Fifteen years since she went missing. Fifteen years since since the camp out, the night she was gone. Fifteen years since we've heard her laugh and seen her voice.
Fifteen years of living with Nudge, wondering where Max is.
It's been way to long for me to keep any hope that she would come back. Max was gone, and I was going to have to live with that fact. The good news was that I knew she wasn't at the School and she wasn't being tested it on.
That's the only thing that I can smile at.
"Angel, you drank the rest of the beer." Nudge whined from the kitchen.
"Yeah, I know. And for your own good, too. You're becoming an alcoholic."
See? I'm not the only one who hasn't revived over the loss. I was smart and turned to a psychiatrist. While Nudge, well, turned to the beer.
I turned the volume up when the news came back on.
"At a nearby park, the body of Kaiy Johnston was found dead in the trees nearby. He was suffocated. A bystander had seen the thing happen, and told the police what she looked like. Here is the picture."
A head of a thirty year old women appeared on the screen. She had wavy, blond hair that ran down behind her shoulders.
"The bystander claimed that when she killed him, she walked deeper into the forest and a bird had picked her up and flown her into the sky. No one knows for sure yet what exactly happened. We have one rough photograph taken from a cell phone. If you have any information, call..."
The picture flashed across the screen. It was the back of the girl who was running with what looked like an eagle following right behind her. The bird had it's head down and it's talons aimed up, because all you could see pretty much were the wings stretching in each direction.
"Wait." I sat up.
"What?" Nudge walked back into the room and dropped on the couch next to me.
"That's not a bird behind her..." I said, leaning closer to see it better. "Those are wings attached to her. That's a bird kid. Nudge, I think that's Max."
A/N: So whadda' ya' think so far? I, personally, like it. I have a sketchy plot laid out. I'll bring Iggy, Gazzy and Fang in later. So, R&R!