Jeb put the syringe down. He didn't know what else to do as he took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had tried everything, putting adrenaline in an IV that was hooked up to Max, putting it into her head, even emptying the liquid contents directly into her heart. None of it helped the fact that the heart monitor in front of him was still flat-lining. None of it helped the fact that Jeb had ultimately failed.
Ari went to his father's side and took his free hand. "Daddy, will Max be okay? Can you save her too?"
"I don't think so son. I'm sorry. I just can't save everyone." Jeb admitted.
"But what about the world? Don't you need someone to save the world?" Ari pressed.
"Yep. And I know just who can do it." Jeb said, standing up and leading Ari out of the lab, where Jeb went to his car, and drove away from Max's body. Her only hope had officially given up.
Fang was sitting on the windowsill of his room. He was looking out into the dark night, reliving some of his sweetest moments of Maxness in his head.
FLASHBACK: The sun was warm as he and Max set up the volleyball net for the cook-out. Max's mom had put emphasis on only Max setting it up, but Fang had nothing else to do, so he volunteered to help her. Max had her favorite outfit on, dark skinny jeans, gray camisole, and long black boots that covered her jeans from the toe to knee. Her straight hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. She stopped hammering a peg into the ground so she could drag her hand across her sweaty forehead. She caught me staring.
"What?" she asked.
I looked down at the hammer I had in my hands. "Nothing."
"You can't lie to me." She said, trying to tie the string holding the net to the pole. My side was already tied. I went over to her, assisting her in tying the knot, no pun intended. She smiled. "Thanks."
I smiled too and bent my neck lower to quickly peck her on the lips. END OF FLASHBACK.
Fang's heart started to ache, as the sun slowly turned golden, the exact color Max's hair was when she would be flying freely high up in the sky, above where birds and planes flew, where she struggled to breathe but still enjoyed it.
Nudge knocked on the open door. "Hey, Jeb's here." She said, walking toward Fang slowly. "Will you be okay Fang?" she asked, taking his hand.
He smiled sadly. "I don't know sweetie." He confessed grimly.
"We still haven't gotten anywhere with the whole science lab thing. I've never failed at tracking something through the computer. It's terrible." She admitted. "Sorry, I know you really don't want any bad news right now."
"You can't go through life avoiding bad news." Fang mumbled, looking back out at the sunset.
Fang was still seeing Max everywhere, but now he was seeing her flying around outside, her silhouette black against the glowing sun.
"You see her don't you?" Nudge asked. Fang didn't know how to answer, so he sat there. "It's okay Fang. I see her too. She's been helping me, but even she has no idea where she is."
"Have you noticed how faint she is compared to how she was in the beginning?" Fang asked, already knowing why it was.
"Yeah, Angel says she'll probably disappear entirely in a couple of days or so. The longer she's…"
"Nudge," Fang began, cutting her off. "I really do not want to be reminded that my girlfriend is dead, okay?" he said spitefully.
"The others can't see her. I haven't told them though. It's only Angel that knows, even though she can't see Max." Nudge whispered.
Fang ignored her, and eventually she left the room. On her way out she said, "Jeb still wants to talk to you."
Grumbling a long string of profanities, Fang left the room and saw that the grim-looking flock was gathered in the living room, all listening to Jeb, who was saying that they needed to take back the School. It wasn't destroyed, and that we would find Max there. The dead Max there.
So we know that it isn't just Fang seeing Max, but he and Nudge could be going crazy. What will happen when Max disappears completely? Keep reading to find out! REVIEW!...Please.
