I don't own MR

Iggy

"You haven't done a bad thing, Son." Jeb spoke up once more, rearranging the words to make it sound like he hadn't been repeating that phrase for the past hour. I sighed, knowing he was wrong. I'd done an absolutely horrible thing.

I had taken this thing called trust, and I had completely demolished any chance of anybody feeling that towards me. I had lied to them by not saying anything at all. I had selfishly put my want to see every color in the world above my own friends' safety. I had betrayed them all. "You're not a very comforting person," I mumbled, staring down at the pristine white tiles that covered every section of the floor in every direction. They were so polished they sparkled, and if I looked hard enough I could almost see my reflection against them. The guilty look in my eyes, the defeated expression on my face. The knowledge of what I had done coursing through me.

"Look, James, I know you don't believe me right now, but you did the right thing. If you hadn't I wouldn't have been able to save Max from herself." His words were sincere, and the expression on his face was filled with this strange emotion as he said Max's name. It almost could have been love had that feeling not been completely taken away from me. I wasn't sure I knew what love was anymore, let alone how to know if somebody else was feeling it. After hurting Lupo I had questioned the entire emotion's existence. Maybe it wasn't real. Maybe our minds just threw it out there to try and hide what was really going on. Stress, pain, regret, anguish.

"Max didn't need to be saved," I tried to sneer, but my trembling fists and crackling voice betrayed the vicious tone I wanted to use, just like I betrayed Lupo, just like I betrayed Max.

"Oh but she did, James, she did. If only you knew what was going on," Jeb's voice fell off, and he suddenly stopped talking, as if his words revealed more than enough information. As if he had already said too much.

Taking a deep breath, he headed over towards me. Closer than I would have been comfortable with, but I couldn't fight. If I did they'd take away my sight, and I needed my sight. I was dependant on it. I wanted to see the sunset, and the sunrise, and I wanted to see Lupo's face, and I wanted to see Max's smirk, and I wanted to see that mischievous look in Fang's eye right before he said something stupid, and I wanted to see Ari's angry glare that was always directed towards me. I wanted to see everything, and I had still only seen so little.

"What's going on then? Tell me." I demanded, though my voice was weak as I looked into Jeb's brown eyes. Just like Max's, and yet they didn't hold the secret longing to be normal,to be safe. Instead they held something taunting, almost threatening. A promise of death and destruction.

"I'd love to, really I would, but it's classified information. Although," Jeb's head swiveled around as he looked to specific areas of rooms where small cameras kept eager eyes on us, watching my every twitch, and Jeb's every step, just waiting for one of us to breakdown and become something they could signal alarms for. "I can tell you this." He looked back at me, a forlorn expression on his face.

"July second, 2015."

"Iggy?" Lupo breathed out, being the first one to recover from seeing me. Everyone who was capable of it had a look on their face that registered confusion and astonishment. What was I doing safe and out of a cell? I didn't belong there standing next to Jeb, I belonged with my friends, trapped and bleeding, and covered in dirt. Yet there I was, standing next to Max's father, stuck in clean clothes, the cuts on my body properly dealt with and already healing.

"What did you do to him?" Ari asked quietly, a look of utter distaste on his face as he looked at Jeb, holding Max closer as if she would be ripped out of his arms if he didn't.

"It's not what Idid to him, it's what hedid forme. You have a very obedient young man at your side, you should be lucky to have him." Jeb patted my shoulder as if I had just scored the winning run in a baseball game, but I felt more like the catcher who had dropped the ball on the third strike. Lucky was the complete opposite of how they should all feel. I had turned them in. I had given their location away and caused Max's dwindling life, Fang's broken look, and Ari's defeated gaze. It was all my fault. I had caused this, and yet I was the one being treated well while my friends suffered.

"What is he talking about?" Lupo asked slowly, her golden eyes staring into my own, or trying to anyways. I looked away, unable to meet anyone's curious stare. The last thing I had wanted to do was give them up, but I felt so helpless. No matter what decision I chose I would lose.

