I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update, I've just been really busy lately. We wrapped up our basketball season, I have play practice, friends, and other stuff to worry about. I haven't really had any time to update, and I really hope I can change this update every other or so weekend. Again, I am so sorry for not updating lately. I'll try to make it up to you, everybody, so I'll make this a really long chapter. And by the way, the bird mentioned, is actually real. I heard one today, and it is the weirdest sounding thing I have ever heard. It looked like a raven but it had a tuft of hair under it's chin, and it sounded weird.
As soon as Fang pushed open the door to the outside, I sighed in relief. I had been expecting something amazing- I wasn't so sure how much more of that I could take. Something that could have been out of a fairy tale book, with all the hedges and fountains and perfectly cut grass that you could see in almost any movie about a princess and a castle. But instead of all that, all that was there was just the perfectly cut grass and tall trees surrounding the edges. Even though it was simple, it was still stunning. There were multi-colored poppies and tulips under the trees around the edge, along with bushes that were so perfectly cut I thought they were plastic. Birches, maples, and almost any tree I could think of was right there, some even had fruit growing on them. Even the sheer size was amazing. It was the biggest single piece of grass I had ever seen, period. I looked at Fang.
"This yard is amazing." I stated. He shook his head at me.
"You think everything around here is amazing, Max. It's getting a little old, if you ask me."
"Well, nobody asked you. And it's only because everything in your house is amazing, Fang." I said, and walked out into the middle of the yard. The trees seemed tall enough to hide us for a little while, but not enough for us to fly around much. Maybe if we booked it out of here fast enough, we could fly around high for a while and get used to it. But first Fang needed to learn how to fly. I turned back to him as he raised an eyebrow at me. "You need to learn how to fly, but we don't have much space here. We have to get you in the air, and then we can fly around for a while. We need to be really careful and make sure nobody sees us, or else we're screwed. So, once you get in the air, fly out as fast as you can and as high as you think people can't see you. Alright?" he nodded, and I saw his jaw clench a little in anticipation. "Okay, open your wings all the way." He complied, and his deep black wings glinted in the sun, looking almost purple. "Now follow my lead, and make sure you don't hit the trees." he nodded again, and I turned around and opened my wings. It felt nice to let them out, and the slight breeze ruffled the feathers into place. It was still a little odd to think about having these wings sticking out of my own back.
I took another glance around the yard to make sure nobody was peeking through windows, and started running. I ran to the edge of the yard and jumped, staying clear of the treetops, and I pumped my wings up and down to stay aloft. When I was high enough I turned around and looked down at Fang, giving him the signal to go. He nodded and I saw him hesitate a little, then he started to run. He took off about as perfect as he could possibly be, a perfect example. Why does he have to do everything right? I thought, before I could stop myself. I immediately felt my cheeks heat up a little, and hoped he couldn't see it. I saw Fang falter in his rhythm for a moment, then he got his balance and sped up. Finally he reached the hight I was at. He was breathing hard, his cheeks were red, and his hair was windblown. I couldn't help but realize just how adorable he looked right then. I blushed even more.
"Something wrong?" he asked, eyeing my cheeks.
"Juss' cold, that's all." I shrugged it off like it as nothing. "That was an amazing takeoff, by the way."
He smirked. "Thanks. So, where do you want to go?" he looked around and took in the height we were at, and I saw his eyes widen a fraction.
I shrugged. "We can go anywhere. We can just fly around until we find somewhere to land." He nodded, and started flying in a random direction away from his house. From up here, it seemed even bigger than it did on the inside. It was still amazingly huge, but I felt a little less intimidated by it from way up here. I felt like it could have swallowed me up if it wanted to, but now that I was up here, it was powerless. I smirked and followed Fang. We flew in silence for about ten minutes, and I could easily tell Fang loved every second he spent flying up here. And so did I.
