Strangers- A Maximum Ride Story
by: stripedpolkadots
Chapter 29: It All Falls Apart: Part 3
David's jaw dropped. Jeremiah was standing in the doorway, a curious expression on his face, toes wiggling in the carpet. Timmy gave a low moan. David figured it had something to do with the grey wings hanging limply from Jer's destroyed shirt. David's destroyed shirt.
Jer took two steps forward, running his fingers over the things he passed.
"If Nudge asks, I didn't bleed on her. I have the feeling she's gonna be pissed. Oh yeah- where are we?"
An odd sound came from Tim, a sound similar to a baby penguin. "Ehhh…euugghhhh…"
Jer looked at Tim- towards Tim? Jer looked in Tim's direction, eyebrow raised. "You okay there buddy? You sound like you just ate Max's cooking."
Simultaneously, David and Tim cringed, and Jer's eyes scrunched together. "Am I missing something here? Fang?"
David opened his mouth, then closed it. The last two times he'd tried to ask questions, he'd had his mind taken over, and then he'd nearly been choked to death. Tim obviously felt the same, he too was silent.
Jer's eyes were narrowed; he breathed in slightly, David saw his nostrils flutter. "Angel?"
Christina moaned, and Timmy jumped. Jer took the steps necessary to reach the bed, then stood above Christina. Tim didn't try to stop him, he remained transfixed by the wings.
"What's up with her? And Nudge too, beeteedubs. Where's Max?"
=== 1+4+8 ===
I crouch into a defensive position, backing away quickly from the bank of computers. The voice speaks again, it's lilting and old, I hear an accent.
"Maximum, listen to me." I frown- in the back of my head, the voice registers as familiar, but I don't know why.
He says my name again, and my feathers bristle in agitation. The motion makes me want to hiss in pain, but I grit my teeth instead.
"Who are you? Where am I? WHAT'S GOING ON?"
"That's not important right now." He doesn't even let me interrupt. "If you don't slow down soon, your lungs will collapse, your heart will give out, your brain will implode, and you will die. Control it Maximum!"
Normally I refuse to be bossed around, but something in his voice leads me to believe he's not joking.
"W-What? Wha-how? How come I can understand you? Why am I going so fast? Wha-"
He cuts me off. "Maximum! Time is running out!"
I take a deep breath. Then another one. I don't feel any different, if anything, I feel like maybe I'm speeding up.
"Maximum!"
I ignore him, take another deep breath. It's not working. "It's not working!"
"Calm your mind- think of something that calms you down Maximum, you don't have much time."
I instinctively flare my wings, then regret it when pain shoots up my back. I ignore it, trying to think of something happy. Anything happy.
"Oh my God, what are you doing?"
"I was just trying to help you out-"
"By cooking? Get out Max!"
"Oh, is that what I get by trying to be a nice big sister?"
"OUT! Psychotic killer-of-food gonna poison us all can't believe she'd-"
"I can HEAR you Iggy!"
"You're not allowed in the kitchen! OUT!"
123
"Max, can we get ice cream?"
"We just got ice cream yesterday."
"Oh…so… no?"
"No."
"Even if I make someone get it for us?"
"NO!"
"Oh…okay. Even if Total's really hungry?"
"NO-O-O."
"Pleeeaaase?"
"I'm assuming you're doing the Bambi eye Angel. I'm not looking."
"Plleeeeeeaaassssseeeee?"
"….Fine."
123
"No but then I said WHAT? And then she said yes so I tried them on and you know what they actually looked pretty cute even though they were like a bajillion dollars but I think I saw Rihanna wearing some or was that Selena Gomez? Anyways, this guy was like, hey, are you a model? And I was like who me? And he was like YES? And I was like no, and he was like, well you could be, and then he gave me his card and THAT is why I'm asking you if we can go to New York so I can be a glamorous fashion model- Max, are you listening to me?"
"Wha- oh, yeah, of course-"
"So we can go to New York?"
"Um, what?"
"Yes!"
"Wait, what?"
123
"Cause today I said I don't feel like doing anything-"
"Gazzy, what did I tell you about that song?"
"I just want to lay in my bedddd-"
"Gasman, quit it. Singing it in Fang's voice was only funny the first time."
"Don't feel like pickin up the phone, so leave a-"
"Keep singing. I dare you."
"Keep singing. I dare you."
"Do you have a death wish?"
"Do you have a death wish?"
"Gasman…."
