So, bad 5 weeks of updating for this unknown writer. I don't like making excuses, so all I'm going to say is I'm incredibly sorry and thank you guys so much for being so patient with me. I've been on the other side before, I know what it's like waiting for an update (been waiting a year for chapter 5 of a fanfic I really like). Anyway it's been crazy impossible to write nowadays and again thanks for your patience. It really helps.
Glad to see some old and new names. Thanks to DanceLikeNobodyIsWatching1997, potteride, airborn987, XxTristanStrifexX, The. Person. Who. Lived, Zoe Milex, i love tacos, 77035, whiteangel101, L -bradley-Ride, ravenwhispers, ME, Sensitivegurl, unknown, and Nobody u know for reviewing! R&R!
Chapter 2
(Fang POV)
How long had they been stuck in a cage, waiting for the person who had first greeted them before they were trapped? He didn't have a watch to tell him, having lost it ages ago, and the black blanket covering the cage had sucked up any, and all light, so Fang couldn't even judge the time of day using sunlight. But the darkness didn't bother him thanks to his raptor vision. What did bother him, was the cage.
Images of past experiences and nightmares flashed before his eyes, and even though he didn't mind the darkness, it made everything worse.
It had been more than two years since he and the flock had been in this situation. Trapped in a cage, waiting for some impending doom. A never ending circle of fighting, running, trying to get away, only to get locked up again. He'd thought that if he was careful, he could end that cycle, or at least avoid it, but he was wrong.
In the back of his mind, Fang could just here a small voice whispering, "I told you so." He knew this had been a trap. He had felt it. And now they were stuck here because of him.
"It's not your fault," Angel whispered.
Fang noticed for the first time that Angel was there sitting next to him, having been lost in thought. He glanced at the rest of the flock. They were huddled near him about three feet away. When he looked at them, they didn't look back and he realized he'd become invisible again. He shifted slightly and saw their eyes flicker to him then away, clearly lost in their own memories too.
A door creaked open and everyone jumped up.
Footsteps echoed around the room and whoever had trapped them had finally come back after about an hour of them stuck in a large cold dark cage.
Fang heard the sound of wheels squeaking and the clinking of glass. Then the noises stopped. Bright light blinded him, making his eyes sting. He heard the swish of a blanket and shielded his eyes from a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. The window blinds were drawn shut and the room was almost completely dark. The only light came from the lightbulb that had almost blinded him and the computer that Nudge had been using which was starting up again.
Fang could see someone standing in the shadows, but couldn't tell who it was. But he saw a flash of a white lab coat and he felt his stomach tighten as he clenched his fist.
"Tsk Tsk," Fang heard the voice of a man, or what sounded like a man.
An image of a brain and guts being held together in Plexiglass boxes popped into Fang's mind. The Uber Director? There was no way. He, or it, had been "destroyed" in a hurricane. But the man standing in front of them had a voice that sounded slightly robotic. Like it had been tampered with. Experimented on.
"I would know how difficult it is to capture five birds."
The man stepped into the light.
"You disappoint me."
Fang heard a gasp come out of Nudge.
"What?" Ter Borcht said with a sinister smile, "Are you surprised to see me?"
Angel covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide, "What did they do to you?"
"Do not look at me as if I am another useless experiment like you!" He spat, his eyes bloodshot red, clearly furious, but he rubbed his neck nervously and Fang saw it.
Around the neck of the former "doctor" who they hadn't seen since their episode in Germany and assumed was dead was a black collar, and hidden slightly beneath that collar was a long red scar that ran up the side of Ter Borcht's neck and to the corner of his mouth. Fang felt his stomach tighten even more as he realized it looked like Ter Borcht was drooling blood.
Fang heard some kind of mustered laugh and out of the corner of his eye he saw Iggy and Gazzy's faces turning redder and redder. Fang closed his eyes and sighed as they both burst out laughing.
"Dude," Iggy trying to control his laughter, "What happened to you?"
"I think he got so tired of us making fun of his accent that he changed his voice," Gazzy said clutching his stomach.
"And his face-" Iggy started but then stopped because he had started laughing again
"He looks like Frankeinstein," Gazzy finished for him.
Nudge and Angel were too shocked to say anything, and only grimaced at the boys' laughter. They were smart enough not to laugh during a situation like this, but Fang knew that joking around was the best way for Iggy and the Gasman to hide their fear.
"Yes," Ter Borcht said with narrowed eyes glaring at them, "Mock me now, but wait-"
"Oh wow," Iggy said leaning on Gazzy for support, "I've really missed this guy."
"You," Ter Borcht said with his new robotic voice, pointing at Fang, "You are their leader now. Make them stop if you know what is best for you."
Fang couldn't help noticing that word again, "leader." Once more someone was calling Fang the leader, and as the leader he had no intention of telling Iggy or Gazzy to do anything, even if they were acting stupid, so he leaned back against the cage bars and stared calmly at Ter Borcht.
"Useless," he hissed with that slight robotic drone in his voice, "You are all useless. If I had it my way you would all be dead!"
