Whew. These chapters are getting longer and longer. You'd think they'd be getting shorter and shorter, huh? Anyway, Re-Cap!
Our bird-brain Reed is found to be a prince who murdured his own father, and ran away with the love of his life. The two flocks get captured, but one little birdie manages to slip away and seek help from the two angels.
Let's see how long this chapter will be. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I am so thankful for all of you who have posted wonderful and inspirational reviews. I hope you truly enjoy my tale of Maximum Ride.
Song list
In my Remains- Linkin Park
Crow's POV
My head hurt, and the really bright lights that kept fading in and out of focus as I tried to fully open my eyes, were not helping. I don't really remember being strapped down to a bed, or having someone change me into a loose fitting smock. Only one place did this to kids. The School.
I groaned. Seriously? I pass out for what, an hour and they can't even last that long without me?
Then again, I can teleport. So maybe if I just think about it. Alright, Crow. Think about appearing on the other side of the room, out of these restraints, and to freedom. Then getting the others out. I closed my eyes for emphasis, but when I opened them again, I was still in the bed with restraints holding me down.
I sighed. Looks like my new ability wasn't going to be as helpful as I hoped.
I looked around the room. I was the only one in it. It had bright lights iluminating every corner of the square room. There was a glass mirror, that was clearly just a one-way mirror. I was in an observation room. Great.
Where were the others?
That's one thing you never knew for certain about the School. Your friends could be in the same crap you're in, or in worse crap. It was always worse. There was no safe haven in this place.
A door opened. Or more like, the wall hissed and a panel slid to the side, letting three guys in lab coats walk in. Each one holding a clip board. And at the head of them all, Jeb. Oh joy.
"Good morning, Crow." Jeb said like I wasn't being tied down on a bed against my will.
"Go die in a hole," I spat at him.
He sighed, "Crow, you're anger will not help you. This is the end, Crow. There is no more chance of escape. There is no more world to go to."
I glared at him. "Quit playin' with my mind you damn freak."
"We aren't the freaks," one of the other scientists snorted and shot me a dirty look.
I focused my glare on him. "I am not afraid to kill your pathetic ass." I snarled.
The guy looked to Jeb. "Honestly, Batchelder, why are we in here? She is of no use to the plan. None of them are. They're all failures. You said so yourself."
Jeb scowled, but his back was to them so they didn't see. "The director wants us to take note of any valuable traits." Jeb explained as if they were children.
"Other than her figure, I'd say not a damn thing," the youngest of the three said. He only looked to be about twenty-something. Not too old. And not too bright either. The other one nodded in agreement with him.
Jeb rolled his eyes. "I made sure of it." he said irratibly at the both of them. Then he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Why don't you two go see his Ter Borcht needs any help. I've got it handled here." Jeb suggested.
The other two shrugged and walked off. The door hissed closed behind him and Jeb turned back to me.
"Sorry about them. Those we hire today have very little-"
"Brains. Sympathy. Humanity." I suggested with a grin on my face, "Actually, Jeb, Your kind has always lacked those things."
Jeb sighed and leaned against the edge of my bed. "Crow, there's something you need to understand."
"What? You actually have a heart?" I snorted.
Jeb continued to frown. "We're going to have to kill you, Crow. To kill all of you. There was a chance that you all would have survived, but with this By-Half plan, we already have subjects in line. And you, nor anyone from either flock is apart of that group."
I rolled my eyes. "Then why the hell did you make us like this? For your amusement?" I spat.
Jeb backed off. "You were created for the sake of science. To see if man-kind can truly evolve. That part of it was a success."
"Let me guess. The part where we kicked your asses and started blowing up some labs, wasn't so much of a success?" I smirked.
"No. It wasn't," he said flatly. "You were designed to be romodels. I had such high hopes for you all."
"Sorry to disappoint." I snorted.
"I just don't understand," Jeb said, "Why they have to kill you. You have every trait to survive this plan, and just because you ran off-"
"Actually, Jeb." I spoke up and he looked at me, "You said so yourself, we're humanity evovled. Humanity will always have free-choice. No matter who or what creates them. It's what separates us from the animals." I learned that from a book. Don't judge me!
Jeb looked down at me with the strangest look. He didn't say anything else, he simply just left me. All alone.
A small noise made me jump. A curtain came off its rings and I realized that I wasn't alone. In a bed next to me lay Fang. My supposed little brother. Wow. This place was just going to torture me every waking minute, weren't they?