"Gasman…"
"Fine."
"So leave a message at the tone, cause today I said I'm not doing anything, nothing at all. Woohoo, woohoo, woohoo-"
123
"Get out."
"Why?"
"I'm changing."
"I'll face the wall."
"Fang. Out."
"But Max, you looovveeeeee me."
"My mother will KILL me if she sees you in here again. It's 2 in the morning."
"You love me THIS MUCH."
"It was the VALIUM!"
"Right."
"OUT."
123
"Maximum. Maximum, wake up."
Slowly, I blinked. I was in a chair, in a different room, this one an office. An impossibly old man was across the table from me, smiling. I tried to jump up and away, but my muscles felt like they weighed literally a hundred pounds each. I groaned.
The man chuckled lightly. "The exhaustion is expected. Maximum, you just burned the amount of calories equivalent to running 500 miles in an hour. You are very lucky to be alive."
I try not to act surprised, but my eyebrows raise anyways. Even flying, my fastest time had been 200 miles an hour. And that was flying. The flock wasn't even as fast as Erasers when it came to running. I narrowed my eyes at the man. He looked a little bit like the guy who played God in all those movies.
"Who are you?"
He placed his hands on the desk, folded. "My name is Pierre Jacques DuPont."
There was an awkward silence. I raised a brow. "And?"
He shrugged. "And what?"
"Anndddd what the hell is going on?"
His eyes lost a little bit of warmth. "Maximum, I'm about to show you something that may surprise you."
I tensed. "What?"
He reached into a drawer and pulled out… a hand mirror.
I released a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding. "Yes, I realize my hair is probably a rat's nest right now, but I don't think-"
His eyebrows were furrowed together. "Maximum. Look at yourself."
Taking the mirror, I did so.
At first, I didn't see a difference. But then- my hands flew to my face. I was different- way different. My cheeks were sharper, my eyes were narrower, even my lips looked different. I looked almost twenty years old. With the way the flock looked, I looked about 18. Which was still too old.
I stood up, ignoring my screaming muscles and pointed the mirror at the man's face.. "What the HELL is going on?"
"Maximum-"
I slammed the mirror to the ground, neither of us reacted to the glass that sprayed up at the both of us. I slapped my hand on the desk, my nails digging into the wood. He didn't seem intimidated.
"You have ten seconds, to explain this- ALL OF THIS- to me. GO."
=== 1+4+8 ===
Angel woke up again, head pounding. She wanted to cry. "Max?"
There was silence, then someone poked her. "Chris? You feeling better?"
Slowly, she opened her eyes- then, she snapped them back shut. She didn't know what it was that she had done to Fang earlier, but she wasn't going to risk it again. "Gazzy?"
"No Chris, Timmy!"
"Who's Timmy? Who's Chris? What are you talking about?"
Angel couldn't help it- her eyes popped open, and a moment later, she was launching herself into Iggy's arms. "Iggy!"
He caught her, and she breathed in his scent, like fire and trees, and she could feel herself relaxing. Finally, something was making sense.
He laughed as he caught her, then stiffened when his fingers came into contact with her back. "You too Ang? What's going on here?"
She shrugged, face still buried in his neck. In the back of her mind, she registered that Iggy too had changed- his voice was deeper and he was even taller, but she ignored it. Iggy was Iggy, and now he could deal with Fang and Gazzy. All she wanted to do was sleep.
=== 1+4+8 ===
Nudge woke up again, flat on her back. Quickly, she rolled onto her stomach, trying to take the excruciating pain off her wings. For a moment, she was disoriented, but then everything came flooding back. The clones, the boobs, Iggy-
Her breath caught. Iggy. She pushed up onto her knees, looking around the room. She was still in Iggy's room, although he was no where in sight. She frowned. Very faintly, she could hear the sounds of people in another room, obviously the clones had forgotten about her for the moment.
Slowly, she lowered one foot to the carpeted floor, then the other. She stood there for a moment, gauging the silence. Struggling against using her wings for balance, she tiptoed to the door, grateful it was already open. At least she didn't have to worry about that. Silently, she crept down the plush hallway, taking a deep breath when she came to the grand staircase. It was gorgeous.
She forced herself to concentrate as she stealthily sped down the stairs. At the front door she paused, then shook her head. It looked too big to open silently. She stepped into the kitchen, eyes catching sight of a partially opened sliding glass door. She grinned.
"Perfect."
