind caused by the flapping almost blew me overboard the Ferris Wheel I was on.”
“If that’s true, wouldn’t have Amelia seen it?”
“I don’t know why she didn’t see it. But it was dark, so it’s possible that she couldn’t have.”
Lena nodded, although she wasn’t sure why because she wasn’t comprehending a single word of Jon’s folly story, even if she attempted to piece it together in her mind.
“So you don’t think that the feather I found could belong to a raven?”
“No…what I saw last night was no raven. It was too big. It was around your size.”
“But why would I have found it near Blake’s body?”
“Maybe there’s a
link between the feather and her death.”
“What are you suggesting we do?”
“Nothing. We just need to keep an eye out for anything weird that happens.”
“Define weird.”
“Like if you see huge winged creatures in the sky.”
“Gotcha,” she couldn’t help but laugh at how serious he looked, “Now take me to the pier and show me where it happened.”
The two got back into the car in direction to Santa Monica. Lena kept stealing glances at Jon throughout the ride, and wondering what was really going on. Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. There had to be an explanation. She looked out the passenger window, watching the hills go by in shades of green and brown.
Chapter Twelve
The lobby was filling up with teenagers. Some were lining up to buy snacks at the counter while others were meeting up with friends. Jon was in line to buy popcorn as Amelia waited outside for Lena to show up. Soon, they were both walking in. He couldn’t help but notice how stunning Lena looked in a black and white short Gothic Lolita dress and black heart print stockings. In comparison, Amelia seemed so bland in her ripped jeans and white tank and grey hoodie.
“What do you want?” the annoyed voice of the food clerk interrupted his thoughts.
“What?” he said distracted, trying to direct his eyes back to the food clerk, a freckled girl in a green uniform.
“What would you like?”
“Uhh…yes. Um…large buttered popcorn and three sodas.”
“Coke or something else?”
“Make it a Pepsi.”
Once he had paid, he joined them. He couldn’t help but smile when Lena’s eyes met his own. For a moment he felt like all the noise in the crowded cinema had dimmed to a striking silence and the only thing that could be heard was the clumsy beating of his mad heart.
“Is that for me?” Lena motioned to the third drink he tried to keep close to him from falling to the ground. He nodded, clearing his throat, “Yes.”
“Ace, you’re so nice to me Jonny,” taking the drink he offered from his cold hand. The nickname vibrated in his brain and for the very first time it didn’t sound too terrible as it had in the past. He almost didn’t mind that it vaguely reminded him of his lost twin.
“I heard this film is super scary,” Lena said, taking a sip of her drink, the straw lingering at the side of her mouth like a dangling lollipop stick.
“If there’s gore, I’m stepping out,” Amelia warned, “I don’t want to see guts scattered everywhere as a form of entertainment.”
“It’s not gory,” Jon interrupted, “Promise,” handing her the popcorn and drink, as he slid his arm around her shoulder, kissing her pouting lips. The three of them walked toward the door that advertised their film. Cut Here.
“It sounds gory though,” Amelia commented about the film title.
“It’s about a serial killer that marks his victims, nothing impressionable, Milly.” The three entered the dark theatre, trailers of an action film were flashing bright and loud, the explosives seemed almost real and the room seemed to tremor in its volume. Jon noticed that Lena was going to sit next to Amelia and he quickly interjected, “I’ll hold the popcorn, so I should be in the middle.”
“Oh…sure,” sitting next to him. He inhaled the sweet scent of her fragrance. It smelled flowery with hints of sugar almost. Jon couldn’t seem to concentrate as the film began. Having Lena so close while looking so pretty and smelling so good was sensory overload for him.
“Oh, god!” Milly exclaimed as the killer in the film sliced open the wrists of his victim with a razor blade and blood spurt forth like a fountain of red, thick liquid. She grabbed his arm, and he was lulled out of his contemplation for the other girl. “You told me this wasn’t gory!”
“It’s not,” he defended himself, “Didn’t you read the book?”
“No! You know I don’t read that kind of stuff,” she closed her eyes burrowing her head against his chest to keep away from the violent images.
“Hey, Milly,” Lena leaned over from her seat, brushing up against Jon, “It’s okay now you can open your eyes.”
“Yeah…it’s safe now,” he agreed trying to nudge her off of him. Her curls were tickling his neck. His hand went for the popcorn and brushed against Lena’s who was also trying to grab a few. He wasn’t sure why it felt like his heart stopped for a moment before returning back to its normal beat. This wasn’t the first time that he was sitting next to her, he sat next to her every morning in Algebra or whenever he’d offer to drive her to ballet classes, but it was the first time he was seated so close that he could feel her warmth emanate from her delicate body. Her profile in the dark resembled a Renaissance painting cast in shadows. He was almost tempted to touch her flowing blonde hair. A few days ago he had found himself in the aisle of a supermarket and became entranced with a bottle of shampoo that seemed to smell like the one she used, flowery and sweet. Maybe it was peony. With eyes closed and bottle cap open he inhaled trying to conjure up her moonbeam locks and feminine features until Amelia showed up demanding what he was doing. Jon had been so startled he had almost jammed the bottle up his nose. His quick response was for her to buy the same brand. She didn’t know why he had insisted.
