The Dis of Claiming: Owning things is stupid. That's why Sky doesn't own Maximum Ride.

"Revealing the truth is like lighting a match, it can bring light or it can set your world on fire."

- Sydney Rogers

You would think that lunch would be the highlight of my day. And it normally was. But of course, as you've figured out by now, today was not a normal day.

It all started when I walked into the cafeteria, carrying my plate of mystery meat and mashed potatoes.

That ended up all over Lissa Pensky, the Queen Bee of the school.

It was one of those scenes that you would see in a movie, you know? When the awesome heroine trips and spills food all over the terrible popular girl who seems to get her kicks by torturing said heroine. She screams, the said heroine laughs, and all her friends give her high fives and they move on.

Again, the classic high school movie scene.

It would have been funny too, it it wasn't for what made me spill my food in the first place.

My mom, Marian, the one whom I haven't seen or heard from in six years, was standing at the opposite side of the room, looking at me.

WTH?

I stared for a moment, barely registering Lissa's tantrum on how I ruined her 'beautiful' outfit. Honestly, I thought I was doing her a favor, but to each their own.

I snapped out of it when I saw Marian attempt to sneak away. Oh heck no. She wasn't getting away that easy. Dropping my tray, I sprinted towards her, knocking over some poor, innocent freshmen down along the way. I kept going. They'd live.

I saw her go in the hall to the right. I followed, but when I turned the corner, she was nowhere to be seen.

"Marian!" Silence. There was no way she got away that quickly. No, she was nearby. She could hear me. "Marian! I know you're there. You can't hide forever!" I walked down the hallway, looking at every possible hiding place. I shouted, "Mom!"

"Max."

I whirled around as Marian stepped out of the shadows. "Mom."

"I'm not your mother, Maximum."

I glared at her. "Yeah, I know. And I'm glad." I spat out. "Why are you here, Marian? It's been six years. Why show up now?"

"I came to warn you."

I scoffed. "Warm me? About what? That you were gonna randomly appear at my school? Sorry, but it's a little late for that."

"Max, I'm serious. They're coming for you next."

"What are you talking about?"

"They're going to come for you. The School. You're next."

Okay, I was officially confused out of my mind. Who was coming for me? What 'school'? What did she mean by 'next'?

She must have noticed my confused look, because she rolled her eyes. "The School of Inspired Sciences. What other School would I be talking about?"

"I don't know, maybe this one. I always had a feeling that this place was in some dirty business." I reflexively said, and then realized the statement that she just made. "Wait, the School of Inspired Sciences. As in where Jeb works? That doesn't make any sense!"

Marian spoke with an urgency now. "Max, your father, not everything he says is true. He's lied about your parents. Your real mother is alive.

I froze. What? There was no way. I wanted to argue with her, to yell at her for being an idiot, but all I could muster out was, "Huh?"

"She's alive, Max. In California. You probably don't believe me, but Max, you need to trust me. I know that's hard, but I really do love you. I want to keep you safe. I realize I haven't shown you that recently, but please, listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you." She looked around, as if afraid of being watched. She walked closer to me and lowered her voice. "Angel, she's been taken. And you're next. Because Max, you're both very special." She lowered her voice even more, so I could barely hear her words. "Max," she whispered,"you and Angel are avian-human hybrids. Part bird. And your friend Fang-"

Bang!

She was shot. Right in front of me.

What?

I watched her as she looked down at her abdomen, a small circle showing where the bullet entered her body. She looked back up at me, her eyes meeting mine. I stared back in terror, frozen in place. Her eyes, they didn't look afraid. They looked satisfied, as if she expected this to happen and had been waiting for it. She opened up her mouth to speak.

She only said one word. "Itex."

Then she fell.

All I could do was stand there, feeling confused, shocked, and horrified all at once. Marian, my mother for eleven years, just died. Right in front of me. After telling me I was part bird. After telling me that Angel had been kidnapped. After telling me that Fang…

Wait, she never finished telling me about Fang.

Crap, this wasn't good.

I snapped out of my shock when I heard a glass shattering scream come from behind me. "OMG that guy has a gun!" Lissa's voice rang out into the air for all to hear.

Then all heck broke loose.

I briefly saw my mother's assassin make a dash to the right of the hallway, realizing that I had been staring at him after he shot Marian. He could have killed me, but he didn't. Why? I was a sitting duck! I barely even registered that he was there.

Why didn't he kill me?

I would find out the answer to this soon. Even though it wasn't exactly the way I expected.

That probably sounded extremely confusing, but you'll figure it out soon enough.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, Lissa's ear killing screech of doom.

So, everyone of course heard her scream, and chaos ensued. But I, being the stupid person I am, just stood there, staring where the assassin used to be. Then some of Marian's words rang in my ear.

Angel, she's been taken.

No.

No no no no no.

This couldn't be happening. Not Angel. No, this all had to be some sort of sick joke.

I almost convinced myself that it was too, until I looked down at Marian's body, still on the floor. This wasn't a joke. Or a bad dream. Whatever this was, it was real, and I was completely terrified.

So this chapter has also been edited as of 1/4/15. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.