Me: Next chappie peoples!
Shadow: She doesn't own Maximum Ride nor Origin and Whisper by Evanescence. Owns her characters and plot.
Hunter: Thanks to meepisms, Green.Winged.Mistress, disneydork, twilightluvr, BiggestMRfan, nightingale07, maximumtrouble10, Nathaniel773, Kokari, FangWannabe, amysweety, steponme2, Weasleygrlz07, SilverScreech, golden-clawed-angel, maximumride24, maxridefan95, ilovetwilight99, whatever95, bibliocrazed, angel unseen, AuburnAlice, Amethyst-Violet, LOL-ninjas-stole-my-homework, lilswickey101, Jesus-Freak2142, WANNABE-AUTHOR92, bossygrl9678, and hxcb for reviewing for the last chapter.
Chapter 16: Meetings
Max's POV
"Cass, take Angel and fix up her leg. Chris, go with her. Nudge and Ella, you guys can go watch television now," I said. The others reluctantly left. Shadow stood behind me, leaning against the refrigerator. She looked uncaring, but all of her muscles were tense, ready to spring on Jeb if he moved wrong.
"Maximum, I heard about the bomb," he started.
"You say it like I did it, and it was on purpose," I said.
"I'm not accusing you," Jeb said carefully. "I'm just saying that you could've and should've done more to stop it."
"Well, sorry Jeb," I hissed. "Next time, I'll kick Eraser butt, look out for my Flock, find the first bomb and diffuse it, then find a secret second bomb and diffuse that one too. While getting the pie from aisle 8."
"Eraser? Flock?" Jeb looked genuinely confused.
"Fine! The wolf hybrids and-mmph!" Shadow's hand covered my mouth.
"She doesn't have to explain anything to you Jeb, until you tell us who you really are," Shadow growled.
"I've told you everything I can," Jeb said calmly.
"Well, it doesn't cut it," she said, equally calm. "You're here, then you're not. You're in Max's head and the next moment-" Jeb held up his hand.
"I can explain that," he said. Jeb looked directly at me and I removed Shadow's hand from my mouth. "It seems like that when I gave you your punishment, it...short circuited my connection to your mind." My eyes widened.
"Elaborate."
"I can't see what you're doing anymore and I can't speak to you using the Voice," Jeb said.
Silence.
Jeb? Are you joking? He didn't even blink as I said that.
"It's the truth," I said aloud. Shadow relaxed.
"Hmmm...so I guess you can handle things around here?" she said, leaving the room. There was a note of victory in her voice as she walked out. Hm...
"Max," I turned my attention back to Jeb. "Money that I give you doesn't grow on trees, nor do the cars that I generously gave you. And I know how much you love that motorcycle." Oh yeah...my other baby is missing... "I put trackers on both the motorcycle and the van. Here's their locations," he continued, pushing a Palm Pilot in my direction. I looked at the screen, and there was two dots, next to each other blinking.
"The dots are the vehicle's locations. I suggest you get them before they are stolen," Jeb said, standing up and leaving the kitchen. "I'll drop by again. Goodbye Maximum." I heard the door shut and I sank into a chair in the kitchen.
So Jeb couldn't talk to us using the Voice anymore. Was that a good or a bad thing though? Will it be our doom that he can't speak to us, now that he can't lend us tips? Or is it good that now that he can't see what we're doing, therefore not punishing us for something that we did to survive?
A beeping sound snapped me out of my thoughts and looked at the hand held machine on my palm. I should get those...
I went into my room, shut the door, and saw Shadow intent on her laptop. I shook my head and looked into the vanity mirror next to me. I had a large bruise on my cheek, a sorta bloody scrape on my neck and various injuries along my arms. Eh...I can treat those later.
I moved on to the wardrobe and pulled out a blue, long sleeved shirt, and a ripped up pair of jeans. They were better then what I was wearing now, and I wasn't going out to a fashion shoot-so it'll do.
"Max," Shadow said, as I put on my clothes. "I have something very important to tell you." I looked at her. Her eyes were concentrated on the computer screen.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Hunter is an experiment, and I know you probably figured that out by now, but I know what type of experiment he is," she said quietly, her voice a whisper. My mouth went dry.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"Well, way back at Omega's birthday party when...you know..." I winced. "Well, I think he found out, well, I know that he found out what I was when his hands had went up my back and-"
"Wasn't you wearing the skin?" I interrupted. She knows that she's supposed to...