"Well James here was kind enough to tell us where you all were staying-" Jeb started, but surprisingly enough Ari was the one to come to my defense.

"You're lying. He may be a jerk but he wouldn't betray Max like that," he snarled, and I felt more tears in my eyes. Even Ari would defend me. Even he believe that I was strong enough to stay loyal to my friends, but he was wrong.

"Why don't you ask him?" Jeb pondered, a knowing grin on his face as he ruffled up my hair. I winced, but didn't shove him away like I wanted to. One wrong move was all it took.

"Iggy, tell him he's lying." Fang spoke up finally, looking towards me with a certain expression. It was somewhat like the expression Lupo gave me when she found out about Nudge and my's relationship. He knew. He knew it was all true. That I was a backstabbing coward. He just wanted to hear me choke before he slit my throat. That accusatory look in his eyes was enough to tell me that. I had lost more trust, ruined more friendships. What would Max say when she found out? If she finds out, my mind threw at me, reminding me of her near-death state.

"I- I can't." I whispered, my voice cracked and I felt myself falling even as I stood straight up, watching the floor. I was dropping into a new kind of world, where my sight didn't matter so much as whether or not I got my next breath, and judging by the look Fang was giving me. I wasn't going to get it.

"Iggy, let me tell you something. Max is dying. Dying. And it's your fault. Do you get that? You killed her and she's not even dead yet!" Fang snarled, and I felt his hands grab my shirt collar, without really seeing him. Funny how I had betrayed my friends for my sight, and yet at that moment I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and only see darkness.

"It's not his fault," Lupo said quietly, resting a hand on Fang's shoulder right before he slammed me into the ground.

"Well I'll leave you to sort this out," Jeb snickered and stepped back, watching as the door closed. That was their chance to escape, but they didn't take it. Because of me.

"The hell it isn't." Fang sneered, and I felt my back slam into cold stone. The wall right behind me ripped at the skin on my back through my shirt, and I felt a vague amount of pain, but nothing measured up to the agony inside of me. I still couldn't believe what I had done to them. Fang had every right to be angry with me, to want to hurt me. If Lupo was in Max's place I'd want to hurt somebody too.

"Fang, stop." Lupo ordered, her voice firm and angry. That was not a tone to disobey, but Fang didn't seem to be a very good listener. His fist connected with my face right before he was yanked away from me. "I said stop."

"Get the hell off of me. Let me go you little-"

"Fang," Ari snapped warningly, and he sighed in frustration, yanking away from Lupo's grip without lunging at me.

"Why don't we let him explain what happened? I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this." Nudge spoke up for the first time since I arrived. I wished I could agree.

"There's no 'reasonable explanation' Nudge. He's a backstabbing, coward and he deserves whatever I throw at him," Fang growled out and I sucked in a deep breath.

"That's not true. You have to give him a chance!" She countered.

"Look, I'm on edge right now and it's taking every bit of self restraint not to rip someone's head off so Nudge, please stop arguing with me." If looks could kill, Fang's warning glare to Nudge would have sent her six feet under.

After he was sure she wasn't going to open her mouth again, he looked over at me, the glare fading into a scowl. "Alright, you have five minutes before I break your neck. Convince me not to,"

I looked around at everybody, noticing Ari was sitting down with Max in his lap, holding her tight. He seemed to be too worried about her to really join in on Fang's need to murder me, but I was sure once the worry faded away because Max either was healed or dead he would come after me, and I wasn't sure who to be more afraid of. An angry boyfriend or an angry brother.

"It started before you guys came to me," I began, not really sure where to start, so I just went with the first occurrence I could remember. "It had been awhile since they had given me my sight back, and I- well one day I was just making breakfast when... it shut off."

"What shut off?" Ari asked, his tone full of the hatred he had yet to convey.

