Just a general warning to all. Yes, I am aware that the characters are OOC. As I get into the swing of things, I'll do my best to perfect them to the best of my abilities. On another note, though this is a Max/twilight crossoverish story, it is decidedly more flock then vamp. This story takes place after MAX and part way through New Moon, just a heads up.
Other then that, I hope you enjoy!
~Selkie
The monsters finished punching a whole into the dome and water quickly swooped in, filling the rooms and throwing my mom hard against the glass. No, mom, no! The thought circled in my head and I darted forward in true Max fashion, without thinking. The power of the surging water bashed me against the broken glass, shredding my skin and bruising my body. The pain and the cold were intense, but I couldn't stop, my hand closed around my mom's arm and I pulled with all my might, swimming against the current and pushing her into the giant snot bubble. Hitting the air pocket within, I dragged mom with me, making sure she was safe before succumbing to the pain raging inside my own body and blacking out.
I tossed and turned, groaning and whimpering as the pain seared anew, coursing threw my veins.
The world slowly came back. In pieces, first a smell, antiseptic, frightening in it's burning scent. A feeling next, more a pressure, something in, or on, my hand, I wasn't sure which. Last, sounds. Steady breathing, Fang? The whirl of machines. Where was I? I took a big breath and "AAAAHHHH!" the pain flared up and its unexpected return left me gasping for breath, each intake of air more painful then the last.
"Max, it's okay." Fang's voice was full of concern. "You've been hurt."
Well no duh. I wanted to say, but I couldn't grab enough breath to get the words out. My back hurt, my sides ached and my throat burned. What had happened?
"She's awake?" I could never forget that voice, Jeb.
Fang nodded, his dark eyes never leaving mine.
"Does she. . . " Fang cut him off with a shake of his head. Sighing, I felt Jeb side on the corner of the bed, his face coming into view. Something akin to sadness darkened his features. "Max, you've been in a terrible, terrible accident. When you went to save your mom, you . . . cut yourself up pretty good. You broke most of your ribs too. When you got hurt, you must have swallowed some of the contaminated water. Though your body has dealt with the poison well, it has scared your throat."
Fang squeezed my hand. "It's not a quick fix Max." He looked me straight in the eye. "Your wings, they've been badly hurt. Worse then we've ever had. It's going to be awhile Max."
"Max." I heard Jeb's voice far away, "You may not heal from this. Your wings might not be able to fully heal."
I hoarse cry escaped as I thrashed about, never heal means never fly.
I knew what I had to do; I knew it was for the best but the realization still stung.
"It will be just until your healed, Max." My mom said soothingly, "Its just that I think you will be safer if you were to be alone. That way, we won't have to worry about flying kids being spotted in the area and having to move you before you are able to."
My expression was blank, stone. Leave the flock? We had already done the split up thing and it didn't work.
"What about finding a deserted island for a while?" Throwing out one of Fang's constant suggestions.
"And how do you suppose you get there?" He countered, siding incredibly with my mom.
My mouth hung open, but he continued, his eyes sad. "Max, right now the best thing is for you do go. It's not safe for you to be with us and it's not safe for us to be tied down by you."
Shock. Sorrow. Betrayal. Anger.
I bolted up right in my bed, just managing to stifle a scream. It took me a moment to get my bearings. It's one thing to have a nightmare; it's completely different when that nightmare is just a part of your life. Silent tears trickled down my checks and I rubbed them away angrily.
A year. That's now long it had been since Fang's stinging comments. A year since I last saw the Flock and a year since my mom had shipped my off to this Godforsaken town to live with a friend of hers.
In the small town of Forks, Washington I hide under the guise of Bella Swan, long lost daughter to police chief Charlie Swan. I worked hard at being ordinary, flying (or rather walking now) under the radar as best I could. My objective was to get better as quickly as possible. And for the most part I did heal quickly. Within weeks my throat was better and my ribs had mended. The scrapes up and down my back had healed to scars and the last traces of contaminated water had left my system. The only thing lagging behind where my wings.
When I had hit the broken glass on my way in to save my mom, the jagged edges had raked across my back, grabbing feathers and ripping out chunks from my wings. Gory? Tell me about it. So far the bones had healed, but the muscle and tendon damage wasn't going so well. After a year my wings at least look whole. No more gapping wounds and missing feathers. But the muscles weren't strong enough. Not nearly strong enough.
So here I was, no wings, no Flock, no life. Even the semblance of an existence that I had scrounged up here had been destroyed months ago when Edward Cullen had decided that I was no longer an amusement. Hurt and anger flared up at the thought of him. Was it not bad enough that I had to lose one family? Now that the Cullen's had left I felt even more alone, even more broken. And believe you me, that is not a feeling I like.
I did have Jacob Black though. My best friend, who just happens to be a werewolf (am I the only one who sees the irony in that? Werewolf/Eraser. . . heh). I don't know how I could get through this without him. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age. Maybe I just miss the feeling of family. Or maybe it's just been way WAY too long since I've ripped someone apart.
Rolling over, I saw the dark head of the boy in question resting on the edge of my bed and I frowned trying to think of why he would be here. I took me a second, but the burning in my throat that hadn't dissipated with my dream gave it away and I groaned at the fact that I, bird-girl with gills, had to be saved from drowning. To clarify even farther, I was drowning because the water temperature was way colder then I expected, that is once I hit the water after jumping off of the tallest cliff I could find, just so I could hear a voice in my head.
If any of you were wondering, yes, I am clinically insane. Got the certificate to prove it!
