I'll say it one time: I am sorry for taking so long to post another chapter. But give me some room – I have a life – and I've been busy. And I just read an excerpt from Nevermore.Can't say I'm too impressed with it, but I hope it'll get better. It's either gonna be the best Max Ride book ever, or the crappiest.

Oh, and I noticed a mistake in the last chapter at the end. I had Sam driving the bus, but it was Iggy who apparently drove it into the police station. Just to clear up the confusion, it was, in fact, SAM WHO DID IT. I had a brain fart and put Iggy instead. Sorry. And I just HAD to put a 'like a boss' reference in here. iFunny is my crack.

And yes, it's long again, because someone said they loved the long chapters, but I split it up in two, because it was TOO long when I looked it over ;) Enjoy

KICK IT IN THE STICKS by SOONERMAGIC

Have any of you ever been in a bus and ran into a police station? Wait, never mind. Don't answer that. I'm positive none of you ever have, but take it from me. It's not fun in the very least. I strongly caution anyone who thinks they want to do it to not do it. Running into a county courthouse is like something that you'd see on Jackass, with Bam driving and Johnny in the back, screaming out at the police officers and escaping convicts, "I'm Johnny Knoxville, and welcome to Jackass!"

The similarities to this night and that show are insane.

And, since we're all friends here, I'll let you in on a secret. I actually believed that Knoxville and his gang were going to make a surprise appearance right at this particular moment.

But let me back up a bit; I haven't even told you the details to what it was like crashing through the front entrance of a courthouse. And I'm sure after you read them any rebellious thoughts you had about recreating this stunt will simply diminish. Well, I hope they will, at least.

When Sam drove the bus up the dark concrete stairs leading to the county courthouse, Fang's arms had flew around my waist to help keep me balanced so I wouldn't fall, and I was thankful to him for it, because falling again with my already battered body would all but kill me. But when Sam slammed on the gas and drove the bus through the large glass doors, Fang completely tackled me to the ground from the force of impact, and the side of my head connected with the metal peg of one of the seats.

Then everything was all mixed together, like a blur, as if I wasn't even there, but I could recall everything with perfect clarity. And believe me when I say everything, too.

The windshield of the bus shattered completely, starting out with one tiny crack before expanding into a spiderwebbed effect and splintering, shards flying everywhere. Sam screamed – very femininely, might I say – and threw himself down from the driver's seat just as the glass flew at him, but the bus kept going on through the courthouse, plowing everything down in its path. Fang's hand slipped up to cover my eyes from the airborne glass, and so I couldn't see where Sam landed or if any of the fragments got him.

By the way he screamed in agony, I was almost positive that a few shards cut him.

From where my jeans had ridden up on my legs, passed the tops of my boots, I felt tiny fragments splash onto my skin, and I hissed through tight teeth as one small speck bit into the tender flesh on my lower calf. Beside me, with one arm wrapped around my waist, keeping me against him closely, and the other spread out over my head, protecting me, I heard Fang groan loudly and utter several swear words as the glass splattered on his back where his shirt had been pushed up.

Breathing heavily, I carefully pulled my head away from Fang's protective hand and angled my face upward, trying to catch a glimpse of the others as the full effect of our situation crashed down on them like a tsunami.

I caught sight of Dylan first, since he was in the seat closest to the front where I was lying, and noticed that he had somehow jumped up and covered Maya – who was screaming rather shrilly, too, not that I can blame her – with his body by laying across two seats. His face was pressed up against the window, shielding himself from the fragments, but the way the bus was bouncing through the building and rattling everything, I could tell he was going to have one heckuva shiner on his forehead in the morning.

If the situation at hand didn't call for me to be so serious, so emotionless, I probably would've laughed.

Next, I swiveled my head to the right, and my eyes landed on Johnny as he tackled Star to the hard, dirty floor like Fang had with me. She screamed out a word that I didn't care to repeat – something along the lines of 'tucking bass hole' – but she wrapped her arms around his waist anyway and let him throw her to the ground. Because, in the end, rational thought won out over her anger, and being slung to the ground was a hell of a lot better than getting cut up by flying shards of glass.

I so owed Star big time. She wasn't the kind of person I thought she was when I'd first met her. But, then again, the night's not over yet.

Just thinking about what we had left to do before this night was over made me have a sudden flash of vertigo, and I had to coax my stomach out of the sickly state it was starting to slink in to. Fang's arm tightened amazingly around my waist, molding the shape of me into him, and I snuggled into his warmness, hiding my head as more of the windows mercilessly shattered above us.

