Volucris_Emmergence Read online

  “That was Ethan, no they are not leaving yet but soon. , Mo, I have something important to tell you before you meet these people.”

  “Ok what is it?” Mo asked worried by the tone of her Grandmother’s voice. Sshe appeared pale and shaky very unlike the strong-willed women she knew so well.

  “Come and sit down.”

  They both went into the living room and Rebecca sat down on the sofa patting the seat next to her for Mo to join her.

  “What’s going on Grandma?”

  “Mo there is something I told you a long time ago that was not the truth, I told you because I loved you and I was trying to protect you from something I didn’t fully understand.”

  “Grandma you’re scaring me.”

  “I’m sorry darling I don’t mean too, I should have told you the truth from the start but the lie started and it was too hard to stop., I am truly sorry if I have caused you any upset or pain, but please Mo, you must believe me when I tell you I thought I was doing it for the right reasons, to protect you.”

  Rebecca picked up Mo’s hands in her own, Mo couldn’t help but notice them tremble under hers.

  “Just tell me.”

  “The man in the kitchen is an old friend of mine, but he is more than that, much more, he is your father.”

  “WHAT!”

  Mo let go of her Grandmother’s hands and stood up. Sshe looked out towards the kitchen and back at her grandmother., Sshe didn’t understand. Her grandmother stood trying to take hold of Mo but she resisted and stood back, her grandmother put her hands to her mouth and tears started to spring from her eyes.

  “How? You told me you didn’t know who he was?”

  “I’m sorry, please let me take you through and he can explain., Tthe day you were born I was with your mother and father, there were complications, you were thrust into my arms and I had to leave.”

  “Had to leave? Why, why did you have to leave did they not want me?”

  “No, no that’s not it at all; there is something else, something more than this that only your father can explain.”

  “More, what can be more than this?, Mmy mother, is she here too, has she come back for me, is she here, is she with him?”

  “No darling, I wish she was, we don’t know where she is, we believe she is probably dead.”

  “PROBABLY dead, what, how can you not know, how can he not know, what the fuck is going on?”

  Mo never swore, she hated it but she was so upset they both stopped and stared at each other, the foul word still hanging in the air between them. Rebecca sat back down again putting her hands in her lap, she looked up at Mo her eyes wet with tears, but Mo could see she was gathering herself, putting up her defences getting ready to face what needed to be faced.

  “Mo, I am truly sorry, there is a lot to explain and only Lordes can do that.”

  “Lordes?”

  “Your father.”

  A confused look flicked across Mo’s face, she was surprised at the name, her father’s name, a name she had never heard before. She felt numb, she had no idea how to feel that her father was in the kitchen! The kitchen! Waiting for her! She had always hoped there had been a mistake and her mother would come home and possibly with her father having reconciled but now it looks like her mother would never come home she may not even be alive, she did not know what to think. All she knew for certain was she needed answers and she needed them now.

  “Let’s go meet him then.”

  Chapter 7

  Mo walked up to the kitchen door and tentatively put her hand on the handle, she hesitated not knowing what to expect. All her life she had wondered about her parents, who they were, what they did, she devoured any small snippets of information her Grandmother had given her, but they had been few and far between. Now she was going to meet her Father and get those answers she so eagerly craved. Her Grandmother was behind her, the tears and upset of before had left her face, the strong woman had returned, to protect her, thought Mo? Protect her from what? Her father or what he was going to tell her?

  She pushed the door open and walked in, standing on one side of the kitchen was a man, he was large, more than large he was huge, well over 6ft and probably more like 7. The black top he was wearing, although loose, barely concealed the clearly very muscular body. He had a handsome face with three deep scars down his left cheek, the scars were old and he looked weathered. He had blond hair and piercing blue eyes that were staring straight at her.

  “Hello Moria, I am Lordes, your Father.”

  “It’s Mo.” She replied defensively although her throat had suddenly become very dry. She reached for her Grandmother's hand which she took readily, comforted that her beloved Granddaughter still needed and wanted her support.

  “Please sit.” Lordes offered.

  Mo moved around the wooden kitchen table not taking her eyes off this man. He must be in his fifties but was incredibly fit and huge - Mo could not get over his size -, he was very imposing, filling the room with his vast bulk., Hhe was wearing all black and she suddenly realised, she had not noticed before because he was leaning against the countertop, he too was wearing a backpack. Mo thought this strange why would he not take it off?

  “Are you leaving?

  “No not yet, not before we talk.”

  “Then why the bag?”

  “It will all become clear. Rebecca some water maybe?”

  Lordes had noticed the dryness in his daughter’s throat and Rebecca busied herself getting some water and then starting to make tea, something they always enjoyed and drank together.

  Rebecca gave them each a mug of tea although Lordes took it, he just placed it next to him. They all sat and stood in silence, the tension building, each waiting for the other to start, but where to start, where to begin.

  “Where have you been?” Mo began trying to hold herself together. Rebecca turned to Lordes clearly interested in this very same question.

  “Looking for you, among other things, it has taken a while, Rebecca hid you well.

