The Unhappy Reunion (Melanie)

[MARIUS DAKANIS]

There had been postings all over the city about the serious sickness that could be caused by the city's very own drinking water. A life threatening virus that even had Marius a little worried. He'd told Abby that she ought to get in and get vaccinated as early as possible so that if there was a shortage of the vaccination at least Abby would be safe. And Marius had even volunteered when the appointed people came to the hospital for a meeting requesting volunteers to join since they were going to be understaffed. Marius was more than happy to help out and after getting his own testing and a shot he was taken out of the city to a facility that looked a lot like a prison.

After being prepped and signing a few disclosure agreements (which threw Marius off), he found himself watching videos and given guides that were about birds and how to properly clip their wings. It was all confusing and several times he told guards that he was in the wrong place. He wasn't a veterinarian, but the guards wouldn't listen. But what really made him uncomfortable was the size of the guns holstered on their hips. Or at least that's what he thought made him the most uncomfortable.

As the day went on things only escalated until he found out just what was going on. He hadn't volunteered to distribute medicine to those infected with the virus. He'd been tricked into clipping the wings of Avisailles and when he tried to protest he was greeted with violence by the guards. Nothing extreme but they got their point across. He found out quickly that all the Avisailles in the city were being gathered and brought there, to a concentration camp of sorts. Their own personal prison. He just couldn't wrap his head around what was happening and when he saw a few familiar faces come walking through the door into the infirmary it was just one shock after another.

Two hours in he'd clipped so many wings that he'd lost count of them all. His face was tight as he tried his best to keep a poker face, not wanting to show how he really felt. One of the other doctors had tried to leave and they'd hurt him pretty bad. Marius would rather walk out of there than in a body bag so he kept on clipping.

He didn't expect to see the next person who walked through the door. It was a blast from the past. Nothing had changed.. Melanie looked exactly the same as she had when he was just a boy in Romania. His expression faltered and he let out a soft gasp, standing there frozen in his lab coat and watching her. He didn't know if she would remember him. He'd grown and changed since his teen years, and a part of him hoped she wouldn't remember him. He'd wanted to run into her again but not like this.. this wasn't what he wanted for their reunion. "P-Please.. take a seat on the table.." he instructed softly, unable to peel his eyes away from the woman who had changed his life.

[MELANIE WHITFIELD]

Melanie was terrified, to put it lightly. First she had been forced through a scanner, which made her so nervous she felt ill. She was certain the scanner showed her wings and that was why she was escorted with her brother to a room off to the side. Strangely, the guards reacted as if they expected to see the appendages growing from their backs. Brandon was tense the entire walk to the separated room, and he struggled against the guards as he and Melanie were split up. He’d yelled and fought, which made Melanie panic; if Brandon was freaking out, there had to be a reason. But they had shut her in a separate room and injected her with what they called a vaccine. Not even a minute later, Melanie felt dizzy and woozy. She could hardly walk on her own or process the fact that she was being thrown on a bus at gunpoint. Brandon was there too, looking as ill as she probably did, and she began to cry out of fear. “What’s going on?” she asked a guard, but the woman ignored her. “Bran…what’s going on?” He shook his head. “I don’t know, Mel. I don’t think that was a vaccine.” They slept on the bus, unable to keep their eyes open.

When they arrived, the guards were screaming at them to get up, get out, get the fuck off the bus. Why were they so mean? It frightened Melanie even more, and she clung to her brother’s arm. Where were they? As they walked up to the gates, the barbed wire gates, she felt her stomach falling and dragging along the ground. What was all of this? Brandon kept her close, keeping his arm around her shoulders. They came to a man who asked for their names. “Melanie Garcia,” she replied meekly. “Brandon Garcia.” “You two married?” the man asked conversationally as he typed their names into a laptop. “Siblings.” Brandon’s voice was gruff, making it obvious he wasn’t in the mood to talk. The man glanced up at them. “I see it now. Move along.” They moved forward, but Melanie started to panic when she saw they were splitting the men and women into two different queues going into different parts of a building. There was a fence between the two lines and Melanie clung to her brother desperately. “No…no!” she gasped, gripping on to her brother. Two guards grabbed each of them, yanking Melanie free of Brandon’s grasp. “No!” she screamed, fighting against the guards, so panicked she couldn’t think straight. They were pulling her away from her brother and she wasn’t going to see him again! She wouldn’t let them take him! She couldn’t make it on her own! “Bran!” she cried, reaching for her brother as the guards dragged her along. Brandon was fighting too, three guards holding him back. “Get off her! Get off my sister!” A guard punched him in the gut to quiet him and Melanie was dragged away crying for her brother.

