I know we had a flashback last chapter too, but I just enjoy writing about young Nudge and fang. This chapter takes place a week after Jeb saves the flock from The School. Ages: Angel (3), Gazzy (5), Nudge (8), Iggy, Max, Fang (11).
He was dead. Blood coated his thick dark hair, seeping through the poorly done stitches zig-zagging the circumference of his head. He was still shirtless from when he'd lent it to her the night before seeing her shiver, and his olive-toned face and upper body was covered in fresh purple bruises. The flat-lining heart monitor seemed to grind and scratch at her ears, and she was surprised that something as small as that could bother her at a time like this.
She thought of his soft, barely there whisper the night before. So quiet even the sensitive-eared Iggy hadn't heard. Forever. He was a liar. Despite the several whitecoats in the room recording her actions, she allowed a tear to slip down her face. She could already hear his quiet disappointment. Never let the bastards see you sweat, he whispered in her ear.
With a start, nudge realized that the reason she hadn't yet started screaming as Max, Iggy and the rest of the flock were, had not barfed or fainted or fought as the tranquilized max had done, is because she was dead. Fang was her soul, and without her soul, she was nothing. She stared, and allowed silent tears to stream down her face out of spite for a gentle promise broken.
Forever. Her world began to rock, swaying back and forth. The heart monitor became a loud pulse, matching the quakes of the world shrilling, "Nudge, Nudge, Nudge."
Nudge bolted awake, taking in her new and unfamiliar surroundings. She was in a room, lying on a soft bed with the flock's faces peering worriedly in a halo around her bed. She tried to speak, wincing audibly at the pain in her sore throat. She must've been screaming.
Big, brown eyes welled with tears, and unlike the dark dream, she cried readily, alligator tears staining her new, pretty comforter. In an instant fang was by her side, and she flung herself onto him. His onyx eyes seemed to stare into her heart, seeing the dream as if through her own eyes. Catching his hint, Max assumed her usual role and ushered the children back to their own beds, carrying angel with her. Max gave fang a look, which he returned, and shut the door.
During the exchange, Nudge's hysterical cries only increased until she was almost hyperventilating with her remembrance of the pale and dead Fang, lying on the school's lab table.
"Shh, I'm here," He soothed, squeezing next to her on the twin sized bed. "Forever."
She sobbed louder at the broken promise of the dream, and his thick eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Forever always worked, he thought.
"You-you said forever before you left but (hiccup) it wa-wasn't forever becau-cause you we-were dead!" She wailed through her tears.
Understanding filled his features, as she recounted her entire dream, from the flock seeing him and going beserk, to her empty feelings at his death. His face was more serious than she'd seen it since Jeb has saved them from The School last week.
"I'll never leave you, Nudge." He whispered sternly. "Not for anyone or anything. Forever means forever."
"But what if you die?"
"Then I live on right here." He said, poking her in the center of her chest.
"But what about Max?" She blurted, unable to hide the growing feelings of jealousy inside her. "You like her better than me, I know it. She calls you her best friend and talks to you more than even Iggy and angel. Even in the school, when our cages were together, you spent all your time with her and ignored me completely. It's not fair! Why can't-"
"Tone it down, Nudge Channel." He said with a laugh. A frown coated her chubby cheeks, as a smile, an actual smile, bloomed on his face. "That's what you're worried about? Max is my best friend. Forever. But I saved you and you saved me, too. So, that means what again?"
A blush coated her cheeks, and a smile of her own began to form through her tears, "We're connected."
"By?"
"The soul." She said, unable to hold back her wide grin. "Because we saved each other. The white coats were gonna kill you 'cause they thought you were dumb, and they were gonna kill me 'cause I was loud."
"Exactly."
"You are kinda dumb," Nudge teased, her brown eyes sparkling with mischief.
"You are very loud." He retorted with a snort, and began to tickle her until Jeb came in and told them to go to bed. Angel was placed back in her crib, and Fang went back to the room he shared with Max, unable to hide the lingering laughs at Nudge's disdain for tickling. At her questioning, he simply rolled over and dove beneath the covers, returning to his comfortable life of silence. It seemed whenever he was around nudge, he ended up talking more than he'd like. Drifting to sleep, he positioned his pillow at the base of his spine, replicating the position he and nudge took in the cage back when she was a nameless, crying infant nudging into his spine. Sometimes, he liked to remember the feeling. She was right, of course. He spent way more time with Max than her now, the older girl and he simply had more in common. But she would always hold a special place in his heart.
"Forever," He whispered before drifting back to sleep.
Right before he lost consciousness, Fang thought he heard her whisper in return. Impossible, he thought to himself and relinquished himself to sleep.
"Cage to grave" she seemed to say.
(Present Time)
Silence lingered in the air. Not a comfortable silence, like the kind she and fang shared on the cliff. Where the caws of the great hawks and the lingering taste of dark chocolate said more than she could ever hope to. No, this silence was lost. And the emptiness in the air only amplified the confusion she felt inside.
The long pause was finally broken by a sniffle from Max. She crumpled the letter, expression hidden by her long bangs. Her shoulders began to shake and finally, she let out a great sob. It served as a trigger for the rest of the flock as Iggy began cursing, wrapping his arms around the inconsolable Max. Gazzy and Angel joined Max in her somber choir, voices raising to a wail.
Nudge stood still as night, somber as silence, as her mind worked rapidly to conjure up an explanation for the events that had just occurred.
