Chapter 4

I awake to the all too familiar smell of antiseptic, the cramps from the too small cage, and the white.

Everything was white.

I didn't even need to look around to know where I was, where Iggy and I were.

Iggy.

He didn't get away; I can see his strawberry blond hair and white with black speckled wings covering the rest of his body. His breathing is slow and even, he must still be asleep.

If they did anything to him already, I swear their heads will roll.

As I look around I notice something unusual, Iggy and I are the only experiments in the room. The room? We're normally shoved in a hallway; this room has a bed, a couch and table. The only way I recognize this as the school, is that everything is stark white.

I hear rustling from the cage across from mine, Iggy is awake and knows where he is. He sighs and pulls his wings up further across his body, I want; no I need to be there with him. I clench my fists; I will do anything to get him out of here.

I suddenly notice the presence of something around my ankle; an ankle cuff, probably to electrocute us for their amusement. I shiver remembering my experience.

Iggy heard my movement and looks up at me with those stunning milk blue eyes, sometimes it's as if he can look you in the eyes.

"Fang?" We learnt long ago how to whisper so quiet that only our enhanced hearing could pick it up.

"Yea Iggy, I'm here. It's going to be okay, I- we're in a weird room. I don't know why- what." I stop as I'm starting to ramble.

"What do you mean weird, what's in it?"

Before I can respond our cage doors are suddenly lifted automatically, that's obviously a new feature. However if we can touch each other, that means so can the Whitecoats.

Iggy is apprehensive as well; he puts his arms in front of him and slowly crawls out of his cage.

I'm aware this must be some kind of trick on the Whitecoats part but I take my chance. I run to Iggy, wrapping my body around his.

His head snuggles into my chest; I rub his back soothingly, I don't know what they want with us but I know it can't be good. I just can't imagine seeing Iggy in pain at the hands of those… monsters. It was hard when we were children, but I didn't know I had any romantic feelings for him until we had the freedom to have those feelings. I knew I was "suppose" to end up with Max, that's what Jeb said and I guess I accepted that; Max talked to me about it and said she understood if I wanted to be with Iggy instead.

I guess we weren't that discreet with it then.

I'm dragged out of my thoughts literally when several Whitecoats and guards come in and separate Iggy and myself, I'm forced against the wall and Iggy is taken. He claws and screams at them but its no use, the farther he's taken the more desperate I become.

By the time they all leave I'm on the floor in the corner shaking, I don't know what they're doing to him but it cant be good.

I find my way over to the neatly made bed; I don't see why they decided to give us any comfort at all, they've never done that before.

It feels selfish of me to be considering lying in a bed, while Iggy is being put through God knows what. Thinking about it puts weight on my legs and I flop down onto the bed, I stuff my face into the pillows and beg that the flock will find us soon.

I didn't even know I fell asleep until I hear the door unlock and open.

The guards drag in an unconscious Iggy, I'm immediately on my feet; the guards point their tranquilizers at me. Not wanting to make this any worse for Iggy I sit back down, only to bounce back up as they leave.

Just having him in my grasp makes my head spin with a whirlwind of emotions, frustration, guilt, but most of all relief. He doesn't seem physically hurt, only bruises on his upper arms from when they dragged him out.

I lay him on the bed and get in beside him; my ambiguity about the bed now gone, I just lay with him glaring daggers at the cameras.

Iggy is still asleep when I wake up; I'm not sure what time it is, this small blank room is becoming increasingly torturous. I pace, taking note of every camera and detail of the room over again.

Iggy finally awakes with a pained grunt, stretching his long limbs across the bed. I climb over to him and entwine my fingers with his and cradle his head in my lap. He seems to relax; a pained expression still lingers on his face.

"What happened?" I lean down to whisper in his ear.

"Where does it hurt?"

"My stomach, I-I don't know what they did. They knocked me out." He breathes in through his nose.

Whitecoats never use anesthesia on us, unless it's something surgical. They didn't use it during Iggy's eye operation so this must be serious.

Rolling his white shirt up, I suck in a breath.

There is a long, red, stitched up surgical cut above the hem of his pants. It runs down the length of his abdomen, starting at the navel.

"How does it look?" Iggy mumbles, the drug still leaving his system.

"Its not infected or anything, but they did do surgery on you." I kiss him, my chin brushing the bridge of his nose.

Iggy turns and presses his head into my thigh, slowly breathing in.

"I can hear them coming."

"Wh-"

The door opens and a couple of guards come in, the same Whitecoats who took Iggy follow. He presses into me, wrapping his arms around my leg. The Whitecoat at the end causes my eyes to bulge and my jaw to drop open.

Jeb.