Sorry! Later than I thought it would be. Tried to make it longer for you because of that. Almost the holidays for me! YAY~ Hopefully that will mean I write more. (:
I hope there is no typos or anything. Enjoy~
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You give what you give cause they make you
Trapped inside a place that won't take you
And they want you to be what they make you
It's already over and done
When you're young
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Monday. Yay. My favorite day of the week.
At least school was interesting. Rumors of missing gang members were being whispered from ear to ear with fear and excitement.
I wondered if it had anything to do with the Frenzy who had had her sister taken. But what would use would someone have with gang kids? It wasn't like you could ransom them or anything.
I hummed to myself as I walked out of the school doors, glad that it was finally over. I can only take teachers droning on about things for so long. Gah, Mrs. Robertson in history... she could make Medusa find a way to turn herself to stone just for a bit of peace.
"Hey Max, wait up!"
At Fang's voice I froze just ever so slightly, then tried to turn causally. "Hey Fang."
He jogged to catch up to me. "How's it going?"
It's okay, just answer him like you normally would, no need to think about the fact he's kissed you. "I'm uh.." He's kissed me three times! "Wonderful, over the moon... er- I mean great. I'm good."
He gave me an odd look. "Yeah... So, do you mind if Iggy and I walk with you for a while?"
"Yeah," I shrugged glancing at him. "Go for it."
Hmm, he looked very nice it that shirt...
Shut up thoughts! Shut up, shut up, shut up!
"So Iggy and Ella seem to be getting along great."
Fang nodded. "Yeah he really likes her."
We trailed off into an awkward silence as we waited outside the gate for Iggy. There were so many people trying to leave at the moment but they were barely moving very fast.
"Watch out! Coming through. Blind guy here. Make way for the blind guy!" Iggy walked calmly through the gap naive students were making for him as he reached Fang and me. "Hey, you guys ready to leave."
"Uh Iggy?" I frowned at him. "You're only blind in one eye. You can see perfectly well out of your other eye."
"Pfft. What's the point of being blind if you can't grab advantages? Besides, I didn't think you felt like waiting an hour for me to get out of there." He slung an arm around my shoulders. "Let's go then."
After I awkwardly edged out from under Iggy's arm, the conversation wasn't too bad. It wasn't as weird between me and Fang as I though it might be. We chatted a bit about random school topics before Fang sighed.
"I don't know what to do about the other members of our gang that are going missing. We have no leads, nothing that could tell us who and what is doing this." He admitted.
"Hey, Fang, isn't that your Striker girlfriend?" Iggy bumped Fang's shoulder and motioned toward a rooftop.
I rolled my eyes slightly and turned to see which one of my gang-mates had come to spy on us.. I spotted her silhouetted against the darkening sky as she watched us. At first, with her blondish brown hair I thought it might be Ella, but then I realized her hair was to long to be Ella's and she was too tall too. I studied her closer and blinked in surprise.
She looked like me.
I might as well have been standing on that rooftop myself, the resemblance was that striking.
"I wonder what a Striker is doing over here?" Iggy shot Fang a look and wiggled his eyebrows.
"That's not a Striker." I gritted out.
I hate people who pretend to be us.
"Yeah it is." Iggy laughed. "She's a friend of Fang's and-"
But I was gone before I could hear the rest. The Striker-wannabe obviously seemed to know who I was because they took off right away. I took a flying leap and scrambled up the side of the building. Dusty bricks scraped along the skin of my knees as I shoved my self over the top, not caring so much about being graceful and more about catching the imposter.
Fang and Iggy were probably a shocked behind me, but I kind of trusted them as friends. I hoped they wouldn't tell anyone. I wouldn't have have gone after the girl otherwise.
Who ever she was, she'd obviously done something like this before because she could throw herself into the air to soar between the gaps in buildings without hesitating, and she managed to land perfectly every time.
As fast as I tried to go, I just couldn't seem to catch up to her. Gritting my teeth in frustration, I squinted my eyes for a couple seconds as the setting sun shone right into them. I'd barely looked away, but when I glanced back she was already gone.
With a snarl of frustration, I glanced around me and pondered all the routes she could have gone. I searched the alleys quickly, hoping to find even just a trace of her. I was losing hope when I heard a dull roar start up. With growing dread, I bolted over to an alley to see a white van start to pull away.
Gritting my teeth, I leaped to the ground and raced after it. Even the slightest idea about where it was going would help me figure out who it was that dared to pretend to be me.