Fang left Max. Fang left Max.
She was his heart, his other half, and whatever other mumbo jumbo he spewed in that schmancy letter of this was not what concerned Nudge. Afterall, their relationship was not perfect and they were bound to experience turbulence some time or another. No, what weighed down Nudge's heart was a far greater concern.
Fang left me. Again.
We were supposed to be connected. We were supposed to share a soul. Forever Fang and Nudge, from cage to grave.
Nudge began to tremble, shaking her head in denial as she marched determinedly towards Max, who had chased after the letter and now held it tightly to her chest. The other flock members had each wrapped their arms around her, making a blanket of comfort and protection.
Nudge felt as if someone had unplugged her heart, and paid no mind to her broken family, sobbing on the floor. Almost robotically, she shoved Gazzy aside, snatched the letter from Max and skimmed it where she stood, ignoring the rise of protests.
"Nudge give it back," Max began, confusion halting her sobs. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing is addressed to me," Nudge said, confusion evident in her features. "This whole letter is about you."
"What?!" Max shrieked, her grief quickly morphing to anger. "Fang was my boyfriend, the love of my life, of course his letter is addressed to me."
Nudge refused to take the bait and engage Max in a fight. She rationalized that Max was just grieving and welcomed anger as a relief from her sadness. Her irritation quelled.
"Max you know more than anyone what Fang and I had," She began lightly, "This can't be all he left for us. Iggy is his closest friend and he sees Gazzy and Angel as his little siblings. He dotes on them. This cannot be it."
A vicious snarl covered Max's face and the flock attempted to turn the conversation from the letter. They could all see clearly that Max had donned her "Kill Face" and was turning her punches towards Nudge. She again reminded herself that Max was upset and would realize later how ridiculous this was.
"Don't try to turn this to them," Max snarled. "I know what this is about. He told me about your dream all those years ago, and how you have always been jealous of our closeness. You shared a cage for what, a couple of months? That doesn't come close to what we had, and it's really insensitive and piggish of you to try to turn the attention away like you always do."
Oh, hell no. Nudge threw all thoughts of holding back her feelings out of the window and released the anger and frustration surging up inside.
"Did he tell you what he said back to me? He said that you would be his best friend forever but I-"
Max interrupted her, bringing her face close enough that she could feel her breath on her cheek. Max's previously beautiful makeup was streaked with tears and her features were balled up in rage.
"He was my heart," Max screamed. "It's not as if the two of you have never been apart! Stop trying to make everything about you."
Another long silence was left as the echoes of Max's shriek resounded into the night. All anger left Nudge, leaving only brokenness. She felt she couldn't have yelled back if she tried. Nudge met her eyes, meeting the heartbreak present that were reflected in her own. Max probably felt the same as Nudge did. A letter was a horrible way to break up with someone, afterall. A great sadness filled her as a realization hit her. She should have realized sooner.
"He was my soul," Nudge whispered, anguish in her voice. "He's the only reason I'm alive right now. He never left without a goodbye and an explanation before you two started dating. Not even once. He almost killed me for leaving the flock that time. But these past few months he changed."
As Nudge spoke the words, she knew how true they rang. He hadn't been the same since prior to their trip to Africa, and meeting Dylan. In fact, he had been acting consistently out of character ever since the flock had seen them kiss on the submarine. She'd chalked it up to the dynamics of the flock changing with the new relationship, but now she began to suspect that it was more. It was as if everything and everyone in the world had been replaced by Max, although he had promised her that nothing would come between them. And before their kiss nothing had. It was part of the reason she'd voted to kick the two out of the flock. She wanted him to see how she'd felt but it hadn't affected him nearly as much as it did her.
"Because he found me," Max smirked, feeling superior and completely missing her point.
"No, because it wasn't Fang. It couldn't be." she reasoned, realizing the truth. Max had been replaced once, why not Fang as well?
She received a blank stare from the flock. Even Angel looked at her as if she was delusional and she could read my mind. She, at least, should understand my reasoning. Max seemed to deflate, a knowing look passing between the members of the flock. As if it were simply denial or some other stupid stage of grief she could be dealing with.
Now only pity and shame filled Max's glance as she wrapped two arms around her. squeezing tight.
"I'm sorry, Nudge. I shouldn't have used you like a punching bag. I just-"
Nudge cut her off by spreading her expansive wings, breaking her tight hold. Tears finally spilled over. She would have no support in this matter. Fang is missing and Nudge was determined to find him with or without the support of the flock. If only I had realized it sooner, Nudge thought. Without another word, she launched herself into the air, tawny wings beating against the windy night. She flew and flew and flew. By the time Nudge stopped it was midday and her wing and back muscles burned and ached more than they'd ever before.
She had no idea where she was. The entire town looked to hold no more than 50 people. It was barely a neighborhood. It was as good a place as any to start looking for Fang. The real Fang. Nudge refuse to believe that it was all in her head. I won't believe it, Nudge thought to herself.
"Forever," she said aloud, before heading to knock on the nearest door.
Somewhere, miles away, she swore she heard an answer. She felt a shift in her soul, a sparkling of hope.
"Cage to grave," a broken, deep voice seemed to whisper in the her head.
Finally! I updated AND started on the actual plot part of the story. How about them apples, eh? Please review with any questions, comments, or concerns and I will get back to you! Thanks for reading...LonelyBee OUT!