Chapter two: The Beginning
KERRI'S POV
It has been two years since I came to live with Max and the rest. Two long years. The Eraser attacks have gone down so much that we haven't had one in six months. The first few months were tough, I let Max do her thing, but I don't like being told what to do much, well at all. So I sometimes ignored her, she didn't like that much. Fang fell right into the whole protective older brother thing and almost never gave me any space.
But now, all was calm. At lest until I get home that is. Right now I am flying home from the dance studio that I attend. Today I got an offer to dance in the annual talent showcase. I was only given one condition; I had to dance an Irish Celtic dance, no ballet, no jazz, no hip-hop, nothing but Irish Celtic dancing. Not that I care, that happens to be my best dance. Though I am worried that Fang will go ballistic, but I really don't care.
"I'm home!" I shouted while I landed on the front porch of our mountain home. I heard squeals coming from inside the house. Here they come. I braced myself just in time for Total and Sammie to come out and pounce on me. "Total! Stay down! Sammie! Stop licking my ankles! Sammie! Stop!" I shouted at the dogs. "Fang! Call off your dog!! Ahhh!" I screamed falling off the porch.
I landed on my back on the ground in the dirt. "FANG! I AM SO DROPPING YOUR DOG FROM ONE HUNDERD FEET IN THE AIR!!" I shrieked. He came out laughing. "Oh, your dead." I chased him around the yard and shouted, "Come back here and face me like a man you big baby!" after about ten minutes of non-stop running I ran up on the porch and said, "Fine be that way. I'll tell everyone else my good news. Bub-bye."
I turned and skipped into the house and strait to the kitchen. I grabbed a glass of water and sat down. About five or six minutes later I heard a shriek from up stairs. My plan worked. I was singing, 'I got a place in the showcase!' in my head the whole time.
"Kerri! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! That's wonderful!" Angel shouted excitedly as she ran into the room. "Guys get in here, Kerri has an announcement! Hurry up!"
After Gassy stumbled in everyone was standing in front of me.
"I just got an amazing offer from the dance studio today. I got offered a slot in the annual showcase!" I was jumping up and down in the middle of the room by the end.
"No." Fang said calmly from Max's side. "No, people will see your wings. No."
"They will not and I'll prove it." I said running up to my room. When I got there I threw open my closet and grabbed my flesh coloured shirt that would cover my wings in the back and I grabbed my red dress that I wanted to perform in. I put them both on and went back down stairs.
"See. You can't see my wings." I said when I got in front of Fang.
"No, but you can see way too much cleavage." He said turning away from me.
"Boo-hoo. This in my good one, my other one has a plunge neckline. Or in other words it goes down to my belly button. So be glad I chose this one. The other one would work better with the song. You're unbelievable! Stop shaking your head at me, you may be my older brother, but you're not a parent. I can do what I please, I wasn't looking for your permission, I was looking for your support. But I guess I don't qualify for that now do I? Don't talk to me. There will be a ticket for you but don't come if it would damage your schedule. Nudge can you help me decide what to do with my hair for the show? I'll be in my room." I said and turned and walked a way from a stunned Fang.
I got to my room and blasted my favourite band from my stereo. I changed back into my practise clothes and began to work out a routine. I was half way done when there was a knock at my door. I groaned and paused my music.
"Yes?" I asked.
"It's me. To help with your hair." Nudge said from the other side of the door.
"Come in. So I was thinking like curly with half pinned back and the rest just hanging down. And maybe like little red clips." I explained my idea.
"That would work, but how about we use sparkly red clips to hold up your hair instead and then we could get a can of that sparkle hairspray and put some of that in your hair?" She asked fiddling with my hair.
"I like that idea. Let's go with that. And I'll wear black tights and my dull black shoes. I'm going to get Todd, you know Todd, my old instructor, to go over my routine before I finalize it. What do you think?" I asked nervously.
"You'll do great, but you should talk to Fang, he's really upset." She told me.
"'Kay, I'll talk to him later. I want to get a little more of my routine worked out." I answered as she got to the door. As if on cue Fang walked in. "Do you know how to knock?"
"Sure. Look, about what happened down stairs, I just-"Fang started, but I interrupted.
"I get, there is nothing to explain, you care more about people seeing our wings, then what makes me, your little sister, happy. Okay, you don't need to explain, I already get it. Just-just go, please just go."
"Kerri," He started again.
"GO!" I hollered at him. "I don't want to talk to you. Shove the I-care-about-my-little-sister act up where the sun don't shine!"
