Alice's Story

Euro

“The hospital seems like the best answer,” Great! So Taylor was on board. I nodded to her encouragingly. Power in numbers. Now all that was left was…

"Yeah I'll travel with you guys... Are you guys sure about the hospital? I mean... would doctors even know how we work? Honestly a vet would probably know more knowledge about a wing... And a hospital is a very, very public place... I'm just not so sure...But if you're certain it's best I'll follow..."

I frowned, feeling shame begin to fill up my system. Samuel was right. Besides the whole “we’re-screwing-ourselves-over-by-going-to-a-hospital” thing, it’s not like the doctors would have any idea how the girl, or for that matter, any of us worked. I mean, carrying her to the vet still gave us the chance to get our asses busted by the Ward or some other government facility, but hey, at least she’d survive. Hopefully. And here’s where I got stuck.

The hospital was a huge, open public facility, with freaky, annoying doctors, and obvious tattletales who’d have us busted with the government the instant we got there. I knew that for sure. That’s how ruthless intellectuals worked.

The local veterinarian on the other hand was generally concerned with dogs and cats. Ever wonder why there are stand alone Avian vets just dedicated to the health of birds? Never fear here’s your answer; as the majorities of pets consist of dogs and cats, people are bias to learning about cats and dogs. Even horses pass their lists. But guinea pigs, rats, birds, lizards, and many other “minority” pets fall into a different category. You’d need an animal hospital for that, and trust me when I say a vet’s clinic does not constitute the words animal hospital.

“That’s a good idea, Sam,” I was banking on the idea that he didn’t mind me calling him that, “But Avian vets and regular vets are two very different things.” I said softly, “If we….assume that just any vet will be able to handle her, we could be playing with fire. Not to mention the fact that a vet may not have what it takes to make a human blood transfusion. If I know anything about doctors, I know they’re intellectuals, kind of like lower level scientists. They’ll save her, if only to study her later on. We can almost bet on the fact that they’ll call up an Avian specialist to assist them if they have too….” I trailed off.

God, the girl was going to be hanging by a thread by the time we got there. She twitched in Matthew’s arms for a second, before going still again. I could hear her breathing steadily, which was a good sign, but the occasional twists of pain were a cause for concern.

“Can we hurry up with the decision making?” Matthew scowled, panicked concern scrawled across his face, “She’s going to go into a coma by the time you guys get moving.”

I rolled my eyes, but accepted his harsh words. He was simply concerned about his sister’s well being, and probably wasn’t thinking straight. Without a second thought, I slipped over to the closest car, a decent looking Honda Civic, probably of a generation older than 2012. I had one of two options:
1) Use some sort of pin to unlock the front door of the car
or
2) smash the window open.

Seeing as there was no pin, I went with option two. Using my shoe, I made a hole just big enough for my hand to fit through without scraping myself. The alarm, of course, was going crazy, and I had to work fast to unlock the door and rewire the underneath of the steering wheel so that the car would shut up. This had been me and Solo’s life when we’d first escaped. And while I was no pro, I most definitely knew what I was doing.

Which brought up another problem.

A very pressing, very heartbreaking, very traitor like problem.

I had to ditch those kids as soon as the girl was safe. Staying with them….was dragging me and Solo back to a life of misery. I would explain it to them. Explain why I was leaving. But for now, my concern was getting her safely to the hospital.

As the engine roared to life under the working of my hands I began barking orders. Unaccustomed to being in charge, my commands sounded more like solid requests rather than orders.

“Sam, you get in the front,” always safer to have someone besides yourself looking out for stuff in the front seat, “Taylor and Matthew you get in the back….Matthew support your sister’s weight. Try to keep her in an upright position so that the blood doesn’t flow faster towards her upper area and head..” Eyeing her blood soaked sweater, I came up with another quick idea, hoping Taylor would go along with it, “Taylor take her sweater and press it against the wound with enough force to slow the bleeding…”

Matthew, upon hearing my command, quickly slipped the bloody sweater off from his sister, revealing a simply black t-shirt, much less stained. He offered the sweater to Taylor with a pleading look on his face, and I hoped she would accept the job. The reason I’d chose her over Sam or Matt? Simple. She was a woman.

As I finished my tirade of commands, I slipped into the driver’s seat, patiently waiting for them to join me in the car.

