Iggy and I walked into Barnes and Noble, looking for a quiet place and some cds while Nudge, Angel, Gazzy and Max all went shopping. I left Iggy at the music area, after finding about fifteen cds for him to listen too, and went upstairs to the young adult section. I wandered around, reading the backs of books. Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, The Vampire Diaries, Maximum Ride, Harry Potter- wait WHAT??? I whipped around and grabbed the book. Maximum Ride "The Angel Experiment.
I ripped it open to the first page and read-
The funny thing about facing imminent death, is that it snaps everything else into perspective. Take right now for instance. Run! Come on, run! I know you can do it. I gulped deep lungfuls of air. My brain was on hyper drive; I was racing for my life. My one goal was to escape. Nothing else mattered. My arms being scratched to ribbons by a briar I'd run through? No biggie. My bare feet hitting every sharp rock, rough root, pointed stick? Not a problem. My lungs aching for air? I could deal. As long as I could put as much distance possible between me and the Erasers.
Erasers? I thought to myself.
Yeah, Erasers. Mutants: half-men, half-wolves, usually armed, always bloodthirsty. Right now they were after me. See? That snaps everything into perspective. Run your faster than they are. You can outrun anyone.
How much did this… James Patterson know?
I'd never been this far from school before. I was totally lost. Still., my arms pumped by my sides, my feet crashed through the underbrush, my eyes scanned ahead anxiously through the half-light. I could outrun them. I could find a clearing with enough space for me to…. Oh, no, oh, no. The unearthly baying of blood hounds on the scent wailed through the trees, and I felt sick. I could outrun men- all of us could, even Angel, and she's only six. But none of us could outrun a big dog. Dogs, dogs, go away, let me live another day.
They were getting closer. Dim light filtered in through the woods in front of me- a clearing? Please, please… a clearing could save me. I burst through the trees, chest heaving, a thin sheen of cold sweat on my skin. Yes! No- oh, no! I skidded to a halt, my arms waving, my feet backpedaling in the rocky dirt. It wasn't a clearing. In front of me was a cliff, a sheer face of rock that dropped to and unseeable floor hundreds of feet below. In back of me were woods filled with drooling bloodhounds and psycho Erasers with guns. Both options stank. The dogs were yelping excitedly- they'd found there pray: moi.
I looked over the deadly drop. There was no choice, really. If you were me, you'd have done the same thing. I closed my eyes, held out my arms… and let myself fall over the edge of the cliff.
The Erasers screamed angrily the dogs barked hysterically, and then all I could hear was the sound of air rushing past me. It was so dang peaceful, for a second, I smiled. Then, taking a deep breath I unfurled my wings as hard and fast as I could. Thirteen feet across, pale tan with white streaks and some freckly looking brown spots, they caught the air, and I was suddenly yanked upward, hard, as if a parachute had just opened. Yow! Note to self: No sudden unfurling.
How could he possibly???
Wincing, I pushed downward with all my strength, then pulled my wings up, then pushed downward again. Oh, my god, I was flying--- just like I'd always dreamed.
The cliff floor, draped in shadow, receded beneath me. I laughed and surged upward, feeling the pull of my muscles, the air whistling through my secondary feathers, the breeze drying the sweat on my face. I soared up past the cliff edge, past the startled hounds and the furious Erasers.
One of them, hairy-faced, fangs dripping, raised his gun. A red dot of light appeared on my torn nightgown. Not today, you jerk, I thought, veering sharply west so the sun would be in his hate crazed eyes. I'm not going to die today.
Halfway in shock I skim the next chapter, certain words grab my attention. Names actually, our names.
He'd been Gasman ever since he was a baby. What can I say? Ever since birth the kids had something funny with his digestive system.
I guess if I were more of a fembot it would bother me that a blind guy six months younger than me could cook better than I could. But I'm not, so it didn't
Huh. That fit Iggy and Max to a T. What was going on here….
She was barely recongnizable with her moth shut, I thought wryly. When she was awake, we called it the Nudge Channel: all Nudge, all the time.
Will you quit that? I said. Fang always appeared silently like that, out of nowhere, like a dark shadow come to life. He regarded me calmly, dressed and alert, his dark, overlong hair brushed back. He was four months younger than me but already four inches taller. "Quit what?" he asked calmly. "Breathing?"
Now this was starting to creep me out. I remembered, when I really thought about it, having that exact conversation with Max.
"Maybe because I'm like your little girl, " said Angel, turning around to look at me. "But don't worry, Max. I won't tell anybody. Besides, I love you best too."
Flipping through and scanning more, I find that this is exactly how the hell-hole were trapped in now started. I grabbed another book. This one was called School's Out Forever. Again, I read, and read, and read. This was most definatly the story of my life. I found one incredibly interesting piece though-
Fang stood there for a moment, then his hands came up, holding her around the waist. I waited for him to push her away, hoping he would be sensitive about it, not hurt her feelings.
But I watched, dumbfounded, as Fang's hand lid slowly up her back, holding the girl closer. He angled his head so they could kiss better….
Okay. Just calm down. So he kissed someone. Big deal. Why should I care anyway?…
Maybe you have feelings for him, said my Voice.
Like I was going to stop reading after THAT. I read, and read almost the entire book, searching for more explanations. What I had done wrong, and what I had done right. Nothing really amazed me until I go to the final book, Max.
Oh, my God. It hit me like a tsunami then: how perfect he was for me, how no one else would ever, could ever be so perfect for me, how he was everything I could possibly hope for, as a friend, boyfriend- maybe even more. He was it for me. There would be no more looking.
I really, really loved him, with a whole new kind of love I'd never felt before, something that made every other kind of love I'd ever felt just seem washed up and wimpy in comparison. I loved him with every cell in my body, every thought in my head, every feather in my wings, every breath in my lungs. And airs sacs.
I nearly fell off my chair when I read that. I stood up gathered all the books and made my way to the check out area. I went and got Iggy telling him we had to go.
"MAX!" I yell, getting her attention. She eyes up my bag. I can tell that she's is secretly nervous, nervous that'd I'd found her out.
"What did you BUY?" She asks me disbelievingly. I smile.
"A series I found, I wonder if you know it?" I tease, making a trap.
"What's it called?"
"Maximum Ride." I state simply letting her eyes grow wide.