Kate screamed, loud and shrill and piercing, and I heard more than saw Holden push her to the floor, blocking her from a spray of splitting glass as it rained down on them. He let out a muffled holler of pain and fell on top of Kate, but I knew he was okay. Well, okay wasn't the best word for it, I guess. More like not seriously hurt – he wasn't bleeding or anything.

"Keep your head down!" Fang heckled in my ear, shoving his hand in my face to block my view of anyone else as more and more glass splattered on us with a ferociousness I hadn't even knew existed.

"Oh my God!" someone – a male, by the deep gruffness of the sound – yelled above me, and I raised my head, jerking away from Fang's barrier, up at just the right moment to watch as Iggy, hair flying and limbs flailing, soared through the air, his forward progress stopped when his forehead collided with the edge of the seat right in front of me, rendering him as still as a fly in a snowstorm.

I winced; that had to have hurt worse than anything I'd ever experienced. Scratch that – I've experienced worse. Much worse. And for your benefit, my faithful readers, I will not go into detail. Just thinking about it made me shiver.

"Iggy!" I hissed through clenched teeth, my voice thick with trepidation and shock; was he even okay? He wasn't answering. Cautiously, I reached my hand slowly out and pushed his strawberry blonde hair from his forehead, recoiling as if I'd just been stung when I felt the sticky, ichor-like substance of blood coating my fingers. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said in gurgled tone, as if he were choking on his own spit.

Concerned, I slithered out from under Fang's heavy arm and scooted into a sitting position, shoving my body in between two seats while pulling Iggy in after me. Fang seen the whole thing and let me go, though he kept a protective grip on the hem of my jeans, his rough fingers tight as they clasped around my ankle.

"M'I bleedin'?" he asked, his voice hoarse as he fingered the gash on his head. "This hurts like a mother."

I giggled, pushing his strawberry hair from his wound. "Mothers don't exactly hurt, Ig."

He glared wearily up at me, his baby blue eyes squinting evenly in the dim light that coursed in through the shattered glass. The bus had stopped, thankfully, and now all anyone could hear was the screams and shouts as people in the courthouse ran around like chickens with their heads cut off, frantic on what to do. Slim fingers of light from the courthouse were raining into the otherwise dark bus, just enough that everything wasn't bathed in actual shadow.

"You know what I mean."

I shrugged. "I'm just glad you didn't say the other word, because I honestly hate it," I said, grinning as he winked painfully at me.

"The feeling's mutual," he responded, leaning up just as a piece of glass came whizzing by and slicing off a lock of his thick hair. He looked down at me, a grin gracing his bloody face. "That was a close one!"

From out of nowhere, a hand shot out and smacked Iggy on the side of the head, knocking his strawberry hair upward. "Shut your pipe hole, dumbass!" a voice hissed at him, and I craned my neck upward to see Ratchet bending over us, his eyes wide and giving off the vibe of one who was scared, yet at the same time excited.

"We're gonna play possum," Fang whispered loudly, so everyone in the bus could hear without the people running around, screaming and yelling obscenities. "Then, when they hop in and see us and start to call the hospital, we start takin' 'em out! Capiche?"

"You got it, dude!" a voice chortled from the back, and I distinctly recognized it as Roland's.

Play possum? What does that mean?

I looked down at Iggy and over at Ratchet, only to see that they both had their eyes closed tight and their bodies were limp, looking dead and lifeless in their dark clothes. But I could just barely make out the rise and fall of their chest as they breathed in air, and in the back, distantly, I heard someone chuckle before they were either slapped or punched.

Playing possum... It clicked then. Possums all the time pretended they were dead, and so, that was what we were going to do. It didn't sound too hard, I guess, but then again, I've never had to actually play dead before. Hmm, this was going to be interesting.

Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes softly and let my body relax, allowing myself to lean back against the metal of the bus, looking as if I were either dead or unconscious. Regulating my breathing, I felt my nose flare to take in as much oxygen available without it being too noticeable, and I thanked Holden for being so much bigger than me so his hoodie fit me loosely, permitting me to allow my chest rise and fall easily.

And then I heard the first police officer step cautiously into the bus, his shouts echoing around us, the anger and shock in his voice seeming to electrocute the air.

My pulse instantly soared in anticipation, exhilaration causing my heart to nearly flatline, and I had to take deep, even breaths to calm myself down, very aware of the slight pressure Fang was exerting on my ankle. He was squeezing my foot as if a gust of gale force winds was threatening to blow him away, using me to tether himself to the ground.

