Chapter Twenty - A little family reunion
A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the non-last-weekend update, but better late than never right? You'll forgive me when you read the Fax…I hope.
"Spread the word…we're bustin' out of here."
"Ooh, a revolt!" Crux rubbed his hands together gleefully. "My kinda thing." My motley band of followers spread out, whispering to the other kids. Soon the very air around me was thrumming with excitement and the whispers. Freedom. You could almost taste it.
I walked through the experiments. They parted like the red sea, their faces hopeful and expectant.
"Freedom. Five minutes" I said and just kept on moving. Kids were leaning between the bars and over to the other cage, telling the others to get ready, the end was coming. It was do or die.
The bombs kept coming closer and it was getting hard to hide that I was vibrating with happiness. I was practically bouncing on my toes. Light was just beginning to spill over the horizon, seeping blood red and yellow across the sky. I got back to the door in time to hear Midnight whispering to another experiment: "Follow him" She pointed at me. "He speaks in sentences." She grinned and came to join me. Within a further two minutes the others had returned from recruiting. I wondered if this was the way Max felt like all the time, like everything depended on you. But the buzz…
"Ready?" They nodded. Rae took a match from her pocket and held it like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Lets kick some ass." She was grinning.
"uh Rae," She looked up at me, an eyebrow quirked. "How exactly are you gonna kick ass with a match?" She just smiled as the others laughed. I didn't get it. "You'll see." I just nodded and pretended like I knew what the hell she was talking about. Which, for the record, I didn't.
Crux made for the door. I stopped him with an outstretched arm, my eyes skyward.
"What the hell man!"
"Shut up dude." My eyes never left the top of the nearest building. "just wait a minute."
And then, flying out of a cloud of dust, my family.
"Now!" Crux flung open the door, taking out one guard while I punched the other. And a flood of angry, revenge seeking experiments flooded out behind us like an unstoppable river of pent up hate and pain. Crux tossed me a switchblade from the fallen erasers and we were off.
I'd just finished off my fifth eraser when I heard a yelp. I whirled around. It was the little kid with the two big reptile eyes, caught in the clutches of a grinning, drooling eraser. I was cutting through erasers to reach him when a sudden spark and flare of light caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye stood Rae, the match held in her hand and something like madness in her eyes. I was just thinking she was going to get herself killed when the flame grew. And grew. And grew. Into a pillar of swirling, twisting flame reflected in her yellow eyes. She spun, laughing and the fire followed her. She blew a kiss at the eraser and a raging strand of fire was flung into his face. He dropped the kid and fell to the ground screaming and screaming, the noise filling my head untill there was no room left to think. Soon, the only thing that remained was charred bones and the smell of burnt flesh hanging in the air.
The kid nodded his thanks to Rae and ran off, lost within seconds in the seething mass of fighting bodies. I kept staring at her. She laughed, high and light, and just a little bit crazy.
"My second name isn't Cinaed for no reason." I hadn't got a clue what she was talking about and seeing, this she began to explain.
"Its Gaelic for 'born of fire'" I didn't know what the h-e-double toothpicks Gaelic was but anyway. "Jae's second name Dylan is Welsh for 'born of the waves'"
"Wait," I said, brain ticking over, thoughts whirling, things connecting into sense. "Does that mean?-"
"Yup" She pointed and I spun to see a fistful of water hardened into a ball of ice crash into the temple of an eraser who was in the process of sneaking up on me-
And it's source was Jae.
"Hey there. Shouldn't you be killing things?"
I stabbed backwards into an eraser that had gotten too close when fighting. He gave a grunt and fell to the ground beside me. Without looking, I slit his throat. There was a gurgle and a muttered thanks from the experiment fighting it. I didn't even turn and look.
"Happy?"
"Ecstatic" She shot back and started fighting on the other side of Rae. Fire and water whipped in circles, almost mesmerizing. The way they fought it was as if they were two sides of a coin, as if-
Images flooded my brain-the similar hair, the same skin, the same ages, the way one was a wolf and one was a cat, the opposite eyes, the opposite elements-
But they still fought like-
As if-
As if-
They were twins.
