Chapter 15 : Ran

Fang found himself walking aimlessly again, the moon lighting up the quiet streets of Virginia. He had just barely escaped from Lissa – she had ran manically after him as he left her, but finally, once he reached a cluster of trees, he had snapped out his wings and taken off, gone unnoticed by a sobbing Lissa. He flew in large, sweeping circles for awhile, not really knowing what to do. Somehow, he felt calmer after the incident at the park, but he knew that he wasn't ready to go back to the Flock yet.

After flying south for half an hour, he came across a dingy Motel 8. Figuring that he needed a place to stay for the night (and as long as he had some cash, he would rather not sleep on a park bench), Fang banked near a tall pine tree a block away from the motel, and walked the rest of the way. As he pulled open the door, a bell clanged, announcing his arrival, and he entered a run-down lobby, with shabby sofas and cheap magazines from last year littered over the cushions. Fang walked up to the front desk and rang the service bell. The clock ticked by, but all he heard were some grunts coming from another room. He rang it again impatiently, and waited a few more minutes before angrily knocking the door that said STAFF ONLY. Finally, the door heaved open, and an unkempt man wearing a grungy T-shirt loped out, scratching his head.

"Sorry 'bout the wait – jus' lookin' for my cig'rettes, you seen 'em?"

Fang shook his head in mild interest.

"Whatcha doin' here, bucko?" the man asked. "Whaddya want?"

"I want a room to stay in for the night."

"Well, that be costin' a lotta money, kid. You ain't lookin' like yeh got a lotta cash, do yeh?"

Fang wordlessly pulled out a wad of fifties from his pocket that he and Max had collected from the ATM. That was before he had left … the guilt crushed him again, but the man interrupted his thoughts.

"Well, gee whilickers, I'll be damned! Yeh're rich, kid! A few of those fifties would be jus' dandy…"

Handing over the bills, Fang grabbed a bruised apple from the basket on the desk, and headed off. As he went up the stairs, he faintly heard the man saying, "Golly, I'm ri-ich! Would yeh lookit that! Don't need teh find them cig'rettes now…"

. . .

Fang slid the key into the slot on the door of Room 233, only to discover that he didn't need to – the door was completely unlocked. Shrugging, he shoved it open, and before his eyes lay a single fold-out sofa, a coffee maker (which, from the smell of it, still contained coffee from the last visitors), an ironing board, and a 5x5 foot bathroom. Fang yanked at another door marked "STAFF ONLY", hoping he'd find some more supplies inside, but this door was unfortunately locked. He heaved his weight against it, but it wouldn't budge. Flopping down onto the sofa-bed, he sighed. This was what he got for running away without Max. Undoubtedly, she would have never gotten the Flock in a situation like this. And hence, she is the leader, he said to himself, and groaned. This situation couldn't possibly get any worse.

. . .

Well, evidently, it could.

Fang woke up the next morning to loud pounding on his door. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he threw off the wrinkled covers and unlocked the deadbolt.

Slap.

Fang let out a strangled "Aah-owww," and held his hand to his face. An angry red welt snaked across his cheek. He turned towards the girl at the door, standing there with her hands on her hips and a defiant expression on her features.

"What the hell was that for?"

"For being a BITCH, that's what! You left Max! You left her alone! How could you? IDIOT! JERK! BITCH!"

She slapped him again, and he held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't – I didn't leave – "

The girl hissed. "Yes. You. Did. You total asshole. See my fangirl badge? See it?" She ripped a badge off her shirt that had TEAM FANG written across it in bold black letters. "Watch what I'm going to do to it now."

Fang stepped back, raising his eyebrows in concern. The girl's hair frizzed out, and she looked mad. She pulled out a box of matches, and Fang reached out in alarm, but she hissed at him again, and he backed off. Lighting a match, she held it to the fangirl badge, and it quickly caught fire. She dropped it to the ground, still flaming, and ran off, cackling evilly.

Fang stomped out the badge on the carpeted floor, where it left scorch marks, and picked it up. TEAM FANG. What the hell? How did this girl know his name? Then a thought occurred to him. Was it April Fool's Day? He checked his watch. March 15, 2010. No, a couple days off…

His wandering thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sobbing outside his door. Sobbing? He warily opened the door again, but didn't see anything until his eyes travelled downward. Down on the floor, a different girl had her head in her hands, and was sobbing passionately. Biting his lip, Fang bent down and touched her shoulder. "Erm… excuse me? Are you okay?" The girl looked up with teary eyes, but her look of sadness suddenly turned into pitiful rage. "You! Y-YOU!" she stuttered feebly. "You ran away, you c-coward! You ran away from the Flock! You ran away from – from your s-soul mate! I h-hate – I hate – " She burst into tears again, and Fang patted her shoulder awkwardly. After a few minutes of this, he gingerly stood up. "Ah – I really have to go…" Sprinting inside, he grabbed his backpack, leaped over the hunched form of the girl, and ran like hell. He turned around to see the girl shaking her finger at him and shouting "GO BACK TO MAX!"

. . .

Fang quickly exited the Motel, and took off at a brisk walk. What was that all about? He had no idea why those two girls had shown up at his door, but then again, he really didn't want to know. Ugh. Teenage hormones.

He walked into town, hoping to find a little more comforting normality. (Not like he had much of that in his life, anyways…) Figuring he'd go back to the Flock in the afternoon, he decided to spend the morning in town. As he walked past a couple holding hands, he found both of them glaring at him. He gingerly sidestepped them, but not after hearing the guy hiss "I'm a better man than you," and look pointedly at the pair's entwined hands. Fang quickened his pace.

He reached the community park, and saw a mother pushing her child in a stroller. "Mommy – that's him! That's the mean birdkid from that book I told you about!" The woman scowled at him, and deliberately turned around the stroller. "That's alright, sweetie. He won't hurt you."

Fang pinched himself. Is this a dream?

Seeing a coffee shop/book store, he quickly walked inside and sat down at one of the tables. Fang leaned back and closed his eyes. Maybe, if I fall asleep, I'll wake up and this won't be happening. But a few seconds later, his eyes snapped open as he heard the sound of ripping pages. Leaving his table and walking into the bookstore area, he saw a teenage girl holding a book and ripping out the pages angrily. A salesman was trying to stop her. "Excuse me, ma'am, that's the bookstore's property – you have no right to – "

"YES, I HAVE EVERY RIGHT. THAT IDIOT LEFT THE FLOCK! I'LL KILL HIM!"

That was it. Fang slammed open the door of the bookstore and rushed out. As he hurried away, his eye caught one of the window-displays in the bookstore.

FANG, A MAXIMUM RIDE NOVEL

RELEASED MARCH 15, 2010

BUY YOUR COPY TODAY!

If you guys haven't already discovered, March 15, 2010 was the release date of FANG.

Heh…heh…

The whole Fang-being-a-total-jerk-and-leaving-Max-for-twenty-years-thing has nothing to do with my story (this takes place after MR2). This was just a way of me venting my anger at JP (yet again. It's been months since I finished the darn book and I'm still POed)