Chapter 9~

Max POV

My feet sunk into the soft flowers strewn upon the roof of the cabin. They were like thick plush under my feet… I almost sighed aloud.

"Yo," A voice whispered in my ear, sending jolts on electricity down my spine.

"Make some noise when you move, would you?" I said, half-jokingly.

But he wasn't fooled by my light facade. I was worried about the flock. It was like a constant buzzing at the back of my mind, sometimes sinking to a mere afterthought, sometimes rising to the point of hysteria.

"Max," he said softly, swooping down gracefully and landing right in front of me.

I looked into his deep onyx eyes, examining every tiny gold speck that floated in his irises. I stared deep into him, straight into his soul, expecting to find all the answers to life there.

But, of course, there was nothing.

I sighed heavily, then relaxed my gaze.

He walked closer to me, then sat down to my left. He extended out his wings so that they enveloped both of us in a blanket of smooth, glistening black feathers. I leaned softly into his wing, and I felt a few of his feathers slightly shift to make room for me.

I could feel his intense gaze on me, and I turned to meet his eyes.

The way he looked at me… It kind of scared me. The passion in his sparkling eyes bored right into my head, like arrows of poison. It was intoxicating, addicting, staring into his eyes.

"Max," he said in a low voice, almost a growl.

I shuddered at the sound of his voice as he wrapped his perfectly sculpted arms around my waist.

"I – uh –"

Wow. Nice going there, Max. Real attractive.

Before I knew it, he was leaning closer and closer. My heart was beating so hard in my chest, I was sure that everyone on the earth could hear it.

I just couldn't get over how perfect he was for me.

I could feel his body heat blazing against mine, setting my skin on fire. I wanted to feel all of him against me, to be wrapped so tightly in his arms that I couldn't move.

Before he could tantalize me anymore, I leaned into him, hard.

He seemed a bit shocked, but quickly recovered and wrapped his arms tighter around my waist, kissing me back with the same fierce passion that I had seen in his eyes.

I felt his lips, firm yet soft, blazing against my mouth, resonating through my entire body.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and I entangled my arms in his shaggy black hair.

By now, we were so close that you couldn't fit a sheet of paper between us.

Then, I realized that I wasn't breathing, so I broke off, just a bit, to catch my breath.

I could feel his lips smirking against mine, although he was also struggling to catch his breath.

"I love you," I whispered.

" I – "

And guess what interrupted?

The entire ceiling of the cavern blew up, and I saw Gazzy and Iggy smacking high fives!

I wish. No, it was that bitch Villandi.

Iggy POV

I could hear Jeb whispering to the other whitecoats, then gesturing at me.

Stupid dickhead. He was such a wuss, that's why he had to use donated eggs to get a kid. Unlike me, I bet all the girls who saw me were all over me (A/N: They are! You're kidnapped by so many people!!! I love you 3).

But not now. Not like this. Not when I was in a hospital gown, in a dog crate, waiting for my death like a wimp.

I wanted to hear an explosion so badly right now. I was depending on Gazzy and Nudge to bust us themselves out of here.

Gazzy and Nudge had no idea what was up with me, but at least they could tell that here was something wrong. They were avoiding me at all costs, not telling me anything, not involving me in anything. And I was glad.

You should be. This if for your own good.

I ignored the voice. It'd been saying the exact same thing so many times, I barely even noticed anymore.

But of course, there was always the omnipresent question: Where were Angel and Dylan? Angel. Our little baby, our resident mind reader, our little miss try-to-hook-up-max-and-fang. Where was she?

Suddenly, I heard a lot of footsteps walking to our cages. Oh shit.

A wimper that was barely perceptible escaped Nudge's throat, and Gazzy growled. I could tell that the room was filled with whitecoats and erasers. But I, of course, sat there like an idiot, smiling at them.

"Bring these two," came Jeb's gay voice.

I could feel him gesturing, but I couldn't tell who it was at.

Well, I found out when I heard someone unlocking my cage, and an earsplitting shriek from Nudge.

"Let go of me you hairy beasts! You have no sense of fashion either! Eww look at those shoes! No one wears open toed shoes after September!" she cried.

I rolled my eyes (internally) as my body cooperatively climbed out of the cage.

"This is an ideal experiment," a raspy voice said from my left, grabbing my arm.

I felt Jeb nod slightly at the whitecoat with the raspy voice.

"Iggy! Don't go with them!" Nudge cried!

I could near the desperation in her voice, the near-hysterical desperation to bring the real Iggy back to the surface.

I sighed internally, and had no choice but to walk forwards as the erasers guided me roughly.

After a few minutes of walking down sick-smelling white halls, feeling my feet scrape across a slick linoleum floor, I was ready to kick some butt.

Which, of course, I couldn't.

This was hell.

Nudge continued to shriek, telling the "ugly monsters" to let go of her before she broke a nail. Then, she told the whitecoats to make a more fashionable gown because it made her look fat, and she wasn't supposed to be fat. Then, she told them that she was a failure because her hair was bad.

"Shut up," an eraser growled, and I could practically feel his claws digging into her arm.

