Ya I know you hate me for taking so long… but here we go!! Nice and long chappie!!
Chapter 25
(Sorrow's POV)
As I lay in my big brother's arms I dreamed, or rather, I had nightmares, Erasers, Flyboys, Whitecoats…. They haunted me behind my eyelids. Whenever he rubbed my back it was like he was fighting the beasts away from my soul. I was restless. Trying to move away from them, but the gentle hum of his voice and my sister's voice lulled me into happier dreams.
I was woken up, I remember, but I couldn't remember in detail. The world and the words were all fuzzy. I drifted in and out of consciousness. I do remember Fang laying me on the bed and me gripping his shirt, and when he tried to pry my fingers loose I mumbled, "No, please, I don't want the nightmares to come back…" My eyes fluttered in the darkness when I sensed his stillness.
I saw him smile in the dark, "Don't worry, I'll be right downstairs, I'll be up here in a heartbeat if anything happens." He promised and kissed my forehead, "Go to sleep," He whispered and I was already drifting off into dream land.
(Shadow's POV)
We all sat at the kitchen table as Fang brought Sorrow upstairs. Ms. Deval… or Elizabeth… or Mom… or something… was having a little talk with Mrs. Martinez in the corner, they were both whispering, and giggling, like two little school girls.
Wyatt was leaning back in a chair and talking quietly to Iggy who was nodding and looking like he was really deeply involved with the conversation. I smiled at him from across the table. He smiled at me around my father and I could tell he was asking me to come over there with his eyes. I got up and came around the table. I placed myself in his lap and Wyatt gave me half-cautionary look. I guess he figured Fang would do enough cautioning for the both of my parents.
"But you get what I'm saying right? Upper grade sciences are too messed up, because you have no room to do all three sciences if you really want…." Wyatt said as if I hadn't just dropped into the lap of the person he was having the conversation with.
"Ya, I know I wanted to do Bio, Chem., and Physics, and maybe psychology next year, because I passed this grade's science standards so they are thinking about putting me in the next grade up, and it's totally stupid because I can't do all them, because I still got to take P.E…." Iggy said and I smiled, I should have known this would have had something to do with science.
Fang descended the stairs then and gave me a look, "Shadow, there are more than enough chairs, it would be wrong to put a strain on one chair… maybe you should move over one." Fang hinted sitting beside Max while giving me an almost evil eye. I sighed and slid into the chair next to Iggy. Iggy sniggered and shook his head.
"So, what's the plan?" Iggy said turning to face all of us, "Because you just know everybody's going to freaking out tomorrow… which means the while world is going to come down on all of us." Iggy said speaking his mind like that again. I sighed, just another reason why I loved him.
"I think we got to move again…" Max said looking like she'd rather do anything else.
The flock groaned, "Max, no one wants to move states again…" Fang whined.
"What else can we do Mr. Broken-Wings?" Max asked losing her patients with Fang for once. He smiled at her and she gave him a look.
"Fang, come on, you think they are going to let us go back to school?" I said with a grim facial expression. He just watched me for a second before he looked at the table and sat back, defeated.
Nudge sighed, "To the next state over then…"
"We can't go to DC…" Gazzy put in, as he stared at the table.
Fang froze in his seat, "Erasers," was all he had to say. We were all up and in action in a second. There was crashing in a second. I flipped on the CD player. I grinned, "Country Music. Gotta love it," I said with a grin.
Fang rolled his eyes at me. A scream made Fang freeze. The two of us were out of the room in a millisecond. We both bolted up the stairs. We ran into Fang's room and Sorrow was no where to be seen, but the Erasers were clawing at the bottom edges of the bed.
I realized Sorrow had gotten under the bed so they couldn't get him. Fang pounced on one of them and I started taking the energy from the room. I grabbed an Eraser and drained him so much he only had the strength to walk away. I did this to the rest of them and the ones fighting Fang bolted from the room. Sorrow rolled out and hugged me.
"Come on," I said and took his little hand. We ran downstairs and I picked him up as I jumped over the railing.
When we landed he steadied himself and said, "Don't do that again…."
Fang grinned at me and ran into the other room. Ms. Deval and Wyatt looked really worried and confused. "Here, have a little Sorrow." I said pushing Sorrow at them. Wyatt rolled his eyes as I ran into the other room.
(Fang's POV)
I fought hard, one of them threw me at the wall and I slammed against it, I swore loudly as my back exploded in pain. I growled and realized I kind of blew through the wall a little bit. I grabbed him and threw him at the wall, he grabbed me and we both went flying through it into the kitchen.
