Shadows of the Flock-Chapter 29

By MyNameIsCAL

I'm sitting at the side of the room, waiting for this machine to finish taking blood from me for Fang. Mom has her back to me and she's hunched over Fang who was shirtless. He wouldn't let her knock him out, so every once in a while, he'd grunt in pain. The machine seemed to finish and Mom came over, taking the blood.

"Alright…I'll hook you up to this at home, Fang. Let's get out of here," Mom said.

I grabbed Fang by the arm and led him out the door, following Mom. He had bandages going from his shoulder and then across to the other side of his chest. It was wrapped much better than I had done before in the alleyway. Fang had his shirt in hand, which was ripped and bloodied. He hadn't bothered to put it back on, especially now that the bandages prevented him from moving one of his arms.

"It's cold out here," he commented. I had a feeling he was only saying that so he wouldn't pass out.

"It is," I replied, unsure of what to say.

We got into the car. Fang slouched against me. "How far is home?"

"Ten minutes," I answered.


After getting Fang hooked up to the IV, we got some food into him.

"I'm not hungry," he said as I sat down on the edge of his bed with a tray of food.

"You have to eat. And then you can sleep, I promise," I told him.

I expected him to only take a few bites, but he managed to finish half of what was on the plate before slouching back into the bed. If I were Fang, I probably would have been dead a long time ago.


The dark has always been a good place to think. There are no distractions except yourself and your thoughts, which are really the ones you make for yourself. Most of the time, in the dark, I think about Fang and me and what was going to happen to us. Both of us had almost been killed today, even though that seemed lifetimes ago, Itex was still after us.

Fang's light snores fill the room. Somehow that makes the darkness feel peaceful. His hand was loosely in mine. He had fallen asleep hours ago, but I still lay awake, exhausted, but unable to sleep. Every now and then he would mutter something, but I could never understand what he was saying. I wondered if I should wake him up, but then whenever I decided I would, he stopped.


I woke up around ten the next morning. Fang was still sleeping. Maybe it was my imagination, but it looked like he was giving a pained expression. I got out of bed and pulled the blankets over Fang again. He muttered and turned his head before going back to snoring.

The kitchen seemed like a logical place to go. Ella was there, sitting at the table. I thought she should be at school, but then I realized it was Saturday. Mom still had work, which explained why she was nowhere in sight.

"How is Fang?" Ella yawned.

"Sleeping." I shuffled to the fridge.

Iggy appeared next to me. He stood there, not saying anything, so I didn't say anything back as I opened the fridge to find some milk.

"And how are you?" Ella added.

"Fine," I muttered.

Iggy frowned. He knew I was lying, but he says something unrelated to me. "I think I liked being blind, now that I think about it."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Things were…Simpler," he pondered. "Although it is nice to see what you all look like."

I wondered if he was just referring to Ella. Speaking of Ella, I never had a chance to talk to her about Iggy. For the most part, she was doing better than me. She's held up over the past few months. Fang and I seemed to be falling apart wherever we went.

"Have you seen the others?" I said into the fridge. Then I remembered I had asked him that before.

"No. Someday. After you and Fang defeat Itex. I don't know, Max." I watch him walk over to Ella. "Goodbye, Max. For now. Enjoy your time home."

He was gone. Sometimes it hurt to see him disappear.

"Max?" Ella had been calling my name for the past minute.

"Yes?" I answered quietly.

She looked at me uneasily. "What were you looking at?"

I figured I should admit the truth. "Iggy."

Ella looked concerned for a moment. "Iggy?"

"I used to have this voice that told me what to do. But somehow it changed to Iggy," I told her.

And because she's my sister, she just nods and doesn't ask for more explanation.


"MAX! MAX!"

Ella and I bolt up from our seats and rush to Fang's bedroom.

"What's wrong, Fang?" I asked as I sat down on the edge of the bed next to him.

He looked up at me, and then to Ella. After a moment, he doesn't look frightened anymore. Now I understand. Fang woke up and forgot where he was and didn't realize I had only disappeared downstairs. Now he looks ashamed. Ella started to leave, my he motioned her back in.

"Mom isn't home?" The question isn't directed to me, it's to Ella.

She shook her head.

"Then there's no reason for you to be alone," Fang explained.

Ella looked at me and I nodded. I knew Fang had always intimidated her. It was just that I was used to Fang. She took a seat on the computer chair and waited for someone to speak.

"How are you feeling?" I finally asked as I moved back to my side of the bed to sit on.

Fang lay back down. "Tired."

He didn't want to admit he was in pain. While Fang's face didn't show he was lying, his eyes gave him away. Usually, they didn't, but I guess after you go through so much, you can't hid everything.

"Are you hungry?" Ella suddenly asked. "I haven't eaten anything yet. I can make food."

Fang closed his eyes, leaving me to answer.

"Yes, that would be nice," I nodded, encouragingly.

Ella smiled and disappeared. I lay down next to Fang and his head found my shoulder.


I'm not really sure where I want to go with this story here, if you haven't already figured out. But I think I might work on some endings soon. Next update should be on Monday. Thanks for reading and thanks for your reviews.