"No, I wasn't," she said, blunt as always. "Afterwards, I had asked him if he was an experiment. Then, he had some sort of brain attack...I'm not sure if it was staged or not." I blinked at her pause.
"Continue," I said.
"So today, after the blast, I had woken up to him giving me water...we went to find you. Then we were talking and then I ask him to tell me. And he says, 'Ninety-eight percent human and two percent bird-I'm just like you," she closed her eyes and I noticed that she was rocking back and forth. Which made me wonder...was this spy stuff too much for her? The stress, that shock treatment, that dream today...was it pushing her over the edge?
Was she finally going crazy?
Silence echoed through the room.
If she did go crazy, what would I do? She was my second in command, and the calm one when chaos arrives.
How can I stop this?
"That's when everything went dark," she finished, opening her eyes. She rubbed her neck and went back on the laptop.
"What happened in your dream?" I asked quietly. Shadow clicked on something and music started, but I couldn't identify what it was.
"You really don't want to know-especially if what Angel said is true," she said.
"Yes Shadow," I said. "I do want to know-"
You hold the answers deep within your own mind.
My words got stuck in my mouth and images from my dream assaulted me. Splatter, blood, death...
"Max?" Shadow said, her voice low.
Death in its most hideous form
"Max, what's wrong?" Shadow said again, standing up. The guitars in the music started.
"N-nothing," I stumbled over my sentence. That was the biggest lie of my life.
"Max, don't lie to me...what's wrong?" she said, her voice low and deadly.
Catch me as I fall
"I need to get the van and the motorcycle now," I whispered and power walked out of there.
Say you're here and it's all over now
"MAX!" Shadow yelled.
Speaking to the atmosphere
No one's here a-
I slammed the door as I left and jumped into the air, spreading my wings and shooting out of there.
Hunter's POV
"I can't believe that they just took off like that," I repeated for what seemed like the thousandth time. It was the truth, I couldn't. Why would they, how could they? We could work together. And if what the little girl-Angel-said is correct, then that means that we were in their past.
"Okay, we get it Hunter. Your girlfriend dumped you. Woopie damn do," Ghost said. I growled at him and he walked out the living room and up to his room. Fang rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat.
"Calm down Hunter, he's just kidding," Lies said, going up also.
"Whatever," I grumbled. I wasn't in the mood to deal with him and his stupid remarks.
"Jeb's here," Iggy said quietly. I heard the door opening and shutting and in walked my wondorus father, looking as tired as always.
"Hunter, there's something I need to tell you," he said, sitting down in the seat across from me. I tensed in my seat and saw Fang do the same.
"I can't speak to you using the Voice," Jeb said, straightforward as always. I blinked, the breath was caught into my throat.
"Why?" Fang asked, his voice calm but questioning.
"In a system malfunction, you had gotten a brain attack, remember?" Jeb said, looking at me. I nodded, wincing at the memory of the pain.
"It caused the whole system to crash. I can't talk to you or see what your doing using the Voice anymore," Jeb continued. I resisted the urge to jump for joy.
"Is that all Jeb?" Fang asked a bit rudely. Couldn't blame him. He didn't like Jeb.
"No, I have the location of the van," Jeb said, handing me a Palm Pilot. "I suggest you get it before someone steals it. Good day to you two." He stood up and left in a flurry. Well, that was quick.
"So um..." I said, amazed at the shortness of his visit.
"I'll get the van," Fang said standing up, taking the device from me, and walking out of the room.
"Okay, be back quickly!" I called after him.
"Sure Dad," he called back.
"Smart ass," I grumbled, glaring after him.
Max's POV
"Should've brought Shadow along," I muttered as I looked at the motorcycle and the van in front of my face. "Now I have to load the motorcycle in the van."
I was on the side of a road. I don't know why the Erasers had chosen this place to dump the vehicles. Oh yeah, maybe because it's deserted and no cars have passed in the time that I've been here. 5 minutes.
I went over to the motorcycle and-crap-saw some scratches on the paint job. Shadow is going to be out for blood now. She had just repainted it because Chris scratched the paint after riding it a few weeks ago. And now...again! Poor thing...the motorcycle, not Shadow.
I heard rustling a few feet away and my heart jumped in my throat. Alright, calm down Max, it could just be a baby squirrel...or a whole squadron of Erasers...but still, what's the difference?
