it appears as though i inadvertently lied last chapter :P i came up with a way to keep the story goin' in (hopefully) an interesting direction. so yay.

oh, and sometime in the past couple chapters, we hit 100,000 words. i only noticed that today. hooray for us!

disclaimer: don't own maximum ride.

26. the game's afoot

The man with the mustache is gone. He storms out of the hotel with tears in his eyes and steam practically coming out of his ears. He won't ever recover from this encounter. No, his heart has been broken, and the heart is one of the hardest things to fix.

And there she is, upstairs, laughing it off with her friends like it's nothing. Acting like her life has only ever been full of sunshine and rainbows and laughter. And yet in this past week alone, she's damaged her father irrevocably, angered a childhood friend perhaps past the point of no return, and caused another young man an aching combination of worry, disappointment, and envy.

She laughs again, her golden-brown eyes crinkling as her lips turn up in a smile. She flicks her head to banish the blond bangs from her vision, and the light streaming in from the window catches the motion, sending little glints of sun rippling through her hair.

And the wanting begins anew.

He opened his eyes. Above him was sky; clear, incredibly blue sky, dotted here and there with cottony swabs of cloud. The sun was somewhere out of his line of sight, but he could still feel it-warm, and comfortable. There was no wind, nothing to give him a chill. It was the kind of day where young couples or happy families would go out to have a picnic, take a million pictures, and make memories that would last a lifetime.

It all made him sick. It was just so dull.

Because all he'd ever wanted wasn't there. She was off in Miami, with those kids. Yesterday she'd been in Norway, and all day she'd been goofing around and toying with that stupid black-haired bastard. It had made him angry to learn that, but when he saw that she hit him when he tried to kiss her, it made him feel better.

She didn't hit the silver boy, though. She always looked so happy when she was with him. He wondered idly how long it would be until she broke that boy's heart, too. Not that it interested him, really-Silver would just be another bump on the road for her, just like Blackbird. She'd move on to another person to destroy. Because she was just the damndest little heartbreaker.

Boy, girl, child, adult. Human, hybrid. Family, friend, enemy. It didn't matter. She cradled their hearts in her hands ever so gently, then whipped around and shattered them on the rocks. It was astounding to witness, actually. Watching her toy around and manipulate every person she met. She was the kind of girl your mother warned you about. If you even had a mother, that is. Which he didn't.

But she was just so interesting. It was irresistable, he just couldn't put his finger on it. She didn't seem to regret anything she did, even if others became angry, or sad, or hurt. She never gave up fighting, she always found a way to escape, and she just. . .she just wouldn't stop living. It was no wonder the scientists had told him about her. He used to get so bored with everything. School, jobs, training. Girls. Guys. "Friends." "Enemies." To the scientists' dismay, he never gave any reaction to anything. Not even excruciating pain. Nothing ever interested him.

Until Spark.

They said she had the power to destroy the world, if she wanted. They said she was their greatest weapon, when she cooperated.

But that wasn't what had attracted him to her.

He'd read and reread her files like they were the Bible, memorizing every single fact, every minor detail. He'd flipped through her pictures countless times, obsessing over her eyes, her smile. Listening to recordings of her voice had been the very first times he'd smiled and laughed against his own volition. He'd asked again and again to go see her, but they'd kept saying it wasn't time.

London was supposed to be the time. After the conference, they would've let her live, at least long enough for him to meet her. He just wanted to meet her once, so he could figure out what went on in that pretty little head of hers.

And they'd gone and fucking lost her.

When the freaks first started goofing off in the conference, he'd had no doubt that Spark was the mastermind. In fact, he'd been anticipating what she would do. She always found a way to make him laugh.

But then the idiots "in charge" of her had gone and let her fly away. How stupid could they get?

And then, of course, Itex had to pretend to declare bankruptcy to save face, and what was left of the company had been bought out by some other hotshot who seemed to live by the phrase, "out with the old, in with the new." All the old guys were fired, and all previous experiments had to be terminated, and everything had to start over fresh.

He was one of maybe two or three who got to stay. And for the first time, he'd been given a job he actually wanted to do.

He got to go after Spark.

Technically, he was supposed to find her and kill her, but he guessed he could take his time on that. Stevens let him get away with anything, and of course he needed to meet Spark first. Get to know her. Play with her. Figure out what made her tick. Then he'd blow her brains out.

And it'd be fun, too. He'd play cat and mouse. Chase her around. Make her run. Reel her in, throw her back. Whatever it took, however long it took, until he was completely satisfied. Hm. Maybe he'd catch up with the blackbird boy, and the silver one, too. Throw them into the mix, both at the same time, and watch for Spark's reaction.

He sat up, a small smile gracing his usually motionless lips.

Miami's a little far, he thought, but not too far. I can get there, catch her plane. What was it she said? Three days until she meets with the silver boy? I can wait 'till then. And it'll give me time to find the jerk she scared off yesterday.

He let out a small chuckle. Won't be long now, Spark, my sweet.

If Spark was the girl mothers warned their sons about, then Leander was the boy fathers warned their daughters about.

He would not stop until he managed to drive her insane.

i have a new vill-ain, i have a new vill-ain! i was kinda blankin' on this for a while, 'cuz i had the anti-flock leave and didn't know what to do next :/ but now i have leander, so it's all good.

unless this just seems like a desperate attempt to keep this story breathing. hope that isn't the case. . .but if it is, please tell me.