The POV is back to Max. Not much else to say besides that….
My Favorite Mistake
Chapter 12
What Just Happened???
THREE YEARS LATER
"Natty," I said, holding a white bear a few feet away from my precious baby, "Natty, who's this?"
"Celeste!" Natalie said, holding out her tiny hands for the bear.
"Good job!" I said.
"Me bear!" Natalie said, stamping her foot and taking a serious face.
"Now, what do we say?" I said.
"Pease gimme bear?" Natty said, her eyes becoming round as dinner plates and shiny as the moon. Great, Bambi Eyes Part Two.
"Here you go," I laughed, handing her the ragged bear passed down from Angel. I'd been glad Angel had been so great about giving Celeste to Natalie for her second birthday. She'd been such, well, an angel about it.
I left Natalie to play with the old bear, walking over to Fang. I gave him a kiss gently and we watched the kid play.
"God, she loves that bear," I said.
"Well, Angel was getting kind of old for a toy bear," Fang pointed out. I looked over at Angel. She had grown up. She'd grown to be even prettier than before. She kind of looked like a younger version of me with blue eyes instead of brown.
"They've all grown," I said, examining the differences in my flock members.
Gazzy had become handsome. He'd also learned to 'hold it in,' if you know what I mean. Well, at least, he tried more often. He'd become more sexist-pig, too. Checking out girls' butts. Making out with girls on the beach…or the street…or the coffee shop…or the bathroom…or wherever he could find space…
Nudge had grown to be just as tall as me. Her eyes shone whenever Iggy spoke. Her hair had straightened as she aged, and now, with a little brushing, her hair was as straight as mine.
Iggy hadn't changed much. His face matured, but he was done growing taller and now just his hair grew. At a very rapid pace.
Fang…was Fang. Handsome…sexy…my baby's father…I loved him even more now than I did five years ago when our relationship started. I had also noticed he showed more emotion than he used to. Well, not so much around the flock, but definitely around me and Natty.
And me. Well, we all know what a knockout I am! (Oh my God I am so joking!) Well, I did have boys in the stores always coming up to me and asking me out. I always say no, I promise! I thinned out a little more, if possible. But, like Fang and Iggy, I was done growing.
Natalie had started to be called Natty. Her hair was the color of dark chocolate that waved in a way that seemed it couldn't decide whether to be like my straight hair or Fang's chocolate ringlets. Her dark eyes glittered beautifully in the light at this time. The Erasers (now winged) had kept trying to steal Natalie away through her first two years, but now they stopped trying so much. Their attacks backed off from three, four times a week to three, four times a month.
My eyes scanned the trashy hotel room we were in (heck, it had two queen beds, one twin bed and a couch and at $27 a night, why not?) and noticed Fang staring right at me.
"What?" I laughed.
His eyes shone as he said the words, "We grew up together. Since we were babies, we grew up together. I guess I just realized that."
"We had a family," I said.
"Yeah, but that just started three years ago," Fang said.
I shook my head, "No, it didn't. Our family started three years ago. Scientifically speaking, that is. But we've had Nudge, Iggy, the Gasman and Angel here since…I can't even remember how long it's been since we've been there for them."
"You were their Mom," Fang said, "I did nothing."
"You were there," I pointed out, "And that matters more than you can imagine." I dropped my head onto his shoulder and smiled.
"It's late," he whispered so just I could hear, "We should get to bed."
'We' meant all of us. I'd learned two years ago to decipher the 'we' that meant him and I from the 'we' that meant all seven of us. I looked deep into his mysterious eyes and felt truly happy. Boy did that feel good!
"OK, guys!" I said, making everyone stop and stare at me, "Time for bed!"
There was minimal disagreement over the beds. We switched off who got the bed and who got the floor. In the end, Fang and I got a bed, Iggy and Nudge got a bed, the Gasman got the twin bed and Angel got the couch.
THE NEXT MORNING
It was eight AM when I heard a knock on the door. I opened it and saw a skinny girl.
"May I help you?" I asked her.
"Yes," the girl replied, "You can die."
She grabbed my shirt and dragged me out of the room. I gasped as I saw everything. All across the parking lot outside the motel were hundreds of Erasers. And I had a feeling this was a showdown. And I was not the favorable winner.
"Who are you?" I cried as she used my shirt to throw me to the ground.
"Is!" the girl shouted at me, "My name is Is and I am here to kick your ass! I've been training for three years to fight and kill you. The day Rik died was the day I pledged my life to killing you."
Rik…that name sounded familiar. "Rik? You mean the guy who always tried to kill me and my family? The guy who I killed, what, three years ago? Why would you want to avenge him?" I asked.
"He said he loved me," Is said.
"Yeah, he also said he was gonna kill me," I said, "Look around, Is. I'm still here! The guy doesn't seem too keen on keeping promises, now does he?"
Is fumed quietly then started to charge. I took to the air, swerving from left to right. I could beat her, easy. But I didn't have to. And that was the difference between her and me.
I began to fly up, but I saw my flock telling me not to. I reached the height of the motel and felt an electric shock large enough to give an electric eel a run for his money. I fell to the ground and Is began to walk toward me.
"Give it up," Is said, "I've trained for this for three years. I'm faster, stronger and better."
I stood and swung a punch across her face, "Yeah? Then why are you doing it?" Is scanned me for a second, as if shocked, then kicked at me shoulder, an attack which I easily dodged.
"What do you mean?" she grunted out while locked in battle with me.
"What I mean is," I started, panting. Damn, she was better than before! "you don't have to beat me. Heck, you seem so sure you're better than me, but you just have to prove it."
I'd angered her. All of a sudden, she was moving faster, fighting harder. It took all I had to just evade her.