In fact, his pressure was increasing so quickly and painfully that it felt like he'd snap my bone in half. But I didn't dare say anything for fear that we'd be caught. I just had to suck it up – grow some balls and deal with it, as Ari might say.

God, I missed Ari. And Ella, Nudge, and Angel too. I couldn't wait to have them back. And if all goes well, they'll be reunited with us in a few moments.

A few other officers had joined up with the first, and now four of them were carefully picking their way down the aisle, being extra heedful as to not step on any of us, each muttering a few words and theories for why a bus had been plowed into the front entrance of the courthouse, holding what looked like twenty or so unconscious kids.

"Maybe they swerved to miss an animal," one said, his voice light, feathery, just barely there.

"Nah," another contradicted him with a booming voice. "D'you not see the lettering on the side? This bus is the property of Spiro Public Schools. They had to have stolen this thing or something."

"Guess you're right, Hank," the bird-like guy replied, and I could almost feel his eyes wash over me and everyone surrounding me. Iggy's blood had gotten on Holden's hoodie, which I was still wearing, though Fang had ripped it, and now there was a little splash of red liquid on my stomach, just barely there. "Holy! She's bleeding!"

"Calm down, Ray. We gotta check everyone out before we focus on one kid," a different guy with the same booming voice said. "In fact, why don't you let Brigid handle all the girls – there doesn't seem to be a lot of them, anyway."

Brigid? Why did that name sound so familiar?

"It'd be my pleasure, Sheriff," a sugary sweet voice called, sounding as if she were right in front of me. I felt the lightest touches on my foot, the same one Fang was holding onto, and a moment later his fingers fell off, as if Brigid had removed them. Then I felt someone lean down over me, squatting so that they somewhat straddled my waist, near Iggy's had. I bet he was hyperventilating down there, having to act as if he were dead.

I heard someone – a guy, I think – suck in a large gush of breath, and then the first cop said, "Hey, Hank? Why does that kid right there – no not him, I don't even know who that dumbass is! The one with his head jammed underneath the seat – why does he look like Travis Hawthorne?"

Without missing a beat, I heard Fang say in a deathly tone that sent shivers down my spin, "That's 'cause I am Travis Hawthorne, numnut."

My eyes flashed open, and were met with a pair of dark green, almost hazel, eyes, staring down at me in wonder, flummox, and what looked like aggravation, as if she couldn't believe a bus had interrupted her rather boring night. Well, that made two of us. In my peripheral vision, I saw Fang somehow push himself into a sitting position while concurrently swinging his legs out wide, knocking the guy's limbs out from underneath him.

I forced down a grin, watching as Fang pounced on the guy once he tried to get up.

"Wha'?" Brigid, confusion washing over her face as she took in the sight of Fang and Sam as they hopped up and tackled two officers, asked halfway stupidly, drawing the word out longer than necessary. Her mouth was open in a complete puzzled way, as if she'd just been handed the cure for cancer, and I took that time to shove her off my legs, pushing her easily into the seat directly in front of me.

Startled, she rubbed her head where it'd connected with the metal seat, and tried to steady herself before pushing herself up.

I was already up, taking in the inventory of the fights unfolding around me, and whispered quietly, nearly inaudible with dripping malevolence, "If I were you, I'd stay down before you're seriously hurt."

Just to tick her off even more, I winked.

Surprisingly, Brigid nodded, her eyes wide, as if she were scared of me. And I guess I did look pretty scary, with the blood on my ripped clothing, my hair flying everywhere, cascading around my shoulders in light brown waves, with the faint light from the courthouse illuminating me from behind. Did I say scary? Hmm, I meant badass, sorry.

Then it dawned on me: Brigid was the chick from the library, who Fang was an obnoxious jerk off to. I forced back a laugh; I'll never, ever, forget that. I'll never, ever forget this night, for that matter.

"Johnny!" Fang growled out from on the ground where he was wrestling with the guy that had identified him; from what it looked like, in the immense tangle of limbs and flaring curses, Fang was winning. "Get Max and the girls and go get those kids out. Leave the guys and me here to distract this douches!"

"Got it!" Johnny called back; he had been close to the back, wrestling with a police officer who had been trying to restrain Star by yanking her hands behind her back, but now he was in front of me, grabbing my hand and dragging me along, the rest of the girls following behind us.

