Jasmine P.O.V.
She's advanced. More than anything I've ever seen. Dissect her brains. Use it for better.
I heard someone repeat their thoughts to another whitecoat. "Why, though? She's the best experiment since the six others." The first whitecoat said nothing, so I supposed he just nodded. I shifted in my dog crate. Size small, solid steel bars, you get the idea. Hard to move in. Uncomfortable.
I was just about to telepathically make a whitecoat take me for my daily walk early when a NEW AND IMPROVED Eraser comes up to my crate. "Hello, Jazz. Are you ready to go to the backyard? You got two days. I can't wait!" he said, laughing. He rattled my bars and ran off laughing loudly. I kicked the bars, gritting my teeth. Bonehead. I sighed, shaking my head in defeat. It was always the same. Living in a dog cage in…dun dun dun! The School. Starring Jasmine. At least, that's the name I came up with for myself. But anyways, I can't escape. Even if I did get past my dog crate, you have to wear this special rubber outfit, otherwise the red lasers would freeze you. I have no special rubber outfit, just so you know.
"Dinner!" came a voice from down the hall. Some of the experiments next to me looked up in anticipation, but I just kept my head down. It would always be the same thing. I looked at the whitecoat who had brought the food. She had her brown hair slicked back into a bun; her hazel eyes matched her tan skin. "Hi, Jazz," she said. I looked at her, making sure my green eyes burned into hers. Not hash. A real meal. McDonald's, maybe. Burger King. But no hash. For the rest of the week. Promise.
The whitecoat blinked, confused. To her, that little voice in her head was her conscience. But that was really me, using telepathy to get some quality food. You know, the kind with the good tasting grease. I swear, they give us hash just to make fun of us, like, 'Oh, you've got a dog crate, let's give you something that looks like dog food!'
Back to the story. She looked at all the fallen faces looking at the tray. I heard one kid next to me think, I'm on my deathbed, and I get hash?! AGAIN?! "Um…how about we get you guys out and we go to..." she trailed off. Time to put my plan in action. The Hometown Buffet, I thought. "The Hometown Buffet, maybe?" she asked. The experiments that were still alive cheered, and I made one last command before cheering along with them. "Cool. I'll get Jimmy to clean up these messes." She said it word for word, even gesturing at the dead experiments in their cages. I couldn't have done it better myself.
Oh, wait. I did.
Max P.O.V.
Imagine flying above a cloud, then, because you're so sweaty and need a good shower, folding your wings in and falling through a mighty fluffy one. Those ones have more water than a cactus. Not that I would ever do that. I have too much pride. Nudge did that. And Angel.
"Look, Angel! A cloud! Let's go!" So, basically, they did just what I described.
I haven't introduced myself, have I? I'm Max. Maximum Ride. I'm fourteen, and I have five other friends, just like me. As in they have wings. There's also Fang, who's also fourteen; he's quiet and wears A LOT of black. Then there's Iggy, who's, again, fourteen; he's blind, but he doesn't act like it at all. After the fourteen year olds, there's Nudge, who is eleven, African – American, and has her very own channel. The Gasman is eight, and if you sit next to him, you'll see why we call him that. Last but not least, there's Angel. She can read minds…and tell people what to do, and send them thoughts, etc. Oh, yeah. I forgot –
"Total! Stay still!" I said as he shifted again. Yes, there's a dog. Total. He talks.
"Well, you're not helping! This coat is making me itchy!" See?
"I must've forgotten to shake out the mice," I said sarcastically. Total stopped immediately, his eyes wide with fear. "M – mice?" He said. I rolled my eyes and did a barrel roll right next to Fang. "'Suppers?" I asked. His mouth quirked at one side, then it was gone. He shrugged. I unceremoniously dropped Total into his arms and then swooped down to two very wet girls.
"Hi, Max!" Nudge said. I had just enough time to think, here we go, before I felt a sharp pain in one of my wings and started to fall.
Jasmine P.O.V.
