Chapter 14
Angel opened her eyes. She was lying on a soft, comfy bed. Her eyes swiveled back and forth, taking in the medical equipment, white walls, and Invader staring at her. She was so surprised that she rolled off the bed, not realizing that she wasn't bound to it. She was expecting a mind attack any time. But it never came, despite the fact that she put so much effort into closing her mind.
"I'm not going to hurt you," said Invader, sitting perfectly still in his chair.
"Yeah right!" snapped Angel.
"Really," replied Invader, perfectly passive, "I'm not going to hurt you."
"It's okay Angel," came a voice from behind her. She spun around, ready to fight, ready to stare into the face of evil. Instead, she stared into the face of Ike Batchelder.
"Oh my god," gasped Angel. "They told me you were dead."
"You mean the scientists at the School?" asked Ike.
"Yes."
"They tried to kill me, but they only thought I was dead."
"Wait a second," Angel whispered, her voice becoming hostile. "What's he doing here." She pointed at Invader.
"Whatever he did," warned Ike, "try to forgive him. He's changed."
"Yeah right," snarled Angel. "He made Fang and Nudge beat each other up. He almost got me killed trying to make me kill the Director."
"But he saved you," pleaded Ike. "And he's your brother."
"What!" Angel tried to say more, but she could barely breathe. The world swam before her, and she felt faint. But she mustered the strength to talk as well as stop herself from falling flat on her face, "What are you talking about?"
"I told you, he's your brother."
"How can someone that evil be my brother?"
"Whether you want believe it or not, he is your brother. I can do a DNA test to prove it."
"Even if he is my biological brother, he's not a real brother. That position is reserved for Gazzy!"
As Ike was about to respond, there was a loud CRASH from the entryway. Invader jumped up from his chair and sprinted toward the entryway. Then a black blur sped into Invader, throwing him through a window. The blur changed directions, speeding directly towards Angel. At the last second, she sidestepped the blur and sent a hard kick into its back. It fell and rolled into a table. Angel saw a shaved brown head and short, stubby fingers.
"I wasn't expecting a little kid to stand in my way to Ike," the man seemed to whisper, even though he was speaking at a normal volume. "Too bad, now I'm going to be late to Ike's brother's assassination." That made Angel hesitate for a half of a second, just enough time for the man. He sprung into the air like a cat. As Angel raised her arms up in defence, she saw claws slide out from between the man's fingers, the claws curved like a cat's. As Angel jumped to the side, she felt claws cut into her back.
"Ah," she yelled. Then she heard a sharp exhaling of breath. She turned around and saw the "Cat Man" holding Ike, four claws protruding from his back. Then the Cat Man pushed Ike's body off of his claws, turned his head towards Angel, and then sprang towards her.