Here's chapter 10. Please R&R!

Chapter 10: What has Gotten in to Her?

"What- what is it?" What could have possibly happened to Gazzy that made Nudge act like that?

Nudge burst into tears. "He- he…" It must've been really bad if Nudge couldn't even stop her tears for three seconds to tell what had happened. Parfait patted Nudge on the shoulder. "Calm down. Take a deep breath and tell us slowly what happened." She tried to take a deep breath, but her sobbing prevented her from doing so.

Iggy came to the top of the mountain out of breath. "Did you here- Gazzy, he- he was kidnapped. Well, I mean- it all happened so fast." Iggy sat down on the grass. I could tell that he too had been crying.

"Where's my brother?" Parfait asked. "Oh, he's coming. We actually beat him up the mountain for once, but I'm in no mood to celebrate. Oh, there he is."

"Eugene! You're okay!" Parfait embraced him. "I'm just so glad that you're alright." Eugene stared up at the night sky. "Sadly, Gazzy can't say the same."

"It's all my fault!" Nudge exclaimed. "I-I was yelling at him." We all turned to Nudge. "It's not her fault in anyway. This is what happened." Eugene said.

"We were resting and we were all thirsty. Gazzy reached into Nudge's bag and drank all of her water to quench his thirst. She, being Nudge screamed at him and then Gazzy got angry. He told her that he didn't need us and he started running, as in a rampage. The next thing we hear is Gazzy screaming for his life, so to speak. The last we saw of him was him being pulled away buy I rather large hand, most probably that belonging to a full-grown male." Nudge burst into tears all over again.

"See, it is my fault! If I hadn't yelled at him, he wouldn't have run off. After he was kidnapped we tried to follow the calls of his muffled screams. One minute he was screaming, the next he was completely silent. I screamed and that probably scared the kidnapper away. I swear, that kidnapper was a shadow! We didn't catch more of a glimpse of what appeared to be his arms. He was lightning quick, but light on his feet!" Gazzy kidnapped. Was there any hope of finding him?

"This dude's probably an expert kidnapper!" Iggy finally said. "No way, no how will we ever find him."

"Don't in any way think like that! I believe that a more optimistic approach to this conundrum will create a much more desirable resolution." Parfait told him.

"What she means is," Eugene spared us the trouble of asking for a translation, "that when you look at something in a positive view point, then you're more likely to have that extra urge that will help you find Gazzy."

"Should we wake up Fang and tell him about Gazzy?" Nudge asked.

"No, I believe it would be best for him to rest up. We can tell him in the morning. I think we should all get some rest and start searching for Gazzy first thing tomorrow. We finished the floor and three of the walls for our structure. Some of us can sleep there to diminish the crowding in the tent." Parfait pointed to the building that she had been working on.

The building looked stable, but man was it ugly! It was basically a thick pile of logs, branches, and hardened mud. Max, we have bigger problems. I thought to myself. I volunteered to sleep there and Angel joined me.

"Max, do you think my brother will be okay?" Angel asked me.

"I hope so, Angel, I hope so." I rolled over in an attempt to fall asleep. I couldn't. I just couldn't stop thinking about what was happening to Gazzy. Were they torturing him, was he held captive in a strange cell, was he- don't even think that Max- dead? I couldn't control my tears.

I felt a tingling sensation in my legs. I usually got it when I was worried, but in the past year it had come about more often. I gently rubbed my leg and stared at the stars all night.

I watched the sun rise wondering and hoping that Gazzy was looking freely at that sunset, too. I headed past the tent and thought.

"Hey, Max, why so sad?" I nearly tumbled down the mountain. "Fang, you scared my half to death!" Fang smiled. "Sorry."

"So, what's up?" I lay my head low. "Not Gazzy." Fang laughed. "What is that boy crying somewhere, or did he run away? He'll always be okay. Ahh that little devil, reminds me of me." I stood up. "NO! No, Fang."