I spotted a little clearing of trees below us, and noticed a little trail running through it. Running next to it was also a stream, and I saw a few tiny waterfalls. There was a clearing at the beginning of the trail, and that was enough space for us to land- if we were careful.
"Hey Fang!" I called, and his head whipped around. His hair blew in his face and I saw his eyes, so full of happiness that I smiled at him. He smiled a heart-shattering one back. "There's a path down there, want to land?"
He shrugged. Or as much as he could while flying. "Sure." He nodded for me to go down, and I tucked in my wings and let myself freefall, relishing that feeling. I snapped my wings out when I was close enough and softly tried to swoop down. I landed close to the other side of the clearing, but I didn't fall on my face, so that was good. I left my wings out for them to cool down, and turned to watch Fang. He pulled in his wings like I had, and I watched him shoot like a bullet through the sky. He shot out his wings around the same place I probably did, and he floated down almost perfectly. He looked almost like he had done this a million times before, it was so perfect. It made me feel so horrible at taking off and landing that I almost wanted to put a bag over my face in shame.
He landed and walked over to me, sighing in relief. "That was awesome." He said, smiling. My heart thudded in my chest as I just smiled at him.
"Come on, let's check this out. It looks like a pretty cool trail." The path was bark chip covered, and it winded through the trees. The sun was coming through the trees and highlighting certain areas of the path, and the stream along the side was shallow and clear, with colorful rocks and tiny fish swimming in it. Why was everything starting to look like it was out of a fairytale?
A bird started calling in the woods somewhere, and it was a call I had never heard before.
Gloo-o-o-o-goo… gloo-o-o-o-goo… it was a deep, throaty sound, and it wasn't very loud. I looked to try and locate the bird, but there was nothing.
Fang nudged my shoulder. "I'll race ya." He joked.
"You're on." I responded. "Ready to be beat by a girl?"
He snorted. "I highly doubt it." He stopped, and put up his closed fist. I stopped with him and waited for him to start counting. "3, 2, 1… go!" we both shot off, running as fast as we could, and we were evenly matched. Until he started getting ahead of me. Soon, he was almost two feet ahead of me, and I decided to take a little shortcut. I turned and cut through the woods, on a tiny clearing of trees that looked promising. I heard Fang yell my name at one point, but I ignored it and carried on. My heart was pumping steadily in my chest and my legs were starting to get tired, and I was starting to wonder if this "short cut" was really a good idea. Suddenly, ahead of me, was a clearing. It was wide and open, with absolutely nothing in the center. It was a perfectly circular, and it was a little eery. I slowed down and stopped, looking around. It was extremely quiet, until that weird bird call shot through the air.
Gloo-o-o-o-goo… gloo-o-o-o-goo… it was incredibly creepy, and I knew something was off. I really wanted to just take off and get out of here, but something in the back of my mind told me to stay put. I listened as closely as I could, and I thought I could hear the slight buzz of an electric fence. Why would there be an electric fence in the middle of the woods?
I heard a twig snap behind me, and spun around. There was nothing there. another twig snapped on the other side, and another, and another. I spun around slowly, trying to find something to prove myself that I really wasn't going insane, but there was still nothing. My heart was thudding harder than it had when I was running, and I had to admit that I was getting a little worried. Where was Fang? What was with the twigs? Where was I? What was happening?
"Hello, Max." a voice boomed, coming from nowhere. It was a guy's, but I had never heard it before. I spun around wildly, trying to find a speaker or something that could give me a hint to something. Anything. "I see you've made it, right on schedule."
"What? Who are you? What are you talking about?" I yelled to wherever this voice was. It chuckled.
"Didn't your mother tell you?" My mom? What did she have to do with this?
"Tell me what?" I demanded. It was silent for a few seconds.
