Chapter 16

I stood outside the seemingly abandoned theatre in the slums of the city; the darkness of night surrounded me and chilled me to the bone. I had almost missed the meeting that was on tonight. My regional meeting was scheduled for tonight, so the others would have been as well. Now you may think it's stupid that we hold the regional meetings at the same time, but if anyone wanted to bust them all up at once, they'd need plenty of people to do that. It was the council meetings we had to separate, always at unknown locations apart from those attending, and they are never on the same day or at the same time.

I was already late for the meeting, but I usually knew how to make an entrance. Flame was next to me, looking up at the stars in the night sky. I walked up to the door way and entered into the foyer. I could hear talking going on in the theatre beyond, hear the shouting of the leaders, the cries of those attending. I walked to the theatre entrance and pushed open the door. The theatre was set up in a circular room. Tiers upon tiers of seats went up in rings around the central stage in the middle of the room. Like everything else, the stage was circular. Movies were played on the hologram projectors and gave a 3D vision of the scene. The theatre was not in good condition, the projectors broken, the seats weren't the best but were still useable Most of them full, but there were the occasional empty seats, signs that the virus was spreading.

"We are in danger here," the representative on the stage was saying, "Have you noticed that the military presence has increased since the virus was found, yet no-one is giving us the hope of a cure? We are dying, and all they can do is contain it so that no-one else gets infected. What about us? What about those infected? What about those already dead? We have tried to get the attention of the council, yet what do they do? They turn us away. They turned Shadow away from them, and so he turned to the last person he knew could help him."

"Me," I said from the doorway.

I walked down the stairs and approached the stage, ignoring the stares of the crowd. The representative had stopped to look at me as I approached the stage.

"Shadow came and saw me," I said, "last night, right before he died from the infection. Now I would like some answers to my questions. First off, you mentioned the military, how their presence had increased to quarantine the city. What do you mean by increased? There should have been no need for the military here."

"Our thoughts exactly," the representative said, "Over the month, we have noticed a few military people in the neighborhood, but they have kept to themselves, and now we have quarantine. It's like they expected something to happen. Now, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

"Some people would know me by the name Nathan Corway," I replied, "Others, people who know me better would know me by the name of Blaze."

An intake of breath swept though the theatre as every person heard my name. It seems you become very well known when you blow up a whitecoat lab. That and the fact that some people knew who my parents were, but I doubt most of these people would know that.

"You are second generation, right?" the representative said.

"Of course I am," I replied, "Don't you think I'm a little young to be a first generation and a little old to be third generation?"

"It's just that we have found some first generation in our region," the Representative said, "we thought two of them might be your parents."

Chapter 17

"I highly doubt that," I replied, "My parents are dead. I found information on them when I was being held at The Academy."

There were shivers around the room at the mention of The Academy. People had known about that place, especially after our escapes, but surprisingly, the Government hadn't been able to find it. No-one of our kind was willing to go back there. Not if they could help it.

"They died before I was born," I continued, "And I was created by the whitecoats from combining their DNA. There is nothing special about me. I'm just like everyone else here."

"Then why did you come here?" Someone shouted from the audience, "Why risk yourself to infection?"

"Because I'm searching for the truth!" I shouted back, "I'm searching for who created this virus, why they did, although that may be pretty obvious, and I'm searching to see if there is a cure for the virus. I don't want it spreading; I don't want it to kill the ones I care about. I don't want my daughter to die from this virus."

Many murmurs of agreement ran through the crowd. People saw where I was coming from, why I was doing it, but they couldn't see how, considering I was just as susceptible to getting infected as they were.

"But the main reason why my sister and I came here," I said, indicating Flame standing just inside the doorway, "is so that we can search for the answers without being infected."

Outraged cries came from the audience. People couldn't see how that two people, out of their entire species could be immune to the virus. But they also couldn't see how we weren't trying to create a cure from it.

"It is our shared ability to connect with the dead themselves that gives us this ability," I shouted over the noise, instantly silencing the crowd, "Because of our affinity towards the dead, we have an immunity to all diseases and viruses except for genetic diseases or sicknesses passed on by parents. There is only one problem with our immunity, and that is that it doesn't help anyone other than me or my sister. We can't make a cure from it."

After everyone seemed to calm down a bit, the meeting continued like any other meeting I had attended. People updated the representatives on events that had been going on so that the representatives could report to the council, although I doubt these people would be able to talk to the council. That was up to me.

After the meeting finished the representative invited Flame and I to return to his apartment to talk. As we stepped in through the door, he removed the cloak he was wearing to reveal short light-brown hair that sat mop-like on his head, in a similar style to mine. The wings he revealed were pitch black, no sign of any other color amongst them. Both were around fifteen feet in length and were folded tightly against the indentation along his spine, like most Angelan do when in public to hide what they are. He turned to look at Flame and I and I saw his eyes. They were a deep blue, almost black in color, which disturbed most people who only gave a glance at him. You had to look closely to see that they were actually blue, and it helps having our enhanced vision as well. It was those eyes that made me realize something.

"You're Shadow's brother," I stated calmly, "aren't you."

Chapter 18

"Yes," he said, "I am. My name is Dark. I'm glad to meet you, Blaze. Shadow has said so much about your leadership skills. He said that you taught him a few tricks before he died. Tell me truthfully though; was he in pain when he died?"

"He was in pain," I answered truthfully, "but that was because he was infected, his death was quick and he died peacefully. Dark, there is one thing. Shadow gave me a file before he died. It held information about the virus and the first people found dead because of it. Dark, how did Shadow get that information?"

