Author's Note: Here's another chapter, hope you enjoy! XOXO- Skai.
That night, my sleep was plagued with nightmares once again. I woke with a shuddering gasp as the sun just barely rose above the horizon. I glanced hurriedly around to make sure I hadn't woken anyone else. Luckily, to my avail, everyone remained asleep, even Fang.
My heart pounded in my ears so loudly, I was sure the others could hear it. It thrummed and pulsed and made my head throb. I made a point of taking deep, quiet breaths until my heart no longer felt like it was beating out of my chest.
Not long after I had calmed down a little from my dreams, I found myself staring up above, watching a pageantry of color flood across the sky. I heard Max rise from her perch on a colossal branch. "Okay, everyone up," she called with far too much conviction for it to be morning.
"Up and at 'em. It's a whole new day!" I felt her gaze land on my and I pretended to sleepily rub my eyes as if I had been fast asleep. "I'm hungry," Nudge voiced. "You know what would be good? Like, one of those sausage McHeart-Attack things. The biscuit things. I want about eight of 'em."
If I was being honest, I hadn't the faintest idea what a sausage McHeart-Attack was, truthfully, I didn't even want to know. "We'll eat on the way. The Voice says we have to go somewhere, meet my mom."
The Voice? I inquired silently. "Could it be a trap?" For a seven year old, Angel was as paranoid as they came. "It could always be a trap," and with those words, Max leapt into the air.
I lifted myself from the branch I had slept on and followed after her. The air was cool against my face, if I had been awake before, I was now even more alert and awakened. The crisp clouds and pinky sky stimulated my senses. I breathed in the scent of the morning and smiled to myself. I could feel Fang angle his wings and glide towards my direction. The small breeze his wings made, made sure that I did.
"What is the Voice?" I asked. "The Voice," Fang explained. "Is a voice Max hears inside her head. It's helped us in the past, and it's almost never been wrong. We don't question it." It was a lot of faith to put in a suspicious voice but I didn't argue about it. Instead, I simply replied, "Got it."
We continued soaring after Max in comfortable silence until Fang startled me with a question. "Why aren't you sleeping?" "I did sleep," I defended. I told myself that I didn't see how it was any of his business. "Not a lot, certainly not enough."
I sighed, "You know why." He gave me a look that said he did. His dark eyes peered into me, and I didn't enjoy the feeling. It was as if he could like inside me, it made me feel revealed, observed, and… Vulnerable?
I broke eye contact and forced my eyes forward. I didn't want questions or soul searching or smoldering looks. No, all I wanted in that moment was to fly, and maybe also some breakfast. Fang loosed a disappointed breath and sped up to reach Max.
The heat that had radiated from his body through the morning air was gone. I missed it, I realized. Then I shoved the thought down before I could let it resurface. I couldn't think like that, I wouldn't, I repeated these lines to myself internally. I didn't even know him.
Ahead, Max and Fang whispered softly. I was sure the other's couldn't make out what they were saying over the wind, however, thanks to advanced hearing, I could. "Did you notice that Skylar faked waking up this morning? She had already been up, could she be hiding something?"
That comment came from Max. No, no, that's not what I wanted her to think. Fang, thankfully, was quick to jump to my defense. "That's not it, Max," he began. "She get's nightmares. She got one the first night she was here. She woke up crying and shaking."
Great, I mentally quipped, sarcasm lacing my thoughts, that's just what I wanted people to know. "And you didn't tell me," irritation coated Max's voice as she said the words. "Why did you need to know?"
"Because!" Max was exasperated now. "We're a flock, Fang. And we take care of our flock, even when they're new." The words were enough to make my heart swell and I had to bite my tongue to keep tears welling in my eyes. Probably not the best way to do so, considering I had to bite back a hiss of pain as I tasted blood.
"I know that, but she doesn't want to talk about it. Not to anyone, frankly, after having been what she's been through, neither would I." At least Fang understood that much about me, but Max was persistent. "We still have to try to help her."
"Fine," he cursed softly under his breath. "But just… Let me do it." Max cocked her head but didn't question it. A while after that, we made a quick stop to gulp down some breakfast before we continued flying.
An hour later, we reached our destination, it was a pretty close to Pittsburg. It was near a private landing strip which was shrouded by green forests and tall trees. Upon the runway sat a small jet. Max halted and the rest of us came to an abrupt stop along with her.
She focused her eyes on the plane and soon enough, a woman stepped out of the entryway of the flying vehicle. Max became slightly less tense. It was a small change, but it was enough for me to know that she knew and trusted this woman.
She pressed her wings into her spine and began to lose altitude. I had never done so before, but I followed suit. By now, I'd learned to trust my body and my wings. They seemed to know what they were doing more so than my mind.
I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy when the woman ran to Max and swept her up in a hug. "Max!" "Mom!" Max held her mother tightly to her. When she seemed to no longer be caught up in the euphoria of seeing the woman, Max asked, "What's going on?"
The woman gave a warm smile, "You see, My colleagues and I have come up with an unusual possibility for you guys. We wanted to see if you were interested."
Fang seemed as wary as I was, when he inquired, "Unusual how?" "Well, a sort of science trip," Max's mother began, and I could practically hear the alarm bells in my brain blaring their flashing red lights and sirens. "A science trip where you would work with scientists in a pretty remote place. We think it would be kind of fun for you guys, plus you would be useful to the scientists, plus this place is so remote that we think you'd be safer than usual while you're there."