  “Not that well, you have found us now!” Rebecca retorted obviously hurt by his words.

  “Why Grandma? Why have you hidden me?”

  Rebecca looked down to her hands trying to find the words., Sshe did not want this for Mo, didn’t want her to be disappointed in her, she wanted her to understand but how to explain?

  “If I may Rebecca, maybe I can explain., Wwhat you told me last night has made me at least understand why you ran.” Lordes’ voice was controlled and calm, Rebecca looked long and hard at him, she gave a little nod not able to speak for fear of breaking down.

  “A long time ago, your mother, myself and Rebecca lived in a commune away from the rest of society.”

  “Why?” Mo asked starting to get frustrated with the speed of the conversation and lack of answers.

  “It will all become clear, please let me finish this part of the story first and then you can ask the questions you crave.”

  Mo nodded, sitting with her hands folded in front of her chest.

  “We lived away from society because society would not accept us.” Lordes held up his hand to Mo’s inevitable next question and then carried on with his story. “Your mother and I, Iliana, were very much in love and one day your mother fell pregnant with you, we were all delighted.” Lordes looked towards Rebecca, a small smile creepedcrept over his mouth. Rebecca did not react to this and continued to sit stony faced with her hands clasped in her lap. Lordes continued with his deep and seemingly wise voice which, however, lacked emotion.

  “Many children had already been born in the commune but we were naive to the problems that could occur during childbirth, we did not think we would need conventional help but we were wrong. Iliana’s labour was long and very painful and it became clear we would have to get help although this would be very risky. We had no choice. Yyour life and hers were too important. So, Rebecca drove us to the nearest city and medical centre. We knew the dangers of being seen and did everything we could to stop
the authorities finding us. , Rebecca took us to a young doctor she believed would help. And he did, he delivered you safely, this tiny creature, your mother fell in love with you instantly.”

  “As did I.” Rebecca chipped in reaching for Mo’s hand and squeezing it before returning it to her lap. The fact Lordes had not recounted his own instant love for Mo was lost on her, but not on Rebecca.

  “After you were born the doctor left the room. Wwe had not noticed, we were all too happy to see you but it quickly became clear he had called the authorities, we had to leave straight away but Iliana was feeling very ill and had started to bleed again., I gave you to Rebecca and asked her to leave and go back to the commune where we would all meet up. Rebecca reluctantly did this but she did not return to the commune, she could not get to the car there were too many people so she went to the bus station. She was lucky, there was a bus just leaving. As she sat in her seat she looked through the window and saw me leaving alone, she believed I had betrayed your mother and left her to her fate, left to save myself. She did not want the same fate for you, for me to only leave when things got tough so she decided there and then to not return to the commune but leave and start a new life.”

  Mo looked at her grandmother and her father, they both knew something she did not, they both understood what he was talking about, she did not. Why were they hiding from the authorities why could they not be seen, why was it so risky why?

  Mo stood up and faced her father, “this explains nothing, not to me anyway, you both know something I do not, why could you not be seen?”

  Lordes looked at Rebecca, “she will find out eventually.”

  “Of course, do what you must.” Rebecca replied.

  Lordes turned his back upon Rebecca and Mo, the rucksack huge on his back. He reached the bottom of it and pulled out a cord, he lifted it above his head and started to pull, starting to unzip the bag. Mo looked at her grandmother perplexed, what was going on? But Rebecca only looked at the bag transfixed. As the bag started to open a soft light started to fill the room, a golden light. , the The light came from the reflection, the reflection of feathers, golden feathers. , Tthe zip kept going up and up until it was completely removed, and underneath all Mo could see was golden feathers, until tantalizingly they moved and they spread wide, so wide they filled the kitchen, touching the ceiling and the walls, the most beautiful glorious wings, wings, Lordes had wings. Mo stood up, her chair crashing violently beneath her. Lordes arched his back stretching his arms and those wings. Mo gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, what was she seeing? Her father, this man she knew nothing about, had huge wings and they were attached to him. She could see his bare back and the wings were attached to most of his back the skin clearly giving way to feathers. She wanted to turn and run, to close her eyes and wake up, but this wasn’t a dream this was real and she couldn’t believe it.

  Chapter 8

  Mo stood in the kitchen facing the back of what she could only describe as a fantasy creature, a man with wings, glorious, beautiful, huge wings. Her thoughts had stopped, she had stopped, of all the things she thought he might tell her this certainly wasn’t one of them.

  “How?” Mo managed to say her voice just a whisper. , Hher Grandmother had come to stand next to her and give her support by putting her arm around her waist. Lordes turned to face them both drawing in his wings trying to manoeuvre himself which was clearly difficult. He stretched again glad to finally be free of his bonds. Once he was finished he looked down again to Mo and Rebecca both completely engrossed in his spectacle.

  “We are a different species, part human some think, part animal or bird, but I believe we are our own being just different.” Lordes spoke as if nothing really had been revealed, as if this were not the most shocking and unnerving thing to ever happen to Mo.