We jumped off steps to the bus, immediately smashing into a group of approaching cops. We barreled them down like a boss, fifteen of them bouncing off us and kissing the ground with their butts, groaning and crying out in surprise. One of them had rammed into my nose, and now it hurt delicately, blood sprinkling out the left nostril just barely. But I manned up, toughed it out, and sucked it up, pressing my free hand against it and squeezing as Johnny pulled me along behind him, zigzagging through intricately spaced hallways.

"This place – it's huge," Johnny called to us once we were out of sight of any and all approaching police. "This is the main floor, and they usually put first-time offenders in the basement with the cells. It's the cleanest, and they don't have to worry about some little kid gettin' into fights with a guy like Chuck Norris or something."

I rolled my eyes; Chuck Norris had taken enough hits tonight.

Johnny continued. "When they first built this place," he began, turning a sharp left, flashing from the sight of a group of women officers, "they made sure to make it nearly impossible to navigate through. It's like a maze in here – a labyrinth, with winding hallways and never-endin' stairways."

"So," Kate called from behind me; a glance over my shoulder relayed the information that she was barely five feet behind me. "How are we gonna find the kids, then?"

Johnny, out of the blue, chuckled, and jerked me right, his hand leaving my grasp as we skidded. I wasn't prepared for the sudden turn, and in my haste to righten myself, I overshot and almost collided with a wood-tiled wall, but caught myself just in time and stepped back in tune with the others.

"They also built a collaboration mysterious tunnels in the walls," Johnny said. "The newbies don't have a clue about 'em, but us vets – well, sometimes we like to lock a rookie or two up in them for just a while."

What he was saying clicked in my mind before it even registered in anyone else's. "So, what you're saying is that we're gonna use these tunnels to evade the cops and get to the kids faster, right?" I didn't even give much thought to the weird tunnel system, or the fact that it was odd for them to even be here in the first place. I mean, honestly, who in the world designed tunnels in a courthouse?

Johnny flashed me a deviously beautiful grin, and I was again reminded of how much he, Ratchet, and Fang looked alike. They were nearly identical with their tall, lean bodies, lithe form, black hair, and tanned skin, though their eyes were entirely their own; Ratchet's were a deep, swampy green, Johnny's a light sky blue, and Fang's were so brown they were nearly black. Intense, interesting stuff.

"That pretty head of yours is smart, too," he drawled, smirking, and pumped his legs enough that he pulled ahead and took the lead, barking out orders to us so we wouldn't stray too far.

Left, right, left, right, left, right, left...

Johnny said that the way the tunnels were dug in to the courthouse they had to have different doors leading to different passages at strategic intervals in the building. He said there were three – one in the basement, one in the Chief's office, and one in the large stall in the men's bathroom. We were going to use the bathroom one, since it was the closest, and then run like a bat out of hell till we reached the exit in the basement, where the kids and the other people we were supposed to bust out was being held.

"So, we are gonna get Sam and Roland's friends, no doubt?" Maya asked, just making sure. I hated to say it, but I'd forget about them – it was kind of hard to force your mind to concentrate on other people when your heart was crying out for your younger siblings. Just a little, helpful piece of logic for ya!

Johnny nodded. "No doubt," he said. "We owe it 'em. They helped us get this far, and let's face it – none of y'all would've made it if Sam hadn't been at that old man's house to save your asses."

From behind me, to my left, I heard Kate moan, and then mutter, "Did ya have to point that out? I mean, come on! Let us forget about that... Please?"

Johnny only laughed. "Whatever."

The next five minutes were spent trying to find the bathrooms and not talk for fear that we would give ourselves away. Since I was in almost every sport imaginable at school, I wasn't having a hard time keeping up with everyone else, but I was having to push myself because my body was hurting. Sure, I'd suffered numerous injuries while playing, but none of them had ever actually hurt me before. All the wound I had now – cuts, bruises, possible broken bones – were real and painful. Really painful.

But it wasn't' like I was about to voice my pain or anything. I just didn't do that kind of stuff.

The courthouse was old-fashioned in the way it was put together. By far, it wasn't too old or out of fashion, but it was different, a fresh breath of relief from the way I imagined it would be.

The walls were dark, with wood-paneling, and had pictures or other numerous things etched in to them, giving off a museum-type appeal. Doors were spaced about twenty-five feet apart, all hanging wide open as if the people inside had abruptly run out and forgot to shut it. It smelled old, like leather and musk, but it didn't stink. In fact, that smell was slightly nice, intoxicating, relaxing in an odd way.

