I soared aimlessly through the clouds, watching my flock below. I could see Dylan a bit to my right chatting with Gazzy and Iggy. Probably discussing how to frighten me with another bomb. I'd felt really angry when I realised that Dylan was using my pain to get in with the other boys but then he had apologised. I don't know why but I accepted. Now it seemed so long ago that Iggy would sneak gas bombs into his room and set them off while Dylan was sleeping. I used to think that was the worst thing anyone could do to him. Then I began to see what Nudge and Angel did. At first they gave him the cold shoulder but then they started gossiping and laughing at him. Everything he did seemed to aggravate the situation until finally the girls gave up and accepted him. Well maybe I threatened to take away the TV but I'm sure they wanted to accept him anyway.

That night Iggy served pizza. I smiled at his presentation. For a blind kid Iggy can cook pretty well. I sat down and picked up a slice just before I bit into it a wave of nausea hit me. Then another. Then another. I swallowed and raced over to the sink.

"Hey Max are you ok?" Nudge asked. I barely heard her over the pounding in my head. After a few seconds I threw up.

"Ew!" Nudge muttered under her breath.

"I'm going to bed now" I whispered.

"You don't need anything?" Dylan asked.

"No"

"Yes, you do Max. You need to sit down" whispered Voice. I gasped.

"Long Time no see Voice." I thought.

"You don't have to be so strong all the time Max. Just relax."

"Oh sure. Relaxing will make everything so much better!" I waited for some poetic response. None came. Damn Voice.

"Max are you sure you're ok?" Gazzy interrupted.

"Yes. Now see you tomorrow." I looked across my flock and I noticed Angel had gone a bit pale and had put down her pizza.

"I'm going to bed too" she said.

That night I dreamt that I died over and over. Each time I died I was brought back to life. Every time I came back there was a face. I could never see it properly but it was so familiar. When I woke up I was crying. I wiped my tears away angrily. It was just a dream Max. Why are you getting so worked up? Eventually I fell back into a dreamless sleep.

"Max?" a voice whispered.

"Max?" I ignored the voice and tried to go back to sleep.

"Max?"

Why wasn't it going away?

"Max?"

"Go away" I muttered

"MAX? Please!" the voice hissed.

I opened my eyes groggily. Angel stared at me, fear shadowing her face.

"What?"

"Something's happened" she whispered.

Oh god. I threw off the covers and sat up.

"What's happened?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

"I can't find anyone" she sobbed. "Their gone. Vanished"

I ran and got changed. Angel cried silently.

"Come on. Let's look around."

I tip-toed out into the corridor. Angel followed. I peered into the kitchen.

Empty plates were stacked on the counter. There was a cup of coffee sitting on the table, steam rising from it. They hadn't been gone long.

"When did you last see them Angel?" I whispered.

"When they got up I was already awake. I went for a fly around 'coz I wanted to stretch my wings. I was only gone a minute when I heard Nudge scream." She began to cry again.

"Ok. I think we should look around. If they didn't check in my room then maybe they were in a rush and they can't get away."

"Or maybe they just thought you were with me" Angel said.

I sighed. She was probably right.

"First we need to see if they were kidnapped or if they just went for a walk." Ok I know that's unlikely but it seemed to calm Angel down. I spread my wings out and ran onto the front porch. Angel followed. We took off the ground with a blast. The wind whistled around me, ruffling my feathers. Once I was high enough I began to scan the ground. After a few minutes of searching my eyes caught a shape on the ground. I nodded at Angel. She looked down and saw it too. We circled closer to it. Finally I recognised its shape.

"No" I gasped. I took to the ground and broke into a run. The clearing was a mess. Fragments from a car were scattered everywhere. Bullet shells were littered across the grass. But that wasn't what I was looking at. I was looking at the boy. Not him. Not my Gazzy.