But then there was a shock of pain in my side and I couldn't think about it because, there smiling, was the same eraser who'd cut up Max the day I said I'd co-operate, the same day I got them to let her go for my co-operation-
Ha. Didn't last long ,did it?
And in my head I can hear her screaming again, screaming my name as the blood runs down her legs-
And I see red.
And he's dead before even I know it.
But for every eraser I sent to the grave, there were ten to take his place. They just kept coming, and coming, and coming, snarling, and drooling, hunger in their eyes. It was no wonder that, within ten minutes, I was surrounded.
Untill a dark blonde wolf with familiar navy eyes tore most of them apart. "Rue" She looked up. I smiled. "Thanks." She snorted and growled irritably. Oh. Yeah. Smooth Fang. Forget that you too can change into a creature with the ability to kill erasers about ten times faster than this switchblade your using. Smooth. So I closed the switchblade, stuck it in my pocket, leapt for the nearest eraser and changed in mid air.
At one stage I saw a blur to my right, which I was sure was Alex, bombs going off left and right from the air which I knew, just knew were the work of Gazzy and Iggy. I cleared a path through the erasers, the scientists, the flyboys that had come flooding through the door of the nearest building not minutes ago untill I saw a very familiar blond, curly haired kid appear directly in front of me, fighting like she'd never fought before-
Angel.
Fang? The surprised thought brushed through my mind.
Angel I thought at her again and she turned to where I was running towards her, turning to see me-
And then opening her mouth in fear-
And I realised too late that she didn't know-
As I leaped towards her-
Angel, my Angel, my little girl-
Turned and ran.
I changed swiftly back to human shape.
"Angel!" I shouted at her, and saw as she turned from reflex, her eyes wide with the fear of what she would see…
"Fang?" And then she was running to me, collapsing in my arms.
"You scared me Fang" She was pressed against me, thin wiry arms wrapped around my waist, face buried in my t-shirt.
"I missed you." Tears are pouring down her face as she looks up at me.
"Shh, it's ok Angel. I missed you too." I hug her even tighter, only after saying it realizing how true it is. How I missed them all. So much.
"Were you the wolf Fang?"
"Yeah, Angel." I look down at her tear stained face, eyes already drying. I kneel down and look her right in those terrible blue eyes.
"Where are the others Angel? Where's Max?" Angel looks over to her right, worry and confusion in her expression.
"Nudge was right over there." She points. I watch as long brown limbs fight their way through the crowd, breaking a nose here, a wrist there; untill I can see Nudge's wild curly hair, her smiling face as she runs and hugs me as well. I laugh and kiss the top of her head.
"Oh my God Fang, we were so worried, and we all missed you so much, and everyone was really sad, especially Max, and Iggy said she was depressed because you weren't there and I think that's really cute and romantic but really sad but now she doesn't have to be depressed cause you're back and we can all be a family again and maybe in five years you and Max can get married and I can be the bridesmaid and Angel can be the flower girl and wouldn't that just be so so great? And we could go shopping for the dress and imagine if you had kids they would be so so cute and god I'd be an aunty and-
"Nudge!" I clapped a hand to her mouth and removed it slowly. Some things never change.
"Sorry." She grinned sheepishly. She took two breaths during that whole thing. Two breaths. Maximum. Speaking of which…
"Where's Max guys?
"Somewhere over there." Angel pointed into the middle of the surging crowd.
"Nudge, look after Angel." She saluted. "Angel, look after Nudge." Angel grinned. "And tell Iggy and Gazzy to bomb the buildings. There's no experiments in there anymore. They were all taken out for this bloody contest." She nodded, the ever-growing sun illuminating her hair and making her look even more like her namesake.
"Oh, and Nudge? Don't freak, 'kay? I'm off to find Max. "
Turns out that actually, Nudge thought it was the coolest thing on this earth that I could change into a giant wolf, which she told me in a lot more words with a lot less breaths.
That girl.