She was forced into a large room with a large group of other Avisaille women being forced to strip down. She recognized a few of them, but she was too frightened and upset to speak. One older woman told her it would be alright, to just stay calm, and Melanie took deep breaths to follow her advice. Stark naked, shy, and humiliated, the guards screamed at the women to get into the shower and bathe. It was a large shower built for about twenty people, all of whom were about as shy as she was. The guards gave them ten minutes to bathe, after which everyone was thrown towels, instructed to dry off, and move to the changing room. At least in the jumpsuits they were given, she was able to free her wings. But why were they here? She thought this had to do with a vaccine, a parasite in the water, but it was slowly becoming apparent that this had nothing to do with parasites. When she walked into the next room, it was even clearer—they were targeting Avisailles.

There were pieces of feathers all over the floor. Melanie was horrified. The feathers were all different colors and she began to breathe heavier. They were going to take her wings! No…those were just pieces of feathers…they were going to clip them. Her eyes came to the man in the lab coat, the deep brown orbs wide and frightened and full of tears. He looked as shocked and afraid as she was. “P-Please…take a seat on the table…” She was shaking and she shook her head slowly from side to side. “Please…please don’t…” But there was a guard by the door and he stepped forward, threatening with the butt of his gun held high. Melanie winced away from it until the doctor cried out for him to stop. She looked back to him, tears still threatening, but she blinked to get a good look at him. Why did he look familiar? She stepped forward slowly, studying his face, and suddenly a memory rushed over her. There was a boy…he had helped her in Romania when she had injured the very wings he was being forced to maim. “You…I remember you…” she said softly, hardly above a whisper. Tears filled her eyes, unbidden. “You helped me back then…in Romania.” She sniffed as two fat tears rolled down her face. “Marius, right?” Trembling, she sat on the table, her head bowed. “Why are they doing this?” she sobbed.

[MARIUS DAKANIS]

He couldn't believe his eyes. It was Melanie! "Please...please don't..." Marius felt his heart sink at her plea, wishing he could grab her and take her away from there. When the guard took a step toward her and raised his weapon up getting ready to jab her with the butt of it Marius put his hand out. “Just wait!” He said in a sharp, stern voice and glared at the guard. He didn’t like that they were being so rough, especially when nothing was being explained to them. It was all just one big mystery that he hoped would be explained eventually. He hoped that they would all be released unharmed when they were done with whatever they were trying to do.

The way Melanie looked at him made him grow uneasy and he bowed his head trying his best not to look right at her. He’d already clipped the wings of people he’d become acquaintances with, but this was different. Melanie was the reason he came to Scriptor Bay and he’d hoped he would run into her again someday. This wasn’t what he expected for their reunion. ”You...I remember you...” Marius raised his brows and looked at her a little, still unnerved by the whole situation and noticing the way she was looking at him. There was that sense of familiarity there in her sad brown eyes. ”You helped me back then...in Romania.” When he saw the tears it broke his heart and he swallowed a hard lump in the back of his throat. He needed to keep a straight face or he’d get his nose broken like one of the other doctors. ”Marius, right?” She remembers you, he thought and heaved a heavy sigh, his brows furrowing as he nodded, letting her know that she was right.

”Why are they doing this?”

He wished he had an answer for her. He wished he could tell her to spread her wings and fly away, but he couldn’t very well do that. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances,” he told her softly, his words intended only for her and wishing he could give her a hug. He wanted to hold her and tell her that he’d get her out of there, that he’d help her like he had when he was just a boy. “I’m really sorry about this.”

