A/N: It's Wednesday.. Uploading day! :) Here's a new chapter!
Random Fact: I was in fact accepted into MIT and that's probably where I'll end up going after my dance career.
Anyway, stay tuned for a new chapter on Saturday! Enjoy :)
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Chapter 15: Born of the Sun
It had been a week and I had to say, I'm a little disappointed that little Phoenix didn't have my personality… to be honest; she was a lot like Fang. Strong, silent and quite a bit like Angel actually… maybe it was the white in her wings, her eyes or the way she observed others. She was really smart… and strong. We were all really anxious to see her use her powers.
"Guys, I KNOW she has powers… I don't know what they are yet but I know she has them." I told the flock about what really happened with the erasers that day and they freaked out. They thought she was some type of genius hybrid.
"She EXPLODED them!" Gazzy said with excitement. "What if she kills us?!"
I looked a little offended… "She won't kill us Gazzy… we're her family. We protect her, and she protects us."
"We have to train her to fight." Fang's voice came out strong. "Otherwise, she won't be able to protect herself."
"Of course we're going to teach her to fight… just not when she can barley lift her own head…" Iggy stated. "But when she starts walking… all the fun happens" Iggy wiggled his eyebrows.
"You are not teaching her to wire bombs!" I shoved him.
"You never knowww…" Gazzy sung out.
Angel and Nudge were a little further from out circle giggling and playing with the baby. We walked a couple miles out and bought a thin blanket to put on the floor so that Phoenix can roll around on the ground.
"Gazzy, why don't you go prevent Angel and Nudge from my making her into a prissy toddler." I nodded my head at the girls.
He nodded his head furiously. "Sure! There is no way I'm letting a girly-girl make bombs with us."
I winced at his proposition. I did not want my baby making bombs… we've got a long way to go for that. I turned to Fang and Iggy. I wanted to discuss things with them.
"Okay guys what's out plan? I hate to admit it but I'm scared... we have a baby that's one week old and we haven't flown in what feels like forever. I want her lungs to get used to some altitude cause we can't go anywhere unless she can handle the height."
We've flown with Nix a couple of times but usually, just 1000 feet off the ground, she'll start wailing. We decided to go slowly and finally we reached 3000 feet. We can usually fly as high as a plane, which is 36,000 feet, if not, a little bit higher but we generally fly at low heights to monitor the ground.
"We have to try going higher with the baby…" Fang said.
"I know." I sighed and looked at Phoenix on the blanket. "Okay here's what we'll do. Tomorrow we have to leave. We've been here way too long. We have to leave Georgia… lets go North a bit."
"Agreed." Iggy nodded. "Maybe we can go to Boston! Jeb hates the cold so that would be great."
I flinched at the mention of Jeb and noticed a burning smell. "Guys do you smell that?" I swiveled my head around in to direction of the smell. I was coming from the girls and Gazzy. I sprinted over to them.
"I swear to god Gazzy, if you put a bomb anywhere near Phoenix…" Then I noticed the shock on their faces. "...What?"
"I think we found her power…" Nudge trailed off holding a piece of the blanket that was completely scorched and there were burnt ashes on the ground.
I took Phoenix in my arms and pried her fingers away from the blanket. Fang and Iggy ran over to me.
"What happened?"
Angel ripped a piece of the blanket off. "Watch this." She waved the blanket in front of Phoenix's face. She reached out to the cloth with her arms out. This went on for about a minute when Phoenix realized that she wasn't getting closer to the blanket….
"Its about to happen…" We all watched with wide eyes as Phoenix furrowed her brow in anger. Her pale blue eyes turned bright red.
"What is hap-"
"Shhhh-"
In a second flat, Phoenix grabbed the blanket from Angel and the blanket was covered in flames. Soon, all that was left was a black, burnt piece on the ground. Her eyes went back to pale blue and she giggled before some spitting some drool out.
There was silence for a couple seconds as we tried to grasp the fact that my baby could control fire.
"Ohhh my gosh…. Her power is wicked AWESOME! She's going to be sooo strong! Max can you believe it?! Oooh what if she has another power?! What if she can control the other forces of nature too…. Oh my gosh this is too much… it's too COOL-"
I cut Nudge off. "I knew there was a reason I decided to call her Phoenix." I smiled reminding them of the mythological bird. "Rising from the ashes, bird of the sun… of course her power would be fire related… it makes sense." I laughed to myself as the realization dawned on the rest of the Flock.
~Next morning~
We walked over to the closest Target to get supplies. I'd been feeding Phoenix the natural way… and let me say it hurts. So I decided I would get some baby milk powder because we'd be flying. I bought a pacifier, and I bought all the flock thick jackets. We found a sharp object to cut slits in the back of them.
"Here" Fang handed me a sharp branch to tear two slits. You might be thinking what's the point of having jackets if we rip a giant hole in the back. Well, our wings are covered in feathers so it keeps our backs pretty warm… the rest of the body- not so much. Our wings were built to fit into the curves of our body so they were hardly recognizable under our clothes. They started in the upper middle of our backs and folded in before the tips wrap their way around our waist.