"Don't talk to me like that!" He hollered back.
"Or what? You'll kick me out? Go a head and try. The others won't stand for it. Now, leave my room." I said in a deadly calm tone, though on the inside my brain was screaming. I heard him leave and I just sat on my bed and cried. If it wasn't true, he would have been faster to contradict me. He doesn't care.
I cried myself to sleep that night. No one came to see if I was alright. That made me feel worse, if they cared, they would be here with me, would they not? I should just go. They obviously don't care. I woke up the next morning and immediately started packing only what I needed. I was half way done when my door burst open.
I sprang around ready to fight. I sighed in relief when I saw it was only Iggy. "What?" I asked.
"What are you doing?" He asked back.
"I'm leaving."
"To where? Timbuktu?"
"I don't know where all I know is that it's going to be far away from here."
"No, no your not. Unpack your bags, now. Fang is just protective over the flock, more so you, you're his little sister. He doesn't like it when guys ogle you. Frankly I agree with him, it's not nice." Iggy said.
"You do realize that you are one of the guys that he doesn't like looking at me, right? He gets mad if Micah does a double take if I dress up. I'm not a little girl anymore, it is going to happen, he has to get used to it. I have to get used to it, I mean, a few days ago I was walking past that bar on Main Street, and this group of guys were wolf-whistling at me. I turned around and got Todd to walk me home." I spun around to see him starring at me. "Keep your eyes in your head, your just as bad as the bar guys. Jeez, I'm being ogled by my best friend, how wrong is that?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry. It's just you really look good," Iggy said, then added, "I mean as a friend."
"Most friends can look at friends without drooling." I said motioning to his lower lip. I grinned as he wiped his lip to find nothing there. His eyes narrowed and he crouched ready to spring at me. "Shit." I squeaked. The next thing I knew Iggy was on top of me tickling me. "S-stop! Pl-please s-st-stop!" I shouted.
"You're not getting off that easy." He said pinning me down to prevent me from squirming away. He put both wrists above my head and continued to tickle me. I was laughing so hard that I could hardly breathe, let alone see Fang come in.
"What the hell do you think your doing?" He shouted at Iggy.
"Having a tickle fight. Get Max, we can have a big one!" Iggy replied calmly, but Fang was far from calm, even through the tears I could see his jaw muscles twitching and his hands balling into fists.
"Iggy, I think you might want to move, like now." I said to him, all of my excitement gone.
"But why? I was just ha-Ahhhh!" Iggy screamed as Fang flung him across the room.
"Fang! What the hell was that!?" I shouted at him as I got up and into his face.
"Yeah, 'cause I'm so going to let some guy sit on my little sister."
"Fang! We, Iggy and I, are friends, okay get a hold of yourself. Not every guy thinks about that kind of thing! And I wouldn't even let it happen, not if I didn't want it to. I believe that you went through the same sort of thing with Ms Martinez. I was just having fun, god, am I not aloud to wrestle with my best friend? And don't say 'only if that friend is a girl' 'cause you know as well as I do that if I was asked who my best friend was, I would say Iggy without thinking." I was really getting annoyed at my big bro' now.
"Even friends shouldn't be sitting on one and other." Fang said.
"We were having a tickle fight because I was picking on Iggy. Is it not you that lies on all of us on the couch when we watch a movie, oh, oh and with your head in Max's lap?" I snapped at him.
"That is different, Max and I are together. Not just friends. You're only seventeen, Kerri; I just don't want anything bad to happen to you."
"Don't use my age on me, you are only eighteen. That is a year's difference. And Iggy wouldn't do that, not to me. I know him better then to even think that might have the slightest chance of happening. Fang, I'm not a little girl. I can take care of myself. It was great when I was younger and smaller, but I don't need someone to fight my battles for me. I can do it, give me some trust, some faith." I practically was begging by the end.
"It's not you I don't trust, it's the guys."
"Iggy is my best friend! You practically raised him just like he raised me. If you can't trust him, then you have major trust issues."
"Fang I was just having some fun. I wouldn't even dream of doing anything to Kerri, and she is right, I did raise her. I would be more likely to kill a guy that did so much as look at her wrong then to do something to her. Fang, we were just having some fun. God! How can you think that I would do anything to her? I would never, could never do that." Iggy said shaking his head. He opened his mouth to say something more but he just closed his mouth and left the room.
"Thanks Fang, thanks." I said and left too.
The day went by slowly. I ignored Fang when he was in the same room and if I walked into a room where he was already, I would turn and walk in the other direction. I spent the morning in my room practicing my dance routine. But by noon it was done.
