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~ Tori's mansion ~

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Cole had woken up and was enjoying an awesome European breakfast: Ceylon tea, kielbasa and cheese sandwiches, sunflower halva, Russian chocolates, Maria cookies, fish, and of course, those wonderful Delicje brand chocolate covered fluffy jelly biscuits in various fruit flavors. Among some of the candies were an amazing Polish bird's milk vanilla marshmallow called Ptasie Mleczko, a well-known delicacy among Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Romanian, Bulgarian, and many other European cultures.

Since he was of the German nationality, Cole usually had either tea or hot cocoa, bread with fruit spreads or Brötchen bread rolls, thin sliced meats, sometimes tea with honey. He also liked toast, cold salami, a strong cup of coffee, and orange marmalade.

Such a great day, Cole thought, smiling as he drank a cup of blackcurrant tea that had cooled down after being hot and fresh from the kettle. After breakfast, he took a shower and looked through some of Nate's clothes, picking out jeans and a grey long sleeve Henley shirt to wear. He put his hoodie through the washer and read a book while he waited for the laundry to finish.

He slipped his hoodie on, enjoying how warm it felt right after coming out of the dryer. He put on his brown boots and walked out the door, taking a moment to appreciate simple things like the way the sunlight looked pouring in through the open doorway and the way the room lit up with natural light, as if welcoming him warmly.

Cole walked out the door and closed it slowly. He looked outside, taking in the view of the mountains and landscape that surrounded the mansion. Somehow, it didn't seem lonely; it was as if the landscape were a presence of its own, a protective presence that gave some sort of safeness.

I could live here, Cole thought. Screw the school, my girlfriend and my old life. I could live here alone and be perfectly happy, if it weren't for one thing: Tori. But what if I told the police about her, expose what she had done?

They wouldn't believe me, Cole realized. They would think I was tripping. He sighed, wishing people wouldn't be so hard and judgmental.

As the crisp morning progressed to a warmer noon, Cole felt the sunlight warm his wings as they stretched behind him, making him appear like a bird getting ready to fly. This is my chance to finally free myself of Tori, he thought as he looked directly at the peaceful lake and scenery before him. Once I tell the cops everything, that sparkly CEO will be behind bars, and I will finally be able to start a new life.

Cole spread his wings and took flight. Once airborne, his natural Iredescent instincts took over. He closed his eyes as he felt the air rushing past him, feeling how it playfully caressed his hair and face, the sunlight adding on to the warm feeling inside.

It was thrilling being in the air. Cole had never given it much thought in his former human life, but now he found he truly enjoyed heights, enjoyed seeing the world from above. It gave him a sense of power to be able to go anywhere he pleased. He used to feel small and insignificant compared to towering buildings, but now he was higher than the skyscrapers. While things like cold temperature and air pressure prevented humans from experiencing what irangels experienced in the air, it was like Cole was able to ride bikes on hills and roads without a helmet while everyone else had to wear a helmet and other safety features such as elbow pads, while still on training wheels.

It took Cole about forty-five minutes to reach Haven, Germany. His hometown city was a suburb he had known his entire life. It was an all-too familiar place for him. He knew where everything was without needing a GPS or guide map. The police station was located near the city hall and postal office.

Cole descended in front of the entrance, astonishing a few officers who were standing outside talking by their patrol cars. Cole went straight through the doors, going directly for the front desk. He made no attempt to dematerialize his wings, showing himself in his full irangel glory.

"My name is Cole Matthews and I am here to report the person responsible for turning me and eight other people into winged alien beings called Iredescents," he said in a strong, firm voice.

The officer at the front desk looked at him strangely and began searching his name through records. Three surrounding officers in the room were staring at Cole as if he had walked in naked.

"I'm sorry?" the front desk officer asked suspiciously at the same time one of the other officers exclaimed, "Whoa, what is that? You going to a costume party or something?"

"I think he's trying to be a superhero," a second officer remarked, eyeing Cole's wings. "Great job designing those."

"Not the most unusual thing I've seen," said an officer sitting in a corner, casually drinking his coffee while continuing to peruse through a newspaper.

"Guys, I'm serious," said Cole. "Don't take me for a joke. Do your job, please."

One of the officers closest to Cole frowned thoughtfully as he evaluated his physical appearance. He took a careful look at his wings and said, "Hey, guys. Come take a look. This guy's for real."

"Told you," said Cole, allowing the officers to look closely at his shimmery skin and wings.

