The Luminary
"Max!" Suddenly, I was engulfed in small grasps and attacked by many questions.
"Why are you wet and cold?"
"How did you get downstairs and manage to walk through the front door without us noticing? Or did you go out your window? You know you're feet are a weird color right now?"
"Max, are you all right?"
I peered down at Angel's bright blue eyes. I lot of my thoughts had to be blocked from her. I mean- the desperate, trying to grasp onto reality and deal with Fang never being here- part of me blamed Angel for his dying. She could tell he was going to die before me. Why couldn't she have seen when to save him? I shook my head, my eyes close to welling up with tears, as Angel squeezed her arms around me. Nudge and Gazzy followed suit. I didn't hate Angel, I honestly didn't blame her, the really screwed up part of me wanted to though. It would be much easier.
Iggy sat in the background, his arms crossed, and his blind eyes eerily gazing right at me. Just then, my mom stepped in. She had an apron around her waist, her hands covered in flour, and her eyes looking a bit weary. Not that I could blame her, she was helping take care of the flock.
"Max? Sweetie?" The kids backed away and my mom rushed over to me. She wrapped her arms around me, "How are you honey?" See, my mother got it. Most of you probably have mothers who would seriously doubt that you found your soul mate at age fourteen. My mom- she knew, probably way before I did that Fang and I- we were it.
Romeo and Juliet had nothing on Fang and I.
"I'm all right mom," I whispered. Although on the inside I was freaking out. It's not everyday that the voice of your dead best friend/ love of your life is telling you what to do.
Who better than me Max? Maybe it's been me along. Maybe I really am Fang.
No, Fang is dead. I saw it with my own eyes. And besides, if you were Fang, you would care enough to tell me right now that you were alive instead of screwing with me so shut up.
You should know to never believe what you see. Remember Ari?
Stop. Now.
I winced at the sound of the voice. It wasn't like the pain when I first caught the annoyance of the voice. This was heartbreaking.
My mom and I separated. All right, I gave myself a pep talk. The lives of others hung on my shoulders. The world hung on my shoulders. I was a leader. I had no choice but to be strong.
"Okay guys, I know today's Christmas. We're going to relax but tomorrow, we pack and head out. We've been here too long and I don't want any of the enemies attacking my mom and sister." I placed my hands on my hip, typical heroine stance.
Nudge nodded her head. Gazzy smirked, a little bit releaved. Angel too seemed suddenly happier. Why?
Because you're acting like the Max they know and love. Like I love.
Voice? Will you just go away or switch back to unhuman audio?
Bigger picture Max, you do that and you'll understand why.
"So where are we going?" Iggy asked. He too had calmed down. I'm sure he was probably freaking out on the inside. But he was now my right-hand man and he had to be adult-like and make decisions. He could do it, I had complete faith in Iggy. Out of all of us, he was the greatest adaptor.
So where were we going?
Connecticut.
"Connecticut," I replied, slightly regretting for listening to Fang's voice. But a part of me was in complete control of whatever his Voice told me to do.
"Why there?" My mother asked.
Our eyes connected and suddenly, she practically knew what was going on inside my head. Mothers are creepy like that sometimes.
"We've got to see the country, find some experiments maybe, some other facilities, and Connecticut is across the coast. Kind of like a fly trip." Gazzy laughed. Angel smirked. Nudge's eyes lit up. Only Iggy truly saw past the false personality, ironically. But to the rest of the flock…
Max was Back.
And for them, I was glad to pretend.
The Memoria
When Max and I were eleven, shortly before Jeb left, he took us out into the woods outside the E-house. For some reason, I was dreaming about that moment, but it was different, it was stranger, maybe because I was a fourteen year old now looking back at it. I knew more now than I knew back then.
Max walked in front of me and then Jeb in front of Max. I knew she would never admit it, but Max loved Jeb. We all loved him, but Max definitely loved him more than everyone else. He told her how she was special and that she would change the world. I don't think Jeb ever said words like that to me.
Anyways, the woods were large and dark, sort of scary but all I had to do was fly away. How many in the world can say that? Only six of us. There were six kids who could fly and that was it. We were special. The elite. Max was the most special because she was the first, the original, the Alpha.
