Capri's Note: Thank you for the reviews! I greatly appreciate it. This chapter is longer than the other two + prologue, so enjoy!

As for who sent the note…well…just keep reading.

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Chapter Three

It took all that was the great Maximum Ride not to slam her fist into the mailboxes and send them into next Tuesday. Too late. In the flash of an eye, the row of mailboxes plummeted to the ground in a domino effect. Rage and fury waved off her every breath. Angry tears sprung into her eyes as she balled her shaking hands into fists at her sides.

"No." She spat through clenched teeth, making Nudge jump back.

"I'm sorry, Max," Nudge placed a hand on Max's shoulder, trying to calm her down.

All it did was make things worse. Max jerked away from the scared teen and stalked off into the park. Nudge, note in hand, walked quickly home to tell Iggy what had happened and who had sent the note. Iggy and Rae were still talking quietly in the kitchen when Nudge burst in through the door.

"Where's Max?" Rae looked behind Nudge, expecting Max to come sauntering in behind her.

"She found out who sent the note," Nudge explained to them what she saw and who had written the note to Max.

Rae took a minute to let it all sink in. "Should we go after her?"

"She could be in Kansas by now," Iggy ran a hand over his face. "Just let her cool off and get her mind straight. She'll be fine, just tell the others that she needed a breather."

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Rain streamed down her face, carrying black mascara with it. Max stalked around the sopping wet park, not caring that her boots were sloshing mud all over her jeans. Nudge was wrong, she told herself. There was no way that it could have been the betrayer himself. Her stomach lurched at the thought of him leaving her a note after everything he put her through over the years without even having been there.

I'll be watching…

That made her stomach lurch again. Did that mean he'd be watching her every move? Or simply that he'd check in on her every once in a while. Getting that feeling that someone was once again watching her, she picked up a stray tree branch and hurled it into the bushes.

"Are you watching now?" she bellowed, turning around in a 360. "Are you watching me now?"

She picked up a rather heavy rock and launched it into a tree, causing small pieces of bark to fly off the tree trunk. Her body was shaking with rage. She pounded her fist into a nearby tree until blood trickled down her wrist and jagged splinters were stuck in her skin. Still angry, she kicked the tree, then pounded it some more. With every pound, she grew angrier and more frustrated. Why would he contact her now? After the content of their last conversation four years ago, why the hell would he care what happened to her now? Her knuckles were bloodied and raw, but she didn't even feel the pain. Breathless, she leaned against the tree, holding onto its stocky trunk for support.

"What about now?" she screamed, walking out into the middle of the park. "Are you watching now, you coward?" her throat burned from the volume of her voice, but she didn't care. She sunk down to her knees on the wet, muddy grass.

Tears burned her eyes and a lump threatened to escape. She tried to force them back down, stubbornly refusing to allow them what they wanted. She stood, blinking rapidly to rid her eyes of the angry tears, and walked back home.

Iggy was still in the kitchen, sitting quietly at the kitchen table when a muddy and wet Max trudged in, mascara running town her dirty face. Her hair was askew, but Iggy saw none of that. He only smelled the rain and the wet.

"Feel better?" He asked, turning an orange in his hand.

"Much," she sauntered to the table and sat down across from him. "Do they know?" She was referring to the rest of the flock in the living room.

"Nudge told them during a dull part of the movie."

"And?" she prompted after a moment of silence.

"Gazzy went to his room and has been in there for an hour and Angel hasn't spoken a word. She's probably trying to see what we think about it or trying to pick up anything from the dirty bastard if he's still around."

"She won't find anything," Max rubbed the back of his neck. "He's not anywhere near here right now."

"What makes you so sure?" Iggy snapped, not meaning to direct his sudden anger towards her.

She sighed and rubbed the note between her fingers. "Because I know."

"Whatever," He rolled his sightless eyes.

"Look," Max stood up. "Tomorrow we go on as normal. You and Rae take the others to school then go do whatever it is you do and I go to work. We'll keep the cell phones on and with us all day and if anything happens you call me. Whoever 'they' are, if they even exist, will most likely be watching and they'll get suspicious if we act any differently."

"So basically, we're 14 again?" Iggy sighed.

"Ain't life grand?"

"Are you bleeding?" Iggy wrinkled his nose at the all familiar smell of crimson.

"Yeah," Max looked at her hand sheepishly. "I took my anger out on a tree."

Iggy snorted and began to work on her hand. "What'd the tree ever do to you?"

She smacked him upside the head.

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He cursed a string of profanities when the stitches in his leg opened up again for the third time that morning. Grumbling under his breath, he snatched up some gauze, a needle and thread and began stitching it back up again. This time he didn't bother to use alcohol. He didn't care how tough he was. That stuff hurt.

The dim light of the sunset made it a little hard to see, but his eyes had easily adjusted. He wrapped five layers of gauze around the wound, hoping that would keep it from opening up any time soon. His campfire had long gone out, but that was the very least of his worries.

A rustle in the distant trees made him shoot upright. A low growl sounded not too far from where he was stationed. Panic rose in his throat, but not for his own safety. If they were stupid enough to come this close, then that meant they were stupid enough to…

He stuffed his things in his old backpack and took off into a sprint towards town. He had to run fast if he was going to make it there before they did.

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Sandra, the librarian, had called Max, telling her that she had a bad cold and couldn't come into work so Max had to take both shifts. That meant Max was stuck at the library all day. She didn't mind. The library was rarely ever busy and when it was, there were only six people total looking for books. On days like that, she did her work first, and then relaxed at the back of the third floor where there were an assortment of couches, and read.