Dark sighed, leaning back on the couch and was silent for a moment, thinking about what to say to me.

"Shadow was the first to notice the military presence in the area," Dark answered, "He was suspicious at first and inquired as to what was going on, but he never got any information. So he 'monitored their communications', no doubt a trick you taught him. That's how he got most of the information. As for the files on the virus I don't know how he got them, neither do I know how he got the files on the test subjects. But the outbreak was because one of the experiments escaped from wherever they were being tested. But she was already infected when she escaped. Shadow found out about her escape through his monitoring. He went to see if he could help her, not knowing she was infected. He found her dying in the forest. It was then he realized what was going on and tried to get in contact with the council, but they didn't want to meet him, not outside of the normal schedule. It cost him his life. But I am glad he got through to you."

"You do realize that Shadow could be the one responsible for releasing the virus into the public, don't you?" I asked, "He could have been the one who brought it back here and infected others."

"Yes," Dark said, sighing, "I do realize that. Although, I was the one in most contact with him and I haven't been infected."

"Perhaps certain powers grant people immunity to the virus," Flame said. "If you don't mind me asking, what is your ability?"

"Can't you tell?" Dark said, "I chose my name for a reason. I can manipulate darkness, shadows, and things like that. I can even make shadows solid enough to cause physical damage."

"Interesting," I replied, "But at the moment I can't see a connection between the two abilities. If we can find a connection between those immune to the virus, we might be able to find a cure from It."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here," Dark said, "I doubt you'll be able to leave the city now. Not with the quarantine and all. The soldiers have a shoot to kill order for anyone trying to leave or enter the city illegally."

"I've already met the welcome wagon," I said. "They're a happy bunch. Thanks for letting us stay here though. You got a map anywhere?"

"Yeah," Dark said while pointing to the wall opposite the window, "Over there. Shadow wanted a wall sized map of the country so we placed it up there. Why?"

"Thanks," I replied, "I just have something to sort out. That's all."

Chapter 19

Journal Entry 18 March 2021:
Been a long time since I have written in here. Looking over this stuff makes me appreciate all that I have: Skye, Drake, Flame, Terra, Falcon and Max. Rei's new to the flock, but even so, the others seemed to warm up to her quickly. That's why I am furious as I write this. The data Shadow gave me held the locations of where each of the twelve test subjects died, including the girl Shadow had found. I marked them on the map, all the locations; and all of them-all twelve deaths-are linked together at one singular point: a certain area of the forest outside the city. But the thing that makes me furious is the fact that they all point to a single part of the map that is blank. You know what that means. Whenever you see a blank point on a map, chances are that a top secret lab or something is being kept hidden.

The point I found was one of those, just as I suspected. There was a lab outside the city where they experiment with different diseases that can control or kill our kind. Can't people like that just leave us alone? We haven't done anything wrong except exist, and that's the only excuse they need. I need to find out about this place, who's running it and what they are doing there. To tell the truth, I am still furious, but the question is, how long have they been there? How many people have been killed because of their experiments? All of this brings back memories of my childhood. Always being constantly afraid of what would happen next, what they would do to you. I don't believe anyone should go through that, not even the people I hated for doing it, although sometime I had dreams of reversing the roles. Welcome to the world of the sick and twisted. I just hope Skye and Max are alright. I hope the rest of the flock is as well. I don't want any of them to get sick on me, I don't want them dying. There is already enough death already.

I stopped writing in my journal and placed it back in my pack. It had been a while since I had last seen it. Last time I had written in it was before Max was born. After that I was too busy with life and everything in it. I lay back on the bed Dark had lent me and stared up at the stars in the night sky through the skylight in the roof, thoughts of Skye and Max entering my mind as I fell asleep.

Goodnight Skye and Max, I thought, wishing I could be with them, goodnight and please, please be safe.

Chapter 20

I had just finished falling asleep to the silence of the apartment when my cell phone began to ring on the bedside cabinet. My exhausted brain took a moment to register what it was before I picked it up.

"Hello?" I asked, looking towards the clock on the bedside cabinet close to where I had left my phone. It was only ten thirty at night, but I had been able to get a full hour of sleep without interruptions.

"Nathan," Skye replied, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," I replied, "Is everything alright back at home?"

I heard a crash over the phone and a yelp of pain.

"It's chaotic as ever," Skye replied, "Falcon figured out one of his powers. He is a teleport. He's been trying it out all over the place."

"How did he find out?" I asked, listening to the background noise of more crashing, shouts of surprise and annoyance, "Shouldn't everyone be in bed?"

"He accidentally teleported himself into the next door neighbor's pool," Skye replied, "he came to the front door dripping wet and looking like a drowned rat."

I laughed at that. Picturing Falcon as a drowned rat was one thing. But now being able to teleport? I could just imagine him popping up around the house and causing mischief. After I finished laughing and got serious I spoke again.

"But that's not the reason you originally phoned me," I asked, "Is it?"

"No, it isn't," Skye replied. "Even this far apart, you still know what I'm thinking without using your powers."

"I guess it's just the bond we have," I replied. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Turn on the TV," Skye replied. "There is something on the news you might want to see. It's about the 'epidemic' as they call it."

I turned on the TV and switched to the news channel. The news was just coming back from an advert break and had just started talking about an injection to slow down the infection of the virus. They were calling it a suppressant, a way for scientists to get enough time to analyze the virus and find a cure…