I'm a horrible person. I haven't updated at all this year! At least, I don't think… Well, if I haven't, HAPPY NEW YEAR! And here's the chappie.

Chapter 13

Johannah's POV

"But I wanna GO!" Nudge says for the hundredth time.

"NO." Fang finally yells, turning around to face her.

This takes her off guard, and Nudge stands there, stunned, feeling crushed under his height and his deadly expression.

Fang sighs at this, and he lowers his guard. "I'm sorry, Nudge. But it's too dangerous. If they catch you…" Fang licks his lips and looks around, looking for words written on the walls. "It can't happen. I need you safe, and I'll only know that for sure if you're here."

Nudge nods slowly, understandingly. "Okay…"

Fang embraces her in a hug and kisses the top of her head. I stare at this. He did that because he loves her. Because they're family.

Fang turns back to us—Iggy, Angel and I. "You ready?"

We all nod.

"Okay. Let's go."

Once we're outside, Iggy, Fang, and Angel spread out their wings. Wow. Their wings… are… amazing, really. Fang holds out his hand to me, and I take it. He pulls me on his back, and we all get ready for take off. I hold my breath as they begin running down the driveway, flapping their wings slightly, then jumping into the air as a wind gust hits—then we're airborne.

We're going straight up, almost, and before I know it we're as high as the clouds. "Whoa," I breathe, and Fang smirks. It still feels kind of weird, with my arms around his neck and the beating of his wings against my torso, but I ignore it. He is my… brother, after all. "So… where are we going?" I yell above the wind.

"California," he replies.

Ah. "And where are we now?"

Fang smirks again. "Around Boston."

"Isn't that really far from each other?" I ask.

"Yeah."

Great.

Breathing in the cool air, I fix my gaze downward. Right now there are nothing but fields, but I can see a bunch of cities ahead. About ten minutes later, when we're above the cities, I wonder something.

"Can they see us?" I ask Fang.

"Not when we're this far up," he replies. "To them, we just look like birds."

"Oh."

We fly in silence a little longer, and I decide to put my head down and look sideways since looking down is starting to give me a headache. I stare at Angel and Iggy, who fly with ease and peacefulness. Iggy is looking straight ahead, closing his eyes at some points to block them from the wind. Angel is looking down with a concerned look on her face, probably thinking about Max. When she senses me watching her, she turns and gives me a smile, but it is halfhearted. I feel sorry for her—she doesn't feel like her normal self without Max.

Looking back at Iggy, I wonder if him being blind is all a prank on me. Those could be colored contacts. Because he acts like he can see all the time… well, except getting around in unusual places. Then he hooks arms with Max or somebody, so they can lead him around. But my question still stands.

"Fang, is Iggy really blind?" I ask, quieter this time so only we can hear.

Fang's muscles tighten with laughter, but I don't hear it. "Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I reply truthfully.

Fang laughs again. "Yeah. He's pretty good at being blind. Being mutants, our senses are a lot better than normal people's. Iggy uses his ears or his fingers as his eyes."

When he doesn't go on, I ask, "What do you mean?" because he wasn't very clear.

"Like with phone calls, he has everyone on a different ring tone so when the phone rings, he knows by the song it plays who it is."

"Oh," I reply, understanding. That's pretty clever. "What about other things? How can he cook?"

"You know, I don't really know. He just has these recipes in his head and he feels around for the right things… isn't that right, Iggy?"

"You know, Fang, you talk more to her in one day than you do with us in a week. Combined," is Iggy's reply.

I wonder how he heard us, because I was pretty much whispering in Fang's ear, but then I remember that Fang said their senses are better than normal people's.

"But no," Iggy goes on. "Usually one of the little girls finds the ingredients for me."

-this-is-a-line-break-his-name-is-Joey-you-may-pet-him-but-he-will-bite.

"…And nobody ever saw those people again," Iggy finishes. "True story."

I laugh, while Angel looks horrified. Fang is smirking—surprise, surprise.

"If it's a true story, and everybody dies, then where'd the story come from?" I ask, laughter building up inside of me as I watch Iggy's face flush. It no longer looks creepy as it is lit up in the firelight. I look at Angel, who still looks a little scarred from the story. "Don't worry, Angel. It's not true. And there are no such things as ghosts."

Angel smiles at me, then yawns and lies down on the log she sits on. "I'm tiiired."

"I'll take first watch," Fang announces, and we all agree. Fang is going to wake Iggy up at three.

