Chapter Six

I woke up when it was still dark outside. I looked over to see Fang sleeping soundly, his fingers still laced with mine. I gently pulled my hand away from his and sat up. I stretched, glad to sleep for a little while. I figured I would leave the others alone for a bit. Hell, none of us had slept for two days. They needed it.

After finishing my business in the bathroom, I wandered back out to the room. I stopped outside of the doorway, just smiling at the scene in front of me. Iggy was spread eagle on the floor, his arms and legs sticking out from underneath his blanket and snoring lightly. Gazzy was curled up into a ball, which was difficult because he was well over six feet tall now, and his wings were held up in the air lazily, twitching as he was having a dream. Angel and Nudge were curled up next to each other, sleeping quietly. Fang was sprawled out on the bed, his wing still draped over the side of the bed.

I opened the door quietly and slipped out into the hallway. My wing muscles were twitching, which also irritated me. I needed to go off and do a morning stretch. I walked outside, giving an innocent smile to the desk clerk, a young woman maybe a few years older than I was. I continued out to an alley. I was guessing it was only about five in the morning, so not many people were about yet, but it was better to be safe.

I took off and pulled my wings out to catch the gentle breeze. I flew around for a while. I did my own aerial acrobatics, flipping lazily and then turning over again. I smiled to myself. During those three years, I had learned a lot of random tricks in the air. All of us had fun testing our abilities, just learning to be extraordinary. I swooped low near the roof of the building and shot up again. I was feeling relaxed when I noticed some movement in the air to my right.

It seemed like a flock of birds or something, flying easily in formation. I watched them for a moment, noticing they were moving a lot faster than any normal flock of birds . . . I froze up, realizing what it was. A massive group of Erasers, at least 50 or more, was flying together with alarming speed and without making hardly any sound.

"Shit," I said to myself.

I zipped down toward the ground and landed in an alleyway. I immediately sprinted off in the direction of the hotel, muttering a curse word every time my foot hit the hard pavement. That was one thing that I had managed to lose as we got older. I began to swear a lot more for no apparent reason. Well, at least this time it had a purpose. I kept running and skidded to a halt in the lobby. The woman looked a little startled to see me come in so quickly. I tried to calm my breathing as I walked over to the desk. I forced an innocent smile again and looked at her.

"Hi there, sorry to disturb you," I said with my super-sappy polite voice. "But I was just wondering if you could do me a huge favor."

She nodded. "Sure, Miss," she answered. "What would you like?"

"Um, could you please make sure that my room gets no disturbances today? It's room 242. We're just hoping to relax for the day, so no calls or visitors or anything, if we could please."

"That shouldn't be a problem at all. Were you expecting anybody?"

I shrugged. "Not that I know of. But we can never seem to get a break when we try, you know? We just want to be left only for today."

"Oh, I understand. That'll be no problem, Miss."

"Thank you very much. It's greatly appreciated."

I walked calmly until I got to the stairwell. I never made it up stairs so fast in my life. I swiped my key card through and went into the room. I slammed it shut, forgetting the others were still asleep. All of them jumped awake as I bolted the door and then went over to close the blinds to the window.

"Max, what's the matter?" Fang asked, trying to sit up, but stopping as his wing made him hurt again.

"What is it?" Iggy said, looking around, hearing all of my frantic movements.

"Do we have enough stuff to stay here in the hotel room for another day?" I whirled around, looking at Iggy, Gasman, Nudge, and Angel. "Like food and stuff?"

"I think we do, why?" Nudge answered slowly.

"There's more of 'em coming. I went out to fly this morning and saw them all coming this way. There's at least 50 this time, no way we can fight all of them. I thought if we stayed low and didn't leave the room today, they might think we kept going. They don't know how far we went before we decided to land . . ."

"Calm down, Max," Fang said, finally sitting up. "You're talking too fast. But okay, we'll stay in here today, then. You're sure we have enough food, though, Nudge?"

"Iggy made dinner," Nudge muttered.

"I think we'll be okay," he answered, running his hand through his hair. "We do have a pretty good amount, otherwise I know there's a vending machine room downstairs to the right side of the lobby."

"Or we could just run across the street to the grocery store," Nudge suggested. "You guys know junk food doesn't help us out as much as actual food."

