Fang: Myka, you suck with disclaimers. Let me do it. Or Max.
Myka: So what if I suck? At least I can still kick your ass in spelling and grammar.
Max: Who needs that to survive?
Myka: I do. I may not be world- famous like James Patterson or own Maximum Ride, but I still have a school life to suffer.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE. REPEAT: I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE. JP DOES, AND HE'S AWESOME AT IT. SO THERE.
Fang POV
Damn! They found me!
I lurched out of where I had been hiding behind a file cabinet and tried to leap over them, extending my wings for extra power. Instead of crashing into the corridor, I was suddenly falling backward, the agony of feathers being ripped out pulsating through my wing. I hissed under my breath and my gaze snapped back to see who had had the guts to actually yank at my wing.
A girl, that couldn't be any older than fourteen, wasn't even looking at me or even expressing any facial emotion. She looked like she was being mind- controlled. Like she was being controlled by Angel.
Angel. Don't think about it.
I shook my head a little and tried to fly out of her iron- hard grip. No luck. I crashed on to the cold floor as the girl yanked harder and pulled me to the ground. She stomped one combat- booted foot onto my chest, making my breath come out in a oof! I tried to roll away, but she grabbed my arms and pulled me upright, holding my arms behind me in a painful manuever.
"Take him to the holding cell," one whitecoat instructed in a nasal voice pompously. But I could see the slight fear in his eyes as he regarded the girl. She was probably five foot four, barely past my shoulder.
She did as she was told, making me march in front of her. I struggled against her grip, but she kept it in a hard hold. Then she whispered something that made me wonder if I'd really heard her at all:
"Please. Don't move. I'll help all of you out of this hellhole somehow, but for now, just co- operate."
I stopped struggling. Something in her quiet, pleading voice made me trust her. We got into a room filled with dog- crates, all varying in sizes from small to large. Every single one held a mutant, majority not more than ten years old. Recently created, only knowing that their life was in the deepest pits of hell.
Too young to be killed and tortured by psychotic whitecoats. I had inadvertently, unconciously began to struggle to open their cages, but the girl shook me gently, reminding me.
She put me in large dog- crate and for the first time, I noticed the tears streaming out of her sightless eyes.
Blind. Just like Iggy.
Iggy. Don't think about it. If you think about it, you'll think about— stop it. Don't.
I shook my head violently and let my eyes wander over the other experiments. In the crate beside me was a boy, with the eyes of a cat; slit- pupilled and green. He watched me warily, and he looked like about nine.
"What's your name?" I asked in a low voice.
"What's yours?" He shot back.
"Fang," I replied obligingly. "You?"
"Damien," he said tersely. "You saw that girl just now?"
"Who was she? She's blind," I frowned.
"She's Midnight," his green eyes suddenly became hooded with depression. I noticed every other mutant in the room look downcast. "She used be like our big sister, along with her... well... partner, Alistair. Then Alistair got taken away, and Midnight became sort of like those people's guard."
"Midnight? Is that her name?" I asked quietly. "How old is she?"
"I think she's fourteen. She's been here longer than any of us." He whispered.
Footsteps approached our room. It was suddenly silent, save for our breathing.
"Take the recently captured one," the same nasal voice commanded. "Bring it to the director."
I tensed as the door swung open. The same girl came in and unlocked my cage. She hauled me out and made me walk with her up two flights of stairs and into a heavily- guarded office.
Tears suddenly began coming at full force when she entered the room and she let out a cry of the most painful anguish I had ever heard. So raw it tore at even my own shredded heart.
"Alistair!"
She had only taken two small steps when she fell to the ground, shaking. Then as her dark hair fell away from her face, I saw the black metal collar with the winking red LED light on it. She was being controlled by a electric collar.
A small part of my mind wondered how, if she was blind, knew that Alistair was actually in the room.
Then I looked up as a voice called my name in a rather rage- igniting, annoying voice. "Fang."
A well- dressed man of about fifty with a paunch looked at me right in the eye with such level calmness I was half- expecting him to say, "Would you care for a drink?"
