Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Maximum Ride. James Patterson does.
Author's Note: First chapter is up! I hope you enjoy! R&R. I'm hoping to get chapter 2 up too! C:
A small beam of light broke through the darkness that surrounded me. It flickered each time I blinked or at least I think I was blinking. Every time I closed my eyes, it just felt like I was sinking back into the darkness, so instead, I fought to keep my eyes open, spurred on by the momentary brightness in some distant corner of my mind. Slowly, that light began growing and I felt more aware of my surroundings. Sounds flooded my eardrums and light through my eyelids. I could hear voices and see faces; they were blurry, but they were there. After blinking a few more times, the picture in front of me began to focus. It was a welcome sight after being in that darkness for god knows how long.
But only then, did I realize that I had no idea who these people were.
"Max! Are you alright?" A boy's voice drew my attention to him. I caught sight of orange hair and light blue eyes before a flurry of ensuing questions bombarded me from all directions. I was still caught on the first word that boy said though. Who's Max? That question swarmed in my head, urging my still buzzing mind to think.
I was in a room of some kind, on something soft. My back ached so much, but I was too confused to really pay much attention to it. What had happened? Who were these people? Questions flooded my own mind as I tried to recall even an inkling about all of this, but my mind was as blank as the darkness that had surrounded me moments before. Who was I?
"Wait, who are you?" I pointed to the first boy, with pale blue eyes. He held my hand, his touch light and comforting. I looked down at his long slender fingers and something triggered in my mind. I knew him and he, apparently, knew me. But I couldn't place a name to his face. "And you, you, you and you." I added, my gaze flickering to each of the people surrounding me. They all wore identical expressions of concern and confusion, a feeling that was no doubt mirrored on my face. A look passed between the tall boy and a small girl. The girl had been so quiet that I hadn't even noticed her until now. Her blond curls fell around her face, highlighting her features nicely. She's so cute. An errant thought ran through my head, though it was quickly pushed away by the more pressing matters at hand.
The boy's mouth opened in an 'o' shape and his eyes looked troubled, though his expression turned into a knowing one as he brought his gaze back to mine. Those eyes… they were so familiar. Ugh! What was wrong with me?
"You don't remember?" He asked, his voice slightly pained. The room was oddly quiet, except for the rapid beating of four other hearts. Actually, I was pretty surprised that I could hear the fast hum of thump thump, thump thump, at all.
I shook my head at his question. "No, am I supposed to?" The tension in the room was getting to me. They were only a bunch of kids! But they were so mature, so sober, it actually amazed me. Max! Can you hear me? A small, albeit soft, high-pitched voice rang in my head. I felt my eyes widen in surprise as I met the unflinching gaze of the small girl, her deep blue eyes fixed intently on this. Who's Max? Me? I thought, letting my confusion and panic swarm my brain.
The small girl gave a barely perceptible nod just before the orange-headed boy started talking again. God, I really needed to know their names.
"I guess not. I'm Iggy," he said, giving me a small smile. Despite still not knowing anything, I felt slightly reassured that they were going to introduce themselves. I hated being in the dark about these things, no pun intended.
A black haired, brown skinned girl stepped up, her dark brown eyes the size of fish bowls, as she introduced herself. "I'm Nudge! And I guess it's nice to me-" she was cute off by the younger boy's snicker. His eyes looked the same as the small girl's and I could only guess that they were related.
"My name's the Gasman, but you can call me Gazzy!" He said, shooting me a grin. I liked him already, and then of course, the small girl spoke. As soon as the words left her mouth, I knew that the voice inside my head had belonged to her.
"And I'm Angel. Oh, and this is Total," my attention followed her gaze as a small, black dog jumped into my lap. His eyes sparkled with intelligence as he too, introduced himself, much to my surprise.
"Gawsh, it's nice to see you, Max. I'm Total," his voice was scruffily and rough. Besides the whole talking dog thing, he was actually quite cute.
"Wow, you can talk…." I commented, more to myself than anyone else. Total nodded –such a human action- and I couldn't help but notice the brief flash of annoyance in his eyes.
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm still not quite over the wings yet either," he muttered pointedly.
