As promised, I submitted chapter Seven and immediately opened up a blank Word document to start this chapter. And, as a response to a review from meg, I apologize to all readers for any OOC-ness in any of the characters that I might not detect…This is just how I think they would be in this situation…I'm deeply sorry if I'm wrong…Thanks for the review though, meg!
I don't own Maximum Ride.
Iggy's POV
I froze I place when the realization hit me that Jim had seen my wings.
I had no clue what to do. Should I find a window and escape? Should I act like nothing was there? Wait for him to ask, but be prepared to escape when I heard any suspicious voices or phone calls?
What would Max do?
She wouldn't be in this situation. She would've woken up, panicked, and gotten out as quick as possible. She wouldn't have been out in that storm, wouldn't have run away, wouldn't have been as stupid as I had been…
But that was Max. I was not Max. I was me, Iggy.
What would Iggy do?
Iggy would pretend nothing had happened, like nothing was there.
So that's what Iggy would do.
I knew where the door was, having heard it close. Turned left, then straight, then I was lost. Crap…Where was the kitchen? I lightly touched the walls on both sides of me and walked slowly.
I hated this…It made me feel so…so helpless…so…blind…I didn't like feeling blind. I didn't like being blind, but if I felt it, I hated it more…
My hands touched a few picture frames. My hip bumped into a small table. I hated this…My hand went into empty space. A pretty wide space. A doorway…What if this wasn't the kitchen? God damnit…I made a difficult decision in a split second…
"Jim?" I called out. There was an echo from the doorway in front of me.
"Yeah?"
I jumped about two feet in the air. His voice had been right beside me.
He laughed. "I see you found the bathroom."
I was confused for a second, my heart still pounding, until I realized what he meant.
"Oh…yeah…I thought the echo sounded pretty bathroom-y…"
"I've been watching you for the past minute. You're blind, aren't you, kid?"
I hesitated. "Yeah…Sadly…"
"Hmm…That's fine. Need help?"
I sighed. "I just need to know where the kitchen is."
I felt his hand on my arm, leading me.
God, it was embarrassing…I hated being blind…Not being able to go anywhere by myself in a strange place…
He sat me down at the kitchen table and gave me some really hot soup. It was tasty. He was a pretty good cook…But I had a feeling he wouldn't be able to compete with my pancakes…
Jim sat across from me and was silent for a few minutes, until the silence became awkward. He seemed like the friendly, talkative type so far…
"So how does a blind teenager end up alone in the mountains during a storm?"
I shrugged. "I don't know. How does a blind teenager end up alone in the mountains during a storm?"
"I'm asking you."
I paused, reviewed all of the answers I could give him, going with the safer one. "It's complicated. Really complicated."
He paused. "Oh wait, forgot you're blind…Care to explain? I've got time." I shook my head. "Okay then…How'd you get up there?"
"I went there."
"And your parents know you're gone?"
"They're dead."
"Oh…I'm sorry…"
I shrugged and brushed it off.
"Do your guardians know you're gone?"
"Don't have any."
"Okay…Why'd you go up there?"
"Stuff was going on…I wanted to get away for a little while…"
"Didn't you know there was a storm coming?"
I shook my head. "I guess my brother forgot to tell me. I could tell in the air after a while, but I really didn't want to go home, so I didn't."
Jim paused again.
It wasn't like I was lying to him at all. I didn't have guardians. I didn't know there was a storm coming, and I had felt it in the air, which was normal. I didn't tell him I'd flown to the mountains. And the situation was complicated.
"Brother?"
"Yup. Well…Lately we've been having issues, so he's just kind of an ass-hole of a room-mate right now but yeah. I guess you could call him a brother."
"Where's your brother?"
I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Probably home. Probably with Max…" I felt the cold seep in again, looking away from where Jim's voice was coming from.
"Max?"
"Our sister…That's what makes home complicated right now. I'd rather not explain."
"Okay. Are you done with that?"
"What?"
"The soup. Do you want more?"
