So… I got 2 reviews! Yay! It's actually better than I thought.
Ash: Oh yeah, there's definitely gonna be some fax in this story. I'm a total sucker for fax! In fact, I just changed my pen name from x3lovefangx3. Look forward to it, but it's not gonna show up immediately.
BloodyBurningAshes: First off, LOVE the name! Secondly, no, I did not try to taste the unknown substance. I found out what it was, though! It was a candle… I think. I don't remember any green candles in my house, but my mom told me it was a candle. I chose to believe her cause I don't have a better idea. Thirdly, the whole Angel thing is from a different series, Mortal Instruments. Finally, I will try to update at least once a week.
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY! Well, that was yesterday, but you know what I mean.
Disclaimer: Ugh, I hate these. Why do you always have to put them in? I mean, once is enough. I already feel bad as it is! **Sigh** Oh well. I don't own the characters, only the plot.
Max POV
When I woke up the next morning, I looked at my new… ally, I guess is what you would call him. He was lying on his back, hands behind his head. He looked completely at peace, totally in his element. He seemed really familiar somehow, as if I've known him before. I just don't know from where. I studied him closer. Black clothes, long black hair, olive skin. A little stubble from a 5 o'clock shadow. Definitely muscular, from what I learned from our fight last night, but it wasn't over done. He was toned, not on the over muscular side that looked like he was on steroids. He had a bruise on his arm, right beneath the sleeve of his shirt. It wasn't from me either. I never got to hit him. 2 seconds into the fight I was knocked out.
'I really have to learn to fight if I want to survive here,' I thought to myself, then shook my head. Focus! Back to my job.
I bit my lip. I guess you could say he was… good looking. Well, hot. Extremely hot. As much as I hated to admit it, he looked good for a guy living under a dumpster. Then it came to me, a memory I had long since forgotten.
Flashback
I was walking on a path that went through the woods. The woods were surrounded by houses from four different developments. Each area had a path that cut through the woods until it reached the 4-way. From there you could go to any of the other neighborhoods. The path I was on had a fork: one way leading to the village of houses, the other leading to a park.
My friend James was walking next to me. Both of us were sweating from a long day at the park in the burning hot sun.
We were walking in silence, headed home (we were next door neighbors) when we heard a set of pounding footsteps from up ahead of us. It wasn't unusual to run into joggers, so we just ignored it. As we came around a bend, the footsteps got louder. The 4-way was in sight, about 20 feet away from where we stood with at least 20 feet of path visible in the other directions as well.
James and I slowed down a bit. A boy dressed in all black ran up the path to our right. When he saw us, we were around 10 feet away from each other. He stopped and stared at us. James and I stopped too.
The boy was tan, with black hair and dark eyes. He had a black long sleeve shirt on with black sweatpants and black sneakers. My jaw threatened to drop. It was 98 degrees out here! How could he not have a heat stroke?
He was panting slightly, his mouth parted just a bit.
"Are you alright?" James called out in concern. His mother was a nurse.
The boy's eyes widened slightly, as if shocked that we would talk to him. I took a step toward him to see if I could help, but a bark stopped me. A little black Scottie ran up from behind the kid and growled at us.
"Total, hush!" the guy hissed quietly, trying not to let us hear him talk but not succeeding. Then he promptly turned to his right and ran off, the little dog at his heels.
And you know what I did?
I followed them.
Why?
Because, when you see a boy that looks like an 8-year-old (and you're an 8-year-old too) with a black eye, a bleeding cut on his forehead, a split lip, and hands that are dripping blood, running in the woods like his life depended on it, you tend to want to see if he's alright.
So I chased the guy before he ran out of sight. It was the way to my house anyway. James followed me without a question: he knew what I was doing and wanted to help.
We followed him until he ducked through a backyard and jumped the fence. The fence didn't slow us down much, but by the time we landed on the other side, all we saw was an empty road stretched out before us.
The boy and his dog were nowhere to be seen.
End Flashback
A couple days after that there were missing child posters around the neighborhood. The kid's name was Nicholas Wings.
I personally thought that was a pretty cool last name, but James disagrees.