  Mo asked again not at all satisfied with the answer he just gave, “how?”

  “For as long as we know our kind has been living in secret alongside humanity, sometimes to our own detriment we have revealed ourselves, it has never been successful. There are and always have been more humans than us. Our history is long and turbulent and too long to explain to you now.”

  “How many are there?”

  “More than you might think, I am head of the clan in North America.”

  “Clan?”

  “Yes, we are formed into clans depending on location. There are about 2000 in my clan but we are one of the biggest.”

  Mo thought that was quite a lot but I guess compared to the human population it was about the same size as her school. Mo had started to relax a little, the reality of the situation making her feel stronger but also, she just had more questions. “Can you fly?”

  “Yes, although it is not as easy as you think. , Wwe have to train very hard and become very strong so that our wings can lift us into the air, we have to eat and drink certain foods that give us enough energy to do this. We cannot just flap our wings and take off, we need a large run up if taking off from the ground and we cannot fly forever, it is too exhausting; we rely on thermals for lift.” Lordes could tell Mo was not really listening to his facts, and he knew it was important that she did, this was frustrating for him, but Mo had another question forming.

  “Was my mother like you?”

  “Yes, we are both Volucris.”

  “Volucris?”

  “That is our name that we have adopted over time, it means flying creature in Latin.”

  “So why am I not like you?”

  Lordes looked at Rebecca, they both knew this was it, the real reason for Lordes visit, the real reason he wanted to take Mo with him.

  “You are Moria, your wings have not grown yet but they are beginning too, they only appear in puberty.”

  Mo looked shocked, perplexed, then a realisation crossed her face, “The itching on my back the red marks!”

  “Yes” Lordes confirmed.

  Chapter 9

  Mo fell backwards, her Grandmother holding her was the only thing stopping her legs from collapsing underneath her. She looked up at Lordes who had a look of complete indifference on his face. She felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her, how could this possibly be true? She turned to Rebecca who, filled with concern, she guided her towards a chair and sat her down.

  “I know this is a shock my darling” Rebecca spoke softly stroking Mo’s hair.

  “You knew!” Mo spoke quietly but the shock in her voice and the accusation stabbed Rebecca straight through her heart.

  “Yes.”

  “Why did you never tell me, so I was prepared, so I knew what to expect.”

  “I didn’t know how, I thought about it, but we have always been so happy. I always knew at some point I would have to and then the whole world started to go upside down, I didn’t want to make your life more complicated, to bring you more worry. I know that was wrong of me and when the marks started to appear I knew I had to act and I was about to, I was about to try and get in touch with Lordes but he beat me to it, he found us first.”

  Mo shook her head, trying to understand why the woman who claimed to love her so much had kept this secret from her. She tried to understand her situation., Iit would have been hard to tell her but not impossible, and now what, she was going to have wings! She couldn’t take it all in she wanted to get up and run out of the door far away, run back to her old life, but she knew that she couldn’t, that life was over, it was over even before today, before she heard her fate. Mo looked up towards her Grandmother tears coming down her face, Rebecca went to hold her but Mo pushed her back.

  “No, please, I don’t want to cry I have too many questions.” Mo wiped her eyes and tried to gather herself and her thoughts.

  “And what about you, Grandma, why do you not have wings, we are related aren’t we?” The thought suddenly crossed her mind that all of her life had been a lie, every last aspect and fear gripped at her heart at the thought of yet another betrayal.

  “Yes Mo of course we are related, I don’t have
wings because they were cut away before they had time to develop.”

  “Cut away?”

  “My mother was a Volucris and lived in a commune that was quite close to the human population. As she grew up, before her wings developed, she had a relationship with a human boy, I was the result of that relationship. Her parents did not want what they would call a half breed in their clan so they gave me up for adoption. My adoptive parents like many parents did not know what these itching marks and subsequent lumps were, they took me to a doctor who decided to cut them away.”

  “Can they do that?”

  “Yes, before they develop properly it is quite a simple operation, it happens more than you think, many Volucris have been lost to this procedure, it’s about one in thousand.”

  One in a thousand, Mo thought that was the second time she had heard that statistic in less than 24 hours, the thought came and went briefly, she had more important things to think about.

  Lordes looked pained at the words Rebecca was speaking, he looked up at Rebecca and he continued with her story.

  “For many years, we have been looking for those who would become like us, trying to get to them before they have the operation, we found Rebecca too late.”

  Mo looked at Rebecca, sorrow suddenly bit at her but why she didn’t understand, why would anyone want this? Clearly from the look upon Rebecca’s face she did want it and wished they had found her in time.

  “We are not Angels, are we?” Mo tentatively asked, she thought it was probably a stupid question but then this whole situation was completely fantastical.

  “No, we are not, although we are where the legend of Angels came from. As I have said, some Volucris have in the past revealed themselves to humankind, and from our records it appears some did at the start of Christianity. , Oof course this revelation worked in their favour for a time but when the humans started to request miracles like healing the sick or resurrecting the dead, this they could not do so they withdrew.”