"It's permanent glitter," an officer remarked. "Never seen anything like it."

"That's because I'm no longer human," Cole told them. "I'm an Iredescent alien now."

"He still functions like a human, except he has faster reflexes and motor skills," the closer study officer observed. The name on his badge read Berit Meyer.

"Get Liszner in here," said the officer who made the remark about trying to be a superhero. The name on his badge read Ulman Richter.

As the front desk officer paged Liszner to come to the lobby, Cole shrugged the officers off with his wings and said, "You already saw proof: me. Now I need you to arrest Tori Nichok."

"He has a theft record," the front desk officer spoke up, all eyes turning to him. "He reportedly stole a pair of earbuds the next day after returning them to the electronics store. That was also the same day he went missing. He also stole a gun and ammunition from a gun store."

All eyes turned back to Cole, who gave them a glowering look. "I did not intentionally disappear; it was Tori who kidnapped me and turned me into an Iredescent."

"Did you have any prior connection with Tori?" the front desk officer asked.

Cole gave him an exasperated look. "Tori was a total stranger to me until she became my creator."

The front desk officer looked back to the screen. "Tori Nichok is some Polish CEO. Clean record, not even any driving violations. She's hot," he added, looking at a driver's license picture of Tori still wearing glasses. "I wonder if she's single."

Cole's eyes narrowed.

Just then Liszner and a medic-looking guy came in. "Hi, I'm Rory Liszner," he said, staring at Cole as if he were a test subject. "Who are you?"

"An Iredescent," Cole replied, staring evenly at him. He turned back to the front desk officer, saying impatiently, "Aren't you going to arrest Tori? She turned me into this! I have proof. I'll even show you where her lab is."

"He says he's an alien from outer space," said the guy with the coffee cup in the corner. He stood and put the newspaper away, approaching them with the swagger of a Hollywood star. "I believe him."

Richter looked at Cole and nodded. "Show us how you fly."

Without a word, Cole turned and walked out, tucking his wings in a little as he exited the door, then spreading them back out once he was in the open. As the astonished or studious cops watched from below, Cole flew around in the air, demonstrating how he could fly.

Cole landed after a few minutes, his eyes levelling at the officers. "You just saw proof," he said. "Now arrest Tori."

Instead, the police officers surrounded Cole. He looked around the circle of officers, including Liszner and the medic-looking guy. "What is this?" Cole asked, getting pissed. "I'm not the one at fault here; Tori is."

"Marvelous, just marvelous," Richter breathed, still unable to believe what he saw just minutes ago. "You really can fly like a superhero. Are you Icarus?"

"Icarus was a guy in a Greek story, not a superhero," the coffee cup officer corrected him. "Legend was he flew too high in the sky and the sun burned his wings, melting the wax on them."

"Sounds more like Tori," Cole murmured. "Would love to be the sun that burns her to ashes."

Another office spoke to the dispatch, saying, "We've got a guy here who says he's an alien. I believe he's the real deal."

"Guys," Cole spoke up, getting frustrated. He stepped towards the officers, about to try to talk sense into them, but several officers suddenly tasered him, perceiving him as a threat.

All the officers stood in shock and absolute startlement when Cole remained standing still, totally unmoved by the electric tazering. In fact, the electricity seemed to cling onto him, charging him up like an Energizer battery. Cole's eyes blazed blue for a moment, as if sizing up the energy being given to him. They glared at the officers, who stopped tasering him and just stared as if he were bulletproof.

"He's definitely not human," Liszner murmured while Meyer said in awe, "He absorbed the electricity. Didn't even faze him. What the hell is he?"

"Take him to the lab," the medic-looking guy said sternly. "We need to study him and have tests run to determine the authenticity of his so-called alien origin."

As the officers moved in on him, Cole suddenly let out all the electricity he'd been holding in, shocking them for the first time. Stunned he could do that, Cole hesitated for only a brief second before he surged once more, sending another wave out. All the officers dropped, instantly knocked out. The medic and Liszner were out cold, having met the exact same fate as the police officers. The only witness was the front desk officer, who peered out from behind his desk, looking wide-eyed at Cole.

Cole's fierce eyes met his frightened ones, locking them in his penetrating gaze. "I'm not an alien artifact, so don't treat me like one," he said harshly before sending out another electronic wave and shocking him too. Angry and frustrated, Cole dove out of the police station and flew back to the glass building, deciding to take out Tori himself.