Sorry I haven't been updating as usual as I do! My schedule has been so hectic lately!
Max POV
Hawk and I exchanged quick glances and ducked out of the way before the person could run into us. The person soared past the both of us. Our attacker had dark olive skin and short black hair. His wings were a nice chocolate brown color. I would have admired his flying skills is he wasn't attacking us.
Because the attacker missed us, he flew into Janie and pulled her into a choke-hold. Before Josh, Xavier, or Fang, who were flanking Janie, could do anything, the attacker poked her on the forehead.
Wow… I thought. You need to get a fighting instructor. Poking a person isn't going to do any—
I stopped mid-thought because the attacker let go of Janie. It would have been a good thing if she wasn't unconscious. What did he do to her? All he did was poke her head. Josh went into a fast dive and caught Janie hundreds of feet above the ground. The attacker turned to me and smiled, "Maximum Ride."
I raised my eyebrows, about to say a sarcastic come-back when he started flying at me at full speed. This guy was fast. My super-speed flying couldn't match this person's flying. He had to be flying at about 300 mph! Before I could do anything, I was in his hold. He took out a giant pin, grabbed the tips of my wings, and pinned the two tips together. I screamed in pain. He had to stick the pin right into a nerve. For those of you who don't know, when the tips of your wings are stuck together, you can't flap. No flapping only gets you one place in life, and that is the ground.
"Goodbye Maximum." The attacker said as he let me go. His head snapped toward Hawk, who was already flying toward him, throwing punches and kicks.
I started falling. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. I looked up at Fang who was diving down towards me. He beat his wings, forcing him down towards me further. That did it, because he swooped down under me and unpinned my wings. I started flapping them rapidly, "Thank you." I yelled down at Fang. Fang nodded and flew down to Josh, who was carrying an unconscious Janie.
I flew up to Hawk and the jack-ass who pinned my wings. He got a good punch on Hawk, sending her a couple of feet down. The attacker was already on his way to his next victim. Xavier was flying out in the open; an easy target for the attacker. I shook my head and started flying up faster than I ever flew before. A couple of feet away from Xavier, I ran full on into the attacker. His head snapped back towards me. I blocked every punch he threw at me. While I was blocking a kick, I saw his finger moving towards my forehead. He was trying to do whatever he did to Janie to me. Ha-ha, no way in frikin hell. I grabbed his finger and snapped it in half.
Let me tell you this, I take injuries fairly well. This guy's finger made me want to throw up. It was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. He didn't even flinch when he looked at it. The attacker caught me off guard and punched me in the face. I flew back from the power of the punch. Out of nowhere, Fang flew up behind the attacker and grabbed his wings. Fang took the pin that was in my wings before and put it in the attacker's wings. He didn't even gasp as the pin pierced through his wing's muscle. The attacker free-fell for a moment, none of us bothered to help him. A few hundred feet above the ground, with a force greater than God himself (not literally) the attacker whipped open his wings, ripping the flesh that was pinned back. Ow. The attacker flew away so fast that he passed the horizon within seconds.
I looked back at the owl kids who were flying down to the ground. Fang and I exchanged looks that said this couldn't be good. Both of us flew down to the corn fields that were below us. On the ground, Josh was setting Janie on the floor carefully. Xavier and Hawk were kneeling beside her, checking for a pulse or breathing. Fang and I stood there as a scared look came across both Xavier and Hawk's faces.
"No pulse…" Hawk said.
"Not breathing…" Xavier replied.
My eyes went wide and I grabbed Fang's hand. He squeezed my hand for comfort. She couldn't be dead. He poked her for shit's sakes! What can that do to a person? I looked at her forehead closely and noticed a small bump there; it had a small hole in the middle of it. I let go of Fang's hand and kneeled next to Janie's head.
"She was injected with something…" I said pointing to the small hole on her forehead. "He must have had something on his fingers. I—I don't know what to say." I bowed my head and stood up, trying my best to get away Janie's lifeless body. Hawk and Xavier stood next to Josh. Josh had a tear rolling down his cheek. We all bowed our heads in respect. I could see it in Xavier's eyes that he was using his force not to scream like a child. No one would hold it against him, he was ten. You can't do everything. Fang did the unexpected and hugged Xavier. The little boy couldn't take it anymore and broke down crying. Fang smoothed down Xavier's hair and muttered that everything would be okay. Josh looked up at the sky and said a silent prayer. Hawk stood there with her hands in fists. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and turned around and flew away in the direction the attacker flew off in.
Hawk was over the horizon in seconds. The adrenaline and the rage were pumping through her blood. She couldn't handle it. Her best friend's death was going to tear her up on the inside. If she found the attacker, I had no doubt she would kill him.
Hawk POV
He won't live. He will pay. Janie, I promise, I will avenge your death. You weren't meant to be the one who was killed, I was. He was after me and I jumped out of the way like a child. I swear, I will kill him…
Tears were flowing out of my eyes. I grew up with Janie. We were dog crate buddies. I didn't even think we would get a scratch on this trip, and now Janie was dead. I would find the person who did this. I was miles away from the Flock. I stopped over a canyon and saw a person sitting on the ledge of it. It was the attacker. The hair color was the same, the same olive skin, and the wings were torn from where he ripped the pin out. I dove out of the air and tackled him, causing us to both fall into the canyon. We were free-falling. I punched his jaw and heard a giant CRUNCH! I shivered at the fact that he didn't even yelp. Pain resistant much? I whipped out my wings and fought him midair. Kicks, flips, punched, biting, elbowing, kneeing, etc. Every fighting move you can think of, I used on this sorry son of a bitch.
He started falling out of the sky, but I wasn't done with him. I swooped down and punched him in the face. Blood gushed out of his nose. I let him fall for a while again, but I flew down and slammed him into the canyon wall.
"You…took…away…my…best friend!" I screamed in between punches. I remembered Max saying something about injecting her with something on his fingers. I picked up his hand and examined his index finger. There was a minuscule needle sticking out of the tip of it. Clenching my jaw, I punched him in the face again.
I looked straight at the boy, one moment he was dark skinned and dark haired, and then for a second his hair was blonde. His eyes were blue and his skin was a light caramel. He was not the same person that attacked us a second ago. But as fast as the blonde haired-blue eyed boy appeared, he turned back into the dark skinned enemy. In shock I let go of him and let him fall.
I didn't care. I didn't want to care. I flew to the top of the canyon and started crying my eyes out.