Chapter 20 A chase

After a few minutes, I remembered that I had left Raven down at the scene of the fight, and dove toward the bagel shop, landing on the roof and changing as quickly as possible. I climbed down a maintenence ladder and ran to the front of the store, wondering if she might have left by now. To my relief, she was inside the shop, munching on another bagel and sipping an iced tea. I sat down in front of her, and we stared at each other for a moment. Then I spoke up. "I'm sorry I ditched you. I should have at least come back right away."

Raven took another swig of iced tea, then said sincerely, "Thank you for apologising. Even though it was unneccessary." She grinned, suddenly back to her old self. "Did you catch hot stuff's name? Ohhh, man he was so cute!"

I chuckled. "Yeah, actually I did. His name is Dane and, well, I asked him if he wanted to go flying tomorrow."

Raven gasped. "Did he say yes? Wait, you told him about-"

"No no!" I said hurredly, aware that we were in a public restaurant. "Of course not. But he still said yes."

"Really? He didn't think you were going to kill him?" Suddenly, she looked embarassed. "I mean, not that you would, or anything... that is...oh, me and my big pothole!"

I grinned. "It's okay Rave, I know what you meant. I think he might have, at first. I guess he just got over his fear. That, or he's really open-minded. Anyway, let's get back to the barn. I want to get there before it gets too dark and do some exploring."

Raven agreed, and we wakled around the back of the bagel store and used the maintenance ladder again. From the roof I took off and flapped my way above the buildings again, soaring through towers of steel and glass. Once again, I reached the cloudline, soaring just below the fluffy-looking poufs of white that dotted the sky. Light from the setting sun reflected off the buildings, creating rainbows of flashing colors in the air.

I was about to turn toward home, when I spotted something below. Flashing lights, accompanied by the faint sound of sirens, flared between buildings, as a pair of police vehicles sped after a dark sedan. I banked and sped toward the chase, Raven clinging to my shoulders. I headed toward a building that seemed to be along their route, and for a moment, perched on it's top. I twisted my head around. "Raven! Climb down! I'm going to be doing some fancy flying, and I don't want to worry about you falling off!"

Raven nodded and jumped down, and I took off again, just as the cars sped underneath me. I flapped hard, trying to catch up, as the sedan and the two police cars wove in and out of traffic ahead of me.

I gained groud, slowly at first, then faster. I flew in low over the cars and trucks lining the road, until I was flying right above the speeding black vehicle. Suddenly, an idea struck me, and I swung the my tail downward, driving the forked tip through the roof of the car like a can opener into a tin can.

Then I put on the brakes.

I felt like a parachute on the back of a drag racer. The car's tires screeched and threw up smoke. I saw several objects go flying through the front window, spraying glass everywhere. The sedan jerked to the side, like the driver had been thrown across the wheel. I flapped, bringing the car to a slow crawl. The police cars screamed to a halt next to the van, and four officers jumped out, drawing their guns, aiming first at me, then the van, as if they could'nt decide which was more dangerous.

The van's wheels finally stopped spinning, as if the driver had finally given up on getting away. I hovered, flapping my wings, as the officers surrounded the vehicle and ordered the occupants to come outside with their hands in the air. They did, two guys with knives strapped to their backs and pistols in hip holsters. Three officers disarmed them, while the other kept his gun trained on me.

I finally settled to the ground, folding my wings and moving to the side of the street so I was not in the way of traffic. The cars were moving slowly anyway, the people in them pausing to take pictures and videos with their phones.

One of the officers walked over to me, kind of nervously, like he was afraid I would attack him like I did the van. I bent my neck down to eye level, and said, "Yes offficer?"

He jumped, then gulped and stared at me for a moment before speaking. "I, er, that is we, want to know, that is, um, what exactly are you? I mean, we were told about you, and I watched the news broadcast the other day, but, well, I didn't really believe... that is..."

"You didn't think I was real." I snorted. He jumped, and nodded halfheartedly, like he was afraid I would be insulted.

"Well, if I were in your position, I wouldn't believe in me either."

He looked confused for a moment, then nodded once. "Er, so, why are you here, that is, why did you help apprehend these criminals? Not to put any ideas in your head, but if half the stuff they say about you is true, then you could pretty much rob any bank or break into any facility you wanted to and get away with it."

I grinned, making him take a step back, staring at my teeth. "The thought had crossed my mind." I saw his look and chuckled. "I'm just kidding. But as to why I'm here, I came to do exactly what I just did. Help people."

The man looked surprised, then nodded. "Just don't let the government get their hands on you. They won't care wether you want to help or not, they'll cart you off to study you. If they can." He looked me up and down doubtfully. "I sure hope they don't decide to send us after you."

I nodded. I found I liked this skinny little man, a streak of gray in his brown hair. He had spunk. "Well, it was good to meet you officer."

"It's Daley, Mark Daley. And it was... good... to meet you too." You could almost see him mentally adding 'I think'.

I stood, raised my wings and drove them down, hard. A swirl of dust and a few peices of trash kicked up from beneath me as I winged my way upward. I remembered to stop back on the roof of the building to pick up Raven. I told her everything as we flew back toward the barn. The setting sun painted purple and gold highlights across the cityscape, and the clouds above our heads glowed pink and orange. I thought about tomorrow, and wondered what else I would be able to do.