She shimmied out the glass door, and took a running start through the backyard. At the last moment, she remembered to make sure the people upstairs couldn't see her- she ducked under hedges and bushes for what seemed like forever until she found herself at a tall brick wall. Looking back at the house, she scrabbled up the wall, landing heavily on the other side, her wings protesting the movement. She ignored the pain, running down the street toward what looked like a main road. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to get help. Once she wasn't freezing to death in the absolutely gorgeous but totally not weather-appropriate dress she was currently wearing, she could figure out what Max would want her to do.
=== 1+4+8 ===
Iggy laughed as he caught Angel, breathing in her scent, clean and fresh like a bar of soap with a hint of bubblegum- he smiled. Then his fingers came in contact with the oozing, grimy, gelling blood on her back, and he had to struggle not to drop her. He could tell she noticed, because she tightened her grip on him.
He frowned. Not that he was complaining or anything, but she was heavier. And she seemed bigger. Something in the hall made a noise- he could hear a thump. Then his fingers squelched in the blood again, and his ears picked up the sound. His stomach lurched.
"You too Ang? What's going on here?"
She just shrugged, held him even tighter. He looked in what he assumed was Fang's direction. He wasn't even assuming anymore, he could hear Fang's feet as he shifted weight, he could smell Fang's clean, sharp, like he just got back from the mountains somewhere smell, and- there was another sound in the hallway, and he turned to the door.
He was moving in that direction, when Angel went limp in his arms.
"Ang? Angel? Come on, wake up?"
Gazzy ran to him. "What happened? Wha-"
Fang took Angel from Iggy's arms- not in the familiar way he should have though- Iggy frowned, and laid her on the bed. Iggy could tell, because the squeaking from the bed forced him to slap his hands over his ears.
"Jesus Christ!"
"What is it?"
Slowly, Iggy pulled his hands from his ears. "It's like… it's like I can hear everything. And smell everything. And feel everything. It's ridiculous."
There was a silence. "Hello? Let's not make the blind kid feel more awkward than he already does, okay?"
Fang took a half step towards him. "Jeremiah? Maybe you should go lie down?"
Iggy furrowed his brow. If he wasn't so completely positive that there was no way for the School to fake someone smelling so much like Fang and the Gasman, he'd be feeling a little suspicious. He crossed his arms.
"The hell is up with you two right now?"
=== 1+4+8 ===
Nudge stole down the street, biting her teeth to take her attention away from her protesting wings and the fact that she was pretty sure she now had frostbite on at least three toes. That and the fact that every metal pole she passed was bending towards her, or shattering. The whole magnetic thing was making her stand out WAY too much. And for it being almost five in the morning, there were too many people on the road. Already she had had to jump into a snow bank to avoid being seen by two joggers and a jog walker. She was freezing and wet and confused. And SO not happy.
She stomped her foot. "Booo, this sucks!"
At her foot stomping, a metal mailbox by her side crumpled into itself. She winced. She hoped no one was trying to send letters to Santa anytime soon.
She skulked down the road, teeth chattering. She had stopped rubbing her arms up and down a while ago, it wasn't doing any good. Anyway, she knew her and the flock could handle much worse cold than this; it had been one of the School's favorite experiments to drop them in a room full of snow for a few days, just to see how long the could "withstand the elements".
It didn't mean being cold didn't suck. It SUCKED.
"This sucks. This sucks HARD. This sucks ball sacks!", she muttered under her breath before slapping a hand over her mouth, instinctively looking around for Max to scold her. Or at least to get mad at Iggy for being a bad influence.
Then she remembered of course, that she didn't know where Max was, and that Iggy was currently trapped with a bunch of stupid clones.
She stopped. She was standing outside tall iron gates, she took a defensive step back. Anything that looked that dangerous probably didn't mean anything good for her. She read the sign- Remman County Day School; in smaller words it read "Home for Juvenile Offenders".
Oh. Juvie. Nudge knew about juvie, she'd a read a series about a girl detective who went undercover in juvie. It seemed kind of cool. Well at least compared to the school it seemed kind of cool.
"Psst, Savvy! Savvy, what are you doing?"
Nudge jumped about a foot in the air, heart in her throat. She looked closer at the gate. Someone was sticking their head out, looking at her with a horrified expression on their face. Nudge took a step back.
"Savvy what the hell are you doing? Get back in here, night watch is almost over! Oh my god, if you get caught-"
Nudge looked around, wondering who this 'Savvy' chick was.
