Due to the nagging feeling in my stomach, like Max, I think I'm developing OCD, so I'm going to write more for my own benefit, not yours. XD just kidden… It's for you're benefit too(But mostly mine lol… kidden again). I felt like just ending this but now I feel like I must continue, so here goes.

Disclaimer: Do I look like JP? Wait. Do I? Really?! Oh my god!

Chapter 10

Max POV

A trickle of red blurred my vision, stinging my eyes with a gruesome effect. I groaned, blinking my eyes. Yep, you guessed it. Blood.

I looked around dizzily, having trouble remembering how exactly I had gotten to have that trickle of blood. Though my vision was impaired, I could still make out the hospital-like room, and, inevitably, the smell of antiseptics. There were no doors in this grey room, nor were there windows. I guess you can guess that would make me edgy, right? One small light bulb hung over my head, sending vast arrays of light showering down on me, though keeping most of the room hidden in shadows. It flickered once or twice every minute, indefinitely.

I struggled to pull my head up and see my surroundings better but to no avail. My neck refused to lift, pain shooting through my whole body every time I moved.

"Looks like I'm being arrested for creep's sake." I said, still unaware of where I was or what I was doing here. I tried to move my arms, pain still rocketing through me, but this time there was another reason I couldn't move. I craned my head as best I could without moaning from the sheer soreness of my position.

Straps restrained my hands, holding them forced back onto the bed I was laying on. I could feel the rope tied around my back now, too, holding in my wings. Closer inspection told me this wasn't a bed, either. More like a huge concrete block.

"Shoot! This is worse." I said very suddenly, realization hitting me in a flurry of intuition. Dread sent a sharp pain shooting through my stomach as I came to recognize my surroundings. I'd been here before, and strangely enough, I hadn't enjoyed it.

"Holy crap!" I cried out, letting my head fall back onto the block. Ow… This place was the kind of place you should only see in nightmares. But unfortunately that isn't the case. The grim truth is that it exists. This was the School's surgery room.

Let me tell you. The worst feeling in the entire world is waking up in a surgery room and not knowing what they're going to do to you… or have already done… A spasm of shivers ran through my body as that thought came to mind. What had they done to me?

"Subject is awake." said a voice, neither male nor female, strictly mechanical. The mechanical sound I had come to hate with as much venom as my mind could possibly possess. And that's a lot.

It seemed to be emanating from the walls, and I let a low growl out. "S1T, report to subject's room. Surgical Unit J43." said the same voice.

Max, do what I say, please, said Voice suddenly, making me twist my head, a groan escaping my lips as I did so. I noted the edge of desperation that somehow managed to slip through the voice and pursed my lips.

And what's that? Not much I can do, seeing as I'm strapped down to a freaking slab of concrete! I shouted in my head, flexing my fingers angrily and grimacing at the loud pops that followed.

Maximum, be quiet. Don't say anything, and more importantly, don't do anything, said Voice sternly, earning it an eye roll from me.

What are you talking about?! I practically shook in fury. There's one thing that's completely certain. Heads are gonna roll.

I could have sworn I heard Voice swear at this, but didn't linger on that thought for too long. Max…it began, when a swishing sound came from behind me. I turned a bit too quickly, another pain coursing through my neck.

A small part of the wall actually opened, and I set my gaze on that spot for a while, locking it away for further use. Okay, so I spit in the whitecoat's eye…

"Max." said a grizzly voice, chiseled with a murderer's passion and a mother's care. It was a strange combination of love and hate, the kind I had heard once from Ari, my dead half-brother. The wall exposed a man, no, the man… with those red eyes.

I felt my stare turn cold with fury and anger as words of sarcasm passed my lips. "Hey, Uncle Sting."

--

Fang POV

The night air was icy cold against my skin, and I held back against the need to shiver. We were soaring quaintly away from the hotel, our wings beating quickly and rhythmically with the wind.