I glanced back at dumpster kid. Yeah, I would mistake olive skin for tan when I was 8. There was an 86% chance that kid was Nicholas. (A/N: Yeah… I just made up that percentage…)
I looked around to see if I had missed a dog, but there wasn't one. When I looked back at Nicholas, his eyes were open, staring at the sky. Black eyes…
"So…," I started, wanting to fill the silence. I knew it was him, Nicholas Wings, the same guy from the woods all those years ago.
Nicholas' dark eyes flicked over to me. Other than raise an eyebrow, he didn't move.
I bit my lip, thinking of what to say. I looked at his eyes and asked "Where's Total?"
His eyes widened slightly, and some emotion slipped through his emotionless mask: shock, sadness, regret. Then he narrowed his eyes and the mask was back, blocking every emotion but suspicion. After a moment of internal debate, he finally answered with a simple "Don't know."
Still looking him in the eye, I questioned him even more. "Why don't you know where he is?"
Nicholas shrugged. Jeez, this guy doesn't talk much. I sighed. "Did you lose him?" A head shake. "Did he run away?"
"Nope," Nicholas told me, popping the "p".
"Then what happened to him?"
His mask was fully back now, so I couldn't tell how he felt when he finally told me what happened to Total.
"I ate him."
…WHAT?
So emotionlessly, so nonchalant. It took me a moment to comprehend what he had said. When I understood, my mouth opened in surprise. We still hadn't broken eye contact, so I knew he could read every emotion going through my head. He seemed to be waiting for the final result, which, shockingly, turned out to be understanding. I suddenly noted that this boy loved that dog, whether he would admit it or not. He wouldn't eat Total if he wasn't desperate. I mean, an 8-year-old, living on the streets. Must have been a tough life, you know?
And he completely regretted ever doing it.
I couldn't look at him anymore. I turned my attention to my suddenly interesting hands that were sitting in my lap.
"I'm…," I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Nicholas."
His eyes flashed angrily. I barely had enough time to register he was mad before I found myself flat on my back, pinned on the ground beneath him with one hand holding my wrists (Note to self: Don't make him mad ever again. Also, DANG he has big hands!) and the other at my throat. His glared at me murderously.
I felt my eyes widen into saucers.
He leaned closer so his face was, say, 2 inches away from my face. Then he softly growled "Don't call me that. Ever. Again."
I was scared speechless. I just watched dumbly and silently as he released his hold on my neck and backed away. He stood up and turned around. As I regained my senses and sat up, he started to climb up the wall above the dumpster. After I watched his leg swing over the gutter and onto the roof, I shook my head.
'Snap out of it!' I thought, angry at myself. I looked for James.
James rolled out from the mattress under the dumpster and blinked sleepily in my direction. He yawned and said "Morning."
I just looked at him blankly. He understood that look. Something had happened that I didn't like.
"Uh oh. What did I miss?" He scanned the area, more awake now. "Hey, where's that other guy?"
I thought I heard a snort from somewhere, but no one else was here except James and me. I just shook my head. "I think I just pissed off the one guy who could help us out."
He shrugged and stood up. "Oh well. We'll deal with that later. Right now, I'm starving. Let's find us some breakfast!" He came over and held out a hand to me. I gave him a small smile before I took it and stood up.
"Thanks," I said quietly.
"Don't mention it," James told me.
As we started walking away, I gave one last glance at the wall Nicholas had scaled. I mean… My mind blanked. What does he go by if he doesn't want to be called Nicholas? He can't be "Dumpster Dude" forever.
Note to self: Learn Dumpster Dude's name. And learn to climb walls.
Alright, I'm sorry I kind of skipped a scene. I didn't really know how to write it, so I just took it out. Max pretty much found Fang and tried to hurt him because she believed he was a threat. After he beat her in a fist fight, she decided she it would be better to befriend him instead of making him an enemy.
Oh, and I'm sorry to all Total lovers out there. I didn't know how to fit him into the story, so I sort of killed him off. They could get a new dog, if you want. He could be a stray or come with Angel or something.
I'm thinking of adding a new character, but I want readers to decide who. Tell me a name, age, description, likes, dislikes, attitude, and whatever you think necessary. Please?