Of course, he didn't. Instead, my gaze wandered over to the tall figure standing beside him. Bound and gagged, this guy had to be at least six foot two. Taller than me. He had black hair and black eyes, with dark circles underneathe his wide eyes. They were locked on Midnight, who was still writhing on the floor in obvious agony. He looked like he was about to tear apart the cuffs that bound him and lunge to her side; just like what I'd do for Max.
Oh shit. Max. Stop it. Don't think about it any more or you'll regret it more than you already do.
"Fang," fortunately, or unfortunately, the director called his name. A golden plaque on the desk informed him that he was Mr. Johnathan Chu. Huh. A relative of the old and gone Mr. Chu?
It wasn't until the man replied with a curt yes that I realized I had spoken aloud.
"Let me get straight to the point," Mr. J-C said calmly. "We are going to use you, to lure the famous Maximum Ride over to the side. Just like how we used Alistair and Midnight."
Max POV
Fantastic. First, we'd lost Fang. Now, we'd lost our only couch.
"GAZZY! IGGY! What did I tell you about explosives in the house?" I yelled.
"Uh..." Gazzy's eyes strayed to the ceiling, which was caked with solidified black stuff.
Iggy smothered a laugh and I shot daggers at him with my eyes, remembering too late that he was blind. At times like this, I really wished Fang was here. I summoned all my control to focus on the situation at hand to stop myself from bursting into tears all over again.
"You pull a stunt like this one more time," I narrowed my eyes at the two pyromaniacs. "And I will personally kick you so high in the sky it will be months before you can even see the earth again. Understand?"
"Wow," I heard Iggy mock- whisper. "It used to be till next Tuesday only. She's gotten harsh."
"Iggy," I warned. "Say that one more time. And I will make sure it's centuries before you can plant your skinny white ass on the ground again."
He shut up. Wise of him.
I stomped back into my bedroom, ordering them as I left to clean up the mess and take the couch to the nearest Dumpster. I slammed my door shut and collapsed on my bed. Well, actually, this used to be Fang's bedroom. After he left, I took occupancy of it. It reminded me of him, and even though it had already been almost one year since he left, I could still feel his essence in the room. The black walls. The black sheets. The navy ceiling. The laptop on his table. The letter in his scrawling handwriting, still resting on the windowsill.
I had to stop crying. I had to stop. Because my flock needed me, and I couldn't be so selfish as to give myself in to anguish and hurt. They needed me to be their leader, because God knows I won't let Angel.
Feeling the wind thread its fingers through my feathers and the sun warm my back was more bliss than I could imagine. Or maybe not as much as Fang kissing me. Or as much as the night before Total and Akila's wedding. I felt the grin on my face dim.
I really had to stop thinking about Fang.
Fang POV
Midnight was taken away and in her place, Alistair was released and made to escort me back to the holding cell. When we entered, all the experiments pressed themselves up against the bars of their cages, making a flurry of excited noises.
"Alistair!"
"Where did you go?"
"Where's Midnight?"
"What happened?"
Alistair was grim as he let me go without even putting me in my cage. "That director was a fool. He didn't even think to put an electric collar around my neck. If he thinks that he can hold Midnight as a pawn, he's got it all screwed up. Damien!"
Damien snapped to attention, pride showing as he regarded Alistair. "Yeah?"
"Where's the switches to open all the cages?" Alistair demanded.
"I don't know," he mused. "But you can just use your talent and break the locks."
"Good point," Alistair rubbed his forehead.
"Wait a minute," I stopped him. "Aren't you curious to know who I am?"
"Not really," Alistair brushed me aside. "You're Fang, you're a mutant, you're on our side. What more do I need to know?"
I smiled faintly, but then my jaw dropped as soon as I saw what he did.
He touched the locks and warned the mutant inside to get back. Then he melted it. I watched the metal locks turn to liquid and drip on to the floor. One by one, the mutants got free, making hushed noises of excitement.
"Over- heating capabilities with my touch," Alistair responded simply to my dumbstruck look.
Like that explained everything.