I breathed in the fresh air and laughed. I poured on my super speed, and laughed harder. Unfortunately, those at the School had programmed me to be a bigger, better avian – human hybrid than the six they made before. Idiots. My laughs died down as my fellow members and I made our escape, while I made the whitecoat do nothing. Sure, she was gonna get it, but that's what happens when karma comes back to kick you in the –
Something dropped right past me, and I hovered, horrified, as I watched a girl my age drop right past me; she was one of the other avian – human experiments. I saw one of her wings all bent, and another – yes, another – hybrid flew past me. Uh – oh. She was falling faster than he was flying. Time to pour on the speed. I grabbed his hand and saw his eyes widen as we went down. Rain started to fall, and I saw a fork of lightning pass me in slow motion. Suddenly, we caught up, and I grabbed under the girl's arms, and the other experiment – a guy – grabbed her legs. We flew down to a large abandoned apartment, and he kept an eye on her while he reluctantly allowed me to tell the others where to land.
Soon enough, everyone was in an apartment, sitting around a fire. I had learned everyone's name, and told them mine. Max was lying on an old blanket that Nudge had pulled out of a pack. I thought of Mary Poppins as she did this and resisted the urge to laugh. Iggy, I learned, was blind, so he trained his other senses to be acute. He turned to me, and grinned. "What's so funny?" he asked. I smiled. "Nudge pulled out the blanket, and I thought of Mary Poppins." Angel smiled at me. "I like Mary Poppins," she said. I smiled back, but I heard her thinking suspiciously of me. I looked at her. So she could read minds, too. I sent her a thought.
Hi, Angel.
She looked around at me, alarmed.
Yep, me. I can read minds, too. I just wanted to let you know that I'm not mean or anything. I won't hurt you. I escaped from the School.
Angel cocked her head, intent, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Fang staring at me. I knew that he had clamped his thoughts shut, but you have to remember that I'm more advanced than that. I turned back to Angel.
Can you get into his thoughts?
No. He's put them 'behind bars.'
She used her fingers for quotations. I looked at Fang, and then smiled at Angel.
I can.
Angel's eyes widened.
Really?
Yup. I frowned. But it hurts.
Why?
Because they struggle, and that just hurts them more. I only do it when it's really important.
Angel looked at me, her blue eyes solemn.
Do it to me.
That surprised me.
No! I don't want to hurt any of you.
I need to learn how you do it.
Angel, honestly. I can't –
Now! Do it!
So I had no choice. I felt her mind shut down on me. I saw Fang watching me, and Max rubbing her head and sitting down next to him. The Gasman was in the corner with Iggy. Max muttered to Fang, and he muttered back. They looked intently at me all the while. I looked at Angel and mouthed, you sure? She nodded. I looked into her eyes, making contact. Her eyes started to water, but she kept them open. She was strong.
I was stronger.
She started to wiggle, then convulsed like she was having a seizure. I kept my eyes on her all the time, watching her memories. I even saw grotesque tests done at the School. My eyes started to water, and I had a lump in my throat. I couldn't keep torturing her. I looked away, and Angel stopped. Max stood up and hugged Angel, and Fang just looked at me. Max glared at me, and my eyes met hers. Angel looked at me, and broke free of Max's grip. Much to everyone's surprise, she hugged me. When she pulled away, she looked straight into my eyes. "I understand," she began. "I get it. I really do." I knew what she was talking about, of course. To keep my energy, to keep seeing memories, I have to give some of my own memories. I felt tears in my eyes again, but I blinked them back. Angel went behind me and began to play with my hair. "I like your hair," she said. "It's so long and black."
Max P.O.V.
What was Angel talking about? What was wrong with my wing? Those were two of the many questions I constantly came up with. When I discussed it with Fang, he waited a couple minutes to answer.
"I saw a faded picture," he said. "It came from her. I had a feeling she was going to try and do it to me, but she did it to Angel, instead." I saw his fists clenching and unclenching, and I knew he did not like this Jasmine person at all. "But Angel trusts her," he said, dangerously quiet. "Hasn't she trusted the wrong people before?" I looked at him. "We all trusted Jeb, Fang. Even you trusted him. Laying it off on other people isn't right." I put an arm around him; it was a good thing he didn't push it off.
"Hi Max!" Lo and behold, Angel was there when I turned around, holding Jasmine's hand. Jasmine had a faint smile on her face, and Angel was grinning from ear to ear…and also wet. "She flew through a cloud." Jasmine said helplessly. Angel took off, flapping her wings to dry them. She circled us twice, and then landed. "How's your wing?" Jasmine asked, concerned. "Okay, I guess," I answered. Jasmine's eyes stared right into mine, and I felt like I had been given a big vat of Valium. Oh, I thought, her eyes are so pretty. Well, they were; they were big and green. Then I snapped out of it, and turned to Angel. She was smiling.
