I'm back! The request has been filed, and the ideas have begun to flow. I sake you guys to vote, and it was unanimous, so here it is. This is the prequel to my story, Avenging Angels. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do. It's long, but with over 900 reviews, I'd say it should be fairly worth your time. :)

As always, I will continue shout-outs for my reviewers. So, here is the first set!

Shoutouts to: Like, Laurenk, Angie Jeanne, ella, iluvbooks, MaximumX, o0Smile0o, Yo, AnikaandAj, and Jahnia G!

Avenging Angels Prequel

Chapter 1 Questions

My hands were balled into fists and I struggled to keep calm. My breathing was heavy, I felt as if I might suffocate; the air was so thick and unmoving. It was dark, and the only lights shown from outside the window.

The window.

I leaned against it as I struggled for calm, but I'd been stuck in the same place for hours.

"Max?" I blinked and turned to see Fang looking at me. His face was blank as ever but in his eyes I saw something flash. Worry? Pain? Doubt? Probably safe to assume all three and more.

"Yeah?" I asked, keeping my voice low. We were in a car, or, a van to be more exact, with the rest of the Flock. The CSM was more than willing to help their 'stars' out when in a bind. After all, they felt awful. Letting my mom get kidnapped right out from under their noses. So they were doing everything they could to assure we were provided with what we needed.

And when I made it perfectly clear (with glares and hard stares) that I would not be away from my mother for any reason what so ever, they made sure that they provided us a way to get home together. And, though I hated the idea of being stuck in a small van, I was willing to swallow my fears if it meant protecting my mom.

So that was it. After my mom was released from the hospital we got on plane bound for Arizona and after that a claustrophobic car ride of which I was still struggling to survive. I wasn't all too thrilled for my mom to be heading back to her house. Surely Mr. Chu (my eyes narrowed and hands clenched at the mere thought of his name) would know where she lived? But the CSM assured us they'd thought about that and had the place scoped out and searched several times.

Apparently, it hadn't been disturbed in our absence.

I heard a cough, and looked up to realize Fang was still watching me. My cheeks turned red and for once I was glad of the darkness that surrounded us. It was night, we'd been driving for about an hour, and had about another hour to go.

As it was, the Flock had passed out around us. I sat on the left side next to the window in the back, with Angel sitting on my other side and Fang beside her. In the second row in front of us, Iggy had claimed the seat directly in front of me with Gazzy taking up the middle seat and Nudge sitting by the other window. Total lay curled up in Angel's lap, his nose twitching as he mumbled in his sleep.

Up front, two of my mom's co-workers (and fellow CSM'rs) sat, but I couldn't for the life of me remember their names. Behind us, in a car being driven by John Abbot, was my mom and Ella. I still wasn't happy, not having them right beside me, but this was the only way I could also stay with my Flock. Which meant I was torn, and in more ways than one.

"Max it will be okay." Fang said, watching me as I glanced over my shoulder to make sure my mom's car was still following us. It was, and I turned back to look at Fang with narrowed eyes. He ignored the look, however, but frowned slightly.

I had a feeling I knew what he was frowning about.

After that kiss on the submarine, things had been a little strained, between us. Not bad, not at all, no where near what it was when I invited Ari to join the Flock what felt like forever ago. There it had been so bad Fang had left me and the others. This was just…awkwardness?

I guess you could say I wasn't sure where this left us. I mean, yeah, I kissed Fang, but I did it because I thought I was going to die. Did that make my kissing him more emotional than rational? Was there such a thing as a 'rational' kiss? Had I been so caught up in the moment I just needed that release? Or had it been genuine, had I really needed to kiss Fang? Just to show him how I felt? What did I feel, exactly?

I looked at Fang out of the corners of my eyes, he was staring straight ahead, watching the road in the headlights. I sighed and leaned back against the seat as I tried to force my hands to unclench.

I loved Fang, that much I knew, but emotions were never one of my strong points. I'd always kept them hidden behind lock and key, it was probably one of the reasons I was still alive. But Fang had said he loved me, even shown me, as I'd felt his lips against mine. What was the problem then?

I closed my eyes but as I tried to picture the scene on the submarine again all I could see was Mr. Chu's under water fortress, the sea creatures he mutated, and my mother as she lay abandoned in that room, beaten, bloody, unconscious.

Anger boiled up inside me and my teeth snapped together. Mr. Chu, that idiot. He'd kidnapped my mother, tortured her for information, even tried to use her against me to make me work for him. I was lucky, my mom, was lucky. If Angel hadn't convinced those creatures to help us I don't know how we would have managed to rescue her. The doctors said she would make a full physical recovery, but they warned mentally she may be unstable for a while. That she'd been under a lot of stress.

My hands clenched tighter as I pictured Mr. Chu torturing my mother, telling her lies, filling her head with nonsense. But then I see his submarine escaping and then he's there, in the hospital where they were treating my mother, and who is he talking to? None other than Brigid. That redheaded witch.

I didn't know why she was there, talking with him, but I was going to find out. And as for Mr. Chu, well, he was going to pay for what he'd done.

So, this starts with the Flock when they return from the hospital. In the real books, Patterson kinda just let's this hang and skips straight to the Flock going to Africa, but since I changed all that with Avenging Angels, I needed to start here.

Let me know what you think!

Sincerely,

Avenging Angel