Chapter 11: Blue Lights
Dr Martinez looked at us all expectantly.
"Well…? Are you coming with me to find her or not?" Not leaving us time to answer, she swiftly turned round and marched out of the door.
Iggy immediately followed her footsteps, running into the wall at first then feeling along it before finding the door frame. He patted it once before setting though it.
I looked at Fang, a crease between my eyebrows. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to find this 'Nudge' girl too, but it simply was just too dangerous. The risks were too high. If the School had taught me anything, it was that the safer things were, that there would be less of a chance of people dying.
Namely me. (Oh, and Fang and Iggy too I suppose…)
Fang shrugged at me before following Iggy out the door.
When he saw I wasn't following, he popped his head round the frame and beckoned me with his head. I however, fidgeted on the spot, bouncing up and down agitatedly. In the end though, my heart (following Fang and Iggy) over rid my brain (doing the more sensible thing), and I hurried after them.
I caught up with them down the middle of the corridor.
"Get behind each other quickly and look scared". Dr Martinez whispered to us hastily, stopping us just before the corner.
At our bemused looks, she spoke;
"Don't you think that three experiments and a white coat just ambling down a corridor won't look suspicious? I have to look like I'm leading you to an experiment or something".
She started forward again, and Fang immediately followed her, keeping just a distance so that it looked like they were together, yet far enough so it looked like Fang was scared of her.
I drew up behind Fang, and positioned Iggy behind me, keeping hold of a belt loop on his pants so that he didn't stray from his place and look out of line.
We went up many staircases, and I noticed the same sign 'Sector B' on one of the walls. That brought a shiver down my spine. I turned away, but not quickly enough as the bad memories were already starting to resurface. I tightened my hand on Iggy's belt loop to reassure myself that he was still there.
We went up many flights of stairs, which all looked perfectly symmetrical. I saw Fang look down over the railing once, then abruptly straighten up and looked directly at Dr Martinez's back instead. Bending over to see what was so bad, I immediately wished I hadn't. The rows of stairs circling downwards were so dizzying that I felt my head spin for a second. This was nothing like flying hundreds of feet up in the air. Here if I fell down, there wasn't even enough room for me to open my wings. I would just keep falling until I hit the floor. Saying that, I couldn't actually see the floor. Lurching upright like Fang did, I grasped hold of his belt loop too, to steady myself. Fang stiffened for a moment, before relaxing.
Saying that, just how big was the School? The way I pictured it (and I'd only seen bits of it from outside, like in the yard), it was a large white building, wide but not very tall. But seeing how many stairs there were, it was turning out to become a skyscraper in my mind. My heart sank. Just how would Dr Martinez break us out of something so colossal? It seemed impossible, yet again.
My thoughts were broken at Dr Martinez saying "We're almost here". And, instead of continuing up the flight of stairs, she pushed open a door that I would not have even seen, it blended into the wall so well – even despite my enhanced vision – labelled "Higher Level Experiments. Authorized Personnel Only".
We came into a little white room.
There was a little black computer with a microphone attached at the very end of it, on the wall next to a set of very strong looking metal doors.
A little voice coming from it made Iggy jump behind me, and I gave a startled yelp.
"Please state your name and business".
Dr Martinez went up to it, and spoke directly into the microphone.
"Dr Valencia Martinez. I'm here to take three experiments of the AH file to have a decontamination regime".
"ID please".
"Dr Martinez flashed a little white card very quickly in front of the computer screen, and I heard the faint sound of a picture being taken before the metal doors creaked open. I tried to see where she put it back (even though she was on our side, having a thing like that would be very useful), but the movement was too quick, and I missed it.
Dr Martinez bustled us in, and swiftly shut the doors behind us. Pressing a finger to her lips, she began to lead us once again down a corridor. This one was relatively short though, and the door at the end had a window in it.
"Now". Dr Martinez whispered excitedly. "I won't be able to get you inside, but you should be able to get a peek. Its lunch break right now, so there won't be anyone inside… just the girl. Come on, have a look!"
We all eagerly clamoured round the small glass window, but what was inside was just…
"There's nothing. Nothing inside. We came all this way for nothing?!" Beside me, Fang's hands clenched tight.
"Can somebody please explain to me what's going on?" Asked a seemingly annoyed Iggy, who was standing behind us.
I swivelled round to face him, letting go of his belt loop (I'd forgotten I'd even had a hold on that still). "There's nothing inside the room at all. It's just white, there are loads of wires, and a huge black box thing, but there's no girl with wings in it at all. We've come all this way for nothing".
Before Iggy could say anything, we were interrupted by Dr Martinez.
