Chapter 1: background story:
So, let's just say my life is a little…. Messed up. My dad, Jeb, was a crazy scientist who crossed human DNA with animal DNA… creating horrible mutations and other…things. I never met him or my mom, because when I was just 11 months old, I was wrapped up in a blanket and dropped off on the porch of the local orphanage. Later I found out that he was arrested and put in jail for 'animal cruelty'… but actually the animals were once humans who had a little too much animal DNA imputed in their bodies. Little did I know that I was one of his experiments too. Sure, go ahead and add a dash of bird to your daughter's DNA, don't ask first, just go ahead! I think that's the one thing I hate about my dad. But, since I'm stuck in an orphanage I don't have to worry about that right? Well, I might as well stop talking about my horrible life and just move on. There's nothing I can do about it now…
Chapter 1:
The screaming voice of our councilor Joseph boomed through the dorm rooms at the normal time- 7:00. I groggily sat up in bed and glanced in disgust at the peeling walls of my dorm. The walls were originally painted a light blue, but now it was more like white with tiny blue accents. The ceiling had a useless white fan hanging on by only a couple wires and the tiny lights were in danger of burning out. As my gaze swept across my dorm room, I landed on my two best friends; Nudge and Angel who were both sound asleep, oblivious to the screaming psychopath.
I know, weird names, but ya'know, I didn't name 'em and they refuse to let me call them by their first names. Nudge's name was Monique. She had coffee- colored skin and chocolate brown hair and even darker brown eyes. Angel's name…. well, actually, I'm not sure, she changes the name every time I ask her, which doesn't exactly help if you know what I mean. One day she says her name is Lisa and the next day her name is Stacey. Finally I just gave up and just stopped asking. Angel was very small and had light blonde hair with natural brown streaks. And her eyes were electric blue and almost hypnotizing.
I finally dragged myself out of the bed and woke up the two dozing teens. Nudge, who I swear always dreams about food, snorted loudly as I gently shook her.
"MRGHFF… you can't take my spaghetti….." nudge mumbled drowsily…
"NUDGE! Get up!"
"MRGHFF…YOU CAN'T TAKE MY SPAGHETTI! IT'S MINE! *SNORT*"
Okay, this clearly wasn't getting me anywhere… angel was laughing. Hard. I gave her a 'shut your mouth unless you want to wake her up' look and I grabbed nudge firmly by the shoulders and gave her a sharp yank upward. This resulted in the most ear-piercing shriek I'd ever heard from Nudge.
"PLEEASE DON'T TAKE MY SPAGHETTI! I WANT IT FOR MYSELF! GO GET YOUR OWN!"
I didn't have enough time to comprehend what was going on before the slap hit my face with a loud *CRACK*. I let Nudge fall to the ground and she yawned, sitting up lazily on the rotten carpet. Turns out Nudge really wanted her spaghetti and slapped me across the face. HARD.
"EEWW! WHY AM I ON THIS CARPET! IT'S DISGUSTING! And Max, why do you look so mad? Is that a handprint across your face? OH MY GOD! Who did that to you! I swear, I ever see them I'll-"
I slapped my hand over her mouth and through gritted teeth I said,
"Nudge I swear to god that I will cut your tongue out while you are sleeping tonight if you don't SHUT UP!"
I let go of her mouth and she looked at me, horrified.
"OMG Max did I slap you over the spaghetti dream AGAIN!"
Now, before you start judging her, we barely get anything to eat at the orphanage, so that's why she's always thinking about food. OH CRAP. That reminds me that reminds me…..
"Guys, get dressed so we won't get the last of the oatmeal!"
As we all pulled on a soiled pair of jeans and a decently clean shirt, I began to wonder something; I have wings, why don't I use them? Yes, I said wings. Remember? My dad was a Butthead and turned me into a mutant freak. Gotta LOVE my dad! I could just jump out of the window and fly off and find a place to- wait…. Angel and Nudge can't fly. But I could just leave them and say I'm going out for a while an-
My thoughts were so rudely interrupted when Nudge said something that sounded like "WE'RE READY TO GO!"
UGH.
"okay gang, let's go."
We headed down the hall and into the large Cafeteria. We usually got mush for breakfast and maybe, if we were lucky, an apple. And…. LOOK! Whadda ya KNOW! Mush and an apple for breakfast. If I could raid the kitchen looking for the good stuff the adults ate I would have a long time ago…. But I know that would get me kicked out sooo I didn't have much of a choice…. Ergh. I swear, somebody's gonna get hurt REAL BAD IF THEY DON'T STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM ME! I trudged over and grabbed a tray, a bowl, and a spoon and stomped over to the kitchen lady who was pouring what looked like hardening cement into each kid's bowl. When it was my turn she looked me up and down, grunted, and poured a bigger amount than most other kids got. HUH. She must be new to the system here.
She handed me an apple instead of throwing it into the gack, and, (WTH) SMILED at me! oookay… this is weird… I'm used to the grouchy, fat old and greasy cooks who give you the look of death as they slap food on your tray and yell out, "NEXT!"
