Holy Wow Yall! 40 reviews for the last chapter! Yall are a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Keep them coming! I might post another one up soon, ah what the hey… I'm going to post 2 chapters up. I like yall that much. (smile) Let's try to get 40 reviews again…
Chapter 24 has a LOT of foreshadowing.. I mean a ton. Tell me what you think it all means in the reviews. I might pm and let you know if your correct.
Just amazing.
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Chapter 23.
Ahh…. no. I definitely did not hear that correctly. No way. No way in hell.
"Put me down," I mumbled as I struggled out of Fang's arms.
He stopped walking to the house but his hold tightened. I struggled even harder to get out of his grasp, I needed to talk to the voice. This was all ridiculous.
"Get off ME!" I yelled. I shoved away from his chest as he practically dropped me to the ground.
Fang tried to take my hands as I hurriedly got to my feet. "Max, what's wrong? Are you okay?" he asked.
Iggy started to tell him about what happened. I turned away from them and stared at the ground. Everything was still spinning and I saw droplets of blood land on the grass from my nose.
Voice! Voice, explain NOW! I yelled in my head. I let out a groan which caught the guy's attention.
Fang lifted my head in his hands and I abruptly turned away from him. "Max, what in the world-,"
"Not now…I just…," I turned and walked away from the both of them, "I just need to think… not now." I said leaving them both looking baffled.
"Talk to ME!" I yelled out loud to the voice. It stopped talking. I walked into the forest tripping and catching myself several times using the trees for balance.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no….. This can not be happening again. I griped a tree trunk and slid down. I felt like crap and the world turning constantly was not helping. I swallowed back bile and rested my head against the bark.
I'm sorry Maximum. You should have known sooner. The voice said. But it is true. You are with child….again.
No…. I. Am. Not. I responded back. They said I could rest, my body could rest-
Do you really think that, the voice interrupted. During the surgery-
"No," I said out loud. I didn't want to hear this. It can't be true.
During the surgery for the scar damage-
"No, no… ," I shook my head. It kept talking.
Damnit, Max, during that surgery they implanted another embryo into you. The voice said louder and with more force to get through my thrashes of objections.
"Don't tell me this," I argued. "It's a lie. This can't be happening." Tears started to fill my eyes and I tried to sniff them back only to get a throat full of blood.
"I don't believe it," I cried. "It can't be real. It's not real!"
Don't be foolish Max.
"No. I would have known before. I've been gone for 3 months. And I've just now gotten sick… so no. I'm not pregnant. NO!" I said to myself reassuringly.
The voice sighed, Max there is a logical explanation for this. But you need to start taking care of yourself. This is not a normal pregnancy.
"I'm not pregnant so quit saying I am!" I shouted back. I turned to see both Fang and Iggy were still by the house. Good, this is the last conversation they needed to hear.
You don't understand. This is going to be bad. You NEED help! Just calm down and give yourself some time to accept this. I'm sure Fang and the oth-
I cut the voice off, "No… Fang and the others are not going to know about this. There is nothing for them to know. I'm not knocked up!" I took several deep breaths and rubbed my head. "I'm just a little sick that's all…. I just need some rest and food and not be bothered by YOU!"
The voice kept telling me that I was indeed pregnant and I kept arguing with it. It kept explaining when it happened and I continued to scream obscenities in denial. It was quiet while I sobbed for a bit not willing to believe it. No… it wasn't true. No.
Max…
"No! Shut up." I said as I stood up. My balance was coming back to normal.
You can not just ignore this. It stated.
"Watch me," I muttered back as I made my way back to the house.
There are more symptoms to this then you realize. You are going to change, if you even want your baby to have a chance at surviving then you need help. It kept talking like it didn't even hear me
"The only child I have is Faith and she's doing just fine." I retorted.
You need to find Anne. The voice exclaimed.
That made me stop in my tracks and my eyebrows rose as my pissy level elevated.
"You have the damn gall to bring her up! There is no way in hell I am going to see her." I felt like I was seething at the mouth. I wanted this whole conversation to just disappear.
