"Amber," I said a little too curtly.
Fang stood there with his hand still out, but I couldn't convince myself to reciprocate. He retreated awkwardly and gave me another once-over.
"What…" he glanced at my stained pants and I instantly went red.
"It was an accident," Speck stepped forward, her voice still a tad raspy. The girl rose an eyebrow and I turned my face away. I almost wanted to smack Speck up the side of her head, but if I wanted the info on my brother, I had to downplay it.
Fang slightly shrugged, a movement that was almost nonexistent, but my senses were hyper-focusing. "I've seen worse."
I guess he was trying to make me feel better, but I just felt antsier. Yeah, no problem, it's not like I just tore out a guy's throat or anything. The taste was still in my mouth, somehow, and even the thought of it made me gag.
"I'm Maya," the girl joined Fang by his side. She also looked me up and down again, making me feel even more self-conscious. Was it always going to be like this? "And you're Speck, right?" She bent down a little to look Speck over.
"Yeah," she stated before coughing a little. My eyes flashed towards her.
Maya narrowed her eyes, "What happened to your neck?"
I pulled Speck to me as she put her hand up to cover it. Why does she want to know? Well, even I didn't know, since I was busy dealing with Jacob that entire time. All I could hear was her screams in the background. My body shivered, wondering what the hell Raiden was trying to do.
Murderer.
I blinked the thought away.
"A fight," Speck mustered out, pride clear in her tone.
"Against who?" the bird girl queried. Fang slightly nodded, also curious as to what happened.
"Does it matter?" I bit back, surprising the two of them. I analyzed their faces, trying to figure out why they were so interested in us. I just wanted info on my brother, then we were out of there.
"Yes, actually," Fang crossed his arms over his chest. The more up close we were, the more I noticed how toned and fit he was despite being tall and skinny. It had to be the mutated genes in him. If I were just part bird, then I would have been skinnier and taller. I wonder if James was like that too.
"ITex," I replied matter-of-factly.
Both stared at each other, surprised at my statement. What, did they never hear of ITex before? They must know, being out and about and harboring bird wings on their backs.
"How do you know ITex?" Fang asked.
Speck didn't say anything, so I replied, "They made us, obviously."
I narrowed my eyes at them. ITex must have made them too, unless there was another psycho-scientist-run company that crafted animal genes into children out there.
"We mean, how do you know it was ITex that did this?" Maya waved her hand a little. "We've never seen others like us that have survived…" She paused, looking us over again. "This long."
Leon's face flashed in my mind, reminding me of the first day I witnessed housekeeping at the facility. My throat closed as I thought about all the other children who became dinner or were prodded to pieces. And I thought Speck ended up with them. My hand squeezed Speck's shoulder.
"Long story," I muttered, remembering when Jacob proclaimed his association to me while unveiling my fake parents' real intentions. I also didn't want to tell them that Speck was once one of their lackies; she wasn't anymore, so why say it?
"Okay," Maya drew out. "Could you at least tell us how 'this' happened?"
I growled, "Why don't you just tell me where my brother is?"
Maya frowned, about to retort but Fang stepped in, "Listen, we don't mean to be rude, we're just curious."
"And I'm curious to know where my brother is," I snapped back, startling him.
"How do you even know you have a brother?" he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Because my parents-" I paused, realizing what he was getting out of me. I swallowed, frantically deciding to use my first parents' names to protect my real ones. "My parents… they told me. They told me I was part of some experiment, to see how each twin would react to… additions at different ages." I subconsciously pinched the fabric of my pants. "My brother got it when he was a baby, and I… well…"
Silence spurred between us, and my heart rate picked up. I felt like my insides were eating at each other, and my thoughts kept lingering on all the details I was leaving out.
"Your parents just told you that?" Maya wrinkled her nose.
"Well, yeah," I exhaled. "After I woke up in a cage, of course."
Maya shut up instantly, but confusion still etched her face. Fang? Not so much. He seemed more understanding, but I might just be bad at reading him.
"So, you were kidnapped?" he asked.
"Yeah, they knew the entire time. They… they were just raising me until I turned ten, then they would hand me over to ITex," I clarified.
"So, they worked for ITex," he confirmed, and I nodded. He slowly blinked, pitying me for what I went through. But that wasn't what I wanted. That was the last thing I needed.
"Yeah, well, they're assholes," I expressed, causing them both to stare at me wildly. What, I'm not allowed to swear? Sure, Speck's a kid, but she's gone through much worse things than hearing curse words.
A small grin appeared on Fang's face, "Adults always are." I couldn't help myself and quickly smiled back at him.
