Ashley

The smell of old books filled the air as I looked around the library. A gunshot could be heard in the distance as I climbed up on top of a bookshelf. It had been two days since I had changed, and my parents threw me out. My change was more apparent than others, like my sisters. Sighing, I laid back on the bookshelf and stretched my wings out. Being less than a foot tall had its advantages. I was able to lie on the bookshelf and still have a few centimeters from head to toe.

Why had my parents been so cruel? How could they say that I was no longer their daughter and claim that Emily was their only daughter now? It was like a knife to the heart. And where was Taylor? I know that we did not always get along because I always felt the need to fit in school. It had put a wedge between us, even though we were best friends when we were younger.

I had almost fallen asleep when the sound of someone trying to open the doors caught my attention. It was still nighttime, so there should not have been anyone coming here at this time of night. In an instant, I jumped up, flew to the farthest place in the library, and did my best to hide. I did not want any more problems than I was already having. Being a fairy was not something that I could just hide. How many people do you know who could literally sit on someone’s shoulder?

As I sat there, I heard the doors to the library open. The gunfire was getting closer. Footsteps started to echo throughout the building. Every step sounded like thunder to my tiny ears. It said like there was more than one person in the building.

“Damn these cops. They are relentless. The damn president has everyone scared of anyone affected by that damn storm.” A male voice said. I guess he was one of us on the run from the cops.

“After some of the attacks and whatnot, can you blame me? I mean, seeing a dragon tearing up a city on live television is not exactly what people want to see. And then that report about the guy who could blow things up with a snap of his fingers,” a female voice said. She did not sound much older than my sister or I. there was fear in her voice.

“It’s not like I asked for these damn horns or my skin to be as red as blood.” The guy said. As I tried to lean in closer to hear what they were saying, one of my wings knocked over a book.

“Whose there. We do not want any trouble; we just do not know where else to go. I promise, once the cops are gone, we will leave.” The guy said. Against the little voice in my head telling me to stay put, I slowly walked out from behind the bookshelf I was hiding behind. Though it was dark, the glow coming from my body made it easy to see the two who had trespassed on my hiding place. There was a boy, probably seventeen or eighteen with beautiful black horns, and a girl with the body of a spider. It was kind of creepy, but her face looked very soft.

“Oh my god, you’re a little fairy.” The girl said, her legs moving in a weird kind of dance. The boy stood there with his mouth open for a moment. I did not know if it was because I was a fairy or if he thought I was beautiful. I know, a little bit of an ego, but it came naturally after being one of the popular girls in school. It was a flaw that I would have to work on.

“I’m Ashley Prescott. After that storm, I found myself like this, and my parents threw me out, so I hid here. It is easy to hide from people during the day because I can lay on top of the bookshelf, and no one notices me, but at night it is a little harder.” I said before flying to the top of the table next to me and sitting down. The demon boy sat in the closest chair to him, while the girl with the spider body kind of laid her body on the floor next to him.

“I’m Esme Reed, and this gawking demon here is my brother Reed. We were both outsides when that weird colorful storm hit, and when we woke up, we looked like this.” The girl said, smiling softly to reveal little fangs.

“It is nice to meet you, Ashley, and sorry for staring, but I have always loved fairies. Ever since I was a kid,” Arron said, the look of embarrassment spreading across his face. It was kind of cute. Sighing as I crossed my legs, I looked out the window, seeing the flashes of light from the gunfire. It seemed that the cops were getting closer.

“It is sad. People who did nothing wrong but be outside during a weird storm that came out of nowhere are now being hunted for something they never asked for.” I said, adjusting my barbie doll dress. Unfortunately, nothing I was wearing fit when I changed, so I had to steal a dress from one of Taylor's old dolls. I was sure she would not notice since she never played with them anymore. Sadly, that was the only thing covering me, though I do not think anyone would see, given my size.

“I heard that there is some organization that is trying to start a program to help get us protection. I also heard that they are working on the way to get those who have changed new identities. And finally, a way to determine if someone is going to be a threat,” Esme said as she began wiping something off her thorax.

“I have to ask, what does it feel like, controlling a body like that?” I asked, only to feel ashamed of the question. Esme did not seem to be offended by it, smiling as she looked at me.

“It was…. Difficult that first night. I can feel and move each individual lake just as you do with two. But sometimes, it feels like my brain is going to overload with each step. That’s not even the weirdest part,” she said as she turned her torso and reached toward the back of her thorax and pulled on what looked like a shiny string in my glow. “I can make webs. It is so sticky and powerful. I kind of did the whole Spiderman thing. You know, crawl up a wall and thing swing from my web, although…. it is not the same.” She said before burying her face into her palms.

It was nearly two hours before the gunfire stopped. I guess everyone decided to finally go to bed. Arron and Esme had fallen asleep a little while ago. I laid on the table, thinking about my sister and my life before all this happened. I know I had not been the best person in school, always acting like I was better than everyone, and now I was a freak. How could I have been so shallow just so that people could like me? And what I did to Taylor was not something that I was proud of, but I could never bring myself to apologize. I would always make some stupid excuse.

Rubbing my eyes, I flew to the front door of the library to make sure it was locked. No one would be coming in tomorrow because it was the weekend, but that did not mean that someone else would not find their way in here. I was curious as to how those two had gotten in when the door was locked. I would have to ask them in the morning. Finding an old newspaper, I flew back to the bookshelf next to the table and covered up. I needed to get some sleep because tomorrow, I would continue my search for my sister. I just hoped that she was okay. I could not bear the thought that she was killed. Closing my eyes, I did my best not to think about it as I drifted off to sleep.

When I awoke the next morning, something was wrong. As I sat up from my makeshift bed, Esme and Arron were nowhere to be seen. However, that was not what worried me. The entire library looked like a bomb had gone off inside it. Books were all over the floor, papers blowing in the wind.

As I flew down to get a closer look, I could see spider silk everywhere, as well as scorch marks. It seemed that someone or something had broken into the library and attacked them. Frantically I looked around. I could try to find the siblings, but there was no sign other than what looked like places of struggle.

Looking for the entry point, I found that one of the far side windows had been smashed in. I was about to go outside when I heard voices coming from somewhere nearby.

“I can’t believe we found those freaks. I don’t know why the doc wants them alive. Look what that demon did to my arm.” A male voice said.

“Yeah, well, look at John. He is stuck in what looks like a cocoon. That little spider bitch really did a number on him.” Another voice said. It became clear that the two had been captured. What was I going to do? Wasn’t like I could really pick a fight with anyone? I felt tears begin to swell as I thought of what might happen to them.

I knew that there wasn’t anything that I could do to fight back against the people who had the siblings, but maybe if I got myself caught, they would take me where my new found friends were. Swallowing up as much courage as I could muster, I flew out the window and saw the source of the voices.

“Hey, look Jeff, another one of those freaks. What should we do?” The closest man said as he watched me.

“You know that the doc wants as many of these freaks as we can capture. Wants to experiment on em and see what makes em tick.” The other guy said. I did my best to act as if I was going to resist capture. I flew out of their reach and bobbed and weaved in the air, a small smile cracking my face as I watched these idiots try to reach for me.

“Damn it, Dave, catch the little bitch. I don’t have all day.” The second man said as he tried again to jump for me. Flying low, I got close enough to the one called Jeff and slapped him as hard as I could before dashing back above them. I knew that I would regret that later, but at this moment, I needed to find my friends and make sure they were okay.

I was about to dive at the man called Jeff again when I was hit from behind with something hard. I felt myself fall to the ground and the sound of footsteps before the world went dark.