We took flight the following morning and were coasting over parts of the mid-west. Most of it was sea-level, so I wasn't having trouble with breathing or being that visible to those on the ground. I just hoped nobody decided to do some cloud-watching. Speaking of, there were a lot of them forming in the distance, and I hoped it would pass before I had to take flight again. Speck somehow dozed off, again, so I held her tighter just in case she could fall. This kid was something else, I swear. We touched down just near the border of Ohio and Indiana, hungry to eat a four-course meal. Thankfully, Speck woke to my stomach, so I didn't have to awkwardly land without her knowing. Once behind a couple buildings in a town, we adjusted ourselves before making a beeline to the nearest fast-food joint.
"What kind of place is this?" Speck looked up at the symbols on the sign.
"Some Asian restaurant," I glanced before ushering her to the fast-food chain next door. No way were we spending that much money. We walked in and surveyed the area before getting into the short line. We placed our massive order and went to sit in the furthest corner by an outlet to charge the laptop. Speck opened it and started typing, I assume, to hook up the wifi and update our firewalls. I eyed the counter while salivating over the restaurant smell.
"Wow, the Doomsday Group is really big," I heard Speck say.
"Mhmm," I mumbled, my eyes still on the pick-up area.
"Amberrr…" she whined. She then started poking my arm.
"Whaaaat?" I mimicked her. I turned around to see her pouting again and I couldn't help but smile a little at her scrunched-up face.
"Look," she spun the laptop around so I could see the news article. I skimmed it and my jaw dropped. This group was much bigger than I thought. It wasn't just the state, it was at least the whole country. They were calling any and all kids to take part in changing the world for the better, no matter what it takes. Every word seemed so thrilling and agreeable, but deep down it just felt wrong. They mentioned everything that was said at the zoo verbatim, and I wondered if this was just some crazy cult.
"Sheesh, and they got videos too?" I scrolled down to see a news clipping of some girl who was the head of the whole organization. I decided to click on it but kept the volume down to avoid distracting people. She started by briefly informing the reporter about the cause before turning to the camera. As she talked, I noticed that she had the same look as that kid had: big eyes, wide smile, very robotic/possessed like. It made my stomach churn but strangely I couldn't look away.
"Just welcome the One-"
"Three fourteen!"
I blinked and looked back at the counter to see that our order was ready. It matched the receipt and stacked higher than the four-foot teen behind it. I quickly closed the laptop despite Speck's "Hey" and nudged her to help me carry the food over. I handed the woman the receipt and we grabbed the bags. I had to blink multiple times to get out of the haze I was just in. What the heck was that? It was almost as if- nah, that's not possible.
I slid into the seat and started rationing out the food while Speck packed it in our bags. I lightly shook my head. There was no way that girl could hypnotize somebody by just speaking into a camera. Yet her voice had a certain tone to it, and the look in her eyes… maybe? I glanced at Speck and didn't recognize any change in her, but I had to make sure. I poked her in the ribs.
"Hey!" she squealed, going red in the face. She wrapped her arms around herself. "What the heck was that for?"
"Oh- uh- just making sure…" I thought as fast as I could. "That you're wrapping the food safely. D-Don't want it exploding everywhere, right?"
She paused and stared at me like I was stupid, "Well duh, I know what I'm doing." She went back to packing the remaining food, protecting her side by keeping her arm close. We continued in silence while separating and handing each other things to group together. Once done, we settled on our current meal, which was a bigger portion than the others, since I just flew several hundred-miles. Speck pulled out the computer again, so I peered over her shoulder to make sure she wasn't watching that video. Instead I wrinkled my nose.
"You really think they would know?" I asked, though I didn't doubt it.
"Maybe?" she scrolled through Fang's blog until she settled on a post regarding a… Comic-Con? I blinked and read it over. Fang noted that a rally was being hosted there by the Doomsday Group and how they were planning on meeting fans even.
"Wait- what the hell? I thought we were meeting him in Wisconsin?" I partly exclaimed before lowering my voice in our little booth. I turned the laptop towards me a bit. "And what does he mean by 'gang'? There's more with him?" My stomach instantly churned. All I was hoping for was just some directions to James, and maybe know what his favorite color was or something, but no. He was just lying to us so he could go do his own thing.
"Uh um.." Speck tried to think quickly. "Maybe he had these plans already set and was going to meet us afterwards?"
I looked at her, "We're supposed to see him in two days. How the hell is he going to fly across country in that amount of time?"
"I don't know!" her voice pitched. "Maybe he has like super flying speed?"