I nodded, knowing she was right. I sighed, trying to think up a plan. "We have to go get more food, one way or another. If the Erasers are desperate enough, they'll search every inch of the city for us. I asked the clerk for our room not to be disturbed, so hopefully she doesn't say we're actually here . . ."

I stopped, clutching my head in frustration. "Okay, Angel, you stay here with Fang. Gazzy, Iggy, Nudge, you three come with me and we'll go get more food. Fang, keep your butt in the bed and let Angel get you whatever you need, otherwise you'll have me to answer to."

Fang saluted smartly as Iggy, Gazzy, and Nudge threw on clothes to go with me. We speed-walked across the lobby, smiling innocently at the desk clerk as we went out the door. We started crossing the street and went into the store. Nudge grabbed a cart and looked to me.

"Okay, guys, get what you think we need," I said. "Get enough for a few days. Anything microwaveable and sandwich stuff, whatever. I'll stay up here by the doors and make sure I don't see anything suspicious. I'll whistle if there's anyone I spot. Keep your eyes open, too. They might already be in here. Got it?"

The three nodded and went off to the aisles. I watched them for a moment before scanning the grocery store. 24 aisles, people in every aisle. Luckily, no one really looked Eraser-ish, so I thought we would be okay for a little bit. I slipped a little bit further away from the door. The pharmacy counter was on the right side of me. I walked over to it and pretended to inspect the racks of magazines beside it. Instead, my peripherals were watching people enter the store, measuring all of them up for any signs of Eraser.

"Excuse me, Miss," an old voice asked.

I jumped and looked around, not sure if I was the one being addressed or not. I spotted the older man at the pharmacy desk waving at me. He gestured me forward, which I obeyed reluctantly, being cautious. I eased up once I realized that his body was too worn to actually be an Eraser. They were always young. I smiled at him weakly.

"Sorry to startle you," he smiled. "I just wanted to tell you that you're friends were you looking for you."

"Oh?" I asked innocently, panic freezing my insides.

"Yes, your sister was looking for you, too."

"My sister?"

He chuckled. "Of course. You two look everything alike. Identical twins, I take it?"

My mouth dropped open despite myself. "I–I, um . . ."

"They came in a few minutes ago, I'm surprised you didn't run into each other. They said to give them a call if I saw you."

I nodded, staring blankly at the man for a moment. I snapped out of it and whipped around to sprint off down the aisles, trying to find the others. This was going to get bad . . .

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"Fang, Max said for you to stay put," Angel said seriously, attempting to copy Max's clucking hen voice.

"I can sit up and walk around," Fang answered with a sigh, shaking his head. "I'm fine, Angel. I'm just going to the window."

He got up slowly and fought to keep the pain off of his face. Damn it, his wing hurt. Everything hurt, but there was no way he was going to show it. He was never one to let his weaknesses, including excruciating pain, get the best of him and he wasn't about to start now. He walked slowly over to the window and looked out to the street below. It was nothing amazing.

Fang jumped when the phone rang. Angel looked at him and then to the telephone. She reached down and held it to her ear.

"Hello?" she asked.

She was quiet, listening to the voice on the other line for a moment. Soon, she nodded, said thank you, and hung up. She looked over at Fang.

"The lady at the desk said Max was downstairs," she explained. "She came back and forgot the key."

"Where are the others?" Fang asked, feeling something strange raise in his stomach.

"Still at the store, I guess. I'll run down and let her in, okay?"

Fang nodded absently, looking down. Angel took the other card key, went to the door, and left quietly. Fang walked back to the bed and sank down on to the mattress. Something didn't feel right. Max wouldn't leave the flock unattended like that, she would be paranoid, if anything. He was still debating this when the door opened again.

He glanced up to see Max come in alone and close the door behind her. She turned to look at him and froze, her eyes bulging in her sockets. He held his hands out, as if getting ready to be inspected.

"What?" he asked.

"Your wing . . ." she said quietly.

He looked over to his limp wing splayed out on the bed behind me. "It hasn't really changed since you left."

She nodded, clearing her throat and composing herself again. That was weird, Fang thought to himself. I know she still feels guilty about my wing, but she never acted like that before. She walked over and sat down beside him, smiling.

"Why didn't you stay with the others?" Fang asked.

"Oh, I thought I should stay with you instead of Angel," she explained. "I sent her to go with the others. I thought we should have some alone time."

