I'm really getting better about longer chapters! I actually really don't like this chapter. I like parts of it and all, but the overall thing is just meh to me.
QUESTION: Should I get a Beta? I'm going to ask until I get a good answer.
The funny thing about the Voice in my head is that it always shows up when I don't need it, and when I do, it disappears. Oh, and it tends to try to make a strong impression when it does reappear.
Take that moment for instance. I was falling to my doom just seconds after the Voice had decided to join in on my conversation with myself. And because a voice in my head and my body completely shutting down isn't anything to remember, it just had to add in the searing pain. It's easy to see why I love it so much, isn't it?
Falling and knowing I'll be able to fly away right before I become the first avian-American pancake is one thing, but falling without the ability to use my wings is more terrifying than an Eraser ambush.
Somewhere in the flurry of pain and the sound of my flock screaming, I vaguely felt a pair of strong tanned arms rope around my waist, securing me in the air. Fang. I really couldn't have a brain attack while flying and survive without him. I would've laughed at the thought of anyone else attempting to save me if, you know, I wasn't practically dying. And even though Fang was almost as strong as I was, I could tell he was struggling to support my weight and fly at the same time.
Fang huffed and dropped lower in the air, but only slightly. "If I ever have one of these brain attacks, you'd better save me." I weakly craned my head around so I could look at him.
"Don't worry, you have to have a brain in order for something to attack it." That earned me one of his rare smiles, and it was like the sun coming out. He must have been really worried about me to smile like that just because of a stupid joke, especially considering the last couple of days. I shifted in his arms a little, regaining my mobility slowly. I could just see the rest of the flock's panicked expressions as they raced towards us. Fang must have thrown Total to Angel pretty quickly when he saw me dropping, because the dog was twitching uncomfortably and looking at Fang murderously(a funny look for a dog). Wiggling so that I was facing the ground again, I panicked for a second(or a few) because it was coming towards Fang and me unsettlingly fast.
"FANG!" He pulled me tighter to his chest and then, at the second I was making my death wish, Fang swooped up back into the air and then floated gracefully back to the grungy gravel. I broke out of his arms and looked at him expectantly.
"You ok?" he asked, trying to conceal a smirk.
I faked a smile. "Just peachy." A wave of nausea hit me and I bent over, gagging. Iggy landed, leading everyone else to the back street of a small town. Fang put his hand lightly on my shoulder and looked at me with concern.
I gave him an embarrassed smile. "You must be so sick of looking at me with concern," I said, referring to my other episodes like this one.
"It is getting stale," he said. "What happened? This time, I mean." I sighed, and the rest of the flock moved in closer to hear me.
"The Voice is back. Again. And turns out a simple hello is too common of a greeting for it."
A loud noise made us all freeze. Nudge looked impatient to get the heck out of wherever we were, while the Gasman seemed more concerned for me. Another noise and Fang looked at me.
"Can you walk?" he asked tersely. I nod, because what else was I going to say? 'No, no I can't. So shut up and carry me.' I don't think so. I stood up straight and headed out of the alley way, motioning for my flock to follow me. They did, cautiously, and we edged out of the lane and onto the brick road. The area was practically deserted, but a restaurant was open, and so was a tiny theatre. I started hobbling down the sidewalk and Angel skipped over to me and grabbed my hand. She smiled up at me. Iggy placed his hand on my arm lightly, partially so I could guide him, but it seemed comforting too. I smiled a little, but then stopped when I realized that hurt too.
"Max," Fang said. I looked towards him.
"Fang." I mimicked his tone of voice and facial expression(or lack of) almost perfectly, if I do say so myself. He rolled his eyes.
"I think I know where we are."
"Do tell," I said, partially bored. He looked at me with a how dumb are you expression before replying.
"Could it be the town we may be living in for a while?" He faked an incredulous expression, which may be the funniest thing I've ever seen. Naturally, I burst out laughing, only to stop abruptly when pain shot through my head. The flock looked at me as if I was going mental(which really wasn't a bad guess at all). I coughed.
"It seems kind of like it," I said, and then continued when Fang rolled his eyes. "OK, yes, this is the area. And the house should be right about-" I did a quick and painful 360. "There." I pointed to our relative left where a hill rested behind some old looking buildings.
"We're going to live in a hill?" Gaz asked. I rolled my eyes.
"The house is behind the hill, smart one," I said. I squinted my eyes at my watch. 8:47. Gazzy's wing injuries had put us behind more than I had thought. "We won't be able to do much exploring in it, but it'll be good to sleep with a roof over our heads for once." They nodded in agreement, eager to see it at last(well, except for Iggy). I started walking across the street and they followed. To be honest, I was a little nervous about the house in general. I still had a bad feeling about it being a trap, but I tried to push that thought away. I maneuvered through the practically connecting buildings, although not so gracefully. We eventually reached the hill and Nudge and Angel fluttered up the grassy hill with Gazzy and Total running behind them. Iggy was glued to Fang's belt loop and we walked towards the younger kids. Having long legs comes in handy, and in no time I was behind Nudge and Angel. They gasped when they saw the house.
