Dylan POV
Life. Is. Good.
I sat back on the headboard of the bed the whitecoats provided me with. I looked around the room I was in. It had white walls and white tiled floors. My furniture was comfortable though. The bed here was a hell of a lot better than the mattress Max's flock had me sleeping on. I didn't feel like I was being jabbed in the side by a spring. I smiled and took a swig of the coffee that a whitecoat brought me.
Trapping the two flocks was so easy. I saw that Max and Fang were in love, so I told Max that I was her perfect other half. Even her "voice" was telling her I was her other half. (I will tell you how I did that later.) Fang didn't like the fact that I was Max's supposed soul-mate, so he started getting on edge. I thought that Fang would take some time to himself and leave, but he just told me to get away from Max. He even wrote a very rude document to me on his computer. I had to get Fang out of there to make Max vulnerable. I called him and told him I would kill the flock if he didn't leave. I expected Max to be in a crumpled heap when Fang left, but instead she left to look for him. I couldn't just take part of the flock to Itex, my mission was to bring them all. When Max left, I had to hold back on bringing to flock to Itex. Before Max left, I planted a chip on her shirt so I could find her when she was looking for Fang. I planned on getting the whole flock in one night. I morphed into an eraser to disguise myself while I tried to knock the flock out. That failed. I decided to just go for Max, but that failed also. I didn't expect them to already be allied with different flock.
But it's okay. I got them now.
I was able to relax for a while. There were two more flocks of bird-people in the world. The whitecoats said that the flock I was going after next was located somewhere in New Jersey. Because we were in Itex, which is miles away from Jersey, I was able to take a week long break before I was off to get the other flock.
It was funny how easy it is to find the bird kid flocks. Every flock leader was chipped, so finding them was cake. That's right. All of the leaders have chips in them. All of the flock leaders love their flock too much to ditch them, so wherever the leaders are; the flock is close by. Max had a chip in her, but somehow it was removed. I was Itex's secret weapon. I am planted with the flocks. Getting the flocks to Itex was all on me.
I took another drink of coffee and set it down on the small white side table. My eyes shut and I was about to fall asleep when my room started shaking and a small crack noise came from the walls around me. Within seconds the shaking was gone. I raised my eyebrow. A small cracking noise to a human could seem like nothing, but because I had extreme hearing it sounded like a mini explosion.
My mind quickly shot to that Iggy guy. He was always obsessed with bombs. He probably set a bomb off to help them escape. A small grin crept on my face. The door to the room was on the ceiling, so they couldn't blow the door out. They probably tried to glue it to the ceiling and detonate it. They are probably all dead.
But just to check…
I got up from the bed and walked out of my room. After walking through a series of hallways, I finally found my way into the main computer lab. Hundreds of whitecoats were swarming around holding notes and DNA samples. I found the certain whitecoat I was looking for and walked toward him, a deadly expression on my face.
"What do you need, Dylan?" Jeb Batchelder said to me coldly. He was reading over a file and didn't even bother to look up at me. I narrowed my eyes. I didn't like Jeb. He was always gloating about how amazing Max and the flock were. Once he heard Itex's plan for the flock, he started becoming more distant. He hadn't said a word to me in weeks. He didn't bother saying a small 'hello!'. Nope. He just cut straight to the chase.
"My room was shaking. My walls made cracking noises. My room is directly two floors above the room the cell that the Avian-hybrid flock is being held in. I think they tried setting off a bomb." I gritted my teeth, and finally Jeb looked up at me, an alert expression on his face.
He shook his head, "We would have heard an explosion, Dylan. And weren't you supposed to check them for weapons before they got here?" Jeb arched his eyebrow at me. My fists clenched: He thought of me as just some dumb fifteen year old.
"The walls are soundproof, so you wouldn't have heard it." Dumbshit. "And I don't have time to check them when they are fighting me." Outsmarted by a person who hasn't even been alive for more than a year.
Jeb sighed and set the files he was holding down on a desk. He grabbed a ring that was holding more than fifty keys on it out of his pocket. He started walking out of the computer room towards the cells holding the flock.
We were in for a gruesome sight. A smile crept to my face.
The bomb had probably killed them.
Fang POV
"Argh!" I struggled against the ropes that held me against the pole. I groaned as marks formed on my skin from the rope's tightness. Dylan was going to pay. I knew where he took my flock and if he lays a hand on them his head will be rolling.
My face had blood on it from my nose. I had cuts and bruises. And I'm pretty sure Dylan gave me a pretty bruise on my groin area. That stupid piece of shit.