"Fire in the hole!" Iggy yelled.
"Iggy!" we all screamed as he threw a bomb at the Eraser pinning me to the floor.
"Christ!" I shouted and we rolled out of the way.
"No bombs in the house nimrod!" Max screamed at him. "No swearing Fang!" She yelled and punched an Eraser in the mouth.
I pushed the Eraser off me. Shadow danced over to us and put him in an easy headlock and started to drain his energy.
I went back to fighting and we were fighting okay, until I felt the barrel of a gun pressed against my right temple. Oh fuck, I thought in annoyance.
"Freeze," An Eraser's voice growled.
I looked at Shadow I moved my eyed up twice, and then side to side twice. That was a code for an attack we worked out for this exact situation.
Seriously, what else is there to do in a cage if not work out plans for escape and such?
She looked up and slinked into the shadows and disappeared. My mother watched me with horrified eyes. I ignored her.
"Come on all you, we're going back to were you belong," He growled.
I recognized that voice, "Out of curiosity, are you the hospital Eraser?"
He chuckled, "Good ears bird boy."
I smirked, "I know better ones," I said glancing at Iggy. He smiled and he was obviously having a hard time focusing on the Eraser instead of Shadow.
I knew she'd be reappearing behind him right now. She wouldn't touch him but she'd start to drain him with her fingers just skimming the surface of his clothes.
I could feel him getting weaker. I moved so fast to him, because he was nearly drained and his reactions were slower. I pushed the gun away from my face like lighten. He shot but his bullet hit the floor and I threw him over my shoulder. I snatched his gun away and ran for it.
I glanced back at Shadow. She was right behind me. The Eraser got up and ran after us. We ran onto the back porch. He pulled out another gun but we had already jumped over the railing and fell to the ground in a crouch. He emptied the gun on the porch and we ran into the yard and I started taking apart the gun. I threw different pieces at different parts of the yard. He had slowed to a walk now and Shadow walked over and patted his shoulder, every pat draining him more. "Go home freak," and continued to walk towards the house. He opened his wing and flew, sloppily, away.
"I told you that plan would work," I said sticking my tongue out at her.
She scowled at me; she shook her head, and said "I need to release the energy. I can't focus with all this in me." She lay down on the couch.
I grabbed her hand as I walked past. I felt weirdly more alive as I did so. I smiled, "It's better than caffeine." I commented and she laughed. I did a back flip right there and then and did another as I moved I turned mid air and did a ordinary flip.
Gazzy, Angel and Nudge got curious and started touching her to see what happened. They giggled at the reaction. Max grabbed her hand and grinned. She suddenly ran and did a cartwheel and a back flip. "Hey, it is like caffeine…." She muttered.
Sorrow ran over to me and I hugged him as I picked him up. "You need to learn to fly soon," I commented to him.
"I'll teach him!" Nudge said jumping up. "I'll teach him right now!" She said with a grin. She grabbed his hand, full of energy. The two ran outside. I followed them. Shadow jumped off the couch and ran over to them. She took Sorrow's hand and he jumped, I gave her a confused look.
"It's so he has the energy, nitwit." She said sticking her tongue out at me.
"You're just like a little battery aren't you," I said with a grin and ruffling her hair. She rolled her eyes at me.
Nudge opened her wings and flapped them as an example. Sorrow did the same. We all sat in front of the busted up porch. We let the parents talk. We had the CD player going and were basically having dance off, but it was mostly between Angel, Gazzy and Shadow, because the rest of us were too chicken to dance.
I glanced at Iggy and he motioned me over. He whispered in my ear, "You want to dance?" He asked me with a grin. I raised an eyebrow at him in surprise. He motioned me over again. He whispered the plan in my ear.
So we got up and did the Macarena to some rock song I'd never heard before. The rest of the flock joined in and Nudge and Sorrow glanced at us and shook their heads. I caught sight of the two of them running and Nudge burst into the sky. Sorrow was right behind her. We stopped to stare. Sorrow flew kind of awkwardly, but he could do it just fine.
We started cheering him on and he grinned. Nudge helped show him a few things and I could see how happy he was. I glanced at the porch, my mother and father were there smiling at their flying son. Pride was in their eyes.
I looked back at him and was itching to go flying. I could live without flying for three days, seeing as that's how long it should take for my wings to heal.
I casually walked up onto the porch and stood beside my mother, my arms leaning on the half broken railing. She glanced at me, "What was your first time in the air like?"
