Disclaimer: Do I look like JP to you?
Max POV
I heard voices coming from above me. I wanted to open my eyes but I felt too dizzy. What happened? The voices became a little clearer and I heard Iggy's. I forced my eyes open.
The first thing I saw was Jeb.
I jumped, if it's possible to jump while you're flat on your back.
"Max, it's ok." He said in a soothing voice, reminding me of the other voice in my head. The Voice. I was surprised it hadn't warned me about this.
"Right, next thing you're gonna tell me I'm not a mutant bird-kid freak," I said in a harsh and sarcastic voice.
I felt weirdly lightheaded. And then I saw Iggy.
"Iggy, what happened here? And where are the flock?" I demanded.
He looked uncomfortable before answering. "I sent the younger kids off to play in the trees. They didn't have to hear this. Well, um, what do you remember?"
"I remember Fang puking," Iggy winced, "and then I went down to help him. But he, well he…" I paused for a second. It was probably a dream I had while I was passed out. Because what I remembered was not a possibility.
"And…?" Jeb encouraged. I looked at him spitefully.
"And I don't remember anything else. So, what's wrong? And what's he doing here?" I asked Iggy.
Again, he looked uncomfortable. He reached up to run a hand through his hair before he went on. "Uh, you see, after you went down to help him, Fang attacked you."
I froze. I wasn't dreaming then.
"And he, he bit your neck." I guess I didn't dream that bit either. And I can guess by now that I didn't imagine him drinking my blood.
I don't know how long I was like that, propped up on my elbows and not talking or even moving. I stared blankly into space, until the most obvious question finally entered my head.
"Where is he now?"
"He's over there," Jeb answered, and pointed to a still body a little less than a metre away from me. Immediately, anger flared up.
"What did you do to him?!" I yelled.
"Max, he attacked you. I had to protect everyone else, so I shot at him with a tranquiliser dart." Even if I'd trusted Jeb less than I did now, I wouldn't have been able to miss the regret in his tone and the sad look on his face.
My emotions were torn. Jeb had tranquilised my best friend! Who had attacked me… What was I supposed to think? I was angry, but at who? When I put the events in order, Jeb did do the responsible thing. Even if it meant knocking out Fang. That still doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to him. I gave him an icy stare.
"This is my fault," he sighed, "I should have told you before things got out of hand."
Now this ticked me off. If there was 3 things I hated, it was Itex, Jeb, and not being told something. "What didn't you tell us?"
"Max, Fang isn't like the rest of you."
"How so?" This was getting to be pretty suspicious.
"It's a long story, so please don't interrupt me until I finish."
I nodded. Even though I despised this man, it's been bugging all of us to find out what's wrong with Fang.
"OK, well, the planning for the creation of you came first Max. You were just designed to be a super-human. You also had to be a woman so that you could reproduce. " I shuddered at the thought. Good luck with that happening anytime soon. "You were going to be designed to outlast civilisation. When you were successful, we soon got to work on others like you; made for different purposes.
"Iggy and Fang were planned at approximately the same time, though due to complications in Iggy's details, he came after Fang." He was talking about us as if we weren't right in front of him. Like the School all over again. "Iggy was basically going to be you, except male and more advanced. We tried to give him night-vision at an early age, but decided it was too risky. So we tried later on, and failed. This is his biggest downfall, his loss of sight." Iggy's face looked unnaturally stiff whilst Jeb was explaining this. "Though, you will have noticed that Iggy can hear and feel better than the rest of you," he paused to chuckle, "and cook better than the rest of you too.
"Now, Fang. Fang was designed to be a killer." I went rigid. Fang, my best friend, the person who always had my back, the person I had shared 3 kisses with, a killer? "So, unlike the rest of you. He isn't 2 avian and 98 human. He's 98 human, 1 avian and 1 chiropteran, more specifically diphylla ecaudata." He sighed, to show he was done.
I stared at him like he was insane.
He took a deep breath and went on. "Fang's DNA was fused with that of the hairy-legged vampire bat."
Oh my god. This was what the sickos at the School had done to him? It would explain the biting, and drinking my blood…
"But why now? Why did he decide to go all 'vampire bat' on us now?"
"We believe that adolescenceset it off"
Just then, Fang began to wake up.