The Revenge of Mr. Chu.
Lissa
I screamed. I was running, running away from those people, stumbling through the leaves and tree roots. I stopped abruptly. Silence. Where had they gone? I turned around slowly, as a huge…thing….flew out of a tree. Right at me. I opened my mouth to scream….
And then I woke up.
I was lying on the exact same piece of ground as in my dream, but I was curled up in a sleeping bag, shivering violently.
I stood up slowly, scared that the monster might be back. I shook my head. I'd obviously been watching too many horror movies recently. I hated horror movies, but Sam loved them, and since the incident in the museum, I had tried to reconnect with him. I didn't remember anything about my time in the museum, before staggering back to Sam and being publicly dumped. But I had the strangest feeling- I had seen Nick. Nick and his siblings. But he wasn't called Nick. He was called….Jaws? …it had been something to do with teeth, I knew. Fang. I didn't know what to make of this. Fang? What sort of freak would name their child that. The word freak brought back another memory. Max, not Maxine, Max staring at me, fury boiling in her eyes, mixing with….pain. And hurt. And almost…regret? I frowned, trying to see more. The picture vanished, leaving me even more confused than before. I blinked, then picked up my makeup bag and clean clothes and trekked off to find a bathroom, one step further in my Search for the Flock.
Looking back, I don't know why I called them the flock.
It was snowing. I shivered. I had been walking for hours, looking for somewhere to stay. I thought I deserved it, what with tomorrow being my birthday. I needed a motel, something cheap yet warm. I walked along the highway, my hair dancing wildly in the wind.
"Room 89." said the Receptionist, smiling as she handed me the key.
"Ok." I mumbled back, knowing how foolish I must have looked in my sodden, dirty clothes, hair matted and greasy. I shuffled off towards the elevator. I felt a strange sensation, as if I was being watched. I turned and looked back at the entrance desk. The woman was glaring at me, smile gone and eyes cold. She looked pointedly towards a small sign on the wall reading 'Please leave the Motel as you would expect to find it' and then at the thin trail of grime I was making along the fluffy beige carpet. Whoops. I increased the pace of my shuffling across the room and pressed the elevator button, willing it to be quick. It didn't come. I shuffled my feet a bit, then stopped when I saw the mess it made. The elevator still hadn't come. I glanced back at the girl, caught her expression and fled up the stairs, rounding the corner just in time to hear the small Ping! Of the elevator arriving.
Max
We checked into the motel kinda late. I, personally didn't want to, but it was snowing and eventually that, combined with a mind controlling six-sorry, seven year old and bambi eyes,
won me over. So, I wasn't quite in the best mood for conversation. I think the receptionist might have grasped that.
"So, that will be two hundred and ten dollars, for two deluxe rooms." She cowered away from my glare. "If that's ok…?" She trailed off.
I glanced at Angel. She coughed, straightened up and looked the girl squarely in the eye.
"It said it was 2-for-1 outside." She announced, her challenging gaze distracting the girl from the wave of confusion sweeping her mind.
"Honest." Angel added, pulling her look-at-me-I'm-adorable face.
The girl looked bewildered. "oh-ok." She stammered, handing me the keys. I smiled pityingly at her, the walked off, the flock trailing behind me.
I grinned as, with a startled "What!?!" She came to her senses, just as the elevator doors thumped shut. I also thought I saw a small, bedraggled figure with red hair- which was generally enough to get my blood boiling in a second- come in the door, but ….let's just say I got a little distracted by Fang….
Lissa
The shower didn't work. Well, it produced cold water. Cold! By the time I settled into bed, I might have been clean, but I was also shivering and back in my dirty clothes. Not only that, but the people next door were making a little too much noise laughing at some rubbish sitcom I had seen a thousand times at home. I snuggled down into the sheets, burying my head under the pillow.
Max
"You ok?" Fang asked quietly.
"Yeah." I muttered back. " But….. I'm just so damn cold." He laughed.
"Well, we could always go back inside." I listened to the sound of Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy and Total laughing at the TV and winced.
"I'll pass on that." I murmured. "Being cold is better than having my eardrums bust by a load of hyper bird kids." I smiled. He wrapped his arms around me from behind. We were standing on a tiny balcony leading off our (deluxe) room watching the traffic stream past over the thick blanket of snow.
"It's kinda peaceful here." He sighed. "Apart from the traffic." I laughed.