Yep, this place definitely wasn't anything I'd have expected it to be.

All in all, it was nice. I liked it, better than Tulsa's too-big, too-bright courthouse. At least this one gave off the country vibe with its dimness and musky scent.

"Yo, mens' bathroom, straight ahead, twenty-five yards," Johnny called out, dragging me from my mind wonderings.

I looked up, surprised that my wondering had taken up so much time, focusing on the large wooden door materializing at the end of the long hallway, with the international symbol of a male taped right on to it. Thought, instead of saying 'men' like it was supposed to, it read, in bright, neon green letters outlined with blue: Dogs. On the women, I expected it to say Cat.

How appropriate, world. Never would have thought hillbillies in Oklahoma knew how to make a joke. Just goes to show how surprising this place really is.

I pushed myself, pumping my arms at my sides, and pulled up alongside Johnny in the front just as he began to slow as to not slam face first into the door. We looked at each other, flashing a cheeky grin at one another, and then put the brakes on to slow ourselves down. The others, closely behind us, nipping at our heels like a beagle would a fox, were slowing as well; it wouldn't do any good if we all ran into each other and knocked ourselves out.

Johnny, after sparing us a glance that told us to shut up, tried the golden brass handle, jerking and wiggling fiercely, only to find out that it was locked indefinitely.

"Damn thing's locked," Johnny stated the obvious.

"Knock it down," Kate said simply, huffing strongly, her hands on her hips in a demanding manner. Johnny just grinned hugely, reminding me insanely of Fang, and I then remembered that him and the other guys were back, still probably in the bus, fighting to give us time to get the kids out. And they were outnumbered, badly.

Without thinking – which I was amazingly good at, if you could believe it – I hiked my leg up and kicked the door down, wincing when my tensed foot connected with the hardwood and slammed it in. A loud noise raptured the air, the sound of splintering wood and slight gasping, followed by me jamming my foot again in the hole it had left first.

The door then fell forward, giving way to the bright light flooding the bathroom, nearly blinding me.

Johnny and the others looked at me approvingly, smiling and nodding in appreciation.

"Nicely done, Max," Star said briskly. "Couldn't have done it better myself."

Maya snorted. "You probably couldn't have done it at all, Star," she said, though lightheartedly smacked Star on the shoulder, who was smiling at the release of tension in the air.

"Why must you degrade my ability of being ruthless?" Star asked, though neither one of them spared me a glance as they stepped over the fallen door and walked through. "It's not my fault my mama raised me as a debutant."

Debutant? I thought they were only in Texas? Mind-blown.

I looked behind me; Kate was giggling loudly and Johnny was opening his mouth to say something, but before he could he was rendered silent by the tumultuous shriek coming from the last stall in the bathroom.

"Oh my God! Was there another earthquake!"

Whaaaaat?

"Johnny, do something, man!" Maya screamed, glancing at him desperately and pointing frantically at the end of the large, bright-as-hell bathroom, as if there were a fire and something she treasured dearly was about to be burned lest he not save it.

"What is it?" I asked, lost, incredulous, wondering what in the world was going on.

"Dear Lord, is there chicks in the gents room!"

That time, for sure, I could infer that the person screaming was man by the words and gruff tone. His voice reminded me of Larry the Cable Guy, possibly drunk on moonshine with a few dozen bottles of Busch.

Wow. Horribly hilarious mental image right there. Yuck.

Maya, thankfully, provided the helpful information. "There's a guy in the biggest stall, where the tunnel door is."

I nodded. "Ah."

Johnny, now ahead of the group and kicking ferociously on the stall door to break it down, was answering a string of curse words with his own original band of swearing shouts that would even make Eric Cartman frown.

"Get your fat ass out of the damn bathroom, you stinky mother fu –" You get the point, I'm sure. And that was one of the clean things he said.

And the guy was responding back just as crudely, talking about how he was going to break off the toilet handle and shove it up Johnny's butt and twist it so he'd flush himself out. Yeah, it didn't make any sense to me, either, but that was what he said. Quite loudly, too, as if he had a bullhorn jammed up to his lips and was all but yelling in it.

Finally, after a few long moments of Johnny kicking, the door swung open, and I pushed my way to get beside him, taking in the sight before me. A larger man with rusty hair and a shaggy, unkempt beard was sitting on the toilet with his pants around his ankles, hiding his baby blue and brown boots, holding a news paper with the headline of 'Teacher Fired For Asking An Overweight Student If He Ate His Homework'.

Clever, America. Real clever.

