ghost | Glowfic Constellation

shesepankh

"You're concerned she'd take my comment and go from 'well, I'd do it if it was a morally reprehensible person' to 'let's eat the hearts of children, they're great camouflage'?"

castmyown

"No, but I'm concerned that she'd go back to, 'If I hate this person and my other choice is death I will eat their heart even if they're not terrible people.'"

shesepankh

"All right, I'll keep my mouth shut. You know her better than I do."

Is that the road?

castmyown

"Thanks. I'd like to avoid any heart-eating."

That is indeed the road! "Well then - from here you can find your way back just fine? Or would you like an escort in case of demons?"

shesepankh

"I can find my way, but I'm actually more worried about blacking out again than I am about demons. Or maybe starting to walk digitigrade and not noticing."

castmyown

"Okay. Hopefully your dad doesn't see me and say, 'You were in the woods for a longish period of time with a strange boy, I'm getting the shotgun,'" he says in a deadpan.

shesepankh

"Charlie's only gun is his service pistol. I've also mentioned you to him before and I'm not bleeding, frantic, or furious, so that should help."

castmyown

"That helps, a bit. Then let's go, if you randomly black out let's hope I can carry you."

shesepankh

"Or drag me off the road and sit by me and make sure cars don't use me as a speedbump. And put leaves over me if I'm sphinxy. Do you know my house's landline number, just in case? You can usually get Charlie via the non-emergency police number too but he's home today."

castmyown

"That too. That's probably the better option, really. What's your landline number? I don't have it."

shesepankh

Bella pulls out the mini-notebook in her pocket, tears out a blank page, and writes it down for him.

castmyown

Into his phone it goes! Look at them, planning things out in case of horrific emergency.

shesepankh

On they walk.

Bella trips about a half-mile from her house. She's unconscious - and inconveniently winged - before she hits the ground.

castmyown

Darren is concerned. He tries to wake her, gets nowhere, then gets her off of the road and tries again.

He's there for fifteen minutes before he starts wondering what happens if anyone finds them like this. They're by the road, anyone could see them, and she is very inconveniently winged. Her dad is probably reaching the point where he would be worried, now. As much as he dislikes informing Bella's dad about things before she's ready, health comes first, something might be wrong.

She is his friend, and he would like her to be okay. If her dad reacts badly to her new species, she can bunk with him, but he seriously doubts that will happen.

So he calls Bella's landline. "Hello," he says, a ting of panic in his voice. "Is um - Mr. Charlie Swan there?"

sundayfish

"Speaking."

castmyown

"Hi, um - help, your daughter is unconscious on the side of the road. Er. Also she has um - wings, I will explain but she's unconscious and I am kind of freaking out right now. We're on -" He checks the road name. "Buckleberry, the south part? Please bring um - a car, I don't think I can carry her."

sundayfish

"Who is this? I'm not a good pranking target, fair warning."

castmyown

"Darren, from school. Sorry, I should have - I'm friends with Bella? I am not the pranking type, this is kind of important and I am really worried."

sundayfish

"Mm. South part of Buckleberry."

He hangs up.

Bella's phone rings.

castmyown

Darren hesitates, checks her caller ID, then answers it. "... Hi, Mr. Swan, um - she's breathing just fine, heartbeat's fine? I swear I'm not lying, help, please?"

He continues to sound really panicked!

sundayfish

"Right. I'm on my way."

castmyown

"Thank you very much."

sundayfish

Charlie hangs up.

He's there in four minutes lights on but siren quiet.

castmyown

And there is Darren, with an unconscious, winged Bella.

"Hi. Um. I'm not lying," he says, when Charlie is out of the car.

He is very obviously not lying.

sundayfish