"Apart from the traffic. And mob of cola- hyped kids behind us." I reminded him. He chuckled, then abruptly leaned down and kissed me. I sighed with pleasure, leaning into him in our little bubble of love and happiness and mushiness and tangled arms. Ugh.
Lissa
Next door took until midnight to calm down. I did consider storming through the door that connected our two rooms, but it sounded like I was heavily outnumbered, and I was trying to avoid any more public embarrassment. I heard a stern female voice yelling at them all. Maybe it was a school trip. Was that even allowed? Ten minutes later, I dozed off.
Max
We went back in when we felt they'd had enough fun. (a.k.a when the couple below started contemplating whether or not to complain to a member of staff). I was all for letting them go and complain( What can I say- I missed the good old fights that 'lying low' lacked), but Fang put his foot down. I walked in just in time to see Gazzy hurl a huge handful of slime-green Jell-O across the room. Right at Iggy's head.
"Gaz!" I screamed, as the blob splattered- with a very satisfying sound, I have to admit- into Iggy's hair. He shook his head, sending goo chunks flying and charged straight at Gazzy, roaring like a bull.
"Stop!" I screamed. "Do you want to fight with our neighbours?"
Gazzy stopped his counter-attack and looked at me. "Hell yeah! Lets go!"
He yelled. I glanced in desperation at Fang. He raised his eyebrows, then sighed.
"She said shut up!" He bellowed. Gee, I hadn't heard him yell like that in years. How I missed all those chaotic family arguments.
The room fell silent. How did he do that?
"Ok Fang." Nudge murmured obediently, before an evil glint came into her eye. "We thought you were gonna be gone hours. I checked on you earlier and you looked…a little busy." She smirked. I glared at her. Fang coughed proudly, if that's possible. I glanced at him, bemused. Only Fang could cough proudly. Why he was so proud I had no idea. But anyway, back to the situation at hand.
"Angel and Nudge, turn off the TV, pick up all the bed sheets, put them back on the bed, grab your stuff and go next door to our room-don't forget Total." I paused for breath. "Bed time for the animals. Gazzy, Ig, clean up the food, try and put the bathroom door back on it's hinges and then you guys go to bed too. Fang is watching you!" I warned.
Speaking of Fang, I turned around and looked at him. "Night, then." I mumbled shyly, feeling the intensity of Gazzy and Iggy (ok, just Gazzy)'s gazes in the back of my head. Like I wanted to say goodnight with them gawping at us like we were… well, kids with wings. Fang, of course, wasn't worried in the slightest. He picked me up, pulled me to him and kissed me fiercely. A few minutes in, Iggy coughed.
"Night then, Max." He said slowly. I ignored him until I heard the unmistakeable sound of one of Gazzy's eruptions. I froze then pulled away from Fang. I gagged and reached down to pull my sweater up to cover my nose, only to find my thin, wet grey tank top.
"Oh, Jeez." I muttered.
"You should probably go." Fang told me ushering me out of the door. We got to the doorway. He was so close to me. I grabbed his collar and pulled him down to kiss me, but pulled away soon after. I could practically see the tendrils of fart wafting over to us.
"Bye. " I started to go, but he pulled me back again. "I really do have to go!" I insisted. He smiled.
"Max, you're soaking." I looked down at my snow-soaked jeans.
"Uh…" I managed before Fang had ripped off his hoodie and handed it to me.
"Wear this." he told me, before kissing my forehead and pushing me through the door. When it shut behind me I looked at the hoodie. This was big on Fang. It was going to be tent-like on me.
Lissa
I stirred then opened my eyes the tiniest crack to peer at the clock. 3 am. Wow. Way too early. I let my head flop back into the pillow and prepared to doze off again.
Bang! The door flew open. I wrenched my eyes open. What the HELL? Was I staying in a madhouse? Then my eyes practically popped out of my head and rolled away.
"Uh, Nudge, we might need a little of that spray of yours? Gazzy had another accident."
There, in my doorway, the one leading next door was N-Fang. Without a shirt. With dripping wet hair. And sleepy, half shut eyes, that were widening rapidly at the sight of me with my hair completely poofed, eyes round with disbelief. I did the only thing I could. Screamed. At the top of my voice.