I whistled at the man frivolously, jerking my thumb over my shoulder as to let him know he needed to get out. "Yo, get your pants up and book it. We need this stall."

The man looked behind me at all the girls and then back and forth between Johnny and me, a peculiar look on his face, scrunching his rustic eyebrows together, looking like a straight line on his deeply tanned face. "Are y'all havin' an orgy?"

I was caught off guard, as usual, and stumbled over words to refuse any accusations the man was about to throw at us before he said, "Can I be invited?"

Johnny groaned, then let loose with a round of chuckles. "Get out, Alan. There ain't no point in you bein' here."

The guy – Alan – made an angry noise and did as Johnny said, pulling his pants up modestly by turning around and hiding himself, all the while muttering about how he thought he was missing out on the best thing of his life.

As he was walking passed me, I winked at him, just to get a laugh, and he was so shocked, numb down to his feet, that he tripped and landed on Kate, who kicked him in the shins and pushed him down to the floor. Mean, but it was fun. And besides, he deserved it. How did he conclude that we needed the large stall to have an orgy? I mean, seriously. Come on, man. Grow up. Although, I had read somewhere that only 69% of people ever actually grow up.

Haha, 69. Classic. I sputtered, grinning, trying to hide my smile because it was inappropriate at the moment.

"Where's the door?" Star asked, severing me from my immature thoughts.

Johnny gestured to a spot behind the toilet, outlined with white silicone and a little darker than the rest of the white walls; it stood, oddly, in a soft ivory color, beautifully contrasted with the snowy walls surrounding it, with a diamond-like knob poking out from behind the toilet.

Oh. Smart to hide it behind the toilet. One question, though. How were we supposed to get to the door when the toilet was in the way?

Johnny, as if he'd just read my mind, said, "The toilet sits on this spinning thing that slides to the side. All you have to do is push it and it moves." With that, he proceeded to whistle for Star's help and push the thing to the left, revealing the ivory door in all its glory.

Kate popped up beside me, to the left, with Maya on the other side. "Can I open it up?" Kate asked eagerly, bubbling with joy and enthusiasm. Was she on something questionable?

Johnny cast a side glance at me, silently asking what was up, and I shrugged; he nodded, grinning slightly, saying, "Yeah, sure. Knock yourself out."

Kate shrieked happily and ran to the door, grasping it by the diamond handle and proceeding to jerk. I thought it'd simply swing open, giving way to the darkness I knew always occupied tunnels, but it didn't. She jerked too hard, and so it swung back with enough force to hit her in the nose and knock her flat on her butt, the noise reverberating through the room like a strummed guitar string, vibrating, pulsating.

I, along with all the girls and even John-Boy, burst out laughing.

Johnny looked strangely down at her, offering his hand to help her up. "I didn't mean that in the literal sense, Kate," he announced, placing his arm around her waist to steady her.

Kate wobbled dizzily, acting as if she were drunk and leaning against Johnny, but I caught the fox sly smile she flashed him before allowing him to support all her weight. Awareness bubbled up, and I said, very carefully, "Get in the tunnel, Kate, and quit playing eye-hockey with Johnny."

Did I like Johnny? Yes, but not like that. Fang was my man. It just irked me that she was being all touchy-feel with Johnny while she had a boyfriend, though I had been doing the same thing earlier. Maybe I should start practicing what I preached.

"Whatever," she said and rolled her eyes, though she did disentangle herself from him and step into the tunnel, being swallowed whole by the utter black murkiness of it. I shivered; was I really going to endanger myself by going through a tunnel that was as black as a anything?

The answer, though however idiotic, was yes, I would. Just for my siblings, though. That was it.

"You comin' or what?" Kate called from the darkness, and I ushered everyone else in before me.

Last was Johnny and me, both looking at each other expectantly. "You're next," I said, still slightly unnerved by the complete blackness of the tunnel. The dark was like an actual thing, stretching its crazily evil fingers out and wrapping around me, pulling me under its influence and turning me over to the dark side.

Freaky.

But I had to live with it. Being attacked by the darkness was something I had bargained for when I asked my parents where kids had come from and they'd said Mom pooped them out.

And besides, it wasn't like I could tell anyone I was scared of the dark. That just wasn't right.

He flashed me a cheeky grin, identical to Fang's. "Ladies first."

