Wing - Preview (Patreon)

Written by HarmonyMotion
Commissioned by Rjjt

Chapter 1

“Deep in the jungles of South America, where no man had dared to tread… Baron Nero took the first bold steps! Hacking through dense bushes with thorns thick as thimbles, armed with nothing but a torch to ward off dangerous, frightening creatures, Baron Nero discovered… this! Behold, a winged beast, first of its kind ever seen by human eyes!”

The curtains pulled back to reveal a humanoid female in a large, glass dome. She was clothed in some sort of stained, shimmering, torn fabric. It was clearly elegant and majestic at some point in the past, but not anymore. She held onto the scraps to cover her modesty while being subject to the gaze of hundreds.

The crowd stared at the panicked, skittering creature within its confines. Apart from seeing a slightly emaciated, yet clearly beautiful, modelesque woman, there didn’t seem to be anything special about her. She scuttled backwards in fear until she hit the transparent barrier, only to turn around and realize that the crowd was all around her in a circle, with no way to put any extra distance between herself and the spectators.

Only when she had slammed against the glass enclosure did it become clear that she was out of the ordinary. One large, arching wing with its elegant black feathers was suddenly fully on display, its plumage unhealthy and spotty. Her other wing also flowed into view but remained slightly contracted, sticking close to her back. Part of it was clearly misshapen. She pressed her back against the glass cage as she stumbled along its circumference. The healthier wing retracted itself into her back, tucking itself out of existence once again, but the other one struggled and jerked clumsily as she tried to hide it.

The crowd pointed, whooped, and hollered at the fantastic beast they were witnessing.

“Mommy, look at that crazy lady’s black wings!”

“Whoa, what a freak!”

“Does it lay eggs!? Ha!”

“This is the work of the devil!”

The female winged-beast covered her ears as she tried to fly, managing to float off the floor for a brief moment before losing her balance with only one functioning wing. She crashed back to earth to the sound of roaring laughter. Writhing on the floor, she covered her ears, tears streaming out of her shut eyes. She wailed loudly in fury and helplessness, causing her cage to rumble perilously before a large crack appeared along its entire height, and waited for everyone and everything to go away.

Bradley swept all of the popcorn and discarded food refuse off the latest exhibit floor. He had heard whispers and seen posters announcing the reveal of the new creature, but had never laid eyes on it himself.

There was a blanket draped over the entire enclosure. Placing his large broom gently on the floor, he bent over and gingerly reached under the covers. He saw a beautiful female face, eyes puffy and drenched in sorrow, lying on the floor, breathing gently in slumber.

Unmoving, Bradley merely regarded the sad creature as he memorized the lines of her face. She looked so lost, so lonely. It felt stupid, but he felt some kind of connection to the strange beast. Always an outsider, always made fun of for his speech impediment… no, this was some serious self-pity and projection. He wasn’t in a cage like she was.

Suddenly, her sickly yellow eyes bolted open. Both startled, they gasped as each backed away from the other. The blanket that covered the cage fluttered back into place, blocking his view of her.

With trembling hands, Bradley continued his janitorial duties, casting glances at the strangely large shadows moving within the cage. He could hear her scuttling inside.

Finally, he cleaned up the entire area and rolled his trash can away. He contemplated taking a look again, but decided against it. The sound of the wheels rolling was the only audible noise in the tense silence. Looking at the cage one more time, he could see that her shadow was completely still. He turned off the low level lighting with a loud click.

Bradley got home that night, haunted by the image of her eyes that had been burnt into his mind.

He took off his heavy, grubby work shoes, threw his tan cap onto the chair by the door, filled a cup with water from the tap, and went straight to the easel and canvas in his one room apartment. Dipping his brush in acrylic paint, he traced the outline of her face, flush against the floor where their gazes had met, before immediately going to work on those haunting, golden eyes.

After painstakingly blending different hues together, he felt he had finally done them justice and went to bed.

Bradley dreamt of the shifting shadows from underneath the cover of her cage. It was far too large for any normal human. He hadn’t been able to see anything clearly but her face, after all. His blurry imagination pictured her standing up to a full 8 feet to justify the image he had seen. Or perhaps she was short, but had the ability to grow taller at will. But no, the shape of the shadow still wouldn’t be right.

Suddenly, an inspiration came to him. He awoke with a terrified gasp, his body still paralyzed by sleep. He groaned as he tried to regain control of his limbs. He desperately felt compelled to paint his insight.