Grabbing the pair of sheers off of the sterile medical tray he stared at them as if they were going to bring death. To some Avisailles he was sure that it was going to seem that way. He’d grown on a farm and they always had to clip one of the wings of their chickens, so this wasn’t the first time he’d done it. He knew that you only clipped one wing to throw off their balance making it impossible to take flight until they grew back. He reached up and stroked the wing closest to him gently, allowing his fingers to glide across the beautiful feathers. He felt ill and didn’t want to bring the sheers up to her wing, but if he didn’t then he knew someone else would just step in and do what he couldn’t. He wasn’t about to let someone else mess with her wings, knowing they wouldn’t be as careful with them as he was.

The guards took notice of how long it was taking Marius to snip Melanie’s feathers and one of them cleared their throat and gave him a stern look. This wasn’t what he volunteered for. Not at all. He eyed the guard, ready to say something but decided to just keep his mouth shut, not wanting to make more problems. “I don’t know what’s going on but I intend to find out,” he explained and grabbed hold of her wing, pinching it between his fingers gently to make the underside feathers stick out and carefully beginning to snip at them, rendering her flightless.

[MELANIE WHITFIELD]

“I wish we were meeting under better circumstances…” Marius’ words were soft, almost comforting and Melanie turned her eyes back up to him. She was shaking like a leaf, the guard at the door terrifying her almost as much as the thought of never flying again, but those soft words were the only kindness she’d encountered here. It meant more than she could say. She knew she would fly again and that her fear she wouldn’t was irrational; feathers grew back. But would her balance ever be what it was again? Would she ever fly as well as she did before this awful place? Marius looked truly pained by what he had to do. “I’m really sorry about this.” Melanie sobbed but nodded gently. She could see how sorry he was for it. After all these years…and this was how they reunited. She could hear the slight clatter of Marius picking the shears off the tray by the bed. Her eyes closed as she tried to ease her sobbing. Those wings had dictated so much of her life. They had encouraged her to separate from her brother and her father to fly on her own, they had taken her around the world, they had given her freedom on days when she thought she would never escape the burden of her sorrows. Now…now they were being rendered useless. She had told Kevin how much of a pain it was to have wings, but now she was terrified at the thought of losing the capability they gave her.

Marius’ fingers stroked her wings as they had once before ages ago, as amazed now as they were then. But then there had been eagerness in his hands, eagerness to explore them, like a young child marvels at the feel of a cat’s fur. Now…now there was only hesitation. She was afraid it would hurt, afraid of the consequences, afraid that Marius would slip and she would never fly again. One of the guards cleared his throat and Melanie glanced over at him, the threatening look in his eyes telling him to hurry up and clip them. Why were they being so cruel? She frowned at the guard, giving him a pitiful look as she sniffed, and then looked back down at the floor again. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I intend to find out.” At least Marius wasn’t here of his own volition. After helping her that day all those years ago, she was glad the boy hadn’t become a man eager to maim Avisailles. She nodded, hearing the snip of the shears and felt them slice through her feathers painlessly. More tears streamed onto her cheeks as she closed her eyes. “Mulþumesc,” she whispered, remembering the simple phrase in Romanian.

He worked gently, carefully, and she was so grateful for it. It was obvious how scared she was and he respected that. She couldn’t turn to look at him, but perhaps it would ease both of them to talk. What could they talk about? “So…did you become a veterinarian? A doctor?” she inquired, her voice soft and shaky. Why was he here of all places?

[MARIUS DAKANIS]

"Mulþumesc," Thank you. He'd forgotten that Melanie knew his native language.. it was rare he used it anymore. The only person he spoke Romanian to was his mother. His father, back in Romania, always spoke to him in German as did his brother and sister. That single word.. "Acesta nu va afecta," he assured her in his native tongue. It wouldn't be likely that the guards would know Romanian.

"So...did you become a veterinarian? A doctor?"

