Yuki

Melanie’s thoughts were a siren calling her home, as clear and bright as a beam of light guiding her through the dark. It started out as faint whisper, just a murmur cutting through the background noise of Mark’s thoughts. But no one’s thoughts were as familiar to Yuki as her older sister’s. She’d heard Melanie’s thoughts before she even knew how to speak.

A wave of relief swept through her.

“I can hear Melanie! Look for a warehouse, that’s where they’re hiding.” Yuki said to Mark, who was still holding her tightly as he flew over the forest.

His face was pinched in concentration, every push with his wings straining against gravity and their combined weight. She could feel a slight tremble in his body as exhaustion from flying them both started to set in.

“Vi is with her?” He asked.

“Yes.”

“Thank god,” he said softly, the crease between his brows easing a fraction.

She guided him in the right direction, following the sound of Melanie’s thoughts. Hearing thoughts was like hearing amplified voices. It sounded the same as when people talked, but said what they were truly thinking and feeling. Growing up she’d learned how to drown out the thoughts, blur them into background noise. “Selective thinking,” is what Melanie called it. Yuki only truly heard the thoughts that she focused on, otherwise it was all white noise to her.

Mark trembled more violently, his arms tightening around her just a fraction and his breathing heavier. She glanced up at him under her eyelashes, noticing the bead of sweat collecting above his eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" 

Mark grunted between his clenched teeth, his lips twitching up at the corner into a lopsided smirk. 

"I'm a little out of shape. This is the furthest I've flown in nearly four years." He said. “It’s my first taste of fresh air in four years as well. I haven’t been outside, a part of the real world in so long. Haven’t felt a breeze under my wings since I don’t even know when.”

She was speechless. She’d known he’d been inside The Organization for much longer than she had, but she hadn't known the extent of it. What would it feel like to never see the sky again? To only feel the wind in your dreams? Would you forget what birds sounded like?

“I can’t even imagine how that must have felt, Mark,” she said gently.

“It’s actually underwhelming if you can believe it,” he said with a little forced chuckle. 

Mark sighed and shook his blonde curls out of his eyes. “I’m just amazed that we’re out, alive, and unharmed.”

Like a giant red arrow shooting out of the sky, Yuki heard Melanie’s thoughts directly beneath them. She clenched her arms tighter around Mark in a small spasm of relief.

“Right below us!” She released one hand from a death grip around Mark’s shoulders and pointed below them.

“Okay, hold on tight,” he said barely giving her a warning as he dive bombed downward.

“No! Mark!” She screamed, her stomach cartwheeling. Within seconds Mark landed on the ground, his knees bent to absorb the impact of the landing. The tips of his wings brushed the dewy grass. The wings neatly folded under his shirt, retracting into his muscled back completely disappearing like a rabbit in a magicians hat.

Yuki jumped out of his arms, her only focus on her sister. Vi gasped, running towards them and practically tackled Mark, her arms wrapped around his waist as she squeezed him as hard as she could.

Yuki ran frantically towards her sister. They wrapped their arms around each other tightly, Yuki holding on to her Melanie with all of her strength. Melanie stroked a hand down her hair, hugging her tightly.

“Thank god you’re safe, I was so scared,” Mel said. Tears pooled in Yuki’s eyes, clinging to her eyelashes. Mel stroking her hair was so familiar that it made Yuki’s heart ache in her chest. It was something she’d been doing since they were children, when they used to sleep in the same bed because Yuki couldn’t sleep.

Mel winced, slightly flinching away from Yuki’s embrace.

Yuki pulled back, questioningly looking Mel in the face. She was pale, her eyebrows were pinched together, dark circles under her eyes (which wasn’t unusual, they all looked worse for wear thanks to what they’d experienced in The Organization).

“What’s wrong?” she said concerned. Mel lightly shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“I got cut down the side during the escape. Vi had to stitch it up, and it hurts really really bad,” she said.

“What! Oh my god!”

“I’m alright, I'm alright,” Mel said waving away Yuki’s concerns. “We don’t have time to stop and we need to get out of here.”

Vi and Mark gravitated toward them. Vi had one arm wrapped comfortably around his waist.

“If we could get a car we’d be able to get out of here,” Vi said.

“If you didn’t notice we’re in the middle of a remote forest, I don’t see any cars just sitting around, do you?” Mel said. Yuki gave her sister a look, the unspoken message “Cool it with the sarcasm.” But Vi didn’t look phased by Melanie’s comments.

“I saw a campsite not too far while we were flying,” Mark said.

They all sat for a moment in surprised silence, it felt like finally a stroke of good luck that was shining down on them like a beam of light from heaven.

“What are we waiting for, let’s go,” Mel said, motivating them to get moving. Despite the exhaustion of escaping, running, the adrenalin and fear of being hunted like animals, they kept going. The finish line was in sight, and they couldn’t stop now.