‘She’s only got one arm,’ the man cried and backed away, bumping fast into the dancing crowd.
Everything had been going so well. I was lost in the music, swaying and thumping my good hand in the air. The man had looked over at me as I had glanced up from the floor. He was handsome. As our gazes clashed, a grin spread over his clean shaven face. I let the corners of my lips sink into my cheeks as I circled my hips in a mating dance. He swayed over to me, but as I turned in a circle, his eyes locked onto my shoulder and that’s when he had started to shout.
Everyone around me turned to stare. I laughed loudly as the others backed away from me as if I was a freak. Shaking my head, I noticed the guards coming from the direction that the gorgeous man had just gone.
Okay, so I may have been a bit careless. All I wanted to do was dance. The loud music ran up and down my nerves, making me want to move with it.
‘Come with me,’ a deep throated voice shouted as a strong hand gripped my forearm and pulled. I turned to see the familiar purple eyes and grinned.
It was Purple.
I wasn’t sure if it was better to be caught by him or the guards. I allowed him to pull me through the crowd and out the back entrance. We ran towards the river and started over the bridge. Mid way over, we stopped and looked back. The guards stood by the end of the bridge. They wouldn’t come any further. They wouldn’t risk it. I did a little dance and stuck my middle finger up at them.
A thud made me stumble as pain sliced through me. A dart had lodged into my good shoulder. I gasped and spun towards Purple, wincing when I saw that they had hit him too. How had they caught us?
I was going to be in so much trouble for this.
‘Why were you on Upper Side?’ The guard asked as I sat against the concrete wall.
‘I wanted to dance,’ I replied, bringing my knees up and resting my arm on them.
‘You know Avoidables are not permitted to enter Upper Side.’ The tall good looking guard sat in a plush chair, brought in just for him.
‘I just wanted to dance,’ I sighed.
‘You will be escorted back to Lower Side where you’ll be confined to a cell for three days punishment.’
The guard got up and came over to me. Bending down, he ran his hand over mine. I tried to struggle, but he grasped my fingers and yanked my t-shirt up over the end of my stubbed shoulder. He stared. I had to bite my lip before I said something I would regret. Perfects were so often surrounded by good looking people, they found us fascinating.
Cringing away from him, I tried to grab my shirt.
‘Let her go,’ came a quiet, but deadly, voice from behind us.
Purple was a master at escape. I was glad he had forgiven me enough to come and get me before he left. The guard laughed as he fisted his hand and sent it flying into my stub. I cried out as Purple grabbed the man by his throat and threw him across the room.
‘We need to get out of here,’ he said.
Holding onto my throbbing shoulder, I stood up and went towards the door.
‘No time.’ Purple grabbed my waist and jumped us through the ceiling.
The smash of plaster deafened me as we landed in an alley outside of the building. A siren went off inside. It was illegal for Avoidables to use their powers in Upper Side.
‘Oh man, I can do without this right now,’ I said, tucking my t-shirt back over my stub.
‘Why couldn’t you just stay in Lower Side?’
I grinned at Purple. He was crazy. Why would I want to stay where there were so many misfits? The men over here…
‘You’re mad,’ he said, reading my thoughts…literally.
‘Get out my brain, Purple.’ I punched him in the arm.
‘Are we just going to stand around here all night?’ He took my arm, but I shook free.
I had unfinished business. I had been enjoying myself until that handsome weasel had ruined it for me.
Turning, I ran, grinning to myself when Purple cursed behind me. He could never catch me when we were running. He was too well behaved to use his powers in Upper Side, unless he had to of course. Me, on the other hand, I didn’t care.
I was back at the club within a few minutes. Just in time. It was almost closing, but the music still thumped inside. Climbing in through the toilet window, I sneaked back in. Coming into the club, I scouted for guards. There was one left on the door, but he was talking to the gorgeous girls that danced in front of him.
My gaze froze as I scanned the crowd. There he was, the good looking creep…it was payback time. He sat at the bar, sipping a beer. Walking up to the man, I sat next to him on a stool. He turned to me, all smiles. Probably expecting to see a perfectly formed face. Only beautiful people lived on Upper Side.
‘What the…?’ he started when he saw me there.
His mouth stilled as I looked him directly in the eye. I showed him my soul. See, these people believed that the Perfects were beautiful, but their souls were dark and cold. Outer beauty didn’t last a life time. The soul however…did. My mother had taught me that when I was a child.
The man gasped, reaching a hand out to me. I batted it away and stood up, gesturing for him to follow me. He was in a daze as the pure love that radiated through me penetrated his cold chest. Like a puppet, he followed me into the toilets, through the window and into the alley outside. I had to be quick. Purple was nearby. I could feel him.
‘What…?’ he started.
I was going to kill him with beauty. I started to smile, but he reached out a hand and gently lifted the sleeve of my t-shirt. I froze. Never had one of the Perfects looked at me with such wonder. He may have freaked out earlier, but now, he gently brushed his fingers over my puckered skin.
‘What are you?’ he whispered.
Our gazes met. I couldn’t speak. A Perfect was speaking to me. A handsome, good looking, perfect person actually wanted me to speak to me.
‘You really want to know?’
The fingers that caressed me sent shivers over my sensitive skin. No one had ever touched me there before. A strange sensation shifted in my shoulder. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him and it seemed that he was just as stuck as I was.