Alice

I stared at the monitor indifferently as was my habitual response to anything that flickered on and off the hazy screen. I had been, naturally out of my own curiosity, observing the bird children, learning from their movements, but not necessarily understanding their interactions. The “Eins” as daddy referred to her was deathly frightened of everything, including her savior the “Marcus” who had rescued her from the clutches of a pair or so of Daddy’s Vampires. I couldn’t understand her, couldn’t understand her fear. If she’d been the stepping stone to the blossoming of my life, how was she so different from me?

If I had been there, I would have killed the Vampires and enslaved the boy.

It only made sense. One with such power should not wield it lightly. One with power must flaunt said power. One with power must become the dominant one.

That’s why I was Daddy’s heiress.

I was the powerful one.

“Alice,” Daddy’s voice was filled with kindness; fake kindness, but it was the only type I knew of. I wasn’t sure if to react brightly, or if to simply saunter over to him. In an attempt to please him, I skipped over to him as an average six year old would. Seeing as I was in the body of a six year old, I could only hope it would work. He ignored me.

Hope. Ha, what a joke.

Arriving by his spinning chair, I put a delicate hand on top of his. The chair seemed to float, as I could not make out what lifted it, and I assumed it worked on some sort of intensely concentrated vaporizing system. I could smell the water in the air, after all.

“Yes Daddy,” That was a default response. It was the obedience Daddy wanted, and it was the obedience he got.

“You’ll be leaving for Arizona today,” he said quietly, grazing his eyes over the gruesome scene one of our bird children had, had. She looked very similar to me, at least similar to me when I was an adolescent, but much more beat up with a grisly set of claw marks on the side of her wing, courtesy the Vampires.

I wasn’t sure if to call her a “poor thing” or if to think she deserved it. I wasn’t sure how Daddy wanted me to react.

“Yes, Daddy,” I said. What else was I suppose to say? What else did people say? He went on as though I’d asked a question about what I was to do once there,

“I may have a few Vampires waiting for you. They will guide you through the steps of integrating yourself into the human world.” My hear skipped a beat (I think that’s the expression).

Daddy was going to let me be with the humans. Daddy was setting me free on the world.

Alice

I guess I hadn’t expected the turn of events that consorted the words “setting me free” in referral to my father’s decision to send me to Arizona.

Take note: I’d never before called Daddy the word “father”. I didn’t think that’s what little girls did. But after the events of today, the bitter resentment in my heart was telling me not to call him anything, at least not any word that denoted that idea of affection. Today was the first day my “father” had hit me. Ever.

Usually, he’s a fake, but sweet man, often trying to entice me into playing along with his convoluted plans by throwing “heartfelt” and “affectionate” words in my face, and messing with my “emotions”.

But today was far from the usual. Today he became harsh and unforgiving, with a lashing hand and scorching words. Today he became the tyrant I’d never expected.

See, here’s what happened: A few of his assistance had been preparing me for the flight to Arizona. I did nothing along the lines of helping them. They simply packed my clothing, dressed me, and executed a rerun of everyday’s boring events. A physical examination was performed as usual, as well as a check up on my mental stability and telepathic level. Then, I was prepared to hop aboard one of Daddy’s luxury jets, an impossibly fast one at that. I’d made a fuss about which form I was to arrive in: My adolescent form, or my childish six year old form. Due to the ruckus I’d caused, one of the female scientist (it always was the women) had decided to play along, stoop down to my six year old intellectual level, and allow me to dress accordingly to a child. This hadn’t gone over well with him. He came and slapped me when I rebuked against his wishes to change formation. Frightened to death by his actions, I promptly changed forms and was redressed consequently.

That brings me to the three hour flight, for which I know you have no interest in. Three hours of a mutant freak staring out a window is something I’m sure many of you don’t dote on, especially those of you who have flown from American to Korea. It’s a hassle isn’t it?

So, if you figured anything out about me now, you must know not much stands out to me. Or rather, I don’t comprehend enough for things to stand out to me. So, hence my landing in Arizona, I went through the very boring process of being checked up again (a physical and mental), before being loaded in a crate and shipped over to an undisclosed location in Arizona, obviously another one of our bases.

There I was walked through the hallways of the experimentation section of the ward. Not everyone at the Ward has wings, you know. I saw a terrified looking, kind of duck child, staring at me from behind his quarter’s windows. He didn’t necessarily look like a duck; rather, his feet were webbed, a uniquely different thing to what I was used to observing. He didn’t smile at me, and I didn’t smile back. But in an attempt at…pity, I sent over a thought to him.