"Well, I guess I'll have to tell you then. Max, you know you are special. You are not like any other person in the world." It started. No, Fang has wings, too. I wanted to say, but I thought I should see if he knew that himself and possibly keep Fang out of danger. "You were created for a purpose, and that is something that is beginning right now. It is a special program that was shaped specifically around you, and what you will choose to do. You are the leader, Max. The entire Itex corporation is about to become much more powerful with you leading it, defeating every other company and ruling this nation. We will destroy all of the unneeded wimps and worthless trash in this country." By the end he was getting really passionate about his speech, and he was talking faster and louder.
"And what if I don't want to have any part of this? What if you have the wrong person?"
He chuckled, low and deep, and I knew this was a really bad situation I was in. There was no way out. "Oh, Max. You are so naive. You see, you have no choice in this Max. Your decision has no effect on what will happen, because it has already been made for you. Now, do you chose to cooperate, or must we make you cooperate?"
The buzzing increased, more twigs snapped, and the bird called again. I shivered, actually- though I hate to admit it- scared, of whatever was happening. I twirled around in circles trying to find some way out, but there was absolutely nothing. I saw something flit between the trees, and more started to appear and disappear. They ran between the trees so fast they were almost invisible, but I could see the outline of them. The creatures weren't human, but they weren't completely animal, either. I saw a bit of fur, and they walked on two legs. They were huge, with bulging muscles; I could even see it from here.
My heart was thumping so hard I could hear it in my head, and feel my blood pulsing throughout my entire body. Adrenaline tingled all over my body, and I could barley think straight.
So, being in the state I was in, I did something extremely stupid. I jumped high and snapped out my wings, not thinking about the electric fence. I barely got off the ground when the creatures from the woods ran out in perfect synchronization, and I saw that they were the wolfish things my mom had told me about. That just made my heart beat faster, if that was possible. I looked up and saw something shimmer, and then a piercing pain hit my body. I shrieked, surprised, and did a back flip, falling through the air. I wasn't that high off the ground, but I was high enough to have the wind knocked completely out of me as I hit the ground on my back.
As I tried to catch my breath my vision started to black out in the corners, and I saw a wolfish face peek into the corner of my eye. It was completely hideous, with a snout and large, yellow fangs, and it was smiling menacingly at me. Others peeked in, and they all started cackling. Then the bird called again, through everything, and I thought I heard the voice boom a sigh. The last thing I saw as I passed out was a big claw pressing something to my face, and something smelled, and then I was completely out.
Fang's POV
So, Max and I decided to race. I was the best runner in my class, but Max wasn't in that class. That was one of the few she wasn't in. I knew I could run extremely fast, now probably even more because of the new bird genes, but then Max started to keep up with me. We were even for a while, until she decided to take a little detour. She had cut through the woods with ease, hopping off easily. I had just pushed my legs harder to beat her, since I was always a sore loser. But, then I couldn't find her. I knew I should have seen her through the woods, or heard her footsteps with my new hearing, but there was nothing. Not the crack of a twig, not a breath, not a flash of her clothes, nothing. The only thing I could hear was the coo of a strange bird. There was nothing that even remotely advertised any life, either, besides the fish and the sound of the bird. Hm. I knew Max wasn't stupid, and I knew she wasn't lost, because I had a mental compass that I knew came with the bird package.
So, I stopped. I listened as hard as I could, and I even went as far as to close my eyes and focus on just hearing. Absolutely nothing.
The bird cooed again, sending a shiver down my spine. I looked around, but there was still nothing there. I walked down the path we had just come from, and tried to find the trees Max had escaped through. Most of them looked the same, but I finally found the area with her footsteps leading away. I followed them as best as I could and, get this, even trying to follow her scent. And, it worked. Just a little bit, but I could still smell that sweet scent that was always just her. Weird, right? I guess that's just me and my love for my friends.
Suddenly, I heard something off to my left. It was the densest part of the forest, as far as I could tell, and I thought I saw a little clearing up ahead. But, around that, I saw something that looked like a metal wire. I tilted my head back and forth, and the wire was showing on when I looked from one angle, but gone on the next. Disappearing wire. And from the faint buzzing, it was electric. Then, something ran through the trees in front of me. It wasn't paying any attention to me; it was focused on something in the middle of the clearing.