"I'm… still confused," Maya chirped in. "You say your parents worked for ITex, but you were also kidnapped by ITex? Why didn't they just hand you over?"
"They 'claim' that they missed the deadline because they 'loved me too much' to let me go," I rolled my eyes, though my heart ached towards them. I guess not everybody at ITex was that horrible, but what they committed to trumped everything they tried to fix. "And since they did that, well, the initial experiment failed. ITex stole me back, decided to mutate me for fun, and offed my parents for not complying."
"Holy-," Maya mouthed, while Fang visibly froze as he processed everything. As much as I wanted to shut down in the beginning, the anger towards my fake parents rose like a fire and spread through me. My hands clenched into fists and I returned to standing on the balls of my feet. Man, if I ever saw them again, I would punch their lights out. Speck wrapped her fingers around my hands, attempting to ease my fury, so I relaxed since I was scaring her. Concern was full in her eyes and I instantly thought of what I did to Jacob again.
Killer.
"So? What about you two?" I prodded. No way was I going to let them pick out my memories and get away with it. I was also done talking about myself.
"Well," Fang ran a hand through his hair. "I never knew my parents, but I was born with wings." He glanced at Maya who was trying not to look at him. "I grew up in cages until I escaped."
"And…?" I analyzed him.
He shrugged, "I've been on the run since then."
Huh, well I guess I could accept that. But I knew he wasn't telling me the whole truth. What about those other winged kids? Wasn't James one of them? And why wasn't he with them now? His blog said little to nothing about the rest of his "flock", except that they tried to find their parents once then settled with saving the world. When he left them, did everybody leave and go off on their own too? That would mean my brother, my blind brother, was alone and wandering to who knows where. My heart dropped to my stomach.
I had to force away the heaviness and looked at Maya. "And you?"
"They made me," she let out a shaky sigh. She crossed her arms over her chest and Speck stepped forward.
"Me too," Speck sheepishly replied. Thankfully she didn't continue, but the heaviness in her voice was clear as Maya's. They both despised ITex, but in doing so they hated their existence. Speck more so, since she was bred to be one of them. But Maya? I tried to study her face, which was simultaneously sullen and angered, making me wonder what she's been through.
But hey, we were all keeping something secret.
"Now that our pasts are on the table, we should get going," Fang peered around the area, as if he was sensing something I wasn't. Maybe he was just antsy?
"Wait-" Maya stopped him. "I thought Speck couldn't fly?" She looked down at Speck, who flushed at being called out.
"So what if I can't?" she pouted, her voice was still rough around the edges. "Amber can carry me. She always has been." She looked up at me and I lightly nodded.
"But if you can't fly…" Maya bent down a little, offending Speck who emphasized her pout. "What are those spots?"
"My scales," Speck huffed. "Amber has them too." She pointed at my arm and I instinctively hid it behind my back.
"Scales?" Fang queried.
"Like fish scales?" Maya reiterated.
"Yeah," she grinned. "And we can breathe underwater."
"Really?" Maya awed as she looked back at Fang. "Didn't you say you can too?"
I blinked, confused as to how that was possible. I examined Fang again but saw no visible sign of scales or other fish-like properties to him. There's no way… I rose an eyebrow at Maya, wondering what she was trying to pull.
He barely rose his shoulders, "Yeah, but I developed that later." His voice trailed off, leaving me in a worse state of confusion. How do you develop underwater breathing? Were they really pulling my leg? Surely, they must be lying, right?
"Can you?" Speck asked Maya.
"Oh- no, I can only fly," she chuckled a little at Speck's enthusiasm.
Speck's face fell a little, but she was even more excited to hear that she, as well as I, weren't the only ones that could filter out water. I, on the other hand, was deliberating on how Fang could have attained the ability. It made zero sense. Birds have no connection to fish, except for having vertebrae, so why in the world could he breathe underwater? It made my mind swirl, trying to think of ways that made this realistic. Was this something beyond science?
It had to be; we are mutants, after all.
"Let's get going," Fang stated as he flared his wings out again, creating a small gust of wind between us. In doing so he winced, his left wing faltering as Maya shot him a look. I blinked at him. Speck also noticed and spoke up.
"What happened to your wing?" she asked, pointing at the visible uncleanliness of the feathers by his shoulder.
"A scratch," he quickly admitted, though I was sure it must have been more than that. He must have similar regeneration properties like Speck and I, so a scratch shouldn't be that bad to make him flinch.
"Fang-"
"I'm fine," he cut Maya off, who stood closer to him in a protective-like manner.
"You sure?" she questioned him as he nodded.
"The sooner we get back, the faster I can patch up," he spoke through his teeth.
