Hideaway life - Part 4

Bracing herself for a transfiguring spell, Blur sat on the dry leaves, relishing the gentle crunching the brittle foliage made underneath her bum, her new better-fitting clothes blanketed her in the comforting smell of the Midnight Wood. Eve’s clothes were spread around her in a ring formation and as Blur raised her head, the shedding trees’ dying leaves swirled in and out of her vision, a ballet of death and, in turn, life. The morning air was soft on her delicate skin and the sun, nearing its highest point, warmed her through the coffee-coloured sweater, but the bags under her eyes were probably darker. The overcast though still bright sky brought the knowledge to her that she hadn’t slept in over twenty-eight hours. She shook it off; she had to finish this spell and meet Gabriel at the rendezvous point they organised before midday.

 

After a pause, Eve’s clothes exploded into a hundred different pieces of dead vegetation and dispersed until they were spread in an equal layer on the ground. Blur checked intensively (or as well as she could) for any loose bits of fabric, but finding none she continued to tread lightly away from the scene of the crime.

 

Treading carefully, Blur inched forward to the meeting place and, after concluding she was not followed, she called out softly, “Gabriel, you out there? I can’t see you.”

 

She heard the beating of wings behind her as Gabriel eased his way to the ground. At least, he looked like her friend: black curls hung on his head and obscured his auburn eyes, which was strange because he was the Hideouts best lookout. Dark mahogany skin, especially red in this light, and huge bat-like wings, scrunched in for the time being, and strange feet; similar to a monkey’s in that the toes were more like fingers, but shared a common trait with birds where the thumb is in the position of the hind claw. He opened his mouth, showing rather pointed teeth, and said, “Blur, is that really you?”

 

Blur smiled, “No, I’m an imposter from the Hierarchy who is here to cut off your toes.”

 

A second passed.

 

“You look absolutely knackered,” Gabriel laughed.

 

“You have no idea,” Blur croaked happily as she pulled him into a hug.

 

Once they had stepped back, Gabriel gave her some worrying news, “I sent the message home that Snatchers and Grabbers are near, so we should seriously get a move on.”

 

Blur nodded as he spread his wings to reveal the most beautiful under-wing, as blue as any clear sky before it switched, like a chameleon’s scales, to the light silvery grey currently above them. Soon they were up in the sky, brushing the trees, Gabriel via his wings and Blur by being clutched by his massive odd feet.

 

They dropped down by a large oak tree, knurled with age and pulled on a vine dangling aimlessly from its branches, then proceeded to the stump nearby where they waited. Then finally a voice sounded, “Password!”

 

Gabriel answered, “There’s a password?” and the hatch flipped open.

 

“Took you long enough. Chief couldn’t think of a better password than that?” Blur asked the guards as she descended the ladder onto the metal platform.

 

The younger one of the two blushed lightly, “This place is in lockdown because of the Snatchers and Grabbers. Chief isn’t back yet. I thought of that one.”

 

“Sorry,” she said, automatically, but she was really thinking about what to tell Chief when he got back.