They won’t kill you. You’re useful, different.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure if my words were true. I’d just said it to comfort him, and lo and behold, his eye brightened under his thick black eyebrows. I still didn’t smile in reaction to his response. I wasn’t sure what to do. So I simply looked forward and allowed the guide to tow me along to a meeting room.

I guess it was plain for a room of this type: long, polished, dark brown table, with an array of equal seats on each side, with yet a few people in the room, and “father’s” face on the large monitor at the head of the table.

One female scientists (they were much more…motherly, than the males) guided me over to a chair, holding it out for me to sit in, before retreating to her own place across from me.

My father nodded, and another male flipped out a phone of sorts, scrolling through the contacts, before finally pressing what seemed to be the “send button.”

“Michael,” he said abruptly, as though someone had answered, “We have a job for you that requires your immediate return to the Ward. I’m sure you’ll be…fairly pleased with your new toy.”

With that he snapped the phone shut, and the room fell into a dull silence waiting for this Michael arrival. Personally, I suppose, my inner self was expressing something like excitement. Was this the Vampire that was to oversee my transition into the human world? Or was he simply the head of the Ward in Arizona? Antsy, I shifted in my chair wishing I could be back in Antarctica, where thing all of sudden seemed a hell of a lot easier.

Mike took a small break in the woods, taking the long way back to the town. He sat atop a sturdy tree branch, large enough to support Mike's weight. He calmly leaned back on the trunk of the tree, breathing in fresh un processed air. When you grew up with synthetic smells in your nose one tended to like the fresh air that much more. The same bird from before, earlier in the day, landed on Mike's hand. He brought it up to his face and observed it with one eye. Mike stretched a finger, to which the bird hopped over too. Mike gave a deep sigh. Surely Mike was hardwired to kill anything he wanted to in his free time, but Mike never liked killing even the smallest of creatures. He found peace in the fact that he could preserve a fraction of lives he crossed every day.

The phone rang in Mike's pocket, which in turn scared the bird away. Mike drew the phone out of his pocket, and spoke in his usual cold voice. "What is it?" Mike's voice was that of an indifferent killer.

“Michael,” he said abruptly, “We have a job for you that requires your immediate return to the Ward. I’m sure you’ll be…fairly pleased with your new toy.” The Vampire spoke, his voice as careful as can be. Mike gave a small grunt in response and closed his phone. The branch creaked, as Mike launched himself onto the ground, and from there took flight. He Silently wondered what was so important to have him return. He calmly angled his way downwards, and flared his wings before hitting the ground. He opened the front doors, and marched his way through the building. Some Vampires stopping out of sheer respect on his way in. Mike was sad that he only gained respect through fear, but there was simply no other way with his fellow Vampires.

Mike opened the door, his face devoid of any emotion. Mike shifted, and glanced to the screen. His posture changed from relaxed, and uncaring to alert and at attention. Mike's eyes met Gunther's for a few moments. Mike's eyes still keeping their half asleep appearance. His eyes shifted over a girl sitting in a chair situated near a table. She appeared to be as clueless as Mike was. His eyes shifted back to the screen. Mike gripped his power, rage boiling up inside of Mike. Emotionless as ever Mike spoke in a guarded tone.

"How may I be of service, sir?" Mike spoke calmly.

Euro

Awkward didn’t even begin to cover the atmosphere in the car. I wondered, out of sheer curiosity, if any of them were feeling claustrophobic. I knew what it was like, coming from the Ward, and then getting freedom. Everything with plausible amounts of space was welcoming. Everything with barely any space was terrifying. Hopefully, these kids were tougher than that.

As I’d requested, Sam had taken a seat next to me up front, while the rest of the kids had piled in the back. Taylor had slipped into the backseat with an awkward look on her face, and in an attempt to reassure her, I said, “You did a great job Taylor. So long as she isn’t bleeding as much as before, we’ve got more time.”

I wasn’t going to lie. It was crowded in here. The addition of our wings, all of various widths and lengths were another thing to take into consideration. If I’d just let my wings out loose enough, I’d be touching the tip of Sam’s shoulder. Therefore, I kept them plastered tightly against my back. I was uncomfortable having anyone but Solo touch my wings. Years of countless experiments and pain had made me impossibly frightened of situations with the involvement of someone besides me or Solo touching my wings.

