My Fate That I Don't Want

Chapter two: I'm no angel

LIBERTY'S P.O.V

My vision was blurred, clouded with red.

It wasn’t actually red, more like a figure of speech and the closest description I could come up with. I was feeling… otherworldly, powerful, different... I don’t know why and neither was I interested in knowing, for now.

There was something I had to do, this urge, but as of now, I don’t exactly know what… yet.

I looked around me, my vision getting sharper by the second, every color seemed a thousand times more vibrant, I could see every shade of color there was, and the world seemed richer. I was glowing, I could tell that much based on how the world was brighter closer to me, as if I admitted some sort of halo… well that's just stupid, I’m no angel.

As I looked around I spotted Jeremy, he was looking at me in… awe? It was weird, I mean sure the world seemed more amazing now, but surely it wasn’t enough to justify that reaction?

Then something happened, it was weird, this feeling, the urge from earlier, was becoming stronger. I don’t really know how to explain it. I wouldn’t call it a voice - because it wasn’t - and yet it was as if it was telling me something. Or more specifically, telling me to kill my killer. It seemed natural, why wouldn’t I get rid of a threat like that? He did kill me after all, and I knew exactly where he was.

I turned my head towards the woods, looking at the exact spot the killer was hiding behind a couple of bushes. I could tell he was crawling away, trying to make a run for it, but he could be on the other side of the globe and I would know exactly where he was. He could never run from me, not for long anyway, even though that was exactly what he was trying to do at that moment.

Foolish wolf, trying to get away with killing me. Didn’t he know that was impossible? No matter, he was a mere child and I would have him in moments.

And so I took off, letting out a massive shriek, letting him know I was coming for him. He had peed himself - I could smell it - he was scared and he knew he wouldn’t live long. I flew, my powerful wings brought me forward at lightning speed. Flying high above the woods, I flew until I was right above him, my massive shadow landing gracefully on the ground and trees.

The killer had transformed into a wolf, running for his dear life as he was looking up at me, frightened. I could smell the fear oozing from him, and I was enjoying it. I enjoyed this hunt of mine, and just to get the most out of the exhilarating thrill I continued to just breeze above him, not intending to kill him… yet.

He knew what was coming for him and yet he continued to run, it was pathetic really. Like, if you’re gonna die anyway, why not do it with your dignity still intact? Running away scared like this got him nowhere but a humiliating death.

After a while, I got bored of having to slow down my flying for that bastard and so I made a quick sport of his death. I suddenly dived down, digging my claws into his sides. He yelped in pain once before I pierced his head with my blade-sharp beak, a clean kill.

After killing the bastard, I flew away, enjoying the flight to the fullest, flying as fast as I possibly could. Flying both high and low, not caring about the rest of the world. That was until a familiar voice could be heard in my head.

“Libby, please come back, I can’t catch up with you.”

Jeremy.

At that, I immediately turned to where I knew he was, yearning for my mate all of a sudden.

Flying faster than ever, I got to the hill where Jeremy was standing, the dead bastard now by his side. I landed quickly, immediately rubbing my head against my mate, happy to see him.

He looked relieved, not at all like the awestruck look he had earlier or the fearsome one from before that. As I continued to rub against him he chuckled, patting my feathers, sending delightful shivers down my spine, warming me up.

“Oh Libby, who could’ve imagined? You look absolutely magnificent, beautiful…” he trailed off, seemingly not knowing how to continue.

I only responded with a soft purring that came rumbling from my chest. I lay down, nuzzling into his lap which my head was currently lying on.

“Libby? Honey, can you shift back?” Jeremy suddenly asked, gently.

Shift back…? What was he talking about? I was always like this, there was nothing different about me from yesterday…

I looked up at him and my confusion must’ve struck him. He sighed and looked to his side, before calling for some ‘Genevieve’. Oh right, it was that witch I recalled as she came into my field of vision.

“Eve… she doesn’t seem to understand she shifted… How do we get her to shift back?” he then asked.

I was curiously looking between the two, wondering what was going on. They seemed to be a bit confused.

“Um, well… I don’t have an immediate cure… let's take her back to the packhouse and I’ll call my sister on the way, maybe she can help,” she answered him after a while.

And so we did just that, them walking back and me excitedly following, flying right above them, sometimes diving to check on the two of them. Whatever they were planning, I was excited to see how this little ‘adventure’ of theirs turned out. One thing was for sure, they weren’t in their full selves, seemingly under the impression that I had somehow shifted from. It was silly really, everybody knew that was a wolf thing.

When we arrived back at the packhouse, Jasmine was waiting for us on the front porch.

“Oh my…” she exclaimed as we approached.

I was seriously getting confused. Why was everybody acting so strangely?

“How do you expect to get her through the front door?” Jasmine asked, seemingly still in a state of disbelief.

“Well um… I really don’t know…” Jeremy answered.

“Maybe I can widen the door with my magic?” Genevieve added.

I huffed, offended. Why the hell wouldn’t I fit through the door? Just to prove my point, I went to the door, opening it with my beak and walking through it, easily, as I pressed my wings into my body.

When I was inside, I turned and gave the trio a look that I hoped screamed: Don’t underestimate me motherfuckers, I can take care of myself.

I was feeling particularly salty.

“Well, that solves the problem then…” Jeremy once again trailed off, he seemed to do that a lot lately.

I continued into the living room, positioning myself on the huge white couch, curling into a ball, glaring at the trio as they walked in.

“So, back to our original problem, how do we get her to shift back? I mean she can’t be a big bird forever, right?” Jeremy asked Genevieve.

“Don’t worry she won’t. Daphne said that with time she will learn to separate her two forms and shift between them as she pleases, but for now, she recommends just letting her sleep, and then she should shift back in her sleep. Considering it takes a fair amount of energy dying and then resurrecting, especially shifting for the first time, I’d say she’s already exhausted and will be out cold in a couple of minutes,” Genevieve answered him.

She was right, I was hella tired, so I felt myself slowly drift to sleep as the three continued the conversation.

-

I slowly woke up in a soft bed, my head pounding. I immediately brought my hand up to my head, pressing on my forehead, hoping for some sort of relief from my pounding headache.

Then, as if hit with a bullet, I remembered the last twenty-four hours all at once: dying, coming back as a… Genevieve called it a phoenix, I thought they were a mere legend… apparently not. Then the thrill of flying, and, and, me killing… that man…

What the hell have I done?