This was not how Marius intended them to meet, but he was glad to see that she was well all things considered. "I'm a doctor. Which is your doing if I'm to be perfectly honest." He kept his voice as cool as he could, knowing the guards would notice any change in the sound of his voice, but they weren't listening to their actual conversation. He wanted to try and keep her calm as well as himself since there was nothing else to do other than speak while he cut her wings and being especially careful with them. He couldn't make a mistake or it would ruin her beautiful wings. He wouldn't do that to her so he was as careful as he possibly could.

"You inspired me all those years ago. It was because of you that I've decided to become a doctor," he explained, continuing to speak becaues he knew that was the only sort of comfort that he could offer her right now. The way she shook and silently wept in fear made his stomach twist and he felt like he would be sick. He couldn't wait to get out of there. To see Abby and wrap his arms around her, hold her tight. Then he got the sick feeling that maybe she had been taken as well. Or was it just the Avisailles? There would be no telling until he could leave. "I came to the city hoping I could do some good for the lot of you and even had the hopes of seeing you again. Have you kept yourself busy? You haven't aged a day since I last saw you," how could he get her out of there?

[MELANIE WHITFIELD]

Melanie was trying to ease her tears, but it only made her shake more when she did that. Marius’ reply help distract her as it surprised her. “I’m a doctor. Which is your doing if I’m to be perfectly honest.” She almost turned to look at him, but she was too afraid to see what he was doing. “My doing?” she asked. Had she really affected his career choice by simply telling him about her and others like her? “You inspired me all those years ago. It was because of you that I’ve decided to become a doctor.” She inspired him? Melanie was always amazed when she had an effect on anyone. She was just one person, and yet she had been the inspiration for this man to become a doctor. “I came to the city hoping I could do some good for the lot of you and even had the hopes of seeing you again.” Not only had she inspired him to become a doctor, but she inspired him to help others like her. He had come here because of her. It made fresh tears fall onto her cheeks to know she had affected anyone so much. It was such a kind thing for him to say and he sounded so sincere. What was he feeling now as he clipped the wings that had inspired him?

“Have you kept yourself busy? You haven’t aged a day since I last saw you.” She nodded and let a small smile come to her lips as she tried to wipe her tears away. “Avisailles age at half the rate of humans.” It was a fact she probably hadn’t mentioned in Romania, though she couldn’t really remember all she had told him back then. “And yes, I’m a nurse at the hospital. Pediatrics.” He told her he worked at the hospital too and she laughed a little and shook her head at the irony. “What a small world. All this time we’ve been so close to each other and we didn’t even know it. I don’t spend a lot of time in the ER, though.” More tears dripped onto her cheeks as she thought about her job and the children she had come to bond with and love. Would they miss her? Would they ask about her? She knew a few certainly would. “Some of the kids are going to be so upset that I’m gone…” Her hand came to cover her face as she fought back sobs. But there was one person who would be more upset…

Kevin…

He would think she had abandoned him. She wanted him to know where she was, that she hadn’t left him, that she still cared for him. But there was nothing she could do…Wait! She gasped and finally turned to look at Marius with big teary eyes. “Kann passieren Sie eine Nachricht an für mich? Sag meinem Liebhaber, wo ich bin. Sein Name ist Kevin Whitfield. Bitte, muss er wissen, wo ich bin.” She spoke German much better than she spoke Romanian and she knew he spoke it as well. Where he grew up, many people spoke German and Romanian, and she had found that very useful when she visited. She spoke the message quickly because she was afraid the guards would get upset; and she was right. One of them marched forward with his gun threatening. “Speak in English or don’t speak at all!” The guard raised the butt of his gun in threat to drive the point home, but he didn’t hit her with it. She turned back around, sitting forward again so Marius could finish the job. She was comforted that he would do his best to help her. It eased some of her fears, but she wondered if he would be able to find Kevin in time. Her hands clenched the edge of the bed again, silence falling over the room as the guard regained his spot by the door. Thinking of Kevin made her think of another question to ask, though her voice was much softer now as she focused sad eyes on the floor. “Have you found some nice girl to love in Scriptor Bay?” she asked with a slightly amused tone, a small smile quirking her lips at the thought, though her eyes were still sad. It did warm her heart a little to think that he had found a full life in the city because of the inspiration she gave him and she wondered if it was so.