"Savannah Jackson I swear to God, if you get caught and spoil this for us, you will SO regret it! I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing, but you have five SECONDS to get your skinny ass behind these gates and into your jumpsuit before I come out there and drag you in by the hair!"
It clicked. Nudge's eyes grew wide, and she pointed to herself. "Are you… are you talking to me?"
The person barked a laugh. "Yes you! What's wrong with you? Are you drunk? You better not be drunk, they do random breathalyzer tests! What were you thinking?"
Half of Nudge wanted to stick around, see why this person seemed to think they knew her, but her wings were screaming, she didn't know how much longer she could keep them hidden in the dress. And anyways, this person looked like they were halfway serious about coming through the gate and attacking her.
Not that they could possibly hurt her, but still…
Nudge took a half step back, and the person's eyes bulged. "Where are you going? Get inside!"
Two more steps back, and finally she was back in the shadow of some trees. That didn't stop the person from hissing loudly at her to come back, along with a few more graphic threats thrown in to match. When she was finally far enough, Nudge turned on her heel and fled.
=== 1+4+8 ===
I sat down, shaking. I wanted to pull my knees to my chest, but it hurt too much.
"Um so… um…"
"Maximum, I know this is hard-"
I put my hand out. "We just lost two years of our life, I don't know where or who my flock is, and you want to tell me this is hard? Oh, no… this is-" I paused, took a deep breath. "Okay. So we were separated. You said it wasn't a coincidence that we're all in Washington. Why?"
He steepled his fingers, looking at me with grave eyes above them. "There are several of us, who were either involved in the School, or recruited to help-"
I shot my eyes to him. "You were- you were part of the School?"
He shook his head, eyes growing sad. "No… my daughter was. She made several mistakes, but she brought me in to help her fix them."
I exhaled. "So who are they? What did they do?"
His eyes were on mine. "Vivienne Tate, Karla Stein, Dawn Sherger and an Officer Joe Krupsky were all in California, helping bring you here."
I frowned. "How?"
He coughed. "They got you arrested."
My jaw dropped. "Some help!"
There was a hint of a smile on his face. "We had to get you to Washington Max, and we had to do it in a way that would be impossible for your "parents" to work around. The same was done for Iggy in Alabama."
"What, you made him commit a crime?"
"We were planning on it, but an acquaintance of his made it all the easier. We simply picked him up, and Sherriff Aaron Cromley made sure he was sent to Remman. Luckily for us, his "parents" were out of the country at the time, making it all the easier for us."
"And Nudge? Who got her sent here?"
His chocolate eyes were laughing. "Similarly with Iggy, Monique actually got into trouble of her own before we could act. And of course, her English teacher, Marilyn Loodes was indispensable in making sure she stayed arrested."
"And her "parent"?"
"Wasn't a problem."
I frowned, but moved on. "Gazzy and Angel? Don't tell me they got arrested too."
He gave a quick chuckle. "Oh, we definitely considered it, but there was no way to make it work. So we had them kidnapped."
"Excuse me?"
"We contacted the head of a group of very efficient kidnappers, and worked with them to get a mole placed in the house. She was Gazzy and Angel's nanny."
"But she was working for you guys?"
"No, only the head, Warren was aware of the plan. As it was, Gazzy and Angel managed to escape before they even reached Warren."
I grinned, proud. Brainwashed or not, no one could just kidnap my babies and not expect them to get free.
"So how did they get to Fang's house? What did they eat? How did they survive?"
"We're not completely sure, but I believe Angel's mind reading has something to do with it."
I nodded sharply. "Alright, so you guys brought us all here. Great, thanks for that. Appreciate it. One question though?"
He looked at me. "Yes Maximum?"
"Why the HELL didn't you just TELL us?"
His brow furrowed. "I wish we could Max, but the School is a lot smarter than that."
He pressed a button on the desk, and a TV in the wall clicked on. Slowly, he walked over and placed a DVD in the player.
"Um, 'scuse me? No offense, but this isn't the best time for a mov-"
The film started, and I shut up. On the T.V were both Angel and the Gasman. They were strapped to beds, and unconscious. Instead of the School though, they were in a hospital. I watched as the Gasman slowly woke up, then started shouting at the white coats. Pierre cranked up the volume. I winced- he was loud.
"-what are we doing here!"
A somewhat nice looking doctor holding a chart stood over him. "Young man, do you know who you are?"