My hands were firm on the steering wheel; while I had no driver’s license, I’d had plenty of practice in my early days of escape.

Something had been bothering me, pricking the back of my mind constantly, since we’d started driving.

“Kids,” I said, sighing, “There’s no way they aren’t going to call the FBI out on you guys…just…be careful…”

Well, I’d totally chickened out of what I was originally going to say. I’d been mustering up the courage to tell them I’d be ditching them after the girl was safely checked in but…I couldn’t do that. No one knows that way an adult knows the feeling of looking a kid in the eye and shamelessly telling them that you wouldn’t be there with them. I mean, personally, before this, I’d never done something like that. But I’d seen it plenty of times in movies.

I sighed again, focusing on the road ahead of me. I could already see the peak of the hospital’s roof, and was quickly beginning to feel the familiar anxiety build up within me.

“We’re nearly there, guys.”

Matthew

I stared at the careful wrap that Taylor’d made out of Marce’s blood soaked sweater. It seemed to be holding up, something I was thankful for. In a car with three guys, a woman was always useful. My mouth twisted at my own sexist joke, before I turned my face down to look at Marce. She looked so beat up. Her hair, which was usually already messily tied up, was clearly and obviously knotted now. Poor kid. She’s have a total drama session trying to untangle it when she woke up.

“We’re nearly there, guys.” Euro’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

Ew, the hospital. The second most dreaded place on my list of most dreaded places. I knew the moment we arrived we’d be hit with the scent of heavy chemicals. I’m not sure how to describe what the drive was like. Long, boring, antagonizing, irritating, upsetting…I could go on but I won’t.

I just knew the moment we arrived, I wanted to turn tail and run. We hadn’t reached the transparent set of double doors yet, and I was already able to smell the high, disgusting, fear inducing scent of disinfectant, hear the various conversations of random people talking about their relatives, or friends, or acquaintances, and the conditions they were in.

A few of them gave me peculiar looks. In order to hide Marce’s wing, I’d stuffed it under my own sweater. It looked like I was a pregnant man, walking with his accident ridden sister to get treated for insanity. Jeez.

I couldn’t help but notice that Euro’d donned his hood, and was pointedly looking down. Away from the cameras I guessed. We didn’t really know anything about Euro. Heck, we didn’t know anything about each other. But hey, we’re all the same peas in one pod. How bad could we be?

Everything went by in a flash. You’d think there’d be more detail to what we did, but really it was simple. Marce was in critical condition, and from the moment she arrived, she was sent into emergency. The rest of us were guided to the waiting room, save Euro who was called upon several times, by several nurses to speak with the doctor taking care of Marce. I could only guess why (cue sarcasm). I was called in once; for a blood transfusion. By the time I arrived back in the waiting room everything was fuzzy, and I was feeling gosh darn tired.

Plopping myself down on a soft, plush like chair, I tried to deliver a report to Taylor and Sam, “She’s doin all right. Doctor says ‘s gonna be a few weeks before she can return to normal health.”

Weeks in our case probably translated to days.

I was quite for a moment, before a few other questions struck my mind, “Where are you guys from, by the way? I mean, a Ward I would guess, but you guys got any specific directions on you? Any places you were supposed to be heading? Any plans of your own…?”

As hazy as I was, I was still tense. Everything was so…disgusting, and uncomfortable here. I could never fathom how a normal humans, patients included, could stand to be here, much less sleep here.

As I questioned them, I completely overlooked one very important detail: Euro had disappeared.

Marceline

”Hello?” I called out. No one replied. It was dark where I was. And we all know how well birds do in the dark. You know, unless I’d been my brother, or had owl blood (hoot, hoot).

My lips pursed as I blindly felt my way through wherever I was. The things I touched. They felt like prickly bushes and thorns, and I silently prayed for me to regain my sight. Everything was so dark. Everything was so lonely.

And there was a pain. An indescribable pain piercing my left wing.

I wandered for while. Nothing but silence. The wandering seemed to last forever.

And that’s when I heard them. Or rather, I knew they were coming with no other more specific forewarning. Sharp, snapping teeth, glistening white in the dark, with outspread wings, bigger and more agile than mine. They followed me through what I now assumed to be trees, dipping and diving and cackling like maniacs. I couldn’t achieve flight here. My wings, they were too thick to properly snap out in the crowd of the bushes and trees.

