I Was Free Once

Chapter 4

I was truly broken.

I had no freedom, no dignity, and no wings. As I lay on the cold ground I felt that there was nothing left for me to do but die. I wished I could have ended my life. The pain, the suffering, and the horrible memories. I felt I couldn’t deal with it anymore.

I watched as they murdered her. They killed her in front of my own eyes, and there was nothing I could do about it. I fought to get to her, but I did not prevail. I watched as their claws tore her porcelain skin and gleaming, white feathers to shreds.

“Julia!” I called out to her, knowing she wouldn’t respond. I turned towards them. “You killed her! You bastards!” I reached for both my dagger and gun, but they were gone. They clawed at me, pulling me every which way but towards her. As I turned to where she was and shed a single tear, one came upon me and knocked me unconscious.

“I’m glad you came back, sir,” I heard from far away. “Now, show me which one you want.”

“It took me some time to decide which was right for me. I wanted to be sure before purchasing. But, I have made my final decision.”

I recognized that voice. It was the voice of the man who had come a few weeks back to look at us. If it weren’t for him, I would have still had my wings. I could hear them walking past my cage, when suddenly, one of them stopped.

“What happened to this one?” the buyer asked.

“Well, the owners of this facility cannot watch all of these creatures, so we assign wardens to each floor. They give out meals and punishments, and we trust their judgment on the matter of discipline.”

“But, its—his wings…they’re gone.”

“Yes, this one seemed to be particularly stubborn about how it was being fed, and was trying to escape from our warden. The warden told us that this one attacked him and showed us his wounds. We agreed to allow him to burn its wings.”

“Is he still worth 5,000?”

“Oh no, its price has been pushed down to 3,000.”

“I’ll take him.”

“What? This one who has just attacked one of our employees?”

“Yes, here, take the money. I think I can control him.”
“You can’t be serious. It hasn’t been long enough to tell if it will attack again. Surely you can’t be—”

“I am serious. Now do you want the money, or what?” He took the buyer’s money, and unchained me from the wall. I just continued to lie there.

“Get up! You’re going to a new home. You should be happy.” He placed a collar around my neck. I felt like an abused puppy. I slowly got up and, with my head hung low, walked towards the door of my cage. “Here,” he said to the buyer, “you can use a leash, if you’d like.” He held out a chain, expecting it to be taken, but the buyer held up his hand refusing.

“No, that won’t be necessary. But, if you don’t mind me asking, can I have something to dress him in? I’d rather not walk out of here with a naked slave.”

“Well, now that you mention it, we do have something you can clothe it in. Come with me.” I followed them up the stairs, down a hallway, and into a lobby. “Wait here and I’ll bring out something.”

I stood there, in silence, next to my buyer. It was so quiet that I could here my own heartbeat. A little while later, the seller returned with some clothes. But, these weren’t just any old clothes. They were mine.

“These had been laying around for ages in one of our many closets. The pants are quite ratty and the boots need shining, but that should be good, right? It’s only a slave anyway.” I quickly grabbed the clothes and put them on. Those baggy pants and kick-ass combat boots of mine. It even still had the belts that once held my dagger and gun.

I had been wearing them the day she died. The day I watched Julia died. God, how I miss her. If only I wasn’t so oblivious to the fact that they would try to come for me. I didn’t even get to say good-bye…

It was bright and sunny, as I walked with her through the park, and we had concealed our wings, since we were out in public. Her long black hair reflected the sunshine and her blue eyes matched the blossoms in the trees. She was beautiful and the hand she held in hers was my own.

“What are you staring at?” she asked playfully, noticing my fixation.

“You, of course.” She laughed and I put my arm around her. “I love you, Julia. I don’t want anything to ever come between us.”

“Don’t be silly. What could ever come between us?” I stopped to give her a kiss, but instead, I felt her being clawed away by demons.

After I put my pants and boots on, I looked up to see the both of them staring at me. There was an awkward silence and the buyer motioned for me to follow him out of the building. I did as he wanted and saw, for the first time in years, sunlight.