I felt something poking my skin and I craned my neck to see the necklace Angel made us for our 'birthdays'. That felt like ages ago. The top part of a snake jaw hung from the string around my neck. The fang on the jaw was sharp enough to, say, cut through a rope holding a poor, defenseless bird-kid tied to a pole. One problem. My hands were tied to my side. I silently cursed to myself and tried to bite through the rope.
That resulted in a lot of pain in my front teeth.
The other thing that sucked was my legs were tired. I couldn't sit down because the ropes were so frikin tight. I had to put up with it for another hour.
How could I simply being tied to a pole restrain me like this? I felt to open. I was in the woods tied to a pole. I heard flapping coming from the sky. Please let it be Max. Please let it be Max.
Whoever it was landed behind a giant green shrub. They stood up and I could only see their head from behind the shrubbery. Too short to be Max, and wings are too big to be Max's. At least it wasn't Dylan.
I took a deep sigh of relief as Xavier came out from behind the bush. Could it be Dylan while he was shapeshifted? I narrowed my eyes.
"It's really me Fang." Xavier said.
I didn't want to be mean to Xavier, but if it wasn't him I could get killed, "Prove it." I narrowed my eyes. My heart tightened a little as his small ten-year-old face fell a little.
He paused and then looked me in the eye, "I think of you as an older brother. Josh is a good friend, he is nice and stuff, but… you're different. You and Hawk are good friends. That guy… with the blonde hair, he came to the cave pretending to be you… he attacked my flock and took them away… when he was transformed as you… he kissed Hawk. I thought it was you and I felt so… betrayed." His blue eyes looked up at me. Sadness was hiding in them. "Also… you're very picky when you don't eat breakfast." He smirked at the last part.
I nodded my head, "Okay. I believe you… Can you untie me?" Xavier nodded and walked over to me.
"Did the guy do this to you?" he asked. I nodded.
"His name is Dylan. He and I fought. I obviously lost… He took my flock." I said the last part through clenched teeth. "What happened to your flock?"
Xavier gave me a small speech on what happened to his flock. My fists clenched. Dylan kissed Hawk as ME? Pissed was an extreme understatement. Hawk was awesome. She was a good friend. One of the first people I have trusted outside of my flock in a while. But I didn't like her enough to kiss her. Especially because I love Max.
Xavier fumbled with the ropes, "Was this guy a sailor? These knots are impossible to get out!" He sighed and walked around the pole to look me straight in the face.
"Use the snake jaw." I leaned my head back and Xavier took off my necklace. I hadn't ever taken it off since Angel had given it to me. Max had the bottom part of the snake jaw on her necklace. The necklaces connected us. Xavier picked at the rope with the fang and finally the rope was thin enough for Xavier to snap. He unraveled the rope and I was free.
I stepped away from the pole and cracked all of my joints, giving a small smile as Xavier handed me the necklace. I put it back on and looked at him.
"Thanks." I said.
He shrugged, "What now?"
I looked up at the porch that was about a hundred feet above us, "We eat. Pack things for a trip. Then save our flocks from hell on earth." Xavier unfurled his wings and jumped into the air, flying up to the porch. I quickly followed.
It felt so good to crack all of my wings joints after having them squeezed to my back for that long of a time. By the time I walked inside the house, Xavier already had his head inside the fridge. He pulled out a giant jar of mac and cheese than Iggy probably made for yesterday's dinner. Xavier grabbed two forks and we both dug in.
"This is amazing. Better than Hawk's mac and cheese. Don't tell her this… but she can't cook for her life." I laughed.
"Neither can Max." I smiled and shoved the food into my mouth.
After eating and washing up, it was time to leave. Xavier's face was grave when we walked out of the front door onto the porch. He knew we had to go get the flocks from Itex. I did something that surprised both of us. I held his hand and tried to give him a reassuring smile. He was startled at first, but then he smiled and saluted me. I let go of his hand and both of us ran off of the porch.
We were heading to Hell… Fun.
Max POV
Let me tell you this: Iggy and Hawk were getting along.
How do I know this? Iggy was smiling like a kid in a candy store. And I have barely ever seen Iggy smile like that.
After a while, everyone except for Hawk, Josh, and I fell asleep. Angel fell asleep first. After a while Gazzy became tired from the training Josh was giving him so he lay down next to his sister and put his arm over her defensively. Nudge and Janie had finished their talking and passed out. Josh sat down next to Janie and watched over her. Iggy and Hawk had finally stopped flirting and they just sat there. Iggy fell asleep after a while.
"Anyone have any ideas on how we are getting out of here?" I leaned back on the wall. Usually I wouldn't go around asking for help, but they were the oldest in their flock and we needed to plan together. "I thought we could use Iggy's bomb, but that plan was blown to shit." I shook my head and looked at Iggy.
Hawk gave a small smirk and gave Iggy's hand a squeeze. I didn't notice they were holding hands before. The squeeze of Iggy's hand woke him up immediately.
