Well Hello,

I think i have nits. Random, but my head is itching like mad. God! IT'S SO ANNOYING! Anyway, has anyone ever wondered why only kids get nits? I mean, i've never actually seen an adult go 'I have an itchy head, it must mean i have nits.' Parents are stupid like that. What makes them think they're more spiria to us awsome kids? I mean serious get with the program!

Fly On,

Heart of Diamond

xoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxxoxo

Fang: The Black Hawk

Chapter 21: Invasions.

Max POV

We left Ariel there, promising her a visit in summer. Of course I had told Fang what Ariel had said. He seemed deep in thought.

"The question is how come we're able to breed and the others can't? We are one of the first genetically modified experiments tested according to Jeb. Why are we the only ones that can breed, when there are other, newer experiments that can't?"

Wow. A lot of words for Fang there.

I thought about it. Jeb?

No answer.

Of course.

"Maybe, it's the fact that birds... Oh I don't know. Jeb might know, but I sure as hell don't," I said rubbing my temples with one hand.

Just another thing to add to my list.

We were going to leave in the morning. Early in the morning. There were a couple of things that needed to be done first.

Call Nathan

Convince Margret that we had enough money and food for ourselves.

I picked up Margret's phone and dialled the phone number Nathan had given me. It was a long number, but one that sent the call straight to him and bypassed all the security measures. Usually only family members were allowed the number, but I was a special case.

It rung twice. "Hello?"

"Nathan, it's Max," I said calmly.

"Give me two seconds." I heard some moving about and a door close. "Ok, where on earth are you?"

"At the moment, we're hiding out in Oklahoma."

"Are you all alright? God help me, none of you got hurt in that explosion did you?"

I sighed. "The flock is split. I have Fang, Nudge, Iggy, Coco, Gazzy, Total and Phoenix with me, but I have no idea where the others are."

"Whoa, hold on a second. Tell me exactly what's happened so far."

I told him what he needed to know. The Shadow's. Erasers.

"...We need to head east. I don't know who or what we are hoping to find, but anything would be good right now," I finished.

Nathan hummed. "Any Ideas on where to find the others?"

"No Idea," I said. "But if they had a right mind, they would be heading to Philadelphia. They'll be somewhere between Colorado and there."

"That is a fair distance to cover."

"Yeah."

"But I'll get some teams on it right away and Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't trust anyone. Dr. Mandock is after you and he'll stop at nothing to get you."

"I know."

Nathan hung up. I pulled the phone away from my ear and just stared at it.

He'll stop at nothing to get you.

Dr. Mandock was after Indi.

And to get to Indi, he needed to get to me.

If he knew Indi wasn't with me...

I flopped my head in my hands. This was getting worse. I needed Indi. I needed to know she was safe. And the only way I could know that was if she was in my arms.

I sighed and straightened up. Ok Max, get a grip set a good example.

I sat on the roof staring at the night sky. The stars were dimmer than usual, because we were in town.

There was a shuffle behind me. I jumped to my feet, my eyes scanning the darkness.

A figure stepped forward. Black eyes pieced me. My heart raced a million miles an hour as my mind tried to think of the logic in the situation.

Dr. Mandock stepped forward.

I pulled out my knife, but a sharp cry caught my attention. In Dr. Mandock's arms, was Indi wrapped in a pale pink blanket.

"Rock a bye baby, on the tree top..." Dr. Mandock sung in an eerie voice.

I tried to scream. I tired to run. I tried to reach her, but it was like I was frozen, just staring at the Image before me.

"When the wind blows the cradle with rock..."

Indi was still crying. In Dr. Mandock's spare hand, a pistol suddenly appeared.

My mind was screaming.

"Then that poor baby's cradle will fall..."

The safety switch was flicked off. Dr. Mandock pressed the barrel of the pistol into Indi's forehead.

"And down will come baby, cradle and all."

"MAX!"

I snapped upright, yanking my knife from under my pillow and holding it up in front of me. Fang was quick enough to jump out of the way from my lethal move.

"Whoa, Max are you alright?"

My breathing was quick. I was coated in a thick layer of sweat. My hands were shaking madly.

That dream was frighteningly real.

I lower Giniw. Fang relaxed and moved to sit beside me on the bed. He stoked the sweaty hair out of my face. "You were thrashing in your sleep. Are you ok?"

I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "Indi," I whispered.

Fang kissed me softly on the forehead. His lips lingered. "Don't give up Max. Please, please don't give up."

I nodded carefully, knowing if I opened my mouth I would just about burst into tears. I had to be strong.

Fang gave me a hesitant look. He knew not having Indi was eating me up on the inside with worry. I needed her. There was no doubt about it.

Fang sighed, "Come on, it's time to go before the sun rises."

The others were already waiting. Accalia looked half asleep. Gazzy was wide awake, mainly because Iggy was wide awake. Nudge wasn't far off sleep walking and poor Coco was still drained from her newly found power, oblivious that the short sleep didn't do much good.

