Hi guys:] So it's been a while... I'm really sorry!... hope you haven't forgotten about this. :P I love getting your reviews! You guys are the best :D
The story really picks up in this chapter, I guess. I just figured out like, pretty much the whole plan of the story, so there might be more frequent entries, after the holiday and everything. I'll try my best, guys :)
Hope you like this one!
"Dr. Martinez! You're back..."
In my mind I wake up but I don't feel like opening my eyes. This reality-no, this dream, a sick delusion-is too horrible to face.
I'm a freak. Of course, not in real life, because in real life I'm Mackenzie. Not Max, a mutant bird thing, with people who look exactly like the people I actually KNOW. Do I know them? They're no different, but then again, they are... freaking brain twister.
"Max?" Someone takes my hand. I still pretend to be asleep.
"Max. Please." The voice breaks. It's a woman's voice that I don't recognize. Who is she? I want to open my eyes so bad, but I can't blow my cover. Maybe they'll all give up.
I hear whispering. I catch the words "secret" and "blog" and "fault". What's happening?
Soon, the hand releases mine. The woman is sobbing. I feel sorry for her, for thinking I'm someone I'm not. They've got the wrong girl.
Footsteps walk away from me and the door shuts. The room is quiet. Are they gone? I open my eyes...
No one's here. I breathe a sigh of relief, realizing I hadn't dared to take a big breath, or barely breathe, since I woke up.
I position my wingsso I'm resting more comfortably.
Wings. God...
In a few moments I find myself crying, just staring at the empty ceiling and sobbing to myself. Why aren't my parents here? What happened to me?
Why won't anyone tell me?
I close my eyes and taste salt, the disgusting reminder that I'm falling apart. I wipe at my mouth. The movement sends both sharp and dull pain from my left hand to my shoulder-God, even the least bit of motion hurts.
I pull myself up carefully. I feel like I've been run over by a monster truck. I stare at the room. There's four folding chairs and a plastic-covered recliner. In the corner there are balloons and stuffed animals and candy. Gifts? For me? Who could've given them to me? I don't know anyone here.
I see something move on the wall to my right. My head whips over so fast that I feel like my neck has broken. I try not to cry again.
It moves again. The wall is moving.
No, not the whole wall. Just a section of it; a tall, person shaped section-
I scream when I see a head shake and color fills out the faint silhouette I'd detected.
It's Nick. Or the guy who looks exactly like him.
Even though I saw him earlier, briefly, I'm still so relieved he's here and safe. I smile. He stares at me like he's done something wrong.
"Do you remember now?" he asks evenly.
"That you-well, I told you earlier. We got attacked. Don't you remember?" I'm practically pleading with him to remember.
He shakes his head. I get the feeling he regards me as some sort of mental patient; as if I have amnesia or something. Psh. As if. I'm the only one who knows that this is the world that's backwards.
He comes toward me. "Where were you attacked?"
"Tiffany's house. We went over there because she called... remember? We were at the theater?"
He frowns slightly, his dark eyes burning holes in me. I can't read them.
"Well. We went to her house and the Eraser was there. I thought that he killed her, but she was here earlier-" Now, it's my turn to frown. "Okay, how'd you do that, with the wall?"
"What?" He tries to look innocent. I raise an eyebrow. "You, like, appeared."
"Oh, that." He shrugs. "It's just something I can do."
"That's... really weird." We're silent for a few long seconds. Then I ask. "Do you have wings too?" I say this in a hushed voice, as if it's a secret with people listening in from outside.
He nods, and walks in front of the hospital bed, so he'll have more room. He unfurls them from behind him, so fast I barely see it happening.
They're magnificent. Dark, like the rest of him, powerful, beautiful... and so impossible. In spite of my awe, I laugh.
"What?" He's obviously offended. I hold up a hand.
"This is so ridiculous," I say between giggles. "You with wings, me with wings."
"Why?" He folds them in again, sitting down in one of the folding chairs. I feel like I'm in a therapy session.
"It's so unreal!" Duh.
"Well, why?" His deep voice is still smooth, quiet, untroubled.
