AN: For some reason, I can't put rulers into my documents anymore, which is a pain in the neck, but I'm just going to have to work around that. As you might have guessed from the description, this is The Angel Experiment and possibly School's Out Forever from Fang's POV. I know, I know, the chapters are very short - the upside of this being that I can update more often, and there's more chance of me actually finishing this story, because I am more likely to get stuck when writing long chapters. So you'll probably get updates every two days or so. The chapters will probably end up getting longer eventually, because I'm just that sort of person, you know.

DISCLAIMER - I own nothing. Nothing at all.

Anyway, please enjoy - and then review!

MY DEMONS
Chapter One – Not Afraid

Grit your teeth, learn to fall – I won't always be there to pick you up.

I am not afraid. Of course I'm fine. Totally, totally fine. Just a nightmare, I'm sure…

I had just startled awake. I was sweating, too, out of fear. I couldn't quite ignore the feeling of fright and of shock, even though I had no idea what had woken me up. I listened intensely for a couple of moments, waiting like stone. Iggy and the Gasman were sleeping soundly in the room that we shared – but then again, they probably wouldn't wake up if a bomb exploded outside the door.

It was still dark outside, definitely. The blackness was comforting to me, as it always was. No sound I didn't recognize reached my ears. It was only the sounds of gentle breathing and the slightest twitches of my roommates that I could hear, and I heard those every night.

Of course, going back to sleep was no longer an option. My skin felt almost as if it was on fire. I couldn't quite get enough air into my lungs, and it all felt too dry. I was tense all over, ready to spring at nothing. The sensation was startlingly familiar, but I couldn't quite place it – maybe I had dreamed about something like that.

Rather than wait in stillness until dawn broke, I slid out of my bed, into jeans and my tatty old boots and out of the door, barely breaking the silence of the corridor. I knew from experience that going out of the hall window was the best – I opened that one often enough that it didn't creak at all, so I wouldn't wake up anyone. Firstly I had to creep past Max's ajar door, knowing that I never had and probably never would wake her up-

"Fang."

Speak of the devil. Perhaps I should have touched wood.

"Fang!"

Her voice was barely a whisper, but it was an anxious shout in the same instant. For a long moment, I expected her to come crashing into the hall and wake up everyone else. But nothing happened. I heard stirring from her bedcovers, but they sounded sleepy and slow.

"Jerk," she murmured. My eyebrows rose in silent amusement.

I stepped towards the opening in the door and put my eyes against the crack. Max was still lying in her bed, facing the window set in one wall. She moaned a little, and I saw her wings twitch, as though she was flying in her dreams. As I watched, she rolled onto her back and abruptly sat up. Something about her movements told me she was still asleep, but I froze and held my breath all the same. The moon, full and fat in the sky, was shining directly onto her face. She didn't seem to like it; one hand pawed at her eyes. Then she stopped, and her wings twitched yet again.

"I'm not going to die today," she said aloud, her voice not loud, but definitely clear. Her eyes were open, and they slowly rotated around the room until they fixed on me and the door. They were flat, and she wasn't seeing me, or even conscious. I moved inside, careful not to trip on the various inanimate objects spread over the floor, and pulled the curtains closed. Max seemed to settle immediately, the silver of the moon no longer in her eyes. She lay back and closed her eyes, sounding satisfied.

Her hair was a knotted mess, trailing across her pillow, indicating a restless night. But at least she was still and silent now, her breathing deep and regular. I smiled to myself at her peace, something with she hardly ever exhibited when she was awake.

And then, slowly and silently, I crept back outside and disappeared out of the hall window, leaving it open the slightest crack so I could easily get back in again. I dropped a few feet into nothing, adrenaline filling me up on the inside. And then, with a snap, I unfurled my wings and took off as fast and as silently as I could into nowhere.

AN: Yes, it is short. But I've already got the next chapter written up, and I'll probably put it up tomorrow. But first, you need to review!

-Aden Ameryn