Chapter 3

Draven wakes up dazed and confused...what really happened? You also get a glimpse of what's happened outside of the United Survivors of the Americas for the past year.

     I woke up with a throbbing headache. It must be a hangover...those drinks were really strong. Wait, was that stuff toward the end real? Or was I that drunk? I opened my eyes to a spinning room; and once I focused thinks got even more confusing. The room was upsidedown! Three words...what...the...f**k. Was I drugged? Then I felt myfeet slip as if I'd been standing the entire time and I hit the floor upsidedown.

     "Ohhhh...I feel weird..." I groaned. "How does it feel, becoming one of us?" Candy asked. She was upsidedown, hanging on the ceiling. I had to rub my eyes and make sure I was right-side up before I'd believe it. "My whole body aches...especially my upper back and my mouth." I now realized that her fangs must've been real. "How do you do that? How did I do that? You're, like, standing on the ceiling and are those real teeth? Did you bite me? What was in that drink?" I blubbered out as fast as I could, but stopped talking as she unfurrelled two huge dark brown wings that looked like they were from the devil himself; or in this case herself. I started breathing heavily and backing away, when suddenly my back felt as if it was splitting open.

     I ran to a mirror that was on her wall and watched in horror and pain as the skin on my back began tearing to make room for two demonic wings to sprout from my body. All of the sudden a pain so powerful hit me that I fell to the ground in tears. But then, out of nowhere, it was all over. The pain stopped. I layed there until my breathing slowed enough to stand, and stood in front of the mirror again. My wings were black, but featherless, lean, but powerful. I could feel the urge to let wind flow in them. Opening my mouth, I spotted two fangs that matched..."Candy! What the hell did you do to me?!" I sobbed, "What are you? A vampire?" She just chuckled.

     "I turned you into one of us. One of The Fallen. We fight against the reched Risen. Last year we had a war against them for right to be hiarchy. We took all visible humans onto either side for warriors. Lucky for you, nobody was able to fly over here...until recently. The war was called War of the Pixies because we all fly." She said pointing at my wings, still steaming from my intense body heat like a newborn horse in autumn.

     "Who won? And you never answered my question; are we vampires?" "Damn, kid. You have a hell of a lot of questions. Well, we kinda lost...but those Risen b******s cheated!!  They nuked our strongold just before the battle, and the rest of us were forced to flee. And I have no f****n clue what we are. We have bat-like wings, drink blood as a delicacy and regular stuff for survival, and control fire." "Did you say..." "Yeah, we control fire too dumbass. Look." Just then, the fire from a candle rose, following Candy's finger and took the shape of a smiley face. "Woah." I said breathlessly. "Yup! Pretty cool, eh darling? Don't try it yet though, you're still developing." The more I thought about all of this new information, the more I felt the need to just embrace it. It's too late to turn back anyways, right? What do I have to lose? Who would even miss me?

     By now, Candy and I were sitting on the ground together amung the red candles. "Tired?" Candy asked as I let out a yawn. "Yeah, didn't exactly get a lot of sleep last night." "Okay, first I have to teach you how to hang upsidedown like one of us true Fallen before you may sleep." She stood and helped me up. "Normally, Draven, we fly and catch a ledge or something, but I picked up this technique while I was here in LA. "She walked onto her bed and bent over. "You just do a handstand, first. Get over here and do it." "There's no way I can do that..."  She lifted up her body easily until her feet touched the ceiling. "We're stronger than humans. Just try it, fledgeling." "Fine..." I walked onto the bed, bent over, and lifted my body; surprised at how effortless it was. "Okay, now what?" "Our toes are strong, and have retractable claws. Just push your toes down...well, up; and you will grip into the ceiling." I did as she said, and my toes easily sunk into the concrete ceiling. "Easy, eh?" "Yeah!" I replied enthusiastically. "Now just let yourself hang, and cross your arms like this...okay, good! And now, just wrap your body, one wing at a time and sleep. It'll feel natural."

     With that she wrapped herself up and looked cozy. I again did as she asked, and felt like I was in a warm, huge cacoon. Then, I dozed off.

Author's Note

I really appreciate critical reviews, and remember:
There's still much more to come in Draven's story! This is barely scratching the surface...

Reviews

[Damon Favreau]

Yes, I plan on expanding these chapters immensely. These are basically schematics. I also have maybe twice as much more and this is just the hook.

[MR_BERG]

You have the elements for a good story going (post nuclear landscape, missing person story, teenage seduction, The Risen, The Fallen). Don't rush your story. It will flow better with a few rewrites and you will get more pages. Keep it coming.