Long Gone Are The Children
by
Kristina M. LaPlante
Disclaimer: No, I don't own this. No, I'm not making any money off of this. Yes, James Patterson like those of us who write fan fiction.
Bitter, salty air filled her lungs as she soared. Max had always loved the smell of the ocean. Diving low she allowed the tips of her feathers to brush ever so slightly against the water's surface.
Normally, this would have brought her great joy, but today it was failing her. Her mind ran wild with saturnine thoughts. Perhaps this would be the day? The day that a herd of grotesque Erasers bore down from the heavens, their disjointed wings flailing, and finally set her free from this hell she'd been living.
Off in the distance Max could see camp-fires burning on the beach. Normally she'd turn away, anxious about the possible discovery of her and her flock. Then again, much had changed. Too much. She dared to defy her instincts, gliding closer and closer to the tiny pyres. When she came close enough to see the faces of the drunken co-eds on the beach her preservation instincts kicked in and she pulled herself up.
Wincing at the final rays of sunlight she thought of Icarus. The Greek boy who's father had made him wings only to fly too close to the sun, have them melt, and plunge to the ground. For a moment she tried to think about how Icarus's father must have felt upon landing and seeing his son's broken body on the rocks.
When she'd finally had enough she coasted in to land only to discover three people staring up at her with unease written upon their faces.
She briefly wondered what was wrong but before she could ask Fang wrapped his arms around her. "I think it's time to go back to the Nest." He said softly in her ear. Fear shot through her entire body. There were only a few scenarios where they would ever return to the Nest. The first being Erasers or the school. The second being the unlikely event of one of their children turning out to be... not... normal.
"Oh shit." She said firmly pushing him away with a little more force then she intended.
Turning to the two small children she hit them with dagger laced glared.
"Alright you two. Which one of you is the weirdo?" She said gazing down at them both.
"Max!" Fang yelled, shocked that she would act so cruelly.
The girl, Sorcha, shrugged and started to walk away.
"Oh no you don't, little one. You do not turn your back on me and you are not allowed to leave until you tell me what you did." Max stated.
"So I made something go 'boom', no big deal." she said flinging her curly black hair over her shoulder.
"No big deal!" Max exclaimed.
"Yeah, Sorcha! 'Sides, it was more like 'Hiss... Pop... Pop... BOOM!' anyway." Iubhan injected.
"WHAT!" Max yelled staring at Fang.
For the first time since she'd given birth to Sorcha, Fang looked like was going to faint.
"So what did I miss?" She asked her mate somberly.
Fang winced and started to speak but Sorcha interrupted.
"If you two are going to fight I'm going to take a walk and try to duplicate my findings..."
"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" Max exclaimed.
The girl shrugged and walked away. A little Max in the making.
Max turned to Fang who promptly gave her the look of 'I'll-tell-you-later.'
Suddenly her stomach turned at the thought of a possibility that her children weren't normal after all. Lord only knows how she had fallen to her knees thanking whoever was listening that her baby wasn't born with wings. This joy had later been tarnished when the rest of the flock had taken insult to her rejoicing. They told her and Fang to 'leave and live a normal life. One where they wouldn't have to be surrounded by freaks.'
Max being who she is picked up her baby, said good-bye and walked away. Nobody, not even Fang knew that she was dying inside. That was eight years ago and she still hasn't spoken to them since.
'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit...' She thought.
"What can she do?" She asked Fang who was once again interrupted.
"She can do things." Iubhan inserted.
"What kind of things?" Max asked timidly.
Suddenly the sound a fire erupting caught her attention. Sorcha was now standing in from of a blazing brush pile, staring at it with curiosity.
"SORCHA, STOP!" Max cried.
A smirk crossed the 9-year-old girls face. "Hey Mom, check this out! It's the burning bush!"
Fang looked at her with a look of sympathy. He knew how much it had meant to her, to them both that their children were normal.
"Max, I think it's time to go back to the next." He said softly.
"No shit." Was all she could say as she stared at her strange little girl. "Well, don't just stand there. Get some freaking water, FANG!"
As fang rolled his eyes and went in search for a bucket Max could only think about how life was about to change. She couldn't be sure if it was for better or for worse, but there was one thing she was certain of: it was time to fly home.
Fang returned with two small plastic buckets, filled then with sea water and flung them in large streams onto the fire.
"So, what did she blow up?" Max asked Iubhan.
"The garage." He said matter-of-factly before stepping to his sisters side.
'Great, Angel take two. Except instead of having her 'convince' people of things she catches them on fire.' She thought as plopped down on the sand shaking her head defeatedly.