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After everybody left Alex had a major crash and fell asleep on Fang's lap. Before Alex woke up again Fang and I tucked him in, like a perfect family. Only, things with me never stay perfect for long.
By now I was half asleep against Fang's chest, his rhythmic breathing was like a lullaby. Slowly darkness lured me to it's grasp. But instead of having a nice dream with bunnies and Fang, I had another nightmare.
I was running, I knew that. The sound of my steps was the only thing carrying me on. My lungs burned every breath, my feet were tired, my legs felt like they were cement, and I still ran.
"Max!" someone behind me yelled. "Max!" I didn't recognize the voice but it struck fear in me, I ran faster.
"Max! Come on, lets talk about this!" another voice yelled, turning from an old mans to a young girl's.
"Don't be rash now!" It was Alex's voice this time, and it was closer. Faster, harder, faster, harder. Those words were my theme song now and the only ones in my dictionary. Faster, harder. I ran into an alley and slid down the wall on a side. My breathe came out in quick pants.
A laugh, Angels laugh, came from the end of the alley way. "That's not a very good hiding place Max." Even though it was night the moon illuminated the five figures at both ends of the alley. Nine of the ten were plain looking, nothing memorable, just ordinary. But the last one... The last one was Angel without a doubt.
Slowly she walked forward, grabbed my neck, and pulled me up so my feet weren't touching the ground.
"Why?" I whispered. Angels eyes were black and cold.
"Because you left, they all left. This is what you made! Not anyone else."
"If you really believe that then kill me right here, right now."
"Fine." Then I think I died.
I woke up panting, then I started to sob, uncontrollable sobs. Soon Fang's arms were around me and he was rocking me, cooing softly in my ear. I let myself lean into his arms, to show weakness, to be enveloped by love. The sobs stopped but Fang still rocked and he still held and he still cooed. It was a piece of heaven after my little hell.
"Max, what's wrong?"
"Everything," I whispered into his neck. Slowly he rubbed circles between my wings.
"Max," he said hesitantly, "like what?"
"I had another dream," I said. That seemed to explain everything.
"What was it about? What happened?" he asked/yelled.
"It was about Angel..." And with that I proceeded to tell him about my dream, all of it.
"Really? Angel was there?" Fang sighed. "This is bad."
"Maybe it's like with Ari! Not really what it seems."
"What about those men you saw? Did they look like flyboys?"
"They didn't look like anything! It's hard to even remember now!"
"Great. A new experiment." Fang sighed and looked at me. "Max, I think we might have to find the flock again. If Angel really is out there, she'll attack them to get to you."
I was about to start crying again, why oh why, after all that'd happened? Why now? Why here? Why Angel? My baby...
"Get some rest, we'll talk about it in the morning." Even though I knew I would not be able to sleep, I listened to Fang and burrowed deeper into his chest, just wanting to forget, to be normal and not have to worry about your family wanting you dead. For a second, I wanted to forget I was Maximum Ride.
After my sleepless night Fang and Alex played a game of Monopoly. My dreams still haunted me. The picture of Ari still hung in my mind like a shadow. Saturdays were usually my favorite days because Alex was off of school and I was off of work, but today... I felt out of it.
I heard Fang tell Alex to go to his room but I didn't know what it meant, they were just words.
"Max, look at me," Fang commanded. "Good. Listen to me. You are the invincible Max, the one that Erasers fear and white coats tremble in their boots. You're the Max who has raised a child at sixteen. You're the Max who I fell in love with, and you better damn well be the Max who fought The School or else there is no hope. Things may change, people may die, but Max, I'll always be here, I'll always believe in you, no matter what."
Fang may not talk much, but when Fang talks, he talks well. I slipped into his arms, "I know Fang, I know. It's just... It's Angel! She was my first baby, the one I first raised. I can't imagine her doing this!"
"We need to find the flock, Gazzy first since I know where he is. He probably knows where Iggy is... and Iggy probably knows where Nudge is... So, one big happy family."
"What are we going to tell Alex?"
"The truth, he'll be excited to finally meet the flock."
"I hope your right.
"How many times do I have to tell you," Fang said. "I'm always right."
