Sorry about the long update. My computer has been really laggy. Thanks for the reviews and editting tips. And this is pretty much were the Hanna references end :) this story is completely different. Some recognizable characters from James Patterson's Maximum Ride are coming up in the next chapter. Fang is one of them :) Iggy is briefly mentioned, rest will be added VERY soon.

I stared at the dark blue door in front of me. It seemed normal-every house on this street had the same door. In fact-every house on this street was exactly the same but slightly different colours. It makes a lot of sense for a woman who's trying to blend in.

I took a deep breath to calm the nerves. This was it. She was going to unveil my past and future. I highly doubt my 'grandma' knows it-but I've been waiting for answers my whole life. I might know almost everything about physics, chemistry, math, world wars and other things down to the bone but I know nothing about who I am, who my father was.

It's a pretty big deal.

I looked at my watch; 16 seconds until I'm supposed to do The Knock and I get to meet-in some ways- the Grandma of my dreams. Sounds like an easy enough plan. Why am I so nervous?

I raised a shaky hand to the door. I never had this feeling before-not even when I shot my first gun by the age of 5.

My dad likes planning everything out; I guess I have always been a do now, think later kind of person. My gave me books and papers full of info about guns: different kinds, how they work, how to use them-boring stuff. I just wanted to shoot the bloody thing so I snuck into his stash of guns and shot one-to see what it was like. I had a deadly weapon in my little hands when most girls that age had Barbies. I wasn't nervous in the slightest.

I waited for a couple seconds. Seconds turned into a minute. A minute turned into a minutes. She knows the time. She should have been waiting by the door. Rudy or my dad was suppose to have given her the time and date the moment I left the airport.

I looked around-I'm guessing everyone was still sleeping. There wasn't a soul in sight. I picked the lock-I had the door open in 49 seconds flat.

I took cautious step into the house. The place looked like it had just been trashed. I flipped on the light switch-there looked as though there was one of those wild high school parties. Other than all the old fashioned furniture and kitchen appliances-the house was bare. No family photos. There was a huge beautiful red oak bookshelf in the middle of the room filled with old books but that seemed to be the only personal items in the house.

Except for the splatter of blood on the kitchen floor. I was about to go study it until-

"What happened?" A lady's voice behind me made me jump in the air, instantly in my battle stance.

"Who are you?" I asked in a menacing voice. She looked around and closed the front door she came through.

"You're Maximum. Right? Daughter of Jeb Batchelder?"

"Who wants to know," I asked-more like stated.

She smiled brightly, "My name is Anne. Anne Walker. I was partners with your father." I stood there stunned. My dad has talked about his partner before-except she was supposed to be dead.

"Anne Walker is dead," I said tightening my fighting stance.

"That's what they wanted your father to think, they told him that so he would truly think he was alone. I spoke with your Grandma days ago-she told me you were coming," Anne said sounding sincere, "By the looks of the place-she's gone. Most likely dead."

I relaxed a bit. Anne must have been very trusted; if my grandma told her all that.

"Have you touched anything?" She asked. I shook my head-"good, the police will probably find the house trashed sooner or later. Probably later-your grandma wasn't exactly known for leaving the house a lot. We don't want to leave fingerprints. We have to leave. Now," She said rushing out the door, I followed into her car. "Your grandma told me if anything happened to her-have you come with me. Lay low until you are to complete your mission and your dad comes for you." She said this speeding off.

"I found blood. Do you think she was murdered in her house?" I asked.

"Mostly likely. The killers probably took her body too," Anne said gripping the steering wheel. "It might have been just a random killing though."

"Did you know my mom?" I asked, looking out the window.

"Yes. She was a lovely woman. Very tough too. You could say we were bestfriends from high school. I was there the day you were born-such a cute little baby turned into such a gorgeous mature young woman," she looked over and smiled at me. I smiled back-but had gut feeling told me not to trust her fully.

She took me back to her condo. A high rise in the middle of the downtown. It was pretty fancy and looked expensive. We took the elevator to the 19th floor. Now, I've never taken the elevator-and will never again. I hated being in a confined space with one exit and where a machine controlled everything.

Anne led me through a door to a pretty elegant loft. Everything was white but liveable. She told me to sit on the couch as she fetched me something to drink. Out of habit, I sniffed the drink to make sure it wasn't poisoned. Jeb taught me that and used to put some in my food and drinks just to test me.

I took a sniff of the bubbly, fizzy drink. It tasted sugary-I pretty sure it was called soda.

"So Max, do you have any idea where your father is now?" I narrowed my eyes suspiciously at her.

"No clue," I said taking another sip.

"Well, good thing I have instructions for you regarding your mission. Your dad told your grandma to tell you-lie low. You are going to be trying to blend in as a normal kid until your father comes. Maybe interacting with kids your age will help you get a feel for the world and carry out your mission." She leaned closer with a thoughtful look on her face, "You really do look like your father and mother." She gestured for me to get up, "I will show you to your room. We will have to go shopping at the mall and get you a wardrobe and school supplies."

There was the word I dreaded coming from her mouth. Dad didn't say anything about going to school-I knew nothing about modern-day teenagers.

PAGEBREAK

Anne took me to a 'mall' soon after. We had to wait for a couple of hours for it to open. It was pretty early in the morning when she found me in the house. She quickly explained that a mall is a building with multiple stores inside. Teenagers love hanging out there. I was not one of them-it was loud, and busy. I hate all the attention.

In the end, Anne talked me into buying tight jeans called skinny jeans and multiple tightish t-shirts and tank tops and many hoodies and jackets. I made sure I can move in the skinny jeans, just in case I have to fight at any point. She almost bought me combat boots and converse shoes. Looking at other teens-my clothes looked normal.

When we got back to her loft, I was ready to freak out.

"Anne, this won't work. I know nothing about school," I said sitting on the couch with my head in my hands.

Anne looked puzzled for a moment, before snapping her fingers and turning on the huge TV across from the couch. She flicked it to some channel with a bunch a teenage girls talking on the screen. "Watch these shows, you will learn in no time."

After about 4 hours or so, I was ready to puke. How could people stand this?! High school seems like a nightmare. Backstabbing girls, perverted guys, annoying teachers- I always thought Marian would be my biggest challenge. She is now a close second compared to High School.

I overheard parents complaining in the mall that kids are getting dumber by the minute because of technology. And yet-it only made me smarter. I feel like I know almost everything about school now. Cliques, the Cafeteria, Gym, Boyfriends, Flirting, Whores-I feel like I have gone to high school for my whole life.

"Fuck. Asshole. Whore. Bitch," I repeated what the teens from the TV, trying to get the words to roll off my tongue better. I then flicked my hair back like the girls from the show.

"Maximum! Language!" Anne yelled from the kitchen, fixing herself a midnight snack.

"Chill out Anne," I smiled, I sounded like a real teen, "I was just practicing blending in..."

"Well, practice a little quieter, I have neighbours," she said rolling her eyes and walk toward the stairs, presumably going to her room. "Goodnight Maximum. Get to sleep. Big day tomorrow."

I soon followed after her to the guest room. I changed into my night clothes that Anne bought me-they were silky and soft but were pretty skimpy as far as I could tell. Well, compared to my animal skin clothes.

I looked at the queen bed. It had a silky white comforter-of course following the design of the rest of the house. I took a cautious step toward it, and slowly sat down. I must have looked pretty weird-studying the bed and approaching it as if it was plotting to kill me. But hey-I never slept in one before.

Holy. This was the softest thing ever. I laid my head down and I was out instantly.