Dylan's POV
Sarah. Everything about her was mesmerizing. The way she smiled, yet hid herself at the same time. The way she looked up from her food and stared with those beautiful eyes gave me chills. It felt so wrong, yet so right. She was exactly like Max, who I was made for, yet nothing like her at all.
I felt sort of like a stalker just staring at the girl. While her and Max talked, I tried to sort out my feelings, but it seemed impossible. I was attracted to both of them, and that couldn't be right. I would be exactly like Max, but I wouldn't be hurting anyone if I chose. Max breaks my heart every time she looks at me and I don't know if I can handle that. If I can move on, I should. Too bad I was programmed to like Max! Ugh. This is so confusing.
I suddenly remembered who was sitting right next to me. A stinking mind reader. I was relieved to see her staring at Max and Sarah instead of me. That doesn't mean anything, though. Angel can be a sneaky one.
When our food was ready, we got and even larger table by combining two big ones and all sat down. Surprisingly, Sarah came too. The closer she got, the more my heart pidder paddered. She sat down and made eye contact with me. I glanced over at Max to see a confused look across her beautiful face. Embarrassed, I blushed and looked down.
"First things first," Max said between mouthfuls, "we gotta find Fang."
"Who's-," Sarah started but Max cut her off and explained, "Your brother, my boyfriend."
Her voice was like music to my ears. It was soft, but firm, and it had a melodic feel to it, like she sings a lot. I wanted to hear more.
"We're gonna start by heading home and packing a backpack. We'll stay at home tonight but leave at dawn tomorrow morning. We're heading to the School. Sarah, explain what you told me about your experience there just two days ago," Max instructed.
Sarah looked like she had been eager to speak up, but she knew it wasn't her place. "They captured my flock and me in our sleep. They simple knocked us out with a gas and then took us to the School. I had to go through the most tests. They tested my gifts, and they put me through some hard stuff. I only got about 3 hours of sleep a night, and the rest of the day, I fought Erasers and whatever else those twisted people could come up with. One time, I even versed a computer. They fed me a bowl of oatmeal a day. That was it. My flock got a buffet for every meal. I didn't understand. They had a few tests the first day, then after that, they just chilled in their cages. The last full day I was there, the scientists brought us all out into an arena, like the Hunger Games. They started by lining us up. First, they shot a boy my age, Jerome. He didn't die at first. He laid on the ground in pain, and the rest of us had to watch. Then, they put 300 Erasers on one kid, Brayden. He's your age," She pointed and Gazzy and blinked many times before continuing, "He fought until he just couldn't take it. He killed probably 200 of them before they got him. Next, they killed off Caroline. She was your age," Sarah pointed at Nudge this time, "She was the only one who hadn't developed gills at this point. They drowned her. She made her way to the surface, but they kept pulling her down until she died. After that, it was just Holiday, Alex, and me. They killed Holiday by electrocution. They sat her in a chair and shocked her heart until she kicked the bucket. She was just like you, Angel." Sarah paused for a moment and she looked down. I saw a tear roll down her cheek and she nonchalantly wiped it, trying to be strong. "After that, they left. After 5 hours, they came back with a saw. They hung Alex upside-down." The tears were streaming down her cheeks now, but she kept a steady tone. "They started from the crotch. The wicked people sawed Alex in half from the groin to his brain, and he was alive for all of it until they sawed through his main blood vessel in his abdomen. I still remember his last words as they started sawing him. 'I love you, Sarah. I'll see you in heaven. Take care of yourself, baby. Promise me you won't worry about me too much. I love you with all my heart. Don't you ever forget that.' Just two seconds after that, he was gone."
Sarah looked up and around. Everyone was silent, even Nudge. My heart ached for her and I felt her pain. She lost her flock. Once the tears stopped, she continued.
"My point wasn't for you to have nightmares your whole life. I want you to realize, they may want to do the same to you. We have to get in and out. My flock could still be alive now if we would've left. They didn't feel threatened. So, we just chilled. NEVER chill at the School." Sarah sounded exactly like Max did, a mother in training. Sarah definitely had practice doing Max's job.
I glanced over at the familiar blonde that was curiously looking at me. When we made eye contact, she gave me a look that said 'I don't know what you're thinking, but watch it, Mr.'
Max spoke up, "K, guys, lets head home!"
We threw away all our trash (which was a lot) and took off.
When Sarah unfurled her wings, I couldn't help gasping at the beautiful sight. They were like 14 feet of black coal and gray dust that eventually made it to white snow. I noticed Max staring at them. I wished I had gifts like Angel so badly. Maybe we could go for a flight together tonight and I could hear Max's opinions.
I would definitely like that.
Sorry I didn't post yesterday! I'm going to try to post as often as I can. I've been writing in all my free time. Also, I meant to include Fang in this chapter, but I just ran out of time. Don't worry, you'll hear from him soon! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Also, I searched gruesome ways to be executed, and "sawing" was number one!
-Hilary