You know, I'm not one to admit mistakes, especially in front of Max, but… going topless wasn't one of my best plans. To my immediate right, I could see Iggy, his skin invaded with the much hated goose bumps.

"She had to go get herself caught." I heard him murmur. I rolled my eyes, though without as much feeling as usual, not that I show much feeling when I do it anyhow. But… It seemed the rest of the flock just couldn't comprehend the seriousness of our situation. What if something had happened to Max? We didn't even have a freaking lead to where she was!

"Iggy?" I said casually, looking at him out of the corner of my eye. He turned impossibly toward me and tilted his head, giving a "What?"

"I have an idea."

--

Max POV

"Yo, Wha's happen'nin'?" I said ungrammatically, and edge of mock happiness entering my voice as Sting continued to stare at me. "Here's your niece, Maxie!" I shouted, bobbing my head up and down, completely ignoring Voice's advice.

Sting let out a muffled sigh and came closer. I tensed, alert.

"You know, we're a dysfunctional family." I continued. "But you could change all that! All you have to do is spring me, pal! How about it?"

"Hey, Max." he said in a bored tone, letting his stance slant to the side as if it was to much of an effort to stand straight. "Boy, I guess ya heard, didn't you?" he said, shaking his head. "Looks like you're finding your family all over the place." he said, a cold laugh entering his voice.

"Yeah, I am." I answered, my eyebrows pulling together. "And you know what? I don't think it's going to fly, either. My relatives are either crazy." I pointed toward him as best as I could under the straps. "Idiots, like Jeb. Oh, and let's not forget brainwashed seven-year-old that get killed." I said, feeling a pang of sorrow force it's way through me as I considered poor Ari's screwed up life.

"I suppose so." he sighed, letting a pale hand brush across my face, sending a shiver through me at the touch. "I guess we're a little less then you hoped for, huh?" he asked, his voice still masked in a bored tone.

I let a no-freaking-duh-face consume me and shot it toward him, hoping for an un-placated reaction. And, of course, I got none. "But there are some upsides." I said, nodding. "Most people can't hurt their relatives with they're peeved at them. I can any day." I growled in a cold whisper.

Lucky for me, I actually did get a reaction. Sting let his face become a snarl, his breathing more ragged and husky by the second.

Listen, Max. said Voice. I can help you, if you help me. Just be quiet and you may get out of here alive. it said, annoying me to the maximum (Get that? It's a little joke I came up with, hehe…).

"Yeah? And how would that work exactly?!" I screamed out loud, soon realizing I had spoken not thought. Instead of a normal reaction, like, asking me what the heck I was talking about, Sting gave a harsh laugh.

"Was that Voice?" he asked, a thoughtful expression on his face. I froze, my breath caught in my throat. I was surprised, and I don't get surprised. This was big. No one knew about Voice, except me and the flock. How could he possibly know this?

"There's something you should know about that voice, Maximum." he whispered, getting closer to my face. His breath heated my face, and I wrinkled my nose. Seriously, people! Did bad guys just not brush their teeth or something? In any case, his breath stank, worse then Gazzy, and that really is saying something.

I narrowed my eyes at his words. What could he know about Voice? As far as I knew, and I really didn't know much anymore, no one knew anything about Voice… at all.

Max, I'm trying my hardest to remain a secret, but if you don't cooperate, you won't get out of this, said Voice, making yet another surprise appearance.

And what in bloody heck is that supposed to mean?! I thought angrily, whipping my head away from Sting and suppressing a moan of anguish at the motion.

"In two conversations at once, are you? Well, actually you aren't." he laughed a cold, heartless laugh that made me growl, though I was a bit confused. What did he mean?

"Max… I-"

BOOM!!

Sting lost his balance as the shocks of the bomb reached us. I let out a hiss of pain, my eardrums throbbing. Plaster began to fall from the roof, the walls collapsing in.

"Max!" shouted a voice, close by. I whirled my head toward the voice, tugging at my straps with effort as I did so.