This was creepy.
Jasmine P.O.V.
Nudge. I like that girl. She lets me braid her hair, and she was so excited when I showed her some of my sketches on my new website that I had made using – Da da da! The laptop they stole from Itex. Angel liked it, too; especially since I had sketches of her on it. After Fang took the laptop to check on his blog, I started to draw Nudge and Angel together. I think that it was pretty good. They liked it, at least. I drew Max, and she kept looking at me with an eyebrow raised. She really pulls that tough chick look off. Fang was hard to draw because he wears black, so I just outlined it and colored it in very lightly.
Iggy showed me an explosive, and I had to draw it. Had to. It was an awesome one, why else?
Angel was amazed at how HTML savvy I was, so I taught her a bit. Hey, why not?
Last but definitely not least part of the evening: Max looked at me and half smiled. I think she's getting used to me.
Maybe.
The next morning, I got up to find that everyone was gone. Except Max; she couldn't fly with a freaky wing. She looked at me over the laptop, and her eyebrows rose. "They went shopping," she answered. "They'll be back soon." I nodded and got up. "Mind if I look?" I said, gesturing to the laptop. She shrugged and looked back, typing in a few more things. I bit back a grin as I watched her leave my website.
So she liked it.
Max P.O.V.
I liked Jasmine's drawings. It was cool. At least, cool in my opinion. But I'm just the leader, right? I don't decide if it's cool or not.
I was itching to fly as I watched Jasmine's Dalmatian – spotted wings pop out. As if reading my thoughts – oh, yeah. Well, she looked at me and grinned, and then she held her hand out. I knew what she was going to do. I typed up a note on Word for Fang, and then woke Total up for him to growl loyally at nothing. I popped my own wings out, my left one slowly; it still hurt. But, after a few beats, it felt fine. We took a running jump and took off; it felt great, man!
Jasmine went right, and I turned left, and we started drawing stuff in the air. Just for fun. And maybe to make sure my wing was okay.
When we finished that, we flew down to a church. Jasmine grabbed my hand once we landed, and pulled me over to these big hedges. She reached under one, and then pulled out these white outfits that only –
"No," I said firmly. Too late. Jasmine's getting way too good at the Bambi eyes. I rolled my own eyes, and grabbed one of the robes. "Just no sparkly halos, okay?" I said as I pulled off my old, rotten ones in exchange for a fresh, clean robe. Before I put it on, though, Jasmine pulled out a bottle, and spritzed me with it. It smelled like cherry cordials…yum. Jasmine sprayed some on herself, and then we pulled the robes on, feeling slightly cleaner.
"You got a plan?" I asked her. Jasmine nodded, making sure to keep her robes out of the water. Did I mention we were underground, in a giant pipe? No, not a sewer, just a humongoid pipe. Once we were out of there, I took a nice breath of fresh air. We came out of a vent, and I went on one side, and Jasmine took the opposite side. Our plan was to stupidly jump out during Sunday service, and Jasmine would tell them telepathically not to take pictures. How stupid. But fun.
Jasmine P.O.V.
It was totally awesome! We jumped out, and then started flapping our wings hard. No pictures, I told everyone the memo, and then laughed hysterically when their cameras dropped to their sides. The priest stared in awe at what he was seeing, and pulled a cord. These big red curtains opened and a huge stained glass window of Mary and baby Jesus appeared. I must say, the way the light shone through, it was impressive.
But not as impressive as my wings.
When our little charade was over, we came back to our little hideout. Everyone was still gone, and Total was sleeping. Some watchdog. I put the robes in an old backpack that Max gave me, and then rested my head on it, my brain about to explode with burning questions. "You okay?" Max asked. She had her head cocked. I nodded, and looked at the sky.
The flock.
They had taken me under their wings (Get it? Sorry, that was bad…), and I had nothing to give them except for rotten memories. Just as I was about to start sobbing and saying how much of a loser I wasn't, Angel, Nudge, Iggy, the Gasman, and Fang landed behind Max. Max, of course, didn't jump, but I read her thoughts. Angel came over and flopped down next to me, handing me some beef jerky. Nudge sat next to Total and pulled out some ravioli, and gave some to him, then digging in herself. Iggy and Gazzy split some unidentified foods, talking quietly, while Fang pulled out something that looked mysteriously like dog food.
