Happy holidays!

Chapter 24

I started punching my fists like a madwoman and kicking the Erasers whenever and wherever possible. "Fang, help me!" I was sweating and my lungs felt like they were about to collapse.

Regaining my breath, I kicked one of the Erasers across the room. Wow, I must be getting stronger. Nice move, Angel! I dodged another punch. Focus, Angel.

"FANG, help me! I can't keep fending these Erasers off!" Fang said nothing as I groaned angrily. An Eraser threw me to the ground. I swear, after all of this was over, I was going to kill Fang!

I looked at the floor and noticed a tiny needle. Why a needle was in an Eraser's townhouse, I had no idea, but hey, I was glad!

I got myself off of the floor and stabbed and Eraser with the needle in the eye. I dug it down as far as it could go. That distracted the Eraser and gave me time to fight the other one. By time, I mean about a few seconds.

An Eraser hit me in the head. The pain started to make me dizzy. I gave one last effort to punch the Eraser, but I missed and fell to the floor. Not very strong now, are we?

I tried to get myself up, but I was too weak as though I was about to pass out. The two Erasers crowded me. Would you like to do the honors? The Eraser pinned me to the floor and showed his fangs. This is the end!I'm history! I thought to myself. I was in a panic. I was going to die. Die!

"Get off of her you ugly beast!" It was Jeffery. He came just in time. "You, get off of my girlfriend! Now!" Well well well, look what the wind dragged in!

Jeffery charged up to the Eraser that was holding me to the floor and threw him off of me. "Jeffery!" I gave him a quick hug. "Hey, sweetie sorry I took so long." Was he kidding? He saved me! "You came just in time!"

"What happened to Nudge?" Iggy asked. Iggy, Emily, and Gazzy crowded around Nudge and Fang.

"Stop, we have to keep fighting! Fang is with Nudge, he's making sure that she's okay. We have to fight!" I exclaimed. "No, I can handle this. Everyone get out of here. Get Nudge to a hospital. I'll stay and fight, then join you all later." Jeffery called. Was he trying to play hero to impress me, or did he really care that much about all of us. Or, did he think that he was invincible?

"No! Are you crazy? You're just a normal human. These are Erasers!" Jeffery punched an Eraser in the mouth. "I know. Just go, I'm fine. I have a black belt in karate."

"Nudge isn't breathing!" Iggy panicked. "She's not breathing!" An Eraser charged for Iggy, but Jeffery wrestled him to the floor. "Take- her to- the hospital!" Jeffery managed. "Go! If there's any chance of saving her, this is it. You have to go now."

Fang carried Nudge and started to the door. An Eraser charged up to me, but I kicked him to the floor. I was still feeling weak and I didn't think that I could last much longer.

"I'll go with Fang and Nudge, you know to make sure that they'll be okay." Gazzy said. "I'm going with him, then." Emily replied."You want to come, Angel?" I shook my head.

"Fine. I'll stay with Jeffery and Angel, okay? Now go! Hurry." Iggy hit an Eraser in the stomach, causing it to fall to the floor.

"So, Angel, how are you?" Jeffery asked nonchalantly. "I'm fighting for my life and you're asking me how I am?" I kicked an Eraser in the face as hard as I could.

"Say, Angel, where's Max?" Iggy looked at me. "Yeah, I was kinda wondering that, too." I punched an Eraser and he punched me in the head. Again, I felt dizzy and faint.

"She just ran off and I don't think that it was to get help. She's supposed to be our leader. Humph, some leader Max is." Iggy and Jeffery nodded in agreement. "When I was little, I used to always look up to her because, well, she was someone that I could look up to. Back then, she always got us through everything. She was my hero. Now, I'm not so sure." I punched an Eraser in the mouth as hard as I could, taking out one of his teeth.

"She used to keep our Flock together, now she destroyed it." Iggy said solemnly with a trace of anger in his voice. "Wait a minute, are you sure that she and she alone destroyed the Flock?" Jeffery asked. Iggy thought for a second. "I'm positive."

Iggy kicked and Eraser until he fell the floor and continued kicking him in the face. "I mean, think about it! Max left for college. Did she ever answer our calls or even call back? No. Did she even write or e-mail? No! Did she ever support us financially of emotionally? NO!" Iggy kicked the Eraser harder and harder.

"Uh, Iggy, I think the Eraser's dead." Iggy shrugged and kept on kicking it. "Angel, remember that time when Nudge went through her weird phase?"

"Which one?" I asked as I hit the remaining Eraser in the face. "It doesn't matter. Fang and I started our shop and she never came to see it. We came to visit you all every weekend. Max came once a year during Christmas, when possible. She was too busy making her millions with her lawsuit and her work to care about us." Iggy kicked the Eraser so hard, his head fell off.

"Eww! IGGY stop kicking him, he's dead! He's DEAD!" Iggy kicked the dead Eraser across the room. NOOOOOO! You killed Jamal! I'll get you, Iggy! Curse you! The other Eraser lunged at Iggy, but Jeffery blocked him with a really awesome move that looked like it came from a Jackie Chan movie.

