Chapter One

…4 years later…

"What?!" Nudge yelled when Anne, our "mother", said.

"Yes. All five of you are enrolling in high school. I can't just have you guys laying around here like you own the place; I under stand that you can learn really fast because of what you can do but you need to interact with real people, and not just people that you beat up. Make some friends and expand your circle more than just the five of you. Besides this could be good for you." She said smiling.

I didn't say anything. It wouldn't matter anyway. Why should I waist my breath trying to explain to her that this will never work. Something terrible will happen and the flock and I will fly off like we used to do with…Max…

I know some of you are underlie confused so I will explain everything as best as I can. Four years ago we lost Max. She was out leader, our mother figure, and my best friend. Jeb shot her with a stun gun and I spent those four years trying to find her. Knowing the whitecoats, they will screw with her just like they did with Iggy. Iggy is blind because some whitecoats decided to screw with his eye sight so yeah. They also took angel not too long ago and for a while she was a bit messed up. She was six then and is now ten. Her brother Gasman, better known as Gazzy, is 13 now. Nudge is 15 now and still hasn't learned to stop talking. Iggy and I are 18 now and so would Max. For all I know she could still be alive.

"…and Fang shall start next week." I heard my name and I had to listen to the conversation. It looks like I don't have a say in this. Iggy and I are 18 so we don't have to go but I'm pretty sure Anne wouldn't like that.

She looked over at me and I just looked at her back. I barely talked since I had lost Max. Barely anyone really talked about her but I couldn't get the feeling that she was still alive, out of my system. I had, well I have, a very strong feeling that she's right under my nose and I'm just not looking hard enough. I still resent this school idea.

"Are you done?" I asked. Everyone looked at me shocked that I had spoken.

"Fnick, you speak." Iggy said. I didn't look at him and continued to stare at Anne.

"Excuse me?" She asked. She looked at me like I spoke a foreign language.

"Are you done?" I asked again.

"Yes I am, Fang." She said. I pushed off the wall I was leaning on and walked to my room leaving my arms crossed.

"Some times I don't under stand that boy." I heard her say to the flock. She was attempting to be quiet but with how strong my ears are, it's hard to say something quietly.

"I heard that." I said under my breath. I walked to my room and closed the door behind me. I didn't need to listen to her go on and on about how much fun and good to go to school will be for us.

Well my life just sucked at this moment. Anne wants us to go to school with uniforms for reasons I don't know and I could care less about knowing. I just want to go out and try to find Max. I know she is still here and I know my flock needs her back. The hardest one to take it was Angel. Max was like a mother to her and Max never stopped caring about her. Iggy had a hard time but he took it a bit harder because he can't go out and help me look. Everyone wants to help me but three of them are too young and the other is blind. Not only that but I think I have to do this on my own. It was like Max and her mission to save the world, which by the way never got completed.

I flopped on my bed and groaned. I really despised being here. I love my flock family but it just isn't right without Max.

I could hear the conversation end and everyone go off their separate ways. I heard a knock on my door then it opened.

"What do you want?" I asked muffling it with pillows. I didn't get an answer.

"I said, what do you-" I turned over to see Angel in my door way crying. She barely ever cried now that she was getting older.

"Angel what's wrong?" I asked sitting up. She didn't say anything and just looked at me.

"Angel tell me what's wrong. Please Angel come here." I said holding my arms out. She slammed my door and ran into my arms and started bawling her eyes out. I hugged her tight and rubbed her long blonde curls trying to sooth her.

"Oh Fang, it was horrible!" She said crying on my shoulder.

"Angel what was?" I asked. I had a feeling it had to do with Max. She's been having some bad dreams and day dreams for that matter.

"When Anne was telling us about school…" she said looking up from my shoulder.

"Yeah…" I encouraged her on.

"I saw the day Max disappeared and then it quickly flashed to a lab at the School and I saw people working on her. They were cutting into her skull trying to get some form of memory thing. They made her loose all of her memory of us and there was so much blood and they almost killed her!" She said. I looked at her shocked. We figured out that Angel can see the past when she least expects that and can't use it when we need it. I know; what a useless power.

"Fang stop calling my power useless." She said practically yelling at me. Oh and she can read minds. That is really bad when you try to yell at her.

"I'm sorry Angel. Are you sure this isn't just something you think happened?" I asked. I didn't want this one to be true.

