Blood – Chapter 3

By MyNameIsCAL

-Max's POV-

I had expected to wake up to Fang sleeping, but instead he woke me in the early morning screaming bloody murder. Iggy had burst into the room, and we had to hold him down to the bed before he realized that he wasn't dreaming anymore.

"Th-the b-blanket." He was still shaking. "R-r-red…b-b-blood."

"I'll change it, Fang. It's okay." I let go of his arms.

It took me only a minute to pull the blanket off the bed and put it in the laundry room. Iggy had gone to the closet and returned with a grey blanket, leaving it on the bed for me to spread out.

"Hey, it's okay, relax, Fang." I tucked the blanket around us and he curled up against me immediately.

"Jesus, you scared the shit out of me, Fang. I could only think someone had broken in and tried to grab you or Max," Iggy let out a breath. I guess he wasn't expecting a response from Fang though because he started towards the door. "Goodnight you two. I'll make breakfast when we wake up again."

"Thanks, Ig."

He closed the door behind him.

Iggy sat and called the flock after breakfast. We had just seen everyone last week before everyone headed off back to school. He had spent the longest on the phone with Nudge, but it sounded like he was irritated. I guess her feelings for him hadn't worn off yet.

And then there was Ella. Although the phone call to her didn't last as long as I had expected. Part of me was afraid that Ella would turn around and hurt him. Even though she made it seem like she didn't know, it was pretty clear that when Ella wanted something from Iggy, she had him wrapped around her finger.

"You alright, Iggy?" I questioned.

He sat down in the armchair with a frown. "Ella has a new boyfriend."

Well, that wasn't a surprise.

"You shouldn't worry about it." I was trying to sound comforting. "Half the guys she sees she isn't serious about. Wait, she actually told you?"

"No, Nudge did." He let out a sigh, eyes resting to my right where Fang lay with his eyes closed. "Is he alright?"

I smoothed out Fang's hair. His hand had been resting on his face before, fingers tracing the two scars, but now it had fallen against the couch. Still, I couldn't tell if he was sleeping or not.

"He's very unsure of himself."

"He's asleep." Iggy seemed to be answering my thoughts. And then his eyes unfocused, falling somewhere else in the room. "Turn on the news or something."

I reached for the remote and turned it on.

"…According to an insider source, the one survivor of the Mental Hospital Massacre was the missing Fang, who was one of the six teenage mutants who brought human experimentation to the eyes of the public. Two years ago he disappeared, and although the authorities covered it up, they say they will be releasing a statement in about ten minutes at the local police station…"

I stared at the reporter on the screen. "It's never easy, is it?"

"No," Iggy grumbled. "Can't freaking leave us alone."

The news cut to the police station. Sheriff Marks appeared on the screen, clearing his throat. "We won't be disclosing any details about Mr. Fang to the media right now. He was discharged from the hospital last night. We urge you to not to try to contact him, or his friends. What he's been through is really unspeakable in some sense, so don't expecting him to make any public appearances any time soon. Over the next few days, once we have more together, we'll be releasing more details about the murders of the rest of the patients. If you have any information, please contact our tip line…"

"How long do you want to bet until they start calling us?" Iggy asked.

"By dinner time." I remembered when Fang went missing. There were a few reporters that even had the nerve to come knock on my door. I almost punched them in the face.

There were a few calls, but luckily Fang hadn't been around or awake to hear us getting angry at the reporters. His appetite seemed to be back, which was good because it looked like he needed to gain some weight back. The cooking distracted Iggy anyway.

Later that night, after Fang fell asleep, Angel called me.

"Hey, Angel. How's it going?" I asked quietly.

"Alright," she said. "I just wanted to see how Fang was. Iggy said, well, that he seems like he's having a hard time."

"He's finally eating more, but he hasn't really said much." I let out a sigh. "It's probably because of the stutter he has. I don't know. He'll be alright eventually. He's still trying to convince himself this is all real."

"Ah, well, I can't imagine it'd be easy for him. I guess Nudge and I were just wondering when we could see him. I don't think it'd be good to overwhelm him though."

"No offense, Angel, I don't think he really wants you in his head either. Even though I know you wouldn't do that to him."

"Well, Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up over the next few months. Maybe we'll see you then." Angel, always the one to tell the bright side of things.

"Yeah, he'll want to see you all eventually anyways," I agreed.

"Alright, well, you call us if you need anything."

"Okay, thanks, Angel."

There was a click and she was gone.

"M-Max?"

I almost jumped out of bed.

"I-I-I don't m-mind s-seeing them," he said, grabbing my hand.

Before I could respond, he said goodnight, wrapping his arms around me.