[MARIUS DAKANIS]

Marius all but stopped what he was doing when Melanie said she worked at the hospital. She was a nurse in pediatrics. It explained how they didn’t bump into one another. It was easy to work in a hospital and never bump into someone over time. The shifts weren’t your typical Monday through Friday eight hour days but three twelve hour shifts instead. Not only that but Marius never went up to the pediatric ward so it didn’t surprise him they didn’t bump into one another. It was a small world indeed. ”Some of the kids are going to be so upset that I’m gone...” He could tell that she was one of the few nurses that created a special bond with her patients. It wasn’t recommended and throughout his time earning his doctorate it had been repeated over and over to not grow attached. It made it that much harder to let go if the patient ended up not making it.

Although Marius preferred to steer clear of pediatrics and even disliked that part of his schooling, he was more than willing to make an exception this time. “I’ll let them know you went on a trip and that you send your love,” he said softly, knowing it would be easy enough to find out which patients were hers from their charts. It wasn’t that Marius didn’t like kids he just didn’t like treating them. He got his fair share in the ER and he’d do his job but there was just something about treating children that always made him nervous. It was enough he had to worry about the possibility of pissing a patient off and getting sued for malpractice, but to have an angry parent say that he was inappropriate with a child was something he wasn’t willing to deal with. Not that he’d ever do such a thing but it was one of those weird things that just didn’t sit well with him. It was the same reason why he got uncomfortable around children who weren’t part of his family.

“Kann passieren Sie eine Nachricht an für mich? Sag meinem Liebhaber, wo ich bin. Sein Name ist Kevin Whitfield. Bitte, muss er wissen, wo ich bin.” He’d managed to distract himself with the thoughts of her working at the hospital and the children that he took a long pause from clipping her wings and just stared at her sadly. But her German brought him back and though he was still giving her a sad look there was recognition in his face that he understood what she was saying. One of the guards moved toward them menacingly, ”Speak in english or don’t speak at all!” What gave him the right to order around what language they spoke in? “Easy,” he said loud enough for the guard to hear and shot him another look. He was the one doing the clipping which made him feel that it gave him power over the guards in some sense. The guard had a gun but Marius had scalpels and shears along with other dangerous medical utensils. A bullet may be faster than Marius but he would risk it if the man became too aggressive. Couldn’t he see that what he was doing was wrong?

“I’ll find him.” Marius said under his breath and went back to work, cutting the remaining under feathers but trying his best to make it look like he was still working. “I volunteered to help administer the so called vaccinations, but instead they brought me here. I’m going to be your physician while you’re here Melanie, I won’t let them harm you if I can help it. Just stay calm.. I’ll find a way to get you out.” Again his words were hushed so that they were only for her ears. The guard gave him a stern look with squinty eyes as if he were trying to hear what was being said but since he didn’t advance toward them again he figured the words remained unheard.

“Have you found some nice girl to love in Scriptor Bay?”

“You mean apart from you?” He asked and although they were both under duress he tried to keep his voice light to show he was only teasing. He felt love for Melanie but it was because she’d been his inspiration all these years. They never were nor would they ever be romantic feelings between the pair. He might have been a bit conflicted at first when he started dating Abby because she was younger but with Melanie, she was going to live well after Marius was long gone it seemed. That wasn’t something that he could take.

“I have. Her name is Abigail and she’s one of the most beautiful, kind spirited women I’ve ever had the good fortune to have in my life. When we get out of here you’ll have to meet her.” He was certain they would get along. They were both friendly and amazing people and he was determined to get Melanie out of there so they could meet. There was no ‘if’ when it came to Melanie getting out, it was just a matter of ‘when’ along with all the other unfortunate Avisailles who found themselves stuck in this hellish place. Why couldn’t it have been a damn factory?

