Blacken by Alandra Rankin (i love reading books txt) 📕

He didn’t dare break eye contact, nor did she as they swung around the wooden floors, becoming bolder in actions, spinning her around, mimicking things he had seen.

Avie laughed, a string of giggles leaving the redhead as she was having fun with his feathered self. It was something he never dared dream would happen from their first meeting, even their second! Her laughter becoming infectious, he let out his own chuckle as the songs played on, allowing them to have this moment of bonding. In a way, he felt like he needed it. He’s been alone for far too long….

The music swelled to a close, and he dipped her gently for the finale. She was smiling, those large green jades darting between both of his. His own gaze was strong as it fixed on hers, thinking over his next action. He brought her back up, only the crackling in the stove adjacent them could be heard. They hadn’t broken away.

“Rhulle.”

Her eyebrows crinkled together upon hearing the unfamiliar word, “I’m sorry… what was that?”

“My name. It is Rhulle. You may have it.”

Even in the dim glow, Rhulle noticed a discolouration happen on her face while her features softened, that expression returning with the same glittering wonder.

She decided to test it out, “Rhulle…” The female smiled, “Thank you for a wonderful gift.”

CHAPTER 9

The chips crunched loudly, causing Avie to turn up the volume on her television just to hear what the narrative was explaining as she lounged in bed. A particularly large chip splintered while biting into it, causing crumbs and fragments to fall onto the sheets below her.

She sighed in exaggerated annoyance. It was her own fault for eating in bed; a bad habit she could never break out of. It was probably for the best if she put the bag of potato crisps away and out of her sight.

On her way back into the bedroom, her eyes caught on the corner of a glossy photo recklessly tucked between the mattress and box spring. Momentarily having the conversation slip her mind, she pulled the square loose from its bindings—studying the blurred, grainy, black and white photo of a dark figure with extended wings.

“Thank god, I was about to start kicking. I think I found something—a photo from a while back, it’s hard to make out but hear me out on this one.” Owen made his way into the flat, pulling out the picture to show off with pride.

Avie took the image from him, seeing it depicted a view of the forest but also something much more prominent in the foreground. A pang of worry filled her.

It looked like him… It looked an awful lot like the feathered being she got to make acquaintance with; however, she had such prior knowledge and Owen did not. It may be able to pass as a hoax photograph. Knowing the blond, he wouldn’t accept that explanation—insisting that they roll with the extraterrestrial idea; the only traction in the investigation they pursued.

“What exactly am I looking at?” She flipped the photo over, hoping for something to be written on the back.

The librarian smiled confidently, “It may be the connecting factor for us.”

“You’re saying this is a picture of one of the aliens? It looks like a misshapen Christmas tree…”

He rolled his eyes, “I know the quality is not that great, it’s from a police report from the Fifties. I’m just saying it’s something we could be looking out for.”

Avie felt her tongue involuntarily press against her cheek, she was trying to think of a way to steer the photo in question as anything other than the creature she had been trying to know. It may have translated as an unconvinced look, Owen continuing,

“Aves, I know it’s not much, but really, what else do we have to go on? None of the actual science we have come up with or tried has stuck. It’s all fallen flat. This is an actual photograph someone took; I want to keep following this rabbit hole.”

She was torn.

On one hand, she wanted to find answers, she had to when it affected her so much. Their Dewey Decimal team were the only ones working on questions no one else was interested in. But on the other hand, she needed to keep a secret.

If she fought back too much with this, it certainly would be suspicious…

“So, if it was photographed looking like this, there’s probably a fair chance that it knew that it was. If there were no other images like this, it may have changed form. Like, what if it could shapeshift? What if it could turn into what suited it in the moment? Here, it needed to fly so it made wings… If it needed to hide, it could disguise itself as any one of us?”

“Damn Aves, and you say my theories are crackpot,” he said, laughing.

“I’m just speculating! Wouldn’t there have been more sightings or reports than just this one if that was its only form? Bigfoot has tons of sightings as the same figure.”

“But you want to explore this winged man alien—winged man shapeshifter with me?”

She sighed in a small relief, “It’s like you said, it’s the only thing to run off. Let’s look for other buried cases due to peculiar claims. Maybe we can find a logical progression of what forms it likes to take.”

Owen was over the moon, lifting her up and twirling her around in a tight hug, “Hell yes! Avie, you are such a creative mastermind! I never would have got this far without you.”

It wasn’t as if she outright lied to Owen, but she did withhold information to get him away from the topic. The woman felt terrible for keeping such a secret from him, but Rhulle only started to open up to her. Avie couldn’t imagine he would be very keen on having another human thrown into the mix so soon—let alone how Owen would even react.

She hid the photo once again, taking care to make sure no corners jutted out this