Grunting, I grabbed the laptop and angrily pulled up the private message system for the blog. I began typing a long rant before pausing on the send button. There were way too many capitalized words and phrases I didn't want Speck to see. Was I really this desperate? I was, but I didn't want to come off as mean, either. What if he read this and decided to not help me after all? Sighing, I deleted the message and exited out.
"Can I look now?"
"Oh," I scooted towards the side and let her view the laptop. "Sorry."
She narrowed her eyes and took a loud sip of her soda. "What were you typing?"
"Nothing," I quickly replied. "Just… ugh, I wish he could have at least told us. Why go to California right when telling us to meet in Wisconsin? Don't you think that's suspicious?"
"Well," she set her empty drink down. "Maybe he just wants to do something more important first?"
I raised an eyebrow at her.
"No- I mean- I think he sees us as important too. I mean, we made plans to meet with him. But more important plans came up and they like… are on a higher level than ours?" Speck rambled, trying to get her point across.
"You mean prioritizing," I pointed out. "I guess that makes sense… but why does he have to deal with them? It's like he has some god-complex or something. I thought he wanted to help kids like us, so why deal with this stupid activist group?"
Speck's nose wrinkled, "To help even more people?"
"I guess," I wiped my hands on my napkin, trying to understand. If that was the case, do we still go to Wisconsin? I guess it wouldn't hurt; we would get closer to him in the long run. I just hoped he wouldn't forget about our initial plan.
"Well why don't we help him?"
"Excuse me?" I glared at her.
"Why don't we help him figure out this group as well? I mean," she frowned a bit. "If he can do it and find a way to help people, why can't we?"
"Because we already have a goal in mind," I crossed my arms over my chest. "You know this."
"Yeah but-" she glanced at the blog on the laptop screen. "If I could help people, I'd want to."
I paused at her statement before ruffling her hair, causing her to flail her arms, "Let's get our stuff done first, okay? Anyways, we should head out soon, I think it might rain." I also wanted to avoid talking about this.
She huffed and muttered a "fine" as she put her arms through her backpack's loops. I hoisted mine on one shoulder and shimmied out of the booth, following her out of the restaurant. We hiked down the sidewalk for a while, her a few steps in front of me as I contemplated what she just said.
Did she really want to abandon our original plan? I thought she wanted to go with me to see my brother, to meet him, and treat him like family. And what was with the "helping others" thing? We should be focusing on helping ourselves first. We did leave the only home we felt comfortable in and are back to running for our lives. We need James. I know we do. He's the only person who can ground us, give us that togetherness-family-feel thing again, and Fang has our only info on him. We can't abandon that now. I watched as she stiffly walked down the concrete path, hoping she wouldn't forget about us.[F1]
"We leave in five minutes."
The sandy-haired boy blinked as the flock leader walked off to prepare for the flight. He scrambled after her, trying to get his thoughts in order. "Wait- Max-"
"What?" she spun around, and a hint of red appeared on her cheeks.
"I know we have to save Ella, but there's something else I have to tell you…" his voice trailed off a bit, remembering the other day when he had the weirdest vision come to him. He even told Angel about it, but she was unsure what it meant.
"We have to go before she gets even more brainwashed," Max adjusted her windbreaker and flipped her hair out of the collar. "If it has something to do with-"
"No, no, it's something else, really," he also blushed. "I saw something the other day, but I don't know what it means."
"Then shoot," she jeered.
"It was a girl," he started, causing Max to pause. "And she looked a lot like Iggy."
"Okayyy," she crossed her arms over her chest. "Where did you see her?"
"I'm not sure, it was like I was looking at a sunset and she was staring out at it. It was so quick I had to see if she even existed, then I found her mugshot online," he explained while running a hand through his hair.
"Maybe Iggy just needs a haircut," she inquired.
"No, really! I have to show you-"
"Dylan, Ella comes first. Now come on, the flock is already outside."
Our next flight towards Wisconsin was probably the worst one I've ever taken. The predicted storm started raging in, and the wind was not helping me stay aloft. I could barely cut through the twisted thermals, and Speck was clinging on for dear life. We barely made fifty miles before I had to land somewhere. I couldn't even see where I was while maneuvering through the rain. I finally saw a huge barn-like shelter and aimed for it, though the wind had other ideas. Speck gripped my shirt in her fists as I struggled to land behind the building. Once my feet hit the ground, I tried to pull in my wings, but the air caught me again and I was flying sideways. Speck squealed as I reached for a telephone pole last second, feeling the wind rake across my feathers and tangle my hair. I held on until it died down enough to where we were fully planted.