WOW. I could get used to this…..
After Nudge and Angel had got their food, I glanced around at the tables. Finding one empty one in the corner of the room. Well, it wasn't exactly EMPTY 'cause my tree other favorite friends were bent low over the food, shoveling it in like it was more precious than gold. They are Iggy, who is the only person I know who has strawberry blonde hair. Then there was Gazzy who had light blonde hair that stood up on end... suspiciously like he had stuck his finger into an electrical socket…
Um…. Never mind…
I swear, if you were to put the kid in a rubber room with baked beans and a lot of hot sauce, he could cause a serious explosion… mainly with just his own 'natural gases'. The last one was Fang. Let's just say he had a darker side that he always showed. He too, was quietly, and, with some bit of dignity, shoving the oatmeal into his mouth. Oh my god he looked good…..
"Wow you guys… is it really that good?" I asked… trying to get the thought out of my head.
Between bites of oatmeal, Gazzy said,
"They- *slurp* added chocola- *slurp* chocolate chips to the- *slurp* oatmeal!" and with that last word the rest of the oatmeal was gone from his bowl. He sighed happily and looked up at me. "HIYA Max!"
Wait, CHOCOLATE CHIPS? I looked down and, indeed, saw there were little brown bits of chocolate floating lazily in it. awesome. Wait, what was going on? Everything was better! Well, except for getting yelled at by the councilor. But besides the obvious, everything was better…
I sat down and inhaled the oatmeal and finished off the apple in less than 8 minutes. New record. I glanced over at fang, his long, dark hair landing softly around his shoulders. Wow, he looked really goo-
No. no no no no no no no! I can't think that…. That's crazy…. I liked him only as a friend! That's it! oh, but his eyes are so-
NO NO NO! CAN'T THINK THAT!
I looked away quickly and asked angel what was going on.
She wasn't a mind reader, but I swear that sometimes she could read people's expressions and tell if they were lying easily.
"I think the orphanage is under new management."
Iggy broke out laughing. "Angel, Joseph invested all his money into this orphanage… which wasn't a lot. I don't think he would just get fired like tha-"
He was cut off when the chef I had met silenced the eating hall.
"I am very happy to inform all of you that the orphanage is under new management! I'm sure you all don't know who I am, so I will tell you."
Okay… a little weird….
"… my name is Suzy and I will be cooking your meals from now on! I assume you all enjoyed the chocolate oatmeal!"
Excited whispers thundered throughout the room and Iggy's mouth fell open in pure shock.
"But- but I thought he….? He said he wasn't gonna retire….." Iggy continued to stutter and I laughed. It seemed it was always a surprise to him when Angel was right. *PFFT*, cause THAT never happens! (not)
The lady silenced the hall and continued.
"The orphanage is going through some changes. The meals are improving slowly but surely, and we will be purchasing new beds and paint for the dorms. And… Best of all, you all will be going to SCHOOL!
Ok, THAT WAS AWESOME! Everyone screamed in delight, but something happened that made me really start to wonder if it would ever happen because just as she finished speaking a large chunk of the ceiling crashed to the ground, narrowly missing the orphans and the cook. Everyone's screams of joy turned to screams of terror as the building began to collapse. We ran towards the door with our heads ducked low, praying that we wouldn't become pancakes underneath the hunks of ceiling. We were so close to the door, and I glanced over at Fang whose usually emotionless eyes showed flickers of uncertainty and doubt.
Oh WOOOOW! Ya think! We finally reached the door and dove out of the building just as the last of the roof fell with a sickening *CRRAACK!* we stood there, covered in bits of plaster, panting hard. Now what? We all stood there waiting to see if there would be any other people coming out of the building… almost the entire orphanage stumbled out… white from shock and from the plaster covering their shrit… I quietly laughed inside my head because they all looked like they had an extreme case of dandruff…
*ERM*…. Excuse me with my laugh out loud thoughts in the midst of a crisis….
We had no home to start out with, but now we were really, really, FOR REAL, homeless and lost and scared. And confused. And scared. And crying. And OH, did I mention SCARED! Without saying a word, I glanced at our mini flock and we turned and walked off in the direction of the city in hopes of finding help… we were tired, hungry, and FREAKIN' pissed that we wouldn't find a place to sleep for the night…
We walked lazily into the city and we flopped down on a bus stop bench and stared at the red and blue lights of the police cars as they sped towards the destroyed orphanage. Wow…. There was nothing but the foundation and bits of wall and ceiling left standing in its place we sighed and got up and walked down an alley way when some really, really, REALLY big guy blocked our path.
"Y'a goin' somewhere blondie?"
The guy was sooo wasted and he swayed dangerously from side to side. Then he balled his right fist and before I had time to react, the fist collided with my face. The last thing I remember was Nudge screaming for help just before she too was silenced by the dude's fist. Then everything went black….