"Well we're not," Iggy said no longer laughing, "And we've already defeated you."
"And Itex," Gazzy added.
Fang would have thought Ter Borcht would have been even more angrier, but he smiled.
"That is what you think."
Ter Borcht walked closer.
"Besides," He said, smiling his evil smile inches from the cage, "You have already been defeated yourselves."
"What do you mean?" Fang said standing up straighter and narrowing his eyes.
Ter Borcht smirked, "Where is your precious leader?"
Rage boiled inside of Fang and all he wanted was to lunge at Ter Borcht. He could just imagine feeling his hands wrap around Ter Borcht's neck. But he couldn't thanks to the cage, something that had always gotten in his way ever since he was born. All he could do was stand there and clench his fists, feeling blood drip from his hands as his nails dug deeper and deeper into his skin.
Ter Borcht's smile grew wider, "Where is Maximum Ride?"
Fang's stomach dropped and the flock had gone eerily quiet at the mention of her name. Iggy and the Gasman were no longer laughing, and he could see Iggy chewing on the inside of his mouth, Gazzy's tears of laughter were really tears now, and Nudge was actually crying. The only one who looked calm was Angel. In fact she looked thoughtful. But Fang, who was usually the calm one, the expressionless one, was fuming with anger.
Ter Borcht ignored their reactions, didn't even realize the effect he had made.
"Now, after many years," Ter Borcht said reaching for a needle sitting on a cart Fang had just noticed, with bottles of different colored liquids and the picture of a skull and bones printed on the side. Ter Borcht smiled at them, "You are going to die."
"Fang," Nudge said looking up at him, fear in her eyes, "What are we going to do?"
Everyone was looking at Fang now, and for once...He didn't know what to do. Nudge had already tried moving the bars, but couldn't (Fang suspected that the bars of the cage weren't even metal), and Iggy and Gazzy had left their bombs and equipment outside of the cage near the computer, too far out of reach.
What would Max do? What would Max do? Fang repeated over and over in his head.
He sighed.
"Yes," Ter Borcht said, "You are all going to die, starting with," His eyes scanned the flock and his eyes landed on Angel, "Starting with the little girl."
Angel glared at him and for a second Ter Borcht looked afraid. Then a cell phone went off.
Ter Borcht cursed and answered his phone. A sudden thought hit and he turned to Angel.
"Angel can you-" Fang started.
"Shhh," She hissed, her face against the metal bars, listening in on Ter Borcht's conversation.
"Yes, but-" Ter Borcht said flustered and frustrated, "Now listen here, you- I am sorry, very sorry." There was a pause as the person on the other side started to speak. "As you wish," Ter Borcht said calmly. Another pause and he nodded with a scowl on his face then he flipped his phone shut and threw it, sending it crashing into one of the glass bottles spilling whatever chemicals he planned on killing them with.
"Looks like there is someone looking after you after all," Ter Borcht said with menace in his voice. He lost his scowl and smiled, "For now anyway." Ter Borcht pulled out a small remote control of his labcoat pocket and pressed a button. The cage started rising, very slowly, centimeter by centimeter, inch by inch. "Until then," Ter Borcht said with a wave and one last sinister smile then he was out the door, his white labcoat was the last thing Fang saw.
The cage was now more than a foot off the ground and thanks to their skinny bodies Fang and the rest of the flock were able to slip out easily. They ran out the door then stopped in the hallway.
"Which way did he go?" Gazzy asked.
A loud chopping noise answered The Gasman's question.
"Outside," Fang said.
And he was right. Outside dead leaves were making a a tornado around a helicopter. Fang caught a glimpse of Ter Borcht as the helicopter flew away.
"Aren't we going after him?" Gazzy asked looking up at Fang.
A scene of a time that seemed a million years ago flashed in Fang's mind of them chasing a helicopter because a little Angel had been captured and tied up in a bag. Angel must have been thinking he same thing because she looked up at him with a flash of fear as the memory replayed in her eyes.
Fang shook his head, "No," and they watched the helicopter until it was a little speck in the distance
"We're dealing with something really bad...right?" Gazzy asked.
No one replied and they all spread out their wings and flew away. An image of a girl Fang loved flashed into his mind as he flew away from a place he hated.
So as you can see something's going on. More on that and Ter Borcht later.
A reviewer pointed out something I didn't realize was not clear. Right now, Fang and Iggy are 17, Nudge is 14, The Gasman (a.k.a Gazzy) is 11, and Angel is 9.
A frequent comment I've been getting is about Max. Is she really gone? Yes, and no. There will be an upcoming chapter with a flashback that will hopefully explain almost everything. But she'll be mentioned a lot so technically she's still a character in this story.
I know I'm a bit unclear, but the problem with reading an uncompleted story is the wait for all the answers and everything else.
Next chapter will hopefully be out soon. I'm hoping Sunday if I have the time, but for now I'm going to be one of those writers who update randomly. Fortunately, once I get most of the chapters set up I'll be able to update every other day. In the meantime I want to thank you ahead of time for waiting patiently.
Review!
