A/N: sorry for the long wait...I was at a ninja convention trying to learn how to use chopsticks without wanting to snap them in half! Fear my mighty update! HWAAA!

P.S.- After this things start to move a little fast. XD

Part Two

Stage Four: The Third Agreement

Jude tightened her fists under the table as Max set a chipped ceramic plate on the mat in front of her. She forced a smile and offered some sort of thanks as the older girl sat down across the table from her. Jude picked up her fork and took a deep breath, tapping at the plate with her fork as Max waited for her to speak.

After the talk with Scott, Jude hadn’t slept the rest of the night. In the morning, Max had come into the room and offered for her to eat breakfast with them. Jude accepted more out of politeness than hunger; her stomach was too twisted with nerves to hold down much food anyway.

“Uh…” she stared down at the shriveled bacon dominating her plate, “…it looks good…thanks.”

Angel beamed from where she sat next to Max; swinging her legs from the pile of books she was perched on. “You really think so? I made it myself! Well…Iggy helped a little.”

Iggy snorted from the far end of the card-table, his pale hands folded over the top of his empty plate. In fact, the only person on the table to have anything on their plate was Jude. The six other crammed individuals sat silently, their eyes occasionally straying to the stranger sitting at their table.

Jude swallowed hard and snapped off the end of a bacon strip, crunching it in her mouth and wincing as it scraped down her throat. Angel stared at her hopefully, her little hands folded in her lap as her eyes grew wide. Jude forced another smile, a habit that she was becoming accustom to and nodded, “It’s good. Thanks, Angel.”

Angel gave a little cheer and slid off the stool, promptly ignoring the empty plate at her spot and scampering to the kitchen door. She paused at the handle, as if suddenly remembering something, and turned back to look at Max with joy on her lips. “Max, can I go outside now? I’m not really hungry.”

Max simply nodded, her arms folded across her chest as she leaned back on the folding chairs positioned around the table. The sliding screen door shuddered as it sprang open and Angel burst into the warm sunlight, holding her arms above her head as she darted across the lawn, wings exposed.

“Wait!” Gasman hollered, practically falling off the chair in his haste to catch her. In seconds Nudge and Iggy had followed, leaving Jude, Max, and Fang sitting reverently at the table in absolute silence.

Fang prodded at his fork, “Nice kids,” he mumbled.

Max sighed and laughed, “You can leave too if you want, I’m not forcing you to stay.” Fang held up his hands to show he was fine with their company and leaned back to observe the conversation in his preferred state…mute.

Jude watched as a fly crawled over the bacon on her plate, refusing to meet Max’s eyes as she leaned forward on the table with her fingers interlaced. She looked so serious in the warm kitchen…motherly in a way. Like this is where she was meant to be. Looking after her family like a good mother should.

“Jude,” Max said evenly, her voice firm and slow, “I want you to know that we would never think badly of you…but you are a stranger in this household and I think it’s fair we know a thing or two before talking about the next step. It’s wrong to judge, I know that, but if you can’t explain where you’re from and who you are…I’m afraid we’ll have to view you as a threat. Jude…are you listening?”

Jude glanced up from the table, finally meeting Max’s eyes and regretting it instantly. She nodded, pressing her lips close together as she dug her nails into her palm. Who was she? Where was she from? Who…was she? Jude shrugged, offering a slight smile in hopes of making herself feel better.

“I’m just…Jude.”

Max shot a quick glance in Fang’s direction before returning back to the stranger in her presence, “I think you’ll have to do better than that. Are you from Itex? Has anyone outside of the others and me seen your wings? You’re not…in some kind of trouble are you?”

The sound of laughing could be heard from outside as Nudge kicked a beaten ball into Gasman’s waiting arms, Total’s furry paws scampering at his feet as the dog begged to take a shot with the ball. Angel scooped Total up in her arms and spun them both around very fast, her wings wrapping around them and shedding feathers all over the clean cut grass. Still, the sun continued shining.

“Yes,” Jude finally answered, her eyes focused on the strand of sunlight playing across the table, “I’m in trouble. More than you know. There are monsters…Demons. A place in desperate need of a miracle. It’s always raining there…I don’t know why but it’s always raining. And a person…who is expecting more out of me than I could ever hope to offer. I ran away from it all…but I have to go back now. I promised.”

She stood up slowly, the chair sliding out from beneath her as the rose, keeping her eyes fixed on the table, the floor, the wall…anywhere but Max’s penetrating eyes. “I’m sorry if I’ve been a bother to you and your family. I’ll leave as soon as I can. Thank you…for everything you’ve done…but there’s somewhere I need to be.”

Jude turned to leave, wanting more than anything to crawl back under the dark covers of the soft bed just down the hall. She could rest here until first mornings light the next day…then take a bus to Washington’s coast. There was a barge there that traveled back and forth from Woolsworth once a week.

“Jude,” Max pressed, an edge of warning in her voice, “please, sit back down. We need to talk…really talk. I want to hear your story, okay? I want to help you.”

The floor creaked quietly as Jude swayed from one side to the other, wrapping her thin arms tightly around herself as the sunlight through the windows beat against her wings. Scott had said the islanders were sworn to a code of secrecy. Nobody outside the island knew of the Demons…and nobody outside was ever supposed to know. Did it count if the person she told could help them? Help them all?

And just like that…she told Max everything.

Jude scrunched her legs up to her chest and pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, pressing herself closer to the window so she could see the moon. The door opened quietly behind her and shut in the very same matter. Jude didn’t even turn to see who it was, but continued to stare at the night sky.

Max sat down at the edge of the bed and leaned back on her fists the way Angel had when they spoke of Mother Goose just the other day. She tilted her head toward the ceiling and took a deep breath as Jude slowly turned to face her.

“You don’t believe me…do you?”

Max laughed softly and collapsed back on the bed, her wings crumpling beneath her as she stretched her arms over her head. In that moment she looked more like her own age than Jude had ever seen before. “I believe…” Max mused, shutting her eyes and folding her arms behind her head, “that you’re telling the truth. I also believe, that I can help you.”

Jude was almost ashamed to admit she could feel her mood lighten at Max’s words. It was true that she dreaded returning to Woolsworth…but to see Scott’s face again…Lilly’s…Skyler’s. It made all the dread wash away. “You really think you can help me?”

Max chewed at her lip, “I can take you back to Woolsworth…that’s for certain. Washington’s not that far away, we can take a bus. However…once we get to Woolsworth, I’m not sure if I can help much. From what you’ve told me it seems you have a very large pest problem on that island…but, I’ll see what I can do.”

Jude shifted nervously, “What about your family? You’re not taking all of them, are you? I don’t think it would be the safest place for them…”

Max waved the comment away, “I’m the only one going…though I’m pretty sure Fang will butt in at some point and he’ll end up coming as well. Don’t worry about us; we can take care of ourselves. It’s your little family that I’m worried about. Will all those people on the island be safe? From the Demons, I mean?”

Jude shrugged, “A lot have been killed already, but they won’t leave.”

Max rolled back to the edge of the bed and pulled herself up into a sitting position with a groan, “Stubborn. I’ve dealt with the type before. We’ll just have to work around them. Can you promise me something, Jude?”

Returning her stare to the window, Jude nodded.

“When the time comes…if the time comes…I want you to stay out of the fight.”

Jude glanced over a Max, surprised. The older girl got to her feet and backed out of the room, “Get some sleep, okay? We have a long day tomorrow.”

Jude nodded, whispering a faint ‘kay’ as the door clicked shut.

“Goodnight, Max.”