Scars (a G/t story)

Chapter 4

Fyn was surrounded by darkness, standing in the middle of nowhere. He could feel the cold surface beneath his bare feet. His heart was racing, breathing quickened, and his eyes darted back and forth, waiting for something to happen. He clenched his fists and swallowed. He had to be brave. Be ready for whatever torture he was going to be put through.
He turned around to see an enormous blue hand emerging from the darkness, fingers like talons that were ready to grab him. Fyn screamed at the sight, but he couldn't run. He was frozen in place and watched in horror as the hand grew closer.

The fairy woke in a cold sweat, sitting up in the makeshift bed. He found himself upon the desk in Cole's study again, hearing the pitter patter of rain. Glancing at the window, he found it was no longer dark. But the world outside appeared gray and dull. Little droplets of water formed on its glass surface, some of it slowly dripping down to the bottom before disappearing. Cole was right about the rain continuing to pour down the following day. He's probably right about it lasting for several more days as well.
Fyn sighed and wiped the sweat forming from his forehead. How long had he been asleep? It looked gloomy outside, but it didn't look like it was morning. Fyn stretched his arms and wings, feeling the sudden pang of pain from his left wing. "Ah-" he exclaimed quietly. "Right, broken wing," he groaned.
As he stood up to observe his surroundings. The candle's flame from last night had gone out. The food and empty bottle cap was still there, but there was now another pile of round blue objects on what appeared to be a large plate. As he walked towards it to inspect it, he instantly recognized what they were...blueberries! Fyn climbed onto the plate to pick one up and sink his teeth into its juicy flesh. He was starving, and he wasn't able to eat any of the nuts from last night since they were too solid to bite into.
While eating, Fyn took note of the bandages on his foot and hands. Where was the human, anyways? He couldn't hear any noises coming from outside the study, so he must be gone. He'd be back eventually. Fyn knew he couldn't escape now, but he wanted to try finding a way out so he could do so once his wounds healed and he was well enough to run.
After eating several blueberries, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and slipped his boots back on. He made his way to the edge of the desk, finding that it was a long way down to the ground. Fyn wouldn't be able to easily fly down. He turned back to look around on the desk for something that could help him get down. Scattered across it were large books, pencils, and objects he couldn't recognize. Nothing that seemed to be much of help.
There was also the strange mechanical contraption with a long craning neck that hovered above him. It appeared to be made of some sort of metallic material. He had never seen this human contraption before. Fyn took note of its shape and structure as he approached it, pondering what exactly it was supposed to do. A little silver circle-shaped button protruded from its base. Fyn graced his hand along it, finding that he was able to push down on it. When he did, he heard a clicking noise and a light flashed from above him. Startled, Fyn lifted his arms up to cover his face. When he slowly opened his eyes again, he realized that the beam of light was coming from the mechanical contraption that hung above him. So that's where that bright light from last night came from. He pushed the button again, and it was followed by another click and the light disappearing. He was fascinated by this. What sort of magic did these humans have?
Walking around the contraption's base, he found a thick black cord that protruded from it. It was long and it trailed down the side of the desk. Fyn followed it, finding that it led all the way down to the ground, and was connected to a white rectangle on the wall. Maybe he could try using it to climb down.
The fairy held his breath as he wrapped his hands tightly around the cord. He swung one leg around, followed by the other in the opposite direction so that they were clinging onto the cord as well. With caution, Fyn slowly inched himself down the wire, interchangeably sliding his hands and feet down one at a time. He knew he should've avoided looking down, but he took a quick glance to see how much further he needed to go, which he immediately regretted. He was still pretty far from the ground. His grip on the wire tightened, but his trembling made it feel much more loose. He couldn't let go and fall from this height...not again. His wing could get hurt even more.
Clinging onto the cord from this height was terrifying. Sure, he was used to being high above the ground...he was a fairy after all, but this was different. He didn't have his wings. He didn't have control.
"Control," Fyn took a deep breath and let out a shaky sigh. He then continued to move down the wire slowly but carefully, and when he was close enough to the ground he let go and landed on his hands and feet with a grunt. Panting, he caught his breath before standing back up to observe his new surroundings.
The ground was covered with dust, several larger clumps scattered around. Fyn sniffled and rubbed his nose using the back of his hand as he walked out from below the desk.
Just when he was about to leave, something white caught the corner of his eye. He turned to look at it and found a small sheet of paper that was about twice the size of his hand lying on the ground. Intrigued, Fyn picked it up and flipped the paper around, finding writing on the other side. To his surprise, he was able to read it:

I have received your letters about your findings. I've had similar suspicions as well, and a lot of it came from eavesdropping. You've got to be careful, I think they're getting close to finding out that you're the one behind the breakout incidents. We should start keeping our letters at a minimum in case someone finds out about our exchanges.

