Two

Max POV

I jumped awake as a huge crash of thunder vibrated the walls of the drainage pipe. The kids were asleep around me and Angel seemed to be doing better. Her breathing was steadier, her fever had finally broken. I breathed out a long sigh and turned to look out the open end of the pipe to my right. Fang sat on the edge with his legs hanging out over the side. He sat there quietly, watching the dry lightning crack across the sky. He turned his head to glance back at me, hearing my startled arousal.

"You ok?" he asked calmly. His black wings were folded neatly along his spine, his feathers reflected the lightning's flash of light. Everything was pitch black, but my raptor vision could still pick out his sturdy form.

"Yeah, just checking on the kids." I shivered in the frigid air. Fang was shivering too in the wind of the storm.

"Angel sounds better." His dark eyes watched her carefully, a softness to them. He glanced back up at me.

"I think she's fighting through her illness."

"She's always been a fighter." Fang sighed and turned back to the dark sky above us. I could see the faint, dark outlines of cacti and brush against the darker sky. I made out the rocks and crevasses of the wash when the lightning lit up the sky in sparking tendrils.

"Now if only this storm will pass." I groaned and sat down next to him as he nodded. We sat in silence for a few moments, before Iggys body shot up out of a dead sleep. Fang and I glanced back at him, surprised.

"Someone's coming." Iggy whispered, large sightless blue eyes wide with fear. I was on my feet in a millisecond and had everyone else up within a minute. We stood huddled in the center of the drainage pipe as Iggy listened carefully, his head cocked to one side. No one even dared to breathe.

"Hey, what are you kids doing down here?" A males voice suddenly asked and it echoed throughout the pipe. I glared in the direction of the voice. Standing at the far end of the pipe in the wash was a young man, maybe 20 or so. He had brown hair in the same cut as Fang but slightly shorter. Green eyes looked anxiously in at us.

"None of your business." I snapped, standing in front of Angel with my arm holding her back. Fang stood strong next to me, his jaw clenched.

"There's a house just down the road here. You can stay the night there if you want, to get out of the rain." The man offered politely, his voice sounding sincere. I narrowed my eyes.

"You'll leave if you know what's good for you." Fang hissed.

"My name is Ben, I own this property until Barter Street," He pointed ahead as if we knew what he was talking about. "This is very much my business, and if you don't want my offer, I can always call the police for trespassing." Fang and I exchanged glances.

"Fine. Where is this house?" I barked, looking back at 'Ben'. His face lit up and he pointed a thumb behind him, again assuming we knew what was around here.

"Just up the way here. Please hurry, it's cold out tonight." Ben quickly walked out of the wash as we slowly fallowed him. Iggy squeezed Nudges hand reassuringly, I walked with Angel in front of me, and Fang covered our backs at the end with Gazzy gripping his jacket sleeve nervously. We walked up the wash, carefully avoiding any cacti or "bundles of death", as Nudge referenced them. Ben's house was indeed just up the road a little ways, but the storm had blocked our view of it. It was a small house, with a little driveway with a red truck sitting in it. The house was a rectangle with a flat roof, a wooden leantoo like structure jutted out of one side over a porch with a swing. The front yard was littered with more cacti and shrubs. And a large dog, a Pit Bull, barked at the door.

"Don't mind Charlotte, she's just loud." Ben said and opened the front door. The dog quickly ran out to greet us, sniffing and licking at Angel's hand. I held her shoulders, ready to kick this dog away if I needed to. But Charlotte, after determining we were no threat, sat happily by Ben with her large pink tongue lulling out of one side of her mouth. Now that we were under the porch lights, I could see Ben more clearly. He was as tall as Fang, a slightly bigger build than Iggy, and wore blue jeans with a black leather jacket over a blue T shirt. He scratched Charlotte's head and she looked up at her master with large, loving eyes.