Instead I ran towards it. A beautiful light that split the forest in half. And when I arrived there, when I arrived at that entrance, I found the most beautiful thing in existence. A wide, outstretched field of healthy green grass, with the clear blue sky as its overseer.

Knowing this was my chance, I snapped my wings out…I snapped…my wings…

Where were my wings? The hung limp by my side. I couldn’t feel them. And they were coming. All of a sudden things were going faster. I just kept running and running, and trying and trying, but my wings refused to budge.

And then they descended on me. They hissed and jabbed me with electric sticks, sending me to the ground. And when finally I was subdued, one took a long silver knife out from its pocket, covering my eyes with one grisly, smelly hand.

And all I could feel was the sharp, protruding pain of that knife cutting into my wings.

Alice

"How may I be of service, sir?" The “Michael” had arrived. He was calm and collected when he slipped into our room, quickly assessing the presence of all who was there. I felt him glance over me once, but I couldn’t be sure of it.

My father seemed to be having an icy stare down with the Vampire.

“Mike,” he said innocently, hidden venom dripping from every word, “How good to see one of my most successful Vampires again. I have a special job for you, lad. I want you to take care of this here girl. Alice, stand up,”

Gunther commanded me with the same terrifying disposition he had used earlier, and I immediately snapped out of my seat.

“You,” he said, once again addressing Michael, “Will take care of her and teach her the way of human beings. Make sure she successfully integrates herself into the human populace. And if you can do so, we’ll see about further promotions within the Ward.”

My father smiled in a way that could only be described as “evilly” before cutting off the video chat.

I turned to Mike. Not a word was uttered around the table, and for a while I simply assessed my new caretaker.

Sighing (who knew I was capable of it) I said in a monotonous voice, “You were assigned to “babysit” me as father has thought of it on so many occasions. So I will listen to you, and understand from you the ways of people.”

Once again the room was silent. A coughing Vampire, the same one who’d contacted Mike, spoke up, “Maybe you should take her somewhere, Mike.” He suggested, “Get started on the whole teaching her to be normal thing. Gunther’s kept her locked up for most of her life. She doesn’t know anything.”

“No to mention,” A female scientist intervened, “she’s only a year or so.”

“A year and six months,” I corrected. While I deterred to show it, I was actually seething on the inside. If hate is the right emotion, then, I hated it when they spoke of me as though I wasn’t there. As though I was just come pawn on a chessboard.

Standing stoically still, I patiently awaited Mike’s response. Surely he would think up some activity to keep me entertained.

I awaited their answers patiently. Taylor responded with a prompt no, clearing her throat in the process. For a moment, I wondered how long the two of them had escaped from the Ward. Had they unknowingly come from the same Ward and accidently met up? Or had they been together the whole time?

“I think I came from..." Sam began, pausing for a moment as he seemed to organize his thoughts "Arizona. As for plans, I haven't really had time to formulate one."

I nodded, prying apart my lips to inform them on my own situation. For a moment, my eyes flashed brightly as I remembered the crumpled up piece of paper stuffed in Marce’s sweater. Jeez. There was no way that thing had survived the blood showers in one piece, as cruel as it sounded to joke about my sister’s condition. I’d just have to hope that it was at least legible.

Just then Taylor seem to grasp onto something I had been completely and utterly oblivious too.

“Where’s Euro?”

Where was Euro? A better question would be, how long had we been here? Certainly long enough for them to have patched up my sister. We’d been sitting here for what seemed like hours.

“I don’t know,” I answered dumbfounded, just as a nurse sauntered over to us.

“Is your name Matthew?” she asked politely, a small yellow, sticky note looking piece of paper in her hand. I nodded, still too shocked with Euro’s disappearance to find words.

“Well,” she said, hesitating, “Amazingly, your sister,”

“Marceline,” I filled in automatically.

“Marceline,” she corrected herself, “Is in stable condition. Her wound seemed to, well, miraculously speed up in the healing condition. However, you all can’t see her just yet.”

I nodded. The nurse and doctors would never understand just how advanced us bird kids were. Speedy healing was a part of the package.

“Also, the young man who dropped you off left this note for you.”

I took the note from her dainty hand, unfolding it to read the insides.