"Run!" I shouted and we darted for the red structure. Speck struggled to keep grounded as she was lighter than average, so I turned on the speed and grabbed her around the waist. "I got you!" I cried as I bolted for the barn. Once inside I grabbed the handle and pulled it shut to the best of my ability with my hair in my face. Then the wind stopped, and I slumped against the dark wall, panting and trying not to exasperate my lungs. It felt like the wind stole my personal oxygen, so I put my head between my knees to calm my breathing. It was the only technique Speck and I came up with to calm these breathing attacks.
Speck had her hands on her knees, catching her breath as well, "It. Smells. In. Here."
I could only nod in agreement as my vision was getting blurry again. I didn't want to faint in a manure-filled barn, so I didn't speak for at least ten minutes. Once my heart rate calmed down and my vision came back, I slowly sat up and looked around. It was dim but I could distinctly see a couple of pigs in the back corner, squealing and snorting at each other. The cracks in the walls provided limited light to our unkempt surroundings. A wave of wind hit the barn, causing the whole thing to rattle and air whistled its way in.
"How long do we have to stay here?" Speck whined nasally, her fingers pinching her nose.
"Probably until the storm passes," I said faintly.
She groaned and tipped her head back in annoyance.
We ended up leaning against the barn door for at least an hour until the walls stopped shaking every other minute. Speck's head leaned against her knees while she kept one hand to cover her nose, switching hands every so often. I had my head rested against the door, my eyes half closed as I waited and listened to the storm outside.
"Hey Speck," I started, but I couldn't put my thoughts to words.
"Mm?" she turned her head towards me.
"Do you think Fang cares about us? Like cares enough to help us?"
"I think he does," she switched hands again. "If he didn't care then he wouldn't be doing what he's doing now, right?"
"I guess…" I peered towards the pigs in the corner of the barn, wishing that everything will be fine, and that I'll see him, and he'll tell me where my brother is. "I just don't know if him bailing on us last minute is a red flag or not. I know, you said he's prioritizing, but I just don't want to be-" I stopped, realizing what I was about to say.
I felt Speck's free hand grab mine, "Even if he does leave us behind, then we'll find your brother in a different way."
"Our brother," I corrected her, since we technically shared a last name now.
"I know, but he was your brother first," she blinked up at me.
Her words hit harder than I expected them to. Just because he was my biological brother doesn't mean he was more important than her. I never knew James, but I've known Speck for what felt like eternity. God damn it, was I really being that kind of person? Blood wasn't always thicker than water, but blood was the only thing I had left of my identity. Shouldn't I figure out myself too? I gripped my hair and felt a tear build up in my eye. Damn it all! Why couldn't I do this right? Of course I have to treat her as equal to James, yet here I am on a quest to find him instead of seeing her point of view!
"Amber?"
"S-Sorry," I sniffed, taking in all the pig odors at once and coughing. "I-… I'm sorry Speck, it's all my fault."
"It's okay. This was the only place you could find. I can deal with the barn smell, see?" She let go of her fingers and instantly regretted it, hacking and coughing up spit.
I lightly chuckled and wiped my eye with the back of my hand, "No, it's not that, but thanks for dealing with this."
She cocked her head to the side, still confused as to what I was saying. "I meant I'm sorry about putting the plan first before everything. I know I've been selfish about seeing my brother, and I'm sorry for leaving you out to dry." She went quiet but I continued, "You're more important to me than seeing him. I want to make sure you're okay and happy before I do anything. And… I'm sorry I haven't been. You matter a lot to me."
"Well, yeah…" she muttered to herself, and my heart fell a little.
I hung my head, "I'm really sorry, seriously. I'll never do that again."
"It's okay," she sighed.
"No, it's not. I want to make it up to you," her ears perked up and she glanced at me. "What do you want to do? I'll make it happen, no matter what it is." I paused before adding, "Just nothing that is too crazy expensive."
She shifted on the hay-ridden ground, "Well… I still want to go to school."
Of course. "Okay, then I'll get you into school."
"Really?" she looked up at me, her expression full of hope
I swallowed a bit, trying to rack my brain for every possible way of getting this to work. "Yeah, I promise I'll enroll you, but don't think you'll be attending in-person classes for a while. You might have to start out online- I mean- if you're okay with that-"
"That's fine!" she beamed, hugging me. "That's all I've ever wanted! Oh my gosh, thank you Amber! Thank you thank you thank you!"
I smiled back, embracing her small frame. "Of course, anything for you Speck." Deep down, though, I knew this was going to be difficult. How was I going to find an online classroom? How was she going to complete assignments, participate, and learn while on the run so much? Does this mean no more flying? I glanced down at her, babbling about how excited she was to learn. No, I had to adjust. For her. For my sister.