"Fang, have you ever known my visions to be wrong?!" She asked. She had a point. Her visions were never wrong and if this one is true then she won't remember us if we ever find her.

"It is true, we will find her, and we will make her remember." Angel said stubbornly.

"What did I tell you about reading my mind?" I said. She always did that and I hated it.

"Sorry." She mumbled. I wiped away her tears and hugged her.

"Now, no more tears. We will find her and get her memory back." I hope. She looked at me and I knew that she had read the 'I hope' part in my head. I gave her a stern look and she looked down.

"Sorry." She mumbled. I smiled and lifted her chin up. She had a few more tears coming down and I wiped them away. She smiled and me and wrapped her arms around my waist.

"Thank you Fang." I was a little bit in shock but I eased up and wrapped my arms around her hugging her back. "You're doing a wonderful job as the leader and a "mother/father" figure for us like Max did."

"Thank you Angel." I said. She let go and walked out of the room closing the door behind her. I sighed and walked over to my window. It had just begun to start to snow. Neither one of us had ever seen snow before so we were more than happy to see it.

I opened my window and let the cold air rush in my room. The coldness didn't affect us like it did Anne or any other person. I stepped on the little ledge thing and spread my 14 feet wing span out and let them relax. I took a deep breath closing my eyes and jumped from the second floor and pumped my wings getting me high into the air and out of the house.

I looked down from the roof and watched Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge play in the little snow there was. It should be higher by the morning. Anne was by Iggy talking to him about god knows what. I didn't want to here what they were talking about and knowing Iggy it was about what school would be like. We would only be there for a year at the most. If we do stay then wow, I would actually have to get a job after that…if I'm still alive. Please tell me what the point is to going to school for half a year at the most. Of course that's if no Flyboys attack us.

What happened to the Erasers, you may ask. Well they were all "terminated" and they made these robot Erasers that we call flyboys. They really are stupid. They can't swim, they have a glitch in them, and they just suck balls. I really hope they get "terminated." That would make life so much easier.

Where's Jeb through all of this? Well the last time I saw him; he was at the School working on something and probably knows something about Max. But will I ask him? And the answer to that is…no. I don't know and never will, unless I have to, associate myself with that back stabbing, pain the butt, traitor "father" of our. Yes he used to be a father to us but he decided to go back to the School and became a traitor to us. But then again he did leave his only sun Ari to take care of us. I don't care no matter what the h-e-double hockey sticks happened to him. Yes I still use Max's no cussing rule. Did I agree with it? No. Did I agree with the no gun rule? No. Do I listen to it? Wait you guys think my answer is no right? Wrong! I do listen to it. It's about one of the only ones I agree with…sort of. When she told me about the time she got shot by a shot gun then I agreed with that but guns still rock.

I looked down at the kids and Anne. They were smiling and laughing. You would think I want to go down and have fun with them, right? Wrong. The only thing I want to do is go out and find Max. I looked a little bit every night but it's not like I can cross the country and be back in time before Anne notices. She notices when I take a few hours just to go around and look. Yes she gets mad but she can't control me. One she isn't my mother, two I'm 18 so I can do what ever the h-e-double hockey sticks I want and no way am I going to let her stop me. You can't shoot a bird down in the middle of flight…well you could but you can't keep me down long. Well you can if I really was forced to but still I will always get back up. Well…No! Stop with this well…crap. I will still fly and that's final.

I shook my head trying to clear it. I've been talking to myself lately and I'm afraid it's going to get to the point that it will be out loud and that I'm going to get a voice in my head. Besides my own voice but like what Max had.

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I jumped into the night sky and pushed my wings. I don't care how much trouble I get in. I need to do some more searching. I pushed hard and let the air blow across my face and sped up as fast as I could. The faster the better. I wasn't as fast as Max but I was pretty fast and right now that only thing I wanted to do was get out of this holly jolly place the flock calls home. It is a pain in my ass and I swear in Anne says anything to me when I get home she is going to have it.

I didn't want to go to school and I didn't have to. I have a choice to stay but then again I need to help Iggy around the school. Gazzy could help him and I'm pretty sure that some nice people would love to help him but I know he would be more comfortable with me guiding him around. Not only that, but everyone doesn't know what we have to do in order for him to understand what is going on. It is really hard to be leader and now I know why Max had some trouble with it.