I gagged, and that's really all I remembered for the next two days.
Max P.O.V.
Fang and the rest came back shortly after our little escapade with the angels and stuff. When everyone was digging in, Fang handed me a plastic fork to hand to Jasmine. I did, and he gave me a can of hash. I was about to say, "So the guy gets a whole can to himself?" when I heard a little muffled shriek. I whirled my head – ouch – and saw Jasmine out cold, her fork a couple inches away from her hand. "Iggy!" Iggy followed my voice over to Jasmine. Angel began sobbing, and I rushed over to her. "What's wrong with her?" I asked, frantic. Here was Jasmine, the oldest (though she was happy being under my reign of terror), healthy as can be (if you're a mutant), and she passed out at the sight of hash. Angel was about to hyperventilate, I could tell. I rubbed her back and shushed her, while Iggy's feathery touch ran over Jasmine's neck; he was looking for a pulse, frowning.
Angel calmed down a bit, and looked up at me, and then ran to Jasmine. She pushed Iggy out of the way and knelt by her friend's side. "Hey!" Iggy began, but Fang touched his shoulder. I slowly approached Angel, and when I reached her, I felt this cold radiating from Jasmine. Angel looked up. "I can't see anything," she said, looking straight ahead. "I don't see black or white or anything."
Jasmine still hadn't recovered the next day, so one of us had to stay behind. Angel was all for it, but she was small; strong, but still small. In the end, I stayed behind again, and Fang watched the others. I looked over at Jasmine, and I guess I freaked out at how pale she looked. Sure, she was really pale most of the time (being naturally black – haired and having a red – head's skin), but she was pale.
That was what scared me most.
I spent the rest of the day on the laptop, looking for any data on how or when Itex would rise again, but found – shocker – nothing. I closed the laptop, sighing, and my eyes were almost shut when something caught my eye.
Jasmine moved.
I ran over to her, but it was Total nudging her face. He looked up at me, his black eyes sad. "I'm trying to wake her up." I shook my head; if she didn't wake up in like, a day, she was dead.
Jasmine P.O.V.
So that's how I passed out. I woke up, however, feeling weak and confused. Six people were standing over me, worried. Who were they? I tried to move, but the bulk of a black Scottie dog was on my chest. And then one of them, a little girl, leaned over me. She frowned, her eyebrows together.
Ooooohh.
I remember. They – and – well, you know the story. So Total jumped off of me, a look of fear in his eyes, and Angel helped me up. I just kneeled, though. Everyone started talking to me at once, except for Fang. He just sat down across from me, crossed his arms, and looked.
And looked.
And looked.
And looked. I was getting tired of him looking when I felt Max have a brain attack. Moving only as fast as a mutant bird – kid could, I kept her steady while Fang had a reason not to look at me. I closed my eyes, but it was like the images were supposed to come to me. So I watched. And listened. And finally, I understood.
Max looked at me, and I handed her some ibuprofen I had gotten from a market on my way to – wherever I was going before I ran into Max and the gang. She smiled and swallowed them whole. Fang looked at me again, and then looked out over the hill we were on. "We should look for a new place to go," Angel said; obviously, she read his thoughts. Max and the rest of us nodded, and Fang said he'd go. "I'm coming, too," Max said, but I pushed her down. "No. You can't." Sure, it was stupid, but I expected the icy glare, the venom – dripping "What?" coming from her mouth, but I brushed it off. "You can't go," I repeated. "I will. Just… just talk to Jeb, 'kay? He'll explain everything. I promise." Are you sure? A silky voice came from my head. Hello, Jeb. Fancy hearing your 'voice' again. Yes, I'm sure. It's about time Max knew what the flashy image thingy is about. And you're going to tell her, aren't you?! I thought. Silence. Max was staring ahead, and then shot me a glance. "Fine," she huffed. "Take Jazz instead." I gaped. Did she call me Jazz? Obviously, Fang was surprised too, 'cuz his eyes widened a fraction of an inch. But still, I could go!
