Max's POV

"Is it bad?" Ari asked watching me put pressure to the cut.

I shook my head not wanting the little girl to feel bad. Her curls reminded me of Angel, plus her innocent eyes looked up to me both literally and figuratively. "I'm just waiting for it to stop bleeding. Are you okay?" I asked her.

She nodded slowly. "I… I'm Gabby. Thanks for helping me."

"This brings back memories."

"What do you mean?" Ari watched me with curious eyes. They all did. It was just funny seeing people with perfect personality matches as my Flock.

"You've done your explanation. I suppose it's my turn now." I started with a sigh "Jeb's actually my dad. Well, biologically speaking. I don't consider him much of a father at all. He was an abusive alcoholic."

"What about your mom?"

"Valencia Martinez. She's a vet, but she traveled a lot and was barely home leaving me and my siblings under the hands of Jeb."

At the mention of her name all eyes turned to me.

"What?"

"Valencia Martinez…"

"You know her?"

Ari smirked. "We all do. She's… one of the directors here… like Jeb."

Perhaps Ari was trying to feed it to me in bits, but taking it all in till hit me like a train. My legs gave out and I fell onto my knees.

"Max?"

"I wish I could say you're lying… but it fits… she never stopped him, never questioned him, acted like she never knew." I gasped in realization. "The hits… all the things he made me do… it was a test. Even moving in with Fang was a test. Lissa was probably a test."

A boy named Gray came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Are you all the same? Were all of our lives just a game?"

Gray shrugged. "You're the only one who can remember anything before getting here. We've all forgotten what the outside world looks like."

"The files."
"There's files?"

"Well duh. All the results have got to be recorded somewhere, right? I remember Jeb never let me go in his room, and neither did mom. Probably because he was hiding something. There's got to be copies of it here. If we can get hold of it, maybe there'll be information about parents and where you're from. You all could return home."

We were a group of 12 including me. The building must've had 50 white coats. A close observation the other day revealed another floor below this one, so the place was bigger than expected. Playing it by looks wasn't going to cut it. We needed a map.

"That's not the hard part. The hard part's getting out, not finding home." Ari stated.

"Yeah I haven't gotten that far yet, but we'll get there. We should leave now before Jeb gets mad."

"I'm surprised he hasn't kept us from meeting."

"You do it often?"

"No. I decided we needed to though when I found out someone new was being brought in. The new ones still have a memory."

I gave them all a smile before peeking out the door and sneaking back into the white room.

Where would they keep a map of this place? Stupid. They wouldn't. But the security room would watch over all the most important places. I bet the files would be one of those. It would have to be late. When they gave us a few hours to sleep, most of the drunk guards slept too. At least, that's what Jeb was like.

Fang's POV

"How are you guys holding up?" I asked the Flock. They all looked exhausted. The people here kept us locked up, but didn't harm us unless we fought back. They fed us and let us sleep in beds, but how could we sleep when Max was being tortured right across the hall?

Nudge shrugged. She had grown quiet since such events. "I want to go home."

"We'll get home." Gazzy assured her. "They aren't going to keep us here forever."

"Don't speak too soon." Iggy warned. "No matter what we're in a better position than Max. We'll last however long she lasts."

"Max doesn't give up easily. I'm sure she's already thinking up a plan to escaping."

I used my foot to get the attention of the guy watching over us. "You're here to make sure she and the rest of the Flock are away aren't you?"

He didn't say anything.

"They know if Max is with us, she's brilliant. It's like tearing the head away. We can't think and neither can she."

"We don't get any privacy?" I felt like I was talking to a statue. Of course he didn't respond. How frustrating…

Thanks for reading guys and all the nice reviews :) But I'm not going to lie... It may just be because I haven't read it in so long, but I feel like this isn't a good story lol. I almost wanted to stop posting chapters, but if you guys want to read on, I'll finish it. So shall we take a vote?

WipeOut