Max
SCREEEEAAAAAAMMM! I leaped up, jiggling the sofa bed I had been regulated to. Sure, it was a double, but it sure wasn't comfy. I frowned towards the source of the screeching. The door connected to Fang's room. I frowned again. I got up and walked towards it, past Nudge and Angel's sleeping forms. Only then did I remember what I was wearing. I looked down at the soft fabric, then pressed my face into the shoulder, inhaling the warm Fang-y smell. God, I was getting soppy. Remembering my mission, I marched through the door. Fang was standing, frozen, with a look of intense shock on his face, in the opposite doorway, staring into the next room, at the source of the noise. Lissa. I should have known. She saw me and took the pitch of her screaming up a few notches. There was only one thing I could do. I screamed right back.
Lissa
The memories were flashing through my brain. I remembered them all. The flock, the wings. The museum.
Fang was still standing there, staring, until she opened her gargantuan mouth. He turned slowly and carried on staring. At her.
Max
As I'm sure you can imagine, our little symphony of screaming woke up Iggy and brought Gazzy charging out of the bathroom. With no clothes on. He opened his mouth and yelled in surprise at the sight of Lissa, who by now looked close to fainting. Iggy leaped out of bed, ran over, and skidded on the TV remote, hitting his head on the floor. Not long later, he joined in the wailing. Nudge appeared from behind me, saw Iggy lying there and shrieked, rushing over to him. Oh, Jeez. This was getting ridiculous.
Lissa
I was in full panic mode. With Max and N-Fang added to the naked kid and the two who looked like they were re-enacting a scene from Titanic, this was easily the most uncomfortable situation I had ever been in. Another figure appeared in Max's bedroom doorway. I managed to shift my gaze. It was Blondie. She opened her mouth.
"Silence!" She yelled. And just like that, we were quiet.
Max
Thank God for Angel. I looked at Fang, who'd snapped out of his daze, and raised my eyebrows. What the hell was she doing here again? He shrugged, as confused as me. Angel stepped forewards.
"Gazzy, clothes." She nodded him towards the bathroom. " Nudge, sort Iggy. Max, don't let Fang pass out." She cracked a smile. "Get on with it, then."
Lissa
"She is not sleeping with me."
I had been kicked out of my motel room. At 3 am! Apparently the money I had used was fake. I was now sat opposite Max, next to Angel.
"You have a double bed!!! To yourself! What else is she gonna do, squidge into one of our singles? Go in with the boys? You remember what happened with Gazzy?" Angel's tone was resentfully stern. I shuddered. Thank God that the little blonde monster was safely in the other room, with his clothes on.
"So? She can sleep on the floor!" Max was not having any of it. The curly-haired freak piped up.
"Why doesn't Fang sleep between them?"
"Whaaat!" Cried Max.
"I'm sure Lissa won't mind" Nudge smirked at me.
And that is how I came to find myself lying on the edge of a rickety bed, while Max and Fang murmured to each other. I soooo did not want to know what they were saying.
Max
"I love you" I barely heard Fang's whisper. I smiled at him. How random. We hadn't said anything for hours, and then he came out with that.
"I love you too" I whispered back, then snuggled down into him. His smell was even better than the sweater. We stayed like that all night, with his arms wrapped around me. I don't think I'd ever had a better nights sleep.
Lissa
After a while, I couldn't stand all the creaking of the bed and just the sight of…them, Fang with his back to me and his arms around her. I got up quickly and sneaked out onto the balcony.
"Gah!" I yelled as I was grabbed from behind.
"You will be silent." A strangely metallic voice commanded.
I looked round and gasped. It was a robot. A real, live, robot. I screamed and, in response, saw Max's silhouette jerk upright in the bed.
"Lissa!" She yelled. She sounded frustrated. I wondered hopefully if her relationship with Fang wasn't working out. I hoped it wasn't.
Just then, she, Fang and the others burst out, just in time to see me whisked away by the robot.
"M-Geeks" I heard Max growl.
They deposited me on a tiny ledge on a mountainside, meters above a crevasse filled with icy water. Robots- with wings, I now noticed- filled the air, battling furiously with the flock, even the baby ones. I started to run.
Max
God, I didn't know how much longer I could stand Lissa.
Lissa
The strange robot things filled the air around me. I ran along the thin rocky ledge, panting, trying to suck in oxygen. I ran around the corner and straight into Max, which almost sent both of us fling off the edge.
