NOTE: Once again I find myself having to break a chapter into two pieces to fit Tapas guidelines. This is because of the extra content (Daecon's thoughts). Be sure to check out the previous page as well, which will be uploaded one minute before this one. This is update 2 of 2.

I focused my attention on one of the boats and was amazed to discover that I could make out every last detail. I could see the lettering “Search and Rescue” on the boat riders’ red shirts, I could see the word “POLICE” on the ball cap of the one piloting the boat, and I could clearly make out the faces on the people, even though they were several kilometers away and in the dark. 

I was just beginning to realize that this must be my brain figuring out how to use the animal powers that Owen had mentioned when something that I saw filled me with dread: I was looking around the lake and noticed that one of the small boats was beached on a small, sandy shore on this end of the lake. The same shore that Owen had dragged me to after I first fell into the lake. The boat was empty, meaning that the people in it had come ashore here and were searching around. I shuddered as I wondered about the tracks that we must have left behind in the sand. 

I was wondering how long that boat had been there and how far into the woods the searchers had come when a faint sound sent shivers up my spine. It was dogs barking and men shouting. I listened for a few more minutes and started feeling really scared. They were here, they were looking for me, and although they were some distance off they were definitely getting closer. 

I surmised that the dogs must have been following the scent that Owen-bear had left behind. Do shape shifters even leave a scent behind? It didn’t matter. Whatever it was that was bringing them here, they were coming, and I had to think quickly. I looked around the ledge once again. There was nothing to hide behind here. I did not want to go back into the cave because I was afraid that I’d be cornered there. I looked up past the cave, on the mountain side above the opening, and saw several large trees with thick boughs standing there. I would have to climb one of those trees and hide. That shouldn’t be a problem, as I had always been an accomplished climber, but the problem was with these damnable wings. As bright white as they were there would be no hiding them from the beams of those flashlights.

Those God-damned wings. As much as Owen had gone on about flying, so far these wings seemed to bring me nothing but misery. Instinctively I reached back to touch them and discovered that they were gone. What. The. Fuck.

I turned my head back as far as I could and confirmed it: No wings! I must have somehow hidden them while sleeping! I was as happy as a pig in shit! I very nearly shouted out with joy, but a loud bark snapped me back to attention. 

Those men and dogs were almost here.

I ran over to the edge of the cave opening and scrambled up the side of the mountain. The going was very steep but the rock was very rough and I was able to find plenty of hand and foot holds. Soon enough I was standing on the mountain side above the cave opening, staring up into one of the trees. They looked a lot bigger from here.

Still, I had climbed bigger, more challenging trees as a kid. I didn’t know why, but I had always possessed a natural talent for climbing and was absolutely fearless when it came to heights. As a child I would grip tree trunks with my hands and pull myself up just as easily as any squirrel could. Sometimes I would even chase the squirrels right up to the very top branches. This ability even earned me the nickname “Squirrel” among the kids at the orphanage for a while, until very young kids became adolescents, and adolescent attitudes became much crueller with little tolerance for anything or anyone who was perceived as different. Then much nastier nicknames were used. 

This was no time to reminisce about my childhood, though, so I took hold of the large tree trunk and started pulling myself up. I was delighted to discover that even though it had been years since I climbed a tree it still came quite natural to me – in fact it seemed like I had only improved. I made my way up the trunk and found a large branch jutting out 3/4 of the way up. Where it met the trunk it made a perfect seat, so that is where I sat and waited. 

The barking of the dogs was getting louder and louder, and now I could hear the men shouting commands at the dogs quite clearly. Soon I could hear branches and twigs snapping as the dogs and men were getting very close, and finally I saw the beams of their flashlights. First a dog emerged from the woods onto the plateau, then another dog, then a man, and then another man, waving their flashlights around as the dogs sniffed the entire plateau, paying particular attention to the rhododendron that I had just peed on. They were here. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, and it was so loud that I was convinced the men would hear it. 

As the dogs sniffed around the men waved their flashlights hear and there. “There’s a cave right there”, one of them said.

They walked over to the cave opening and stood in front of it. 

The other one called into the cave, “Hello! Daecon! Are you in there, boy? Are you hurt?” 

For a brief moment I was tempted to shout “I’m up here!”, but I did not. At first I wondered how they had even known my name, but I supposed that they could have identified me from the remains of the smashed Porsche, and there was also the probability that the friends that I had been at the campground with would have reported me missing. Still, something about this was making me uneasy, and even though my wings were now gone I felt that I did not want to talk to or be discovered by these men. 

“Doesn’t look like he’s in there”, man number one said.

 “Either that or he’s afraid to be caught”, said man number two. “Fucking freak coming around here and murdering Adam MacInnis like that. He wants to hope the cops catch him before I do.” 

“You really believe that, do you? That he murdered Adam?” 

“Of course I believe it! And why shouldn’t I? Fucking city boy faggot comes here prancing about, trying to screw with Adam. Adam and the boys try to teach him a lesson, he lures them to the lookoff, and he pushes Adam over the cliff to die with him. Shame, really. And that beautiful fucking truck of his...” 

“See, that’s what doesn’t make sense to me. I know the other boys said that he pushed Adam over the cliff with him when he realized he was going to get the shit beat out of him, but how in the hell is that little sports car going to push that big Dodge 3500 over that cliff? That car weighs what, 1500 kilos? And Adam’s truck likely weighs 5,000 or more and has four wheel drive. I just don’t buy it. And then they said he done sprouted a set of wings and flew away. Do you really believe that?” 

“No, I don’t believe the flying away part, that’s just stupid. Those boys was just drunk. He probably had a parachute strapped onto his back or something, and they thought it was wings.” 

“Now you’re just talking like an idiot. You don’t actually think that this Daecon fellow had a parachute strapped to his back while out on a Sunday cruise, do you? Tell me, how many times have you left the house with a parachute on your back?” 

“Well, how do you explain what happened then, mister smart guy?”

“You want to know what I think? Fine, I'll tell you what I think. I think that Adam and the boys were fixing to fuck this Daecon fellow up. You’ve seen Adam do it before. He tricks some faggot into flirting with him, then beats him half to death. I think that's what his plan was with Daecon, and this time things didn’t go as Adam planned. You saw the beating that Daecon fellow put on the other two back at the bar. Daecon took off and Adam and the boys chased him in that hot rod truck of his. They caught him, forced him over that cliff, and Adam was just too late on the brakes and went over with him. I think the other boys knew they’d be in big shit and made the whole thing up about Daecon pushing Adam over, and I am certain they made the whole thing up about Daecon flying away. I mean, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, but it’s just stupid enough to come out of those three drunken idiots.” 

“Hey now, easy on the name callin’. Those ‘idiots’ are cousins of mine. So if he didn’t fly away, where is his body then? They found Adam smashed all to hell inside that truck, but there’s no sign of the other one. If he didn’t fly away, where is he?”

“Well, the car was a convertible, wasn’t it? He was probably thrown clear from it. Doesn’t matter, he’ll still have died when he hit the ground, but I think his body is either shattered on that ground or tangled up in a tree somewhere near those two vehicles.” 

“Yeah, yeah. You’re probably right about him being dead, but I still think he killed Adam. Now, let’s just take a look inside this cave, then we can get back down to the boat and get the hell out of here.”