"Look," suddenly Jeb kneeled down. Max and I soon stood next to him to stare down at bird's nest with two round, cream colored with brown speckled eggs. Max's eyes went wide. We had never seen eggs before- like ones that probably had baby birds in them. "Inside there is life," Jeb whispered, "Go on, pick it up."
Max and I both picked up an egg. Max cradled hers better than mine. She was a natural, I had to be cautious and careful. "Think about it now, you are holding the world in the your hands, Max. You too Fang. A life is in your hands, the entire life of one individual creature. Your duty is to protect them."
Max's eyes narrowed, as if she knew then that Jeb was hinting to Max's greatest purpose, "But, the eggs have a Mom, Jeb. They're already protected." Then, Jeb and Max's eyes connected.
"You're right," Jeb stated. "They are protected by the expected. But could you protect them from the unexpected. What if their mom dies? What if there's an explosion? What if crazy scientist decide to take these eggs and experiment on them? Do you think the mother bird is capable of taking care of them?" Both Max and I shook our heads. "Exactly, that's why we are all here. Because we are the ones to protect the world from what they don't expect to come."
"Oh, but I don't want to take the mom's babies. Do you Fang?" Her brown eyes rested on me and I quickly shook my head. I always agreed with Max. Something about her made me agree very easily with her.
"Then put them back, but know, that some part of their future rests right now in your hands." Max put her egg down carefully and it rested there as if it had never been touched. I went next but as soon as my egg hit the next, I must've put too much force because the egg cracked and clear goop seeped out. "Fang," Max hissed. "What have you done?"
"I-," but I shut my mouth. I didn't trust words to explain my complete horror at what I had done. I had that life in my hand and I had taken it away so easily as if it was nothing….the scientists did that to me and the flock- they took our lives away. Now, it was as if I wasn't any better than them. Max rushed by, as if thinking I had done it on purpose. I went to chase after her but a hand rested on my shoulder.
"Fang," Jeb whispered. He turned me around and looked me straight in the eye. "It's all right, you weren't meant to hold the lives of others in your hand." I narrowed my eyes with confusion. Jeb smirked, "You weren't meant to protect many. You were meant to protect just one." Then, he peered over my shoulder to where Max had run off.
"Max?" I asked.
Jeb smiled again, "That's right. You're supposed to protect Max. I can tell that you'd do anything for her. Is that right?" I eagerly nodded my head. "Max, she's the kind to always protect the world. And Fang, you're the one who's supposed to protect her. Promise me you will."
Jeb didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he stood up and walked away.
It was as if he already knew then that every moment of my being would be dedicated to Max and Max alone.
I'm resting on the beach. My eyes are shut but I am awake. I can hear voices though, all around me, and I'm confused. Maybe it's the wind or maybe it's the Voice again.
"Subject 3 ready for departure?"
"Yes."
There was loud clanging and screaming. A voice- Jeb's rung over the rest of them.
"You don't get it do you! She's not going to fall for it. She's better than you ever anticipate. Why do you always underestimate Max? Why don't you see?"
Then there was silence. But I wasn't alone just yet, the Voice.
Don't you see Fang?
What you see? What you know? It isn't everything that you need to know. Fight Fang…because the world you are in now may not exist for much longer.
I opened my eyes and stared at the vibrant blue sky, clouds drifting by.
Max would want you to fight? Why aren't you fighting?
Maybe the Voice was right. Max always listened to it whenever it came about in her mind and it had never been wrong. I stood up and thought, maybe, just maybe, I saw her. Max, on the edge of the horizon.
I ran to the edge of the water and kept swimming, I saw her there in a blue jacket and torn jeans. Her hair whipping past her shoulders and her determined look. "Max!" I screamed as loud as I could. The water entered my mouth and sputtered. But as close as I swam to her, the farther away she seemed to get. I lifted myself out of the water with my wings and began to fly. But still, I could not reach her. I was sweating, so close to reaching her. But if she was real, I finally concluded while about to pass out, than she would've seen me too and she would come to me.
I gave into my tired soul and fell into the water.
When I woke up, I was back on the island as if I had never left.
The Luminary is
The Leader
The Memoria is
The Memory (in Spanish)
So what did you think?
Confused? Good, I want you to be, at least in Fang's situation.
So what do you think?
Also, a new character will come into play next chapter, but I need twelve reviews before I post it and you can find out who it is.
From,
Flyerac1029