"Idiot!" she yelled at me. "Do you want to kill both of us? As if it isn't your fault anyway?" Her eyes blazed with fury. I cowered away from her, into the rock. She was right. Fang, his whole family, their dog, had been put in danger because of me. I had a fleeting need to jump off the ledge, fall into the water miles below. If I wasn't so determined to stay alive, that is. Max had now found her balance and was standing , trying to fend off the masses of robots.
A small, delicate cough alerted us to another person on our ledge. I turned to see a tiny, fat Chinese man crouched a few metres away. He didn't seem like much of a threat to me, but Max's expression said otherwise. She narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms.
"Mr Chu." It was really more of a statement, not a battle cry or anything. Wasn't she going to do anything?
I looked at her, trying to scream at her with my eyes. "Do something! Kill him!"
Her eyes widened, and I thought for a moment that she had heard me, until I turned to look at the fat man, who was now wielding a chainsaw. Me and Max screamed in unison. He turned it on, and started walking slowly towards us.
"Maaaaaaaxx!" I shrieked. "Do something!! Use your superpowers!!!"
"We don't have superpowers!!! Stupid girl!" She screamed back.
"You have wings!!!" I cried. I looked in disbelief as Max shook out her wings to reveal…a large, blood covered bullet wound. Could this get any worse?
Yes, apparently. I heard a strangled cry of "Max!" and turned around to see Fang flying towards us. He made as if to fly past, then reached out and grabbed… Max. Oh no! He couldn't see me, cowering against the rock behind Max. I looked around desperately for another flock member, only to wind up back on Mr Chu, who was less than a foot away from me.
"You have nowhere to run, No-Wings-Girl!" He cried manically.
He took a step forward. I took a step back. We continued this until I was on the very edge of the cliff, with the chainsaw brushing my clothes.
Then there was an ominous crack as the piece of land I was standing on broke, making me plummet down into the icy water. Up on the cliff, Mr. Chu screamed some extra-colourful words as I plummeted down into the water.
Max
Well, they do say
Curiosity killed the Cat.
The End
I also wrote another….not so nice ending for Lissa….for the we-hate-the-red-haired-wonder people. Enjoy!
Lissa
The strange robot things filled the air around me. I ran along the thin rocky ledge, panting, trying to suck in oxygen. I ran around the corner and straight into Max, which almost sent both of us fling off the edge.
"Idiot!" she yelled at me. "Do you want to kill both of us? As if it isn't your fault anyway?" Her eyes blazed with fury. I cowered away from her, into the rock. She was right. Fang, his whole family, their dog, had been put in danger because of me. I had a fleeting need to jump off the ledge, fall into the water miles below. If I wasn't so determined to stay alive, that is. Max had now found her balance and was standing , trying to fend off the masses of robots.
A small, delicate cough alerted us to another person on our ledge. I turned to see a tiny, fat Chinese man crouched a few metres away. He didn't seem like much of a threat to me, but Max's expression said otherwise. She narrowed her eyes at him and folded her arms.
"Mr Chu." It was really more of a statement, not a battle cry or anything. Wasn't she going to do anything?
I looked at her, trying to scream at her with my eyes. "Do something! Kill him!"
Her eyes widened, and I thought for a moment that she had heard me, until I turned to look at the fat man, who was now wielding a chainsaw. Me and Max screamed in unison. He turned it on, and started walking slowly towards us.
"Maaaaaaaxx!" I shrieked. "Do something!! Use your superpowers!!!"
"We don't have superpowers!!! Stupid girl!" She screamed back.
"You have wings!!!" I cried. I looked in disbelief as Max shook out her wings to reveal…a large, blood covered bullet wound. Could this get any worse?
Yes, apparently. I heard a strangled cry of "Max!" and turned around to see Fang flying towards us. He made as if to fly past, then reached out and grabbed… Max. Oh no! He couldn't see me, cowering against the rock behind Max. I looked around desperately for another flock member, only to wind up back on Mr Chu, who was less than a foot away from me.
"You have nowhere to run, No-Wings-Girl!" He cried manically.
Max
"Fang!" I yelled over the noise. "Lissa! We need to get her!"
He looked at me in confusion, then turned round just in time for us to see Lissa…umm…shredded by Mr Chu.
"Oops." He whispered. I buried my head in his chest, trying to bury the tiny (yeah, right) feeling of satisfaction I felt in all the sadness and fear. We slowly joined up with the rest of the shocked-looking flock and flew into the sunset.
