Chapter 7

Mackenzie stood up from her seat, heart racing and stammered, "I, uh, need to go use the restroom. Be right back."

She raced to the restroom, immediately heading toward the sink and splashing some cool water on her face, trying to calm her nerves down. She knew it was too good to be true. Of course Iggy was a pyromaniac. How could she not have realized? That wild, untamed glint in his eyes, his mischievous grins, it all made sense now.

She dried her face and looked into the mirror. Her face had gotten a little paler and there were small bags under her eyes from not being able to sleep. The nightmares had gotten worse and she would wake up in the middle of the night in a fit of shivers, not even bothering trying to go back to sleep, just staring into space until the sun rose.

The restroom door opened and she turned around, unsure of who the intruder was. Max stepped in and she scanned the stalls, her gaze stopping at the sinks when she saw Mackenzie. Her face wasn't hostile or threatening, it was set in a cool, calm expression. And that was what scared Mackenzie the most.

"We need to talk," Max said walking toward her. Mackenzie nodded and leaned against the wall, waiting for Max to join her. Once they were standing side by side, Max spoke.

"Angel told me. Your wings, I mean."

Mackenzie nodded again. Of course Angel would tell Max. She was the leader, after all.

"Does everyone else know?" she asked Max. Max shook her head.

"I wanted to talk to you first. Ask a few questions. We haven't seen many other experiments on the run, the Flock and I. Where did you come from?"

Mackenzie's jaw dropped in shock. "There are more that survived?"

Max's calm expression turned into one of confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"How did you all survive? How did the other experiments survive? I thought I was the only survivor. How long were you in the Lab?"

Max held her hands up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Start over. Survive what? What's the Lab?"

It was Mackenzie's turn to look confused. "You weren't from the Lab?"

Max shook her head. "We're from the School."

"The School? Like where children are educated?"

Max's expression turned bitter. "No. We lived in dog cages. We were experimented on by white coats, who would inject chemicals into us that gave us powers. Iggy went blind after an experiment went wrong and they failed to give him night vision. We had to run through mazes, and wear shoes that would electrocute us if we weren't fast enough. They even tried to auction us off as nuclear weapons to China for money. We learned a lot, but it wasn't the usual ABC's kids learned. We learned how to survive."

Mackenzie was more confused than ever. "That's almost exactly what the Lab is like."

Max's face softened. "Mackenzie… There's more than one School. They don't experiment on children in just one area. The Flock and I have travelled all over the place: Florida, New York, heck, we even went to Germany to destroy the different Schools. Your Lab was just one of them."

All the hope drained from Mackenzie's face and she felt numb. This confirmed it. She was the only survivor. She had been so determined, so ready to prove that the V had survived, that at least one of them had made it out, that she had never even considered the thought that there were more places like the Lab out there. She had been grieving, and was blinded.

Speaking of blinded… Iggy… He wasn't born blind. He had already known what it was like to see, until the School took his sight away. A wave of frustration and fury from all the years came crashing down on Mackenzie and she let out an angry yell, punching the closest nonliving thing near her, a hand dryer, and putting a large dent in the side.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten, taking deep breaths. After making sure she was calm again, she turned back to Max, sending her and apologetic look.

"Sorry," she said, "I'm not usually this…"

"Hot-headed?" Max smiled, "Don't worry. We all need to let out our anger once in a while."

Mackenzie returned the smile, only hers was more dismal, more forlorn.

"You remind me so much of Chase. He always scolded me, telling me I was acting too immature for my age, but he always knew when to comfort me when I was down."

"Chase?" Max asked.

"He was the leader of our group. The 'V' we called ourselves, like the V shape birds fly in." Mackenzie chuckled. "It's a little ironic because we never really flew in the Lab; I had to teach myself after I got out, and so we never flew in a V shape, let alone any shape."

"What happened?" Max asked, ever so softly.

Mackenzie sighed and turned to look at Max.

"If the Flock was in danger, and you were the only one that could save them, would you do it?" she asked.

Max immediately replied, "Of course."

"And in the end, if you couldn't save any of them, how would you feel?"

Max frowned, "I would feel horrible. I might not even be able to go on. But what does this have to do with-"

"What about," Mackenzie interrupted, "if you knew that part of the danger that the Flock was in, was your fault?"

"Where are you trying to say?" Max questioned.

Mackenzie looked Max right in the eye as she said, "I'm saying, that I was the one who caused the fire. The fire that burned down the Lab. The fire that killed all the white coats and Erasers inside the Lab. The fire that killed my friends, my family and all the other innocent experiments inside. What I'm trying to say Max, is that standing before you, in all her glory, is a murderess."

Haha! Another cliffhanger! I'm evil...

I really do appreciate all the reviews and I hope you liked this chapter.

Review if you have the time and have a Good Saturday! ^_^

Less than three，

Palmer Pie