We flew in silence for awhile. About halfway to wherever the first stop was, I pulled my hair back in a bun; I was soooo tired of having it get in my face. Fang wasn't looking at me, and his thoughts were closed (as if I'd want to shop there…) I wasn't about to break into them, though. I had just earned most of their trust. Go right. Jeb had made another appearance. I ignored it; did he want me back at the school? Jasmine, he said again. Go right. So I did. Fang followed me, for some reason. Guess what I found?
A new place to stay.
Max P.O.V.
A couple hours later, Fang came back. I started to worry about Jasmine again, but I saw her soon after, and skidded to a halt, sending mulch everywhere. So much for the rest of that hash. Instead, I looked up at Fang, and he nodded off to the northeast. "Jasmine found a place to stay out that way," he said. "About six minutes away from the nearest town." Jasmine tried not to look pleased with herself. "Actually, though, I was messing around on the way back," she added. "I held us up. We would've been here earlier… sorry." I nodded and stood up, throwing the hash into a trash bag. I looked around at my flock; they needed a bath.
"So, on the upside, no hash, for at least a while," I said to Jasmine, who was knawing her way through a chicken leg. We had stopped off at the market, and found that you got a free loaf of bread if you bought two chickens. So we did, of course; we're feeding multiple personalities here! I looked around at everyone else; Fang was still roasting his chicken, Nudge was eating some bread and looking quite happy, Iggy was catching chicken in his mouth, tossed courtesy of the Gasman, who was also tossing chicken to Total and eating all at the same time. "On the downside, we seriously need a shower." Jasmine said, and Angel, who was sitting in between us and eating a chicken sandwich, giggled.
When our bellies were full and we definitely felt, um, as dirty as before, we were laying on the soft ground made by leaves in the cave. I was just starting to drift off when Jasmine and Iggy sat up at the same time; Jasmine's eyes darkened, and Iggy cocked his head. Fang followed soon after, jumped up, and looked out. He turned back, his normally calm face horrified. "Erasers," he breathed, and I gasped. Erasers? You mean human – lupine hybrids? Back? "But Jeb – the Flyboys – retired!" I stuttered. Jasmine shook her head. Out of all of us, she was the most calm. "The recreated them while I was in there," she said. "They're better. Human – lupine – avian hybrids. The leader of the pack," her face softened, but her eyes were blazing; I suspect it was because of Angel, who was already trembling with terror. "He's got some of the same powers I do."
"Are you on the same team?" Fang asked, his dark eyes still on the Erasers, who were coming closer. Jasmine shook her head impatiently. "No. He's completely the opposite," she said. "He must be a right little ray of sunshine, then," Fang muttered. Jasmine ran to the cave, then unfolded her wings. They were as long as Fang's, a bit longer than Iggy's. Fang jumped back. "What the hell – " he began, but Jasmine shook her head and took off, without even a running jump. Angel was terrified, true, but she looked determined as she ran after her. "Angel!" Fang and I yelled at the same time, but she ignored us. Nudge looked from me to everyone else, then took off, too. I shook my head and went after them. Thank goodness; there were enough for me to rip apart and then some. I saw Gazzy and Iggy jump off, followed by Fang. Nudge was kicking serious butt, Angel was holding her own by actually punching an Eraser, and then promptly making another Eraser attack. I looked everywhere for Jasmine, but I couldn't see her.
"Max! Four o' clock!" She screamed behind me, and I whirled. A big, bad Eraser was coming towards me; He had huge teeth, smooth grey fur, and tiny yellow eyes. I was about to punch his lights out when a blur of black and white wings hit him: Jasmine. I watched in horror as she was punched to a pulp; "Fang!" I called. Fang pounded an Eraser's head and came to my side, and without question, flew past me at the Eraser. He had his big mouth over Jasmine's pale neck, and was about to mercilessly chomp into it when Fang grabbed his wings and bent them. The Eraser screamed loudly, and Jasmine snapped to attention. Apparently very mad at being beat up so badly, she roared, and with surprising strength gave him a two handed punch, which made him spin over to me. I kicked him in the stomach, and his breath didn't even leave him. So I tried again. Doing a complicated move, I kicked him in the nose – crunch – and he flew to Fang, who grabbed his feet and whirled him to Jasmine; she looked bad. And murderous; she grabbed the Eraser's neck and twisted. The Eraser choked and fell, and the others flew after him.