Phoenix flew down from the fence post to Fang's shoulder as bright and alive as mid-day. I swear that bird could live young forever.

Margret approached us all with 7 small plastic bags holding two custard scrolls each. "For breakfast."

I handed a bag to each flock member. Accalia seemed to be the only one who was half excited to leave even though she was basically dead on her feet. Nudge was on the verge of crying she didn't want to leave.

Margret hugged us all one by one. We all couldn't help but sniffle a giggle at Iggy's stiff reaction to being hugged. Even Fang managed a small smile from the comfort.

Margret pulled me into a swift hug. "Don't be afraid to come back anytime you need to."

I nodded again. "Thank you for letting us stay."

Margret pulled back and huffed, brushing it off. "Any time."

I smiled. I gave the signal to the flock and we took off.

As I climbed into the sky, the rest of the flock followed suit. It wasn't long before Margret blended in with every other house in the town.

We were heading east. According to the compass Gaz had.

No one said anything for at least the first 15 minutes. We all ate our breakfast as the sky in the east turned a soft baby blue.

Total disappeared for a few minutes, before coming back it a clearly dead deer in his jaws. He ripped the meat from the stomach, legs, back and neck before discarding the bloody carcass. Phoenix nibbled the meat off a leg.

We didn't even spend 30 minutes off land.

"Max?" Iggy cried looking behind him.

I spun around in mid air. Three helicopters.

God dam it. How do they keep finding us?

"Dive!" I shouted.

Unfortunately, we were right above paddocks. No trees. Except for the ones that separate the land. There was no hiding.

And there was no way I could keep an Illusion on us travelling at this speed.

"Coco! Gazzy! Accalia! Phoenix! Get in those trees now!" I shouted over the roar of the wind.

I pulled up slightly so I flying parallel to the ground. As we passed over a tree line, Coco, Gazzy, Phoenix and Accalia dived out of formation and into the safety of the trees.

Good, they were safe at least.

I pulled my knife out of its sheath as I shot back into the sky again, Fang, Nudge, Iggy and Total close behind me.

The Helicopters getting closer. I spun around to look at the flock. "Go for the propellers. They'll defiantly have guns, so watch out for them."

They nodded. Fang pulled his crossbow off his back and clicked off the safety switch.

God, I was turning my flock into an army assassin squad.

The Helicopter drew closer. Like deadly insects, they approached at frightening speed.

The shooting began when we were barely 200 metres away.

"NOW!" I shouted.

I switched on my super speed and flew towards the helicopters at the speed of a bullet. Circling it sharply, I dived through the open door. Grabbing one of the shadow gunners, I sped through the helicopter and out the other open door.

The Shadow screamed and only screamed louder when I dropped him. It would have to be at least 700m to the ground.

There was a bang. The first helicopter's propellers exploded and instantly it started it rapidly accelerating decent.

Fang fired two bolts through the screen of the second helicopter. It lost control for about ten seconds, but was quick to set back on course.

I dived for the third helicopter, the one the Nudge was also after. I gave her a quick signal and we both dived for the gun men, who were shooting at Total.

I jumped onto the platform and yanked the shadow out of the helicopter, sending him dropping to the ground like a rock.

Nudge was already onto the controller. Unable to keep my balance as the helicopter lost control, I fell out of the helicopter.

Twisting myself around in mid air, I snapped open my wings. There was a slightly jolt in my body as my wings caught the sudden resistance of air.

That was when I caught the sight of a second pair of wings jumping from the second helicopter.

Black with grey specks.

I growled. He was too far away for me to even catch him with super speed before he disappeared into the clouds. Night gave me a mocking solute before speeding up into the sky. I watched him, until the last of his black wings were gone.

When I looked back, Nudge, Total, Fang and Iggy were flying around an empty space in the sky. The last helicopter crashed to the ground. An explosion of fire and black metal boomed across the paddocks. Live stock bolted for the edges of the land.

Why? Why don't they just leave us alone? I was sick of it. My flock was sick of it, but I was sure Night and Dr. Psychopath loved the challenge.

This was all just a big freaking game for them.

I gently glided down to where the others were hovering. They looked up at me as I approached.

"Come on," I whispered sheathing my knife. "We have to keep moving."

They nodded. Fang gave me a hesitant look, but I just shook my head. We had to keep moving. There was no time to talk.

We gently descended to where we had left the other. No one said a word, but we were all thinking the same thing.

LEAVE US ALONE!

I landed light on the grass. Almost instantly Gazzy ran out to me, Coco right on his tail. Phoenix flew above them.

"Max! Max!" Gazzy yelled as he came up to me. "She's a traditor!"

"Whoa, Gazzy calm down," I said instantly. "What's going on?"

Gazzy took in a deep breath and pulled out a smashed box from his pocket. "I found this in Accalia's bag. It's a tracker. When I told Accalia, she ran off. She's a traditor! Accalia is the reason we have had the Shadow's after us!"

Oh god.