I bounded off towards where Angel said Max was, barreling through the fighting forms, tearing apart any eraser that stood in my way.
In the middle of a crowd of erasers, fighting them off as if it were the easiest thing in the world, in fact hardly breaking a sweat-
Max.
Wearing a dirty white tank top and ripped jeans, her favorite even though they were practically shredded in a fight before the summer and on her feet are black combats, the same ones I got her for Christmas, the same shoes that cost half my meager life savings. But it was worth it for the look on her face.
I bounded towards her and shifted while her back was turned to me. Walking silently forward as always ,I tapped her shoulder. She spun around, her face murderous, fist flung out aiming for my face. I caught it as usual. What I didn't expect was the second fist that slammed into my mouth. I dropped her hand and raised a finger to my lip. Instantly, blood dripped sweet and metallic through my lips. Max stared incredulously at me, like she'd seen a ghost.
"Shit Max." But I was smiling. "That hurt."
"Fang." Her voice was a shocked whisper. We looked at each other for a moment longer untill with blurring speed she flung her arms around my neck and hugged me.
"God, I almost thought I was never gonna see you again."
"You realise the blood loss is massive? It could be fatal." She stared up at me with an 'are you kidding?' look.
"I'm serious. Death could be iminent." She stepped back and socked me in the stomach.
"What. Was . That?" I spit out through gritted teeth, clutching my aching ribs.
"Something to whine about." I smiled throught the pain. It was fading already. I straightened.
"God, how I've missed you." She grinned back up at me and twined her arms around my neck once again, bunching her fingers in my hair. The movement made me shiver slightly. Without thinking, my arms wound around her waist, hands fitting perfectly on the small of her back. Ignoring the fighting going on around us, I slowly lowered my head to kiss her when she broke away from my hold and punched me full force in the shoulder. "Ow." I rubbed it, frowning slightly at her. I was looking forward to that kiss.
"That's for being a martyr and going all self-sacrificing on me!" She kicked my shin and I jumped back with a small yelp of surprise. She was pissed.
"That's for all the worrying and sleepless nights I've had!" Her face had darkened and I could see small villages being destroyed in her eyes. I take it back, she was furious…
The crowds of erasers around us had dwindled to maybe fifty, easily being picked off by the army of experiments.
While I was distracted by our sudden un-surrounded-by-enemies-status, her foot connected with my stomach in a starburst of pain. I was sent reeling backwards and could feel the almost unnoticeable shock on my face. But Max would notice it.
"That's for all those stupid kisses you gave me that kept replaying over and over in my head!"
This wasn't how I'd imagined this moment at all. The spin I put on it was far more romantic. God, I am so whipped. She stomped forward, eyes blazing.
So this is the end. Killed by the girl I love. Oh, cruel, cruel world; you have some explaining to do.
"And this!-" She threw herself at me as I wondered who to leave my laptop to-
As I wondered if I'd prefer to be buried or cremated-
As her lips crashed ferociously down on mine.
SURPRISE!
Oh, wait? You didn't get the memo?
Shut up inner confuscious, kinda busy right now…
Oh yeah right, kissing Max and all…sorry.
And christ if it wasn't the greatest thing on this earth. Our mouths moved perfectly in sync, twisting this way and that to get closer. She tasted of chocolate chip cookies, and smelt like rain and vanilla. Of course I forgot how to breathe and all to soon we broke apart, panting for air and staring at each other like we'd never really seen the other person untill that moment.
I took in her warm brown eyes, soft curly brown hair, full almost red lips, the smooth curve of her waist, the toned muscles all through her body, each tiny freckle scattered across her nose, the perfect pale brown with darker splothches of her wings.
"That," She repeated, breathing hard and reaching up on tiptoe to brush another kiss across my still tingling lips. "was because I love you too Fang."
Say it with me now…
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Please forgive the non updateness, please accept the fax and the lengthy chapter by way of apology and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!
Ps. It does nto end here my friends. *smirks* not even close…. DON DON DON! (ominous music playing in the background)
Much love guys! x