Place of birth? Unknown. Parents? Absent. What is she? Who knows. Who even cares? Discovered along southern range of Albanian alps (better known as the “Accursed Mountains” by locals) as an infant by a group of intrepid hikers, the girl’s discovery so far from civilization caused quite the stir in local newspapers capitalizing on such an unusual story in an otherwise slow news cycle. How and why the baby girl ended up wilds was a mystery but was placed into the care of local orphanage when attempts to discover parents or close relatives yielded no results. Given the name Elira, the girl would spend many hopeful years in the care of the that orphanage watching the kids come and go while she wondered when it would be when she too will go to happy family of her own. A day that came at age of 7 when she was taken in by an Italian-Albanian family living in Italy. Her new family excitedly accepted Elira into their lives and Elira in return quickly bonded with both her adoptive parents and new sister Angela as the pair soon become inseparable. In those days of warm smiles and homecooked meals, Elira thought she was with her destined forever family… until she completely blew it. It started innocently at first, a collecting of small, colorful items of little to no value while pleasant breezes the stir up out of nowhere near Elira. Playfully amusing at first, concerningly problematic later as missing items would turn up in Elira’s growing horde of stolen trinkets while the unexplained gusts became more forceful and destructive whenever the child had an outburst. The breaking point came when Elira refused to return one of Angela’s toys in the resulting argument, she conjured a flurry of air that would lash out and send Angela over a barrister. While Angela suffered only minor injuries, the incident traumatized Angela and destroyed whatever bond the two formed despite Elira’s and their parent’s attempts to try to mend it. Not understanding the strange phenomenon occurring in Elira’s proximity and giving into concerns over their biological daughter’s wellbeing, her parents made the difficult decision to have their adoptive daughter sent back to the Albanian orphanage. Devastated and hurt by the abandonment, Elira blamed herself and shirked away from further human interaction in fear of hurting those she loved again. Though her caretakers and fellow orphans were at first sympathetic to the poor girl, as Elira’s strange occurrences continue manifest, they all became increasingly convinced that the child was somehow cursed and any association with her was best to be avoided. In her defense, Elira also struggled to rationalize how out of reach items would mysteriously end up in her hands or the rushes of passing wind that randomly swept people off their feet. Neither could she explain the flocks of congregating birds that around her gather like a bad omen nor comprehend how she was the apparently the odd one for being able to speak with said birds. As the people around her continued to shun and ostracized her, Elira’s only friends from then on would be the birds whom did not share the same judgement of her as her human peers did. Yet she could not help but envied the wings of her feathered friends and the freedom it granted them, quietly wishing that she too had her own wings so that she could live as free and carefree as they did. A fanciful wishing… that would manifest as twisted reality as feathers sprout from her skin with the onset of puberty at the age of 13. Instead of joy she thought having feathers of her own would bring her when she was younger, Elira was instead terrified of what was happening to herself and fearful of how people would react if they discovered her fledgling feathers. Thus, she sought to remove the unsightly plumage as it came: first with fine tweezers, later followed by robust pair of rusty pliers. Yet with each painful pluck, the feathers would come back in a few days’ time and continue to spread along her body. Increasingly desperate, Elira took up a “borrowed” kitchen knife to scrape and crudely cut out the feathers. Her haphazard efforts against both quill and skin however only succeeds in alerting a nearby caretaker, whom discovered the crying girl in mess of discarded feathers and pooling blood. Elira could hardly remember the journey how she ended up in that sterile white room or how long it was she was unconscious for but when it was that she did finally wake, it was in a gurney and wrapped in enough bandages to be mistaken for a mummy. As her vison came to, she caught a glimpse of sunlight creaking past the window curtains on her right while a beckoning voice called to her from the left. Upon rotating her head, Elira saw a smiling nurse seated next to her… with two men in suits ominously standing just behind. Though the men in suits explained their purpose, with promises bringing her to safety and the nurses’ reassurances to their good character, Elira was unconvinced. Whom they were and whatever their "real" intentions she did not know but the light breeze from the nearby window offered her the promise of escape. Unfortunately, she soon found that she was three stories off the ground when she took advantage of a moment’s distraction to approach the window. Undaunted, Elira attempted slide down a gutter pipe to safety but ended up slipping as she avoided being dragged back inside by one of the men in black suits. Whatever the man’s pleas where as they beckon her back inside, they were soon drowned out by the rush of oncoming air as she speeds to the ground. Instead of the hard impact she expected, Elira found herself landing safely as though her decent were cushioned by the winds themselves. As strange and as inexplicable this occurrence was, Elira had little time to ponder for the only thought on her mind was to run. To run as far as her broken body could take, to as far as the wind would carry her. In the blur of faceless onlookers and twisting streets with approaching footsteps just behind, her bandaged legs gave out as she found herself banging on an apartment door for anyone to let her in. To both her surprise and relief, the door opened as the stranger begrudgingly ushered her inside to sheltered Elira from pursuers. Even when the men in suits moved their search elsewhere and the stranger urged Elira to run back home, she revealed that she had no such home to run back to. Whether it be out of compassion or pity, the stranger reluctantly offered Elira temporary lounging as long as she