Maximum Ride: The Demon Experiment

Chapter 4: Feathery Gift

~Cinder’s POV~

The pain, it was all centered at the spot where that strange tattoo appeared. The moment I felt the sharp pain, I gasped and clutched my shirt, trying not to fall out of my chair. I slumped forward and had my head on the table, trying to wait out the pain, only this time, it wasn’t going away. From all the pain, I had forgotten that Fang was still sitting in front of me and I didn’t realize it until I felt his hand on my shoulder, asking what was wrong. There was also one other problem aside from the pain . . . my wings. Because I had them merged into my back, it was hard to keep them there so I needed a lot of concentration. I was slowly losing that concentration.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” asked Fang, more frantic this time. I couldn’t answer. Each time I tried, I’d draw in a sharp gasp. I then looked down at the floor and noticed that a white feather had fallen from the inside of my flannel and that’s when I found the strength in my legs to haul myself out of there and into the small alleyway next to it. I ripped off my flannel and let it fall to the ground. My tank top was high in the front so you couldn’t see the weird mark, but the moment it started glowing, the shirt in that one spot became see-through. The back was lower so the moment I stripped off the flannel, my wings burst out in one single motion (which hurt like hell) and I fell to the ground.

~Fang’s POV~

I’m not sure what just happened. One moment, we’re talking and the next, she’s in pain. Does she hear a Voice like Max? No, she isn’t clutching her head so it must be something else. Even though I hardly knew this person, I was worried and walked over to see if she was alright. When I asked, she could hardly answer. Before I could ask her again, I noticed a small white-ish feather fall onto the ground from her shirt and when she noticed that, she stormed out of the Café. Concerned with what happened; I followed her into the nearby alleyway. I noticed her flannel on the ground so I picked it up and I walked further when I found her lying on her side, out of breath and still clutching her chest. The one thing that caught my attention though was her wings. They were an odd color, nothing normal like ours. Actually, it matched her hair, but they looked like something out of fantasy. And what’s more is that she can control fire . . . which explains her name. She must have been the one that caused The School to burn down.

I looked back down at her broken state and crouched down near her, patting her back, waiting for her ‘episode’ to pass. It’s seemed to take forever, but after a while, her breathing slowed and she seemed to be getting back to her senses.

“You alright?” I asked as she slowly managed to get up on her knees. She was drenched in sweat and she was shaking all over.

“Somewhat . . . I don’t know why that keeps happening,” she said with a shaky voice. She lowered her hands and that’s when I saw it, a small tattoo at the dead center of her chest, glowing a vibrant red, orange, yellow, then white, was a cross with bat like wings on the sides.

“What is that?” I asked again. She looked up at me with a blank expression.

“I don’t even know. I got it recently, but I’m not sure what it is or why I have it, but I am sure of one thing,” she said. I handed her her flannel while I waited for her to finish. “This thing . . . its one major pain in the ass,” she chuckled. I grinned at her statement and got up on my feet with my hand out. She smirked and took my hand and got to her feet. “So, you want to help out a fellow freak?” she asked.

“That’s up for Max to decide, but I say, us freaks have to stick together,” I said, stifling a laugh.

“Well, ‘till then, let’s catch up with the rest of the Talons,” she sighed as she led me back onto the street.