I walked into the den and Fang was talking to Max in hushed voices. They stopped as soon as they realized I was there. I growled and grabbed a book off the coffee table and left the room. When I got to the kitchen I sighed. "Now where do I go?" I asked the empty room.
I jumped when I heard Damien's voice answer my question. "Iggy is outside." He said.
"Thanks Damien." I said grabbing my book and an apple and leaving the house. As soon as I left the porch I saw Iggy sprawled out on a blanket reading.
"Can I join you?" I asked sitting down before he could answer. "So, look I'm so, so sorry about Fang. He just needs to realize that I can take care of myself and I don't need him to fight my battles."
"I know that. He overreacts. A lot. I mean we were just wrestling, it's not like I was taking advantage of you. Heck, I don't think that anyone could, you're a fighter, and a good one at that." He said. "I would never do anything to you, you know that, right?"
"Yeah I know that. I didn't just defend you on lies. It was all based on fact. Every last word." I replied.
"Thanks. Can I get back to my book now? It's at the climax." Iggy asked. I sighed and laid down with my head rested on Iggy's stomach.
"Go a head. I wanna read too." I answered already opening my book. This was nice, lying in the sun reading my book, with my best friend beside me. Why can't these nice moments last? Because, Fang is my older brother.
"Fang, go away, we're just reading." I said without looking up from my book.
"Kerri, Max wants to talk to you." He replied.
"Why because you know that I won't talk to you?" I snapped at him. "Whatever." I got up and went to the house, "I'll be right back." I told Iggy and disappeared into the house.
MAX'S POV
Fang came back down after another screaming match with Kerri very angry. I sighed and asked, "What happened this time?"
"I went in to apologize to her and I see Iggy sitting in her legs and pinning her wrists above her head saying 'your not getting away that easy' so I pulled him off her. She freaked and said that they were wrestling." Fang said throwing himself onto the couch. "That wasn't wrestling."
"How can you be so sure?" I asked.
"She had tears in her eyes and he was smiling like he won a million dollar prize."
"Was he tickling her? That would make tears if he had been doing it for a little while. As for his smile, he is always smiling like that when she's around." I countered him. "What did you think would happen? Iggy wouldn't do that, not to her or anyone else. It's just not who he is."
"I don't know. I just- it's just- I- oh I don't know, she is my little sister, I don't want anything to happen to her." Fang whispered.
"I know tha-," I stopped as Kerri came in the room. I think she growled at Fang but I'm not sure. She ripped the book off the coffee table and left the room. I starred after her for a moment then looked back at Fang. "Maybe I could talk to her later? I don't think that she'll listen to you. But for now let her cool off, and hang out with her friend." I added hastily as Fang made to get up. "Let's watch some TV."
Fang and I watched some half an hour show and I said, "You can get Kerri now."
He got up and walked to the door, he must have spotted Kerri and Ig 'cause he let a low but quite audible growl lose. "Fang." I warned. I think I heard him mutter a 'sorry' before he left the house. I sat for a few minutes before a very angry Kerri stomped in.
"What?" She snapped.
KERRI'S POV
"What?" I snapped at Max, who was sitting on the couch.
"I want to know, what, uh is going on between you and Iggy. I personally think its fine but Fang is a little bit of a, um," She started but couldn't fine the right word.
"An overprotective jerk?" I offered.
"He can be, mostly with us, I've noticed. He just cares. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, I know he cares, but I don't need him there to fight for me, how can I grow and become stronger and more independent if he is always there fighting my battles? I need my space to find out about myself and what I need in life but he won't give me that space. I will never be able to stand on my own two feet if he carries me. I need to stumble, and fall on my face to learn to live, to survive on my own. 'Cause one day he won't be there, and if he babies me, I won't survive and all that bad stuff that he doesn't want to happen, will. So, I have a plan. I'm going to go for a while and then when I'm ready, I'll come back." I finished.
"Alright, if you need to, then go, but don't go alone. Take Iggy, I don't care if Fang doesn't like it this is for you not him. But come back. I will go get Iggy." She said to me. I starred at her in shock that she was going along with this.
"Thank you. I will come back, I don't know when, but I will. I'll call you once a week when I'm gone, I promise." I said running up stairs to repack my bag.