This has to be the worst thing that she could have done to us. Well she really didn't do it but you get the point. Not only that…well this is the worst. The second one was when she decided to take Ari under her wing and went off to Germany. That's when we split that flock. That was the worst thing we could have down to any of us. Especially splitting up Angel and Gazzy. It hurts if you're family and you guys have to split. Yes Angel and Gazzy are blood related but you should know that by now and if you don't know about anything that I'm talking about then put this story on pause and go read the books. Things will clear up.

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I was just about to cross the Virginia border when I heard a very familiar voice. It definitely someone I didn't care to hear right now. He's a pain in the ass anyway.

"Aren't you a bit far from home, Fang boy?" Ari said from behind me. Yeah that's right he never died and I still hate his guts. He pisses me off too.

"Isn't daddy missing you much Ari? He did leave you to help us. Maybe you should fuck off and leave me the hell alone and go be a daddy's boy." I said flipping him off. I did listen to the no cussing rule…around the kids. I could care less if I was by myself or the kids couldn't hear me. I know they aren't really kids but they are to me. And they always will be.

"I would say the same thing but really…aren't you a Maxy boy, Fang? You love her sooo much it seems unreal for you to be alone without her." That pissed me off beyond belief.

"At least I didn't have a love feast with her and try to steal her and keep her for myself." I fired back. He locked his jaw and I don't think mine was ever unlocked from the moment I heard him. "You know just leave me alone. Don't make me kick your ass again. Besides I have things to do." I started to fly off but that didn't work like I planned. He just had to be a smart ass and fire back.

"Fang seems lost trying to find little old Max." I stopped, hovering. Turning around rather fast, I slashed out and round housed kicked him straight in the ribs. He staggered back and looked up at me. He was starting to light a fire and to tell you honestly mine hasn't been put out since the day I lost Max.

"Go crawl back in a cave and wait for expiration date to come and have daddy fix you again." I fired back. He flew at me and just as he got to me I dropped and headed back to Anne's house. Ari knows something I can tell. He never cares what I'm doing unless Max is somewhere close.

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I snuck back into my room in record time. I swear I'm the fastest out of all of us. It is pretty amazing. I closed my window and turned around to see Anne standing well leaning against my door frame.

"Fang, how many times have I told you not to go out and find Max? If we knew something, she would be back here in your arms and in all of our arms. You aren't the only one who misses her." She said sternly looking at the tea in her hand.

"If she was here, I wouldn't be and Itex wouldn't exist and we would all be in some other place. No way would we be stuck in Virginia. Not only that, but I'm the only one who can go out and look for her when I want to. I'm old enough and I don't have to listen to you." I said standing feet shoulder length apart and my hands out at my sides in fists. It was I stance I did when I was mad.

"Iggy is the same age as you are. He has just as much authority as you do." She said looking at me.

"He's blind he can't really do much. He may be the best person to see what is going on but he can't physically look down at the ground and tell me something important below us. Everyone else has school to attend to." I said. She caught on about why I was mad. She lowered her eyes and glared at me. She walked over to me and got right in my face.

"You will go to school whether you like it or not. No way am I letting your ass sit around waiting for someone who is dead to come back to you so you can all be happy. Your family needs you more than you need Max. You have to move on so you can take care of them. I know you aren't going to be here very long and that's why you need to get over it. Life moves on; it defiantly aint waiting for your slow ass to get up and move along with it." She said in my face. I glared back at her. I didn't need to take this and I wasn't going to it. But if she hits me…oh boy will she be in for a big surprise.

"You know what Anne? You're just lucky I haven't left your ass behind and I'm willing to try to stay here. Max isn't dead and we know." I turned her around and started pushing her out my door. "None of us need you. We know how to make a living with out your help. I'll do what the hell I please and so get the hell out of my room." I said pushing her out the door. She turned around to say something but no way in hell will I listen to her.

"Good night Anne." I said cutting her off and slamming the door in her face. I could tell she was glaring at me through the door.

Why can't you just get a long with Anne? Angel sent to my head. I figured she was listening.

What are you doing listening to my conversation? I asked back.

I wasn't listening; everyone can hear it. You never answered my question.

I just don't like being here. I know how much you guys do so I'm going to put up with her and school. If it makes you guys happy then I can deal with it. Good night Angel. Tell everyone I said goodnight.

Good night Fang. And with that I crawled into bed and passed out.

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