We had to get out of here. I didn't know how much longer my sanity could take this.
It was the day after the debate from hell. We still didn't know what they had decided, and everyone's nerves were stretched to the breaking point. After it was over and everyone had left the room, more of the super humans 'escorted' us back to our fancy schmancy room – which was basically a small lab with no windows, an antiseptic smell, and seven dog crates. Guess where we were sleeping that night?
Yeah. You guessed right. Cage sweet cage.
It brought back so many bad memories that I almost couldn't function. It was nuts. At the beginning, Angel had cried a little, but then she got really quiet. Total and Nudge had chattered nervously to fill the silence left by everyone else, but when no one answered their random questions, they had gotten quiet too. Nudge kept biting down on her lip with a terrified look in her eyes. I was afraid that she would bite clear through it soon.
Gazzy didn't even say anything, just lay down in a corner of his too-small cage and stared out at the rest of us. Then there was Iggy and Fang. Iggy just slept on and off. I don't think he wanted to face the reality of what might happen. Fang leaned against one wall of his cage and locked his hands around his knees. He'd been in the same position ever since, only communicating in small glances with me. His eyes were dark and unfathomable. Not a wisp of emotion was there.
Obviously, I didn't sleep a wink that night. It didn't help that my cage was as uncomfortable as anything. It seemed like every single time I touched it, it pricked me.
We were most likely dead meat. We all knew that, deep down. But there was no way I was going down without a fight.
Anyway, I was saying that it was the next day. The door opened, and a mousy looking whitecoat came in. He couldn't have been more than, say, twenty one, twenty two. His eyes slid over us, huddled in our cages, and seemed to draw some confidence from the fact that we were locked up. He straightened his back and stuck his head back out of the door. "Animins, enter," he commanded. I groaned mentally. I almost would have been happy to see an Eraser or Flyboy at this point.
The hulking super humans (I still couldn't get that nick name out of my head), only two this time, shuffled into the room. Their cold, emotionless eyes locked onto us, making me shudder. Those eyes still really creeped me out. I thought Fang showed no emotion – he was nothing compared to these things. It was really frightening.
I tore my gaze away from their eyes and noticed that the second one was standing next to a huge cart that we would probably be loaded onto. I winced, wondering where they were taking us. I'd already checked out the door of my cage, and there was no way that I was busting out of this thing. They had modified the cage so that it was padlocked instead of a normal lock, and I could see that they had reinforced the metal. They obviously didn't want us to break out of the cages. They were getting smarter. Pity.
One by one, we were swung up on the cart and dropped down with a jolt that hurt every bone in my body. Nudge was dropped next to me, and I could see her wince as her face hit the side of her cage. A wave of fury washed over me. Those sick, no good, dirty, rotten –
My mental swearing was interrupted by the abrupt movement of the cart. It only took one super human/Animin to push us along the corridor. You guys all know that we're light, yeah. But all together, we're pretty heavy. We're talking hundreds of pounds. This guy was pushing us along like the cart was empty.
Dang, he was strong.
I couldn't crane my neck enough in the cage to see where the whitecoat had gone, but I could hear his footsteps close by. I knew he was still there. Well, Jeb, I thought in a last ditch attempt at some sort of plan. Any tips? If you want me to get out of this alive, you better start talking. Like, now.
Max, I…I don't know. They've locked me out.
What?! I exclaimed mentally. Oh, what a perfect time to get yourself locked out of the system. What the heck did you do?
I didn't DO anything, he argued. They're suspicious of me. They know I'm your father – I winced. I hated being reminded of that – and they want to make sure that I don't pull any tricks. It's just a precaution, and a smart one at that. I would have done anything to help.
Well, that's good to know, I said sarcastically, too keyed up to be 'touched' that he would help. But it's not helping me.
He didn't say anything more.
I looked up and blinked with shock. They were taking us toward the doors. The exit. This was almost better than I'd hoped for! My heart leaped, but then I beat it back down. This was impossible. They were practically handing us an escape plan. What were they doing that for? Unless they were going to make us somebody's new chew toy, nothing good could possibly come out of this.
The doors slid open automatically with a whoosh, and the sudden sunlight burned my eyes. I squeezed them shut instantly, but forced them open a crack to see where we were. It didn't look like there were any other living beings out here, except for the whitecoat and the Animins behind us. My vision was limited from the cage, though, and it was so frustrating!
When we got to the middle of the open square, the cart stopped with a jerk. Before I knew it, the whitecoat had come around to my side of the cart and began to unlock my cart. I exchanged a glance with Fang and tensed, ready to burst out of the cage and knock this guy flat. Not…yet…the white coat finished unlocking my cage and started to put the key back in his pocket.
Now!