I hid behind the van as the rustling continued. I wish I had brought some sort of weapon...wasn't there always a gun under Shadow's seat? And a baseball bat behind Angel's seat too...
I quickly slipped into the passenger's side of the car. I had already unlocked it, when I had been presented with the problem of the motorcycle. I went on my seat and pulled up the cushion of Shadow's seat. There was a simple handgun there. Good ol' reliable Shadow...
I slipped back out the car and shut the doors soundlessly. I heard nothing now, just the wind whistling through the trees. The birds were silent. And all of that crap that they show in the movies when the main character-which is usually a girl with a pretty face and all that jazz-walks into the forest and is snatched by some old, drunk, murderous guy and then her modern day Prince Charming comes rushing in with his expensive looking car and kills the old guy before he could kill her.
Well, I bet I can take care of any old guy who comes out of the forest. Prince Charming would have to save the guy, not me. Fang doesn't have to be my prince. I can save myself.
I froze in place. Why did I just think of Fang? I-I don't even like him in that way! So what if I had a dream that I say I love him? That doesn't mean anything! It could be a pain induced, exhaustion dream that could've came out of nowhere. I mean, it could've even been Hunter who was-
I shuddered violently at the idea. My body was repulsed at the idea of me and Hunter being together. But why? Wasn't he the same as Fang? A guy? For some reason, a conversation popped in my head:
"Max," Angel said. I looked at her. "Can Maya and Miguel be together? I mean, I remembered Nudge saying they looked cute together and I said that they were brother and sister, and she said, 'Oh...too bad' and walked away. Why can't brothers and sisters be together?" I breathed out and glared at Shadow who snickered.
"Well Ange," I said. "Brothers and sisters can't be together because they're related. They can love each other, but they can't love each other in that way."
"But why?" Angel pressed on. I sighed.
"Well Angel," Shadow spoke up. "According to science and biology and all of that stuff, animals have to mate too and make babies. But you know, since animals can't speak, they-"
"Total can talk," Angel defended. Shadow sighed.
"Total was enhanced by crazy scientists...he doesn't count in-"
"HEY!" Total piped up from the ground.
"-This situation," Shadow continued calmly. Total huffed and sat down. "Anyways, some animals give off certain chemicals, since they can't speak, so they can let the other now if they're related or not. This repels them from one another, so they won't want to make babies. That's why Maya and Miguel aren't together. They're probably not even attracted to one another. It's instinct not to like your brother or sister. Though some brothers and sisters like each other, but that is a conversation for another time."
"But why? And why would they want to make babies? Wait, forget the last question, I want to know this one. How are babies made?" Angel asked. Shadow sent me a 'You're on your own' look and left the room.
I was snapped from my reverie by a loud banging sound, like someone kicked something, and a low sound. I readied the gun and snuck into the forest.
So what was that about? What is my mind trying to tell me this time? So, in some animals, brothers and sisters won't mate. And I'm 2 percent bird. That obviously means that I have more animalistic instincts than the average human. So does that mean that I'm repulsed by the thought of being with Hunter because we're related?
But then that would mean that we were brother and sister. And aren't we the same age? Then that would make us twins.
Impossible. It's not logical. It's not even reasonable. I'm sure I would remember my own twin brother!
But then again, when I first woke up, from whatever the hell made me lose my memory, I didn't even remember my own name.
I noticed a clearing ahead and focused on the task ahead of me, find out what's making these weird noises.
I walked in there, and noticed a glossy, expensive looking van. Now, what would a fancy shmancy like that be doing in this big forest?
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Rule number: Who Knows?, in spying: Never let your natural instincts go ignored.
I whirled around, pointing the gun at the black shirt clad chest. The person looked bewildered and I blinked in surprise.
"Max, put, the gun, down," Fang said, slowly. I glared at him and kept the gun trained on him.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I growled.
"Getting my car." I shot a glance at the van. "Now please Max, can you stop pointing that gun at me." Fang looked at me warily and I slowly lowered the gun from his chest. I saw his muscles relax and he walked over to his car, leaning against it casually.
"What's up?" he asked.
Me: I've actually had the Maya and Miguel conversation with someone. But I forgot most of it, so if any of the science facts are wrong, tell me so I can fix them. And please, don't be rude while telling me. Now review if you want more, my lovelies!