"Bye Angel, make sure Damien doesn't do anything stupid. Damien, don't do anything stupid. Micah, be good, don't be mad at Fang he's not the reason I'm leaving. Gassy, no bombs. You'll blow up the house. Nudge, Willow keep the rest of them in line, lord knows Max deserves a break. Max, thank you again, you rock. Fang, don't be to mean to them, I know you're mad at me, it's pretty obvious seeing as your scowling at the wall while I'm talking to you. Be the nice Fang that I know is somewhere deep inside of you. Total, Sammie, stay out of my room. I mean it I don't want to come back and have to wash my covers 'cause their covered in dog slobber." I said to everyone. They all laughed at my last comment to the dogs. Well, Total scowled and Fang acted as if I wasn't talking.
After Iggy said similar good-byes we did a running take off and swooped into the sky. It was wonderful to stretch my wings out and fly so I did big arches and loops.
"So, where to first?" Iggy asked me.
"I was thinking somewhere warm, like Arizona or Southern California." I said then thought of what was in California and said, "Maybe not California. Just south, uh, which way is south, I was never good at the whole internal direction thing."
"Ha! I remember that. It's this way." He said swooping away. I followed suit and flew up along side him.
"So, any sights you want to see?" I asked casually.
"Not really, how 'bout you?" he asked.
"Anything, really, I want to see lots of things, the Grande Canyon, and other random stuff." I replied.
"Okay, then we should go to Arizona, that's where the Grande Canyon is. So, this way." He shouted and swooped away. He had caught me off guard so I had to fly a little bit faster to catch up.
"Was that necessary?" I asked him.
"Completely." He answered.
I glared at him and flew silently. After about two hours on non-stop flying, he asked a question I wished he wouldn't, "Why now? Why did you want to go now, and not before? Why me?"
"If I were to leave a year and a half ago when I first got the idea, would the others have stayed there with Max? Would you or Fang have let me go? Would I have been able to go without a fight with everyone, ending in me not being able to come back? I wanted to be sure that I would be able to go back but not have everyone with me, that would defeat the purpose of my leaving to find myself, I can't find myself, what I need, or how to stand on my own if Fang is there protecting me from everything. That's why I left, to find out about myself. As for your being with me, that was Max's idea, she told me I could go so long as I didn't go alone, so she suggested I take you, 'cause you know, your older, stronger, and experienced in the out doors. It also helps that you're my best friend and she knows that you would never let anyone hurt me. Like Fang, but on a smaller scale." I explained.
"Oh, 'kay."
"You know I could have refused your coming but I wanted you to come but I knew if I had suggested it Fang would have flipped at me and like, I don't know, locked me in a closet." I said bonking him on the head with my wing.
"I know. Did you know you ramble?" He asked.
"Yup!" I said popping the 'P'.
The rest of the day was filled with nonsense talking about nothingness. We flew until noon-ish then stopped for lunch, which thanks to money Max, was McDonalds. Max was so cool about this. She even gave us some money so we didn't have to sleep out side, but in hotels and pay for food for a few months. She said that she would put more money in mine or Iggy's account if we needed it.
"So, how far 'til Arizona?" I asked Iggy as I bit into my second burger.
"Probably about another day and a half. So we could continue until night fall then get a room at a hotel, then in the morning we can finish the trip." He answered.
"Alright. Let's finish and go." I said. Finishing my fries and packing up my garbage. Iggy took a few more minutes to finish but when he did we throw out our trash and flew quickly away from the restaurant.
"You take the bed," I said, 'I'll take the couch."
"No, you take the bed. Go to sleep, we have a long day of flying tomorrow, you'll need your rest." He replied.
"What do you take me for? A pansy?"
"No, but you get your best nights sleep on a bed not a couch. I have slept in cages, caves, concrete floors, wood floors, and couches. You have slept in cages and on beds; you'll get a better sleep on the bed." He explained, then added, "Good night buttercup."
"I am not a flower. I'm not the freaking skunk from Bambi!" I growled, "Don't call me any kind of flower, or there will be hell to pay."
"Got it, Care Bear." He laughed.
"Iggy!" I shrieked as I pounced on him punching every part of him I could. "No stupid nick-names!"
"Okay, okay, no stupid nick-names."
"You- total- arse!" I punctuated ever word with a punch.
I pulled myself off of Iggy and sat on the bed. "One nick-name and I will make you fall from the sky." I said in my deadly calm Fang voice.
"Got it, no nick-names." He said in a too innocent voice that I didn't trust worth crap. I sighed heavily and threw myself into the bed and passed out.
A/N: Okay…second chappie is up…I wont update until I get some reviews…so press the pretty lil' button… you know you waannaa.
Angeltastic!