I scowled as Iggy came up beside me. I'd tried to convince the Flock to stay behind, told them that if the Erasers were still up and running then who knows what Ethan would throw at us? But my group of kids is stubborn, and they refused to stay behind.

"We're going to help you," Nudge had said, crossing her arms.

"Fine!" I'd said, "But we have to hurry." They can't hurt Fang, I added silently, turning away from them so that the tears that pricked my eyes weren't visible. I felt something touch my hand lightly and looked down to see Angel, tears filling her eyes, too.

"Don't worry, Max," she told me. I bent down and she hugged me really tight. I let her go and then nodded.

"You guys ready?" I asked them. When everyone nodded, and I made sure that we had enough food for a while, we took off, one by one, leaving our perfect little cabin behind.

"Bye," I whispered to what could have been our home. Then I went into leader-mode and stayed strong.

&

We flew for a few days, each day growing closer and closer to the School. I talked very little, only to give orders and to stop Iggy and Gazzy from blowing something up. It was uncharacteristic of me, and I knew that I had to suck it up and be strong for the Flock, but I couldn't get myself to let go of Fang's capture.

It was my fault. My responsibility. I should've been paying more attention to Ethan, worried about the Erasers later. It was clear that Ethan had been the one in command, and his creepy eyes had even given me the heebey-jeebeys. The guy was bad news, and I'd been irresponsible to let him get away.

With Fang.

Tears stung my eyes again, and I furiously wiped them away with the back of my hand. I wanted to fly straight to that School and ring Ethan's stupid little neck. If one hair was different on Fang's head, Ethan would be sorry.

If they wanted me, he should've taken me. Taking Fang was a low blow.

"Hey."

Angel glided up by me, clutching Celeste to her chest. I forced a small smile and tried to look upbeat, like this wasn't killing me.

"Max, it wasn't your fault, you know. You can't watch everyone and do everything at once." I nodded, sighing.

"I know, Angel. I just…there had to have been something for me to do."

"Well, there wasn't," Iggy said sternly, coming up behind me.

"Yeah," Gazzy agreed. Nudge nodded.

"We'll save Fang just like we saved Angel that one time!" Nudge exclaimed, her big eyes glistening with the excitement of a new adventure. I smiled at my Flock, happy that they were all there with me.

"You're right," I said, filled with relief. "We'll bust in there and kick some School butt!" Everyone cheered and we spent the next couple of hours coming up with battle plans. The Gasman said something about "gassing up the place", but I kindly reminded him that we wanted Fang back in perfect condition. Gazzy playfully swatted my shoulder, stating that he knew that.

When the sun went down, we took a break, settling into a few trees. I stayed awake, as usual, while the rest of them slept. As soon as the other's cheerfulness was lost with their consciousness, I was in worry-mode again.

Fang.

I unfurled my wings and glided out of the tree, landing silently on my feet and sitting cross-legged in the long grass. I let my wings stay out, resting on the ground, not caring that my beautiful feathers would probably get dirty. I leaned my forehead into my hands and breathed very deeply, willing myself to calm down. There was nothing I could have done.

My head shot up, and I stood, thinking that I'd heard something. Without making a sound I flew into the air and did a perimeter search, but the only thing I saw was a sleeping dog and, now, 5 birdkids, one of whom was awake and paranoid as ever.

My heart stopped beating so quickly, and the adrenaline I'd just felt slowly crept out of my body.

Don't worry, I thought to Fang, We'll find you.

&

Fang woke up, his head pounding with a massive headache. The images from his nightmare had been terrible; flashes from his days at the School, fighting for his life, the huge fight he and Max had had when they split up.

Max.

His memory couldn't be right. He remembered a Max that had attacked him. She'd…she'd shoved him towards Ethan just before the explosion.

Fang shook his head and cringed. The image of Max pushing him towards Ethan kept replaying in his mind, a bright flash of light following each repeat. A wave of confusion took over his head. Was this right? Had Max done that?

He tried to remember the good times with Max, but then his head began to hurt. He remembered the first time he'd approached her, how she'd flung herself off the ledge before he could get close to her. The hurt of that time clung to his heart as though it had just happened. And then Max, getting jealous but shoving him away. Max, fighting with him, forcing the flock to split up.

Max. Shoving him towards the enemy.

His head hurt a lot, and as he went to put his hand to his head another pang shot through his skull. How could this be?

"Fang?" sang a worried voice. Fake-Max walked into the room, this look of dread on her face. "Fang!" She threw herself at him and hugged him. Fang tried to get away. "It's me, Fang; Max. The real Max. Don't you understand?"

Fang regarded her suspiciously, but his head and eyesight were fuzzy. He didn't know what was real anymore.

"Fang," Max said again. Now he was really confused. Instead of fighting with his head, he just let her hug him. The bright white flashes in his head continued, images of horror playing behind his eyelids. What was real?

"Fang," this Max said clearly. He looked at her, his eyes dulling as he struggled to listen. Her voice just sounded so sincere. This had to be Max. "There is another Max," she told him. It was important. "She has tricked the Flock. If she is not killed, she will be the death of you and your friends. We don't want that, do we?"

Fang flinched. Why couldn't he talk? Why couldn't he think? This did not sound like something Max would say, and yet she was saying it. Was it right? He didn't know. His head was so full of confusion and terror that he wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

"Fang." Max pressed her lips lightly to his. "She'll hurt me, Fang," she said quietly. Fang straightened up. "She'll hurt me. If you don't kill her, she'll kill me, and then she'll hurt the rest of our friends." What? Now his head cleared, and he looked at Max, who smiled sadly at him. He felt anger take over his body. Suddenly, he felt empty, full of hatred, full of fury for this Max who dared to threaten him and his friends.

A part of Fang locked away then, and a new, ruthless person had taken over.

"When is she coming?" asked someone with a growl of a voice. This was the voice of someone who wanted to cause pain, and knew what he was doing.

"She'll be here soon. In a few days. We have to be careful, or she'll get us," Max pleaded. Fang's eyes narrowed.

"No," he said slowly, hatred filling his voice. "She won't."

&

"How's he doing?" Ethan asked Fake-Max, grinning as he watched Fang punching and kicking a punching bag from behind a two-way mirror. Fake-Max smirked.

"Absolutely lovely. He's preparing for their battle right now."

"I want to talk to him soon," Ethan said. Fake-Max sighed.

"I still have to talk to him about that. We should've just put it in the program we gave him."

"Just tell him that I was there to get him away from Max—Fake-Max, to you," Ethan smiled a cold, cruel smile. "You are very convincing."

"Thanks," Fake-Max said. "I'll talk to him as soon as he's done working out.

"Excellent." Ethan smiled an eerie smile. Soon, Maximum. Very soon, you're life will be mine.

Okay, so it's been a very, very, very, VERY long time since I've updated, and I'm reeeeally really sorry! I've been super busy, and every time I sat down to write this Chapter nothing came out of me. I'm sorry! I hope you still like the story though, I'm going to update it more frequently now that I have more time!

Again—I'M SO SORRY!!

Reviews please!

Falling Rose Petals