"Then, Nudge started a minimum wage job when she turned 16. But, when Nudge headed off to college, she couldn't work anymore, and all of our profits from our store went to paying for Nudge's living expenses and supporting Angel and Gazzy. Thank goodness Nudge got a scholarship, or we would've gone broke. For the first year after she left, Gazzy wasn't old enough to work so it was really tough. Did Max help, even though she was starting to get well off? No. Never! Did she contribute a penny of her money to help us out?"

"Calm down!" I punched the Eraser in the face while Jeffery head-butted him from the back. "I can't be calm!"

The Eraser fell to the floor. "Is he dead?" I asked. Jeffery kneeled next to him. "I don't think so. But he's suffered enough. I think that we should go." Iggy shook his head. "He needs to die!" I tried to get him to follow us, but he wouldn't. "Iggy, we're leaving now."

Jeffery and I headed out of the townhouse, but Iggy still wouldn't follow us. "Iggy, come on, let's go. Iggy? IGGY!" Iggy trudged out the door, shaking with rage.

"I never realized how much I hated Max!" Iggy exclaimed. "You know, she has her faults, but still…" Jeffery started.

"Don't defend her!" Iggy screamed. "Don't yell at Jeffery!" I paused. "Iggy, when we meet up with Max again we can talk this out, okay? Now please, calm down. You'll give yourself a heart attack. One hospitalized person is enough."

I took out my phone and called Nudge's phone. It was Gazzy who answered. "Hello, Angel? Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine. We're all fine. Where are you all?" I asked. "St. Diego's Medical Research, Rehabilitation, and Emergency Centre. It's a couple of blocks down from the townhouse. Just get out of the neighborhood, make a left turn and keep going for um… what was it? Five blocks. Then make another left and continue for another two blocks. The hospital is on the right. You can't miss it. It's a big green building, green as in Nudge's hair green. Nudge..." I could hear that Gazzy was crying. "But still..." He continued.

I heard Jeffery scream something at Iggy. "Shut up!" I screamed. "Angel?" Gazzy asked. "No, not you, just the two boys over there. We'll be there as soon as possible. Is Nudge okay?"

"Fine at the moment. The doctors were able to revive her. However, she's in much pain and the doctors are still doing tests on her." Gazzy said. "Um listen, I have to go. Please come, okay. Also, if you hear from Max, you know…" Gazzy hung up.

"Alright, let's get going." I turned around to face Jeffery and Iggy. "Don't make me hit you, I will hit!" Iggy screamed. "Ooh, I'm so scared." I ran over and put my hands on Jeffery and Iggy's head. "Stop it or I'll jam your heads together!"

"There, now we can behave like mature people and go to the hospital." Iggy glared at Jeffery. "I'll be sent to the hospital if I have to keep looking at his ugly face!"

"That's enough Iggy!" I screamed. I was already edgy and I didn't need some stupid disagreement to make it worse.

We left the neighborhood. "Let's see, turn left…" I thought outloud. "Angel, I don't agree with your choice of guys. What do you see in him? His clothes are torn and he has face carved by Satin himself!" Jeffery brushed some dirt off of his clothes. "For your information, this dirt came from saving your ass!" Iggy laughed sarcastically.

"You idiot! I swear I'll kill you. I will murder you!" Jeffery screamed. Jeffery was usually pretty easygoing, he didn't seem at all like a violent or angry person. What had gotten into him? I had to stop them from fighting. "I swear, if you don't shut up and start acting like men, I'll kill you both!"

That stopped them. "We're almost there. Just a few more blocks."

I turned around and noticed Iggy and Jeffery shoving each other like four-year-olds. "Jeffery!" I screamed. "I can't deal with him!" I let out an impatient groan.

"Jeffery, can't you just deal with him for ten more minutes? Please sweety! It would mean the world to me." This had to work. "Please," I continued, "Just apologize. It iwll make me feel so much better." Jeffery nodded. "For you, Angel." Jeffery took a deep breath and turned to Iggy. "I'm sorry, Iggy."

"You're sorry for what specifically? Go on; say everything that you're sorry about." He prodded. "Iggy, don't push it." I warned. "Fine! I accept your apology." We headed to a dark patch of the sidewalk and I had to use my cell phone to light the way. "Gee, haven't they ever heard of streetlights?"

We finally made it to the hospital. "Hello there, what can I do for you?" The lady sitting at the entrance desk asked.

"Nudge. Nudge Ride. Emergency room. I need to see her." I said. "I'm sorry, visiting hours have passed." The lady said. "Come again tomorrow at eight."

"She's my sister! She has special pills that she has to take. I have to give them to her!" I cried. "Are the nurses aware of this?"

"No, I have to go to her!" The lady stood up. "Very well than. Room 656 follow me. I'll alert the doctors of this medication."

"You idiot! How could you lie about pills? These are doctors. They'll find out that you're lying!" Iggy whispered. "It was all that I could think of."

"Room 656." The lady said.