Fang eyed me suspiciously. "He is not okay! He was kidnapped! I swear Fang, sometimes I want to kill you! You insensitive, little-"

"Guys, what seems to be the problem?" Nudge, Eugene, and Parfait were staring at us. "What's the matter with Gazzy?" Fang asked.

"He was kidnapped." Eugene told Fang what had happened to Gazzy. "Oh…" Fang turned to me. "I'm sorry about making fun of Gazzy. I'll never ever joke about him being in danger again. I've learned my lesson."

I smiled. "You never learn Fang. I'm sorry I yelled at you. Now let's find Gazzy." I went and grabbed my bag. I noticed Angel was wide awake. "What was all of that yelling about?" There was a big look of concern on her face. "Nothing for you to worry about." She followed me.

"I'm stronger than you think, Max." I was shocked to hear that come out of Angel's mouth. She was the youngest, we always sort of babied her. "There's no need to keep anything from me. I'm not stupid Max, if you don't tell me I will figure it out. I'm not a baby. I'm a big girl. I'm almost eight, in case you forgot that."

I sighed. "It was just a slight disagreement and misunderstanding." She looked skeptical, but that seemed to satisfy her.

"Let's go." I called out.

"Max, are you sure that you'll be okay? You fainted last time." I stared at Iggy. "I know that I fainted, but I'll be fine." Iggy interrupted. "But..." I tugged his sleeve. "Let's go."

"Someone has to stay here with Fang." Nudge said. "I'm fine by myself." He protested. "No, no you're not. This has been a wake up call to us. From now on nobody will ever be left alone. Not even for a minute."

"Angel can stay with him." Iggy suggested. "No." We all stared at her. What on earth had gotten in to her today? She almost always agreed with what we said. I mean this was for her own good!

"No. He's my brother and I think I have the right to search for him. I'm not just going to stand her while some group of weirdos are doing who knows what to him!" I patted her on the shoulder. "Angel…" I started.

"This is very mature of you, but we all think that you'd be safer here." She put her hands on her hips. "We're all in danger. No one is safer anywhere. If I'm going to be in danger, I might as well be in danger doing something to help Gazzy." I noticed the looks of shock on everyone's faces were identical to mine.

"Angel, Fang needs you here." Nudge said. "No he doesn't. Someone else can stay with him. Besides, if the kidnappers came for us, I don't think that I could fight them off. I know I'm strong, but I also know that I am not invincible. I know myself better than any of you. I'd be better off with you guys searching for Gazzy."

"Um… uh okay then we'll just pick someone else to stay with him." Nudge said. "I'll stay with him." Parfait volunteered.

"Thank you. Fang would be delighted." Angel gave her best innocent little girl smile. Had Gazzy's kidnapping really had this much of an effect on her? This was completely unlike her.

"We'll return by sunset." Iggy promised. As we headed down the mountain, Eugene and Iggy both offered to carry Angel but she refused and stubbornly insisted on climbing down the mountain by herself. As a matter of fact, she made sure that she was always at least three steps ahead of us to show us how self-sufficient she was.

What had gotten in to her? For lord's sake she was only seven! Sure she'd gone through more things then the average seven-year-old, these events had caused to her to mature faster. Still! She'd never acted like this before!

I couldn't help but miss the times when Angel would beg us to carry her and liked it when we babied her. I sighed. Our little Angle was growing up right before our very eyes.

I'd like to thank Miz636 and Big MR Fan for pointing out some errors to me. Nothing helps a writer more than knowing what her mistakes are so she can correct them. I'd also like to thank thaliastree13, ep123, and everyone else who has reviewed so far. For those who read but don't review please start reviewing now. If you're even reading this I know that this is getting tedious so just 1 more thing, I promise.

Check out miz636's Old and New Collide if you haven't already. I think that it's amazing and I'm not just saying that.

That is all~ DalDal