Aw man! Sorry I forgot to update yesterday! I had a good reason, I swear! It involved Shakesphere, an awkward fake date, and running around the house in a velvet cape!
*cough* Anywaaaays, I decided to make up for it by posting an extra chapter today. Hope you like it!
Chapter 11 – Escape by Breakdown
The rest of the night was uneventful, and once Iggy relieved me of my duty I was able to get a decent amount of rest, despite what had gone on earlier that evening. I was grateful for the deep, dreamless sleep. Looking back, it was almost as if my body had sensed how much I was going to need that extra rest in the morning.
Our day started off fairly normal, normal for us anyways. Iggy had put something over the fire to cook while he re-bandaged all of our wounds and made sure we were all healing properly. "It's feeling a lot better," Iggy confirmed, "but we still could use a couple more days, I think." Then he dished out breakfast, which we hungrily devoured.
I had just finished eating when Angel asked me, Max? Shouldn't we feed Zanna? She hasn't eaten anything since we caught her.
Do we have to? I complained jokingly. Angel glared at me, obviously not finding it very funny. Okay, okay, I told her, I'll get her something to eat. "Hey, Zanna!" I called over to her, "do you want us to untie you so you can eat?"
"No, it's alright," Zanna said mildly, "because I've just untied myself."
No sooner than she had said that she suddenly jumped at me from her tree, her ropes cut cleanly through and her sai back in her murderous hands.
Fang, who had been sitting near the edge of our camp, jumped up and pinned her back against the tree trunk, battling to hold her hands and knives up above her head so she was unable to slash at anyone. Zanna struggled to free herself from him, but Fang had the advantage of height and strength, which left Zanna in an impossible position.
She stopped struggling, and for a moment I thought that she had just resigned to the fact that she had no way of escaping Fang's death grip. Instead, she stared up into his eyes with focused intensity, as if she was trying to hypnotize him.
Instinctively, I stepped forward. "Fang, look away," I told him. He didn't seem to hear me, because he was still focused on Zanna.
"Fang!" I repeated, to no avail. What was going on here? I couldn't see the look on Fang's face from the angle I was at, but I could see Zanna's face; her fiery eyes continued to bore into Fang's, and the corner of her mouth was turned up in a small smirk. All of this had happened over a span of five seconds, but it seemed like I waited an eternity, expecting Fang to throw Zanna to the ground and kicking the sai out of her hands. But that was what Fang would normally do, and this wasn't normal Fang. I had to do something, and I had to do it now.
I was about to intervene when suddenly Fang drew back violently from Zanna, as if he had been struck. He tumbled back as Zanna came free and jumped into the air, spreading her wings and taking off. "This is your fault Max!" Zanna yelled as she flew away. "It's all your fault!"
Iggy and Nudge took off after her, leaving the rest of us standing there, wondering what just happened. I spun my head around to look at Fang to find him standing there, his chest heaving and sweat dripping from his brow. It was a moment before he realized that we were staring at him, but then he looked straight into my eyes, and in that moment I could see the confusion and terror that was plaguing him. Before I could react he turned around and ran into the forest.
I immediately ran after him. "Fang!" I yelled, "Come back!" I desperately tried to find him amongst the trees, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Fang!" I called again, and then sighed. If he didn't want to be found nobody would be able to find him. Reluctantly I turned away and walked back to camp.
"Okay guys," I told Angel, Gazzy, and Total, "I guess we'll just have to wait for him to come back. Could you tell what was wrong with him, Angel?"
Angel shook her head. "I think Zanna blocked out both of their thoughts." She
I heard two light thumps behind me as Nudge and Iggy touched down. "We couldn't catch her," Iggy said. Then he noticed, "Hey, where's Fang?"
Nudge gasped. "Omygosh! Did Zanna come back and take Fang---"
"No," I cut Nudge off, "Fang just needed some time alone. He'll be back later," I looked back into the woods where he had vanished, "I hope."
[insert dramatic music] Oh no!!! A little girl made Fang cry! *sniffle* What will happen now? Well, you could read the other couple of chapters to find out... unless you enjoy putting yourself in agony.
Random Fact of the Day: Today I licked a piece of gum stuck to the back of a seat because my friend Ben didn't think I'd do it. *beams*
