Chapter 1 – Two Months

"C'mon, Max, it's not that big of a deal."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not. I would be more upset if it really mattered."

I didn't say anything. My eyes drifted to the whistling blades of grass stirred by the sudden wind.

"Really, it doesn't matter. It's just a broken window; I break them all the time. My mom hardly cares anymore. But how was I supposed to know that rewiring the control panel in the mini-helicopter would cause it to short circuit mid-air?"

"Oh." I sighed.

My reaction caused James to examine me critically. "We aren't talking about the same thing, are we?" he mused slowly, understanding where my thoughts had drifted.

I shrugged, brushing my bangs out of my eyes.

He sighed, too. "It's August — two months since Jeb and Ari have disappeared. I know it's been real hard on you, but you need to move on. Be glad that the police have found nothing instead of dead bodies. Everything's going to be okay."

That made me wince. The past two months had been extremely long. Two months of constant worry. Two months of talking to police, detectives, and those who were closest to my dad and half-brother. Two months of having everyone telling me that everything was going to turn out okay, that they'd find where they'd vanished to, that they would find out what had happened. I was so tired of people telling me that things were okay.

Because everything was spinning out of control.

"You're not helping."

He ran a frustrated hand through his strawberry blond hair. "Well, what do you want me to say? That you'll never see them again? That their dead bodies are floating in a river somewhere? The least you can be is optimistic."

The last thing I could be called was optimistic. "I know they aren't dead, but it's thinking about the other possibilities that have me freaked out."

"That's understandable, especially if Itex—"

"I know Itex took them," I cut him off. "I have a theory about what happened that day."

"What do you think happened?"

I reclined against a giant oak. We were at James's house, in his front yard, relaxing on an extra hot summer day under the shade of green leaves. He lived in a neighborhood full of younger families that were enjoying the nice weather, just as we were. It was weird to watch as life goes on normally for others while mine kept getting weirder.

"I think that Jeb's phone had been tracked for a while, and when he'd received a call about allowing Fang and me to come over, Itex pounced on the opportunity. But on the way there, traffic was really bad and we got to the station late. By the time we got to his house, Itex had already been there. They were really upset about missing us. They would have waited, but my guess would be that Ari called 911 on sheer panic. The possibility of having to answer to the police made them scatter before we arrived. And it was obviously Itex who took them if all Jeb's records on them disappeared."

"Is that your theory or did the Voice tell you that?"

I grimaced; the Voice had been especially annoying these past two months. It only added to my stress. "Well, I didn't come up with that entirely on my own. Fang and I were able to put the pieces together with the note he found." I'd read that note many times after we fled from Jeb's house. Fang brought it with him and he gave it to me once we'd gotten home safely. It had basically said that they were pissed at missing the opportunity of meeting the "angel kids" they'd spent years to engineer. Too bad we would have been a major disappointment without wings.

"Ah, so you and Fang seem to have been getting very close lately." He waggled his eyebrows speculatively.

"Ugh, no. How many times do I have to tell you that there's nothing between us." Okay, maybe I don't allow anything to happen between us, but he doesn't need to know that.

"Oh, c'mon, it's so clear. Fang always drooled you at school, or as well as Fang can drool over someone. He doesn't do that well."

I blushed at his words and looked away.

"Yeah, well, things are different now," I dismissed. "I told him to forget whatever feelings he has for me, so he's been real chill lately." I wasn't going to mention that I almost felt bad for telling him that. My own feelings had been so bipolar lately. Some days I wanted Fang to leave me alone. Some days I liked having his company. Stupid teenage hormones. We were never going to get this situation worked out.

He whistled softly. "Dang, I can't believe you got him to do that."

"You obviously underestimate my abilities, "I said with a smirk. "I can get Fang to do anything I want."

We laughed at how ridiculous that statement was.

A mail truck sputtered up the street and stopped in front of James's home. An older man with white hair and a friendly smile exited. James got up and met the man before the mail could be placed in its box.

"Hey, Pops," James greeted him.

"Afternoon, Iggy," the mailman returned. "Tell your mom I said 'hi'."

"I will." He sauntered back towards me while the mailman continued his route.

I raised an eyebrow. "Iggy?"

He shrugged. "What? It's a nickname. Iggy was the name of my old dog that died. We were so inseparable that everyone in my family started getting our names confused. So I'm Iggy."

"And how does the mailman know this and I don't?"

"He's my grandfather."

"Oh." So much for being friends.

"I should put this inside for my mom to see first when she gets home… before I tell her about the broken window."

I snorted. "Good luck with that conversation."

"I told you, she's so used to it that it hardly bothers her anymore. She has a good deal worked out with the window company because we're frequent customers." He chuckled to himself.

"Wow, that's pathetic," I laughed.

"You see, that's what you need to do. You need to relax more. Life is too short to spend all your time so tense and worried about everything."

"And what's the other option? Shooting toy helicopters through windows?"

"Hey! I thought I could make it fly faster."

I laughed and shook my head. See, I'm not completely hopeless. I still had my sense of humor, even if it was rather dry. It was times like these that made the past two months bearable. When I got tired of having fun with my family or Fang, I had a friend in James — now Iggy — to turn to. They were mostly escapes, but it did help ease the pain. But just a little.

After our jibes had calmed down, Iggy stretched and rose to his feet. It was crazy — he wasn't even fifteen yet, but he was already six feet tall. The same height as Fang, who had turned fifteen last month. It was also weird how similarly they were built: tall, thin, corded muscle. Much like my own build. But that was the way we were designed to be. Which means that whoever had created Fang and me had similar plans for Iggy, too.

"Let's go inside; it's getting real hot out here," he suggested.

"Agreed." I could really use some air conditioning right about now, but it looked like he needed it, too. His face was flushed and the sweat was visible on his brow.

We worked our way toward his quaint abode, a nice-sized, soft yellow home with bright red awning covering the front porch. Flowers planted in pots sat on the front window sills. I was a couple steps behind James, when he suddenly stopped.

I nearly ran into him. "What the heck, Iggy?" I complained.

"Ah!" he shouted, dropping the pile of mail he'd been holding.

I peered around him to see what the problem was, but I could smell it before I saw it. Carbon dioxide, smoke.

The papers that had fallen to the ground were on fire.


Ha-ha, I'm so evil. The proper way to begin a new story is with a cliffhanger. Oh, how this story will be full of them. But I don't want to give too much away. ;) And as a side note, everyone should go to the NHL website and watch the video of the puck getting lost in Antti Niemi's hockey equipment. HILARIOUS! :P Or strip shootout from the Tampa Bay Lightning was funny, too. GO FLYERS!!!! :D :D :D

Please Review!!

--biteoutoflife--