"Please, come in." Ben said and shooed Charlotte through the door. One by one, we filed into the living room dripping wet. The floors were concrete and under renovation as I saw the new tiles leaned against the wall in the corner. A TV stood on a large stand along the wall next to us, a giant panorama window behind it. The center of the room was filled by two large leather couches and a coffee table. A wood burning stove sat on knurled iron toes with it's long chimney going out through the ceiling. Two huge bookcases lay along the back wall filled completely with novels, magazines, and dictionaries. The living room panned into the kitchen through a massive walkway with an arched ceiling to separate the two.

"Some place you got." I breathed, feeling a little better from the warmth of the stove. My hands weren't quite so numb now. I didn't allow my gaurd to falter as Ben shut the door behind us. Every fiber of my being was on high alert and ready to crash through this huge window in a moments notice.

"Yeah, I snagged it from my parents, they really own the place. I'm just here while I go to school." Ben smiled and locked Charlotte in her huge dog crate by the door. I cringed internally.

"So, um, Ben, I appreciate what you're doing, allowing us to stay the night." I stammered, still checking the place out. I'd need to thoroughly investigate this house before I really felt safe. Anything could be lurking behind those doors in the back corner.

"No problem, stay as long as you'd like. I hate to have neighbors sleeping outside in the rain." Ben said cheerfully and Fang and I exchanged worried glances. "Your rooms are this way."

"Our rooms?" Iggy piped up. My nerves were raw. It almost sounded like this guy had been waiting for us, like he knew we were coming. How else would he have known to look into that drainage pipe, in the rain, in the middle of the night...

"I'm sorry, I never got your names." Ben stopped short of the doors. I looked around at my flock, my mind desperately thinking of aliases.

"David!" Gazzy shouted out happily, a grin on his dirty face. "David Boom!"

"Jenny Diamond." said Nudge. She beamed proudly.

"Austin Bang." Iggy bumped fists with Gazzy. I rolled my eyes.

"Celeste Boom." Angel said quietly, her hand held mine nervously.

"I'm Meaghan, and thats... Nick." I nodded to Fang, who was standing by the door with his arms crossed over his chest, scanning the room and watching Ben closely.

"Last names?" Ben asked inquisitively.

"Meaghan Adams, and Nick Ride." I nearly choked over the words. Ben nodded and opened the doors to the rooms. There was a small hallway that split into three separate rooms. He had Fang and Iggy go into the one straight ahead, Nudge and I go into the one on the left, and Angel and Gazzy got the one on the right. Again, I felt a nervous wave come over me as it looked like he had been expecting company.

"The shower is the small room behind the couches." Ben said, a subtle hinting of our mud spattered appearances. I nodded and he walked towards the kitchen.

"He seems nice." Nudge whispered. I shrugged her off and looked around the rooms. Each room was identical; two small beds in the corners, a nightstand by each, and a small desk along the wall with a window behind it. Escape route noted.

"Go ahead and get the guys to hop into the shower. We might as well take advantage of the situation. We leave first thing at dawn." I said and she squealed as she hurried into the boys' rooms. I walked towards the kitchen. Ben was standing by the stove, pulling out a large pizza from the top rack. My mouth dropped open but I quickly shut it. Who cooks pizza in the middle of the night?

"So, Ben. Why the hospitality?" I asked seriously. He set the pizza on the large island countertop and pulled off the oven mitts.

"I'm just trying to help people in need."

"By setting up three spare bedrooms and cooking randomly at night?"

"Oh no, I've seen you guys around during the day. At first I didn't want to seem like a prodding stranger, but you guys looked like you needed help. Especially when you are all grounded until the storm passes." He smiled at me as my heart slammed to a stop and my blood froze in my veins. Grounded?

"Grounded? What are you talking about?" I said, trying to work around the terrifying information.

"You don't have to worry, Maximum. I'm only here to help. Your mother is a close friend of mine, and she warned me that you guys would be passing through." Ben began to slice the pizza into large pieces. I still hadn't managed to breathe yet.

"My mom?" I struggled to say and Ben laughed.

"She and I work pretty closely at her clinic." he handed me a plate with all the slices piled onto it. "Let me know if you're still hungry, I can always make another." And with that, Ben walked past me and headed into his own bedroom, lightly shutting the door behind him. I stood in the kitchen dumbfounded, the plate of food still in my hands, and a million different questions running through my head.