Running • Iggy

Control

Angel was busy tucking her wings into her vest top when we heard Max yelp from the bathroom, saying "THAT'S HOT." in a distressed tone. We all burst out into laughter, well, Fang just smiled slightly and looked down. His black eyes drifted to the bottom right, I knew he was thinking about something, but who knows what exactly he was thinking about. Fang was a strange guy, he always had been, even when he was younger, when the School had imported him in from another place and he had eaten a stone on his first day. Another thing I could remember clearly, the way his wide, dark eyes flickered around Recess warily, his short unruly black hair curled around his neck in thick, dried blood covered clumps. He wore different rags than us, a pale yellow with blue rims instead of a greying light blue with a small pocket on the front right of the chest.

We waited 30 minutes for Max to finish her shower. I was brushing my hair without a guide, since the last time I had properly looked in a mirror I had smashed it due to the hatred of my reflection. I smashed, tore apart, broke or ruined a lot of reflective objects in my life, actually. If I counted, it was 362. It included sheets of metal, glass, mirrors, screens and even some spoons. Yet my flock had only seen me do it 3 times, which I managed to play off as silly accidents. I didn't exactly want to break the hotel's mirror either, I wasn't willing to pay extra. Iggy sat down next to me on the old, creaking bed, a flash of the strange dream.. memory? flashing in my mind. Although it was clear, it was hard to tell if I was asleep or awake at the time. Everything was too sharp in my mind to tell the difference between dreams, reality and hallucinations.

"Do I look alright?" He asked me, his slightly wavy strawberry blonde hair reached down to the bottom of his neck. It suit him well, and so did the simple yet handsome outfit he wore. I found myself smiling the way I usually do around my best friend and partner in crime. "You always do, Igs." I patted his leg gently, making sure not to startle him. "But you do look a lot cleaner." I complimented, setting the hairbrush I had been using on my lap. He smiled back at me, though I doubt he could tell I was smiling. "Thank you, Cee." He responded happily. Max walked out of the bathroom, looking fresh and ready to take on the world as always. "Ready to collect more supplies and go find Nudge?" She asked us. We all chorused our little 'yeahs' in response, lifting out respective backpacks and heading downstairs.

I carried the key back to the middle-aged man sitting by the counter, who grinned at me. "Have a good sleep, dal?" He asked me with a wink. I resisted the sudden urge to gag and nodded at him with a smile. "Thank you for letting me and my siblings stay for the night for such a cheap price, you're truly a gentleman." I complimented, moving my hand from the counter where I had set the room key. "Come by some other time, princess." He winked as I turned away, giving Max a look that said something along the lines of 'should you throw up first or should I?' Which earned me an eye roll and a grin.

We exited the old hotel and started down the long, confusing roads. It wasn't that cold of a day, although I bet it felt a lot warmer to the flock as their wings were wrapped around their bodies. I began wishing I had worn something looser about 2 minutes into the journey when I heard someone whistle and say "Woaaaah baby." from an alley as we passed. I grabbed Iggy's arm, careful not to crush his with my tight grip.

"You okay?" He murmured lowly, letting go of Gazzy's hand when he let go to grab the hand I wasn't using to hold Iggy. He stood on the opposite side of me to make sure no one approached me from the other side, occasionally looking behind us. "These guys are creeps." Gazzy commented, his blue eyes sharp with hatred as we stood outside a shop, Max, Fang and Angel entering. "Seriously." Iggy agreed, he had tilted his body so he was kind of facing me, enough to shield me from the group of teenagers behind him.