Gazzy blinked, then frowned. "Wha- what?"
"Young man, what is your name?"
"My name? My name- I'm Tim. Timothy Travis. What's going on?"
The man wrote something down on his chart, then pointed to Angel. "And she is?"
Gazzy looked at her, brow furrowed. "Well she's my sister- she's… she's Christina."
At that name, Angel stirred. "Uhhh… my head…"
The man turned to her. "And you, young lady? Who are you?"
She blinked her big blue eyes at him. "Christina? I'm… Christina?"
The man nodded, then wrote something else. "Good."
There was an awkward silence, and Gazzer and Angel exchanged looks. Then the man slammed down his clipboard.
"Your names are The Gasman and Angel, and you are a part of Maximum Ride's flock, along with Maximum, Fang, Iggy, and Nudge. You have a dog named Total. You know a woman named Valencia Martinez, and her daughter, Ella Martinez. You have wings, and you can fly. You have various powers and-"
He stopped, most likely due to the fact that neither Gazzy or Angel were paying him any attention. They were too busy screaming, clamping their hands to their ears and kicking their feet. Tears were streaming down Angel's face, and Gazzy was clawing at his head, screeching.
My fists clenched. "What… what is he doing to them?"
I barely managed to get the question out through my gritted teeth.
Pierre looked apologetic. "It's part of the brainwashing process- extra security. If someone so much as mentioned anything about the flock or your former lives to you six, it triggers a brain attack. The bigger the mention, the higher the level of attack. To tell you the truth would kill you."
Something rang in the back of my head. Dr. M. He had mentioned Dr. M, and Ella. I could feel the color draining from my skin.
"What about- what about my mom? And Ella?"
He exhaled, and my heart dropped. If anything had happened to them, it would literally be all my fault. There was no way I could ever forgive-
"They were relocated to Texas, and a similar procedure was done on the two of them. The brain attacks were set at a much lower level however after…"
His voice trailed off.
"What? After what?"
He pursed his lips. "During their testing on Valencia, they went too far. The brain attacks have…" He paused again. "Well, they've affected her mind. As of now, we are unsure if she'll ever be the same again."
My breath whooshed out of my like a vacuum, and I blinked quickly, trying to clear my head. "Well…. Well then. I'll deal with that too. But how do I fix my flock?"
=== 1+4+8 ===
Iggy stood still, frowning into the silence. He could smell the confusion from Fang and Gazzy, and suppressed a wince as Gazzy shifted from foot to foot.
"Alright, so…"
He took a step back, then another one. "I'm going to go see if Nudge is awake. Then we'll get Max. And then you two are going to… to… you're just gonna stand there. Okay?"
Without waiting for an answer, he strode down the hall to the other bedroom, blocking out the sound of his footsteps. The minute he entered the room, he knew she was gone. One, he didn't hear her breathing. And he probably would've had a heart attack at that, but he didn't smell strawberries either.
He whirled around. "Nudge? Nudge, where are you?"
There was no answer, but he heard Fang and Gazzy moving down the hall. "You guys, Nudge isn't here."
Gazzy recoiled, and through gritted teeth Fang asked "Nudge?"
Iggy ran a hand through his hair, already making his way towards the stairs. He knew they were the stairs because the rail smelled like wood polish, and the air was bouncing off the area differently than the carpet. He didn't dwell on it, just sped down them lightly.
"Jer? Jer, you should lie down, I'll go find Savannah. You're not well."
Iggy ignored him, though in the back of his mind he was getting worried. Something was seriously wrong with Fang, and Gazzy too. And Angel was unconscious and now Nudge was missing? He groaned. Of course. Where was Max when he needed her? But he was too busy following the smell of Nudge's blood- yes, it is as gross as it sounds- to stop. Well, until he ran into a glass door.
He straightened, cursing and rubbing his head. Fang caught up to him. "You okay?"
Iggy scowled. "Are you back to normal?"
Silence.
"Then no. Now, are we going after Nudge?"
More silence.
Iggy shrugged, stepping through the door. "It was a rhetorical question anyways."
He heard Fang move as if to stop him, then heard something else- someone enter the room. He smelt the ocean, an unexpected hint of cinnamon, then grinned. "Yo Max, it's about time."
=== 1+4+8 ===
I let a small breath of relief when I saw Iggy- at least he remembered who the hell he was. Fang on the other hand- he looked like he'd just seen a ghost. The Gasman too. It took all my strength not to grab the Gasman in a hug, not to run into Fang's arms, not to slap the both of them around a little bit to see if that would get them to remember- instead, I just remembered what Pierre had told me.
