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Iggy POV

Let's vote: how many of us think Angel's a creepy kid? That's what I thought.

But you can't deny that she's helpful when you're looking for, say, a fuse made of an old sock, that has mysteriously gone missing.

I sighed in relief as I grabbed the fuse off Gazzy's night table. We had spent all of yesterday night making that to perfection and there was no way that I was remaking it.

As I turned around to walk back out of the room, I heard a creaking noise from the window. Huh?

I whipped around, my ears straining to hear more, my body tensed to fight. But I was too late.

A dull thwack, and the sharp sting of a tranquilizer dart was all the warning I had before sinking into darkness.

Fang POV

"Any signs of Iggy yet?" I asked as a tired-looking Gazzy shook his head, walked into the living room, and collapsed on the couch.

I frowned and looked at the clock. 3:45 pm. Six hours since he disappeared from Gazzy's room, with nothing but an old-sock fuse (which Gazzy claims is really valuable) to prove that he was ever there.

Nudge was comforting Angel in the corner.

"It's my fault," Angel kept saying, "it's my fault that he's been captured."

"Don't worry," Nudge murmured, "It's only a few hours…we'll find him, don't you worry."

I winced internally. A lot could happen in a few hours.

Nudge looked up to me, and I could see worry in her eyes. Ever since she had screamed, or whatever you call it, she's been making a point of being extra calm and quiet, but I could see the barely-suppressed panic.

Me? I'm close to panic myself. Yes, you've heard that right. Mr. Emotional-as-a-brick-wall is freaking out. You can't blame me, what with Max dead and Iggy missing, can you?

I sat down on a nearby chair, suddenly tired out of my mind. These last few days have just been freaky event after event, with no signs of stopping. I sighed quietly.

Trying to think of something else, anything else, my mind randomly conjured up a memory.

It was after everyone had stampeded into the room to check if Nudge was okay. She had whispered very quietly that there was something she wanted to tell me, and motioned into the corner of the room.

"Fang," Nudge said, dropping her voice down to a whisper, "I have something to tell you…you know how I can sense things in the past, right?" I nodded, not knowing where she was going with this. She continued. "Well, I kind of…sensed a guy, the messenger…he was the one who took Max away, Fang." I just stared at her, as if unable to comprehend, though I understood it clearly. "He was scary, Fang. He had no morals, no thought. It's like he had no control over himself, you know? Like some other guy was controlling him. But he was sent from Alex Martinez. That's for sure." Nudge paused, "That's why I screamed, if you want to know. It was just…so creepy, you know? Having no mind or anything." I knew. I understood completely.

Okay, okay. Maybe it wasn't random. But I had no idea why my brain threw up that particular memory. There were a lot of things that have happened in these past few days I have no idea about.

I have no idea what to do next. I have no idea how to take care of the Flock. I have no idea how to be a good leader, like Max—

At that moment, Dr. M (thankfully) came into the room, carrying mugs of hot chocolate, marshmallows, and plates of her chocolate chip cookies. She took one look at the quiet and despairing Flock members scattered around the room, set the food on the coffee table, and left the room.

In case you're wondering, she was apparently gone from the house because she had a heavy workday. I, of course, did not believe that story one bit, but she was probably mourning. I'm not going to pry.

Anyhow, I have problems of my own to work out. One of them being the swiftly disappearing hot chocolate mugs.

Quickly grabbing one of the heavy, sky-blue mugs, I took a sip, burning my tongue. I scanned the room, watching the other Flock members instantly transform from emo-like to somewhat happy, taking drinks from the chocolate even if their tongues got burnt.

It's like he had no control over himself, you know?

I watched Gazzy steal marshmallows from Angel, who, in turn, took cookies from Nudge, all of them were giggling, with Total running around them taking sips of his chocoalate. I swiped a few more marshmallows from the table and popped them into my mouth.

Like some other guy was controlling him.

I watched as Gazzy tackle Nudge. "I come on behalf of Angel and marshmallows!" I heard him yell, good-naturedly letting Nudge take some of his cookies. I've almost forgot how good it was to see them laugh, to have fun.

But he was sent from Alex Martinez. That's for sure.

Max's disappearance.

Iggy's kidnapping.

Max's disappearance. Iggy's kidnapping.

There's got to be some connection between the two. Things like that don't happen on the same day unless there's a reason. Right now, the only reason I could think of was Alex Martinez.

Could it be?—

At that moment, the phone rang. I growled at it for interrupting my thought process, but then picked it up.

"Hello?" I said, maintaining a calm and collected appearance.

An emotionless voice came on. "Do not bother to look for your 'Iggy'. We have him now."

What? "Who is this?"

There was a small pause, then, "Itexicon."

No. It can't be.

A small click as the person on the other end disconnected. There was complete and utter silence in the room.

Angel looked at me fearfully. She knew.

It was at that moment that the Flock's little detective work became a search-and-rescue mission.

Yeah, I know these chapters are kinda boring. More action coming soon…really!

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