"People don't-" I swallow. "People do not fly."
He pauses. "It seems to me they do."
I glare at him, then glance at my gifts in the corner. "Can you give me some candy?" I ask, my growling stomach coming to my attention.
He stands up and goes to the corner, handing me a bag of chocolate candies. I devour a mini-Snickers as he watches me silently.
"Did you want one?" I ask, feeling awkward. He shakes his head. I put the candy down. "When can I go home?"
"Home?" He frowns.
"Yeah. To my parents, and Ariel."
"Who's Ariel?"
"My sis-" I stop, figuring it's pointless. I shrug, shut my eyes, and lean back into my pillow. "I'm tired," I lie, so that he'll leave.
"Kay." He pushes away his chair and walks out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Left alone again.
(part two: flock's POV)
Fang walks out of Max's hospital room and right into the middle of the rest of the flock. They stare at him as if he'd risen from the dead.
"What?" he asks nonchalantly.
"What happened?" Nudge asks. "Does she remember anything? What did she call you? Like, I think she thought your name was Nick or something... did you-"
"NUDGE!" Fang and Dylan yell at the same time. She shuts up.
Fang takes a deep breath. "Yeah, she called me Nick. She still doesn't remember."
"Why are you back?" Dylan asks, raising the question that's inside everyones' mind.
Fang turns to glare at him. It takes him a long minute to answer. "Ask Iggy."
All eyes turn to Iggy. He stares blankly back. "Well..."
"I know what happened," says Angel. "Should I tell them, Ig?" She sounds a little angry. Iggy shrugs.
"Okay. You know the blog that Fang has?"
Everyone nods.
"Iggy took Max's laptop. Him and Fang were talking."
They all start to whisper, like gossiping friends. Nudge frowns. "What?"
"Well. When we found Max..." Her eyes narrow as she glances at Iggy, "Iggy told Fang to come."
"No, no!" Fang protests, waving his hand. "He told me that Max was dead."
Angel's mouth drops. She actually didn't know that.
"So I had no choice to come." Fang is fuming, and his voice shows it-the only emotion that he freely expresses. He whirls on Iggy. "I cried. I thought it was true."
"I'm sorry..." Iggy addresses the entire crowd. "I couldn't think of any other way-"
"To come? Well, I'm not supposed to, remember?" Fang exhales sharply. "I was supposed to stay gone."
"Well, why don't you leave now?" Dylan suggests, holding a steely gaze on Fang. With his dark eyes, Fang scrutinizes Dylan, probably considering if Dylan is mad enough to throw a punch. Fang smirks.
"You left her."
Angel squirms, afraid they'll come to blows. She plants a thought in both their minds: Back down.
"Stop it, Angel," Fang snaps, before responding to Dylan. "She doesn't need to know now, does she?"
"So you're not even gonna tell her, what happened between you two?" Dylan asks, stunned.
"I don't see that I have to."
"If she gets her memory back, she's going to kill you."
"If she gets her memory back, I'm leaving," Fang corrects, taking a step towards Dylan. "I'm just sticking around to see that she does get it back."
"You're pathetic," Dylan spits, unfolding his crossed arms and storming away from Fang.
Angel breathes a sigh of relief. Pretty much the whole flock does, except Fang. He stands there, almost panting, fists clenching and unclenching.
"I'm going to kill him," he says under his breath.
"No, you are not," Angel says, stepping in front of Fang.
Memories hit her like a tsunami; Fang was like her brother. He had hugged her when she cried, given her cookies when she was good, gave her a lecture when she had caused trouble. She missed all that. Now he was more like a stranger, threatening her and her family-he might as well have been holding a gun against everyone's head. He had nothing to do with them now. Nothing.
"Just... go away," Angel says, resisting the strong temptation to kick him in his family jewels. She knows that would be wrong, but God, she just wants to hurt him, as much as he hurt Max.
Fang stares down at her, trying to calm his breathing. He looks up at the rest of the flock. "I'll be back later," is all he says before stomping away, much like Dylan just did, leaving the high emotions behind him.