"What's up?" He asked on full alert.
Hawk mentally hit herself on the head, "Sorry. I forgot you're extra sensitive to touch. I didn't mean to wake you up." Iggy nodded and leaned his head back on the wall. "But you should probably be up. We are planning an escape."
Not out loud. They could be recording us. I said to Hawk. She nodded.
I'm going to do something cool. Don't freak out. Hawk said. I guessed she said it to everyone because we all nodded. In a split second, I was hearing Iggy, Hawk, and Josh talking. But no one was saying it out loud. It was in our minds.
Uhm… Can everyone hear me right now? I was so confused.
Why can I hear your thoughts? Iggy asked.
Josh and Hawk looked entertained by our confusion. It's like a… telepathic IM. We can all hear everyone thinking. But it's through my head. So Iggy is sending me a thought, and I am sending it to everyone else. My flock did it all the time when we were captured.
My eyes widened and I smiled. Can Angel do that?
I can teach Angel how to do this. It's easy. So back to the escape. Any ideas? Hawk looked to all of us. We just shrugged. After moments of silence, Iggy spoke up.
Can we just fly through the ceiling? He asked.
Sorry, Ig. It's made of bricks. I said.
Hawk sighed, Josh! That's brilliant!
My eyebrows came together. Josh didn't say anything to anyone. My face was in a question mark expression. What? Iggy and I said together.
Gazzy, Josh said. He said that Nudge can control metal. He was explaining what powers everyone has. The trap doors are made of metal. Can't she just use her power to pull out the screws in the door? It will fall right out.
I wanted to jump up and cheer, but I didn't. I just smiled. I stood up and walked over to Nudge. I shook her arm and she opened her eyes and looked at me groggily.
"Hmrphmmm…" She muttered.
"Nudge, sweetie, wake up. I need you to do something." I hit her cheek lightly to wake her up. She was always a late bloomer. "Come one." I looked over to Hawk who nodded. She started explaining to Nudge what she needed to do through their minds. Nudge smiled and nodded. I shook everyone else awake. The second Angel woke up she had a big smile on her face.
"That was so smart, Josh." She whispered to him. He smiled at her and stood up. Everyone snapped out their wings. The owl kids had trouble fitting their wings because of their size, but we managed.
Nudge stuck out her hand. Slowly, a bolt unscrewed and flew to the ground. Nudge gave a bright smile and another bold flew out. Twenty bolts later, I flew up and punched the door. It fell down, leaving a giant hole in the ground. I grabbed the edge of the hole and pulled my wings in. I pulled my weight up and dangled in the air. Out of nowhere, someone stepped on my fingers.
"Ow." I said. The boot flew off of my fingers and kicked me in the head. I fell back down the hole and looked up at the person from the room. Dylan looked down at us angrily. Jeb just had a smile on his face.
"How? How could you possibly do this?" Dylan spit at us.
"Because we're cool like that." I smiled and flew up to the hole. I pulled in my wings before they could hit the ceiling and then pulled them out again when I was out of the room, standing in front of Jeb and Dylan. My heard clenched as I saw Jeb's face smiling at me. Dylan ran at me and pulled his fist back to punch me. I blocked the punch and kneed him in the stomach. The air left his lungs with a woosh, but it didn't faze him. He turned around and punched me. Then he punched me again. And again. He clipped my chin and my head whipped to the side. I turned around and kicked him in the jaw. He rolled his eyes and tried pushing me down the hole. I jumped over it and he flew toward me. Literally.
I jumped over him and he flew up, grabbing my foot. With all of his might, he flung me back down through the hole and into the room.
He is going to try and kill you all. Get out of there. Now. Ahh. My Voice. I hadn't heard from it since the day Josh brought me to the cave. It seemed like such a long time ago.
How? He is covering the door! How do I get out? I was frantic. Josh was trying to fly up to get through the hole, but Dylan kept kicking him.
There is another door. The other room. I looked over to the hole in the wall that the bomb created.
"Nudge!" I yelled. She looked over to me. I ran through the hole in the wall and she followed. The other room had a door on the ceiling too. She understood and stuck out her hand. The bolts came out faster. She was getting the hang of this. Once the last bolts were out, I flew up and threw open the door. Dylan was kicking Hawk and Josh out of the hole in the ground. I flew at him from behind and punched him in the back of his neck.
Dylan didn't expect it so he stumbled forward, almost falling into the hole. He twirled around and tackled me to the ground. I was lying flat on the floor; he was straddling me, his hands around my neck. He let my neck go and punched my throat. I coughed violently. Dylan gave a small smile.
