Chapter Two

Max's POV

We arrived in some suburb of Chicago about half past two. It was a Friday afternoon. I normally don't always keep up with the dates the way you normal people do, but it was obvious. The traffic was horrible, and there were little kids running out of their schools with the excitement that was only reserved for weekends. It was still too early for the older kids to get out of school, so I didn't have to keep both eyes on the lookout for the girl.

It was actually kind of fun, in a you-have-to-find-a-girl-to-keep-an-evil-company-from-taking-over-the-world kind of way. I was able to watch all those kids, imagining the stupid schedules they must keep. I was actually glad to be a mutant girl with wings on the run for once; because if I wasn't, I would have just been one of those faces in the crowd. A nobody, stuck in classes, with silly worries, and unneeded drama.

Of course, though, whenever you find something you can't have, you find a way of making it sound like you don't/wouldn't want it. So deep inside, I realized I was jealous of those sneezing, nose picking kids. Because they had a normal life. They didn't need to worry about waking up and finding yourself in a cage. They didn't need to worry about when their next meal was going to be. They didn't need to worry about non-imaginary creatures following you, waiting for the opportune moment to take you out. They didn't need to worry about keeping their family safe. They didn't need to worry about saving the world.

I was surprised by those thoughts. Wow, I was definitely getting in tune with the inner me. But as soon as those thoughts surfaced, I pushed them deep down into my mind again. I didn't have time to think of those things.

A few, uneventful minutes later, the Voice told me to head towards some address. I thought about saying something, but decided against it. It wasn't worth it. And besides, we had no other leads on this girl, so I decided it was best to listen to the Voice on this matter. I added the last part to my thoughts so the Voice wouldn't say anything cocky or something.

So now we are walking, heading to a place I am not quite sure of. It was just Fang, Angel, and me. We decided that we would look too out of place if all six of us went (not to mention Total). I was going to go by myself, but Fang insisted that he'd come with, in case there was trouble. I couldn't argue; because if a bunch of Erasers or Flyboys or something snuck up on me, I wasn't sure if I would be able to fight my way out of it. Everyone else stated why they should come too, but in the end Angel was the only other person besides Fang and me to go. It made sense to let Angel come; she would notice if anyone had any School-related thoughts (I mean thoughts related to the School, not some place you go to learn), and if we met the girl or anyone else out of the ordinary, Angel could tell us if they are a threat or not. Besides, if we get into trouble, especially with these non-genetically-enhanced humans, Angel could just use her mind to stop the fight or whatever.

So that's how I found myself walking with Fang and Angel, while the rest of the flock were off being inconspicuous (I really hoped they were, I did remind Iggy at least twice not to use any bombs unless it was an emergency). We had prepared a cover story, just in case. Fang and I were friends who were picking up my little sister from school. If we ran into anybody too inquisitive, Angel would take over. But it had been quiet, no one stopped and looked at us, no one stared at us. And Angel hadn't noticed anything in anyone's thoughts that would somehow relate to Itex or the School.

I was getting anxious. We hadn't found any clues, or nothing else to lead us in some direction. We were sitting ducks in an enemy's pond. If something Itex-related really was here, it would stand to reason it would be protected. Protected by people, creatures, and/or things that would gladly capture us, sell us, torture us, tear us limb from limb, or just flat out kill us. So no wonder I was a little anxious. Then Angel stopped, followed by Fang and me.

Max, there are two people coming around this street. Angel said in my mind. Two? The last few blocks have been much more crowded… or more than just two people anyway. Coincidence?

Anything else? I mentally asked Angel.

Yes, I can't get into the thoughts of one of them. Angel told me.

I was surprised. There had been a few people that Angel couldn't get into their heads, but they were all School related. So was this person working for the School, or some fluke?

I can't tell. But he's younger than any of the Whitecoats. Angel stopped for a minute. Wait, he's turning around. He's now going in the opposite direction of us.

What about the other person with him? I asked Angel.

She's still headed this way… was Angel's reply.

Okay, Angel. Tell Fang that we may have something here. I felt my body tense up just slightly more than usual. We could be walking into a trap; that I knew. And I hated it. With a deep breath, I started around the corner, with Fang and Angel right beside me.

Immediately something familiar caught my eye. With my raptor-like vision, I was able to look closer. And I recognized it at once. It was the girl.

Zanna's POV

I was still walking towards my house, absorbed in thought. What was with Zane? Why would he leave so suddenly? And why would he lie about why he had to leave? I was sure he was lying, I knew Zane well by now. And what in the world does he need to talk about? He has been mentioning it for awhile, especially lately.

I was still in deep thought when I noticed a boy and a girl around our age, and a little girl around eight or so. They were heading towards me. I didn't recognize any of them. I quickly looked around me; there was no one else on this block today. That in itself was unusual. I considered turning around, and finding Zane. But that would be silly. What would these three kids want with me? It was probably purely coincidental that I would be on a street with two teenagers and a little kid on the same side of the sidewalk head towards me. Yes, it's a coincidence, I thought rationally. Besides, if (and I mentally stressed the whole "if" thing), something were to happen, I was trained fairly well in self defense.

Before I knew it, I stopped. I was only a foot or two away from those other kids. I began to go around them, but then the older girl (who had awesome blond highlights, I should add) said something, and I stopped in my tracks.

"Hey, it's Zanna right?" she asked me. How did she know my name? Better yet, how did she know me and where I was? The whole coincidental thing was starting to sound less and less reasonable. Great. I wasn't in the mood for trouble, or to talk, or to do whatever they wanted. I wanted to get home, work on home work, maybe make some of my cookies for Coach Simmons, and then call Zane. Especially call Zane.

"What if I am?" I asked the older girl, sounding braver than I felt. She seemed to be the kind of person who took charge. Maybe she was the leader of this little scheme, whatever it was. Tension was growing inside me, though.

"I'm Max," the older girl said, "That's Angel, and that's Fang." She pointed to the little girl and then to the guy, who hadn't said a word or moved at all since they have met.

"Okay….Max….." I began. "What's going on?" I decided to be blunt and just put it out there. No need to waste time on pleasantries. Besides, I had quite a few questions. So I decided to go general and see where it got me. I was on guard, though. My cell was in my pocket, so I could reach it easily if it turned out I was in trouble.

"We better find a place to sit down," Max said. "We have a lot of stuff to tell you."