Matt's POV
"Matt. Matt." a voice and a force was prodding me awake. Something kept poking me in the shoulder.
I finally left my sleep and opened my eyes. A familiar face hung over mine. Curly, dirty-blonde hair, like mine, dangled over her cut and brusied face. Max.
She backed off when she saw that I was awake. She let me sit up and rub my eyes. We were in a room. The only ones in a room. I looked around. The room was small. About the size of a normal bedroom. Their were two beds. One for Max and one for me. First question; "Where are the others?" I asked.
Max sat back down on her bed. "I don't know. I asked, but you know these damn scientists. They don't give a damn about us." she said.
I looked over at her. Frustration was clearly written all over her face. We had been ambushed, and we had been unprepared. Hell, I was pretty pissed off too. And right before we were ambushed her and Fang...I guess this was a time as good as any to talk about it.
"So, you and Fang, huh?" I began non-chalantly.
"You and Crow." she retorted.
I dropped the silly look, and turned serious. "Max, I'm just lookin' out for ya. I don't want you to get hurt. Physically or emotionally. Having a broken bone is nothing compared to a broken heart."
She scowled, "Jeez, Shakespeare. Thanks for the life lesson, but I'm not all that worried about Fang. He can take care of himself. I know he can. It's Angel. I didn't see her get taken, did you?" she asked.
I shook my head. "No. I didn't."
Max folded her legs indian style on the bed and grabbed her ankles with her hands and looked down into her lap. "Do you think maybe she got away?" she asked in a hushed whisper.
I knew it wouldn't do any good to talk in whispers. They would still be able to hear us. I sighed. "I sure do hope so." I told her, truthfully. "We could sure use some serious help."
Max looked up at me again. "What do you think they're gonna do to us?" she asked.
I shrugged, "Probably the same old experimenting, and putting us in cages, threatening to kill us, Erasers at our throats, female scientists wearing make-up the wrong way." I got a grin out of that last one, and I smiled too. "We'll get out. We always do." I told her. "It's like a, uh, family tradition."
Her smile went away. "I hope it doesn't get passed down too many generations." she mumbled.
I was about to say something to that, but a pannel/door opened up and a bald guy with a stone-wall look entered followed by one of those female scientists I was talking about earlier.
I have no flipping clue how to make Ter Borcht sound German, or Russian, or whatever the hell he is. So bare with me.
"Dit seems dey are avake." the bald man spoke with some accent. Shit. Accents always gave me problems. It's almost as bad as someone speaking in another language to me. Like, if you're going to threathen me, DO IT MY LANGUAGE!
"Uh, hi. Can I help you, Hitler?" I smirked. He was German, right?
The guy glared at me. I smiled back.
Max immediately went defense.
"Who are you? Where are the others?" she demanded.
"I am Dr. Tor Borcht." the bald guy replied to her, and Max's eyes went wide. She obviously knew something I didn't. "Ve need to gather some final data."
I leaned back on my bed. Oh brother. Let's see. Accent was definetly pointing me towards German. I think I can have a little fun with this guy. "And after you gather this final data, what happens to us?" I asked.
He looked at me. "Den ve eleminate you." he said with a grin.
That didn't sound good. Matt no likey what German bald guy say at all!
Max stood up.
"Dis be the vun called Max?" he asked the woman doctor.
"I be Max." Max smirked and I grinned right along with her. There's the me in her. You go sis!
Tor Borcht looked at her. "Ve've interviwed vur team. Dere seems to be nothing special about dem. Vut about you two? Vy should ve save you?"
Max was on the verge of punching this guy. I was too. Speak English, damnit! I got up and put a hand on Max's shoulder.
"Let's just put it this way. We be the vuns to kick all your asses if you've done anything to our friends. Got me, Hitler?" I said cooly.
Tor Borcht's glare could've ignited a fire, but it didn't affect me. I've survived Beast's and Abby's World Wars. I've lived through Crow's silent glares and curses. And don't even get me started on Chester's singing.
"You vill all be eleminated." he said and stormed out with the woman at his heels.
The door slid shut again, and Max and I both let out a breath of relief. I looked down at her. Her eyes were focused on the ground. "Max-" I began.
"I just want to know if they're okay." she said, "I don't care if I die, but I want them to be okay. I want to be with them."