She can help. She's the only one that knows what's going on. It explained.
No. I shot back, mentally this time as I came closer to the boys.
If you want your child to survive then you-
For the last time… there is no baby. Now go away. I pushed hard a block into my brain.
Max-
GO AWAY! I yelled as I came up to Fang and let out a smile pathetic excuse for a smile.
"You okay?" he asked gently.
I nodded, "Yeah…just," I wiggled my fingers in the air, "issues."
"You're really pale," he stated as he help guide me back to the house holding my elbow. I shrugged it off.
I'm Maximum Ride, I don't need any help. Wow. What's gotten into me?
Ig followed behind still holding Faith who was sleeping peacefully.
"I'm sorry," I told both of them, "I'm just in a mood… and… I feel….woosh." I flung both arms out to illustrate and I could see Fang's eyes grow wider with concern.
"You are making no sense," he crossed is arms in front of his chest in a business like manner. We made our way into the living room and I sat on the couch.
Fang went into the kitchen which just left Iggy standing beside me.
I was feeling nauseous and my head was pounding. Not to mention my outburst left me feeling exhausted both mentally and physically.
"Hey, Ig," I muttered. I sounded drunk.
"Yeah," he said cautiously.
"I really liked your grass." I replied as I laid down on the couch resting my head on the cool pillow. Wow, I never noticed how nice this couch and pillow felt.
"Umm, thanks Max." He turned and walked out, "I'm going to put her down."
"Yes, yes," I said back loudly, "Faith, my one and only child. Yes. Sure."
Fang returned then with a towel and washrag in one hand and a cup in the other. He sat down on the coffee table in front of the couch and placed the towel over my nose.
"You and nose bleeds," he whispered. I could see a million questions running through his dark eyes I could also see something else. I didn't know what it was.
"Here, drink some of this," he thrusted the drink in my face as I struggled to sit up and drink it. It looked like water but tasted sweet and weird.
"What is this stuff?" I gagged.
"Pedialyte." He replied. "If you're sick this will help"
"Oh", was all I could say. I was getting tired.
"Why don't you rest. Put this on your head," he placed the cool rag on my forehead it felt nice and I let out a sigh.
"Thank you," I mumbled. And closed my eyes.
There was a long pause and I thought Fang had left.
"We don't have to go to the cookout, you shouldn't go." He said.
I opened my eyes, "No!," I said quickly, "No, no. Let's still go….. I, ah… I want to. I want to meet your friends…. I want to meet people." He crossed his eyebrows in my sudden change of attitude.
"I want to get on with things…you know… put the past behind me." I said with a smile. "I want to move past it all have it out of my life. Start a new life, now….. forget everything that's happened….I need this… please." I pleaded sounding like a little girl asking her daddy for a toy.
He studied me for a good bit and I feared he'd still say no. I needed to get out. I wanted to get away from my voice, from it all. This was a good way to ignore a situation if there was a situation to ignore…. which there wasn't.
"If you're sure…" he started to say but I cut him off.
"I'm sure." I slowly smiled and nodded. Good, this was a good start. Getting involved with stuff, focusing on other things… good.
"Well then rest for the day and take it easy. If you still look like crap then we're not going," he sounded so parental.
"Yes, dad," I snide back as I arranged myself more comfortably on the couch.
He got up and put the blanket that was on the recliner over me. "Please don't call me dad because you are in no way anything like a daughter to me…. thank God," he whispered back.
I snorted, "Why don't you spend some time with your daughter, huh?" I mumbled half asleep. My eyes were closed and I let out a yawn. "I bet you treat Total better."
"There is something going on. You're not acting right." He said again as he pushed my hair out of my face.
I let out one more yawn," You have no idea."
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Chapter 24.
"Max…. I'm coming for you." Anne told me. I smiled a little thinking it was odd saying that as I was sitting next to her in the coffee shop.