“I’m sorry. I have a family. We’ll meet again someday. I’m really sorry kids. Oh and I’m human.” I read aloud. The words were scrawled on the paper as though he’d rushed them down. My lips pursed. I felt both betrayed and yet at the same time, responsible to keep Euro a secret.

I could only assume so many things: First and foremost, Euro was a young guy. Family probably meant a wife, or something, and a baby. I couldn’t jeopardize his life like that.

“He’s human,” I repeated the word human, emphasizing on it, and hoping to convey to Taylor and Sam the idea that we couldn’t let it slip up that Euro was one of us. We could be putting his family in danger. I mean, I hoped he wasn’t lying to us. He’d helped us, why would he be lying?

I slumped down in my chair, disappointed and tired. Tired but not necessarily sleepy. I didn’t know what to say, and honestly hoped that Taylor or Sam would change the subject somehow. This was just…too devastating.



I remained emotionless. Perhaps a normal person would have arched their eyebrows, but I knew of no such thing as plainly expressed emotions. Or rather, I preferred to keep what I was feeling to me, only if the reason was because I didn’t really understand what it meant to express myself. Slowly, by the indication of the female scientist, I lifted myself to my feet following Mike’s lead.

He seemed…intelligent…or at least I had to assume so. Something already felt different about him, different to the way other Vampire’s acted. He seemed careful, and controlled. He also seemed to have recognized me as soon as the scientist had uttered my age.

That in itself proved how well known I was amongst the Ward intelligence. Anyone with power in the Ward knew about me. Which meant if my father trusted Michael to take care of me, trusted Michael to know about me, Michael must have had a rather high ranking amongst the Vampires.

I followed him through the hallways, uncomfortable with the looks that the majority of scientist threw my way, praising my form as though I was some kind of prize animal. I heavily disliked it. You may wonder why I didn’t use the word hate. I once heard that hate means you must have once loved quite a bit. I get the impression that many don’t believe, but I do. And so, for now, I shall try to avoid the word “hate”.

“Tell me,” I said in a monotonous voice, directed at Mike, “What is it you do here at the Ward? What is it we’re going to do?”



Do surgery on my wing, will you?

My lips pursed as the doctor tersely touched the edge of my formerly ripped wing, reveling in it’s presence.

“Are you done masturbating to my wing yet?” I asked casually, implied venom subtly dripping from every word. Taken aback, he snapped his hand away, pale freckled face running bright with blood.

“Sorry,” he stuttered, already seeming to grasp for an excuse.

“I don’t want hear.” I cut him off, before he could continue. “Where’s my…family…” I said carefully, referring to all of them (Matt, and the new kids, Taylor and Samuel ) as my collective family. It was safer that way, if the doctor thought we all had connections to one another.

“They’re outside. They can’t see you yet,” He murmured, quickly beginning to dismiss himself, “I’m sorry miss, but you’ll just have to stay here. Good night.”

He rushed out of the door flicking the lights off. Asshole.

I sighed, rubbing my forehead, and flexing my fixed wing. It was beginning to feel much better, but the ache in my head was worsening.

Euro had driven us here. He’d helped the doctors patch me up. But he’d never once said he was a bird kid as well. All I remember hearing of his hushed conversation with the doctor was that he’d been strolling along when he’d found us. He explained his bird knowledge by saying he worked in a pet shop with a section dedicated to parrots and parakeets. All his excuses would have sound like lies coming from a kids mouth, but he was an adult.

Then, when everything had been over, he’d come and spoken with me.

”Sorry, but what’s your name?” he looked down at me sheepishly, and I almost melted under the light brown eyes begging for forgiveness. I’d never in my life met a guy who was able to that. Then again, there’s always firsts.

“Marceline….thanks.”

“No prob Marceline,” he twined his fingers, glancing the other way then back. His words spilled out of his mouth like a rushed waterfall, “I have to leave you Marceline. I have a family, a pregnant wife, a special baby on the way…”

Special. Winged, he meant.

I nodded. “Thanks Euro…you gotta do what you gotta do.”

He nodded back in agreement, looking genuinely sorry. “I’ll leave a note for the kids. We’ll meet again someday.”

And just like that he was gone.

I frowned. The rest of the kids would be devastated when they found out. I was.

Flapping my wing, I tested it out on the curtain, which abruptly began flowing with the motion of wind I was producing.