Jacob stirred and looked at me groggily. "Good, you're awake. How do you feel?"
"Like I just drank a gallon of sea water." I croaked, which made him roar with laughter. The laughter was short lived however.
"What were you thinking Bells?" he asked, "You could have been killed! Do you know how devastated Charlie would have been? And on the day of Henry's funeral too?"
I hung my head in shame. Charlie did take his responsibility for me very seriously, to the point that he was as close to a father figure as I've ever had. Jeb excluded. Jake was right, if any day was a good day for that, today was not. Charlie was grieving for the sudden loss of one of his best friends, Henry Clearwater, to a heart attack.
A knock at my door interrupted my musing. "I'll get it." Jake offered, leaving me alone to struggle out of bed and dress.
"What the hell are you doing here bloodsucker?" I heard Jacob growl and my blood ran cold.
"I could ask you the same thing, dog." A song-like female voice hissed back.
Cloths forgotten, I raced down the stairs in my pjs, almost tripping on the last one but managing to catch myself just in time. "Alice!" I cried, throwing myself at her and wrapping my arms around her icy cold body.
"B-bella?" she asked in wonderment, returning the hug. "But, are you alright? What happened?"
I looked up at her in confusion.
"I saw you jump off a cliff and not come back up." She explained.
"Uh, ya, extreme sports you know. I got out though. With Jake's help."
"I see." She glanced at Jacob, who glared back.
"Ya, so she's alright. You can leave now." Jacob held the front door open and gestured out.
"Jake, she's a friend. Come in Alice." I chastised him.
Harrumphing, Jacob crossed his arms and stocked into the kitchen.
"How is everyone? Is Esme doing well? Emmett staying out of trouble?" I asked, ready to gobble up any news she could give me.
"Esme's doing well, she misses you. Of course Emmett's not staying out of trouble. Are you kidding me? Esme's about to kill him."
In the living room I sat on the couch listening to her go on about all the antics Emmett has been up to over the last few months, what she's been doing and how Esme is fairing in Alaska. I sat there in awe, taking it all in, reveling in the fact that she was here.
"Uh, Alice?" I asked after awhile. "You look like you could use a bite to eat." I had only just noticed her eyes a shade darker then they should be.
She laughed musically. "You're right, I was worried about how Charlie was taking the news of your death and hadn't bothered to stop." She glanced out the back window. "If you don't mind, I'm just going to head out for a moment."
I nodded in ascent and watched her leave gracefully in search of a quick meal. A shaky breath escaped my lungs.
"Either she goes or I do." Jacob snared from the kitchen. He leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed, glaring out at empty space.
I grinded my teeth and glared at him. "Can't you please, just deal with it for a little while? I mean, is it really that hard?"
"Yes!" he spat back and I recoiled slightly. The shrill ring of the phone spared us both.
"What?" Jacob growled into it. He face twisted into barely contained fury. "He's at the funeral."
"Who was that?" the voice startled me and I turned to see Alice returning, quickly just as promised. Another phone buzzed, and Alice reached into her pocket to retrieve her cell. "Yes?" pause. "What?! Rose, how could you?" pause. "She's right here in front of me. Alive!" another pause. "Sorry doesn't quite cut it right now." She slammed the phone shut.
"Family issues?" Jacob smirked, "Your 'dad' just called too."
"That wasn't Carlisle you stupid mutt." Alice snarled, "That was Edward who now believes that Bella is dead! You moron."
"What does it matter if he thinks she's dead anyways, he's the one who left." Jacob growled back.
"That, dog, is none of your business."
"Come on guys, it's fine." I stepped between them. "It's a quick fix, we'll go and find him and tell him I'm alive." I swallowed. "Then we can all just go back to how it is now."
Alice pressed her eyes with her fingers. "It's not that easy Bella. First he'll need to see you as proof. Even if you were dead, we'd all tell him you weren't just to get him back. Second, we need to get him out of there."
"Out of where?"
Alice looked at me pleadingly. "I know this is a lot to ask of you Bella, especially after everything we've put you through. I need you to come with me, to help get him out."
"Of course, Alice." I rolled my eyes, as much as I didn't want to see Edward, Alice was one of my best friends. "But where are we going?"
"Florida. There is a research facility out there that he's heading to called The Company. They can . . . help him do what he wants."
I didn't like the sound of that. "And what exactly does he want?" I asked apprehensively.
She looked me straight in the eye. "To die."
"Well let him." Jacob interjected with a huff. "Good riddance."
"Jake, shut it!" I glared at him. "Why the hell does he want to die? If I wanted to kill myself that would be my own decision and would have nothing to do with him." I growled myself. "Jake, tell Charlie I've got to run out for a bit. I'll be back as soon as I can." I grabbed my wallet from the table by the front door. "Come on, Alice, we've got a dumb ass to save."
"Bells, you can't just leave. This has nothing to do with you!" Jacob walked after me as Alice and I made our way towards the Mercedes. "Just look after Charlie for me." And with that I slammed the car door shut just in time too. Alice gunned it out of the driveway, heading towards the highway.
"Flying or driving?" I asked, dreading that flying was the answer.
"Driving, there are no flights until late tonight, we'll get there just as fast if I drive." She answered.
I took a deep breath and settled back into the seat. Florida. I groaned at the thought. My last experience in the sunshine state hadn't been all that great. Itex and all. And here I was again, heading off to the same state to find another research facility that was going to try to kill Edward. Great . . . I closed my eyes and prayed for fortune to smile on me, just this once.