Hey guys, so, like I said last time, these first few chapters will be a little short, but don't worry. I have a ride planned out for ya.

Chapter Three

Fang and I walked out of my room and went to go tell the others. I couldn't believe that this was happening. Thinking it, that was one thing, but saying out loud, that was a different matter entirely. Saying it out loud would make it real, it would no longer just be in my head. When you think something, it's like, you know, maybe it won't happen. Like maybe there is something you can do to prevent it. There's also the hope that the people around you have. Saying it out loud is like losing all hope entirely. It's like in a war, if you know you're losing, but keep it to yourself, the others still have a little bit of hope, but when you tell everyone else that you're pretty much doomed, you just accepted defeat. And in a way, this is war. Without realizing, I stopped walking, Fang didn't notice so he kept walking, but after about three steps he realized I was no longer next to him, so he turned around and saw me just standing there, not moving, staring down at the floor.

He turned around to look at me, "Max, really, there's nothing we can do, she's gone." Then he winced at his own words, realizing how harsh and cold he sounded, "Wait, I'm not saying this right," heck yeah, you're not, "What I mean is, since your mom isn't going to be coming in anymore, the kids need someone strong to take care of them, they need someone to watch them."

"But you're older than me, you should be watching them, not me."

"Only one thing you said was actually right. I am older than you, but just think about what a, well, crappy leader I would be. I'm not made of leader material."

"What?" My voice came out barely even a whisper.

He then just smirked at me. "There's no way you'll ever get me to say that again. Come on." And with that, he walked away, but I saw him stop a little ways away. Ha! I knew he would wait. Point one for Max! Oh wait, point one million and one for Max? Yeah, that's a bit more accurate.

He looked back at me and just looked slightly annoyed, I could tell he was trying not to be annoyed by me, since this was a pretty big deal and it affected me the most. Well, it affected Iggy as well, but I was always closer to mom that Iggy ever was. It's not because she liked me more or anything, I actually don't know why it was, but Iggy never really felt comfortable around Mom. He loved her and everything, but you could tell that he was always tense around her. God knows why.

"Come on." Fang said stiffly, but I could tell he was trying to be nice, but he was never really one for kindness. Actually, today shocked me pretty bad, he talked more today than he ever talked in his whole life! I ran up to him, and then we walked to the others.

"Guys, Max has something she wants to tell you guys, but you guys have to stay calm. If you guys lose your minds we might as well go turn ourselves in to the cops. Get it? Got it? Good." The others looked confused by his this, but they nodded anyways.

I took a deep breath, "Okay, you guys. My mom won't ever be coming back, she's never been late before, and since she is now, the only thing that we can assume is that she got caught," I turned to look at Iggy, and he looked as though he was trying to keep himself from crying. He has always tried to be strong, and I admire him for that, but right now, I just wanted to hug him and let him sob into my shoulder. Nudge and Angel, noticing this, walked up to him, and each held one of his hands and walked him to the couch and told him to sit down. He sat. It's always great to think that they actually think about each other as a family. In the beginning everyone but Fang and myself would fight with each other, but now they are all the best of friends. Okay, I didn't fight with Fang because I was afraid of him. He was a very terrifying child. Every time I looked at him, I literally saw my life flash before my eyes. It was, like, two seconds and I still got bored in the middle. Haha, kidding! Wow, how can I crack jokes at a time like this? I continued, as though I didn't just make a joke about how pathetically boring my life was, "Since she's never going to be coming back in, we have enough food and supplies to last us only three months. No more, no less. And, now that they caught her, they'll know a little bit about us, so we have to sharpen our skills.

"I mean, look at me, I can walk through solid objects, and sometimes it doesn't work and I end up running into a wall and giving myself a headache. You guys remember that time I broke my nose? And what about my forcefields, they can't last longer than 30 seconds. Pretty pathetic if you ask me. I know that I definitely need to do something about that. We don't know how much longer we can go before we get caught, but whenever that happens, we need to be ready. Fang, what do you need to improve on?" One by one, I was going to ask each of them what they needed to improve on. If they had a goal that they were aiming for, it would definitely help us.

I could tell Fang really didn't wan to to do this, but one glare from me, and he started talking, "I need to improve my skill to manipulate darkness. Anything that I make always evaporates in a minute. If we're going to fight, I'm going to need to make a weapon that doesn't evaporate the second it makes contact with something else."

"Um...okay, just don't make anything too lethal. Alright?" I looked at him, and he just shrugged. Wow, do my words mean nothing to him? "Okay then, Iggy? How about you?"

"I need to improve my aim. Um...if that's possible, since my aim is already so totally awesome. Have you ever seen me throw my Swiss Army Knife, or anything at all. I never miss, well, okay, I might miss once in a while, but that's why I need to practice, right?" I nodded at him. For someone who was thirteen, he was so immature, it's cute.

"Nudge?"

"I need to learn to control my poison. I mean this is totally crazy, I can't even touch anything because if I do then it gets poisoned. How sucky is that?! Like, do you remember that time I touched a flower without my gloves on? It was so pretty and it totally wilted. I want to learn to control my powers because I'm tired of wearing my gloves and-" I looked over and saw that Iggy slapped his hand over her mouth, and I gave him a grateful look.

"Gaz?"

"I need to control my fire and learn how to not start forest fires. I mean seriously, who starts forest fires?" Oh, I don't know. You? I chose not to say that.

"Good. Angel?"

"I just want some sort of power. I have nothing. I have nothing but wings that I can't even use." She demonstrated by flapping her wings up and down, but only getting a foot off the ground.

"Then that could be what you should try to improve on, try and get higher than three feet off of the ground, like your brother." I motioned with a hand to Gazzy, who spread out his wigs to their full length, looking proud. I wanted him to always look like that.

"Okay." She nodded at me, and gave me an adorable little smile that melted my heart. Honestly, she could probably make the most evil person on the planet turn good with that smile. Oh, and the Bambi eyes wouldn't go amiss.

Fang looked at me and asked, "So, when do we start?"

"Right now. Guys, grab whatever you'll need and meet me in the backyard." And with that, I gave them one last look, turned to the wall, concentrated, and walked right through it. Yes, it worked!

So... How was it. Review! *Bambi eyes*

fly on,

Demonic Angel