Flying Blind Ch. 01

He told her about where it was situated. "Why?"

"Seeing is believing."

"You really wanna do that?"

Actually, she did. She wanted a damn explanation from that girl, and she was going to get it.

He stood up. "I should go with you. You shouldn't be out alone --"

She grabbed her fanny pack and tossed in her wallet. "Can't. Joanna didn't take her keys, so you've got to let them back in. I can take care of myself. Bye!" And she took off from the room like she was being chased by a bullet. She heard her roommate calling out after her, but she didn't pay any mind. Peter could explain it. It only took her a few minutes to get to the somewhat unimpressive looking building on the edge of campus. She tested the front door to find it locked.

"Well," she said, "there seems to be a flaw in my plan." She wandered around the building, looking for another way in, but everything was locked up. Well, if there was a woman alone on a college campus in times like these, she guessed that she couldn't blame them. It turned out that Madison wasn't alone. Heda got back around to the front and found Billy Forester standing on the front steps, looking a trifle amused.

"You're a glutton for punishment aren't you?"

"Hey, I just found out she worked here and is on the air and the very least I think I've earned is an explanation."

"For what?"

"Why she tried to kick me in the head! And why she keeps calling me a big wooden equine!"

Billy cocked his head like he was trying to figure something out. "I guess you've got a point."

"Of course I do!" She paused. "Why are you here?"

"I produce her show. We're both Communications and Journalism majors. I started working here a few years ago and she showed up last year looking for a job. Department head is pure human and was actually scared about turning her down due to her handicap. Then he heard her first show and there was no way he was giving her up." He held the door open for Heda. "After you."

"Polite and enormous," she said, stalking inside. "Freak."

He was shaking his head. This was going to be interesting. He caught up with her and directed her into the studio where there was another woman waiting.

"Damn. Naughty librarian looks good on you," she said.

The girl raised her hands up in the air. "Why do people keep saying that?" she asked exasperatedly. She was a curvy blond, though not as stacked as Joanna. Her hair was done up in a cute dutch-boy style, and a pair of dark glasses were propped up by an elegant nose.

"I dunno," Billy said, sticking his hands into his pockets and shrugging those massive shoulders. He'd encouraged her to get those glasses, in no small part because he liked the librarian look. "Anyway. Sasha, this is Heda Adler. Heda, this is Sasha Baker."

"President of the human student council?"

"We just call it the student council," she said properly. "Something about using the word 'human' tends to confuse the pure humans. So you're the daughter of the great --"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Heda said. She was staring through a glass window, watching Madison Sloan. She looked . . . different. For one thing, she looked completely at peace. She was dancing to "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown," and she looked like she was having fun. Her body swayed with uncanny grace and a very definite sexuality, but it was her smile that was most surprising. How could a mouth that snarled the way it had weeks earlier look so happy and full now?

"I'll let her know you're here," Billy said. "But before I do, I just wanna ask that you give her a break. She's got a reason to be suspicious."


"Does it have something to do with this Trojan Horse thing she keeps yelling about?"

"Is that what she thought you were?" Sasha said, her beautiful face making an unladylike sneer. "One of the problems with not having working eyes is that she can't tell if someone's a shifter, a magical human, or a pure human. Her bat species is a communal creature, and her human side still needs some of that. Something she's never had. Alvin Hannity found that out, so he kept sending people to try to be her friend. She could not tell what they were or anything about them, but she was so damn starved for some kind of friendship. They would get close and then tell her they'd never really hang out with a DM. Then he'd get people to stay close to her a little longer and invite her to actually go out places, then he'd make sure that everyone stood her up. Of course, sometimes he'd show up with some of his buddies to laugh at the poor girl standing next to the theater or restaurant all alone. Those were his favorites . . . the ones where he made her cry in public."

"I am so going to hurt this guy," Heda said.

"Be careful," Sasha said.

"I know, I know. He's got powerful family and friends. So do I." She glanced at the dancing girl, who was punching up some new songs into her console. "She can see though, can't she? I mean, she looked right at me and tried to kick me in the head. Can't do that based on a guess."

Sasha looked alarmed, but Billy looked resigned. "Not exactly. I . . . I think it would be better if she explained it." He checked on Madison. "Once she gets the next block started, I'll let her know you're here and I'll run the show for a bit." He walked through a door that hissed a bit when he shut it. She glanced at him when he walked in but didn't say anything.

