Species Unknown [Book 1: Aves]

BONUS CHAPTER 1

BY THE BEGINNING of spring, the forest had come to life. Gone were the rainy days and overcast skies, and in their stead, were crisp sunny days and bright spring flowers sprouting in between patches of grass and fern scattered across the forest floor.

Walking through the trees, I admired the new addition of colors the flowers brought to the greenery I now call home. The sun was just beginning to rise, and its rays cast a ethereal glow across the scene. I let my eyes wander appreciatively over the scene, admiring how lush and green Oregon was. It was so different from the desert valley of California I had come from, and for that, I was entirely grateful.

Though these flowers were a lot more than just beautiful, they were a reminder. A reminder that it would be my first spring in Oregon, and a reminder of how long I had been away from California and my old life, both of which I have tried my best to forget.

In the early months of my arrival here in Oregon, I thought about my old life often. I found myself lying awake at night in cold dread, fearing that one day someone would find Elias and I.

However, as days grew into weeks and weeks into months without so much as a slight disturbance, I began to relax. My once crippling fear melted away into the occasional nightmare.

The nightmares did not happen often, but in recent months, they were beginning to occur more frequently. This week alone, I already had two attacks, and I was afraid of the toll it was beginning to take on my body. Each time, the nightmares felt more and more real, and I found myself tossing and turning until suddenly I awoke, gasping for breath. Just like tonight.

Awoken in the dead of night, I found myself gasping for air and drenched in a cold sweat. Alarmed by my sudden gasp, Elias had awoken from his slumber as well. Quickly he sat up, turning to face me on our bed. His wings stretched and fluttered, coming to wrap themselves around my shaking body as he pulled me close. Still trying to catch my breath, I closed my eyes and fell into the warmth of his bare chest. With a sigh, I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder.

His body welcomed me, his arms coming around my waist to pull me impossibly closer to him as his wings wrapped around us. We stayed like that for a while, until my breathing steadied and my head stopped spinning from the horrible images my nightmare had conjured up this time.

Once I felt like myself again, I released my grip on Elias, leaning back to look him in the eyes. His blue eyes were searching, equally concerned at the increasing frequency of my nightmares.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly, his hand reaching out to tuck a stray piece of sleep-tossed hair behind my ear.

My lips quirked into a small smile. "I'll be alright, thank you." I whispered, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. He closed his eyes at my affection, embracing the kiss like he was starved for it.

When I pulled away, his blue gaze found mine again.

"What can I do?" Elias asked, his expression pained. He didn't like to see me like this, in fact, my nightmares were probably harder on him than they were on me. By his pained expression, I could tell it was difficult for him to see me like this, completely helpless to do anything about it.

Though, what surprised me was that he never seemed to have any nightmares. Or at least, not nearly as often as I did. And yet, clearly he suffered far worse atrocities than I ever did. If anything, I was a mere bystander in comparison to his suffering. Yet for whatever reason, he rarely showed it.

In truth, we seldom talked about everything that had happened. Occasionally, in the dead of night, he would open up to me and tell me about his experiences growing up at C.R.O.S.S. Laboratories. On one occasion, he saw a father playing with his children by the lake. The father would stand, arms open as one of his children would race towards him. The father would gather the child up in his arms and carefully toss them into the water, only for the child to resurface laughing and come running back to repeat the process.