I was so focused on staring at the number-plate that I didn't notice the danger until it was too late.
I caught a glimpse of a cruel face leaning out the window, but my attention was mostly snared by the gun he was holding in his hand.
Pointing at me.
Even though I knew I would be too slow to dodge away, I tried to throw myself to the side.
Barely a second later, something hit my chest. It had a numbing feeling, and for a second I wondered if I was already dead.
And then the heat hit.
Burning fiery agony scorched its way through my body. Every nerve felt like there was lava pouring over it. I opened my mouth to scream, but my lungs seemed starved on air. Choking, I twisted to my side, begging someone, anyone, to find me and help.
Burning, burning, until finally...
Peace.
.
.
.
Ella yawned a stared at the page of her science homework blankly. She'd never liked homework – who did? - but everything just seemed harder today.
And Max was late getting back from school.
Max was never late. But she was walking with Fang today, so if she was hanging out somewhere with Fang, that would be awesome. The whole gang thought Max deserved to be with Fang.
The whole branch vibrated as the cellphone lying on it went off.
Ella froze and stared at it as if it was something she'd never seen before. Who would be texting them? The only one who had the number was the Frenzies, but they'd just agreed about the territories. There couldn't be complications already, right?
She flipped open the lid, opened the text, and had to force her self to blink a few times to understanding what she was reading.
ALL GANGS MEET
7pm at the abandoned hall
We have a lead on who is taking our people
It's time to take them out
"Max," she muttered. "I need to find Max."
Half an hour later and the whole gang had gathered together- well, the whole gang a part from Max.
"Where could she be?" Holly mumbled. "It's getting late, she should have been back by now.,.."
"Some of us need to go and find her. A few should stay behind, just in case she comes back while we are away."
"Holly and I will have a look over toward the Shadow territory." Ella offered. "She might just be with Fang and lost track of time."
"But wouldn't Fang have gotten the text too?" Nudge frowned.
Ella shrugged. "Probably. We might meet her on the way back."
Holly glanced around at everyone. "Maybe she got sidetracked by something. Have a look around here to see if she was coming back a different way."
Everyone nodded and was about to move away until Nudge said the words they were all afraid to hear.
"You don't think that Max got... captured... Do you?"
Holly froze and everyone turned to her. "No." She gave a shaky laugh. "Not Max, right? No one can beat her in a fight. I'm sure she's just late or something. She'll be fine. She has to be."
.
.
Sharp sounds assaulted her ears. She wished she could cover them, but her body wouldn't even twitch. What felt like a burning coal pulsed against her chest near her right shoulder.
The screech the door made as it was opened and shut made her want to scream. Where was she? What was happening?
"Is the rest of the plan in place?" It was only after a few moments that she managed to understand what the man had said.
"Yes, they have no chance. No one will care about them once they are gone."
That voice... She recognized that voice from somewhere.
"And you sure that they won't suspect-"
"Yes!" The familiar man snapped. "It will be fine. And the other gangs will be screwed without the Strikers."
"Are you sure? There aren't all that many of them, and with the rest of the gangs working together..."
"I know what I'm doing okay? I'm a member of a gang- I know how these people think everything will be fine. Trust me."
"Trust you? You haven't got one trust able hair on your body! You know, I think you've barely thought this through. All the gangs are attacking together, all working together because they all have a single goal. If you'd just done what I said and only took from one gang this would be less risky!"
"We needed a variety. Besides, we had to focus on people who wouldn't have family notice they were missing when they were gone. The last thing the gangs are going to do is go to the police. But a worried parent? We'd be done for in a second."
"And you really think the girl will be able to pull in off? That they won't notice?"
"They won't be able to tell she's different at all, I swear."
.
.
JJ scuffed a foot on the ground and glanced around at all the other gangs. It felt so weird to all be in the same place and not fighting. Nothing like some psycho kidnapping gang members to bring them all into a truce.
JJ snorted and glanced up to the roof like she had been doing every minute for the past ten. She knew the Strikers hadn't had anyone go missing, but she thought they'd at least come to help. The gangs might all fight over territory every minute of the day, but in the end they had eachother's backs.
Mostly.
"Try that again you big brute and I'll guarantee you'll never have kids!"
"What are you going to do little girl? Run to your mommy and complain? Oh, I forgot. You don't have one."
JJ sighed. This wasn't the first time a fight had started between a two gangs, but this time the Stalker and the NightWalker looked like they were really going to go for it.