I squeezed her shoulder and she looked up to me. "I ain't much and lord knows we barely know each other, but I do know I am your older brother. And I will be here for you, Max. I promise."
Shocking me completely to death she threw her arms around my neck and latched on. I stumbled backwards an inch, and then put my arms around her.
"I'm glad I have a big brother like you," she said, making me smile.
"And you're one bad ass little sister." I said.
Michelle's POV
"Up and at 'em!" I shouted to the two sleeping beauties in the truck. Reed was the first to jump to exsistence. Angel woke up a little more slowly. She had woken up once before and kind of told me what was going on, but now that we've entered California, I was a little more unsure.
"Angel," I said to the six year old in the back seat. She shook her head and her blonde curls bounced. She kind of did look like a little Angel. Reed seemed wary of her. He kept eyeing her. Sometimes with confusion, and sometimes with an light bulb over his head.
"Yes?" she said quietly.
"Tell me again what this girl—uh, Artemis said." I said to her.
Angel leaned forward between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat. "She said that the School was planning some sort of By-Half plan. They're going to kill everyone that isn't—That's normal." she said gravely.
Yeesh. "Seriously, these guys need to find a hobby." I muttered.
Reed was looking out the window again. "That would explain all the Darkness heading to one point. This school must have provoked some demon. And it must be a big one by the looks of it." he said.
I sighed and groaned a bit, too. Was it the same demon that had Ari?
"A demon has Ari?!" Angel screeched right in my ear, making me lose control only for a second on the wheel. I almost hit the car next to us, and I got several honks. I ignored them and fixed myself. Damn. I forgot she could read minds.
"Yes. A demon has possesed Ari. Hence the reason I am not enjoying myself up in Heaven and am down here with this bird-brain trying to kill this demon." I said, a little pissed that I almost crashed this beautiful, wonderful truck.
Angel looked down. "I knew something was off about him. I sensed it in his thoughts." she said quietly.
Reed went wide eyed. "His thoughts? You can read minds?" he asked, a bit shocked.
Angel nodded, "Yes. And breathe underwater, and even control people with my mind."
Well. That sounds just lovely. Yes. Let's give a six year old the power to control people. Whose the genius that came up with that?
Reed sucked in a tight breath. "My God! And you have wings?" he asked. Angel nodded. Reed looked at me. "Are you sure she's not an angel?" he asked.
I scowled. We've been arguing about this the whole freaking way here. Reed still can't believe that someone that's still alive (Angel) can see us and hear us, like we're alive, too. "Yes. Reed. I am one hundred percent sure that Angel is not an actual angel. It's just her name, and this school she talks about is a horrible place that does all these horrible experiments on children. Angel isn't the only one with wings that isn't an angel, and yes, that is where we are going right now, and no, I do not wish to discuss this any further, so yes, I do want you to shut up and sit there."
Whew. That took a lot of breath.
Angel looked at me and blinked. "Are you sure you're not a mind reader, too?" she asked.
"I sure hope the hell not." I muttered.
Crow's POV
"Fang!" I hissed to the moaning life form next to me. I had been the one to pass out and yet, I had been the first one to wake up and put up with Jeb's crap. "Hey! Rise and shine sleeping beauty." I hissed, "Wake up!" I snapped, my patience growing thin.
Fang's eyes snapped open and automatically, he tried to pull free from his restraints.
"I wouldn't waste your breath," I said and he looked at me.
"C-Crow?" he stammered, and I nodded. "Wha—Where's Max?"
I shrugged, "Dunno. Jeb was here, though." I said.
Fang's eyes went wide. "What did he do? What did he say?" he asked.
"Just the usual crap about how we're failures. How we're gonna die." I said.
"The By-Half plan," he mumbled.
I blinked, "The, huh?"
"Artemis told us of a plan the School has to wipe out anyone that isn't special." Fang explained.
"Special? You mean, like us?" I asked and he nodded. Huh. So that's what Jeb was talking about. Damn nut. Did he honestly expect to wipe out more than half of an entire race? I blew out a hot breath. I don't know how long I've been in here, but during that ammount of time, I hadn't come up with one way to escape. I wish Matt were here.
"I think Angel escaped," Fang said as if he could read my thoughts.
I blinked, "Oh. Well, great! I wonder how a six year old is gonna get us out of this." I muttered.
Fang glared at me. "Angel is more than just a six year old," he scowled.