I've refrained from saying this as often as I already do, but I think you should stop your visits. Me and the others enjoy your company, some less trusting of you, but we've made plenty of dangerous decisions already.

"Visits?" Fyn was confused as to what was written in the letter. He wondered who the fairies writing to each other were. And why was this letter in the human's study anyways?
The distant sound of a creaking door and jingling of keys stopped Fyn's thoughts and he quickly shoved the letter into one of his pockets. He's back. He scrambled back behind the desk to hide before the human entered the study.
"Fyn?" Cole called out as he stepped into the room. There was no sign of the fairy on the desk. "Where did you go?"
Fyn covered a hand over his mouth as he peeked from where he was hiding and watched the enormous shoes approaching the desk.
"I know you're still here. Please don't hide from me..." he could hear Cole rummaging through his desk.
Fyn's legs were trembling. Now he knew he'd be in trouble. He had to get out from under this dusty desk before the human noticed him. But how? Fyn could feel his nose tingling. No no no, not here not now- He scrunched his face up and held his breath. But that didn't do anything to keep it in.
"Ah-Achoo!"
Cole stopped upon hearing the faint sneeze from beneath the desk. He got onto his knees so he could look under, finding the little fairy peeking out from behind one of the desk's legs. "There you are! How did you get down here?"
Fyn found himself frozen in fear, like a deer in the headlights. He wanted to hide, but what use was that when the human already knew he was there? He was cornered and being stared down. He couldn't just tell the human that he was trying to find a way to escape. If the human found out, who knew what he would do to him?
"...I fell."
"You fell again? Are you hurt?" Cole reached out a hand towards Fyn.
"No wait!" Fyn stammered. "I'm fine. I climbed down myself. I...just wanted to look around."
"Oh," Cole brought his hand away from Fyn upon hearing the fear in his voice. It still had that same tone of urgency from last night. This was going to be difficult. Fyn was still scared of him, of course he was after everything that happened yesterday. It didn't make it any easier to believe that the fairy definitely didn't want any help from him.
That's when Cole remembered. He reached into his shirt pocket. "I should've given this back to you sooner," and he brought out a small brown object which he held in between his index and thumb.
Fyn flinched at the human suddenly bringing out his hand again, but then he recognized the object that dangled from his fingers.
"This is your bag, isn't it? You left it behind in the trap."
Fyn had nearly forgotten about his bag. He was too busy thinking about escaping to realize that he never took it with him. At first, he was hesitant to grab it, unsure if the human would do something to him if he tried to take it back. He managed to take several steps from where he was hiding and quickly snatched the bag from its shoulder strap. He glanced back up at Cole, finding a mixed look of sincerity and pity in his brown eyes. There was something different about them. They weren't cold and cruel...they appeared kind and caring. No, he couldn't just think differently about the human because he did a few nice things for him. Fyn clinged the bag close to his chest before taking several steps back towards his hiding place. But this time, he didn't hide.
"I'm sorry about how I treated you back there yesterday," Cole lowered his gaze as he spoke. "I just- I was selfish. It's my fault that you got into this mess."
Fyn couldn't find the words to respond, only looking down with furrowed brows. His thoughts were conflicted, with the instinct of fear but also an urge for trust...if it meant being able to fly again.
"I still don't understand."
"Understand what?" Cole asked.
Why pretend to care? Why trick me and hurt me more? Fyn shook his head from that thought. "Does helping me make you think I'd tell you the spell? Or are you only doing this for your sorry self?" His voice trailed off upon realizing how that could upset him.
The human's facial expression softened, now looking more hurt. He sighed. "Forget the spell. I don't care about that anymore. And it's not just for my own sake. I owe you an apology for the inconvenience I caused you."
"Inconvenience," Fyn scowled quietly to himself. "And the catch?"
"There is no catch. I help you fix your wing, it should be well enough once the rain stops and you can go home. You said you don't use magic anymore, right?"
So he did believe me...or was he just going along with it to gain his trust? Fyn was still skeptical, but nodded along to keep up with his lie.
"Well, I got my answer. So there's no point in me figuring it out anymore," Cole shrugged. "Now it's my turn to help you...if you'll let me. Are you ready for me to check your wing?"