"It took him months of working with her before she would trust him," Sasha said. "The only reason she trusted me was because I was dating him." She absently reached out picked up a pencil. She stared at it then withdrew her hand, leaving the pencil floating in space.

"Cool," Heda said. "I'd heard you were a sorceress. Can you float people?"

Sasha blushed and looked towards the studio. "I'm not allowed to try levitating people for a while. And no, I don't want to explain it."

Heda grinned. "How long have you and he been together?" she asked.

"Almost two years," she said, a deep fondness creeping into her voice. "I met him at a chess tournament."


"You play?"

"We both do. He's much better than I am," she said wistfully. "He's been a master since he was twelve."

"Really?" Heda looked at the big man again through the glass. He was saying something to Madison, who first looked suspicious, then agitated, then outright furious.

"Yeah. He's a genuine card-carrying member of Mensa. He probably could have graduated by now, but he's sticking around until we're both ready. I think he wants to make sure we go to grad school near each other."

"He's THAT smart?" Heda asked, wondering how he was going to keep Madison from trying to kick her again.

"He's getting a second major in Experimental Statistics for kicks. I read trashy romance novels in my spare time, and he reads science magazines. He's got an IQ of 165 for crying out loud."

"Sorry, but I'm not up on the scale," Heda replied, watching Madison poke a finger into Billy's massive chest like she wanted to poke out his lungs. "That's high I take it?"

"Einstein was a 160."

Heda's gaze shifted to her. "So . . . he can help me with my math homework this semester?"

Sasha smiled. "He would probably love to."

"So why is he in radio rather than the sciences or something?"

"People see him and think that he's just a big, dumb guy. He likes radio because no one can see him and judge him on his appearance. Madison likes it because she's everyone's equal in there. She can't see them, they can't see her."

Heda almost laughed. Billy was standing behind his friend and was physically pushing her out the door. She didn't look happy about it. As soon as she cleared the door, her face fixed directly on Heda's location. Those eyes were white with just a trace of pink, and it was more than a little disconcerting. Billy looked at Sasha and then nodded his head in the direction Madison had been pushed out of. The girl stood up and went with her boyfriend into the back.

The tension was so thick you could almost walk on it. Heda stared at Madison, who seemed to be staring right back. Heda saw that glowing brown light encompass those eyes.

"I --" Madison started. "I . . . I'm sorry," she said at last, looked completely humiliated.

'Give her a break,' Billy had asked. Heda sucked in a breath. "It's okay. Sasha explained the whole Trojan Horse thing. I'm --" She stopped. The girl probably didn't want pity. "I'm not like that. It pisses me off that anyone could even think that was cool."

Madison's heart was thundering in her chest. She really didn't want to have this conversation, but Billy was right. She need to own up to the way she had behaved. "It was just . . . just that Alvin harassed me, and suddenly you were there to introduce yourself. Alvin and his friends came after me in the woods, and you happened to be there."

Heda sighed. "Wrong place, wrong time."

"But it wasn't. That's the most physical they've ever gotten, and I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there. One on one, I'll fight any of them as best I can," she said, her voice determined now. "But I can't face them all."

"How's your arm?" Heda asked.

"Okay. I shifted a couple of times and that helped. Not that it's going to help my case against him at all. I'm sure they'll have the 'It doesn't look so bad. I'm sure he wasn't trying to hurt you,' excuse lined up."

"Hey, people appear to have heard of me, so we'll make my name mean something." Heda cocked her head. "Mind explaining how you can see me?"

Madison blushed. "I can't believe I was that careless. Yeah, I guess I've got a Gift. You know what echolocation is?"

"Bad radar?"

"Sonar is closer, but yeah. A lot of bat species have it, and I can use a souped-up version of it in human form. It's better than sight in some ways and worse in others. I can see three-hundred and sixty degrees with it, and it's pretty damn clear up to a hundred yards or so for me. But I can't see if someone's a shifter with it, and I can't even look through glass. I can tell you that something IS glass, but that's about it."

"Why not tell people?"

"How could I explain it to pure humans? And besides, I learned a long time ago to keep some weapons hidden so your enemies can't plan for them."

"Kind of a harsh view of life, isn't it?"