Finally, he felt his body responding to his commands as he wiggled his toes. As his fitful sleep wore off, he groggily made his way back to the easel and painted in what he knew to be the truth: a pair of large, black wings growing out of her back.

Chapter 2

“Oh Bradley, you don’t look so good! Stayed up all night partying?” a female voice called out to him.

“Yeah N-n-n-norma,” he managed to reply good-naturedly, despite his restless night, communicating with his eyes and his smile that he understood she was being sarcastic. He lumbered over to her security office.

“So, did you see her?” she asked excitedly.

“H-h-her?”

“Yes, her! You know I watch the security tapes! I know you were in there cleaning last night.”

“I kn-n-n-now. But everyone c-c-c-c-calls her ‘it.’”

“Well Bradley, you know that you and I are the only civilized ones here,” she smiled at him.

“Thanks N-n-n-norma,” he answered sincerely. She was the closest thing he had to a friend and the only one who let him finish his sentences.

“Are you going to see her again tonight?”

“H-h-h-hope so.”

“Sir, it’s not eating.”

“What the hell do you mean it’s not eating? It’s a bird, isn’t it? Just toss some worms and fruit in there and see what it does.”

“It hasn’t eaten for days. It can barely hold down the water we give her.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Maybe we can put together a spectacle before the thing expires,” Director Braun plotted. “Pit the creature against some other beast. Like a lion. We’ll charge a fortune for it. People will flock to see it! In the meantime, force feed it if you have to!”

“Yes sir.”

Bradley bought a full roast chicken during his lunch break and then promptly spent the entire hour catching up on sleep. He dreamt of this marvelous creature once more, seeing her pair of lustrous black wings rising up to the sky, casting its large shadow against the backdrop of the bright summer sun.

His hours at this laboratory/zoo were long and tedious, but no day felt as long as today. He checked the wall clock constantly, waiting for his chance to be alone with her. Maybe he could see her properly this time, instead of her being shrouded in darkness with the cage covered up.

There was another exhibit today. He so desperately wanted to peek in, but he had to finish his rounds elsewhere. Bradley could hear the hollering and jeering even from across the complex. And a wail of sorrow. His heart ached at the piercing sound. What were they doing to her!?

Finally, it was his second break before his shift to clean up her area. Slightly peckish from sleeping through his lunch break, he brought his meal with him to her showroom. With a flip of a large switch, the low level lighting shuddered to life once again.

He made his way straight down to the cage this time, ignoring the trash littering the rows of bleachers all along the upper levels. He could see her shadow shifting underneath the covers, nervous, uncertain. With trepidation, Bradley reached down, and slowly lifted.

Her face was streaked with dirt. She barely had any flesh on her bones. And there it was, a pair of wings on her back, one misshapen, the other dirty and uneven. His heart broke for her.

With a large heave, he pulled down her covers and exposed her to the empty stadium. She backed away from him in fear.

Bradley offered her some of his meal, but she just trembled and looked on with her wide golden eyes. He tried to push it toward her through the opening in the glass, but she wasn’t having any of it.

He carved his meal in half and left her portion within her reach as he backed off to eat his own half. The cold chicken was not appetizing, but he tried to make it look like the best meal he’d ever had. Finally, she approached his offering and cautiously took a drumstick in her hands.

Bradley encouraged her by picking up his own portion and biting into it with relish.

She brought it up to her face, sniffed it, and gave it a little nibble. Within a second, she began to devour it with gusto. Bradley watched with relief as she ate like a crazed, starving beast. She was still beautiful to him.

He approached her with his metal cup. She grabbed her half of the roast chicken and retreated back into the cage, holding it protectively. He tried to goad her out, but she continued to nibble while staring at him. He took a sip of the water, smacked his lips loudly, and left the cup by the window as well. Then he went back to his previous position and waited.

She approached once again, eyed the cup with suspicion, and took a sip. Then she gulped the whole thing down.

Bradley approached with his arms out, one step at a time. She backed away again, but only a little. He took his cup and refilled it with water, and extended it to her again. This time, she reached out and took it from his hands and drank her fill once more.

He left the rest of his meal to her. He could afford to skip a meal.

This time, she was the spectator, eating her food, watching the strange creature trapped outside of her glass cage as he performed his menial duty of cleaning up the mess that all those other humans had left.