"Yeah. Yeah. She can read minds." I mumbled. "I hope she's readin' my big ole' SOS signal."
"She's probably focused on Max," Fang said quietly.
Oh right! He and Max were...close before we got ambushed. I waited a little longer for something else to come up. You could talk about how you two are related. Hah! Fat chance. Shut up annoying conscience.
I'm not your conscience.
Oh, well. In the case, shut up annoying voice.
I sighed, "So you and Max, huh?" I said into the awkward silence. I could just picture Beast sing-songing "Awkward". And then Abby would hit him, and they would ignite into another World War. Chester would run to me for shelter, and Matt would sit back and laugh for the first couple minutes before getting glared at by me, and then he would intervene.
I sighed. I missed them. Not just Matt. All of them. I wanted them all here. Do I get a dying wish? If I do, I wish for my family to be here. All of them.
One already is.
I'm gonna punch you, you know that?
"Is she like Matt?" I asked, "I mean, I know she's like the leader and stuff, but please don't tell me she's as much as a goofball as-"
"She's not. I think dealing with kids younger than the both of us had a role in that. She's like their mother," he added thoughtfully.
I grinned, "So, you would kiss your own mother?"
"I said like their mother. To me she's—To me she's different." he said, his voice trailing off into a mumble. Then he sighed. "I don't think Matt likes me."
"What?" I said, "That's not true." Fang gave me a really? look, and I thought for a moment. Alright, so Matt wasn't too thrilled about Max having a thing with Fang. He-He, that rhymed. "Matt's always been overprotective of those he cares about. You said Max was like a mother right?" Fang nodded, "Well, Matt's like the in-charge, goofy older brother." Hm, maybe that's why he accepted Max so easily, because he was alreadt used to the role. Me being a big sister? Yeah, when children are around me, they tend to cry... a lot.
"So, your flock are all eighteen, right?" Fang asked. It was my turn to just nod. "Four years older than me, Iggy, and Max." Again. I nodded. Even though, I wasn't really sure that was a question. "That means, we, my flock and I, weren't the first human-avian hybrids."
I nodded, "Yep." My stomach was clenching up. I didn't want to talk about this. I didn't even want to think about the idea that I had left someone behind for my own freedom.
"How old were you when you escaped?" Fang asked, and I gulped.
"Four," I replied quietly. "But I don't remember ever seeing you. If I had-" I rolled my head and looked at him, "If I had, I would've taken you, and all of you with us."
Fang had his eyes shut, but it didn't look like he was in any pain. Then they opened and he looked at me. His eyes were as dark, maybe even a little darker than mine. Our hair was the same color, with the same kind of indigo gloss to it. Our olive skin matched perfectly. God, he was like a younger, male version of me. I blinked and looked away.
No. No. No. He is not my younger brother. He just—He just can't be.
"Crow, is something wrong?" Fang asked.
I caught myself tugging at the restraints. My teeth were grinding together. The pit in my stomach was growing heavier and heavier. How could I have left him here? How could I have been so selfish? How could I have-.
"Crow, you're crying." Fang said, a worried edge to his voice.
"I'm sorry!" I blurted, and didn't stop there. "If I had known you were here, I would have come back. Hell, I wouldn't have even left without you. I shouldn't have left you here, Fang. I'm so sorry." I had to squeeze my eyes shut to block the tears. What was wrong with me? So much for keeping the emotions clean and the idea to myself.
"What are you talking about? It's not your fault. You didn't know." Fang said, trying to assure me. "I got out anyways, and if you did take me with you, then, I might have never met Max."
"But I'm your sister, Fang." Well, shit.
His eyes remained calm. He didn't say anything, so I decided to look at him again. Slowly, and calmly he said, "I know."
Huh? What? Heh? Someone explain to me what the hell is going on!
Matt's POV
"Whoa, whoa, back track lil sis." I said and she frowned at me.
"I said to quit calling me that. It's just Max. What if they don't know we're related?" she hissed.
I rolled my eyes, "We're gonna die anyways. But, you said that Angel said that Crow is Fang's older brother?" I was trying to recover from my mini panick attack. Why hadn't Crow told me this? Max said Angel told her. So, why—Don't tell me she's denying this. Damnit Crow. It would be just like her for her to do something like denial on something like this.
Max nodded, "We found out in New York, after you got taken. Fang got hurt, Crow and your flock saved his life. Then Angel just busted out the news." she told me.