"It's sad how weak you are. The Mighty Max is finally being beaten." He punched my forehead so hard that I saw stars. Jeb was watching this with an interested look on his face. That bastard. Whitecoats swarmed into the room we were in. Hawk, Iggy, and Josh had gotten out of the hole and were trying to help the others out of the room that trapped us, all while fighting off whitecoats. Dylan punched me in the face and my skin split on my cheek. I swallowed down the scream that threatened to escape my throat. He kept on hitting me until I saw stars. I was so close to blacking out. Why didn't he just do that stupid poking thing he did?
Dylan stopped punching me and caressed my cheek, "You could have been so powerful…" He looked… mesmerized? My breaths were coming in short gasps.
"Get…" That voice. It sounded so far away. Like a distant memory. "the hell off of her." The person sounded pissed. Beyond pissed. I opened my eyes and a small smiled came to my face. Fang.
Fang looked down at me with a pained expression. His jaw was clenched. Before Dylan could do anything, Fang leapt at him and threw Dylan off of me. Fang pinned him against the wall and threw punch after punch. Dylan looked like mince meat once Fang was done. But he… he still fought. Fang threw him to the ground and kicked him in the gut. Dylan just stared up at Fang the whole time. Fang's eyes… they had a scary look in them.
When Fang fought Ari, he was ravenous. He hurt Ari… but he didn't look like death. Now he did.
Right now Fang was scaring me. He was going to kill Dylan. I saw Fang put both hands on Dylan's head… if he twisted his head, Dylan would die. Fang took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He let go of Dylan's head and stood up. He dragged Dylan to the hole and dropped him down into the room. I looked back at the two flocks. Hawk was hugging Xavier, who probably came with Fang. Nudge and Janie had pale faces. Gazzy and Iggy were high-fiving each other. Josh was checking for pulses on the whitecoats that were unconscious on the ground. And Angel was staring at Fang with tears in her eyes. She was obviously talking to Fang through telepathy… She probably heard all of his thoughts… She probably talked Fang out of killing Dylan.
Angel had never seen Fang lose control like that. And let me tell you, it's scary as hell.
Fang looked at her and she nodded. I walked over to Angel and hugged her, "It's okay, sweetie." She nodded and wrapped her small arms around her neck.
"Max, I want to get away from all of this. Go somewhere else. Not the house we were at before." I nodded and kissed her forehead.
"Max, more whitecoats are coming." Iggy said. "They aren't that far. Let's go." I nodded as Hawk and Josh started leading everyone out of the building. I was just about to leave the room when I saw Fang wasn't following. I stopped and Angel looked up at me.
"Go." She nodded and ran out the door.
"Fang…" I muttered. "Come on. We have to go." Fang shook his head and looked at me.
"I almost killed him, Max. I never lost control like that… not even on Ari." He bit his lip. His face was calm, but his eyes displayed pure horror. I ran over to him and hugged him.
"Fang, we need to go now. I don't care if you are the most dangerous person on earth. I love you. The flock loves you. We need you… if you aren't there then we are missing parts of ourselves." I looked up into his eyes. "Please… just come on."
He didn't look at me, but he nodded. I grabbed his hand and both of us sprinted out of the room. "Do you remember any escapes?" He nodded and led me through a series of hallways. I hope the flocks were able to find their way out. What if they got lost? Don't think about that, Max. They are fine.
I heard footsteps behind us and flipped off the whitecoats who were cursing at us. I looked forward and saw that Fang was leading us to a giant glass wall that lead to outside. Both of us braced ourselves and crashed through the window. We snapped out our wings and looked up. Both flocks were staring down at us. They all seemed to sigh in relief when they saw us.
"Come on guys, let's—"
"Blow this joint." My flock said in harmony. The owl flock raised their eyebrows, but smiled. I took a deep breath of air as we flew away. Flew away from everything bad. Maybe now I could be free.
Max, you aren't free until you save the world. I'll give you a little hint. You have to find the other two flocks that are out there. You all have to join together and save the world. Have a nice journey. I groaned inwardly. Fang looked over at me with a hard expression on his face. He was taking almost killing Dylan hard. Fang didn't kill anything that wasn't an Eraser or wasn't a robot. Dylan was neither. Dylan was too real for Fang to kill.
I gave him a small reassuring smile, but it hurt my cheek that had a big cut. He nodded and looked forward.
"So where are we going? We can't go back to your house or our cave." Hawk said after a while.
Angel was glowing. She obviously read my thoughts and knew my plan. "I know. We are going to Lake Mead. It's near Arizona. There is a cave there that we have stayed in once. I think it would be a good place to stay at for a while." Hawk nodded at me and let me take the point in the Vee that we were forming in the sky. I let my senses lead me toward Lake Mead.
It felt so good to be free. At the moment.