Madison's face grew dark. "You didn't grow up in changeling foster care. The system had to protect me, but they didn't have to like it. Or do a very good job for that matter. Other kids can be cruel, especially to a DM like me."

"Don't say that."

"It's true."

"No, it isn't," Heda said, planting a food firmly in the proverbial sand. "Crap, you're Gifted! People should be groveling at the feet of the people who grovel at your feet!"

Madison smiled. "That's a lot of groveling. But it IS true. I am blind. I can't spot other shifters. In the old days, I would've been left out in the wilderness to die. All I can do now is do my time. Once I get out into the human world, I'll be better." She didn't feel that way at all. She wanted to be around other shifters . . . other entities who felt the call of the wild and answered it. "Besides, do people really grovel at YOUR feet?"

"Yeah, sometimes."

Madison grinned. "Lucky bitch."

"Madison, you need to load up your last block," Billy said from the doorway. He and Sasha were both staring at the two women with great interest.

"Shit!" Madison squealed, rushing past them and running her fingers over a mound of CDs.

"She got them memorized?" Heda asked.

Billy smiled. "Nah. She actually carved the names in the side. She can go by touch or she can pick it up with . . . she explained the echolocation thing?"

"Yeah, she explained it. She really digs her music, doesn't she?" Heda observed that the girl was truly at peace in that little room. She was bouncing around the room with agility and grace.

"Okay all of you out there in radio land," Madison's sexy voice came through the speakers, "I want to give you all a little something to remember me by before I sign off for the night. Here's a little bit of the Rolling Stones, and a little --" Madison stopped and made a kissing noise into her microphone. "-- from yours truly."

Heda was biting her bottom lip. Madison had gone from "annoying and bitchy" to "cool and kinda sexy" in short order.

Billy noticed the way that Heda was looking at his friend. 'No way!' he thought. 'This might work out,' he thought. He grabbed Sasha by the arm. "Hey Heda, there's somewhere that we have to be and it would really help if you could walk Madison back to her dorm. Thanks, we really appreciate it." He hauled Sasha out the door while she was confusedly trying to object.

Heda stared at the door left swinging in their wake. "Huh?"

Madison popped out, her eyes glowing again. "Okay, I'm ready --" She stopped. "Where's Billy? Sasha?"

"They just kinda . . . left. Asked me to walk you back to your dorm."

'Billy, you sonofabitch!' Madison thought, feeling a little flushed. 'I don't know what the hell you're trying to do, but stop it!' She relaxed her face. "Hey, it's okay. You really don't need to." She put her glasses on, hiding the glow. Then she grabbed her cane, pretty much for the sake of appearances. "I can take care of myself."

"I dunno. They still haven't found the kidnapper yet."

Madison blanched a little. "But hey, I can still --"

"Crap, I forgot you're the one that found her! I am such a tool!" Heda said. "Listen, I'll walk you back. We got off on a bad foot anyway."

"You mean the foot that's still in my mouth?"

Heda chuckled. "Yeah, that one." She extended her hand. "Let's try this again. Hi, I'm Heda Adler. Please don't try to kick me in the head."

Madison covered her face with both hands. "Hi. I'm Madison Sloan, and I'm horribly embarrassed." Then she shook Heda's hand. Her echolocation drifted over the girl's body. 'Damn,' she thought. 'She's chiseled from marble! And you've been gawking at her abs for an uncomfortable amount of time.'

"You okay?"

"Can we go now?"

"Hey, have the police told you anything about the case?"

Strangely, Madison enjoyed unloading what she knew. She stopped a couple of times and explained that she'd been asked not to divulge something by the cops, and Heda was really cool about not pressuring her. A brief silence followed, then Madison asked what her companion was going to study. Then she found out that Heda was a mad reader and wanted to be a writer.

"What kind of writing?"

"Promise you won't laugh?"

"No."

Heda grinned. Hey, it was an honest answer. "Dark romance. I mean, I love reading just about anything, and I'd like to try fantasy and sci-fi someday, but . . . I dunno. It's like, I have this crystal ball into this world that turns people on. I want to give people a taste of it, ya know? Though vampires and 'werewolves'," she said, using air-quotes around the word "werewolves," "have been done to death." Shifters often joked amongst themselves at how weird the werewolf legend had gotten over the years. Except for silver being a dangerous weapon, almost everything else humans had gotten wrong. "I was thinking ghosts might be a good place to start."

