The Seraphim Project

Chapter Five

I woke to sunlight in my face. For a moment, just one moment, I wondered why I was outside in the woods.

Then it all came rushing back.

I sat up and scrubbed dry tears from my face. It hadn’t been a dream. Demons had found our home, and then last night, a whole army of experiments of all kinds had found us.

Hawk…

He was gone. They’d taken him. I would never see him again. All I could think of was the first time we’d been in the Labs. He’d told me that the only reason he could bear to live there was because I was there to talk to. We’d shared everything for as long as either of us could remember.

Then we’d escaped and been put in a house with the rest of the misfits. Things were tense for a while, but I still had my best friend beside me, and I was happy. We worked things out. The misfits became a family. But Hawk was still my best friend, the only person I really talked to, and I was just about the only person he talked to at all.

I wanted to curl up and cry again, but I knew that I’d done enough of that the day before. I needed to get back to the misfits and figure out what we were going to do next. I had to make sure I didn’t lose any of them. If I lost someone else, I didn’t think I’d be able to keep myself together.

Flying almost as fast as I could, it took me two hours to get back to the rest of the misfits. I knew I’d been in the air for a long time, but I hadn’t realized just how far I’d gotten.

When I landed, the misfits, who were huddled together on the ground, turned towards me. Beast’s eyes were red, as were Sunny’s. When they saw me, the entire group gathered around me, hugging and speaking all at once so that I couldn’t understand any of them.

Finally, I pushed them all away. “One at a time! I can’t understand you when you talk over each other.”

“We thought you were gone, too,” said Beast, sniffling. She threw her arms around me again, and I awkwardly patted her on the back. All I wanted to do was run away again and bawl my eyes out, but I had to be strong.

“I’m right here. I just…” I sighed. “I needed a little while to deal and work off some steam. I’m back now.”

“So what do we do now? Keep running?” Russ scowled at the thought, shaking his head.

“Yes. But now we’re running towards something. We’re going to find the Labs and get Hawk back,” I told him.

“No,” Falcon said, shaking his head.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What was that?”

“No,” he repeated. “N-O. It means we’re not going after him. It’s too dangerous. We’ll only get ourselves in more trouble. We should just keep going as far away from that place as we can get and then find another place to settle down—”

“And do what? Wait around for them to find us again and take someone else from us? We’re a family, Falcon. We can’t just leave him there.”

“You don’t even know that he’s still alive! Plus, we don’t even know where the Labs are, and even if we did, what if they moved? We’ll never find the place, even if he was still there.”

“Don’t you dare.” My voice took on that unique quality, and the rest of the misfits shrunk away. Falcon stood his ground, and I poked a finger at his chest. “You don’t make those decisions. And I do know where the Labs are.” As I said it, I realized that it was true. I could just tell which way I needed to go to take me back to Hawk. Even that very moment, it felt as if he were tugging at me, trying to pull me towards him.

“How? You just know, right?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “My gut’s always been right before. Like with those berries you found that time that you brought home? The poisonous ones? I had no way of knowing that, but it was true. Or every single time I’ve managed to keep us from running into airplanes? I know things, Falcon, and I know this. Hawk is still alive, and I can find him.”

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. It’s still dangerous, Kite. What if someone else gets hurt or caught or even killed while we’re trying to save him. Is it worth that?”

I seethed, but I knew he was right. “Fine,” I finally allowed. He grinned like he’d won, but I wasn’t done yet. “I’m going after Hawk. Anyone that wants to come with me is welcome to. It will be dangerous, and I can’t guarantee your safety. I won’t hold it against you if you decide that you’d rather stay with Falcon.”

There was a moment of silence. “That’s not what I meant,” Falcon finally said. “Splitting up the misfits? You can’t do that.”

I glared at him. “Oh, really? So abandoning Hawk isn’t splitting up the misfits? Make you’re decision, guys. I’m leaving in five minutes.”

With that, I turned and walked away. On the ground near the last place I’d seen Hawk was his go-bag. He must’ve dropped it in the fight. Holding back tears, I picked it up, flew up into the trees and perched on the very same branch where Hawk had slept the night before. My heart ached with his loss. I had to find him. I couldn’t take this life without my best friend by my side.

A couple minutes later, the rest of the misfits gathered at the base of the tree, waiting. When I joined them on the ground, Russ said, “We’re all coming with you. We’re all going to get our family back.”

Without another word, I took off, and led us in the same direction as I’d been going the night before. I’m coming, Hawk. I’m coming for you.