"Huh," Max seemed to be analyzing this new information. Her mother raked her eyes over all the children, but her gaze landed on me. "Who is this?" "Mom, this is Skylar. Skylar, this is my mom, Dr. Martinez." Dr. Martinez smiled at me, "Is she like you guys?"
I let my wings answer for themselves and unfurled my sixteen foot wingspan. Her jaw dropped a little but she quickly recovered and turned to Max. "When did she join you?" I sensed her mother was ready to analyze whatever Max said next. "Two days ago." "Can she be trusted?" Max looked me over, "Yes. I believe so." Since when did Max become formal? I asked myself.
Dr. Martinez seemed to take a little more kindly to me after that. "How did you get a hairstylist to match your hair to your wings without seeing them? Or did you dye it yourself?" I gave her a soft grin and replied, "I didn't dye it, drugs and medications made it turn silver." Her face fell, "Oh, I'm so-." "Really it's fine." I hated having people tip-toe around me, around the questions they wanted to ask. I disliked it almost as much as I disliked the sympathy which radiated from her.
Fang, in an attempt to change the topic, asked, "Where is this remote place?" I gave him a grateful look, he simply dipped his head in acknowledgement. Dr. Martinez smiled. "I'd like to keep that a secret until you're almost there. To help you keep an open mind. And now I'd like you to meet one of the scientists."
She gestured to a woman behind her, who was a little shorter than Max and I, with hungry eyes. Eager to learn and see more about us. I shifted under the weight of her gaze. She was kind of pretty, I suppose, with a blonde braid down her back and a small figure. She stepped forward and held out her hand to Max. "I'm Dr. Bridget Dwyer," she introduced herself.
"What's this science field trip about?" Max voiced the question we were all thinking. "I'll explain once we're on board." I, for one, did not, whatsoever, like this idea. Nicely, Max spoke again, "How about you explain before we get on board."
She paused before clarifying, "Or we could all split now." Bridget panicked for a brief moment before telling, "Dr. Martinez has recommended you for a… Rescue mission." "Do tell." Snarkiness was obviously a trait of Max's when she wanted it to be. "What- or who- are we rescuing?" "The world?"
I was shocked by this at first but Max quickly agreed to anything and everything. And I thought I was selfless, this girl was ready to save the world at a moment's notice. We were soon ushered onto the plane, Dr. Martinez stayed behind.
Inside, everything was a bit small, yet it remained lavish and plush. Fang finished scoping out the interior of the plane and nodded. It was his signal for everything being all clear.
"Please, sit down and be comfortable. Fasten your seat belts, just for takeoff. As soon as we're in the air, you can have refreshments." Bridget Dwyer would have made a hell of a flight attendant, I noted while internally chuckling. I buckled my seatbelt and tightened it quite a bit, the last person to sit here had apparently been much larger than me.
"So where are we going?" Max said curiously. "Please tell me someplace warm, I've had enough cold this winter to last a lifetime." Dr. Dwyer cast her eyes to the ground. "South America." "Where in South America?" "Argentina."
"Rainforest?" Max guessed. "No, we'll be taking a boat from there." Fang perked up. "A boat? To where?" Bridget dodged the question, "How about something to eat?" She stood from her seat and headed to the back of the plane.
The plane ride was long and agonizing. Energy pulsed through my veins and I was itching to release it. Cold began to sweep over me. Oh crap, I thought. When I got too antsy or wasn't moving around enough, my powers began to get a little out of control. I clenched my fists at my sides. Fang looked towards me and asked me a silent question, Are you okay?
For once, I shook my head no. I didn't want to hurt anyone, I really didn't. "How much longer till we land?" He called up to the pilot. "Not even five minutes," the pilot replied. Fang glanced at me again, I knew he didn't know what was wrong but he could tell it was important. Can you make it that long?
I swallowed and nodded. I could, and I would, I was determined. When the jet touched down on the runway and came to a halt, Gazzy bursted out of the plane's emergency exit. The inflatable ramp came down and alarms began to ring. He flew into the open air. "Gazzy!" Max yelled. "What if there are people out here," she continued as she boarded of the plane. "The area is entirely private," Bridget supplied. "You all are fine."
With that, I took off soaring into the nearby clearing of trees. I could sense Fang following me. I hovered in mid-air and he stopped about thirty feet away. Finally, I pushed all the frigidness in my veins towards my hands and I frosted an entire tree. I panted and fluttered to the ground. I landed on my knees and remained there. "Does that happen often?" Was all Fang had to say.
"Only when I get too restless, it has to build up over hours," I told him. "I thought you said it hurt," he was referring to how quickly and easily I had turned the tree into a snow-man/plant. "It does, but it feels better when it's over." Overhead, I heard Max fly toward us. Taking in the sight of the tree she exclaimed, "Wow, um, did you do this?"
I nodded, casting my head down to the ground. She probably thought I was dangerous. "Amazing," she sounded slightly awe struck. Breaking out of her trance, she turned to us. "Dwyer says it's time to go."
Another Author's Note: I've noticed it does take me a decent amount of time to update my story. But, this is because I try to write good length and quality chapters that have never been under 2,000 words. So I have to ask, would you guys prefer it if I updated with only 1,000-1,500 word chapters more frequently or 2,000 word chapters but slightly less frequently. Please let me know, thanks. XOXO-Skai.
Disclaimer: I used many direct quotes, plot points and dialogues from "The Final Warning,"I do not own any of it. All rights go to rightful owners and this is something that will continue on for the remainder of this fanfiction.
