Ok, so this was supposed to be part of ch. 20, but it made it too long. And I'm sorry for the delay in getting this up. I know, I know, I'm a terrible person. Blah blah blah. But really, I've been mucho busy with school and stuff. I had a project last weekend to do and, well, I'm sorry.
But here you go.
Iggy and I slid off the roof, down onto the balcony and ran inside, down the stairs. We came to a sudden halt in the living room.
I gasped as I took in the scene; Max and Fang stood in front of Angel and Gazzy. Lindsey and Rev were off to the side. Rev had a gun pointed straight at a face I hoped I'd never have to see again.
Delilah stood, her grin showing fangs, holding Nudge by her hair. She held a gun to Nudge's head, while Alicia and Shauna had their own guns pointed at the Flock.
Alicia turned her gun to Ig and I where we stood at the base of the stairs, glaring at us.
"What's going..?" Iggy started to ask, but Delilah cut him off.
"Well, look here," she drawled with a fake southern accent, "The gang's all here!"
"Let her go," Max growled. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of her wrath. Oh wait, I have been. (And probably would be if it weren't for the immediate situation at hand.)
Delilah only smirked. "Oh, am I hurting the little birdie?" She laughed, switching from fake-south to a mock-baby voice. She tightened her grip on Nudge's hair, and Nudge winced.
"Let. Her. Go." Max said, her voice low and lethal. I could see her muscles tensed, ready to attack.
"Sage," a voice said, startling me, and I barely kept myself from jumping. It sounded like Angel, and I shot a glance at her, but she kept her eyes trained on the smallest of our feline friends.
Sage, the voice said again, and it took me a second to realize it was coming from inside my head.
Angel? I asked in my head.
Yes, said the voice. Listen, the youngest girl's aim is off.
What?
Delilah taunted Max, running her finger across Nudge's chin.
The youngest girl's aim is off, Angel said again. She'll pull the trigger when Max moves, but she won't hit her.
That's a good thing, isn't it? I thought back.
No, Angel told me, if she fires that gun, she won't hit Max.
She'll hit Fang.
I sucked in a breath, glancing from Max, to the little raven-haired girl, to Fang. Angel was right- Shauna's gun was aimed directly at Fang's heart.
He would be dead before he hit the floor.
Get closer, Angel told me. You can't stop Max, but you can try and save him when she…
I nodded, a barely imperceptible movement, and started edging, oh so slowly, towards the rest of the flock.
"Max," I said quietly, but she snapped out her hand, a signal for me to shut up.
Delilah laughed, forcing Nudge to her knees, the gun still held to her head. Then Delilah started morphing.
Her fangs grew, becoming more pronounced, and her hand changed, manicured nails changing into long, lethal-looking claws.
Not to mention the ears and tail. I probably would have laughed at that if it weren't for the guns.
Delilah drew one of her claws across Nudge's cheek, breaking the skin and drawing blood. Nudge had closed her eyes; she looked like she was trying to keep calm.
I tensed, knowing somehow that Max would snap any second now. And when Delilah's claws moved towards Nudge's throat, she did.
Max leapt, screaming a battle cry, and I saw Shauna pull the trigger, but I was already moving. I jumped sideways, throwing myself at Fang and knocking him to the floor. I felt the gunshot, the bullet just grazing my hair before embedding itself in the wall.
Fang grunted under my weight. "What the hell?" I heard him gasp, but I had already looked up to see Delilah release Nudge and roll away. Max dealt her a roundhouse kick, knocking the gun from her hand. Nudge had scrambled to her feet, and was about to launch her own attack, but Delilah gestured her away from Nudge, and Shauna avoided Nudge easily, heading for the stairs.
Delilah grinned. "Buh-bye!" She giggled, wiggling her digits, claws flicking in and out, before dashing towards the stairs after Shauna.
Alicia brought up the rear, moving too fast for Max or anyone to get to. Or, at least, any of us at this end of the room.
But Iggy still stood by the stairs, and as Alicia passed him, he swung. She grabbed his fist, laughing.
"I remember you, cutie," she said slyly. "I don't think the Director would mind if I brought her a feathery souvenir." And with that, she thwacked the butt of her gun against Iggy's skull. He collapsed, and she slung him over her shoulder before zipping up the stairs after the others.
"Iggy, no!" I heard myself scream, rolling off of Fang and to my feet. I headed after them, taking the stairs two at a time.
"Sage!" a voice yelled behind me, but I ignored it- feet were pounding up the stairs behind me now.
I skidded down the hall and almost collapsed to a stop on the balcony.
A huge helicopter hovered over the house, Delilah and Shauna hanging from a rope ladder below it. Alicia stood, poised at the edge of the balcony. Iggy was already coming to in her arms, struggling, weakly, against her grip.
"Drop him!" I yelled at her, but she just smiled.
"Come get him yourself, you miserable excuse of an experiment," she bit back, grabbing onto the ladder.
"Sage?" I heard Iggy mumble. I ran the last couple of steps to the end of the balcony, but the helicopter was already lifting them up and away. I unfurled my wings, feeling the downdraft threaten to snap them, but jumped into the air anyway.
I grabbed Iggy's hand just as someone grabbed me around the waist, and heard the click of Alicia's gun against Iggy's head.
I saw the tears threatening in Iggy's sightless eyes as the helicopter lifted us, the mysterious grip around my waist tightening, pulling us apart.
His hand was slipping from mine, and all I could manage was a choked, "I'm sorry, Ig," before his hand slipped from mine and I crashed back to the ground.
I landed on top of Fang for the second time that night.
By the time I got my feet under me, the rest of the flock was there, and the helicopter was disappearing, getting farther away the longer we stood here.
I spread my wings again, about to launch into the air when Fang grabbed me around the waist again.
"Let me go!" I screamed. "We have to go after him!"
"Sage, stop," Fang whispered. "We can't."
I rounded on him. "And why the hell not? How can you just stand here?"
Max stepped up. "He's part our family," she said. "We want to go after him as much as you do, but we need a plan. We can't just go charging off after them without a plan."
I glanced back out at the night sky. I could barely see the 'copter anymore, just a pinprick of red safety lights in the distance.
Suddenly, I was too exhausted to stand. My legs collapsed and I fell to my knees, shaking. I could feel tears threatening, but held them in, just knelt there in the cold, long after the Flock had headed back inside to make plans.
All except Fang.
Ok, well, that was fun. Not really. Now is when it really started to get interesting. Stay tuned. Tell your friends. And don't forget to review!