Disclaimer: I do not own the Maximum Ride characters that will undoubtedly appear, however I do own my characters and the PLOT! R&R and give me any ideas you have on how to make things better!
Chapter One
He enters the elevator after us. The boy was lean and tall with dark hair and darker eyes. And he was all too familiar looking.
"He'd make a really great Fang." Carry whispers too-loudly. Ignoring her doesn't work, as I knew all too well. "Don't you think so?" Her big blue eyes shine at me, uncomprehending my silence.
The boy, I was sure, stiffened around the shoulders. Feeling my stare he glances up, but unable to hold his gaze my eyes fall back to the elevator floor. I wanted to be mad at him for disappearing on me for so long, but I couldn't.
"Lilly?" My best friend-slash-sister whispered, "You okay?"
My hands were trembling. My vision blurred. And I was quite sure the elevator had begun to spin around me. No, I was not okay. Matter of fact, I was about to pass out. And to top it off, my mysterious shadow boy had just reappeared for the first time in three years. But to my sister I said, "I'm fine." Shadow Boy's eye's flashed at the lie, but I pointedly ignored him. The last thing I wanted was for them to call my staff.
Carry looked at me hard for a moment. Sighing she said, "You better be telling the truth, because if you aren't fine, Daddy will KILL me." We might have been sisters, but we looked nothing alike. Carry with her blond hair, blue eyes and natural athletic ability would make a wonderful cheerleader. But because of me, she had never gotten the chance. According to her she was around to keep me out of trouble. May I point out that it had been her idea to "get fresh air," either way, these days I hadn't been much trouble.
Sighing inwardly, I turn back to shadow boy. When would he tell me his name? He is staring back at me as if he is waiting for something. Determined to make him break eye contact this time, I stare back at him unflinchingly. Oblivious, Carry continues her animated chatter. He smirks, looking almost knowing.
The bell dings. We have finally arrived at the top floor. Shadow boy follows us out. Somehow I am almost surprised.
Walking back to my room is worse than standing still. Soon even Carry notices how I strain to put one foot in front of the other. "You should sit," she whispers.
Shaking my head I mumble, "It's okay, I can make it." Carry glares at me, saying nothing. For a moment I think she will force me to sit and rest, but then Carry shakes her blond curls and takes my arm. "Thanks." The whisper is so quiet that for a moment I don't think she heard.
"Whatever." But as I start to reply, the world begins to go dark, and I am falling. Arms envelope me before I can hit the ground. The last thing I see before totally losing consciousness are black, black almond shaped eyes.
When we were little, my sister told me that girls were the sky and boys the rainclouds; every time it rained a boys heart was broken. For three months that year I cried when it rained. Our parents didn't know what to do, nothing helped. So in the end they just let it be.
It was Carry's birthday and we were having a picnic in the park. Back then I was still healthy, and we went to that park often. It was so familiar to me, Mom and Daddy didn't mind me going off on the trail alone.
And then it started to rain. Not hard. But I still cried. And with the thick canopy over head, it was very hard to see.
At first, when I heard the rustling of leaves to my left, and then to my right, it didn't scare me. Then the hairs on the back of my neck prickled as if I was being watched. Ever so slowly I turned around. Not four feet behind me stood a very tall figure standing completely in shadow. "It's alright, little girl. You don't have to cry." the man said in what, am sure, was supposed to be a consoling tone, but instead sounded rough and imposing. He closed the distance between us and crouched in front of me. "I'll take you home, but you have to promise something to me first." His light blue eyes sent chills down my back; they were dead.
"I don't need your help." I jutted out my chin, glaring like the six year old I was.
He smiled. And if I had thought his eyes were creepy, well his smile made my stomach hurt. "Yes you do." His voice was soft, his breath like rotting meat.
The leaves rustled above us, and I couldn't help but glance up to see a most surprising sight. A little boy my age jumped down from the tree, landing on the man. "Run!" he shouted as the man reared up trying to grab him. But I was frozen to my spot. The boy grabbed a branch and with his legs rammed the guy into the tree. In one swift movement he jumped down and clocked the man good and hard. "Come on." The little boy grabbed my hand and ran down the path.
I had every intention of asking him where he'd come from, but instead it sounded more like; "What's your name?"
He smirked. "What's your name?"
"Lily." I replied automatically.
"Hmmm, Lily." His eyes shined and looked over at me. It felt almost as if he were laughing.
"Do you really have wings?" Once again my mouth disobeys me.
He slows and turns to face me. For a moment he is about to tell me, but the look on his face changes. "We're here." He means the end of the path.
"Please, what is your name?" He just shakes his head as another voice calls my name.
When I turn, mom is standing with her umbrella glaring at me. "You weren't supposed to go so far! What if something bad had happened!" That alone is enough to make me wilt.
"I'm sorry mommy." She folds me into her green raincoat.
"It's okay sweetie." With a sigh she takes my hand and heads towards the car.
One last look behind tells me the boy isn't there. Or, if he is, he's hiding in the shadows.
After that I stopped crying when it rained.
But he came back, eventually. I saw him a handful more times as I grew up- and each time he was a little bit older too. But he never told me his name. He would save me from whatever perilous situation I had gotten myself into, say a few witty things and disappear as soon as I was safe. But this time he can't save me. No, not even my dark prince can keep me alive this time.
This time it is cancer that is killing me. And one week ago, the treatments stopped working.