"I think that'd be cool," Madison replied. "I'm not much of a reader, obviously. I'm kind of limited to what's available on audio book, and I'm usually listening to music if I've got my ears free."

"Do you do movies at all? Sorry, but it just occurred to me that I have no idea what's doable for you."

"Movies, not so much. Billy or Sasha have to be with me, it has to be a movie they've seen already, and it had to be mostly deserted so they can explain what's going on. I like the theater though. Plays and stuff. I can hear and see things there."

"Hey," Heda said, thinking of the girl bouncing around the studio, "do you like dancing?"

Madison's face lit up. "I LOVE dancing. Billy won't go out on the floor, but he'll take me sometimes. But Sasha will light up the floor with me." She actually twirled around. "No one sees anything in that kind of crowd. It's about sound and movement and feel --" She wondered if she was just sounding weird now.

"You like getting felt up on the dance floor?" Heda joked. Well, sort of joked. Hell, she LOVED the press of bodies on her when she danced, especially hot young women. Like Madison. 'Stop it,' she thought. 'The last thing the girl needs is you hitting on her. But she's just so . . . hot.' It was more than the body or even the smile that had gotten Heda's attention. It had been that voice.

"I just like being like everyone else."

Heda thought back to what she knew Billy said about Madison's animal totem. They were a communal creature, and Heda had seen enough Animal Planet to realize that bats often gathered together in large groups that, to Madison, might seem like a bunch of warm-blooded creatures pressed against each other on a dance floor.

"Well, this is it," Madison said. "I guess you've got to get going."

"Well, my roommate's probably pretty baked by now, and --" How would she explain Anthony? "I'm in no hurry."

"Would you like to . . . come in? I guess."

"Sure."

"I've got the room to myself. I guess they didn't want to make anyone else uncomfortable by sticking them with the blind chick. It works out though."

She opened the door, treating Heda to an impressive view. The eagle shifter would have thought that Madison would like open spaces or the like so she could move around. The room was filled with tons and tons of . . . music. CD's, cassette tapes, vinyl albums --

"You have an 8-track tape player?" she said, looked at the antiquated piece of equipment tucked under what would have been the other bed.

"I've got a reel-to-reel player around here somewhere," Madison said. "And a phonograph."

"You must have thousands of albums!" Heda said. Everything looked well cared for.

"Four-thousand three-hundred and seventy two at last count."

"Where the hell do you get them all? You win the lottery?"
 Madison shook her head. "If you're open minded, you can find some incredible stuff in the cheap bins at record stores. I get lots of demo albums working at the station. I also do club DJ'ing sometimes too, and I get more freebies there."
 "You're a club DJ? You are the most awesome person ever!"

Madison blushed, but she was smiling. "It's great. I don't get to do it often, but getting to be queen of the world is cool, even if it's just for a few hours."

Heda noticed a framed vinyl album on the wall over Madison's computer. "What's the one on the wall?"

Madison beamed with pride. "It's an autographed copy of 'My Blue Heaven' by Fats Domino. I grew up in New Orleans and got that one at a garage sale. Then he did a concert there and he signed it and it was so cool!" She was feeling silly-giddy, something she didn't feel often. "I've got everything here ripped into MP3 format anyway, so I wanted to preserve that one." She leaned into the microphone and said, "Window Media Player . . . Favorites . . . Fats Domino . . . I'm Walking." The computer speakers started to play that familiar and catchy tune, making Madison start moving her feet. "I'm walkin', yes indeed, I'm walkin', by you and me --"

"You've got a really sexy voice," Heda said, maybe a bit too quickly. "How come you don't sound like that all the time?"

Madison blushed again. "I dunno. I just . . . I guess I need to be in the mood. Comfortable."

"Hey, Joanna . . . that's my roommate . . . she's been saying we need to go do something this weekend. I'm thinking dancing might be in order, and you HAVE to come with us."

Madison stopped. "Listen, you don't need to --"

Heda put one finger to Madison's lips, effectively hushing her. "Listen, I think you're pretty cool. And I think the way other people treat you is shit. I'd like to hang --"

"Me too," Madison replied. Having another friend would SO not suck, especially one like Heda.