Oh look, chapter 8. Hurray! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: The series would have ended after book three if I owned it.

"Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." -Aristotle

To say that my life sucked up to this point would be an understatement. But I guess it wasn't all bad. The facility I was in made sure I wasn't starving or dehydrated to the point of death, which is always a plus. And they let me stay with Angel, which was what really kept me going those first few days. Eventually it turned into a routine. An awful routine, but it was mostly consistent, which I appreciated.

It meant I could plan my escape.

Every morning at six, they'd wake me up, force feed me some sort of oatmeal protein shake that tasted like rotten lettuce, make me run on a treadmill until I passed out, stick me back in the cage, wake me up an hour later, force water down my throat, shove some needles in my arm, take me to a room, poke and prod me until I snapped at them, sedate me, put me back in the cage, and I'd wake up with some new scars on my body I didn't remember getting. I'd sit in the cage for a few hours and basically die of boredom. Then sleep for seven hours. They're very strict about that.

It may not be the typical daily routine for a seventeen your old, but it had been my life for the past six or so weeks. Plenty of time to devise a plan of escape.

I had everything planned out meticulously. I was stretching and working with my wings for weeks now. They were strong. Reliable.

Usable.

Of course, I wasn't certain how well they worked. This whole plan could blow up in my face. But I had to try something. For Angel's sake as much as mine.

Angel.

I had gleaned some pretty interesting info during my time here. Apparently Angel was part bird, like me. But we needed an activating agent to reveal the subordinate traits. Mine needed eighteen years to reach full maturity. Angel's needed eight.

They activated mine early. They're activating Angel's late. They're keeping her until her eighth birthday. Two whole years in this hell hole.

Not on my watch.

I sighed as I stared at the clock across from my crate. I had three hours before I could start my plan. A headache slowly creeped up on me, and I rubbed my temples and grunted. Migraines had been an unwelcome friend the past few weeks.

"You okay, Max?"

"Yeah, Angel. I'm fine." I lied.

"Okay." Her voice was soft, scared. I didn't blame her.

"You're going to get out of here, you know that, right Angel?"

I frowned when she didn't respond. "Angel?"

I heard her take a deep breath. "Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you dying?"

I frowned. To be honest, I didn't know the answer. "I told you, Angel. I'm fine."

"Stop lying. I can handle it. I promise."

I ran a hand through my hair. "Well, I can't say I'm at the peak of my health, to be honest. But we'll be fine, okay?"

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"And you won't leave, right?"

"Never."

It was eleven o'clock on the dot when they came to sedate me for my nightly seven hours of sleep.

Time to take action.

One thing I had learned about myself in my time here was that wings weren't the only changes to my body. My bones shifted. My muscles grew. I basically had super strength. I mean, I was no Clark Kent, but one punch could easily knock out a grown man.

So when the lone White Coat came to give me my sedative, I wasn't surprised that I broke his arm when I grabbed the needle out of his hand and jabbed it in his neck.

He collapsed on the floor with a soft thud, and I hopped out of my crate and stretched. Grabbing his keys, I went to Angel's crate.

Her smile was about ten miles wide. "You're plan worked." She whispered.

I smiled and nodded. She took my hand and jumped out. "This way." I squeezed her hand and led her to one of the doors to the left.

We wandered down corridors and hallways for what seemed like forever. Our steps were light and quick. We had approximately eight minutes before someone noticed that we were out of our cages. Eight minutes until they sent the Erasers after us.

Erasers. Basically like werewolves, but uglier. Except when they're human. Then they look like models. It's terrifying, really. I heard that the logic behind it was that people are more likely to trust beautiful people or something psychological like that.

Like I said, terrifying.

Anyway, we had eight minutes to get from the crate room where they held me and Angel to the other end of the building before the alarms went off and we would become dog prey.

We passed several rooms. Some of them I've been in, most of them I haven't. But when we passed the room (and no, I don't mean Tommy Wiseau's The Room), shivers went down my spine and hair stood up on the back of my neck.

This was the room. The room where I changed. The room where they'd put me in isolation when they weren't pleased with my performance. The room where I first started to hear the Voice.

It's the room that made me crack for the first time.

I never told Angel about it. The last thing she needed to know was that I was going crazy and hearing a voice in my head. But she could tell my change in demeanor as we passed the room.

"I've heard you scream from there before, you know."

Oh. I didn't know that. "I'm sorry you had to hear that." I whispered. "But can we talk about it later? Now's not really the time."

She nodded and kept going, squeezing my hand as I took one final glance at the room that changed my life forever.

A life I wanted desperately to move on from.

Tsk tsk, Max. Where do you think you're going?

I nearly screamed, which, once again, Angel noticed. But she said nothing as we kept walking.

I tried my best to ignore the Voice when it showed up. I really did. But it was difficult. What can I say? It liked to nag, and I can only hold back the sarcasm for so long.

What do you want? I asked it, whatever it was.

To help you escape, of course.

You're lying. I knew it was. It did that a lot.

I'm not lying, Max. I'm you. How can I lie? I swear I heard it chuckle. Unless you're implying that you are in fact a liar.

Shut up.

Strike a nerve, did I?

I clenched my teeth and kept going. "This way, Angel." I pulled her in the direction of the last door on the right. The escape. We made it.

You're going to die.

Shut. Up.

It's inevitable, Max. You were destined to die. I suppose everyone is, if you think about it.

