Okay. So it's been a while.

Complete understatement, actually. So my dumb computer ends up crashing and I end up losing nearly all of my documents on my computer. At least this story was on here. But for a while... I just wasn't motivate to write this. It's been almost a month, though, and finally inspiration came. So here's chapter 44, and here's knowing that the wait for the next chapter will be much much much much much much (much) shorter.

~~::~~

Chapter 44

"What happened to you?" Fang asked when we met up for breakfast in the hotel's lobby the next morning. "You look like you didn't get any sleep."

I glared at Jaz. "This idiot kept kicking me in her sleep! I had to sleep on the floor!" I yelled at her.

"Sorry!" Jaz held up her hands. "Sorry!"

Mrs. Jenkins walked by and gave me a disapproving glance. "Max, we do not yell in the fifth grade," she chastised me.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered as she walked away. "I bet we don't kick people while sleeping in the fifth grade either."

Jaz inched away from me while Iggy and Daisy burst out laughing. Fang just kind of stood there, although I could have sworn I saw him smirk a bit.

We joined the rest of our class, who were all standing in a line. I stood on my tiptoes, trying to see over everyone else. "What are they serving for breakfast?" I asked.

Fang, who was slightly taller than me – which ticked me off – craned his neck to look. "It's a buffet," he said in annoyed voice.

"That's really helpful," Iggy responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

As we finally reached the front of the line, I grabbed plates and handed them out to everyone. Iggy pushed his back at me. "Just tell me what there is to eat and I'll tell you if I want some," he said, scratching the back of his head.

I nodded. "Um, yeah. Okay! Let's see." I peered into the first bowl. "Yellow stuff. Oh. Scrambled eggs! Do you want some?" I asked Iggy as Fang grabbed the serving spoon and began shoveling eggs onto his plate. Daisy just stared at him.

"What?" he asked before moving on to the pancakes.

Daisy gulped. "Uh, nothing. That's… a lot of food for one person."

Fang just rolled his eyes at me, as if to say, I still don't trust her.

I stuck my tongue out at him, then turned back to Iggy. "So. To have scrambled eggs or to not have scrambled eggs?"

Iggy grinned. "Lots of eggs, please!"

We moved through the breakfast line, stacking up plates full of food. I was relieved that the breakfast was included with the price of the hotel, otherwise Mrs. Jenkins probably would have killed us for getting so much food and making her pay for it.

Some of our classmates gave us weird looks as we sat down at a table near the corner. I didn't blame them – they weren't the ones eating three bowls of Froot Loops, five pancakes, a plateful of eggs, and more bacon than I could count.

"This smells great!" Iggy said, digging into his plate of scrambled eggs.

Daisy just stared as us, slowly taking a bite of her Lucky Charms. "Uh…."

Jaz just laughed as she grabbed a forkful of her pancakes. "They eat a lot, I guess. Surprised me too, at first."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Yeah, stop talking like you're some sort of expert on the subject of bird-kid eating habits."

Daisy squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. I wondered if she had to use the bathroom or something.

If it was possible to give someone a dark, brooding look while stuffing their mouth with bacon, Fang did so, directed at me.

I just rolled my eyes back at him.

Iggy tried to make small talk. "Hey, Daisy, what do you like to do for fun?" he asked in between bites.

She stared at him. "Fun?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Daisy. Fun is when you-"

"I know what fun is," Daisy responded.

"F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and me," Jaz started singing. I groaned – I'd put up with Gazzy's constant Spongebob marathons enough to have heard that song once too many times.

I was wondering if the conversation could get any more awkward when Mrs. Jenkins called, "Everyone on the bus!"

I almost sighed in relief. Who would have thought Mrs. Jenkins would actually save me from something for once?

~~::~~

"Where are we going today?" Jaz asked, peering out the window of the bus. "Are we going to a museum?"

Iggy groaned. "Not another fart museum!" The last time we'd taken a trip to a museum…. Well, it had ended with Iggy and I finding out our old principal was evil and detention for the both of us.

I shook my head. "Nah, I heard Mrs. Jenkins say we were going on a hike at some national park." Hikes weren't too bad – they were at least much better than being crammed on a smelly old bus or taken on a tour of a boring capitol building. And if trouble came, we could just fly away.

Though of course, there wouldn't be any trouble, I reminded myself. I was sure the Erasers had no idea where we were, unless of course Daisy-

I peeked back at her. She was sitting a couple rows behind us, chatting with one of the other girls in our class. She didn't seem evil. At least, that was what I kept telling myself.

"We're here!" Mrs. Jenkins called as the bus pulled to a stop. "Now everyone, make sure you stay with a buddy. Stay with the group, and keep close to your buddy in the event that you are lost."

Jaz apparently took the meaning of "keep close to your buddy" too literally because she grabbed Fang's arm and wouldn't let go. "Let's be partners, Fnick!"

"Sure," Fang said, looking bored.

I grinned at Iggy. "Partners?" I asked.

"Of course," he responded. Everyone climbed off the bus, talking excitedly about how excited they were to go on a hike. Mrs. Jenkins led the way to a nearby trail and we all started following her.

I sighed as we hiked up a tree-lined path. "This is a boring hike."

"I know," Iggy said, almost tripping over a root sticking out of the ground.

"I wonder who Daisy is partners with," I murmured, having to look for her. Since we were towards the back of the group, I could see almost everyone in front of us – except Daisy.

I counted everyone – twenty-nine people. There were thirty people in my class, which meant that Daisy was the only one missing.

I stopped in my tracks. Iggy, sensing that I'd stopping walking, did the same. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Daisy's missing," I exclaimed. "She could have gotten hurt or something! We need to go find her." I wasn't best friends with Daisy or anything, but I truly didn't think she was evil. I couldn't just sit around while she could be in danger.

"We should tell Mrs. Jenkins first," Iggy replied, sounding worried.

I nodded. "Right. They can send out a search-" I froze, looking up the path that we had been walking on.

"Max?" Iggy looked scared. "What is it?"

"Mrs. Jenkins is gone," I responded. "They must have kept walking without us. But that's okay, because we can just fly overhead. I'll look for either our class or Daisy." I yanked off my jacket, snapping out my wings. God, it felt like forever since I'd flown.

Iggy nodded, doing the same, but looking at me a bit unconfidently. "Max. There's someone nearby," he whispered, pointing behind me.

I whipped around, facing the trees. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Hello there, little piggies," a voice growled from behind a tree. I reeled backwards, glancing at Iggy.

Eraser. Neither of us said anything, but we both knew it.

"It's a shame your little friend had to suffer," another voice said, and my fists clenched. Multiple Erasers. Who knew how many there were?

"What are you talking about?" I yelled out, but my own voice sounded unconfident and I almost choked on my own words.

"You mean you don't know?" a new voice purred as the three Erasers began emerging from the woods. "What do you think happened to her, then?"

"Leave Daisy alone!" I shouted. "She didn't do anything to you!"

"She resisted us," the first one said. "It's a shame, she would have been so useful to the School. Of course, the same could be said about you."

I grabbed Iggy's hand, ready to book it out of there, when my eyes made out another sight, behind the trees. The figure of a girl, bloody and beaten-looking and half-dead, slumped against a tree. I grimaced in horror.

We had to help her. It was Daisy.