Orange Sky

Well, I had a dream. Another nightmare. It's been a year and they still haven't disappeared. Brigid had given me some serum that gave me nightmares when Mr. Chu had captured me. She said it was suppose to last only two days.

I know, I know, never trust the evil scientist that betrayed you and your family.

We went out to the cliff and all of us wore black. I was silent and a stone. I wasn't going to break down, I told myself on the drive over. We stood there staring at the three gravestones exactly one year since their death.

I visited Jeb first. I hated that I had never trusted him enough. He proved himself in the end that he was always trying to do the right thing. His stone was black marble and was set into the ground, flat and square. His name, birth date and death date inscribed. The quote on the bottom read, "The goal of evolution is self-conquest"- Elbert Hubbard.

I dropped a pile of dirt from the house. I wanted him to be a part of it. He had saved our lives and had lost his in order to do so. Then, I moved on to Ari's. We had inserted a fake birthday (only knowing the year) and his death day. The quote we placed on his was "Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers" –Alfred Lord Tennyson. I dropped a larger pile for him. The flock had already gone to each grave and said their goodbyes.

Gazzy had said the phrase, "Any brother of Max must be a good person. I would've shared my room with you." I almost broke into pieces at that. I patted his wings when he walked past me.

I stood in front of Mela. I just remember saving her life twice and in return, she had come to fight Mr. Chu. The battle had started at Death Valley all the way to this cliff here. I was having trouble battling the memories that kept fighting with me. Her tombstone was a white marble to match her wings. I read her quote the most "To live is so startling it leaves time for little else"-Emily Dickinson. The thought made me wonder if Ms. Dickinson had wings and was hunted for most of her life too.

I stepped past their graves to the fence that now overlooked the cliff. People came here now, to see the three who died to save the world. I should've been one of those dead. I stood beneath an orange sky. The dream had been so nice at first. I thought my brother was standing by. Ari had so little of a life and I had few memories of him.

Tears dropped as I relived the moment.

I was rushing now, my heart beating faster than any other moment of my life. My entire lungs and air sacs were moving to get oxygen into my blood. Mr. Chu was standing there, looking smug trying to reload his gun. I rammed my shoulder and I heard the pop of his gun in my ears. My left wing went into high strung pain and my side began to hurt as well. He had hit me just as he lost balance and stumbled towards the edge.

I reached for him and grabbed his hand. I fell on the ground, too weak from the shot now to actually lift him. He hung over the ledge while staring at me with an evil grin. The gun he once had was on the ground feet below where the water crashed against the rocks. "You killed them! Give me one good reason not to kill you right now!" I screamed into the pouring rain as he began laughing hysterically.

I wasn't a killer…I wasn't. But his grip was beginning to loosen in mine as the rain blinded my vision. The water wasn't helping me hold on to him. "Come on Maximum, drop me, save the world. I guess you didn't consider this to be a part of it." He wasn't helping. He was dead weight and my blood loss made me weaker.

Then, the weight was gone and I watched through the rain as Mr. Chu fell to his death.

And it was all my fault.

I whispered down to the rocks were the ocean swept against them. "My heart's broke. My mind is too strong to carry on. When I am alone, When I've thrown off the weight of this crazy stone, When I've lost all care for the things I own, that's when I miss you." I hoped that there was a God and heaven. I hoped Jeb, Ari, and Mela could hear. I hoped in the back of my heart that Fang could hear me too. "You who are my home," those words were only meant for him.

That's when I broke.

First came the tears as my hands grabbed the railing. My knuckles turned white. My eyes searched the coast of the jagged rocks below searching for any sign of the event that had ruined my life a year ago.

Then, my mom came and stood by me watching me silently cry, "Max, we're going to wait in the car honey. You come back when you're ready okay?" I nodded my head as she squeezed my hand quickly before walking away.

I listened to them walk to the car, which was parked on the opposite side of a forest, the only way to get to the cliff was to walk through the forest or fly. My wings began shaking when I knew they couldn't hear me anymore. I covered my mouth to hide my screams and let the tears fall down.

"Hurts doesn't it," I turned around to see a man standing a few feet away. He was extremely tall with black, long hair hanging in a ponytail down his back. He had dark eyes glaring at me past thin-framed glasses. He had a stone for a face and was wearing a white lab coat and shirt. His pants and shoes were black. I had seen him before. I had asked Fang about him and Fang went silent and asked me to never mention it again. Wasn't much time after that when he broke up with me.

"Death is so hard to accept isn't it Maximum? I'm sure you agree with me that you belong in one of those caskets instead of the ones who are." I leaned against the railing and wiped away my tears. I glared at him, this strange man. "I'm here to give you some advice."

I rolled my eyes, "I don't take advice from strangers." I was ready to take off right now but his hands were in his pockets. I couldn't be sure if he had a gun or not. Already I didn't like him for ruining my day to say goodbye and remember my friends.

Then, Brigid walked in from the edge of the woods. "Hello Max, are you making amends? It is your fault they are dead." I spat at the ground near her feet.

"You shot the gun Brigid. I hope you like your picture on the government's most wanted list." Brigid frowned and I smiled. I crossed my arms, maybe I would stay a bit longer. I desperately wanted to hit her in the face. She was long overdue for a real fight.

"My name is Abraham Grey. Now we aren't strangers," I turned my attention back to the man. "Maximum, you've caused too much trouble and you greatly misunderstand your importance. You are nothing and I suggest, if you want to live, you stay away from my son." Then, I watched as he turned his back to me. Brigid gave me a quick smile.

"Say hello to Fang for me," she replied, "And next time, if I'm lucky, I'll have permission to kill you." She turned her back on me. I reached down, picked up a small stone, and threw it at her. It smacked her square in the small of her back. Brigid turned around and yelled at me, "One day Max, you'll regret all that you've done." She looked me up and down. She noticed the tears that stained my eyes, "If you don't already." Then she disappeared into the forest with Abraham Grey.

I flew off, not wanting to wait around to see if there were M-Geeks or Erasers coming to kill me. I landed near the car and got in. Angel and Gazzy stared at me. "Are you all right Max?" I smiled at Angel and then Gazzy. I nodded my head before sitting between them. Nudge was in the front with my mom of her van. Behind us, in the truck, Fang drove (even though he technically didn't have his license) with Iggy and Ella.

I turned to look over my shoulder at the truck. Fang was staring right at me. Same cold obsidian eyes, stone face, and no emotions no matter what, I sighed. I was jumping to the wrong conclusions. Fang didn't know who his father was and the man was evil, a scientist, and not worthy of being Fang's family. I decided to push the thought of the relations out of my mind.

Here is what I know now, my family wasn't safe anymore.

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Song is "Orange Sky" by Alexi Murdoch.

Again, just a reminder that this is the sequel to Taking Back the World so a lot of this is involved with that story (which technically isn't completed yet).

I appreciate any reviews or advice!