Silence – Chapter 12
By MyNameIsCAL
Some of you may hate me after this chapter, and I'm quite sorry.
-Max's POV-
Fang was restless as we sat on the airplane. He kept his hand in mine, gripping it tightly every time we went through turbulence. Nudge and Iggy sat across from us. She seemed to have coaxed him into sleeping.
"I never thought we'd ever go back to New York," Nudge said, looking out the window. The clouds were dark and ominous. Not exactly the feeling of a good sign.
"Well, I never thought we'd go much of anywhere," I replied.
Fang shivered against me.
"Are you cold?" I asked him.
He rested against me. Nudge gave him a small smile.
Teddy came down the aisle, taking the seat next to Nudge.
"We'll be there in another hour," he informed us. "We'll take you to a secured location."
"A secured location?" I frowned.
"It's a five star hotel, Max," Teddy assured me. "We got you a nice suite that you can all share together. I thought that would be best."
"Why can't we go to the subway first?"
"Well, if that's what you'd like, I can arrange for that with the Captain."
"Well, we can't be wasting time!" Nudge exclaimed.
Sometimes I felt like the FBI was too slow, but then I have to remind myself that Teddy wasn't in charge. He was only taking orders and retelling them to us.
"Of course," Teddy nodded. And then he was gone.
It was surreal being back in the city. The weather was cold, winter now approaching. Fang wrapped his jacket around me, my hand in his as we led the way down the street. Iggy and Nudge followed closely behind. Snow began to fall as the sky became grey.
Fang pointed across the street. We went through an alleyway and down the steps. FBI agents began to get out of the cars that followed us slowly down the roads. Teddy took out his gun, now in front of us.
It seemed empty now. There were boxes strewn about, old and tattered sheets scattered. I wondered if that strange computer guy was still here, but as we moved deeper into the tunnel, there was nothing. Fang let go of my hand, his pace quickening. Iggy followed him too. And then I smelled it.
Blood.
Teddy and the agents couldn't sense it, but we could, and they ran to keep up with us, our footsteps echoing. We came to a standstill at the opening where we had slept those couple of nights. A box sat in the corner, shaking.
"Max," Teddy motioned to me and we closed in on it, leaving the others behind.
There was a voice coming from the box now. It sounded hoarse and stuttered, like the person speaking had their teeth chattering. "A…a…and it was dark…s…s…subway. If they…th…th…they only c…c…came…"
I kneeled down in front of the box, taking a deep breath. The smell of blood had never been stronger and as much as I wanted to find Gazzy, I hoped that he would be okay, that the video had all been a mistake just to scare us.
"Open it slowly," Teddy directed, his gun ready, but still pointed at the floor.
I placed my hand on the flap. Fang now stood beside me, waiting expectantly, his expression giving away nothing, his eyes fixed on the box. After he nodded, I pulled the flap open.
"Y…you….you're not real."
I grabbed Teddy's flashlight and shined it into the dark box. Gazzy had this stare on his face, but his eyes weren't focused on anything, the way Iggy looked when he was thinking, when he wasn't really here.
"Gazzy…" I breathed out, the smell of blood thick. Even Teddy looked like he could smell it now.
"Y…you…you're not real," Gazzy repeated, shutting his eyes.
He was covered in blood, in white clothes that looked like they were from a laboratory. I stretched out my hand. "Gazzy, we're real, I promise. We saw the video…"
Gazzy cringed away. "Voices…t…talking to me. G…go away."
Fang bent down next to me.
"F…F…Fang…" Gazzy jumped out of the box, his arms around Fang now, and they tumbled backwards. The agents all pulled out their guns, but Teddy held up his hand and they held their ground, staring.
I watched Gazzy push himself off of Fang and grab Fang's arm. He rolled up Fang's sleeve and his eyes stared at scars that looked like long scratches.
Fang look bewildered, staring at Gazzy. I saw the source of all the blood now. It was coming from the back of Gazzy's shirt. As Gazzy turned, standing, his back to Fang, I saw Fang's eyes widen.
And as quickly as Gazzy had sprung out of the box, he collapsed. Fang sprung out, catching him before he hit the ground.
"We gotta get him to a medical unit," Teddy said, putting his gun away.
Fang carried him out and we followed him to the car.
I didn't want that to happen to Gazzy and I tried to write a scene where they found him in one piece, wings still there and everything, but that was never my intention when I wrote the chapter before this one. As I always say, I'm not into fairytales, but I'll find a way to give you a happy ending eventually.
Thanks for reading. The next chapter will be up sometime during the week.
