Title: "Escape and Evade"
Author: Meka Casto
E-Mail: this_only_night@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: I have absolutely no rights at all concerning Dark Angel, its characters, or its plot lines. I'm just a lowly high school kid.
Distribution Notice: If you want it, feel free to archive it, as long I'm told about it and my original credits remain attached.
Author's Notes: This is the beginning of a series that I hope will last for at least ten chapters or more. As of this point, I have a general idea of what I'm going to do with the rest of story, so I'm going to go ahead and tack on an "R" rating, just to be safe.
Don't forget to review!!
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Evade and Escape (1/?)
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Max sat on the roof of her apartment building and stared out over the city. The sun was setting in the distance. Refracting light painted the sky a soft pink, a sharp contrast to the gray monoliths that made up downtown Seattle. Down below her, people were out and about, soaking up what was left of the rare sunshine. They looked so happy from ten stories up; no one would ever guess the problems they were faced with on a daily basis.
Max stood up and stretched lithely, breathing in the fresh air. There was almost something magical about the twilight, she thought to herself. Time seemed to come to a standstill as she turned her gaze to the west. Soft pink melted into deep scarlet as the sun dipped below the horizon and disappeared, leaving darkness to rule the city.
"Max." The soft whisper came from behind her. She whirled around, looking for its owner. Her body tensed up as she prepared for an attack, but none came. Instead, a figure cloaked in shadow emerged from the shadows. Stealthily, he moved forward and a ray of moonlight reflected in his pale blue eyes.
"Zack?" Max whispered in confusion. "Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"What…what are you doing here?" Max stood aloof, uncomfortable. The last time she had seen Zack, he'd been almost furious with her for not leaving Seattle to cross the Canadian border with him and Tinga. "How's Tinga?" she asked tentatively.
"She's fine. They're all fine." She could tell he was evading her question. Fine, she thought, if he doesn't want to talk, we won't talk.
Mentally shrugging her shoulders, Max moved back to the edge of the roof and looked off into the distance. She could feel Zack's cold gaze on her back as she stared at the Seattle skyline. It was a long time before he spoke again.
"You have to leave, Max." His voice was forceful, commanding, inviting no resistance.
Anger flared inside her as she whirled to face him. "Get it through your thick skull, soldier boy. We've been through this. I'm not leaving."
He stepped forward and glared at her from under blonde lashes. "Do you even care what happens to you, Maxie? Do you? Or do you have some sort of death wish I don't know about?"
A moment passed, heavy with silence, as the siblings continued to stare each other down. Zack was the first to break and, with an exasperated growl, he dropped a folder unceremoniously at her feet.
"Read it, Max. Then tell me you don't want to leave." He turned and moved away from her. Before he faded into the shadows, he swiveled around to face her again. "I'll be back, Max, but I'm not gonna wait forever for you to come to your senses." With that, Zack disappeared into the night and was gone.
Max stood in the darkness and seethed. How dare he just pop in and out of her life like some macabre genie from an Arabian fairy tale and lord over her like he was entitled to her obedience? He had no claim on her, none at all, and Max's independent side was rubbed the wrong way by his imperial attitude. Well, she thought with a huff, soldier boy was just going to have to get used to being disobeyed. Besides, his ego could use a little deflating.
Tossing her chocolate brown curls over her shoulder in silent defiance, Max returned to her concrete perch on the edge of the roof. She hugged her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees as she let her gaze wander aimlessly across the city skyline. Nighttime really was the best part of the whole day.
She sat there for a few minutes more before standing and brushing the dirt from her jeans. As she was moving to cross the roof, the toe of her shoe brushed over something, and she leaned down to pick up the folder Zack had practically thrown at her. She would have like to have hurled the offending brown folder from the roof and watched the papers as they fluttered in the midnight breeze. However, her feline DNA must have been accompanied by feline curiosity because Max couldn't help opening the folder up and peering inside.
Building diagrams. Medical records. Barcodes. Names. Max's supersensitive eyes skimmed them all in record time. As the meaning contained in the sinister papers became clear to her, a cold tendril of fear climbed an icy trail up her spine, sending shivers to each and every part of her body.
As she closed the folder, she could feel her heart begin to beat wildly inside her chest, and for once, she wasn't sure what course of action she should take. She stared off into space for a long moment, searching for an answer. When a solution finally presented itself, she shook her head, wondering why it had taken her so long to think of him.
Logan.
Of course. Logan. He would know what to do about the records and diagrams she held in her hands. He would know how to keep her safe. How to keep himself safe.
Max took one last look at the bright yellow moon before bounding down the fire escape three steps at a time.
As she revved up the Ninja and rode off into the night, Max concluded that, if the old adage was true and curiosity really did kill the cat, she was going to need a lot of help in the days and weeks to come.
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Okay, so, what did you think? Are you hooked? Annoyed? Any other sort of strong emotion? I'm going to work on posting the next chapter ASAP so you won't have to wait *too* long in suspense. lol.