‘Yes, I want to know. I’ve never met an Avoidable before,’ he whispered, his face coming closer to mine. Remembering that my soul was still showing in my gaze, I shut it off. He blinked a few times but didn’t back away.
The sharp pain in my shoulder increased. It came from the bone. I gasped, gritting my teeth. The man took his hand away as movement started to shift my shoulder. Stepping back, I sucked air into my lungs. I had no idea what was happening.
Never in my life had I experienced the weirdness going on. I had been born with just one arm, but my powers had not fully developed yet. Suddenly, a tearing sensation had me on my knees. Grasping my hand over my shoulder stump, I swore under my breath. If the guards found me there, they would probably execute me.
Something started to come out of my shoulder. It was quick and excruciating. That’s all I was aware of. And him.
He was still there, standing in front of me. A splitting feeling vibrated through my good arm, making me gasp again. Closing my eyes, I bent forward, almost rocking, while he stroked my back.
The sensation grew. I tried to focus so that I could call Purple to me, but before I managed it, the pain eased.
My body hummed with power as I sprung into a stand. The gorgeous man was knocked to the ground. When I looked down at him, his eyes were wide open. The look on his face was pure lust, or was it love?
Glancing at myself, I paused. My mouth dropped open as air rushed from my lungs. The beat of my heart crashed against my ribs. I had an arm where there hadn’t been one before. Something was heavy on my back, too. The splitting feeling hadn’t come from my other arm; it had come from my shoulder blades. Tears prickled my eyes as I reached behind me to feel the massive wings. Glorious wings. I had an arm. And, wings…why? How?
Purple cursed as he finally came upon us, freezing to the ground when he saw me.
The young man got to his feet and came over. He stared…that kind of look that crossed the face of a child when they saw something wonderful for the first time. No one, let alone a Perfect, had ever gazed at me that way. In my minimal encounters with Perfects, disgust had been the only expression on their lovely face.
‘You’re beautiful,’ he said, stroking my wing.
‘Don’t touch her,’ Purple growled, coming down the alley towards us.
He was right to warn the Perfect. Not many Avoidables were approached by the other race. If they were, they hit out…usually killing them. That was our only defence against them. Fear.
‘What’s your name?’ the man said, looking from Purple to me and taking my hand in his. Why didn’t he run? He had been afraid of me only an hour before. I had one arm. Or, I did. I had. For some reason, somehow, an arm had grown out of me.
I was torn. My hand was limp in his grasp. I had never been so close to one of them. His blue eyes sparkled, his smooth jaw tense as he stared into my eyes. Captivated. The Perfect hadn’t only had me locked up, he had somehow unlocked something in me, too. He had to be the reason I was suddenly whole.
‘I’m Jason. Please tell me your name?’
He stepped away as Purple approached. The Avoidable’s size was intimidating enough to make anybody back up, but the purple eyes and ridges down his arms made them want to run.
‘I’m…’
‘…Going,’ Purple interrupted, grabbing my arm and flying us upwards.
‘Wait!’ I called, struggling against his grip.
It was no use. I was too weak from whatever had just happened to me. My new wings got in the way of my escape. Purple dangled me in the air by my new arm. I could hardly breathe. The scene below us changed from dark nightlife, to water, and then to even darker grimy alleyways.
We were back in Lower Side.
‘What the hell were you thinking?’ Purple snapped, flying us into the open window of our home.
Avoidables lived in groups. We tried to pick people with different abilities that would serve us all. Avoidables were survivors. Lower Side was a cruel and dangerous place made up of all the people that the officials deemed not perfect enough for their side of the city.
‘I wasn’t,’ I replied, hugging myself with my good arm.
Swallowing, I tried not to cry. My wings and new arm retracted as soon as we landed. Purple sighed and sat on the sofa. I went to the armchair and allowed its softness to cradle my vulnerable body.
‘Did you know?’ He pushed his hand through his long dark hair.
It was the softest hair I had ever seen on any woman or man. It fell to his shoulders. He mostly wore it up when out. He was a handsome man, but he was still from the dark side…Lower Side. Just because his face was pretty, didn’t make him anything less than an Avoidable. The ridges on his arms told of a dragon ancestry as did the purple eyes and flying abilities. He was yet to come into his fire power. I shook my head, blinking away the tears that started to fall from my eyes.
‘You were stunning,’ he whispered, his eyes going to the spot where my new arm had been.
My gaze snapped to him. Awe reflected back at me. He wasn’t hitting on me, he was being genuine.
‘How did this happen?’
Purple shook his head. ‘I’ve heard of angels…but, not…they’re not…’
My speechless best friend was a rare treat.
‘They left years ago. Many years ago. I don’t see how…’
We watched each other, both as clueless as the other. I hadn’t known my father. He was never in my life.
‘My father…he must have been an angel…or something,’ I said the words quietly.
It was rare to have an angel ancestor because most of them had abandoned the planet. They didn’t have a choice. The darkness had become too much for their light, so they had to leave. The history books said that it was with regret. They had tried one last attempt to revive the human race, whom they’d loved dearly, but it had backfired.
‘Did your mother ever tell you that she mated with an angel?’ Purple stood to pace the room.
I shook my head. My mother had died when I was young, but I always pretended that she had died only a short while ago. Somehow the lie made me feel closer to her.
‘No one must know about this for now, Hope,’ he said, nodding his head and turning to leave.
‘Where are you going?’ I didn’t want to be left alone with my thoughts.
‘To do some research. Try to get some rest.’ He left without another word.