I didn't say anything for a few seconds. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Traditor or not she was still only four at the oldest. Not to mention she was a long way from any town or anyone who could help.

"We have to find her," I said slipping off my pack. "She's too young to be alone, traditor or not. Total, I need you to sniff her out. If we're not back in an hour, leave without us."

The others nodded, but Fang just gave me a grim look. The one order Fang would never obey. Leave without me.

Total raised his wolf snout into the air and took in a deep breath. He snapped his head north. "She followed the tree line."

He leapt two bounds before springing into the air. I followed him, barely two beats behind him.

"Keep a distance Total," I said. "We don't want to scare her."

Total nodded and began his decent. He landed carefully and quietly. I landed beside him, my wings brushing the long grass. I tucked them in silently.

I heard the crying then.

I scrunched up my eyes for a few seconds and exhaled as I began to walk forward. Total laid down on the grass. He knew if he came with me, it would only scare her more. His sent was far stronger than mine.

I pushed the branches aside as I made my way towards Accalia's crying. It didn't take me long to spot her.

She was huddled up against the base of a tree. Her legs were draw to her chest and her snout had disappeared behind her knees. Her tail wrapped around her legs and her ears sagged to the side.

I approached her carefully. The ground was littered with twigs and leaves. A twig snapped under my foot. Accalia snapped her head up and jumped to her feet, but before she could disappear, I grabbed her arm tightly.

Accalia screamed and tried to push my hand off her wrist. Her ears were flat in fear and tears soaked the fur under her beady eyes.

"I didn't mean it!" Accalia cried still trying to run away. "They... They told me you'd help me find my mummy!"

My heart broke for this kid. I could even get a word out with the tightness in my throat.

Accalia still screamed. "They said if I didn't follow you, they would kill Channing and... and Fair and Arno and..."

My eyes closed as if I was in pain.

Shadow's blowing up a home where the flock lived was bad enough.

But to bring a little kid into this. To threaten them just so they could keep track of us.

Dr. Mandock was taking this game out of line.

"Accalia..." I began softly.

Accalia burst into a series of sobs. "I-I didn't me-mean it!" She screamed. "D-Don't hurt me!"

"Accalia," I said quietly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Accalia burst into more tears and sunk to the ground, bringing her knees to her chest again.

I got down on my knees and pulled Accalia up so she sat on my lap. It was a long time before she managed to slow her crying down to just sobbing breathing. Her ears were still flat.

"I didn't mean it," She repeated in a scared whisper.

"I know Accalia," I whispered gently. "You did what you had to."

She looked down and touched her snout. "They said if I... if I came with you, they would make me normal again and bring me home to my mummy and daddy."

If there was one thing I knew more than anything else, it was the fact Accalia was never going to be normal again, no matter what they said. There was no going back once you were an experiment.

I never thought someone could be so insane that they'd brainwash children.

You speak to kindly of someone so evil, Max.

Shut up, Jeb. I have an incredibly distressed child to deal with at the moment.

I stroked the soft fur on the back of Accalia's head. "Accalia... Shadows, I mean, NMEA, they tell lies all the time. The never say the truth."

Accalia sniffed.

"You can't listen to them ok? They are evil people who want to hurt us."

How else do I explain evil to a four year old?

Accalia looked at me carefully, her ears slowly stretching up. "They weren't going to take me to my mummy and daddy?"

I sighed. "No Accalia, they... they were going to hurt you, once they had killed me."

Hurt was probably an understatement. If Dr. Mandock was going to be this cruel, he would have killed Accalia along with the rest of us flock.

Horrible thought. To kill a four year old.

But then again, Dr. Mandock had threatened to kill Indi. And she wasn't even two months old then.

I shivered at the memory.

Accalia looked like she was about to cry. "Can you take me to my Mummy?"

I smiled. "Of course I can. I promise I will."

Accalia's ears straightened up. But she frowned. "Pinkie swear?" She said slowly are trying to determine whether or not I was speaking the truth.

I burst out laughing. More with relief than anything. I held up my pinkie. "Pinkie swear."

Accalia smiled slightly as she took my pinkie with her little one. I smiled back. "Come on, we have to get you back to the others."

Her ears flattened again. "Do Gazzy and Coco hate me?"

I picked her up and put her on my hip. "No Accalia, they were just confused and scared."

She still looked at me. "But Gazzy yelled at me."

I sighed. I was going to have to have a word with that 10 year old. "He was just scared for everyone. He doesn't hate you."

I stepped out of the trees. Total's ear prinked up before his head rose. He gave a small bark and Accalia's ears prinked up. Accalia squirmed, so I put her down. She ran over to Total and wrapped her little hands around his neck.

Total smiled and wrapped one large paw around Accalia.

We were going to have to take good care of Accalia. She needed more caring than all of us put together.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxxo

Aww! Poor Accalia. Oh and Thanks AmyQueen95, I'm totally killing Dr. Mandock like that *drums fingers together while raising eyebrow* REVIEW!