I exploded out of my cage with all the force of a herd of stampeding horses. The poor, breakable human didn't stand a chance. I didn't even get to throw more than one punch before he was down like a stone. I snatched the key from his hand and set to work unlocking Fang's cage. I had to keep glancing over my shoulder at the Animins. They weren't moving. They were just…standing there. It was way weird.
I finally unlocked the cage and dashed over to Angel. "Fly!" I ordered Fang. "Get out of here!"
He just looked at me and decided to stay on the ground. "I'm waiting for you," he said obstinately. "When you leave, I leave."
"Fang-" I started, then shook my head furiously and finished unlocking Angel's cage. "I will talk with you later. Go, Angel, fly!" I lifted her out of her cage and on to the ground. She took a few steps and leaped into the air, flaring out her pure white wings to catch the air.
As I moved onto Gazzy, the Animins finally decided to catch on. The one that had been pushing the cart started to advance toward me, but Fang stepped in his way. They started to stare each other down, each waiting for an opening when the other slipped. I had to hurry.
I got Gazzy and Iggy's cages open in record speed, and they launched themselves into the air with no running start at all. Now there was just Nudge. I chanced a glance over my shoulder at Fang. It hadn't come to blows yet, but I had no doubt that it would unless I went fast, fast, fast.
"Come on, come on," I muttered. Of course, now of all times, the lock had to catch. I heard the sick sound of flesh on flesh behind me and whirled. Fang was trying not to double over, probably from a punch that the super human had landed on him. The super human was coming back for another punch. I had to go. I wrenched the lock open with all my strength and threw Nudge out of the cage.
"Fang, let's go!" I shouted at him. I darted forwards and yanked him away just as the super human swung again. The punch meant for him landed on my side, and it felt like a couple of ribs cracked. I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood, trying not to cry out. Ow, ow, ow! That had hurt. Fang so owed me for that one. If he had just left like I'd said…
Coughing, I took off into the air a split second after Fang did. He hovered thirty feet up just long enough for me to pull even with him, and then we poured on the speed to get up into the air high above, where the flock was waiting for us.
"You – are so – stupid," I panted as we sped up. "Why didn't you just go? I would have been fine, and now we're both hurt."
"I had to stay," he muttered back, and wouldn't say anything else. I rolled my eyes angrily but shut up.
"Go, guys, now," I said as soon as I reached them. "We need to get out of here. Who knows how much time we have before Itex brings out the helicopters to find us?" I hated saying the worst case scenario, but it worked. Everyone shot off like rockets. I noticed that Iggy was holding Total, and did a double take. I didn't even remember unlocking his cage.
We flew for a few miles in silence before Nudge couldn't take it anymore and started chattering away to Angel. I used the sound of her endless words to talk to Fang. "We were way too lucky back there," I told him in an undertone. "What do you think?"
He thought for a moment, staring straight ahead. "Trap," he said finally. "There's got to be something."
I nodded. "That's what I thought. But what were we supposed to do, just stand around like idiots in that courtyard? Um, no thanks."
"Thanks for that, by the way," he said quietly.
I blinked. "For…what, now?"
"For pulling me out of the way," he replied. "Those guys are strong. There's no way I would have lasted more than a few punches."
I smiled. "Yeah, well, you freaking owe me. My ribs are super sore."
His mouth quirked up in a smile. "How badly are you hurt?" I asked him.
His face immediately shut down. "I'm not."
"Liar. I saw him land a punch on you. So what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
I glared at him. "You seriously need to quit the whole macho business. Getting hurt is not a big deal."
No answer. Whatever.
I tipped one wing down and surged away from Fang to slightly to the left of the flock, where I could see all of them at a glance. I sighed. Together again, somehow. The miracles just kept coming. It seemed like our life was just a series of lucky moments. It made me wonder when the luck was going to run out.
Soon, if you don't DO AS I SAY.
Hello, Voice II, I said without enthusiasm, trying to mask the fact that my heart had just dropped into my feet. What should I do for you today? Oh, wait, wait! Let me guess. Kill Fang.
He's putting you in jeopardy. He must die.
You are such a liar! You make me sick. Give me one good reason why I should trust you and do what you want. I am NOT killing Fang. Get it through your head already!
Max, listen. Kill Fang. Kill Fang now. Do it now. Do it now. Do it now. It felt like the voice was pounding at my head with each word, sending my stress levels up through the roof. To top it all off, I had a killer headache. That was just what I needed now.
I will NOT kill him! Get that through your head already!
You get this through YOUR head. You will kill him, and you will do it now. It sent me a mental image of my hands locked around Fang's neck, choking him slowly, the life fading from his dark eyes.
"Max?"
"WHAT?" I exploded. "What is it? You need me to save something again? Well, I don't want to! Leave me alone!" I looked up. It was Fang who had spoken. I could see the last traces of shock fading from his eyes, replaced by anger. His eyes narrowed.