"Everyone done?" They nodded. "Now for you, Nix." I took her tiny thermal jacket that was barely the size of my arm. I cut two tiny slits. Just in case… keeping our wings so close to our body isn't as comfortable as it sounds. Phoenix had a habit of fluttering her wings often. Her black wings were the length of my fingertips to my elbow. They were so cute… but they were too weak to hold her body weight, as she was only one week and one day old.
"Okay ready?" I grabbed my backpack. I held Phoenix in a makeshift blanket carrier that was attached to my shoulder and wrapped around my chest. I faced her sideways so she could see and so I could support her head.
Everyone was really excited about having our first real flight with the baby.
"1…2…3… TAKE OFF!" Gazzy leaped into the air and made huge arcs. "Finally, we can fly!"
I laughed and followed Gazzy.
We had been flying for three hours and it was almost 1 in the afternoon so we decided to stop somewhere to eat. I got Phoenix her bottle and mixed some milk powder. I held the bottle up so she could suck on it. She drank it at an alarmingly fast rate. She looked at me with wide eyes and licked her lips for more.
Fang chuckled next to me. "I think she wants more, Max."
"This is her second bottle!" I leaned against Fang's shoulder. "This is so tiring but she's too cute." I laughed and started mixing another bottle. We were sitting at a booth in a fast food restaurant.
Suddenly, Angel met my eyes and I noticed her eyes were panicked. They were standing in the line about to order when she shifted her eyes to the man walking in the door: gruff, muscular, and alone. He eyed Nudge as she was ranting and stared at Gazzy.
Oh no. Possibly an Eraser… possibly not. But there's no such thing as coincidence. I looked at Angel, Nudge and Gazzy again. I shouldn't get up to draw attention to us but I have to protect them. I jabbed Fang and nodded towards the man staring at the kids.
Angel, try controlling his mind to leave.
'I can't Max! He has a mind block up! What do I do?"
I looked at Angel. She was speaking to Gazzy and Nudge as if nothing was wrong.
Angel, listen! I can't get up or he'll notice us but there's a boys soccer team about to walk in here. I want you all to get lost in the crowd. When you do, go out the back door and wait at the corner.
"Okay Max. I trust you."
Nudge made eye contact with me and looked frightened. I nodded in assurance to her. Then suddenly, the man stood up and walked towards them.
Come on soccer team… share that win… please, please, please. Like my prayers were answered, the team burst in yelling and hollering with a trophy. I saw the kids get lost in the crowed and burst out the back door. When the eraser arrived where they were, he looked around wondering where they went. His back was turned to us.
"Go, go go!" I shoved Fang out of the booth and grabbed Iggy to let him know. We burst out the front door. I clung Phoenix to my chest and ran to the others. I hid behind the corner just as the front door slammed open.
"Come on bird freaks, I know you're here." I heard the eraser snarl.
I mentioned the flock to go the other way. Suddenly, I heard a click and felt metal on the back of my head.
"Don't move."
Another one?
A girl eraser spit in my ear. "Oh what's this? A baby?" I felt her move the gun to the head of Phoenix. I was faced away from her. I was paralyzed with fear.
Angel? Angel? Where are you!
'Other side of the building… oh god there's a gun to Phoenix.' I could hear the terror in her thought.
Come on Nix, get mad, get frustrated. Do something! I silently thought and prayed.
"Well, well, well… looks like Maximum Ride has a child. Thought it'd be dead by now but clearly not." The eraser laughed. "This is great. I'll be promoted to lead if I bring back Ride and her baby."
That statement snapped me out of my paralyzed state. They were not getting my baby. Just then, Phoenix noticed how tense I was and furrowed her brow at the gun.
It's happening. Come on Nix! You can do it!
Phoenix put her head down and closed her eyes.
You're sleeping? No, no, no.
Then suddenly, she opened her eyes as they turned to a fiery red.
"Wha-" The eraser suddenly jumped back and I whipped around. She was burning in flames. "What's happening?!"
Then the gruff eraser that we saw earlier ran up. "Christine, oh my god what happened? Jeb's gonna kill me if you die!" He looked angry.
The eraser pointed to me as she was coughing and rubbing her self all over to get rid of the flames. "HER! The baby! It's a demon… it's a DEMONN!" She screamed, as the flames grew brighter and hotter. Then, as soon as she was engulfed in flames, she exploded.
The eraser stared and slowly backed away, "What the hell-" He ran off screaming bloody murder.
I hugged Phoenix and sprinted to the others. "She did it. She killed her first eraser." I said proudly.
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Hope you enjoyed... If you did, please Review! :)
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Where do you all live?
I was born in the U.S but we moved to Russia at the age of 5 when I was accepted into dance school (Not named for privacy). I'm 17 now but I'm planning to join a company in New York. My parents moved from Russia to Shanghai to Delhi (because of their job.. my brother is 9 and living with them) and I'm in boarding at the dance school.