Flying Without Wings

I carefully climbed across the steaming, crumpled car bonnet and through the splintered front door of house number 36. The great entrance hall was empty and quiet, but I kept my gun in my hand, ready to fire. I was surprised we weren’t already surrounded by Zimrugh Saviors. Our crushing entrance nearly brought the front of the house down, but not a peep could be heard besides the squeal of steam from the smashed engine. Gomez clambered through the shattered door after me. His black bushy mustache was covered in a layer of red dust from the smashed bricks. He wiggled it irritably and held his gun out as he entered. “It seems deserted.” I whispered “I’m going into the Secret Garden room, hopefully I will find a sign of Bastian in there.” I made my way across the great hall and cursed at the ungraceful shuffling of Lewis and Bear behind me. The men groaned as their big bodies started to feel the impact of the crash. I too had a dull ache in my shoulder, but it was nothing to the pain Bastian was feeling or the pain I felt for not being near him. I just hoped my pain wasn’t adding to Marvillo’s torture. I looked into the big brass eyes of the doe guarding the Secret Garden Party room. The eyes looked sad, like they were holding a dark secret, I held my breath and pushed on the old door handle, it clicked open easily and hesitantly I glanced back at Lewis, this was all too easy. He came over and pressed his ear against the door, no music or laughter was coming through the crack and the savoury smell of food being served wasn’t penetrating the wood like it usually would. Lewis gripped the white handle of his gun and gently pushed the door open. The creak was deafening in the quiet house but the sharp inhale of breath was the only noise besides the door. After a few seconds Lewis pushed the door all the way open and stepped through. We quickly followed him in tight line. Lewis stopped suddenly dominoeing the rest of us, Bear banged into the back of me and my shirt became instantly warm from the blood dripping from his glass wound. The secret garden party room was in tatters; broken bottles and discarded food littered the mossy floor. Every table, chair, and plate was over turned and the musty smell of ether hung in the air. At the bar on the far wall sat Zenasia, her distinctive blonde curls were limp and wet, she was slumped across the bar with an empty champagne glass in her pale hand. Bear saw her and ran across the room, jumping over stools and benches like they were hurdles. He roughly grabbed her by the shoulder and jerked her up.

“Bear, hello daharling, have a drink.” She slurred sounding a lot like Audrey, her amber eyes only just focusing on Bears ruddy face. He raised his fat fist to punch her square in the face but Gomez grabbed his arm. “And G, haven’t seen y-y-you in a while.” She stuttered oblivious to Bear’s foiled punch.

“Where is Bastian?” I demanded, I felt hot in the face but my blood felt cold.

“You know you are the second person to ask me that today and I still don’t know, turns out there is a lot I don’t know about when it comes to this house.” She rolled her eyes and filled her champagne glass with her one good arm.

“How could you hide Ruby from me, I did everything for you!” Bear shouted, his small eyes hidden behind his matted lashes.

“I didn’t, hide Ruby you fool, I never lied to you.” Zenasia said swaying on her stool, “I thought she was dead just like you did, just like I thought my precious Matilda was dead.” Zenasia sniffed hard and revealed the caramel ball sleeping on her lap.

“Matilda?” Gomez breathed “I can’t believe she is alive.” He held the head of the happy, stirring Angha and looked at her blue spotted eye. “Amazing.”

“It is amazing she is alive, and so is Mavis. What is not amazing is someone hid her from me in my own house for 10 excruciating years.” Zenasia grew angry as she spoke and the evil I had first seen in her returned to her eyes.

“Mavis? What!? Where is Audrey?” Gomez spluttered.

“Oh she is safe, I let your brother and his little friends take her away. She is my sister after all I don’t want her to die.” Zenasia said pulling a mirror from her purse and fixing her smudged face. “As for Bastian, my guess is he is with Kent, I have a feeling Kent is behind a lot and when I find that man I will make him suffer.” She spat fixing her curls too.

“Kent, you let Kent into this house?! Zenasia of course he is behind this you fool.” Gomez shouted at a bewildered Zenasia. “Bea, Bastian is in worse trouble then I thought.” Gomez said running his fingers through his coarse hair.

“Who’s Kent? Where would he take Bastian?” My words were shaky, I couldn’t contain the fear in my voice.

“Just a rouge henchman.” Zenasia snarled draining her glass of champagne.

“He is not a rouge henchman, he is the son of the man who started the Zimrugh Saviours and he was too evil for his own farther to take. He was kicked out of this very house at just 13. Dr Salem saw a dark side to him, even as a boy. How could you let him in here Aurora!?”

Zenasia dropper her champagne glass and starred at him. “Kent is Dr Salem’s son? I had no idea.” She said her eyes wide open. “Oh my god.” Zenasia muttered to herself over and over again shaking her head. “All these years a never knew, I always had a bad feeling about him though, he made my skin crawl.” Zenasia’s sickly sweet voice was gone and her words were harsh and rasping.

“I don’t care who he is I just need to know where he is, before he kills my Bastian and my Marvillo. Where can I find him?” I shouted, it was my turn to shake Zenasia, how could she be so stupid?

“I know where he will be.” Bear spoke his voice still shaking with rage. “There is a little bar he frequents on Johnson Street. “I seen him there sometimes, he would always buy me a drink and ask about the Angha Soldiers, but would never tell me his name. I accepted his drinks but not his questions. Every night he would be sitting there, often with different misfits and men of no class. If we go there tonight we are sure to see him.”

“Well let’s go” I said starting for the door.

“We can’t all go he will know something is up. Just you and I will go Bea, the rest of you head back to the house, hopefully Audrey is there.” Bear ordered grabbing my arm.

Zenasia rose quickly and was starting to look like her old self, her hair and makeup was fixed and she had a look of determination in her eye. “I’m coming with you.”

Bear hit her square in the chest and sent her flying back into her stool, Matilda went sailing into the air and gave an indignant snuff. “You are not coming anywhere with me, just cause you are not on his side doesn’t mean you’re on ours, you will never be an Angha Soldier again.”

Zenasia rubbed her chest shocked by the blow. “I don’t want to join you you stupid ape, I just need my revenge too.”

“Good, but you’re on your own, try follow us and I will kill you.” Bear lent in close to say the last four words. His small eyes pierced her big amber ones.

“Fine get out then.” Zenasia spat pushing Bear backwards. “If it’s still war you want, its war you will get.”