"Fine," he retorted. "The next time you need saving, I won't bother."
"See if I care," I snapped back. Then I looked past him to the rest of the flock. They were flying slowly now, each face an identical mask of shock. Even Total's doggy face seemed to be in complete surprise.
"Land," I managed to choke out, and streaked towards the ground.
Already I could feel the anger drain out of my body, replaced by shock. What was that about? I hadn't been mad at Fang. I hadn't been mad at anyone except for my second voice. And since I had been mad and frustrated with it…I guess I lashed out at Fang.
Great. Just great.
Then I realized another thing that absolutely knocked the breath out of me. I swear my heart stopped beating for a second. If that second voice could make me lash out at someone I wasn't even mad at – just for saying my name – what else could it make me do?
Kill someone?
I couldn't do that. I couldn't let that happen. I had to do something.
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Camp that night was awkward. The flock kept stealing glances at me when they thought I wasn't looking, like they were waiting for me to blow up again. I was a scary kind of calm, trying overly hard to be nice and not sarcastic or anything. I could tell that they saw right through me, though. I must not be a very good actress. Well, that stinks.
It was when Fang woke me up that night to take my watch that I decided to say something. I didn't want Fang mad at me.
"Your watch," he grunted, and turned his back on me.
"Wait, Fang," I whispered. "Can you give me one second?"
He turned back around, one eyebrow raised. "What do you want, Max? To yell at me for saying your name?"
"No," I replied. Ugh. I hated, hated, hated doing this. This really hurt my ego. "I wanted…to say…sorry?"
His eyes widened. "Wow, I neverthought that I would hear that out of your mouth."
"Shut up or I'll take it back," I threatened. "I am, though. Sorry."
He squinted at me, drawing out this moment as long as possible. I fidgeted and tried to bite back everything that I wanted to say. "Okay," he finally decided. "I'll forgive you, then."
"It wasn't your fault," I admitted. "It was just the…the voice. Bugging me again."
"The first or second voice?" he asked immediately, coming back to sit next to me.
I made a split second decision – one of the kinds that are either brilliant or stupid. "I think the second one's gone. It's just Jeb in my head now. He won't freaking go away."
"How do you know it's gone?" Fang asked me suspiciously. "Maybe it's just quiet."
"No, it's gone," I insisted in an undertone. He couldn't know that I was lying, so I kept my eyes straight ahead. If I looked at him, he would know. "I can tell."
Why was I lying to him, you ask? Simple. There were two choices – tell Fang that the second voice was still there and have him badger me about what it was saying, which I was not going to tell him, or lie. Guess which one I chose.
We sat in silence for awhile, until I remembered something. "How badly did that thing hurt you, anyway?"
He glared at me. "You have to know, don't you?"
I just looked at him, then made my gaze soften. "Maybe not…" I trailed off, leaning closer. I could see a crease start to form in the middle of his eyebrows as he probably wondered what I was doing. Before he could figure it out, I closed the distance between our faces and kissed him.
He responded without thinking, twining his fingers through my hair to hold my face to his. I inhaled deeply. Big mistake. His scent was so intoxicating I almost forgot what I was supposed to be doing. I kissed him harder and let my hand wander to the edge of his shirt. Letting my fingers rest there for a moment, I yanked the edge up fast and pulled away.
I sucked my breath in. There was a huge bruise starting to form on his stomach, a splotchy purple and blue. I looked up at him. He was glaring at me again. "You fight dirty," he said. "That was cheating."
"You enjoyed it," I said offhandedly, examining the bruise closer. "Jesus, Fang, what did he do?"
"So he landed one good punch," he said defensively. "No big deal."
"No big deal? Fang, look at this thing!" I looked at him incredulously.
He was smirking now. "You know, it's actually pretty funny when you're all worried about me."
I touched his bruise with the slightest pressure, and I could feel him tense. "Oh, yeah. No big deal, huh?" He just looked at me.
I shook my head. "Go to sleep, Fang. You need rest. I know you didn't sleep at all last night."
"Neither of us did," he replied, kissing my cheek before he stood. "Make sure to wake Iggy up. Don't take two watches."
I saluted him lazily with two fingers. "Got it."
As soon as he was asleep, I sighed and leaned back against the tree. I didn't know what had let the second voice make me snap like that, but I didn't want to let it happen again. The bad thing was, I didn't know how to prevent it. As much as I hated to admit it, I was scared. Freaked. This thing could practically take control of my mind if it did enough.
I wrapped my arms around my knees and stared up at the stars through the trees. What was happening to me?
A/N: For all of you who still read this story, I have a gift for you! –throws confetti- Because I know I'm horrible, you are EXTRA special if you still take the time to read this. So, for all who review on this chapter, I'll give you a sneak peek at both the next chapter and at a later chapter in the story!