"Oh no… Oh no… The poor thing… the poor thing…"
"Umm… Dr Martinez?" I asked unsurely.
Suddenly, there were tears in her eyes. I reeled back, a little shocked.
Dr Martinez bowed her head a little, and shook it. "I'm so sorry children, I shouldn't have taken you here… the poor thing… the poor girl…"
"What poor girl, Dr Martinez? Are- are you talking about Nudge?" Iggy asked hesitantly.
However, before she got a chance to reply, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps were heard only a few corridors down.
Dr Martinez's eyes suddenly widened, and she wiped away the tears quickly.
"Oh no, this is bad, really bad, you're not supposed to be here, and we weren't supposed to be seen…"
I grasped Iggy's belt loop again, but even tighter than before. Dr Martinez looked like she was having some sort of breakdown, her face was so white.
But the only one who actually acted was Fang.
Looking around for any escape routes, he must have come to the conclusion that the door we were outside of was our only place to hide, if we could.
So, pushing us out of the way, he took a running start and kicked the door open.
It flew open with a bang.
"Hey! Who's there? You're not authorized!" Came a voice. The footsteps had now gotten faster and louder.
We all darted into the room, me knocking Fang's shoulder saying "Couldn't have done that a little quieter?" In a quick whisper.
He gave me a swift glance saying 'Didn't see you doing anything'.
"Quit looking at each other, we need to hide!" Hissed Iggy, and grabbed both our arms and headed forward. Thankfully Fang stopped him before he could hit a wall (and us too), and we all squatted down underneath a long white desk, which was more like a bar (in the shape of one) than a table. It had wood in the front of it, so as long as no-one actually came and sat down here, we should've been hidden. I didn't know where Dr Martinez was, but at that moment, it wasn't my primary concern.
"Look, the door to the experiment N-U-D-G-E is open… that's highly confidential! When the Director hears about this…" The voices were now at the door. Their footsteps stopped abruptly.
"Dr Martinez?" Came a voice.
"Valencia? What are you doing here?" Said another.
"…Oh! Sorry! I was just looking around this lab, you know, seeing as I'm working in the field of Avian-Humans… I already have three experiments, but I just wanted to check out another, purely for research reasons… I didn't mean to intrude on your work!"
"But what are yo-" The voice was swiftly cut off with the hiss of another "You know she works right underneath the Director!"
I absorbed this new information quickly.
"This was probably under her orders! We don't wanna get in trouble, do we?"
"Okay… fine". Relented the other under his breath quietly.
Then, a little louder; "Feel free to look around! We just better get working; we have a deadline about…
There was a slight pause, and I pictured him glancing at his wristwatch.
"NOW! Quick Jimmy, we've gotta hurry if we don't want our asses kicked…"
"Sorry". Muttered 'Jimmy' as their footsteps started to come closer and closer to our hiding spot…
"WAIT!" Shouted Dr Martinez.
"Huh?" A white coat above us stopped in the process of pulling a chair out from just in front of Fang.
"Nothing", Said Dr Martinez weakly. "Please excuse me… Carry on".
The white coat said nothing, but sat down. Quickly, Fang pressed really hard onto my side, causing me to fall onto Iggy, as to avoid the legs that were heading towards his spot.
However, that push which made me fall into Iggy made Iggy fall into another set of legs…
Belonging to Jimmy.
"What the—" He looked under the table, then jumped so high that his knees cracked against the top of the desk, hard.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING UNDERNEATH THERE?"
"J-Jimmy?"
"Under the table, Nick, escaped mutants! How did they get out of their cages? We've gotta sound the alarm! Quickly!"
Nick looked underneath too, saw our pale faces, then swiftly grabbed the hems of all three of our shirts.
"P-Please don't…" Dr Martinez tried weakly.
White coat Nick paused in hauling us out, and White coat Jimmy asked:
"Valencia?...You know these experiments? You've got to help us get the H-Lupine experiments to restrict them…"
"Wait. WAIT! They- they're my experiments".
Both of them paused. "You know how they got out then?" Jimmy asked.
Dr Martinez shook her head. "I took them here", She said in a whisper.
"What?"
"I took them here". This time, she said it loudly and clearly, her head held high. I looked at her in awe, my respect for her once again rising.
Jimmy looked at her in disbelief before Nick interrupted.
"Look, I don't know what's happening here, but we've GOT to meet our deadline, it's really important… You know the consequences, Jimmy".
White coat Jimmy nodded, his face pale.
"Fine, we'll just tie them up and leave them for now… her too". He nodded in Dr Martinez's direction, unable to meet her eyes.