"And how did she take it?" I asked.
Max snorted, "She refused to believe it."
I gave her a short glare, but she had her nose turned up and was scowling. I sighed and looked away. "I knew it," I muttered. Oh, Crow. Where are you now? And why the hell didn't you tell me!
Crow's POV
"What do you mean you know?" I snarled. But not in a threatening way. In a way that says Crow-Is-Very-Confused-And-Would-Appreciate-The-Use-Of-No-Crap.
Fang contained his emotionless, blank face. "We got files from the lab in New York. I read them. All. Is it true that our dad left after I was born? Because our mom died."
I sighed. I couldn't look at him right now. "Fang, I really—I just don't know. I can't remember. I was four."
Fang looked stung, but he didn't argue. "Right. Sorry."
The room was sucked into another awkward silence. The bottomless pit in my chest was gone, and there was a major relief off my chest. Then it came back as I realized I still hadn't told Matt.
"So, why didn't you say anything if you already knew?" I asked him.
He shrugged, "Angel told me that you already knew. I figured it only mattered that the both of us knew. No biggie, right?"
A faint grin tugged the corners of my mouth up. "Yep, definetly my brother."
Michelle's POV
We stopped at another motel and ran-sacked a gas station. You should've seen the look on the cashiers face as I carried out arm fulls of food. Remember, humans can't see me, so I'm pretty sure it looked like a bunch of food just floated off the shelves and out the door.
Angel waited for me outside. Reed didn't believe in stealing. Big goody-two-shoes. Besides, I look at it this way. Something's bound to happen here pretty soon, and I'm sure floating food won't be a major issue after all this crap starts. And uh, I'm still getting majorly hungry.
Reed found it odd because apparently, angels aren't supposed to feel any type of human thing. Like cold breezes, the warmth of the sun, if you take a dive in a lake you can't feel the water swishing around you, and yep, hunger falls into this list too.
"I'm telling you, Michelle, it's just not normal." Reed said as he paced back forth across the small apartment room. Angel and I sat on the edge of one of the beds, munching on fruit and watching cartoons.
I shrugged, "No one ever said I was normal in the first place." I muttered and Angel giggled. I shot a grin down at her, and when Reed started talk—Complaining again, I mocked him with funny faces.
"But angels aren't supposed to get hungry. Sure, we feel energy loss. But we don't get tired either. And—Are you making faces at me?"
I jumped a bit and sent Angel a HELP ME thought before turning to face Reed. I swear steam was coming out of his ears. I went for my best smile and said, "Nah, I got somethin' stuck in my teeth." I lied.
He muttered something that sounded like it was in another language. I shrugged and turned back to Tom&Jerry. Poor Tom. Hell, if that was my cat, that mouse wouldn't stand a chance. My cat Hunter. Oh yeah, he lived up to the name. It wasn't really my cat. Like, I didn't own him or anything. He was wild and roamed around the whole town. He even showed up at school a few times to catch some rodents. The whole town knew him. I think he started to become Danny's cat more than anyones. There would be little gifts on Danny's window sill. And Danny would leave the window open on cold nights so Hunter could curl up next to him to sleep. That cat would give anything for Danny. Should've seen him take out Jimmy Rogers face when he was bullying my brother and I was being pinned down.
That cat was a grade A, badass.
I actually have a cat like this. Except he's a grouch and only takes down other animals that come into our yard. Like a big dog persay. Oh yeah. Love my cat.
Reed continued to glare at me, and then he went back to his ranting. It finally got in the way of my cartoon watching.
"Seriously, Reed. Let's worry about one thing at a time. Let's deal with spooky Darkness, and then me." I said, and that shut him up.
Angel poked her head around me to look at Reed. "She really appreciates that you care about her, but she is right. We have more important things to worry about."
I felt my face flush. Okay, so yeah. I found it kind of nice, but that was a private thought. I sent Angel a look and she avoided eye contact. "Some things are meant to be kept thoughts," I mumbled.
She shrugged and then pushed herself off the couch. "Why are we just sitting around here? We need to go get Max!"
"And there's that name again," Reed huffed, "Why is this Max chick so important?"
Angel shot a glare at him and he gulped. "Because, she's supposed to save the world. And I'm supposed to help, and so is Fang, but it's all so weird and rambly."
Rambly? Huh. That's a new word. I wonder if I could use that in Scrable.