[MELANIE WHITFIELD]

“You mean apart from you?” Melanie let out a soft chuckle, actually amused and glad Marius could help her lighten up. That hadn’t been their relationship in Romania, and she could hear the teasing undertone of his voice, knowing he wasn’t serious. Well, maybe there was love, but a kind of love one might feel for a beloved mentor and the love that mentor felt for their student. She could remember Marius as a teenager—there was no way she could be attracted to him like that, though her boyfriend was younger than he was. The difference was she saw Kevin as a man; in her mind, Marius was still that sweet young boy. And he really had been sweet; he had shown no fear of her wings, only childlike curiosity. She could remember the way his eyes lit up when she told him there were others like her and how attentive he had been while she told him the story of Scriptor Bay. The thought always made her smile.

“I have. Her name is Abigail and she’s one of the most beautiful, kind spirited women I’ve ever had the good fortune to have in my life. When we get out of here, you’ll have to meet her.” Melanie liked the sound of that and fresh tears filled her eyes at the hope his words gave her. He hadn’t said “if,” he had said “when.” That made all the difference. It also made her heart swell with warmth to know he wanted her to meet his girlfriend, the woman he loved. She smiled wide despite her sad eyes and she nodded as her tears dripped onto her cheeks. “I’d love to.” Her voice was soft to cover the fact that she was crying again, though it would be clear if he could see her face. It would give her something to look forward to, meeting his Abigail. “And you can meet my brother, Brandon. I told you all kinds of stories about him.” In the barn on his father’s farm, Melanie had told him all kinds of stories about home that made Marius and her laugh. It had helped to ease some of her homesickness at the time, and she was glad Brandon was here with her in this—it meant she wasn’t alone.

The clipping was done and she stretched her wings to feel the unbalance in one wing. It made her sob into her hands for a long moment, feeling it would never be the same again. Would she really be able to leave this place? She never got a chance to tell Kevin…she wanted to tell him how he made her feel. Why had she been so afraid to do it? They were supposed to write their own rules, but she was too worried about what others might think of those rules, what Kevin might think of them. “Marius…make sure you tell Abigail how you really feel. I would hate for you to regret not doing so.” She wondered if he would hear the regret in her voice. She had to get out of here if only to tell Kevin what she felt for him. That had to be her motivation for getting out.

She slid off the table, wiping the tears from her face and smiling up at him sadly. “Take care of yourself, Marius.” She didn’t care if the guards were there or not. Her eyes moved to them momentarily before she moved quickly to Marius, throwing her arms around him. For once the guards didn’t move, though she could feel them tense. “Eu va vedea din nou.” I will see you again. The Romanian phrase was exactly how she had bid him farewell all those years ago. It was as much a promise then as it was now and she had every intention of seeing her old friend again. She pulled away with more tears in her eyes and an agonized smile on her face. When she got out…yes, it had to be “when.”

[MARIUS DAKANIS]

"Marius...make sure you tell Abigail how you really feel. I would hate for you to regret not doing so." He looked down at her, his mouth feeling dry as he swallowed deeply while his brows knitted up and creased his forehead. Melanie was right. Marius always felt that taking things slow would make them much more satisfying, give time to enjoy everything. But how could you enjoy it if you didn't have time? Melanie had been taken from her life abruptly. What if they went after Abby next? He couldn't bear the thought of losing her early. He was conflicted but he took her words to heart and nodded, unable to articulate what he felt just yet.

When Melanie got up off the table and reached up he welcomed her embrace and cupped the back of her head with his hand, planting a soft kiss against the top of her head. The guards could pitch a fit if they wanted, he was doing what he was instructed to do and they knew he didn't like it. Only thing was he was setting himself up.. if he managed to find a way to get Melanie out of there then all eyes would be on him.

"Just do what they say and they won't hurt you," Marius told her when she pulled away. He would definitely see her again. The words rang true in his head, bringing him back to a time in Romania when he was just a boy. He felt that same deep pitted feeling in his stomach that he'd felt the first time she'd gone. How had he come to care for someone who he'd only known for a brief moment in time? When she was taken out of the room he looked to the guards and swallowed back as many emotions as he could. While the guards were busy getting Melanie out of the room and the next avisaille in he scooped up the clippings of Melanie's wings and slipped them into the pocket of his lab coat. He had to find this Kevin and knew of a few people who might be able to help him.

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