"…Jimmy?" She asked timidly, eyes big again.
"I'm sorry Val, but I just can't get involved with you anymore, you know what happens to BreakerOuters and their acquaintances…" He sighed. "Nick, you've got the binds?"
"Yep". He produced some long thick rope from inside a drawer. That was it? I felt relieved. We could easily break out of that. Tying it round the three of us, quickly and firmly, he chucked some to Jimmy who then began to restrain Dr Martinez's hands and ankles. She didn't even try to resist.
Shoving us roughly down on the ground, White Coat Nick then looked hard at us, looked at us like we were monsters.
"Now, I'm going to shackle you to the walls. These shackles were built with titanium and are very old. There's never been a mutant who's been able to break free of them before, no matter what they were. So don't you pathetic birds even try, I'm warning you now".
To emphasise his point, he aimed a sharp kick at Iggy's head.
The boot connected with a dull thud.
I cried out, resisting against the ropes.
Iggy curled up into a small ball. He didn't say anything, but judging by the way his hands were clenched so hard it must have hurt a lot. Fang had become stoic beside me once again.
Nick raised his boot for another kick, and I quickly went to shield Iggy as best I could with the shackles on my hands and feet with my body.
"STOP!"
That was Dr Martinez. I could see they hadn't bothered to use shackles on her, simply binded her with rope. But for a regular human, that was more than enough.
Nick's foot paused in its descent.
"…Fine". His words were sharp and clipped, and he angrily swivelled round to the labs, pulling out many wires.
"Get over here Jimmy!" He roared. I flinched at his loud and murderous tone. "I hate those disgusting things more than anything on Earth. Wish we could just kill every single one, abominable, violations of nature…" He carried on muttering vile things about us underneath his breath, each one driving themselves into my brain. I shut my ears to his voice closing myself from his insults. I had heard them before, many times. Though that didn't exactly mean they didn't have the same effect, or that I'd gotten used to them.
I heard Jimmy say a faint "Sorry" To Dr Martinez, though I felt his eyes on us as he too neared the work tables.
I could hear Dr Martinez's heavy breathing coming from her corner.
"Someone key in the electricity." White coat Nick said. Jimmy nodded, and pulled a huge lever down, igniting the wire. You could actually see the sparks and bolts of electricity running down the wire, towards…
"N-n-" Was that… Fang?
I swivelled my head round to him, astounded.
"N-n-oo". He was getting up, and off of the floor (subsequently pulling Iggy and I up too) What was he doing? Was he trying to get us killed? Was he trying to talk?
"No. NO. NO!" His voice had risen to a scream, so powerful it shocked me. Fang was yelling, he was speaking, my Fang, the one I thought was mute… what was he yelling at?
I realised then too, but too late.
The 2000 volts of electricity was headed for the machine.
They were going to kill her…
Everything slowed down for a second.
You could see the white coats, working at the panels furiously, Fang, Iggy and I struggling with the chains and rope furiously, though all for nothing
All we could do was watch the electricity creep closer and closer to her… The only other avian human that we knew of, like us…
BAM
Screaming.
Screaming.
SCREAMING.
It was coming from that poor girl, in that metal machine, such a high pitched keen that it felt like it would break my ears.
The white coats all had mufflers on… did that mean they had done this before then? I felt sick.
I realised my mouth was open, I must be screaming too.
Fang and Iggy were beside me, yelling.
Then, the last huge spike of electricity. When it hit the container, it let off a huge light, so bright and white, everyone looked away, even Iggy, who wouldn't have been able to see it anyway.
But I just looked closer.
The light illuminated everything, so much so, everything was just white.
I thought I had gone blind for a second.
Then, I saw a shadow of something from behind the container, no, in the container.
It was a girl.
She was curled up into a little ball, her hands clutching her frizzy mane of hair.
I could see the shape of wings peeking out of her back.
It was over, everything had stopped.
The screaming.
The electricity.
For a time, nobody moved.
Then, the white coats removed the shades that were covering their eyes.
It seemed only I had seen the girl, how I could have been able to see into the machine I was at a loss to, but I definitely saw her.
"It's starting…" Whispered a white coat. (I wasn't paying enough attention to see who it was).
I looked back over to the machine to see what he was on about.
A bright blue light poured out of the machine, and it filled the room.
It was alive, and breath taking, almost like magic, the way it twisted and curled in the air.
Fang and Iggy were dumbstruck beside me. (A/N Mainly Iggy though, because Fang rules! at Fiona Siona)
"I can see… I can see the blue lights…" Breathed Iggy, his face full of wonder.