Reed knelt down in front of the fuming six year old. "Angel, who told you this?" he asked in a calm soothing voice that even made me feel like he was talking to his daughter or something.
"The voice. When Max was sleeping he told me and Fang to watch over Max 'cause she's gonna save the world." she explained quietly. "I just don't know how."
Reed stood up, looked at me and then ran his fingers back through his hair, making it all fluff up. It was kind of funny, actually. And cute. I glared at Angel who was about to open her mouth, but she closed it and didn't say anything.
"It's nice to know he's prepared for this." Reed muttered.
I looked up at him, taking the warning out of my eyes and replacing it with big question marks. "Hm?"
"If he's already got this figured out then we don't need to be here," Reed said. He marched over and grabbed my wrist. "We're leaving. This isn't our fight."
"Slow your horses." I said, pulling my wrist out of his grip. "I do believe that demon I'm supposed to kill is all apart of this. So, uh, yeah this is our fight, and I ain't goin' no where."
Reed loomed over me. "It's already covered, Michelle," he said in that voice that made the temperature drop. "We shouldn't get involved with this. We might get hurt." he reached for my wrist again and I pulled back.
"Oh, so now you care?" I snorted, "I do recall you freakin' pushing me in front of a demon and like seven of his body guards."
"I helped," he protested.
"After I was chased down the street." I snapped back. "No. Feel free to leave, but I'm stayin'. This is my fight." I turned back to the bed.
"You just want to see Matt." he sneered.
I hit him so hard, there was going to be a red mark on his shoulder for a week. "No." I spat. "I am not doing this just to go see the jerk that left me, and I died for. I'm doing this to kill the son of a-" oh crap, Angel's here. "Son of a gun that killed me."
"Vengeance isn't a good reason to enter a fight that isn't ours," Reed said cooly.
"It is my fight, Reed!" I screeched. "Why can't you just accept that? I'm going down there with or without you, and I'm killing that damn thing. Got me? I am not taking no for an answer, or an order!"
Reed's mouth was tight, and the tips of his ears were beginning to burn red. I imagined I looked pretty pissed, too.
"Do not argue with me. We need to leave." he insisted.
I threw my hands up in a shooing motion and turned back to the bed. "I ain't leavin'." I said again.
"They'll kill you, Arabella! Don't you get that?" he shouted.
I stopped, frozen in mid-step. Angel seemed confused at first, but I'm pretty sure all she had to do was read one of our minds and she was caught up on the whole Arabella story. I slowly turned around. Reed's eyes were wide, and now his face was red with embarassment.
"Did you reall just-"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to. It's just that-" he turned half way around. "It's just-"
Angel walked into the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a shower." she said and the door clicked closed.
I watched Reed carefully. I had never seen a guy change from so many emotions in under an hour. First he was confused. Then pissed, and now here we go with the Kill Me Now street. And I'm pretty sure there weren't going to be any turn offs.
I sighed, "Reed. Is there something you need to-"
"It's my fault," he said suddenly. His blue eyes stuck to the ground as if the words he was saying we glued there. I looked there, but it was just the black carpet of the motel room. "It's my fault she died."
Oh jeez. "Reed, you can't help it if somebody dies. It's just the way life is." I said. Okay, not really the best at reassuring here.
Reed looked at me with tears in his eyes. They weren't falling. Not yet, anyways. "No! I should've made her leave! She shouldn't have waited for me! But god—I-I love her so much. I was so selfish. I should've known that they'd find her. What they would do to her. Do you know what they did to her?" he shouted the question at me.
I flinched. "Well, no, but-"
"They freaking tied me to a tree and forced me to watch as they beat her and—and-" his shoulders started shaking. "And I didn't do anything to stop it."
I got the picture. Killing a king and then running around with the murderer does not end up pretty if your a girl. Yeesh. I'm glad I didn't live in those times. There's enough jerks nowadays to make me go insane.
"What could you have done to stop it?" I said stepping in a little closer. "You were tied up."
Reed slumped down right there on the floor, and tears rolled down his cheeks leaving little pink streaks. He didn't sob like an over dramatic girl, but it wasn't pretty either. I sent a quick prayer up to whoever the hell's incharge.
Help me, help him get through this.