"Report," I said once we were in the cave again. I was exhausted; my wing was hurting again, and I had been served with a nice bruised stomach. "'m okay," Nudge said, rubbing her head. I could see a small red lump under her curly hair. "Ow," Angel said. Her knee was bleeding a bit, but she was already taking care of it. "I'm fine," Gazzy said brightly; his hands, I noted, where slightly black. Fang rubbed his elbow but said nothing. Iggy nodded, his knuckles extremely scratched. Jasmine sat in the corner, looking into space. She looked horrible. Her nose was bleeding, and half of her face was bruised. On the flip side of her face, she had a great big shiner.
Jasmine P.O.V.
Ow. I really, really, really, hurt. A lot. I needed to take a nice flight right now… to loosen up. I got up, winced, and unfurled my wings – ouch – and went to the edge of the cave. It was getting dark, and the moon was full, so it was perfect. "Where are you going?" Angel asked. I ignored her, spread my arms out, and did a free fall. About two hundred feet from the ground, I flapped hard and flew upward. Just a night flight, that's all, I thought. Just another escape from… somewhere. I did a hard right, and for some strange reason, looked behind me at the cave. Everyone was at the mouth, staring.
Max P.O.V.
"So…" I said to Angel. She was setting sticks in the fire. "So what?" she said, her nose scrunched up, smelling the smoke. "So what are you thinking about?" I asked, grinning at her face. "Nothing. Just… I want Fang to like Jasmine. But he doesn't." She looked at me. "Do you know why?" I shrugged. "No. Maybe she'll grow on him." Angel looked at me, confused. "You know, like a fungus." I said, and she giggled.
"You hafta put that wire with that blue one, how many times do I have to tell you?" I heard Iggy say, and Gazzy laughed. I got up and joined Fang by the mouth of the cave. Before I could say, "Yo," Angel tapped me on the back and said, "Can we do something fun?" Fang and I turned around. "We're waiting for Jasmine to get back," I said. "Maybe when she gets back." Angel looked at me, her eyes solemn. "She's… not coming back."
Well, that made Fang and me look at each other.
"How do you know this, sweetie?" I asked. More and more, Angel was creeping me out with all this info. She shrugged, thought for a moment, and shrugged again. Like that'll help. Total took that moment to trot up and say, "Jasmine was in the Institute in New York," he began. Angel looked up at us seriously. "You might wanna sit down," she said, and sat cross – legged by Total. Fang and I followed suit after we gave each other a look. "Right, then," Total said.
"Jasmine was the girl you set free. She –"
"But she looked ten, she couldn't have been fifteen!" I interrupted.
"Look, I'm only telling you what Jasmine told me. We're old friends," he said.
"Now, Jasmine was caught soon after she escaped, along with the other experiments. Instead of splicing her brains right then, they decided to burden her with other powers; ones she couldn't control. Once the stuff was complete, she started hearing thoughts, could fly fast, etc. Every night she carefully controlled her powers, making sure she could use them. Then she escaped by making a whitecoat take them to the Hometown Buffet instead of giving them hash." At this point, Total chortled.
"She and everyone else escaped while the whitecoat sat there and did nothing. Some of them stayed with her, but they died soon after. So Jasmine went her own way. Then she met up with you guys." He sighed.
"The point is, they're after her. The lead Eraser has some of the same powers, and he can kill us all. Jasmine left because you're in danger with her." He finished and laid his head on Angel's lap, and Angel stroked him. Well, that summed it up.
Jasmine P.O.V.
I sat in my tree, chewing slowly on a Payday. I looked over at Sharon, another bird – kid. "So… you ran away from them, but you're with me?" she asked. Sometimes she could be so idiotic. "We're the ones they want. They'll probably expect us to have separated, because we couldn't 'stand' each other in the institute." Sharon thought this over; in the Institute for Higher Living in New York, we had been best friends, but we pretended to hate each other just in case we could escape. Then they would look for one and not the other. "Oh, I get it." Sharon said, and then chomped noisily on her Butterfinger. I rolled my eyes and started sketching.
Suddenly, there was a whoosh and my branch nearly cracked under the pressure. I turned and lo and behold, Fang and Max were towering over me.
Crap.
End Chap. I