"Alone time, huh?"

Max looked away, reddening slightly. She looked back at him. Normally, he would have to fight the urge to put his hands all over her, but, for some reason, it felt like he was staring into the eyes of a stranger. She leaned forward, as if going to kiss him. Fang tilted his head away slightly, still examining her face. She must have noticed the movement, because she raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Are you?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Fang rolled his eyes. "Huh, I seem to remember you coming in this morning saying you sighted at least 50 Erasers coming this way and panicking about staying in this room for a few days until we thought they moved on. Then we're going to your mom's . . ."

She leaned forward again. "We can worry about all of that later. All I see is you right now."

This time, he allowed her lips to meet his. But he didn't feel the way he always did. The one that made him feel weak in the knees, even though he would never tell Max that. The one that made everything else fade away when their lips met. It felt like he wasn't kissing the girl he loved . . . just a cheap look-alike. He pushed her away gently, feeling pain in his body again, but he ignored it. Max looked at him with a pouty look, one Max would never make in her life.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"You're what's the matter," Fang answered. "You're not Max."

The attempt-at-seductive face melted away and was immediately replaced by a dark smile. She sat up and moved away from him, inspecting the hotel room. Fang cursed violently in his mind, trying to think of something to do.

"Wow, you are sharper than I thought," she laughed wickedly. "I would have thought we would be half-undressed by the time you realized it. I'm impressed."

"What the hell do you want?" Fang asked, anger welling up in his insides. He burned to launch himself at her, but knew better than to try.

Max II waved her hand in the air casually. "Don't worry, none of your little flock friends will be hurt." She turned to look at him. "We just need Max. The rest of you can go off and do whatever you want." She held a hand up as he opened his mouth. "I know what you're going to say. Why not grab her and get it over with, right? Well, simple answer, really. It seems like every time we try that, she manages to slip through our fingers. So this time, we're making an exchange."

"What's that?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"You, of course. There's no way Max would be able to live knowing that her precious little Fang was in danger. She'll do anything we say if we have you."

"She won't do a damn thing you say."

Max II shook her head. "You underestimate how much she really cares for you. She would give her right arm for you, no questions asked. It won't be long, I promise. Just long enough for us to get out we need out of her."

She walked over to Fang, leaning her face close to his. "I'll give Max that much, she can pick the good-looking ones."

"Why, thank you."

Fang swung and struck her face forcefully. He immediately regretted the action as pain screamed through every cell of his body. Max II stumbled back, shocked by the hit. Fang shot up despite his pain and threw himself at her. They fell back together on to the floor, struggling. He struck her repeatedly, his anger causing his adrenaline to take over. Max II kicked at him, striking him in the kidneys. He shouted and went to hit her again. She grabbed his arm and forced him down, moving her head out of the way so his head would strike the floor with a hard crack.

She then managed to flip him over as he was dazed by the strike. She pinned his body down with hers, holding his arms above his head with impressive force. Fang panted heavily, feeling a lump forming on his forehead. Max II laughed victoriously.

"Well, I guess you are worth it," she giggled. Her nose was bleeding steadily, the blood starting to drip on the front of Fang's shirt. "It really will be a shame when I have to kill you later."

Fang spit forcefully, saliva and blood striking Max II's face. She laughed again, unfazed by his gesture. She brought up a leg slowly, still smiling at him. Fang was about to make his move to get out from underneath her when her boot stepped on his broken wing. He made a small noise as the pain volted through him, making him immobile.

"Time to go to sleep, Fang," she said. Slowly, she began grinding her boot into his broken bones and feathers. "Just go to sleep, it's okay."

More pain shot through him, enough to make tears start to roll down his cheeks. His mind screamed for the real Max, for Iggy, for Gasman, for Nudge, for Angel . . . But his mouth didn't move, at least not that he could tell. He couldn't figure out who was screaming . . . There was some movement around him, but he couldn't really see it because his eyes were going blurry. Soon, everything was black.

A/N: Hey, guys! Sorry about the delay, seriously! I just had a hectic week, four tests and a paper due. You can guess what I've been doing the whole time! Anyways, one of my favorite chapters so far, despite my obvious torment of Fang. Which I feel extremely guilty for because I love Fang. Forgive me! But hope you liked it and reviewing never hurt anyone!! hint, hint! Until next time!