I couldn’t handle being in here. It smelled disgusting, and felt cramped. Slowly, I slid out of the hospital bed, grabbing my jeans and my shirt. My regular, blood soaked sweater was now dyed with dark, almost black spots of dried blood. Against the dark purple background of the sweater, the blood looked like an out of place design.

Oh well.

I slipped it over my head, glad for the fact that blood doesn’t smell. I’d ditch it some other place.

Prying open the window, I did one of the things I knew how to do best. I jumped.

Spreading my wings out, I let a sliver of wind catch me, before pumping myself higher in the sky. I winced as my wing ached a slight bit before subsiding.

My headache was already beginning to disappear. The fresh (or as fresh as polluted air can get) air was a welcome change to the disinfectant scent of the stinky hospital.

I can’t tell you how long I flew. The trip back to the area where I’d been, by air, was about fifteen minutes, tops. It didn’t take long before I got to a shopping district, grinning as I looked down at the ant-like people still out and about. Which, to me, was not many. They wouldn’t be able to make my shape out against the pitch black darkness of the night sky. To them, normal people who’d never seen a bird kid, I would have looked like some giant bird. To a bird kid, I would have been recognizable.

For a second, my eyes blurred, and I snapped my head forward.

Oh no. Once again they blurred, and I felt myself tilting to the left. My left wing had given out.

In a matter of seconds I was spiraling downwards. In a desperate attempt to adjust my direction, I tilted my body, and remaining wing, aiming for a rather desolate alley near an already closed store.

When I was close enough to the ground of the alley, I spread my right wing out, slowing my speed, but still toppling me into the ground. At least it didn’t hurt as much.

But let me tell you. It still hurt.

“Ow,” I scowled, tightening, my wings against my back. My right neatly tucked itself into my sweater, but after a determined effort, my left simply plastered itself awkwardly up against my back, too stiff and painful to fully fold into my sweater. Jeez, what a mess I had gotten into.

“Stupid,” I reprimanded myself, refusing to blame my wing (yes I treat my wings just like any child would treat their teddy bear; like a real person…I wish I had a teddy bear.) The walk back was probably a good hour.

“What’s wrong with you Marce?” I sighed, pulling myself to my feet and dusting my jeans off.

“Tell me,” Alice said in a monotonous voice, directed at Mike, “What is it you do here at the Ward? What is it we’re going to do?” Mike hadn't quite anticipated Alice to beat around the bush, but she was surprisingly straight forward. Mike slowed down to walk alongside her, rather than lead the way. Mike would likely answer any answer she had to offer. He wasn't exactly the person that liked to lie. Mike prefered to speak in deceptive truths. Blending his speech patterns to dance around a question with vague answers.

Mike's eyes were unfocused, clouded with past events. He walked for a small while longer, turning a corner while formulating the words. When he turned the corner he gave Alice a wide birth. Mike decided it would be best to tell her most of the truth. "I'm one of the operation managers at this facility. I take orders from Gunther's proxies. I'm just another ordinary Vampire really." Mike's eyes would occaisionally drift over experiments in their cages. Though he wouldn't allow it, regret filled the pit of his stomach. He looked away, reminding himself that such feelings couldn't be allowed to cloud his judgement. Mike kept pushing the guilt down.

"As for what we're doing here, I believe your father explained it rather thoroughly. To explain it in simpler terms. I am going to be preparing you for your deployment into the field." Mike answered casually. They eventually reached an exit. Where Mike pushed open the doors. The best way to experience the outside world, was just to simply dive in head first. Mike always had very few choices of his own when in the field. Most of the time, some proxy was telling him orders. Mike was only present to track targets, or coordinate attacks. Mike was under the notion that it was his duty to protect and teach Alice. His intentions blurred. Mike rarely got to interact with anyone that was capable of thinking clearly, though he knew he would be unable to be himself around her. He would always have to wear a mask of emotions, just as he had always done with everyone else. His gut told him to teach her, then be done with her. Mike knew deep down that Gunther wouldn't allow that. He didn't know what that man had in store for everyone, but Mike didn't like to think what was going to happen to himself in the near future.

"Any other questions?" Mike asked calmly. His mind slowly drifting away. He was almost always thinking about anything but the present. Always doting on the past, always trying to envision the future. Mike sought distraction from the things he was doing. He continued walking pondering on events long since passed.