I narrowed my eyes in concern. That reaction… it was just like when I got shot. My arm casually crossed over my abdomen, and my stomach churned a little at the memory. I had to fight through it, feel the pain of my muscles rapidly healing themselves, and fly while carrying Speck.
"Wait-" Speck broke me from my thoughts. She gazed up at me, "Amber can help!"
"Speck! Shh!" I exclaimed, instantly going red.
"But you can hea-" I quickly clamped my hands over her mouth. She feverishly tried to pull away my fingers.
"What?" Maya rose her brow at Speck and trailed her gaze to me. "What did you say?"
Speck's muffled voice barely escaped my fingers as I tried to calm her down. "N-Nothing! She didn't say anything," I reddened as I stumbled over my words. "I mean- she means that we have bandages, if you need them."
Fang shook his head in reply, "I'm fine."
"Ugh, Fang," Maya gruffly sighed, turning towards him. "You got shot. At least get some fresh bandages."
He didn't react and instead locked eyes with her.
"No!" Speck managed to get through. I began to tussle with her, holding her close to me while covering her mouth with my other hand. But my attempts were futile as she wriggled free, "She can heal you! Like, heal heal you."
"What do you mean by that?" Maya replied. Fang analyzed me, trying to understand.
"Speck!" I pled as I stared at her, my face feeling like the sun.
"Amber, show them!" her big brown eyes looked up at me. "You can help him."
"He clearly doesn't want help," I pointed out, trying to keep my voice calm though I wanted to scream at her.
"Yes he does," Maya crossed her arms. "He's just too proud to show it." A small hint of pink rose on Fang's cheeks. Huh, I guess he wasn't a blank slate after all.
"Amberrr," Speck whined again, and I briefly closed my eyes to ease my racing heart.
"J-Just because I can, doesn't mean I should!" I harshly whispered to her, my cool slipping through my teeth. "And you shouldn't be telling everybody I can! Remember the cages?" If I had shown the scientists back there what I could do, I would either be sold to the highest bidder or opened up to find the source.
"But this is different!" she extended her arm towards Fang. "He's different. He's one of us."
"Okay, okay," Maya butted in while pinching the bridge of her nose. "Just so we're clear. You just said you can heal, am I right?"
I froze on the spot, refusing to respond while Speck eagerly nodded.
"Is-" Maya glanced towards Fang. "Is that even possible?"
"Well, I can breathe underwater, and we have wings," Fang rationalized. "Anything is possible." He took a step towards me.
I took a step back.
"Fang?" Maya's voice rose in concern.
"Show me what you've got," Fang rolled up his sleeve.
"What?" I gasped, my senses rocketing. "Wait- I don't think-"
"Fang! You don't know if-"
"She said she could, Maya," his voice turned stern. "And you want me better, so.."
"But how can you trust her like that?" Maya was clearly not buying it. I wouldn't blame her, even with all my freakish additions. "What if she's lying?"
"She said the word, so she's one of us. And it doesn't hurt to try," he bit back.
Maya quickly shut up and crossed her arms. She hastily looked around while bouncing on her feet.
As Fang stepped closer to me, the better I could detect his scent and see distinct features. His hair had a slight curl around his ears, and his eyes looked more like charcoal than black. I aslo picked up the discreet smell of blood coming from his shoulder.
Speck nudged me and I hesitantly moved closer, feeling puny next to his stature. He seemed skinny enough for his arms to be smaller than mine, but his height was very intimidating. His eyes carefully watched me as I shakily moved my hand to his shoulder area. As soon as my finger touched it, he quietly seethed, something I was sure only I could hear. I let out a shaky sigh and closed my eyes, feeling around the area.
The wound wasn't deep; the bullet only grazed him. His skin lightly pulsated under my touch, and when I moved to his wing he stiffened. I gulped and tried to focus on my energy despite the overwhelming anxiety I was feeling. I imagined it flowing down my arm and through my fingers, like water running down a slide. Based on the wound I didn't need to transfer a lot, but my nervousness made me overdo it, since I felt dizzy as soon as I retracted my hand.
"Amber!" Speck quickly moved behind me as I stumbled, trying to get my bearings. My heart sped as my body tried to gather any extra energy it just lost. I blinked while my senses slowly settled. Fang was staring at his shoulder and I followed his eyes.
The fabric of his clothes was still ripped and stained, but the blood on his skin was gone, and the wound was sealed with a ragged pink line. The feathers were still tousled, but I was positive they were fine despite their dark color blending in with the surrounding darkness.
Fang continued looking at the non-existent wound before looking back at me. His eyes were full of amazement and his lips slightly parted, as if he was going to say something. I quickly tensed up, ready for him to explode at me.
But he remained silent.