needed. Yet what was originally supposed to be short term situation would become the start of a near decade long living arrangement between Elira and the man she come call to Mr. Gjoka. A man in his late 30’s or early 40’s with nothing to his name but a collection of beer cans, credit card dept and an old moped from the early 90’s, Mr. Gjoka was not exactly in sort of position to be taking care of young girl coming onto her teenage years. Upon the last of Elira’s injuries finally closing and bandages removed, Mr. Gjoka told her that if she was to remain she would have to pull her weight and help in some way. For the first couple of months, it was mostly relegated to household chores but as two built up their rapport with one another, Elira would come tagging along with Mr. Gjoka the age-old profession of underprivileged peoples: crime! With Mr. Gjoka’s experience and Elira’s natural sticky fingers, put together the two of them pilfered pockets, scammed tourists, smuggled goods and robbed their way from Athens Greece to Milan Italy. Plenty of close calls evading police and angry victims throughout the years but never once where they ever caught! While luck may have played a part, there was no question that Elira’s strange abilities helped play some small part in their crime spree. Abilities that Mr. Gjoka took notice and would help nurture when Elira sheepishly revealed her powers and feathers as she come around to trust him with her secrets. Yet the near decade of cooperation would end abruptly with a snatch and grab gone awry. Elira did not mean to kill anyone that day, she was just trying to lose policeman chasing after her down an empty alleyway when, for lack of better terms, one thing led to another. Overexerting herself as she used her supernatural powers to try to escape… something primal and nasty took over. Something within her once dormant now clawed forth, with hyperfixation on the shiny glint of brass the policeman possessed... and of sudden craving for violence. What transpired she could not fully recall, but the result ended with her looming over the officer’s body slumped against the wall with his badge clutched tightly in her hand. With shaky hands and a trembling voice, she looked to Mr. Gjoka scared and confused as to what had just occurred. Yet Mr. Gjoka could only stare at Elira… like she was some sort of monster. Elira soon passed out after that, only to awaken back in the apartment with Mr. Gjoka whom informed her that he “was taking care of things” and elaborated no further. Her inquiries as to what had transpired went unanswered as the pair would lay low for the next couple weeks, their usual silence now more pungent than ever. Her apprehension over what the future would finally be answered when Mr. Gjoka gave her a set of forged documents and told her to get ready to pack as she was going to be staying in America from now on. Given little preparation, Elira grabbed all that she could into a single luggage case and accompanied Mr. Gjoka as he helped hurried her to the nearest airport with papers in hand. On the car ride there, Mr. Gjoka explained that he had worked out a deal with “friend” whom was part of one of the Albanian mafias to help smuggle her out the country. From there she would meet her handler, Altin Hasani, whom would help arrange lodging for her in the city of Easthaven. Turns out Mr. Gjoka had long been planning to bring up subject of moving to America to give Elira the opportunity of a better life though recent events only added greater sense of urgency to expedite this move out of Albania while they still could. Given their desperate situation, Mr. Groki warned Elira that Altin was not getting Elira out of the country out of the goodness of his heart and was only doing so under the condition that he would be paid back in full for his services. Though nervous about such a sudden move under tense circumstances, Elira could not help be little excited for the fresh start and to possibly make some actual friends whom aren't birds for once. Under the impression the two of them were moving to America, her rising enthusiasm soon faltered with a realization upon reaching the airport; only her belongings where packed and there was only one plane ticket amid the mess of papers she was given. After a plane ride spent watching out the window, largely spent reminiscing her teary final moments with Mr. Gjoka, Elira would arrive in America to where she would find her handler and his goons waiting for her. Collecting her suitcase and chauffeured by the men into a waiting car, Altin gave a brief introduction of himself before reminding Elira of the great deal of money she now owed him. Money he well intended to collect. Aware of Elira’s apparent gift for thievery from Mr. Gjoka, Altin allowed for Elira to fence her stolen goods through one of his underlings as part of a simple arrangement: they give her cash to pay for value of the stolen goods, she uses that cash to pay the monthly installment of $50,000 dept that she owes… with interest. As for the shoddy apartment she is given? She is expected to pay for the rent on top of the dept that she owes. Though Altin sometimes makes requests along the lines of odd-jobs and delivering contraband in exchanging for waiving a portion of her dept, he otherwise leaves her to own solitude and instructs his men not bother her (thankfully enough) so long as she continues to keep up with her monthly rent and payment installments. Not that she intends to find out what they plan to do her if she falls behind on her repayments. For now, Elira is focused on her own survival the only way she knows how: snatching valuables belonging not to her and outrunning her problems before they catch up to her. It worked for her back in Europe and has so far has been getting her by in America… yet this not the life she was hoped nor imagined upon her arrival to the country. She wanted to leave the mistakes of her past yet she seemed doomed to repeat in place an ocean away. She wanted to finally belong and not feel alone but is now more loney than ever before. She wants to finally figure out who she is… what she is… yet can’t seem to get her shit together. Maybe… she really is as cursed as everyone says she is, but that does not mean she has given up on trying to live her life. Not yet at least, for that is not what Mr. Gjoka wanted for her. For now, she will just keep trudging through even if the universe itself seems to have it out her… with only birds as her constant companions.