I chewed on my lip, nodding, shoving my fear down into the lowest, smallest pore of my body and stepped into the opening, gasping as the infinite black closed around me and drug me in, its multiple fingers digging into my shoulder blades and ribs as it yanked at me relentlessly. I screamed, fighting back the urge to panic, and lashed out with my feet; my left foot connect with something hard, and was followed by a loud yelp I assumed was Maya.

"Ouch! Why'd you kick me?" she demanded.

"Why'd you scare me?" I countered, my heart beating so fast it was almost pounding from my chest.

"Good point," she said, and I inferred that the matter was dropped.

I turned back around to face Johnny with an expectant expression, only to find him still outside in the bright light, a grim look on his handsome face.

"You comin' or what?" I asked, false hope leaking into my tone.

"Max, I'm headin' to the upper levels to get Roland and Sam's gang, okay?" Johnny said, holding the door open, looking at me with pleading, dilated light blue eyes.

I sputtered, "I don't know how to navigate through these tunnels." Was he insane? He couldn't just leave me! With my luck, I'd get lost and raped by a mouse or something.

He chuckled. "It ain't that hard. Just take left every time, and in about five or so minutes of bookin' it, you'll wind up at the opening to the basement. You just go in and head straight for the back – that's where the cells are. I'll meet you back up here in fifteen minutes," he explained. "Cool?"

I wanted to tell him no, that this was not cool. That nothing about him leaving us was cool, that we needed him because leaving me in charge, right now, was disastrous – I had no idea where to go, and even then I didn't know how I'd get them out of the cell when I found them. I needed help. Actual help, and not just some sissy study lesson.

But I didn't say it for fear I'd let on that I wasn't as strong as I was making myself seem. Instead, I swallowed my fear and pushed myself to say, "Yeah, sure, whatever. Meet back here in fifteen, gotcha," I said, hoping I sounded convincing. "Oh, and just so you know, I'm keeping track of time right now, hillbilly. Better hurry!"

Johnny left me standing there alone, with the girls clustering thickly behind me, whispering silently amongst themselves, and he was laughing loudly the whole way out of the bathroom and into the main hall from which we'd come.

Jeez. Men. They think everything in life is funny.

PAGE BREAK

"Left!" I screamed over my shoulder behind me, letting the girls following closely at my heels know that there was a turn coming up and we needed to take a sharp left. Like we'd been doing for the passed five minutes.

We'd hit about five or so corners, turning left at each one like Johnny had said, and I knew we were getting close to the basement; I couldn't explain how, but I could feel it, in my body, in my heart. My parents had always said that my brother and sister and I had this weird sibling telepathy thing because we always knew when the other was hurt or sad or mad.

Right now, I have never believed more religiously in something than that as I did at the moment.

Maybe we did have telepathy powers. Or maybe I was just messed up in the head and needed something grounding to believe in so I didn't lose my balance and sever myself from the gently tether that kept me stationed on the ground. Wow.

"Max, we almost there? I can't take much more running," Kate called, breathlessly, from behind me. I winced; Kate was in shape, but not better than me, so I knew running was taking its toll on her terribly bad. But we couldn't stop, not yet, not when we were so close t rescuing them.

"I know," I hollered back, letting compassionate understanding leak into my tone. "But we can't stop. Just a little further, and then we'll be there –"

Fortunately, I was right when I'd said we were close. Unfortunately, I didn't know where the door would be, so instead of slowing to gently come on to it, I ran right smack-dab into the thing, knocking it down.

Pain eased from my nose, blood splattering everywhere, and I cried out loudly, pressing my hand against my gushing nostrils while I fell. Agony was making my already-bruised knees throb even harder, pain mounting and mounting till it crested a large hill and fell over, taking the hurt to a whole new level. Anguish was evident in my cries of torment as I fell, clattering on fractured wood, landing in a damp, dark room that smelled filthy, as if the air were clinging to all the horrible odor in the room.

Then it was all silent, like it was just before a tornado hit.

"Who's there?" a voice – familiar in the way it was yelled and toned – sliced through the air and dreamily pulled me to my feet.

"Ari?" I called back, hoping it was him, praying that it was him.

"Max!" came another voice – Ella, for sure.

Warmth flowed through my chest, and I followed their voices, running without restraint through the dimness, smiling as I heard the others fall into step behind me. I couldn't believe I'd found them, running blindly through tunnels and cutting corners defyingly, as if I didn't care about my own life. Adrenaline, pure, raw, and tortured, pulsated my veins, making me go impossibly faster than I already was.

"We're coming, guys!" I yelled back, my scream choked by the blood pooling in the back of my throat. "Just hang in there a few more minutes."