"OMG! That is like the best house I've ever seen! It looks exactly like Anne of Green Gable's house! Remember when we saw that movie? It was so amazing! And I bet it has rooms for all of us! So we can have our own rooms and maybe our own bathrooms and we can get some paint and new furniture. Well, we never really had furniture in the first place. Well, we did, but it was more of Jeb's-" I slapped my hand over her mouth.
"Way to ruin a moment," I muttered. I could see how she was excited though. The house was bigger than the E-house, and while the white with green shudders exterior looked silly to me, I could see how she would love it. Angel had a similar reaction, except without all of the talking.
"Can we go inside, Max?" she asked sweetly.
"Yeah." I bit my lip. "But stay here for a little while longer, ok? I have to check on something." Lowering my voice, I muttered to Fang and Nudge. "Nudge your in charge and Fang, you'll help me." Nudge looked at me like I had just given her a car and nodded eagerly. Iggy looked at me with a faked hurt face. "Don't think I forgot last time. Come on, Fang." Fang shrugged and followed me reluctantly. I ran down the grassy slope, careful not to fall. I stopped in front of the huge house. Fang looked at me expectantly from my right.
"I know you think this house is perfectly safe, but for the sake of my paranoia, let's do a quick check." Fang looked at me for a moment and then nodded.
"Only to prove I'm right," he muttered, mostly to himself.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that. You go in from the back entrance and I'll come in from the front. We'll do a quick scan and then head up the stairs together." He nodded and started jogging around the house. I took out one of Nudge's hair pins and started picking the lock. I wasn't as good as Iggy, put I managed to get in the house in just over six minutes.
I looked inside suspiciously and then walked in quietly. It was dark inside and I could barely make out the walls. I bumped into something sloped and fell on it.
"Found the stairs," I mumbled. I stood up again and walked into a hall way connected to the room I was in. Suddenly, I heard a quiet noise, too quiet for any normal human to hear. Luckily, I didn't fit in the normal category, or even human for that matter. I edged closer to where I had heard the sound and saw a dark form almost immediately. At first, I thought it was Fang. Then I realized Fang was taller than whoever was in front of me. The person(or creature) moved slightly towards me, but I doubted it had seen me. Still, I did the only logical thing a paranoid bird kid would.
The issue with attacking someone without knowing who they are, or even what species they were is that its difficult to know what fighting technique to use. I used a basic form that worked on everything I'd fought from the school up until now. This creature, however, was a lot harder than anything before. Soon, I was pinned to the ground with the things face centimeters away from mine. All I could think was how much I wanted Fang to pop out and save me.
"Max?" I heard from the creature. I looked at it and blushed slightly. It was Fang. And now that I was sure I wouldn't be killed, I noticed how very awkward our position was.
"Fang? Care to get off of me?" I'd bet the Max card he was blushing. He jumped off of me and I slowly stood.
"Sorry," he said. "Instincts tend to kick in when I get jumped."
"I didn't realize it was you," I mumbled.
He snorted. "To think you know a person.. And you didn't recognize my fighting technique?"
I argued, "You didn't recognize mine!"
"Flailing doesn't count as a fighting technique, Max." I shot him the bird. He was shorter than me by half an inch, something that hasn't happened since we were eleven.
"Why are you all of a sudden shorter than me?"
He grunted in.. pain? "I'm not," he huffed. "I tripped over a loose brick on the way in." I snickered and he glared at me.
"Let's go check the upstairs out and then get the rest of the flock." I checked my watch again. 9:12. "It's already late." I turned around, not waiting for his acknowledgement and walked up the stairs. We did a quick check of all the rooms and then jogged back to the others.
We led them to the house. Nudge and Angel were gasping about every little thing, even though they were barely visible with the dim light from our flashlights.
"We should all sleep in the living room for tonight. It has a pull-out couch and it'll make watches easier." I walked into the half-oval shaped room and pulled out the couch. Gazzy walked up behind me and everyone else set down their backpacks and started putting out their few mismatched blankets.
"The girls can have the bed," he said to me and the rest of the flock. "Fang and Iggy and I can sleep on the floor."
"Excuse me, sexist piglet," I said, raising my eye-brows. "How about the two smallest people share the bed 'cause they'll fit. That would be you and Angel." He nodded and climbed into the bed.
"I'll take first shift, Fang will take second, and Iggy, you take third," I said. We stacked fists and everyone turned their flashlights off, leaving me in darkness.
"Good night," I whispered, "Don't let the Erasers bite."
I really hate this ending. A lot.
Next chapter will be more intense and drama filled and Max will blow up. And then Faxness will follow. That is, IF I get a good amount of reviews. Tell me you hate it. I don't care. Last chapter only got four reviews. I'm not sure if people stopped reading it or what. Anyways!
Review and I will make next chapter an amazing one!
P.S I re-read the first 2 MR books, and turns out on a couple occasions Fang burst out laughing. And he smiled more than most fanfic authors give him credit for. So I hope I made him not too OOC. Or Max either.