"Alright, buttercup," I said as I put his arm over my shoulders and lifted him up. "If you're gonna cry, do it somewhere comfortable." I let him sit down on the bed, and he just sunk. I stood there awkwardly patting his shoulder as he cried. I really, really didn't know what to do when supposed grown, or semi-grown men cried. The only boy I knew how to handle was my brother. God, I missed Danny. I really wanted to see him.
"I'm s-sorry," Reed choked out.
"It's okay," I said, and before I knew what I was doing, I was sitting next to Reed, rubbing his backs, where his wings weren't. "I'm sorry, too." I said.
"For what?" he hicupped.
I would've laughed if the sitaution wasn't so damn depressing. "For yelling. I didn't know about—I'm sorry." Yeah, let's not make him cry again.
Reed picked his head up and I moved my hand off his back. He looked at me. His eyes bloodshot from all his crying. "I think you deserve to know everything." he said.
"No. No, it's okay. You don't have to-"
"We made it into the mountains," Reed began and my stomach did a little flip. Is this ignore-Michelle-day-and-tell-her-depressing-background-stories day? "Arabella and I had been running. This was the third day, and we finally figured we were safe. It was getting dark, so I built a fire and we huddled together. It gets really cold up in the mountains. Even in the summer. Especially at night." I nodded. I knew this. For I am not stupid. "So, Arabella fell asleep and I figured maybe I should scout around, go hunting, look for a nearby town or something. So, I did. And when I came back-"
"That's when the people came and did a bunch of horrible stuff?" I guessed.
He gave me a cross look, "No. Arabella was just freaked out because she had woken up to the sound of a wolf howling, and didn't know where I was. She insisted that I never leave her again, but I told her that if we were going to survive then she needed to find a village. She needed to settle. They weren't after her. They were after me. I foolishly let her talk me into not splitting up like I had planned.
And so, we fell asleep. Well, she did. I kept watch. The fire burned out, and we were up in the mountains, so I'm pretty sure they weren't close by. I fell asleep." his voice turned dark, and I held my breath. "It felt like minutes before someone kicked me in the stomach and I heard Arabella scream. When I opened my eyes, I was tied to a tree and being poured on with alcohol. At least six men all crowded around Arabella, just letting me see her face. The terror in her eyes, that look of—God, it was all so horrible. And it was all my fault!"
Reed dropped his head in his hands and I started rubbing his back again.
"Reed, please stop. It's okay." I said.
He shook his head, "No. It's not, okay." he said cooly. He picked his head up again and looked me straight in the eye. "I'm telling you now that if we don't get out of here, you might get hurt, and I don't—I don't want anyone else to get hurt because of me." he sniffled.
I patted his shoulder, "Uh, you have seen my shotgun right?" I said and he nodded. "And you do know that, Arabella and I are not the same girl?" again, he nodded, but it was slower. "Reed, I gotta do this. And I really want your help. I'm not defenseless. I-"
"Neither was Arabella!" he protested, "I was her defense! I was supposed to protect her, Michelle! And do you know what happened? I was burned right there, right in front of her. And I watched as I was dead, as they threw her, with stones bound to her wrists and ankles, into a lake. I watched them kill her."
I gulped. Son of a—I would kill anyone who did that to someone I cared about. "Reed, I-"
"No. You don't understand." he said flatly.
"That's not what I was going to say," I huffed. It didn't seem to have affect to get annoyed wiht him. I sighed, "Look, Reed. I'm sorry about Arabella, I really am. I hope those guys got the punishment they deserve."
"Oh, they're burning in hell. Believe me. I put 'em there." Reed said, with a serious scary look in his eyes. "But not once, never did I find Arabella."
He laid back on the bed and pulled the blankets over his head. I leaned over and shook his shoulder.
"Uh, Reed, what are you doing?" I asked.
"Not going anywhere. I can't." he said. "I just need—I just need to rest, alright?"
I didn't want to waste anymore time, but I'm not sure letting a broken hearted bird-brain fight was the best idea. I gave up and left him alone. I went over and knocked on the bathroom door. "Coast is clear," I whispered, "Be careful. He's sleeping."
Angel came out. She clearly hadn't taken a shower. Her blue eyes washed over Reed's sleeping form. Her eyes held nothing but sympathy. "They did really horrible things," she whimpered, "Really, really horrible things."
I patted the top of her head, "Yeah. I know. But they're bein' punished for what they did." I told her.
She looked up at me, "Like you're going to punish this demon?" she asked.
I nodded, "Hell yeah. I'm just gonna have a little target practice first."