Love, Pain, and Wings-Chapter 6

By MyNameIsCAB

I spread my wings and felt the velocity lower. When I reached the ground, I closed them quickly to make sure nobody fell on them. It seemed the others had the same idea because I heard them land gently around me. There was one loud thud.

"Report!" I shouted.

"Fine," Iggy was the first to respond.

"Okay," Gazzy was right behind me.

"I'm here," Angel was to my left.

"I'm next to Angel, I think," Nudge said from the darkness. I guess she was next to Angel because her voice came from the same direction.

"I'm…here," Fang was to my right, where the loud thud had come from. I wish I could see him. He didn't sound okay.

"Doesn't anyone care about the dog?" Total asked. I could see that little scrunched up face full of anger.

Some kind of door or something opened and light blinded us. Everyone staggered back into each other. There was a shadow standing in front of us. It was tall and lanky. Then the shadow spoke. "Please follow me."

It was a man. We followed him into a brightly lit hallway. Fang lagged behind, breathing heavily and maybe limping slightly. Or I could just be imagining that.

"You will cooperate with us and we will give your family back," the man told me. "I see you've brought your friends."

I said nothing. It was best to keep my mouth shut.

"Here's our bargain," the man curtly turned to me. "Give us the weak one." He pointed to Fang.

"No," I answered.

"Then we will kill your family," the man replied.

Fang stepped forward. "Fine, but what will you do with my?"

"Study you, experiment, whatever it takes to figure you out. Then when you've served our purpose, dispose or get rid of you," the man still looked at me with his eccentric blue eyes.

"Fang…don't," I whispered.

He looked sideways at me, his face and eyes expressionless. "You can take me, but under one condition. Show us her family first. I want to watch all of them walk out of here safely."

"Certainly," the man smiled evilly.

"And I want privacy to say goodbye," Fang cast a glance in my direction.

"Very well, step into this room while I prepare the family," the man nodded and opened the door.

We all filed in. I looked at Fang, breaking the silence first. "Fang, what are you doing?"

"You guys need Dr. Martinez and Ella and Jeb. If that means me going, I will," Fang answered. "If I escape. I'll find you."

I was defeated. There was no trying to take back what he had said because the man would probably hurt us…or worse.

Fang came toward me slowly. "You be good, Max."

He touched my arm, slid his hand down it and then kissed me just before the door opened. None of the rest of the flock said anything. My mom, Ella, and Jeb entered. Akila was on a leash held by Jeb. They looked a little shaken up, but nothing else appeared to be wrong. Then my mother spoke and I knew they were fine.

"Come on, let's go," the man ushered us out.

Fang walked beside me. When we reached the exit after going up an elevator, the man shooed us out quickly. I flung my arms around Fang and surprisingly he embraced me. I whispered in his ear, "I love you, Fang."

When the man pulled me off, Fang managed to answer back. "Max, I love you too."

Then we were on the street, outside, catching one last glimpse at Fang before the door shut and he we gone. I turned to the others, feeling tears. They looked back, sadly. I couldn't meet their eyes. If I did, I wouldn't be able to do anything but break down and cry.

"Max, I'm so sorry," my mother put a hand on my shoulder.

I didn't say anything and she removed her hand. Jeb why trying to figure out how to get back to Arizona. It was as if he didn't care that Fang had just given himself up for the rest of us. Ella just stood their quietly, watching everyone. Everyone now and then she would open and close her mouth, wanting to say something, but the words wouldn't be right.

"There's a bus that will take us to Arizona," Jeb suddenly remembered.

No one dared to say anything to him and we all just followed, silently. I sat on the bus alone. Staring out the window, tears rolled down my cheeks. Unlike Ari's burial, there was no Fang to comfort me. That made me sadder and more tears rolled down. I closed my eyes and pictured Fang, not wanting to forget anything about him.

Everyone was doing better than me when we got home to my mom and Ella's house. Total was ecstatic to see Akila. That had brightened his day. Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge were just trying to be cheerful, making jokes and everything. They ran around my mom's house in Arizona giggling and playing tag. Iggy was just content with trying to not get too emotional. He coped with listening to music. Sometimes I wished I were blind like him.

Mom tried to cheer me up with baking chocolate chip cookies. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate them, but I couldn't stop thinking of wanting to be able to share them with Fang. It really hurt and I couldn't bear it. Ella had tried to talk to me about Fang. I tried, but that resulted in tears and I flew off to a tree top, away from everyone for a few minutes. No one questioned me when I returned.

I numbered the days without Fang by my side. It was like I was missing a part that completed me. It was now that I realized I loved Fang more than I had thought. But he was gone and I felt like nothing. Crying was something I did a lot. More than I had ever cried in my life. I didn't feel like doing anything but that. Nothing was the same without Fang. That seemingly emotionless guy that was sometimes hard to understand.

There's still you and me, Fang. I thought to myself. Then I pictured how he had kissed me that last time. Tears rolled down my eyes. I needed to find him. I wasn't going to stop until I did or was dead. I promised that to myself. To Fang too. Life without Fang was like life without breathing.

And right now, I was on life support.

To tell all of you guys the truth, I acttually have the next chapter already written out and the next ones already in the making because I just love typing away for hours. But I don't want to post it all at once. What fun would that be without suspense? Besides, I'm sure I'd confuse some of you anyway if I put three new chapters out all at once. So I'll try to post a new one everyday. Sound good? Anyway, I just couldn't wait to put Ch. 6 out, so here it is. Thanks and enjoy!