I was too enraptured to wonder how Iggy could see them if he was blind. They filled the room, and me, my body, my mind. The light seemed to reach into my heart, and take away the pain and sadness inside, leaving an inexplicable emotion inside. The bright blue light numbed and healed, crawling and expanding from my chest to the roots of my hair, the tips of my toes, and every last feather on my wings. I felt like I was soaring up, even though I wasn't even flying…
Who was this girl?
How could she make such… such… Magic?
Of course, the white coats destroyed it all.
"Quick! Somebody! The container unit!" Nick barked.
Jimmy hurried out and when he returned, he had with his person a huge black box, which he had to cart in it looked so heavy.
Almost immediately, the brilliant blue light seemed to be almost sucked into the box, and I felt strangely sad at the empty space it had left behind.
Iggy and Fang plopped down beside me; I must have slid down the wall without even realising it.
I felt wetness on my cheeks. I put up a hand somewhat awkwardly and wiped off the tears quickly. I didn't even know that I had been crying. I looked at the black box longingly, wanting the blue light to come back out and take away my pain and sorrow again.
Looking down at my hand, I thought I saw the faintest sliver of blue in one of the tears, but then it was gone, making me wonder if I had just imagined it.
"Th-tha-that…" Dr Martinez stuttered. I had forgotten she was even there.
"Yes, that was the power of N.U.D.G.E. Disgusting wasn't it?" Said Nick. He had removed his mufflers and was typing quickly onto a laptop.
I gaped at him. How could he say something like that was disgusting? And what more, he didn't even seem affected by the light in the slightest.
"Good thing that it is a great source of magnetism though. As long as it is contained, it acts as a very very strong magnet, pulls any metal in actually. We have very high bidders for it. Jimmy, get it carted, NOW! The deadline was two minutes ago!"
Jimmy gave a salute and began carting it out, giving Dr Martinez one more concerned look before heading for the door.
Nick turned to face us. "Now… what to do with you…"
"And… NOW!" Iggy shouted. Wait… what? What was he talking about-
There was no time to think. Fang had sprung to action too, ripping the rope out from round us. I saw Iggy tuck something sharp back into his pocket… It looked like a piece of metal? He must have been sawing us free that whole time while he was all curled up on the ground! But there were still the shackles to take care of.
Just as I thought that, Iggy felt for them and smeared some sort of gooey, green glowing substance around the links – Don't ask me where he had got it from. He then, of course produced a lighter. I gasped.
"Iggy, you're not going to –"
"NO!" Shouted Nick.
But I saw the flame get ever nearer to the green substance until…
A white, blinding light. I don't know how many times I'd seen one of those before.
The force of the explosion sent me reeling forwards, shackles and all still on my arms. The heat burned the hair on the back of my back right of, and I dreaded to think of my actual hair. I went sailing through the air, for what felt like an eternity to me – thinking about how it would really hurt when I landed, and the many ways in which I was going to KILL Iggy once this was over…
Wait a second! My wings!
Without hesitation, I immediately thrust them open from the back of my gown, wincing as the sudden air resistance yanked them back forcefully. And not a second too soon either – now that I had slowed down, I could see I was heading straight for the machine, or should I say, the box that held Nudge.
I managed to stop myself crashing headlong into it by using my feet to land on it, perpendicular to the floor for a moment, before pushing myself off and down, landing nimbly on my feet.
I looked over at the other side of the room (it was some distance away). From the smoke and dust cloud that had engulfed the room also arose Fang. I saw he had had the same idea that I had, as he was flying (properly flying with wings rather than just being thrown through the air), but sooner as he was flying steadily and not in danger of crashing into anything.
Iggy on the other hand…
I looked at Nudge's machine. It now had a huge dent in it, shaped like Iggy's head.
I winced for the girl inside, but not for Iggy. He deserved it anyway.
I felt my hair, and gasped. The bottom half was completely singed and burnt off. I gave it a yank and saw it just completely fall off. I gaped at the blackened hair on the ground. Okay, he definitely deserved it.
"WAHOOO! That'll teach you to try and tie up the explosives man!" Iggy had picked himself off of the ground and was punching the air. "Awesome Iggy. Your best invention yet!" He looked very proud of himself.
I shot Fang a look, who was coming to a land next to me that expressed 'Why is he with us?'
Fang just shrugged, and gave me a look that said 'He did just save us'.
"And almost killing us in the process. Not the best escape plan". Fang just shrugged again.
There was a moan coming from the dust cloud.
"Oh no, Dr Martinez!" I cried, starting to run towards her corner, which I couldn't see from all the debris.