I straightened.
"Fang-"
He cringed.
I tried again.
"David. Where are your pills?"
His eyes widened, just a fraction.
"Excuse me?"
I shook my head. Time was ticking. We only had until six o'clock. Which was less than half an hour.
"For your back. Your pills, where are they?"
"How did you- what do you want with them?"
There was a voice, in my head.
They're in bedroom drawer I've got them max I've missed you so much
The biggest grin broke out on my face, and I hurtled towards the stairs, ignoring the lingering pain in my back and the beyond confused expression on Fang's face.
Angel met me halfway down the stairs, and crashed into my arms. I caught her, fighting tears. She was crying enough for the both of us. Iggy chuckled, still waiting by the door.
Angel shoved her face into my neck, and I tried to ignore the fact that she was heavier, that she was older, that I had basically missed two years of her life-
Max what's going on I don't understand I'm so confused
Later ang right now we've got to get nudge and get out of here
I was at the top of the stairs now, and turned towards the room I had last seen Nudge in. Empty.
I frowned, then checked the next two rooms. Both empty. I went back to the stairs, still carrying Angel.
"Iggy, where's Nudge?"
He got serious, and pointed out the sliding glass doors. "That's what I was doing- she's out there somewhere."
Oh crap.
I thundered down the stairs, reaching the sliding doors in seconds. I was careful not to key into hyper speed, but I could tell by Fang and Gazzy's expressions that I had still gotten there too quickly to be normal. I ignored it.
"What's going on? Where's Nudge?"
Iggy gestured to the door. "She was unconscious when I woke up, but I think she ran away about fifteen minutes ago."
"Where?"
"I don't know!"
"Great."
"Well we have to go GET her Max, she's walking around with blood all over herself! This isn't even New York City, she'll actually stand out!"
His words were light, but there was a tenseness in his tone, and his fists were clenched. Okay….
"Alright, so lets go."
"Finally."
Fang darted forward. "Woah, wait. Where are you going?"
I didn't turn around. I couldn't handle making eye contact, not right now. "We'll be back. Tonight. Don't tell anyone about us. ANYONE. Especially your father." He scowled, and opened his mouth. "Or your friends. Hide Ga-Tim, I don't care how you do it, but don't let ANYONE see him. And clean this place up."
Now Gazzy stepped forward. "Where are you going with Chris? P-Put her down!"
He reached for her, but I took two quick steps back. Angel looked up. "I'm fine Timmy- I'll be back in a few hours. Listen to her."
Gazzy shook his head. "Chris, what are you talking about?"
Iggy rubbed his neck. "Max, we don't have time for this! Nudge is out there somewhere-"
Gazzy shot his eyes to Iggy. "Your girlfriend can wait, cause no one is going ANYWHERE with my sister!"
Iggy blanched. "My wh- what my- Nudge? Wha-?"
Ang can you make fang and gazzy go upstairs
She stiffened. I don't know I did something I don't think I should
Alrighty then. Time for plan B.
"Iggy- go!"
He bolted through the door, and I followed, pumping my legs as I exploded into the backyard. I heard two exclamations from Gasman and Fang, and I ran faster, trying not to bounce Angel too hard.
"Iggy, straight, then-"
"Got it!"
I stopped shouting directions. I didn't know how he could possibly have the layout of the backyard already, but I wasn't about to question it.
Two more footsteps joined us, and I turned to see David and Gazzy following suit. They were too far behind though, and we were almost at the immense privacy gate.
Max you can put me down now I'll climb up
I set her down, and together, the three of us scrabbled over the wall, landing lightly on the other side. I winced when my wings instinctively tried to balance my landing. There was a pause, and I turned to Iggy.
He sniffed, sniffed again, then pointed west. "This way- she went this way."
I narrowed my eyes. I wanted to ask him how the hell he could possibly know that, but I knew we had more important issues to deal with.
We took off in the direction he indicated, Iggy in the lead. Angel slipped her hand into mine, and I smiled. Then Angel smiled, and asked-
"Hey Iggy, what did Gazzy mean about Nudge being-"
"Shut up Angel!"
Angel and I took one look at Iggy's fire engine red ears and burst into laughter.
=== 1+4+8 ===
Nudge crashed into a brick wall, and landed on her butt with a thud. Her wings screamed.
