"You must learn to trust, Kelly! You must let your guard down so that you can open your wings and soar!" The gargoyle's raspy voice could barely be heard over the whistle of the wind as they sped towards the surging black hell of the East River.
Kelly screamed again and began digging her finger nails into the hard flesh of the gargoyle. She stared down at the river's dark waves as one reared up with a white, foamy mouth, ready to consume them. Droplets of cold water touched her warm skin and she let out one last pitiful moan before closing her eyes and waited for her icy, wet death.
The winds changed and she looked to find Brooklyn's wings wide open. The glow was no longer in his features but he still carried a sternness within them.
Trembling, Kelly closed herself off from the world again and swallowed the taste of horror that tainted her tongue and pushed at the back of her throat. She tried to calm her nerves but this was only replaced by an intense anger.
Once they reached the shoreline, Brooklyn landed on the grassy embankment and put Kelly down. Her legs wobbled a bit but she forced herself to walk swiftly away from the winged man.
"Kelly, are you upset?" he asked.
Kelly's ire only surged more at this stupid question. She did not give him an answer but forced herself to walk faster.
Brooklyn came after her. He was hunched down and walked oddly with his hands. This allowed him a slight hop and he moved quicker in this way.
"I was only trying to show you that you can always trust me. That my wings are your wings. That you have nothing to fear from me."
"You sure have a real fucked up way of showing that. That little stunt might work on a woman who has wings and is use to being in the air, but I'm a human, remember? My species is meant for the nice, solid ground. Not to be pushed from a bridge!"
They were approaching the lighted roadway, a place that Brooklyn could not safely follow. There was a small club across the street. Yellow taxis waited for intoxicated customers to exit the bar. She made her way towards one of them.
Before she could reach the street lamp's beam of light, Brooklyn reached out and grabbed her hand. Kelly tried to yank herself away but he held fast and pulled her closer to him. He gripped both her shoulders and looked hard into her eyes.
"I did not mean to harm you. I am very sorry, Kelly. That is the way we teach new fliers how to trust themselves in the sky. I just wanted to show you that I will always catch you."
His eyes were pleading and sincere. Kelly felt the desire to collapse into his arms and feel his leather wings envelop her, but her mind spoke against it. Her mood allowed her mind to win and she shook her head and pushed away from the gargoyle.
"I need time to think about all this before it becomes overly complicated for either of us."
Brooklyn's wings dropped with his shoulders. Kelly did not look back at him as she entered the light and crossed the street to the waiting taxi. She slid into the back seat and gave the driver her address.
"Hard night?" the driver asked as he steered the vehicle into traffic.
Kelly heard what she thought was a mournful cry of a creature and looked up into the star filled night to see the dark silhouette of a gargoyle.