"Die, freak," she snapped. Is swept her foot behind my knees so they gave out. I fell to my knees and tried to get back up, but she punched me across my cheek, so I fell to the side. Using my shirt to lift me, she shoved me against the wall. Her left hand wrapped around my throat.
"Do you love him?" I managed to choke out.
"Who?" she asked, her hand around my neck loosening to allow me to speak.
"You said he said he loved you," I said, "But do you love him?" Good. I was buying myself time.
"Like a brother," she replied, "May I kill you now?" Her eyes were bloodshot.
"How do you know he loves you?" I asked just as her hand was tightening again.
She stopped, her eyes staring mine down, "I don't. But he said. It had to be true."
"Why don't you just ask him?" I asked her.
"He's dead," she said with great pain in her voice, "How am I supposed to ask him?"
I sighed, "Well, being that he's right behind you, I'd say all you have to do is turn around."
"What?" she asked, "You're shittin' me!"
"I have never understood that phrase, and I probably never will," I said, "But, no, I'm not 'shitting' you. He seriously is. Aren't you, Rik?" Her eyes were examining mine, looking for the slightest hint of lying. She wouldn't find it; not because I was such a good liar, but because it was true. I'd seen him a little while ago, but I had been a little busy at that moment.
"Rik?" she breathed, her voice was barely audible. She turned away from me, her hand not yet leaving my neck. But then her eyes fell on her one and only.
"Rik!" she cried out. She ran to him, not caring about me any longer (thank the Lord!). She wrapped her arms tight around him, but he did not return the hug.
"Why didn't you kill her?" Rik hissed into her ear, his voice as sharp as nails.
"What?" she said surprised. She withdrew from the hug and looked him in the eyes. "Aren't you happy to be alive? To see me?"
Rik angrily shoved Is off of him. "I never died, idiot!" he shouted at her, "I was faking it! I was still recovering from the surgery it took to make me live, so I I thought maybe it'd give you more of a reason to kill Maximum Ride! But I guess not. You want something done, you have to do it yourself, right?! So get out of my way!" He shoved Is to the left and there she laid on the ground dumbstruck.
Rik threw a punch at my head, but I ducked and dodged it, and his hand his the stone wall behind me. I punched the side of his head.
He cried out in anger and reached behind him, grabbing me and throwing me forward so I was facing him. Now that I had not expected. He proceeded to punch every bit of me. Boy, was I gonna be bruised tomorrow.
I was his punching bag. Oh, what a great feeling to be a punching bag.
Vaguely, I saw Fang fighting to get through a group of Erasers. All of my flock was coming to try to help me. But there were too many. And it seemed like more Erasers were still coming every minute, to watch to death of Maximum Ride.
This is it, I thought, This is the end.
Suddenly, Rik was thrown off of me. I slunk down the wall, weary and shaky from being a human punching bag. I didn't think to look over and see who helped (ahem…saved) me. I couldn't even focus my eyes much anymore. I dropped my head in my hands and tried to fight the feeling of dizziness and nausea that had overcome me.
Five minutes later, I felt better. I stood to see Rik lying on the ground, beaten senseless and most likely dead. (Yay!!!) I looked around. Who killed him? Was it Fang? Iggy? Nudge? Gazzy? Angel? No. They were all still fighting to get through the crowd, which, in fact, had lessened.
Is was panting, standing under a yard from me. There was blood on her hands.
"Did you…?" I asked her.
"Yes," she said, "I think I did." Tears filled her deep blue eyes. She wiped the blood on the grass beneath our feet and let her head fall in her hands and cry.
I nodded for a minute, taking it all in. Finally, I said, "Thank you."
She looked at me, shocked. "What?" she said, confused.
"Thank you for helping me," I said, "I would've died if not for you."
"I can't believe him," she said, "He lied in every way possible. Everything I think, everything I know and knew, it was all a lie. How can I know what's the truth?"
I shrugged. After another long pause, I said, "So, what now?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Where do you go? What do you do now?" I asked her.
She scanned my face, as if looking for a reason not to trust me. Finally she said, "There are a bunch of us Erasers who are starting to feel like this is wrong. So, I think I'm going to leave with them. I'm going to be hunted down for disobeying. They're going to want to kill me. But we're the strongest of the Erasers. We're the ones they think will survive the longest. We can, as long as we're together."
She didn't speak for the longest time, but I could tell she wasn't done speaking. I glanced over to see that Fang had broken through the crowd and was now watching me. I could tell he was ready to run and protect me if needed. He was closer and closer every time I looked at him.
"What about you?" Is asked, snapping me back into the conversation.
"I'll be doing what I've done for forever," I said, "Protecting my family."
"I'll back off," she promised, "That is, if you will."
"I will. And if I ever see you being attacked, I'll have my flock come and help you," I told her.
"Same here," she said. She smiled.
I reached out my hand for a handshake. But she opened her arms wide and we hugged each other. I'd made friends with an Eraser. Go figure…
"I've gotta go," she said.
"Me, too," I said.
We walked our separate ways. I met up with my flock and we began to fly away. I felt a sense of peace about our situation.
"You're not gonna kill her?" Fang asked me.
"No," I said, "She deserves to live."
And as I looked back at the Erasers disbanding into their cars and vans, I saw a group of six or seven Erasers walking the other way, and I picked out the bushy-haired girl that was Is as the leader. She turned and looked at six dots growing smaller in the sky, and I think I saw her wave.
But it could've just been my imagination.
I want you guys to let me know whether you think this should be the end. Trust me, the two chapters I've written for after this are not good!!!! However, nothing I write at this moment is real good….AHHHH!!!! WRITERS BLOCK!!!!
I don't usually like to ask for ideas for stories, but if you want My Favorite Mistake to continue, I'm gonna need them.
