At first, I meant for this to be a dream of Fang's, and it was going to be in a huge field, but I decided against it. Hope you like this chapter!
"You said she would be here," I told Rachel tensely, looking across the dusty red canyon. The sunset stood up hard against the sky in a twist of bright colors. It was all too beautiful, too peaceful, for what had been foretold about this place.
Rachel looked across the hole in the earth desperately, searching for any sign of human life in the empty cave. Her fiery red hair blew across an expression full of doubt, and I felt a pang of guilt for doubting her ability. I knew it was wrong to get frustrated over this sort of thing. Her power was puzzle-like. For all she knew, we just got the time wrong. Besides, did I really wish for Max's death?
"I don't know," whispered Rachel. She looked up at me, but ended up quickly looking away, seeing through my blank façade to the storm underneath. "I-I'm sorry, I was sure that-."
Yeah, I know." I understood. It just hurt, too be so close, yet so far, from Max. It was the right decision to leave the flock, the Voice had told me. But I still questioned it, in hopes of finding some flaw in the story that would allow me to go back. Why couldn't I just check in to make sure that Max was still safe? The Voice had said she needed to survive, and yet Rachel's vision had told us otherwise. God, why did this have to be so freakin' confusing! I turned around blindly, punching a wall in red hot anger. Rachel just stepped back slightly, observing me silently. She was used to this sort of thing happening whenever our little missions failed, or came out with a cryptic answer that I didn't want to answer, in fear of coming up with something I didn't want to hear.
After a few punches, I stepped away from the cave wall, still feeling confusion and annoyance circling me like vultures. My knuckles were scraped badly, and the blood was starting to well up. Rachel stepped forward to clean the wound, but I just turned my back to her and walked into the cave opening. Hawks' cries bounced off the walls as I walked farther back on the dusty floor. To make this anymore dramatic, I would tell you tumbleweed passed by me, but this wasn't stand-off with someone else. Far off.
I put my hand against the wall, feeling for the grooves of the letters carved there just a few months before. Suddenly, I felt the bumpiness and I removed my hand to see the writing in its place. I stood back and stared, feeling Rachel walk up beside me. Just after me raising from the grave, not literally, of course, I mean when Max gave me that shot of adrenaline, and we found out that Dylan wasn't going to die on us after he tried to kill himself, we had decided to take a short vacation as the old flock to the hawks' cave. We made sure Dylan was busy with Jeb, so it could just be like old times with six kids and their winged dog.
Those times seemed so long ago. Max had even let Nudge and Angel use her as a Barbie doll for the occasion with a strict set of rules, and she had looked beautiful. Not that she wasn't always, but just sitting on the cliff's edge, she looked so carefree, and that was a gift itself to me. And the whole flock was having a great time, playing tag in the air, and having an awesome picnic on the floor. Iggy and Gazzy had even set off a few fireworks.
It had been Nudge's idea. I can't help but remember she had looked so serious about it. Maybe it was her idea of a message to the world. We all knew by then that Max's mission to save the world was getting more and more real every day, and I guess thought everyone thought it would be a cool idea to leave something here, as a symbol, in case some of us… didn't make it. All of us had carved our names into the stone wall of the cave with Iggy's pocket knife, and when that got too dull, mine. At the bottom, Angel had drawn a set of wings spreading all the way out. It was simple, and yet I think all of us would have that moment imprinted in our minds for the rest of our life.
A tear slipped down my cheek, and I wiped it away, hoping Rachel hadn't noticed. But, unfortunately, she had. She glanced up at my face, worry creasing her eyebrows. She gazed at the cave wall, reading the names. "That's them, isn't it?" I nodded my head mutely, not wanting to show any more sign of emotion today. "You'll see them again," she told me hopefully. When I didn't reply, she grabbed my shoulder which caused me to stiffen, and pulled my body around to face her. "You will," she said more forcefully, her green eyes twinkling stubbornly up at me, and I couldn't help smile slightly. She smiled back at me. "Besides, either way, both paths will lead us to meet. You don't have to worry for now about their safety for now. I mean, they were all conscious in my vision." At that, I frowned slightly. They were all barely conscious in one of the visions, but I decided to leave that part out for Rachel's sake. "Come on," she told me, "we still have to run by the School in Wisconsin."
"All right." I let her pull me outside into the darkening sky. She let go of her arm, and skipped toward the edge of the cliff. She momentarily looked down the steep, long drop to the bottom of the canyon, before she waved back at me and jumped off the cliff.
Ok, I know this may look really bad from your perspective. The girl just leaped off an 800 foot drop! But just wait a minute; it'll all be good in a second. And just as I said, Rachel rose above me, a pair of cherry red wings lifting her. She called out something to me that I couldn't hear, and banked down toward the setting sun. I straightened up and relaxed my shoulders, letting my midnight block wings expand to catch the wind. Stepping off the cliff, I flew off to join her.