Chapter One:
I awoke in a cage. Nothing like being stuck in a cage, right? Naw. There wasn't any light in the room I was in. There were just cages all around me…my worst nightmare…and in the one next to me sat Angel. Even though I'd been in the room before, the haunting words of Jeb ran though my mind.
"Angel!" I whispered. She shifted in her cage and moved towards my voice.
"Max? Is that you?" Oh, my baby was alive! My baby!
"Yes, baby, I'm here," I scooted over to the edge of my cage and held my hand out to her. "I'm right here," yeah, flippin' five feet away from you.
"No fair," Angel said. "You got a large cage…mine's medium size," oh my god! I was so proud of her trying to be brave and lighten the mood. You've got to start somewhere, don't you? I mean, she's only six…
"Max?" it was Fang. He was three cages down, next to Iggy who looked frightened. I kept the look of surprise from my face. He talks! But…back to Iggy. I felt bad for the poor guy. You can't see and now you're stuffed in a cage with a strange setting around you…I couldn't even imagine what he was going through. But then again, we were all going through it.
"Yeah, Fang, what's up?" he moved closer and I wished I could see his face, but it was covered by darkness…just like it always was. Dun, dun, dun!
"There's a girl here," my eyes widened. A girl? Whoa, hello!
"What do you mean?" I asked. Please, don't let him be messing with me now. Just…this… time!
"There's a girl in the cage next to me…and she's got wings," my heart almost stopped. A girl? With wings? What the frick?
"Is she…alive?" I could have kicked myself as soon as I said that. Of course she was alive!
"Yeah…but there's something different," Fang crouched up, pushing his shoulders on the top of his cage. Then he started rocking back and forth, swaying his cage. What was he doing?
"Fang, what are you doing?" Iggy asked. The poor guy.
"Give me a second, Ig-man," Fang rocked the cage harder until it started to move slightly to the left. He was moving his cage! After a few moments longer, his cage was moved almost completely behind Iggy's, though I could still see his face. Then I saw the cage next to him and I almost choked on a breath I was inhaling. Fang had been right. There was a girl. But…wait for it…
She had black wings. Just like Fang. Her hair was long and black and twisted down her right shoulder. Her skin was pale, and her eyes…oh, her eyes. They scared me the most. They were a dark black. Just like Fang's.
"Fang," I gasped. The girl could have been his sister. Or his cousin…or something.
"I know," the girl stuck a hand out of her cage and Fang stuck his back out, brushing his fingertips with hers. A pang of jealousy shocked me. Don't ask me why. "She's a test-tube baby…but we look alike, don't we?" Iggy shifted in his cage, obviously trying to figure out what Fang was talking about.
"Max?" Iggy asked. "Is she pretty?" Figures. Iggy asks me this question at the awkward-est moment. Of course. The girl looked at me with her dark eyes and I gasped silently. Angel sucked in breath next to me. She was beautiful. She wore all black, but her clothes were tight to her body, as if it was some workout thing. Her hair was long…and looked ebony from my angle. Her feet were bare and her hands looked like they were scarred from something.
"Yeah, Iggy," she smiled at me and I smiled back. "She beautiful," a door off in the distance slammed shut and the girl jumped, stretching out her wings in some defensive posture.
"What's your name?" Angel asked. She had moved closer to the girl and was smiling at her. My little angel.
"Shadow," the girl answered. Her voice was musical, but it wasn't high like most teenage girls, it was lower, but musical just the same. It sounded like…an Eraser's voice. I could feel my face whiten with dread. But I kept my Max-like-posture.
"How long have you been here?" Gazzy asked. The woman turned to him and I caught Gazzy blush. What the heck was going on with the males in my flock?
"Fourteen years," Iggy gasped and I myself felt pity for the girl. She's been here ever since we left, and she's as old as we were. Poor girl. Another door opened and closed and the sound of footsteps came on the wooden floor. A light flicked on in the room and I was temporarily blinded. As my eyes adjusted, I made a shape out standing in front of Shadow's cage. Ari. I resisted spitting.
"Time to go, sweetheart," Ari whistled. Shadow pulled herself up off her knees and stepped towards the door. Run girl, run! Ari opened it and let her out. He was so gentle with her I could have puked. "More tests," Shadow flinched and slowly crawled out of the cage. Again, poor girl…like they haven't put her through enough already? Ari put his hand on her back and led her out of the room, shutting the light off as they left. I wanted to scream, to punch something, just to…strangle Ari or something.
I stared at Fang in the darkness, trying to grasp what he was coming at. I mean, he looked pretty happy at that girl, right? Shouldn't I be worried, or something? Is he…you know…in love with her?
"Yo, Fang," he turned to me. Face seems stony, like always…hmm, maybe it was just a momentary thing. "Talk to me,"
"Why?" dang it, Fang…now you bottle up when she leaves? What the h is wrong with you?
"Uh, the girl, possibly?" Fang just looked at me with his dark eyes, like always did and played with Iggy's cage.
"What about her?" really? Going to play dumb with me, huh? The door opened again and the light flickered on. This time, someone was here for moi. Jeb stood in front of my cage and sneered down at me.
"Let's go, Max, I have something to show you," yeah, I'd like to show you a knuckle sandwich…in the face. He unlatched my cage and helped me out. I resisted growling and snapping his finger but instead, I followed him like a starving rabbit following a walking carrot. He led me out of the room and down a long hallway and into another room.
Hey guys, hoped you liked it so far! R&R please ;p
