It was three a.m.. Fang flew up to me."Maybe we should land. Wait til sun up." He said

"That just makes us a more visible target. " I glanced ocer at him. He was looking at me strangely. He still thought I wasn't

ready for this fight. But something in Jeb's voice, his laugh, I knew something was wrong at mom's. And I wasn't stopping

until I found out.Fang gave me another awkward glance but fell back into formation. Gos I loved being leader.

We flwe another three and a half hours before mom's came into sight. There was smoke rising. The yard was a hot mess.

Windows were broken out.My heart did a flip flop as my breath stopped. Oh no. God no. I handed Ridge to Iggy as we

landed."Stay here" I told him and took off inside the house. There was holes in the walls.Furniture destroyed.Part of walls

knocked down completely. Fang looked at me, horrorfied. We heard a muffled sound from downstairs.

"MOM!" I yelled"Ella" as I moved debris from in front of the basement doorway. Downstairs in mom's office we found Ella,

bound, gagged and bloodied.

"Ella! Oh thank God. Where's mom/" I asked as I removed her gag an duntied her. FAng scouted out the rest of the basement.

"Max, oh Max. They...they..." started crying. "they killed her Max. Mom's gone" and she put her head on my shoulder to cry

. My heart sunk. My breath stopped. Mom. Oh God mom. Why? She was such a good person.I stroked Ella's hair."It's

alright. It will be okay. Shhh. I promise.He'll never hurt any of of again." I said in a low, cold voice. Fang looked at me oddly

when I said that statement. Concern on his face. But it didn't matter. Nothing did at this moment. Mom was gone.Killed by

Jeb and his goons. Now, Jeb was gonna pay.

"Fang, we need to get Ella out of here. Jeb is bound to know I will come here. He knows we've seen this place, what

happened. He will be waiting on us at Itex in Mass. And that's just where we are going."Outside the flock stood,

motionless, tearfilled eyes.

"Lets' go flock. We have a job to do." I said and took off into the air, Ridge now back in my pack. The others stared at me

for a moment then took off. We went back to an old cave we had used in the past. It would be dry and safe at least. I had

Iggy start a fire and cook supper. I fed Ridge in the back of the cave. Damn science. Sman whitecoats. Damn flyboy

erasers. And damn Jeb. It is was all his fault. He grafted us. He locked us in cages. He tried to kill my son. He did kill my

mom. Tears streaked my cheek. And HE was gong to pay. I was passed hurt.Passed grieving. I was angry. I was pissed.

"We need a better place to stay. Ella needs something better than this tonight."" I said and we took off to find a hotel. I

still had the Max card. I got us a nice huge sweet with three bedrooms and three baths. I sat with Ella for a long while,

talking and listening to her. Then put Ridge down with her to sleep. Angel and Nudge had a room as did Iggy and Gazzy. All

were tucked in and sleeping restlessly, all grieveing my mom. In a way, she was kinda their mom too.

"Where's Ridge?" Fang asked as i stepped into the livingroom.

"In with Ella. I thought some alone time with him would help her. YOu know, accept tings. He gives her something to hold on to, hope." I said.

"Now what" Fang asked.

"We have a little recon mission to do. Papers to sort through. Lets go." I said. 'Max, wait. What about you? What about

what you need? She was your mom too." Fang said. I felt tears well up in my eyes. I balled my fists fighting back the urge

to ball like a baby. No Max, you cant breakdown now. Finish your mission. i told myself.I raised my head and turned to go.

"Later, right now we have a job to do" I said and walked out onto the balcony to take flight. The cool night air felt so good.

My mind was spinning. I tried to push thoughts of mom, dear mom, out but they kept sneaking in. And I got more and more

pissed. I was more determined than ever to make Jeb pay, to kill him myself for what he had done.Tears escaped my

eyes, Suddenly I couldn't stand it. I took off into hyper-speeed. I found the cave and immedieatley wnet inside and started

crying. I was overcome with emotions.Life was unfair.I had just found my mom. Just got to know her.She had accepted me

as I am, accepted my flock as part of me, took ua in. Helped us out. Delivered my son.Her grandson.Wings. Needles. Cages

. Labs. Whiecoats. All Jeb's doing. On the run. No real home. Almost being killed like everyday. Almost losing my baby.

Mom's death. all his fault. Jeb. Jeb was evil. And he had to be stopped. Never again will I let Jebv hurt anyone I love. Never.

I knew what I had to do. Jeb was my father. And the reason for all my pain. He had to pay. I was going to be the ne to see

that he doespay, with is won life. He took mom's. Now I am going to take his. I was going to kill Jeb. I took off back to the

hotel. it had been a few hours. I knew Fang would be upset. But it didn't matter anyway. All that mattered was that Jeb

had to die. And I was determined to do it.I wanted to be the last thing he ever sees.

Be careful Max. Don't let your anger overrule your common sense. you know Jeb will be expecting a reaction from you. Jeb is smart. He'll be on the lookout for your reaction. It was the voice this time.

Oh yeah, I thought. Well, good cause he's damn sure gonna get one.

"Max!"the flocked squealed as I landed. It was morning and they were worried when I hadn't come back yet. Fang looked

at me his eyes burning into me. He could tell I eas far from alright. But he woudn't dare push it, not right now at least. He

knew the look in my eye, the set jaw. he knew i was going to do this no matter what."Where have you been Max? I was so

scared they had gotten you" Ella said, hugging me.

"Not a chance. Just had some thinking to do./You guys eat yet? No, well, go eat. Then meet back here." I said and they

took off.

"I fed Ridge and bathe dhim when you didn't come back."Fang said in a low voice.

"Thanks" I said as I took Ridge."There's mama's little man. Hey baby--"

Fang rolled his eyes."You can't hold it in forever you know. you need to let it out, Max." I just glared at him, then went back

to playing with our son. Fang walked off.