I took a deep breath. Can you just...go away? For five minutes?

Very well, Max. But you can't get rid of me forever. I'll always be here, reminding you.

It didn't say anything else, much to my relief. Finally, some peace and quiet.

The door was in front of us. With shaking hands I turned the knob. The door whipped open and wind hit my face.

Outside.

It was so long since I'd been outside.

I sucked in the fresh air deeply, and I heard Angel do the same next to me. We looked at each other and smiled. We were finally here.

And then it all came crashing down.

"Hey!"

I whirled around to become face to face with a scientist, whom we liked to call White Coats. Except this was no ordinary scientist. I knew this man.

Fang's dad.

No. This was all wrong.

I stared at him in confusion, shock, hurt, anger. So many emotions rolled up into one event. One realization. Questions rolled around in my head like waves crashing against a cliff.

Did Fang know about this place?

Was this what he was doing so early in the morning?

Had he betrayed me, betrayed Angel, the way Sam did?

I couldn't trust anyone anymore.

He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Angel as three Erasers came up from behind him. "You're not going anywhere."

My eyes glared into his. "I didn't expect you to be here, that's for sure."

He smirked. "Well, there are many things you didn't expect. I'm sure you didn't expect that you were part bird, or that your friendship with Nicholas was a set up."

Okay, that I didn't know. "You're lying." I ignored a small tear that subtly crept down my cheek.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. But I'm here, and so are you, and the two of you are going to come back with me."

"I don't think so." I whispered, stepping in front of Angel.

"Fine then. I didn't want to do this, but you're making it difficult."

Pain seared down my knee after a loud bang filled the air. "What the hell!" I fell to the ground as my legs gave out on me. This was my second time getting shot within two months. I think that's a record. For me, anyway.

"There. Now you can't run." He gestured towards the Erasers. "Get them. Bring them back to the room when they've been prepped." He looked back at me. "There's nowhere for you to run, Maximum. What was your plan once you got here, anyway? Surely you weren't counting on those monstrosities." He laughed as he gestured to my wings. He walked away, chuckling to himself.

I really wanted to spit in his general direction, but the pain in my leg was a bit distracting.

The Erasers came at us. One of them grabbed Angel before I could do anything. "Max!" Her screams broke my heart. But there was nothing I could do.

Her eyes locked with mine as she disappeared into the building. "I'm sorry." I mouthed.

That was it. That was our chance. And I blew it.

All I could hope was that one day, Angel would forgive me.

Still on the ground because, you know, I was pretty sure I had a shattered kneecap, one of the Erasers grabbed me and slung me over his shoulder, making me groan. "Watch it, will you? I've been shot, you know."

The Eraser, a tall, brunette woman with the strength of twelve men, just laughed. "No one cares, darling. Especially not me."

She was about to leave with me when the third Eraser, a tall man with blond curls, decided to speak up. "Wait. This is the one that stabbed Ted in the face. Always a trouble maker. Why don't we have some fun with this one?"

Crap.

"What did you have in mind?" The one holding me turned around. The excitement in her voice sickened me.

"She's part bird, ey?" He chuckled. "Let's see if this bird can fly."

"You know she can't. They made sure of that."

Well, I guess my plan really wouldn't have worked, then. Oh well. "Who cares?"

The one carrying me like a knapsack paused for a moment. "True."

Crap. Crap. Crap.

This was not good. Even for my standards.

I was carried to the edge of the building. The wind was howling. Clouds covered the night sky. I half wished that a gust would blow all three of us over.

Hey, if I was going, I wanted them to come with me.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" I piped up. "I don't think the Director is going to be very happy to learn that I'm dead."

"Honestly? I hate your guts. Anything he has to say to us will be worth seeing you dead."

"But you're expendable. He'll kill you."

The male Eraser chuckled. "He can try."

I gulped. There really was no getting through to these guys. They really were that stupid. At least, these two were. "You're going to get killed for a little thrill? That's ridiculous, and you know it."

"I'd shut up if I were you. But she's right, Leo. And it's more fun to do other things, anyway. We could stick her in the maze. Play a little chase. Wouldn't that be more fun?"

Oh no. No. I hated the maze. I'd rather die than go in the maze again.

"That's a good idea, Ash. Let's go."

No. Please no.

Max.

Oh come on. What?

Jump.

Are you nuts?

You'll be fine. They're not expecting it. Do it.

I can't leave Angel.

You won't. Trust me.

I really wanted to vomit. But I kicked with all my might. Ash dropped me and yelped. "What do you think you're doing?" She yelled at me.

I stepped back towards the edge and gulped. "Flying."

Then I fell down thirty-seven stories.

Well, there you have it.

If you don't mind, I have a request for you lovely people.

1.) After reading through the story, mark any continuity errors you might have noticed. Let me know about them.

2.) Are there any parts in this story that stood out to you? Anything you think will come up later?

3.) What do you think is going to happen? Is there any foreshadowing that you spot? Is there not enough of it?

4.) What is something that you like about this fic?

5.) What is something you don't like about this fic? How would you fix it?

This really helps in my editing process. Your voices make a difference in how the finished product of this fic will look. I tend to go back and edit chapters constantly, so if you think there is something drastic that needs to be changed, let me know. It's extremely helpful.

Also, I have a poll on my profile. You'd earn extra brownie points if you took a look at that as well.

Anyway, thanks to all who reviewed, followed, and favorited! Y'all are awesome. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.