The thing was like a giant man with extremely hairy arms, and extremely hairy everything else. It had an absolutely horrid looking face, if you could even call it that. It had a large wolf muzzle implanted on its face, and it looked like it had just been sewed on by a five year old. It was large and muscular, and it had drool dripping down it's chin that was of the yellowish/green color. It had on torn up jeans that had been turned into shorts and were covered in dirt and some unknown substance. I caught a whiff of it as it passed by, and let me tell you, I was about to barf.
Then, I noticed her. She was spinning around in circles in the clearing, and I could barely make her out through the trees. But it was definitely her. She looked scared, something I had never seen before, but she was trying to hide it. I saw her lips move, like she was talking to somebody, but I couldn't see or hear anybody else. I wanted to figure out what was making her so freaked, but I didn't want to risk getting shocked by the invisible fence and possibly putting us both in danger from the creatures.
Another one ran by me, staring at Max, and my fists clenched just thinking about somebody hurting Max. If anyone even thought about it, I would take them down. I felt adrenaline pumping through my veins, and my heart was beating fast.
Suddenly, Max whipped out her beautiful brown-and-white speckled wings, jumping into the air forcefully and trying to get in the air. But whoever was organizing this shenanigan had thought of our wings, and had probably set up more of the invisible wire, since Max shrieked and did a flip in the air, landing on her back with an audible oof. I could even hear it from here. I immediately took a step forward, planning to run to her rescue and get her out of there, but a creature ran in front of me again and brought me back to my senses. It cackled like an evil maniac, which it probably was. I swear I even saw it lick its lips.
I stayed where I was, and was practically in physical pain as I watched Max roll around on the ground and tried to catch her breath. I heard the electric fences short out and everything go silent, then a few snarls and twigs snapping like crazy. About twenty of the creatures ran from the woods, hovering around Max. They circled her and looked like they were about to eat her, and I was tempted again to run in and get Max out of there. But if I did, I could most likely put both of us in danger, and I didn't know if they were going to take her anywhere, but if they did, I had to be able to save her somehow. I could follow them to wherever they took her, then come back and get help.
The strange bird cooed again, and I thought I heard something sigh, but I wasn't sure with the blood pumping in my ears.
So, even though it pained me to watch this, I had to stay. I felt my fingernails dig into my palms my fists were clenched so hard. I took a few steps sideways and hid behind a tree, my dark clothes blending in almost perfectly. I saw one of them put some cloth over her face, and her body went limp. My entire body was tense. Another one put a black bag over her head and lifted her up over its shoulder. It took all my willpower not to run out there and kick its butt so hard it wished it was never… made. Some of them were following the one who was carrying her like a small lamb that was being carried to the slaughter house to be prepared for dinner.
I shivered at that thought, and immediately wished I hadn't thought it. I snuck through the trees after them, silently, and none of them suspected a thing. They were too busy checking out Max. My jaw clenched.
Up ahead, I saw them heading towards a larger clearing than the other one with parked chopper that's blades were starting to spin, which mad the trees around it sway. The creatures were laughing as they entered the open door, dropping Max down like she was a sack of potatoes. I flinched.
When the chopper took off I waited a few minutes until it was almost out of sight, and decided to follow it. I took off like Max had shown me, careful of the trees, and headed in the direction of the chopper which was just about an inch big speck in the sky.
I sighed. This was going to be a long flight.
There! I made it as long as I could, to make up for my lack of updating. I'm super sorry about that. I have the rest of this week and all next week off for spring break, so I'll be sure to update at least once. I really hope I can update more than that, though. So, any ideas or feedback, please feel free to review. Anonymous reveiws welcome! Anything is welcome! Flames, criticism, etc.
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