She held the coffee mug with both hands and lifted it to her lips. My nose wrinkled as I smelled the coffee and I coughed as I felt it slide down my own throat, as though I was the one drinking it instead of Anne.
She was dressed differently. Her jeans were faded and the black sweater she wore looked two sizes too big. Her hair was also in a messy heap on top of her head. And she wore glasses.
I felt at ease.
Very odd.
"Why? You can't find me anyway." I said back. My stomach growled and instantly a plate of French toast appeared on the counter in front of me. Nice.
"Well, I don't know about that. But for yours and the baby's sake lets hope I can find you, and fast." She replied back with ease. She turned her head slightly as she poured sugar into her cup. She lazily stirred it with the spoon.
Our tones were light as if we were discussing the weather.
She stared straight ahead as she continued to speak. "You need to understand that the child is not normal.."
"Yes, I've heard that. A little birdie told me." I stopped and smiled, "Pun totally intended." I started to pick at the French toast with my fork. I chewed some of it up, but it tasted like card board. I could still taste the coffee Anne was continuing to drink.
She smirked at my response, "You... need treatment." She turned and looked at me. Her eyes were filled with concern and fear.
Well, shoot, I never expected to see that. Then again since I'm dreaming this, it's not really a reality. Therefore, she's technically not really expressing these feelings. It's just what I want her to portray in my inner most subconscious thoughts. If I wanted to I could make her hug me and tell me all sorts of warm fuzzy things. But that would be out of her character and I want my dreams to reflect somewhat of a normal atmosphere …. Hah, take that dream analysis people.
She obviously found my silence as sign to continue to speak, "The child was given gene therapy before invetro. This therapy was the reason you were on so much medication while pregnant."
She grabbed an old fashion napkin dispenser, looked at herself in the steel reflection then shoved it into her purse. Oookay, odd again. She raised her hand and a cook came out from the back kitchen and handed her some metallic rectangle objects. They were thin, silver, and about the size of a stick of gum. She slid them over to me on the table. She smiled back up at the man who wore a name tag labeled GUY. He turned around and left.
She placed a finger in her coffee and stirred it again, with the finger. It was hot and I hissed as I felt the heat go through my finger as well.
"That is what's keeping us from finding you," she said and nudged with her head to the metal objects. "I'm trying to get to you using another way, but those block heads of scientists back at the compound are still looking into reversing that…," again gesturing towards the metal.
"The baby," I spoke trying to shift her conversation over.
"Oh yes," she sucked on the coffee finger for a second then wrapped her finger in a napkin, "the medication given to you was to counteract the effects of the modification in the child."
She reached into her purse and started to hand me several items. "Until I reach you, you need to lessen the effects yourself. You'll need this," she handed me an orange and a compass, "and this,"—an ice cube—"as well as this,"—rope—"oh and this too,"— a picture of the flock. "Here are a couple of other things… ummm…" she dumped some other trinkets on to the counter top by me and got up from her seat. I caught a little miniature radio before it hit the ground.
She went to get her jacket from the back of the chair but it turned into a blue body jumper with snaps going from throat to crotch. She started to slip into it as though it were her everyday jacket wear. "Fang knows, or will know soon. His advancement is very pleasing." She was snapping her self up as my eyes tightened on the words she spoke. "Amazing how he keeps it from you." She muttered.
I opened my mouth to question her about Fang but nothing came out. I also couldn't move from my seat or lift even a finger.
She finished dressing looking like a blue thing and sighed as she gazed at me, "So sorry, Max. It should never have gotten this far. They shouldn't have done what they did to you." She sniffed once and smiled and smoothed down my hair with her hands.
"Give yourself over to Fang, dear. He was created for this….he was created for you. He will help you through this if you let him." Her smiled dropped, "If you try it alone you will do more harm than good. Oh… and don't ignore it. If you do, you and the child will die."
She turned to leave and the cook came out still in his white uniform and followed her. "One more thing," she glanced back at me, "try to control yourself. You will feel things… reactions stronger….. hopefully we shall get to you soon, at least before they do." She smiled again and left the shop. I blink in confusion.