Suddenly, the killer returned, the silver screen became a Picasso of reds. Jon could feel Amelia squirm in her seat, holding his arm tightly.
“I’m going out,” she whispered in his ear, he barely nodded, almost disregarding her statement, transfixed by the blood onscreen and Lena leaning close to say, “I really love this part, it’s wicked sick.”
Amelia stood up, leaving the dark theatre. Jon casually placed the popcorn bucket on Amelia’s seat and leaned closer towards Lena.
“Why did Milly go out?”
“She can’t stand the sight of blood.”
“Oh. Should we see if she’s okay?”
“Naw, she’ll be all right. Don’t worry about it.”
In a moment of blind courage he took her hand. He had held it before, inadvertently when taking her hand to help her step out of the car or when he’d guide her around the campus. She never seemed to mind. Or if she did, he hadn’t been able to tell because she never pulled away. The room filled with screams coming from the actors onscreen. He squeezed her hand and she looked at him with a languid expression. His other hand brushed up against her cheek. She smiled, looking down. By this point they no longer were paying attention to the film. Then he did something he had been itching to do since the moment he first cast his eyes upon her. Before he had the chance to think it through, he pressed his lips against hers. First kisses were always awkward but thrilling. He never knew how the other girl would react and if they’d fall into sync with one another. But she kissed him back, immediately falling into a slow, sensual kiss that made his head feel light and his stomach somersault with a giddy warm feeling. He didn’t want it to end. The kiss lingered for a few moments. She tasted of cherry balm and strawberry gum. They were no longer paying attention to the film or their surroundings. Jon had completely forgotten about Amelia until he felt a sudden cold shower fall upon his head. Lena quickly pulled away with a shocked gasp, her eyes widening when she saw Amelia standing there with fire in her eyes and an empty large Pepsi paper cup in her hand from having spilled the contents on top of their heads.
“Milly!” was all Jon could say trying to recollect his thoughts, the ice cold drink dripping from his dark hair.
“How could you?!” she shouted. Several people made motions of silence with their fingers against their lips while others shouted out, “Shut up and sit down!” But Amelia seemed to ignore them, shouting even louder over the screams that came from the screen, “How could you?! You two make me sick!”
Jon rose up, “Wait…Milly! Let me explain!”
Lena was desperately trying to wipe the sticky liquid from her hair and clothes, murmuring, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” in a cracked voice before she got up and turned to Jon, “I think I should g
o,” fleeing from the theatre and running past Amelia.
Torn between staying with Amelia or running after Lena, Jon watched with desperate eyes as Lena made her exit, even her run seemed graceful, the movements of a skilled dancer. “Lena! Don’t!” he shouted after her.
Amelia glared at him, fists clenched by her sides, “Jon….how could you do this? How?!” her lip quivered, “I love you!”
“Get out!” someone shouted.
“Shut up!” others yelled.
Jon sighed, and grabbed her arm, “Let’s go,” he hated the amount of attention she had drawn upon them. “Are you crazy?” trying to keep his voice calm but he couldn’t hide the anger, visible in the way his fingers wrapped around her arm. He tugged her harshly to move towards the exit. “And taking it out like that?! Poor Lena.”
“Poor Lena?” she snapped, “Poor Lena?! She kisses my boyfriend and I should be sympathetic towards her?” Now they were both outside, a wind had started up chilling the two of them. It was usual to be hit with Arctic winds late at night.
“She didn’t kiss me, I did.”
Facing him, biting her lip, she looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t know which words to grasp to better express her disdain. It was useless.
“I don’t love you, Milly, get over it.”
He didn’t have the chance to continue because her hand hit the side of his face with a force he hadn’t thought possible from her. This is starting to be a trend, he thought with a slight smirk remembering the last recent slap he received from Dior. His skin felt like it was on fire but he ignored the tingly burn.
“Milly…I’m sorry…I..”
“Shut up!”
“Milly, I don’t love you…”
“Shut up!”
“I’ve never been in love…”
“Shut up!”
“Until I met Lena…”
“SHUT UP!” her curls flew wildly around her face giving her a fierce look. “IT’S A LIE!”
“No,” he shook his head solemnly, “It’s true. I love her.”
“YOU CAN’T LOVE HER. YOU CAN’T!”