"Yes, please."
He took the bowl and got more. Man, was I starving…
"You practically leaned this bowl, huh? Not a scrap left."
"I eat a lot. High metabolism."
He laughed. "Same here. Don't worry. I've got a bunch of food around here."
"Jim?"
"What, kid?"
"You're not gonna kick me out? Like, today? Right now?"
"Why?"
"…I don't know…I just thought you would after…"
He paused, waiting for me to finish, but I didn't.
"After seeing your back?" I nodded, holding my breath for his answer. "Nah. I won't kick you out."
That surprised me. "Really?"
"Really."
"Okay…"
"Feel free to stay as long as you like." He stood up. His chair squeaked a little bit on the floor. "Let me know if you need any help…And I didn't catch your name."
I was still in shock from his reply…
"My family calls me Iggy."
Max's POV
I wondered where Iggy was, what he was doing, if he had eaten in the past 12 hours, if he was freezing cold or had been attacked by some animal or…
I sighed. Now wasn't really the time to be worrying about him…I could tell Angel was reading my mind, and I didn't need her more worried.
Fang had really gotten the kids excited about this picnic lunch…I'd had no choice but to come along and try to act normal. I should've gone after Iggy, but I figured he would be okay…He knew how to take care of himself, I knew he did. Jeb had made sure we could all take care of ourselves…
I was surprised it wasn't soaking wet outside. But it had gotten hot pretty early today, so the wetness was pretty much gone, but there were still huge patches of mud in certain places place, which we had to try to keep the kids away from, since we knew what Gazzy would do if he found mud…Bad things would happen…
The lunch Fang had fixed had been pretty good. He was better at making lunch than anything. But I hadn't commented on his cooking. I'd decided to hold him in contempt. He'd caught on fast and hadn't tried to talk to me for a while, knowing I wouldn't answer.
We'd all eaten lunch, and had decided to make the most of the sunshine to play around for a little while. I'd snuck away and found a place to sit, a rock facing the direction that Iggy had flown off in last night…I considered leaving at that moment, to find him…I really did…I had a feeling he was in trouble…
I heard someone coming. Fang. I knew without looking. I didn't turn to him. "What do you want?" I asked coldly.
"To talk." He stopped a few feet away from me.
"Then talk."
"Can I sit?"
I sighed. "I don't care."
As expected, he sat right next to me, close enough that he could touch me when he wanted to.
"What's up with you?" he asked.
"What's up with me? What's up with you?" I didn't look at him. I figured he was looking at me with those dark eyes, trying to get me to forgive him. I wouldn't fall for it.
"What do you mean by that?" His voice was quiet. Almost seductive. He definitely wanted forgiveness…
"Saying that about Iggy. And just being sexist in general."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
I finally looked over to him disbelievingly. He met my eyes.
"I love you. Iggy knows that. He tried to take you from me. He asked for it."
"He didn't try to take me. I'm not yours to begin with. You don't control me."
"You seem pretty controlled right now. You haven't hit me."
He actually thought he could control me…
"Just because I haven't slapped you yet doesn't mean I'm under your god-damn control…"
I stood up, and finally slapped his face.
It felt good.
The sound pretty much echoed in the silence between us afterwards. It felt like a full ten seconds before he turned to me again and looked up at me.
"You love him more than me, don't you?"
I was almost in tears now. I never hit Fang and meant it, until now. "Do I really have to choose?"
He nodded.
I was pretty much overwhelmed. What the hell was I supposed to do now?
"But…I'd end up hurting one of you…"
"I don't care, as long as I'm not the one you hurt."
At that, I jumped into the sky and pulled my wings out, letting the wind carry me away, leaving Fang sitting there, watching me go with those dark eyes.
He knew what my choice was.
I think this chapter is okay…Not brilliant, but maybe not terrible…Just okay…I've noticed that these chapters are getting longer and longer. I apologize. Again, apologies about the OOC-ness…I'll get the next chapter up ASAP.
--Fire wolf12
