"Hi, Phoenix," the boy said. He looked suspiciously like Dad if Dad was twelve years old.
"W-what a-are y-you doing here?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"I can't take you, that's Angie IV's job," he replied. I stood there, suddenly frozen. I remembered Angie IV's face, scared and desperate. She wouldn't turn me in, would she? I'll have to go back and find out.
"You're not taking anyone," I said recovering from the shock. "We're not that easy to take."
"Angie IV took Max," the boy said as if trying to unnerve me.
I already knew that. "Yes, but that doesn't matter," I quipped, jumping back. I grabbed the handle of the sliding door, and opened it, leaping into the backyard. With that, I flew into the air.
Please, Dad, stay away. Don't let this psychopath take you away, I urgently though. I counted to three before I heard his response.
Phoenix, you're safe. I was so worried about you, he thought.
Where are you? I'll come and find you, I respond. Don't come here. It's not safe. There's a weird guy who looks like a twelve-year-old version of you who claims he's going to take you away.
I'm at Nudge's house. Angel's there, and so is Iggy, he thought. Did you find out where Max was?
I shook my head, even though he wouldn't have seen it. Um, a friend of mine said they took her. I'm not sure where.
Bring your friend," Dad suddenly added.
Are you sure? I asked.
Positive. Where is your friend?
I know where she is. I'll go get her, I decide.
Thank goodness the rain had stopped. My wing muscles already hurt from whatever chemicals were in the rain from earlier.
I took the familiar path to the mountains, glancing behind me every so often to make sure there weren't any weird clones following me. The sun seemed to stay in the sky, thank goodness, and the rain didn't look like it was coming back anytime soon. I soon as I touched down on the ledge outside my cave, Angie IV tackled me in a hug.
"You came back!" Angie IV squealed. I hugged her back.
"Of course I did," I said. "Dad said you can come."
She looked surprised. "Did you tell him who I was?"
I bit my lip. "No. But you're a good guy, so it's fine," I assured.
"He might not see it like that," Angie pointed out, staring at her feet.
"I'll convince him," I said. "Come on, let's go." I pulled her out to the ledge and jumped off, pulling her with me.
"Hey," she squealed, pulling out her fluffy white wings in a hurry. "That wasn't nice."
"Let's hurry," I said. "We don't know when that weird Fang clone will find Dad."
"The one responsible for Fang is named Falcon II," Angie IV said. "He's such an asshole."
"What does that mean?" I asked. I'd only heard Max say it once, and she wasn't exactly in the mood of explaining anything at the time.
"Don't worry about it," Angie replied, flying towards the general direction of town.
"Okay," I said as I guided her to Aunt Nudge's house.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