"My sight." I answered quietly, and everyone stayed silent. Not even Nudge had any pitiful words to give me, and she always did. "One moment I was watching a pancake flip in the air, and the next it was black. I started freaking out, trying to blink my vision back. I was stumbling all over the kitchen. I couldn't see anything but black. I couldn't find anything. I was feeling for a phone, or something, when somebody grabbed me." I took a deep breath, feeling my lip tremble as I tried to continue. This was the hardest part, the part where I vowed to sell out my friends when the time came.

"It was Jeb, and he made the deal with me. He told me I could have my sight, as long as I did whatever he said-"

"You sold us out so you could see!?" Ari wailed, and he stood up, leaving Max to lay on the ground as he stormed over towards me, a raging ball of furious electricity that was soon to burn me to a crisp.

"I was desperate! Ari, you don't get it! You've never had something like that taken away from you!" I exclaimed, backing away from him. Though I might have deserved whatever he was about to do, that didn't make me any less terrified of the look in his eye.

"I'd rather be blind than watch my sister die in front of me!" He snarled, his fist flying out. I winced and squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see with the vision I had been so hungry for that I had sold out my friends.

However, when I didn't feel the pain of a fist slamming into my face, I got curious, and blinked my eyes open to see Fang had caught Ari's fist. "First of all, he still has three minutes left. Second of all, I'm the one who's going to kill him so you just keep Max breathing, okay?" Fang let go of Ari's fist and he growled before begrudgingly mumbling something about getting to tear my arm off and stalking over to Max again and sitting next to her, trying to make sure she was okay.

"Wow Prince, you seem to be trying to swindle your way into top dog around here," Lupo observed, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest. It was a small joke to try and lighten the mood, but it didn't seem to be working on Fang.

"And I'm doing a pretty damn good job of it too, huh?" He snarled, any and all amusement dropped out of his tone. Then, as if just remembering something, he turned towards me. "Two minutes,"

"At first it was your chip giving the locations away; not me. But when you got the new DNA in you it short circuited it or something and I became the one they looked to for answers. I didn't want to, Fang. You guys are my family, but…" My voice trailed off into silence as Fang finished the sentence for me.

"But you're sight is more important than your family." I didn't respond to his harsh words. I didn't want to. I didn't want to agree and sound like a jerk, or disagree and sound like a liar. MInutes ticked by, maybe days, before somebody finally broke the silence.

"Well that doesn't matter right now. What matters is getting us out of here." Lupo stated firmly, and I watched as Fang and Ari sputtered to respond.

"Doesn't matter? If Max dies her blood will be on his hands!" Fang finally exclaimed, and I flinched just at the idea of it. If Max died I will have been a murderer. Just the thought left me nauseous.

"Well she's definitely going to die if we don't get out of here." Lupo reasoned in a demanding tone, and I could tell by the look on Fang's face that he wanted to argue, but he couldn't.

"Oh you can get out of here. He wants you to leave." I spoke quietly, and everyone turned their heads towards me.

"What do you mean?" I hesitated. If I told them and there were cameras they could take my sight away, but if I didn't Max would bleed to death, and the rest of them would be worked to death.

"He expects you to make certain moves because you're predictable. If you make them then you'll essentially be throwing yourself into a maze."

"We can't trust you anymore, Iggy. So you might as well shut up," Ari sneered, and looked to lupo. "You got the door?" She nodded, but made no move forward.

"What does he expect us to do?" She asked, looking over to me like I was a valid piece of information. Unlike everyone else; even Nudge, who all glared at me.

"I don't know Lupo, I'm not sure if we should trust him. I mean-"

"Shut up, Nudge." Lupo growled, cutting her off. I watched Fang blink in shock when she said 'Nudge', as if the name was a foreign word on Lupo's tongue. I didn't blame him. She normally didn't refer to Nudge by her actual name after the incident.

"Nudge is right," Fang shrugged nonchalantly, but he was obviously trying to get a point across, as was everyone. I was not to be trusted.

"Just don't turn any corners."

"What if we can't go straight?" Ari questioned, obviously not convinced. I didn't blame him. It didn't sound convincing, but it was all I could give them. I myself didn't know much other than any turns were going to result in someone's death. I wasn't sure which ones exactly though, so it was safer to just run in a straight line than risk it.