"That's it, you're dead!" The Nightwalker that JJ faintly recognized as a girl called Penny lept for the boy's throat.
JJ tensed, ready to go and help break it up, but Simone was already there pulling them apart. She held onto the enraged Nightwalker and tried to calm her down.
"Shh, I swear we will get your little brother back soon. I want Sammy back just as much, but we have to stop fighting and start working together if we want any of them back."
"What are they here then?" Penny spat at the Stalker. "None of their people have been taken! Why are they here."
"We need all the help we can get." Simone whispered. "I don't want the chance of anything going wrong."
"At least we are here." Sneered the Stalker. "Even if we haven't lost anyone we are still here to help. That's more than the Strikers can say."
There was a uncomfortable silence as everyone realized how true this was.. Whispers started up all around.
"I told you." Another Stalker growled. "They won't come. They all think they're better than us. No need to get themselves dirty with our messy affairs. We are better off without them."
.
.
Holly and Ella lept over a roof top and spotted their quarry at last. Because she couldn't make a sound wearing the mask, Holly kicked a trash tin to get Max's attention. Startled Max glanced up and smiled. She gave a small wave, signaling for them to come down.
After making sure they were the only ones in the dark alley, they all pulled their masks off.
"Where have you been? We have been all worried!" Ella leaned in and gave Max a hug,
Max winced. "Sorry, I lost track of time and then on the way home I got hurt.."
"Hurt?" Holly scanned Max and latched onto her leg. "Oh my God, what did you do?"
Max glanced down slightly sheepishly. "It got caught on the edge of a building as I was jumping."
They all stared at the long gash in Max's leg that seemed to be bleeding everywhere.
"We need to get you to a doctor or something." Ella cried. "It probably needs stitches and it's bleeding all over your new shirt!"
Holly shook her head as she moved to her Max stand. "We can't take her to a doctor. Even if she isn't recognized as a gang member the police always seem to be on high alert about runaways around here. We'll head back and see how bad it is. Maybe it just looks worse than it is."
It was worse than it looked. After ages of struggling they finally got Max back to the hideout. Immediately they were surrounded by the other concerned gang members. Max waved them away muttering that she was fine.
"You're not fine!" Nudge wailed eventually as they cleaned the wound. "You're hurt. Really, really hurt and we can't do anything to help you."
"It's alright for a little longer." Max tried to calm her down. "I can't even feel it anymore.
That just made Nudge wail louder. "I don't think that's a good thing!"
It looked for a little bit that things were just going to end up in chaos when a calm voice interrupted them.
"I can have a look at it, if you want. I could probably help- I'm a vet."
Thirteen heads jerked and stared up at the window by one of the branches. The lady who had cooked the cookies stared right back at them.
The whole gang hesitated with the fact of whether or not they could trust her when she added;
"I wouldn't tell the cops or anyone. And... it would help take my mind off the fact that Angel was kidnapped today."
.
.
Fang and Iggy sat side by side surrounded by the rest of the gangs, both still silent with surprise.
"Can't believe man, you fell for two Strikers? What have you got that I haven't?" Iggy muttered.
"One Striker actually. I think. Maybe? What did Max mean when she said that other girl was a Striker."
Iggy shrugged. "Dunno. But did you see Max go? I don't think she even realized she climbed up a telephone poll."
Fang grinned. "Didn't believe anyone could do that until I saw it."
"How do you think she did it?" Iggy pondered. "Maybe they wear a sort of glue to their hands and just go around sticking to things."
Fang's sarcastic reply was cut off as another fight broke out.
"They're not coming!"
"They are! They have to, we'll be screwed without them."
"What are you on? They have barely any members, they could barely help."
"They are the best fighters out of all of us!"
Fang sighed as another fight broke out over the Strikers.
"They have to be here soon."
"Be here soon? It's half past eight! They should have been here over an hour ago!"
"We need them!"
"We don't! They don't need any of us, we don't need any of them. If the Strikers want to think they are better than the rest of us, fine! We can do it easily without them."
"Maybe they just forgot, and they'll be here soon..."
"Forgot? Are you mad? How could they just forget the biggest gang meeting of all time? No, they just aren't coming. We do this tomorrow. Just all of us who are here. Tomorrow- we strike."
.
.
Everything seems perfect
Everything's okay
And it will all get better now
At least that's what they say
But I don't see it coming
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I'd love any and all reviews. Trust me, they make me write faster. Nothing like a nice comment from a fan to encourage you to write, or a death threat to make you laugh.
Until next time~
TGG