"I don't know why, but she's been awfully cheerful late—" Nudge stops in mid-sentence when I skip into the room.
I scan everyone's faces. Dylan's eyes gleam thoughtfully; Max looks like she's holding back from ripping my throat out; Fang and Iggy are emotionless; Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge all stare at me grinning; and Dr. Martinez and Jeb gaze at me like they don't know what to do with me.
I smile at them cheerfully. "Morning!"
Everyone mutters good morning, except Nudge, who says, " Good morning, Vanessa!" even more cheerfully than me.
I walk into the kitchen, ready to help myself to Lucky Charms and Dr Pepper, when I hear Jeb's voice.
"I want everyone to get to know Vanessa. So, when you go flying, I want one of you to fly with her all the time. Get to know her; let her get to know you. Is that clear?"
"Can I go first?" Angel asks.
Jeb begins to answer, but I trot in, Lucky Charms box and Dr Pepper can in hand. "Did I miss something? I heard you talking, I think."
"I think Max should go first!" Gazzy suddenly exclaims.
We all stare at him. "Go first for what?" I ask, with perfect ignorance.
"We decided—" Nudge is cut off by Max's hand over her mouth.
"Go flying. Do you want to come?" Max's offer is strained, by the sound of it.
I chug down my soda and put away the cereal box. "Sure, I'd love to!" I say, before racing out the door, off the porch, and into the air; the early summer sun is warm on my wings.
I hear the flock take off behind me, and as I climb to the sky, Max catches up to me.
"Hey, how's it going?" I ask, just like I always greeted Will.
Will… I miss him.
"Hey, Vanessa. I need to… apologize."
My eyes widen. "For what?"
"For how I acted yesterday. I feel like I was built to be suspicious. Sorry."
"It's okay. Hug?" I ask, already making my way to a tree.
She follows. "Alright, fine."
We land in the tree and hug. "I'm sorry, too, for being so mean. I think I actually was created to be like that, and I fight it as often as I can.
She laughs. "Think this'll work?"
"Yeah, I do."
"But Fang is mine," Max growls; only half-joking.
"I don't even want him. It's fine."
Max breathes a huge sigh. "Wow. I never apologize, like, ever. It feels really weird."
"I don't even remember the last time I apologized!" I laugh.
"Yeah, I think we'll be great friends!" Max's laugh is so much like Amber's…
I hope not. I don't want to kill my friend, I think darkly.
"Come on, let's go to the flock." I say.
We fly out to the flock, laughing and joking around on our way. I hear Iggy whisper to Fang, "Are they faking it? I can't tell." Then Fang's reply, "It doesn't seem like it. They must've come to an agreement."
"Not exactly," Max and I say at the same time, then we laugh.
"Wow. The impossible just became possible." Dylan mutters in wonder.
Max ignores him, while I gasp and say, "It wasn't impossible, just highly unlikely!"
Then I remember last night, and I think of Will again. I fight the tears away before they reach my eyes.
Get a hold on yourself, Vanessa. Tears are for the weak. I scold myself.
"So, Vanessa, when you were in Disneyland, did you go on Space Mountain?" Gazzy asks.
"No, Gasman, that's Disneyworld. I went to the one in California," I correct him.
"Oh, well, we went to Disneyworld once. We went on Space Mountain. We got souvenirs. Did you get souvenirs, Vanessa?" Nudge asks.
"I did, but I didn't get them for me," I mention.
"Who are they for?"
I let my smile fade, and my gaze drops to the trees below us. "Just… some people." I answer cryptically.
"Who? Are they nice? Did you meet them in Hollywood? Are they boys?" nudge questions.
"Some are boys," I say, getting a little annoyed.
"Who are they? Come on, Nessa, tell us!" Angel pleads.
"They're my flock, alright? That's who! They might be dead, anyway!" I shout, the tears finally springing to my eyes. I brush them away and zoom off, pouring no the speed. I fly ahead until I'm out of sight, then I find a cave in the mountainside. I land inside it, and once I'm as far back as the cave goes, which is about 20 feet, I curl up on the floor in a fetal ball. I allow the dam to break and silent tears to trail down my cheeks. Thoughts of my flock—my family—fill my mind. Will… Tiffy… Cal… Amber… Justin. Their faces, their voices, their familiar attitudes flood my despairing brain.
Suddenly, all of their faces become bloody, and their cheerful voices convert to screams of terror.
"NO!" I screech, covering my ears as if my tortured family's shrieks are outside my head, not inside.
Later on, I'm vaguely aware of Max's flock discovering my cavern. I hear them call my name, but I don't pay any attention. I just tighten my hands over my ears as the screeches of my flock grow louder the more I try to tune them out.
When I feel arms around me, I don't resist. I let Dylan lift me up and race out of the cave, followed by the rest of the flock. In a few minutes, the screams fade, replaced by my jumbled thoughts. Finally, some peace. I relax as dreams pull me under, for what I hope is t be the last time.
Dylan's POV
When I see Vanessa, curled up in a ball on the muddy, rocky, cold floor, my whole heart sinks. She doesn't belong on such muck, let alone in a cave!
"Vanessa?" Max calls.
"Hey, Nessa!" Angel shouts.
We all call to her, but all she does it tighten her grip on her head. Otherwise, she looks dead, laying on the floor with her back to us.
Finally, I walk over to her and pick her up. She's still close to weightless in my arms, so I race to the front of the cave and take off without the burden of weight. The flock follows me.
We fly all the way home, no stops, no words. Jeb and Dr. Martinez gaze at us worriedly when we walk in, but I ignore them and go straight to Vanessa's temporary room. Max and Nudge follow, sitting on her bed and pressing the blankets up around her chin.
"You can leave now," Max suggests with a glare.
I roll my eyes, but I leave the room, closing the door behind me. Once in the hall, I sit down, my back against the door. Max and Nudge won't let anyone in through the window, and I don't let anyone in through the door.
Throughout the day, people come to check on Vanessa—apart from Fang—and I always tell them the same thing.
"She's fine. No need to worry," I continue to say. Everyone looks at me with the same thing in their eyes that I told them not to do. Worry.
Nudge peeks out from behind the door, and I stand up and peer over her shoulder. "How is she?"
"Still asleep. She hasn't woken up once. She's doing that REM thing—Rapid Eye Movement. It's as if she's having a nightmare, 'cause she keeps tossing and turning and muttering, 'what if I don't want to?' and 'No! Stop!' and a bunch of names." Nudge explains.
"Whose names?" I ask, staring at Vanessa's sleeping form.
"Um… Cal, Amber, Justin, Tiffany, and Will. Will is the most frequent."
"Her flock," I guess, my eyes drifting down to Nudge's anxious face.
"Yeah, that's what Max thinks too. I just came to get us some food."
I'm already walking down the hallway. "Stay with her, I'll get you something."
I ear her call out "Okay," then I hear the door close. I meet Iggy in the hall, and I ask him to make Max's favorite food.
"Sure," He says, retreating to the kitchen.
I collapse on the couch, the extra puffy one. Jeb walks in and asks how Vanessa's doing, and I repeat the most common lie. "She's fine."
"Are you sure? I saw Nudge's face, and she looked really apprehensive."
"She just hasn't woken up yet. Not like she's in a coma. Just leave her alone."
Jeb purses his lips, and his eyebrows knit together. "Alright, I suppose I should. Tell me if she changes."
"Like if she dies," Fang butts in.
If she dies, I think, I don't think I'll be able to bear it.