"Just don't turn any corners," I repeated myself, unsure of how to answer the question. I guessed that was something to find out when the time came.

"Great advice Igs, now Lupo, stop stalling and break it down," Fang ordered, waving his hand in a gesture towards the door. She glanced at him as if him telling her what to do yet again utterly angered and bewildered her before reluctantly doing as he said.

It took ten minutes and many frustrated words that were colorful enough to build a whole rainbow before the door finally trembled to a frightened defeat, falling to the ground in a heap of bent, broken, and dented metal. Lupo took a deep breath in relief that her fight with a door was over, and that we could finally leave.

"For someone who practically wanted us to escape, he sure doesn't make it seem like he wants us to,"

"Well if it was too easy we'd all be suspicious," Nudge pointed out before snapping her mouth shut at the look Ari gave her. I'd never seen her silence herself so quickly, not even with a look from Lupo; and that was saying a lot.

"She's right," Fang muttered, more to himself than anyone else. I could tell he was thinking. Trying to make sense of everything and come up with a quick plan with minor flaws that could easily be polished along the way. Right now his anger must have been fueling him rather than shutting him down, because he was the first out the door. He quickly looked around before turning back to us.

"Alright, we'll go straight until we can't I guess, but I swear to God if something happens I'm using you as a human shield," Fang snarled, turning to me with such menace I had to take a step away from him.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Ari sneered as he stood up, Max safely in his arms and limp as a noodle. That was more terrifying than it should have been, knowing Max, but I figured she wasn't dead since I was still alive. Which was a good thing. For her and me both.

"Well unless you got any better ones that's what we're going to do." Fang raised an eyebrow in question, silently asking everybody to throw out their own opinions on the subject. When nobody did, he started jogging off down the hallway.

Nobody followed at first. Everybody was too busy looking at each other, trying to decide if it was the right thing to do or not. After all, I had been lying to them for a long time, and now they had to trust me? It didn't seem right or fair, and yet they had to if they wanted to make it out alive.

Groaning, Lupo sprinted off. "Fang! Slow down!" She snapped after him, attempting something like a quiet tone that just echoed off the walls, magnifying her voice all the more. Next Nudge left, swiftly and quietly diving out the door and after Fang and Lupo, who were already shrinking smaller and smaller into dots of color in the white hallways.

"Well, are you just going to stay here?" Ari asked me, walking towards the door casually as he readjusted Max a bit.

"Yeah. No. Maybe. I don't know." I mumbled, at a loss for words. "Why do you care anyways?"

"I don't, but I suggest you come with us." Ari replied, his anger dimmed down to a simmer as he looked at me, hatred in his eyes. A calm hatred that left me feeling oddly safe from his wrath if only for the moment.

"And why is that?"

"Because Lupo needs you, and Max wouldn't want you to stay here. Even the most inhumane people don't deserve this place," Ari convinced me with ease, and soon we were both racing to catch up with Fang, Lupo, and Nudge. Maybe it wasn't that I wanted to stay in the first place; maybe that was why it was so easy for me to follow after him. Maybe I just wanted someone to let me know that I was still part of the group, and oddly enough, it was Ari of all people who did.

"Hey Ari?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For not shanking you? No problem. I don't have a knife on me right now anyways and I don't feel like getting my hands dirty," he answered, and I almost laughed. We both knew what I meant, but we both chose to let it go. Which was better to do at the moment, considering we had bigger problems on our hands. Up ahead was a dead end, leading to the left or the right, and the only people in my peripheral vision were Lupo and Nudge.

"Where's Fang?" I called, forgetting about stealth. Who cared about stealth when one of your friends was missing from the group?

"He turned the corner."

10 reviews for next chapter please XD You guys should know I really appreciate your opinions which is why I'm asking for reviews. I like hearing how people love or hate the chapter. Even if it's completely flaming the story it's something to think about to make me a better writer.

Hmmm, what could possibly be around the corner? I wonder...

Soar on

VR