"I'm fine you guys, just get out of here! I think Nick and Jimmy are both down, you need to get out now, while you still can!" Her voice was weak, but clear.
Fang and I nodded, and started to make our way out. My head actually felt a lot lighter without the weight of all my long hair attached to it. It would definitely be a lot better for fights. Maybe short hair wasn't so bad after all, I might actually continue to cut it like this.
After a couple of steps forward, I turned round, realising Iggy wasn't with us. "Come on Iggy, we need to go! NOW!"
He remained standing there, looking in the direction of the machine. "No… I need to find her. I need to get her out. It was the whole point of us coming here. You two go ahead, and I'll catch up. But I'm not coming until I've got Nudge".
"This is stupid Iggy, I'm not letting you-"
"You saw what they did – do to her! How am I just supposed to leave her here? So she can die in there?"
"But…"
"No." Was that… Fang? I spun round to face him. "No." This time it was a little clearer. I stared at him, then jumped startled when he suddenly grabbed hold of my wrist.
I frowned. I thought Fang was saying no… saying no to Iggy, that he couldn't stay and try to get Nudge out – it was too dangerous. But then I realised that he was saying no to me. That I should let Iggy stay – he was tugging on my hand, leading us towards the door. I stumbled after him, confused. I thought Fang always sided with me…?
"Thanks Fang. I owe you one".
I sent Iggy a tortured glance, but of course he couldn't see it. He had already turned round and was ripping wires and machinery out of Nudge's big black metal prison.
"Wait… I…" But then we heard footsteps.
"What in God's name has happened here…?" Asked a white coat quietly, from outside.
It was only then that I realised that all the dust and debris were actually bricks – Iggy had actually gone and blown open the entire wall?! Fang's loose grip was now like iron, and he started to pull me forward, through the gaping gap. I caught a glimpse of Dr Martinez while passing. She looked fine, a little dusty, but unhurt, still bound by the rope. The two white coats however, I couldn't say the same for. Nick's leg was bent at an awkward angle, and there was something dark seeping from his head… was it… blood? We also passed Jimmy's unconscious body. How did we even survive that explosion?
Fang was already pulling me down corridors, leaving that white room behind, going the opposite way as to the footsteps.
The only problem was… we didn't know where we were going, or where we were at all.
The many footsteps faded after a while.
And then they started up again, louder than before, and we could hear voices too.
"Escapees!"
"Mutants out in the corridors!"
"We need to call the Erasers out!"
We ran down another corridor, through a room, down another one, but then we heard voices again.
Backing up, we sprinted the other way for a few seconds, but we encountered footsteps again.
Fang checked a couple of doors, rattling them angrily, but they were all metal doors, and securely locked.
We were trapped.
"Look down".
"Huh? What? Fang, did you say something?"
Fang just shot me a look that asked if I was crazy, and for me to shut up simultaneously. I would have laughed at it, if we weren't in such dire circumstances.
"Underneath the mat, look down".
Again, I looked all around for the voice. Was it the white coats? No, but they were getting closer…
It sounded like… well like… it was coming from inside… inside my head?
I think Iggy's explosion has damaged my brain.
"Okay little voice". I whispered. Fang looked at me like I really was crazy. (Who knows? I probably am).
But it couldn't hurt to do what it says. I was so desperate right now, that I would follow about anything.
So I looked down at the tiled floor and saw that there was indeed a rug just lying there. It was white, and so blended in quite nicely, but still, it was strange. It wasn't as if the School was exactly homely.
I peered underneath, then gasped.
"Look Fang! A trap door!" I pulled the rug completely off and yanked it open. It seemed like something out of a spy movie – what was the School thinking when they decided to include trap doors in the blue prints?
Fang shot me another look that read 'How the hell did you know that was there?'
But we had no time, the white coats were on to us.
Fang jumped first then me. I made sure to shut it, and pull the rug over it before letting go and dropping.
We landed in another corridor.
Only problem? It was filled with Erasers.
A/N Okay, seriously sorry for not updating in over three months! Please forgive me . I'm not even gonna try and make excuses, but I was really busy :/
But I hope to make up for it with this extra long chapter – this one took ages to write, so I hope you enjoyed it! Don't worry, Iggy won't get captured or anything, and I'm sure you guys hate that Max and Fang just sort of left him behind… but I really needed to get this story moving and introduce some more of the flock members ;)
Don't ask me what the blue light was, I'll explain it all later
Anyways, review please?
10+ - I'll update today!
8 -I'll update tomorrow
6 - I'll update in a week
4 - I'll update in a month
2 - I'll update in a year
0 - …Never?
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