I was silent for a moment, thinking back to the time where I felt Jeb was truly someone sent from freaking God. He had been everything to us, and in an instant he took that all away.
"It was better than anything I'd ever experienced," I paused to smile, "But then again, my life wasn't anything good till then. Before that I spent most of my time in my room reading or whatever. I didn't talk to the rest of them till months after I arrived at the house in Colorado, but you have to understand. The only friend I ever had was Shadow and Jeb took me away from her.
"It was a while before I started talking to the others. Jeb taught me to fly, it was one of the first things I'd ever done with other people. Plus the feeling of being weightless and free was something I'd never experienced. In the first moments it was the first time I actually stopped thinking about Shadow and actually lived." I said as I thought back.
When I looked back at them they were staring at me, "What?" I said innocently.
Wyatt shook his head, "Crappy life that's all…."
I shrugged, "It's still a life. You learn to appreciate the tiny moments in life when you live like this. You learn to love moments like this one." I said watching Sorrow fly.
He suddenly shouted over to me, "Did ya see that Fang? Did ya? Did ya see?"
Truth was I missed it so I smiled and said, "I don't know, maybe you should do it again just in case."
"Okay, okay watch me. Are you watching?" He asked with a grin.
"Ya, I'm watching Sorrow, I'm watchin'," I said and he and Nudge flew up high and dived, they pulled up again their feet just skimming the grass. They both circled overhead like hawks and I smiled.
"Cool Sorrow, great job, but you got to tilt your left wing more, there ya go." I looked back at my parents, "What was I saying?"
"You appreciate life," Wyatt summarized.
I nodded, "Exactly. You know, the glass is half full… crap like that." I looked up as the last remains of the sun broke through the light clouds. I smiled softly as its rays warmed my skin.
I stood there for a moment basking in the warmth; I felt something growing in my bones. That sure ain't the work of Vitamin D… I thought before pain exploded everywhere.
I screamed as I seemed to leave the present world and crumpled to the ground. I could feel all the presences in the area and my mind seemed to search feverously for an escape, a way to release.
"Max!" I screamed. My hands were searching for hers. The pain was excruciating, I could feel it under my nails. My hair was in pain! Everything hurt. I felt her cool skin and the pain left my fingertips.
I could hear Sorrow freaking out and the flock working.
A stream of swear words made their way to my lips and I screamed, "Call Jeb!"
I heard movement but I was lost in the pain. I was losing my sanity; it was being blown away with the wind as the pain rolled through me.
(Max's POV)
I ran to the phone and dialed so nervously I screwed up three times before I got it right. When I got him he sounded confused. He started to ask why I was calling when I shouted into the phone, "I don't give a damn Jeb; get your ass over here!"
"Whoa, Max, what's wrong?" He said sounded worried, I usually didn't swear.
"You wanna know what's wrong? This is what's wrong," I said and right on queue Fang screamed in agony, it shattered my heart to hear.
"Oh crap, I'll be right there," he said and hung up.
I ran back over to Fang. He was in the fetal position and everyone was crowding around him. Sorrow was looking at all us with an upset and agitated look. I guess our worry was hurting him. "Fang, hold on okay, he's coming," I said through clenched teeth. I hated having to resort to calling Jeb for help, but seeing him in such agony… I couldn't just let him get through this without help.
His breathing was ragged and pained, "Max, it's cold, too cold," he shivered and I saw him shaking.
"We got to get him inside," I said and the rest helped me carry him to the couch. I took his hand and I was surprised to feel that they were like ice.
"Something is wrong…." I whispered, "I mean other then what is obviously wrong." I rolled my eyes because the flock had just given me a 'duh' look.
"What's going on?" Wyatt asked with a confused face.
Shadow began to explain about Fang and how he feels the pain of the world and that this sometimes just happens. Jeb arrived a few minutes later and only glanced at Wyatt once, who was leaning against the wall with a worried look, before starting to work.
He took Fang's temperature, his heart rate, and a bunch of there stuff. Fang's breathing was off, pained.
"Fang, can you hear me?" He asked Fang gently.
His eyes open and glare at the man before him, "Unfortunately." Fang probably hated this more then me, which was understandable.
"Can you tell me what hurts the most?"
Fang was silent for a while. "My soul," he said so quietly I was sure I heard wrong. His face contorted in pain and he screamed with his back arching.
One of Jeb's eyebrows lifted in confusion, but he had no time to ask anything because a voice was coming out of Fang's mouth that wasn't his.