Today was one of those slow days, and for that she was grateful. Her head was crammed pack full of unanswered questions and painful thoughts. Clad in snug jeans and a navy blue shirt, Max curled up on the couch and started reading a random book off the shelves. She'd been there all day, reading book after book.

Around the end of the third book she was reading, Max heard something that sounded somewhat like glass breaking. Mumbling to herself, she set down the book that hadn't interested her at all, and got up to see what was broken this time. All of the vases that Sandra had put up for decoration were intact, as were all of the pictures hanging on the walls.

A light breeze blew by Max, blowing her long hair all around her face. She turned and saw glass scattered on the floor in front of one of the windows by the desk. There weren't any rocks lying anywhere around it, nor anything else heavy enough to break a three story-high window. She slowly walked towards the window and gazed out at the darkening city. There wasn't anybody below that she could see, but whatever or whoever had broken the window was gone.

She cursed under her breath and walked back to the desk to call Sandra and let her know what happened. She picked up the phone, but heard nothing. She pressed a few numbers, but there was still nothing. The hairs on the back of her neck rose, making her straighten up.

Someone was watching her. Hands balled into fists, she slowly walked out from behind the desk, watching every step she took around the library. A book dropped behind her. She whirled, taking a fighting stance but saw no one. Her breathing quickened and she froze. Her sixth sense was going crazy. She walked back towards the window, somewhat alarmed. She leaned over slowly and just barely peered over the side.

Before she knew what was going on, she was on the ground, being punched in the face. Everything she had learned growing up seemed to flow back to her in that moment. She kicked her attacker off of her and shot to her feet, scrutinizing the man before her. He was scruffy, bald and scary muscular. He was too ugly and big to be an eraser.

Too many steroids, Max thought. He launched at her again and she sidestepped him, making him run smack into the wall. She through a kick into his ribcage and landed a punch to his upper back. The man spun, barely affected by her attempts. He cracked his neck, wound up his fist and slammed it into Max's jaw. The large ring on his index finger sliced her cheek. She stumbled backwards, clutching her jaw.

A large, muscular leg swung under her legs, slamming her into the ground. The same boot covered foot slammed down on her throat, leaving her gasping for breath. The man pinning her down cackled manically, revealing at least six rows of sharp, drooling fangs. She grasped the boot and tried to twist it off of her throat, but that only resulted in more pressure.

"Maximum Ride," the man cooed, the muscles in his neck twitching as he spoke her name. "You're not as big of a challenge as we were told you'd be."

Her eyes narrowed. "Then you were told wrong." With a quick flick of her wrists, he was on the ground, clutching his twisted ankle. Max scrambled to her feet and turned to fight the other attacker, but she stiffened up. There were five other burly and disgusting men standing before her. Each bore the same, rotting rows of teeth, each scarier than the next. She turned to run and slammed into another body. He grabbed her around the waist and whirled her around to face his friends. She kicked her feet out, trying to leverage herself on something, anything.

"Awe, where do you think you're going little rat?" the biggest one grinned, sending chills down her spine. He whipped out a knife and walked towards her.

Max stared at the knife and struggled harder to get away. The man with the knife neared, his knife glinting in the fluorescent lights. Max thrashed against her restraints, too frightened to scream. The knife was just inches from her face when someone jumped in through the window, glass flying everywhere. Max watched as he launched himself at the man with the knife. The man from the window took a knife to the side, but didn't stop fighting. He had three of them down in a matter of minutes. Max couldn't help but notice the way he was fighting. So smooth and silent, yet lethal. It was too familiar.

The figure turned, his dark orbs avoiding hers. She stared, shell shocked as he bared his teeth and stalked towards the man still holding Max in his iron grip. Max watched his every step. With each step that he took near her, an unwanted and rather surprising sense of safety washed over her. She tried to push it away. She wanted to be scared; she wanted to feel like she was going to die.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" the man behind Max asked sarcastically.

Her defender growled and hurled himself over Max's shoulder, his boots missing her face by less than an inch. She stood, frozen in place. The sound of a neck bone snapping made her jump. She felt sick, nauseous, and dirty. It'd been a long time since she'd been in a fight, let alone attacked, so to say the least her hands were shaking like crazy. They started shaking even more when he appeared beside her, seeming completely tense and alert. That meant it wasn't over.

"Max," he breathed. "We have to go before more of them show up."

She just stared at him, those familiar black eyes penetrating her own. His dark, wavy hair was all one length, just barely covering his eyes. He was a full head taller than her now, and he didn't have the face of a 14 year old anymore. He had the face and the build of a grown avian hybrid. She clenched her jaw and jerked away from him, but never left broke eye contact. Before she had a chance to say anything, bullets were flying around them as more of the unknown attackers leapt in through the windows. Fang seized her around the waist, pulling her firmly against his side. With his other hand, he pulled out a gun and started firing back, all at the same time dragging Max towards the stairs.

"When I say run, you run," he said into her ear. They got to the edge of the stairs and he released her. "Run!"

With no hesitation, Max sprinted down the stairs, not having to look back to know that Fang was right behind her. Amidst the flying bullets and debris, Max had a thousand thoughts running through her head. One minute, she was perfectly safe and the next she was being kicked and shot at by people who weren't erasers.

Fang and Max burst out onto the main street, ignoring the staring by passers and ran as fast as they could. He had gotten faster, quicker, more coordinated with his fighting, but that was the last thing on her mind. She refused to look at him as they ran even though he kept his hand out so it softly brushed against her lower back, guiding her. Yup. She definitely felt 14 again.