"Never," she growled, with the same amount, if not more, menace.

"Hurry up," Jeb said, annoyed.

"Yes, sir," the erasers chanted mechanically. It made me want to puke, the way they obeyed the sick whitecoats as if they were royalty. Well, maybe the kings those days were cruel wusses who tortured kids for fun.

Suddenly, I heard Nudge kicking and shouting, screaming colorful words at the erasers. Whatever was happening right now, it could not be a pretty sight. Her bare feet were loud as they smacked into this and that, thrashing about, whacking everything in sight.

This fight went on for a few minutes. However, the erasers eventually won, until the only sound left was her shouts. However, after a few minutes, her speech began slurred and she was then completely silent

So, it was just… silence. Complete silence. What was happening? I had no way of knowing.

Wouldn't you like to see this? The voice said.

Before I could even answer, I could see the picture in front of me in clear raptor HD in my head.

Nudge and all the whitcoats were in a room that had walls made of thick glass.

Nudge was strapped down to a metal table, as the whitecoats were inserting a chip into her brain. It was sickening to watch. The whitecoats looked at Nudge as if she was a hamburger that needed a few more condiments, and they looked at the chip as if it was a long-awaited pack of ketchup.

Gross. Nudge was a person, a beautiful, amazing person. Not a hamburger.

I stared in disgust and anger as the whitecoats operated on Nudge, while I stood there, helpless.

The chip was, no doubt, used so that they could track her or maybe even – my heart skipped a beat – control her mind.

Turns out, I was wrong.

All the whitecoats filed out of the room after a few minutes, and all sat down in chairs in front of the room, watching her intently through the glass.

Jeb of all people walked to a panel that had a bunch of different colored buttons on it. They seemed to have greener hues on one side, and slowly melted into shocking reds on the other sides.

I glanced back at Nudge in the room. Her eyelids were starting to flutter open as she woke up from her anesthesia. She looked right at me, right into my eyes, trying to give me the most meaningful look she could conjure up. Her eyes seemed to calm me – their beautiful caramel color that was just a bit darker than her skin color. They were like melting milk chocolate. Irresistable.

"Ready?" Jeb said in that annoying voice of his, snapping me out of my thoughts. And guess what? He looked RIGHT AT ME.

The other scientists grunted in agreement, and he pushed a few buttons.

Nudge screamed.

The scientists gasped, and quickly took notes.

Goddamn whitecoats.

Jeb pressed some more buttons, and this time Nudge screamed louder and longer than before, thrashing about, trying to escape her bonds.

No. No! No! No! They couldn't be doing this!

"This experiment seems to be the strongest of them all," Jeb said matter-of-factly, as if he wasn't torturing a 12-year-old girl to death. "Much better than Experiment 11."

He pushed some more buttons, this time closer to the red side than the green side.

Nudge's scream this time pierced my soul. A part of my heart and a part of my brain seemed to just break off. I forgot all sense, I forgot everything. I only knew one thing – I needed to get Nudge out of here.

"Wow," that raspy voice exclaimed.

Jeb nodded nonchalantly, then his fingers drifted towards the brightest reds.

No. In that instant, I felt a tugging deep within my gut, where my heart was. I wasn't going to let this happen. I couldn't. I couldn't freaking LIVE without Nudge!

All the bonds broke loose. I felt like strings around my body had finally been cut, as I rushed towards the glass windows.

I jumped against the window, my shoulder slamming into it hard. The glass shattered easily.

The whitecoats gasped and blinked, as if unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Then, like complete idiots, then all ducked down or lay down smack dab on the floor, as if that would make it easier for them to survive.

I barely noticed, because I was too busy enjoying what I'd missed so much – freedom. I stretched my arms out on their own, reveling in the feeling of having control over my body once again.

Of course, my sight was gone too, but it didn't matter. I rushed into the room, and ran to where I knew exactly where Nudge was, and I felt for the buckles that were holding her in place.

Wow… Velcro? That could easily break. I wonder why –

CRASH. Before I knew it, every wall of the room had collapsed and glass shattered everywhere. A few pieces lodged themselves into my arms and back, and I grimaced in pain.

But they were small pieces; nothing I hadn't dealt with before.

Right now, I needed to get Nudge out of here. I spun around, thinking of escape routes.

Well, my plans might've been good.

Except for the fact that we were now surrounded by Erasers. I could feel their warm, disgusting breath in the air. They were just standing there, waiting for me to make a move.

"Nudge," I whispered sharply.

"Mmmhmm…" she mumbled, clutching her head from the pain.

"Nudge! I need you to wake up!" I raised my voice.

No response.

"Leave that thing alone," an Eraser snarled.

"Just go back to your cell," another added.

Oh no no. All of this did not just happen so that I could be locked back in my cell.

I had to fight. My chances of success were very slim, but they were there.

I couldn't give up.

Might as well put my newfound freedom to use, anyway.

"Never," I snarled.

They all laughed, then charged.

Cliffie~

There's a long chapter!! Want more? Review. Suggestions, questions, and criticism are always welcome.

Where are Angel and Dylan? ooo....

Hugs and Fang,

Tammy