About an hour later, I'm pretty sure Iggy and Angel are asleep. I'm forcing myself to stay awake, not wanting to dream about my father or Jane and wake everybody up. Again. But for the millionth time, my eyes close and darkness surrounds me, but this time I'm too weak to defy sleep…

Fang's POV

I poke the fire again, trying to keep my only light source running. When I'm done fiddling with that, I look around at the flock. Iggy's back is turned to me, but his even breathing tells me he's asleep. Angel is facing me, but her eyes are closed and she is breathing evenly, like Iggy, and there is even a small smile on her face. She must be having a good dream. Johannah is on the log beside me, her face peaceful… finally. She's spent almost an hour trying to resist sleep, but I guess now she's given up.

Sighing, I slip my phone out of my pocket and see three new messages, so I open them.

Nudge: I miss you already! Bring Max back ok? Love u Fang! 3

Ella: Haha I miss y'all already! Be careful okay? ;)

Nudge: Faaaang? U ok?

Reply.

To Nudge: Yeah I'm fine. Can't get messages in the sky, remember? :j

Send.

To Ella: 'Kay. :j

Send.

When I get bored and start playing Solitaire, Johannah starts mumbling beside me in her sleep. God, what is wrong with that girl? The mumbling gets louder, and I can almost make words, but they're all jumbled together. At times, I think I can hear a "Jane" and a "Fang", but nothing besides that. She's shaking, too, and twitching her hands. Her face is twisted in what looks like pain, but there's something else in it. Something missing.

She doesn't like the dream. So I decide to wake her up.

Surprisingly, it only takes one little nudge and she's sitting up, panting.

"…You okay?" I ask, like she asked when I woke up earlier and she was there.

Johannah looks at me weakly, then nods. Her hands are still trembling.

"Liar."

Johannah shoots a glare my way. "You lie too!"

I shrug, smiling. Sort of.

"So were you dreaming about me?" I tease.

Only Johannah doesn't think it's funny. At least, she's not showing it.

"You dream about me too," she retorts.

Wait—how would she that?

"Angel told me," Johannah replies, sensing my confusion.

"Oh." There's an awkward silence, then I go on. "So… You cold?"

Johannah hesitates, then nods slowly. I reach beside me and unzip the backpack we brought, pulling out a hoodie and tossing it her way. But when she sees the thing flying at her, she jumps and covers her head with her arms. The hoodie lands beside her.

What the heck?

After about two seconds, Johannah stops and sits upright, her cheeks turning a shade of red.

"You sure you're okay?" I ask, trying to break the ice.

Johannah glances at the hoodie, at me, then at her hands. The firelight reflecting in her eyes is suddenly more visible. In a second I'm at her side, trying to look her in the eyes, trying to help. "Hey, hey it's okay," I soothe like I used to do to Max.

She sniffs, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her shirt. "I know."And Johannah breathes, watching the fire, her episode forcing an end. When she looks like she's fully recovered, I—hesitantly—wrap an arm around her, trying to calm her, hoping not to start another fit. Reluctantly, Johannah only leans into me.

After a few moments, I ask, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Johannah fiddles around with her fingers for a while. After about three minutes I assume she's ignored me and thought about something else, but then she says suddenly, "I don't ever remember having a brother."

My gaze turns back to her. "Do you think we really are twins?"

"Angel seems to think so," she replies.

I chuckle. "And when is she ever wrong…"

"We do have the same eyes," Johannah says.

It's true. That was the first thing I noticed about her, was that she has the same eyes as me: big, deep black eyes. When the light shines in them, they look like stars on a night sky. "Yeah," I reply. "We do."

"Do you think that that guy was just bluffing when he said it?" she asks. "Or is it true?"

"…What do you think?" I ask, suddenly interested.

Johannah remains silent for a few seconds at this, choosing her words carefully. "I do believe it," she says finally. "Ever since I first saw you, I've known…"

I smile. "Same here."

For about a minute, we stare at the fire, thinking. Then Johannah says suddenly, "My name is Rain."

Wait. What?

"What?" I say, voicing my opinion.

"My name?" she replies carefully. "I'm…" But then Johannah freezes, like she's said something she didn't mean to.

I wait, but she doesn't go on for a while. I want to say her name, but she might get mad for calling her Johannah—or Rain. I could soothe her like I did earlier, but she doesn't look distressed. Well, not enough to need comforting, I guess.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me," I end up saying.

But Johannah shakes her head. "No, it's okay. If we are twins, then there's no point in not telling you. Well, my real name is Johannah. But with my—our—sister, she always called me Rain, because that is what I liked the most—besides her, of course. She also said it was to 'separate me from my father'."

Oh. That makes more sense.

"Ah. So which do you want me to call you?" I ask, trying to play it casual and not freak out.

Johannah (or Rain?) shrugs. "Whichever. Usually, it was only my sis—our sister—who called me that. But that was when she was pretty much the only person I knew."

Well that doesn't help.

"Which do you like better?"

She smiles. "Rain."

YAAAAY!

I'm having a crappy day so reviews will help me greatly! :D