I also heard little whimpers that I recognized as Faith's. I opened my eyes vaguely remembering what I had just dreamed but I knew it was important.
I shifted realizing my body was stiff and achy. My headache lessened but was still there. I turned over on the couch and found father and daughter sitting on the floor.
Fang was attempting to put a diaper on Faith and she was giving him a hard time. I smiled. Faith also looked wet, water was still on her hair and there was a towel resting beside them. In fact, Fang looked wet too. He was shirtless and water was dripping from his chest. He looked so very yummy.
He picked her up and was looking at her fingers and toes. I watched as he counted them in awe of this moment. He turned her over in his arms and scrutinized her wings. He was rubbing her back and kissed in between her dark wings. Oh damn, I want him. Let me marry him right now, I don't care who he's slept with.
He raised out his wings and brought them around his body. He stretched one out and placed it next to Faith's. He touched his wings then touched hers, comparing the two colors and textures. Side by side they looked identical in color. She was his, I could see a smile creep onto his face and he turned Faith back around. He laid down placing her on his chest.
"She has your nose as well," I said breaking up the moment.
He barley flinched at my surprise interruption. He looked from me back to Faith. "But she has your lips." he retorted.
"Sleep well?," he asked not moving from the floor.
"I think so," I replied, "sorry about before. I guess I should eat more and lay off the swinging challenges. Can't get sick." I said with a small laugh.
"Drink more," he pointed at the table with my cup on it. I took it sitting up and gagged couple more swallows, ugh.
"Mmm, so why does it look like the two of you battled the sea?" I asked resting back on the couch.
"My attempts at giving her a bath failed." He smirked and continued to play with her. "Do you know how slippery babies are?... Very slippery."
I laughed at the horrific look on his face. I dropped to the floor and crawled over to them flopping down beside Fang.
He turned his head towards me, "Hey, is everything all right?" He whispered slowly.
"Mmm," was my response. I was trying to remember what I dreamed. It started to nag me.
"Before you slept you said some things to me. They weren't like you, Max." He paused for a moment waiting for my reaction. I didn't give him one. I refused to lift my gaze from his impressive arm muscle. I was also trying to remember what I said.
"If something's wrong," he continued, "you need to tell me…… We should have no secrets."
I raised my eyebrows at that comment. Somewhere I felt that what he just said meant something, something important.
"But you have your share of secret's, don't you?" I mumbled back to him. "Big secrets…. We all have secrets." He inhaled deeply and turned his head away.
"I was tortured….. And it was bad." I broke the silence with that admission. His head snapped back at me and his brows creased. "Back in Russia…. I was captured and held prisoner for 3 days." I took hold of his hand. "They did things… bad things…. I can't remember all of what they did…but it mutilated my body." I looked up into his eyes and he squeezed my hand. I continued, "They tried bird poison on me," he jerked back at that statement, "It doesn't work by the way… we just get really sick….. They also drilled holes in my hip bones," I cringed from remembering the pain and buried my head in his arm. "They tested my skin with different flammability things…. And…. They broke some of my wing bones….. I think they took some of it as well."
I looked back up at his blank stare. "It was the most painful 3 days I have ever experienced. It seemed like 3 years. I wanted to die several times….I wanted them to kill me and get it over with…..I had never felt more helpless than at that moment." My voice was strong and even though I felt like I was going to cry no tears came down.
"So, that's a secret I kept from you. The worst part…. until…," I nodded towards Faith "Your turn…tell me a secret, Fang."
I felt like I knew he was keeping something from me. Just deep down I knew there was something he wasn't telling me. I griped his hand harder and continued to stare into his dark chocolate eyes.
He looked on at me. It felt like he was seeing past me, through me. His lips moved but no sound came out. I could feel his heart beat vibrate his body.
He closed his eyes and licked his lips, "I…I found my ability…while you were gone."
He opened his gazing into my shocked ones. "Nobody in the flock knows…. but now you do.