Huzzah for chapter 12! lol ummm, the usual, R&R and enjoy!
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12
I fell to the ground, right in front of Ari, clutching my head. It felt like my skull was going to burst as I let out a cry of pain, then curled up and released a short moan. Was it the headaches again? Or maybe…oh no. I gathered enough strength to pull my hands up in front of my face, just in time to watch them morph into clawed, furry, Eraser hands. I screamed again and let my hands feel my face, which had now grown into a long wolf-like snout, complete with sharp fangs and more dark hair.
What was happening to me? Was I finally becoming a full Eraser? I remembered not too long ago when I had told Fang to kill me if I should ever become an Eraser. Maybe…maybe this was it.
You will save the world. Don't give up now, and don't let this stop you. The Voice couldn't have bugged me more than it did right then. "I don't care!" I noticed I was screaming out loud but didn't seem to care at all. "I don't care about saving the world! It's not my job, it's not my flock's job, and it never will be!"
You can't escape your destiny. "Shut up!" I shouted, and without thinking I stood up and smashed my head against the desk in front of me. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt at all, and I did it again and again until I could taste blood in my mouth that had run down my forehead. Way to go, Max.
Ari was staring at me for a moment with the same emotionless eyes he always had, then leaned over my pitiful, crouching form, and wiped his finger across my head, stopping the flow of blood. I turned my head to look at him, and noticed tears running down my face. "Ari…why?" I whimpered. I couldn't believe it. I never thought I would stoop this low. But I had had enough.
"Why what?" he whispered softly. "Why are you becoming an Eraser? Why is my father an Eraser? Why do you need to save the world?"
"Why everything!" I was still crying and crouching on the ground, but something awkward and unbelievable happened at that point. Ari put his arm around my shoulders and held me there for the strangest moment of my life. And that's saying a lot for having lived with a flock of bird-kids forever.
"I can't tell you everything. But what I can say is that you and I will do something spectacular. And it's not too far off either."
"What are you talking about?" I wasn't crying anymore, and Ari had released his embrace, but my eyes still felt swollen from the dried tears.
"Just look at this." Ari helped me up from the ground and pointed again at the computer monitor, which still showed the two Jebs, one of which was now a fully morphed Eraser. "Listen." Ari flicked a switch on the edge of the small screen, and voices instantly crackled into life. By reading their lips, I could tell it was the two Jebs talking.
"So you really think Type 26 knows?"
"Yes, my son is probably informing her of everything as we speak." I still couldn't believe it, but when I heard it, Eraser Jeb's voice sounded exactly like the Jeb I had used to love.
"You mean MY son!"
"He's my son too, and you know it. You just can't live with the fact that I'm the superior, and I'm number two!"
"Shut up! Just because you may be stronger doesn't mean you're the original. Ari is still my son, and even though you try to pretend, even though you told Section 2 that he was your son, you know it's all lies!"
"What? Just like this game you're playing? It's human lives, Roland! Human lives! Children that you mixed with stupid birds. They can never be normal now!"
The guy named Roland pulled out a small handgun, the same one I'd seen in the subways back in New York, and aimed it straight at Eraser Jeb.
"The flock still thinks I'm you. Ever since you left them, they've thought I was you. I thought I had created the perfect human with Type 26, but she's as naïve as the others! Well, now there won't be any confusion with you gone, will there?"
"Roland, even if you kill me, you know Type 26…I mean, Max, will eventually meet her goal, her reason for living. You can't change that!"
"Hmm, maybe I can't change that she'll save someone, but maybe it doesn't need to be the world. I created Type 26 A and B as tests, but if something stronger were to destroy them, they'd have no one left to save but each other, now would they?"
Eraser Jeb just stared at Roland, wide eyed and open mouthed. "Roland…you wouldn't kill me…I'm a part of you."
"I know, that's why I must kill you. I was created to be the perfect human, but it was a horrible failure, we all know that. I was Type 1. And you were my successor, Type 1-B. But we were both failures, now weren't we? Maybe before I die I'll at least do some good by destroying Section 2 and Type 26-B. I WILL create the perfect human, Type 27!" Without another word, Roland fired the gun, which was now loaded with real bullets, and Eraser Jeb fell to the ground, blood already pooling under his head.
"Ari…" I stared wide-eyed at Ari, and he looked as if he was about to cry. I hadn't seen him this way since…well since before he became an Eraser.
"That was my father…the one named Roland." Ari broke down and fell to the floor the way I had moments before.
He's hurt more than you can imagine, the Voice said, and for once I wasn't annoyed with it. I leaned over and touched Ari gently on the shoulder.
"Max…" Ari was choking down a sob as he continued, "I…I'm not the real Ari, the one you knew. The one you killed. I'm Type 25-B."
Well this was surely some depressing news. So not only had I apparently obliterated the real Ari, but the one standing before me was a mere clone. Just like the Jeb you once loved. The Voice really knew how to put a lump in your throat with just the wrong thing to say at the wrong time.
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So do you think you caught everything in that chapter? If you answered "yes" then I applaud you for keeping up with the constant insanity of my mind, if you answered "no" then you are probably a normal human being. Good for you! lol Will post more soon!