Rubbing her nose, she looked up…and up… and up, until she was staring into the face of the biggest man she had ever seen. Even bigger than an Eraser. Even bigger than the Rock. An image of the Rock with his rockhard abs flashed through her mind and-
She shook her head. Concentrate. On the massive half-man half-Godzilla thing staring down at her. It did not look happy.
She was one second away from kicking him so hard he would never even want to think about reproducing, when he crossed his arms.
"Savannah Jackson, Freshman?"
Nudge's brow puckered. "What?"
"Is there any reason you are outside the gates at 5:45 A.M, Jackson?"
Nudge's mind was whirling. Savannah… where had she heard that name before? She had that awful feeling that she was missing something.
"On your feet Jackson."
The gate! The person at the gate had called her Savannah too! And… and Fang! Fang had called her Savannah, or Savvy, or something like that!
Think… think Nudge think. What would Max do? As she slowly rose to her feet, Nudge bit her lip. She could either assume nothing, kick some King Kong ass, and run as fast as she could, or she could assume that maybe these people knew her, or she knew them, or that she was majorly missing something, and go with the program until she could get her thoughts together. If worst came to worst, she could always run away later.
Standing up straight, she faced the man. Or actually, she faced his belly button area. Reluctantly, she drew her wings in as tight as she could- the white dress wasn't offering much cover.
At that moment, the human Hulk seemed to notice the dress as well. "Jackson, what are you wearing? Where's your jumpsuit?"
She shrugged, and the man clamped a hand the size of a History textbook on her shoulder. She shuddered, fighting the urge to throw him off and kick him in the neck.
The man mistook her shudder for a shiver, and after a moment, sighed, then slipped out of his own jacket. Nudge was confused, until a moment later, when he dropped the heavy winter coat onto her shoulders. It smelled like the gym and aftershave.
Against herself, Nudge looked up at the man and smiled. He looked away.
"No point in you catching frostbite- you're in enough trouble as it is Jackson." They'd reached the gates. "How did you even get here?"
Nudge bit her lip, thinking about the person from before, who'd been shouting at her. Common sense was telling her that there was a way out that the students at this school knew about, that they didn't want the officials to.
The dinosaur man was still staring at her, waiting for an answer.
Nudge looked at the gates. The metal gates. Then she smiled.
"Well duh, I mean, I practically just waltzed outta here."
The man followed her gaze, then gasped. Nudge didn't blame him. She'd meant to simply bend two of the railings far apart enough for her to have reasonably slipped through, but she'd overdone it, just a little. And by just a little, she meant half the gate was now hanging onto the wall by a single hinge.
The man looked down at her, back to the wall, then back down to her. Nudge kept smiling. She couldn't help thinking that Max would be proud.
=== 1+4+8 ===
happy (belated) thanksgiving! lol i wanted to put this up on thanksgiving, but my computer decided to go through menopause. ANYWAYS. not only was thanksgiving thanksgiving, but it was also my birthday! YAY! IM NINETEEN! HELL YEAH! okay, im done with that. SO. for my birthday, im gonna be a bigass nerd, and say this: im almost done with this story (sob. SOB. SOB. tears of grief. and some relief.) and im uber essited to choose my next one! (that was the bigass nerd part). ANYWAYS. ive had this poll up on my propro for a while now, which are the choices for the next story. BUT the birthday part. IM GIVING AWAY PREVIEWS TO THOSE FOUR CHOICES! AHHHH! *godzilla godzilla!* so. if you leave me a review with the name (names?) of the story (STORIES!) preview you want, it'll be my birthday present to you! YAY! its mostly so i can finally decide which one ill do, cause im uber essited about all of them. the preview is kinda just a random chapter out of all of them (NO SPOILERS! *foamy mouth*)
oh and yah. don't just leave me a review thats like..."i lyke dis, GIMME ALL DA PREVIEWS!" yo, i thrive on reviews. especially those uberlong ones that are just fantabulous. i mean, your review doesn't have to be like a mile long, theirs not a quota or some ish, but... i mean... it'd be nyycceee... you know... AND. ive finished two of the preveiws, but i havent typed up two of the others, but they should be done by next sunday. SO. ASK AWAY!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! :) please review for previews! (see what i did there?) -stripedpolkadots
I stretched back and I hiccuped
Looked back on my busy day
Eleven hours in the tin pan
God there's got to be another way
Who are you
Who who who who
Who are you
Who who who who
