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FANG POV –
I didn't even look up when Max demanded an explanation. Iggy was breathing heavily so I made him lie down.
"Get some rest," I told him. "I'll explain."
He nodded silently and closed his eyes, his face still pained. Luckily, now that we were no longer prisoners, his ribs would be able to heal, a process that shouldn't take any longer than a day to complete.
Slowly I turned to see Max staring at me. She had that look of steely determination in her eyes that I loved so much. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her foot was tapping impatiently on the ground.
"Well?" she demanded.
I swallowed, suddenly nervous. There was no way I was going to tell her everything that had happened to me in there, especially not after what that last trip with the Whitecoats had revealed. I wasn't even sure what any of it meant for me and my future but I was hoping that Max would understand. If she didn't, I don't know what I would do.
"They just did the usual experiments except they seemed to focus more on me than Iggy. I think they were just using him as a means to get me to cooperate," I said before falling quiet. That was all they needed to know.
Max stared at me expectantly, waiting for more. I just returned the gaze impassively. I saw Nudge glancing between us, her eyes thoughtful. Without saying anything, she grabbed a blanket from her backpack and lay down next to Iggy. Angel and Gazzy were huddled against a cave wall, both half-asleep.
"And that's it? They just ran tests on you?" Max pressured.
I thought back to that last time in the lab, that last experiment and the truth revealed at last.
"Yeah, that's all," I muttered.
I didn't like lying to Max but I wasn't ready to tell her yet. I turned away before she could continue the conversation. I could almost hear her anger at my dismissive attitude.
"Fang!" she hissed.
She didn't want to leave it at that but I wasn't about to continue, knowing she wanted to hear what I couldn't tell her.
I ignored her and began to set up a blanket to sleep under. Next thing I knew Max's hand was around my wrist and she was spinning me back around to face her. For a second our eyes met and I couldn't look away.
After a few moments she shook her head and looked down at my chest.
"I know you're hiding something," she said, although her voice didn't hold any of the conviction it had before.
"It doesn't matter," I replied softly.
I pulled my arm from her grip and lay down. She huffed angrily but got the gist of my actions. I knew she wouldn't stop pestering me but she was giving up for the moment. I could hear Max moving around angrily. She threw her bag on the ground near me before going to the opposite side of the cave to finally rest.
I sighed and rolled onto my back. The silence in the cave was deafening as I stared at the ceiling. I hadn't wanted to push Max away but that was the only way I knew how to make her stop.
She didn't realise that I couldn't tell her, she didn't realise…
Suddenly there was a burst of what felt like electricity that shot through my body. I shuddered as my body tingled. Slowly a pulsing feeling began to build in my head, one that felt like I was going to get a headache.
I could hear the rest of the Flock breathing deeply as sleep took hold of them. My headache was growing in strength, making my eyes hurt.
Slowly I got up, keeping my eyes downward. I rubbed my temples tiredly as I walked to the edge of the cave and peered into the night sky.
Jump.
The sudden impulse gripped me and in a flash my wings were out and I followed through on the urge. The wind rippled through my feathers as I glided through the air currents, heading straight down to the ground. My headache disappeared as the breeze cooled my skin.
As the ground rushed up to meet me, I altered the angle of the tips of my wings and then I was soaring upwards. Strongly but lazily I beat my wings, propelling myself forward.
Before I knew it, I was in a desert somewhere. I was sitting on a large boulder, my wings still extended out behind me.
Without thinking about it, I was running my fingers over the scar along my wrist. It was still raised and bright red but it didn't look infected any more.
Had they known what they were going to do to me before they did it? And why did they choose me? Why not Iggy? Not that I wanted Iggy to have this thrust upon him… I just wanted to know, why pick me!
I sighed in frustration. It wasn't that what had happened was bad, it just marked me as different – very different. Everyone had some ability that had eventually revealed itself and made us even more different than we already were. But this… this was just wrong. Nobody should ever be able to do what I can. Not from any experimentations or alterations.
Unconsciously I lifted a rock off the ground beside me and began playing with it between my fingers. Suddenly another strange impulse struck me and I gripped the rock tightly in my hand. Holding my other arm out in front of me, I pressed the sharp rock against my skin and began dragging it from my wrist to my forearm. I watched as the blood began to spill out of the wound and drip off my arm.