Thank goodness we found them. I was lost without my brother and sister; they were two of the most important people in my life, and I couldn't have bared to leave them here for our parents to find when they came back from Oklahoma City. I couldn't. The blood in my veins was there's, and blood relatives had to stick together, no matter what. It was a rule with us – where one went, we all three went.

Something large, looming, was manifesting from in front of me, and I slowed once I realized it was iron bars. Ari, Angel, Nudge, and Ella were on the other side of those bars, looking disheveled and bedraggled, as if they'd been awake for years. Their hair was messed up, sticking all over their heads, and their faces were filthy, testifying to the fact that they'd had one hell of a night.

And it wasn't over yet.

And then I was at the bars, embracing Ella through them, laughing while she cried into my shoulder, trying not to let any falling blood land on her hair. Ari was there, tugging at my hand and slipping his in mine, intertwining our fingers as he gasped loudly, out of breath from joy and total happiness. Nudge was hugging Ari's back, desperately clinging to him as if he were her lifeline, and all I could do was smile.

Then the others were beside me, sticking their arms through the bars and hugging the kids as they disbanded from me and flocked out, greeting each of us with a new smile and heartfelt tears. Angel was standing before me, and instantly I pressed up against the bars, clasping her in my arms through the bars. My hands were flying through her curly, snarled cornsilk hair, tugging at the knots, wincing as she did.

"I'm glad you came," she said breathlessly against my chest, and I nodded. "The keys are on the wall, by the way. I saw the cop hang them on a nail or something."

"Star –" I began.

"I got it, Max," she said, coming beside me to pat me on the back before feeling her way toward the wall. I smiled gratefully at her back before returning to Angel to hug her senseless again. God, but I'd missed her. I'd missed all of them. I was glad – amazingly, extraordinarily, insanely, beautifully, indescribably glad. It was like there had been a weight on my chest with their absence, and now that I had them back that weight was lifted, giving me room to breathe again.

It took Star a few minutes to find the keys, and when she did, she exclaimed powerfully, her voice rattling off the concrete walls.

I pulled free from Angel with a regretful smirk and accepted the keys when Star placed them in my palm. I giddily felt around for a lock, chirping with joy when I did, and stuck the key in, jiggling hard, cursing when it got stuck. I turned it the other way, and felt a rush of tears spring to my eyes when the doors opened.

I jerked the bars back and then stepped in to the cell, grinning widely.

"Nice of you to drop in, Max," Ari went on conversationally, as if we hadn't just been separated by rows of large iron bars. "I was almost getting worried. Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in the desert: you don't know if it's coming or not."

I stepped forward and embraced Ari in a tight, possibly crushing hug, pulling him to me and sucking in a hard breath when his arms went around me as well. "You know I'll always come. I can't ever leave you or Ella to fend for yourselves," I said against his shoulder, my voice muffled as I pressed my face in to the rough fabric of his shirt. "Besides, Mom and Dad would kill me if I even thought about coming home without you two."

"Course they would," he said, pulling away and allowing me to tug Nudge into a hug. She was crying, blubbering against my shoulder, shuddering while she talked about how scared she'd been.

"God, Max, I love you for this!" she whispered harshly in my ear, but despite the harshness I knew it was heartfelt.

I opened my mouth to express my gratitude toward what she'd said, but was cut off by Fang – coming out of nowhere like always – shouted, "Get up and get out! We have got to get the hell out!"

He came roaring up in front of the cell, gasping, grinning wickedly, with a small army of other people running behind him. In the congested crowd, I saw Johnny, with a pack of followers whom I deducted was Sam and Roland's gang. They were all safe, and together again. Finally.

"Max," Fang said in a warning tone. "I don't mean we can go tomorrow, or the day after that. I mean right now. That toilet ain't gonna hold them for long!"

Then it all sunk in – we were on the run, again, as if we were jut flirting with the idea of getting captured. I grabbed Nudge by the hand and darted out from the cell, immediately shoving into overdrive as I thundered through the basement. I had no idea where I was going, only that we had to get out.

And we had to get out now. So sweet, that they gave us enough time to catch up. I heard distant screams and knew that they were close, and poured on the speed.

Running, right now, was everything. If you weren't fast, you were a goner. That was how it was. That was the way the world worked. To live – to be free – you had to be fast. Simple as that.

Haha, part two is next my lovely little birdies! Oh, and I do love Larry the Cable Guy, just so none of you thought I was making fun of him. He's pretty funny...

~ SoonerMagic