So that was it then? I didn’t believe him, to be honest. I felt like there was a bigger picture behind his role in the Ward, but kept it to myself. He must have been important, whether he knew it or not. Otherwise, with the amount of malice Gunther referred to Vampires with, why would he trust Michael of all of them? There must have been some change in him, something that sparked my father’s decision and interest in him. After all, I’d seen Mike on countless monitors back in Antartica…

Which reminded me. I’d gotten a taste of the air outside when I’d had been transferred from plane to truck. It was cool now, at the night, but I knew what Arizona was, and I was not looking forward to the sweltering heat of tomorrow.

"Any other questions?" Mike asked in a cool voice. I struggled to match my pace with him step for step as he seemed to unconsciously speed up.

All of a sudden a tirade of questions assaulted my mind, things I wanted to know, things I’d never seen, people I’d never met but knew of…

“Have you met them,” I asked quietly, still straining to keep up with him, “The winged children I mean…what are they like…Where am I staying?”

I had a feeling that we wouldn’t be going anywhere special tonight. It was already late, and, from what I knew, I doubted the idea that shopping areas would be open. For a second I felt a pang of regret, wishing that I could have arrived earlier so that he could have taken me somewhere else, anywhere. I remembered once seeing a “McDonalds” on the screen of one of my father’s monitors as he observed some of our escapees.

I wanted to go to McDonalds one day too….

And then I asked, “What’s McDonalds?”

I inwardly cringed. I had a vast expanse of knowledge, but not an in depth look into what I knew. It was embarrassing to say the least.

“Have you met them,” I asked quietly, still straining to keep up with him, “The winged children I mean…what are they like…Where am I staying?” Mike noted her curious nature. It was to be expected, as she was only a year and a half old. He slowed his pace down. There was no easy way to teach Alice everything in a small time frame. Why Gunther entrusted Mike with Alice, he would never know. Perhaps she was a pipeline back to Gunther, to inform on Mike, and how he was behaving. Mike knew that Gunther had no solid proof of his intelligence, excluding his calm, and quiet demeanor. Mike was still able to convey the idea that he lacked emotions. He simply didn't know what to do, what actions he should take to avoid a coming conflict. Mike only had one answer to his solution, and that answer wasn't acceptable. Impossible even.

"I've been charged with guarding a handful of them. It is also my duty to test and bring back the ones that have escaped. As for what they are like, they are faster, more flexible, and all around better thinkers then my kind. Special abilities are to be expected among Avian hybrids. They rival us in flight, though most of them lack knowledge of the outside world. I've met many in the past, but that is a story for another time. You will be bunking in your own room. I will allow you to choose an empty one." Mike was trying to stay brief but informative. He assumed Alice would be a quick learner, for she was young, and could still grasp new concepts rather quickly. He stopped around twenty meters outside of the Ward's perimeter.

Alice asked, “What’s McDonalds?” quite randomly. This one caught Mike off guard. He glanced at her, making contact with her green eyes. He looked back into the woods, and breathed the night air.

"McDonalds is a series of fast food stores around the country, even the world. People go there, and pay for quick cheap food with currency. Not quite healthy, but it's still food I guess." Mike added the last part, obviously voicing his opinion about the place. He didn't think Alice would quite care about anyone's opinion, but he still voiced his own. After all Alice was going to be spending a lot of time with Mike. It would make sense to add a bit of himself into his 'teachings.'

Opinions had a strange way of giving frame work to basic ideas. Mike was willing to offer his own opinions sometimes, as an example rather then something to emulate.

Marceline

I waved casually to Eins as Marcus introduced both himself and his companion.

"So, Marceline... we need to get you back to the hospital. How far away is it? I guess walking is an option... but flying would be better. If I helped, do you think you could fly with one wing?"

I’d just been about to tell Marcus the distance of the hospital, when he made his suggestion to put it in mild terms.

I frowned feeling my pride stiffen every friendly muscle I’d just had.

God, I could imagine it now. We’d look like an awkward giant-three-winged bird toddling through the air. It was so embarrassingly laughable that I couldn’t even bare to look at it in a humorous light. Or maybe that was just my pride speaking. Biting my lower lip, I deliberated for a moment, allowing Marcus and Eins to be covered in a blanket of silence.

Let’s see. Walking would save me all the shameful feelings of not being able to carry myself on my own two wings. On the other hand, in my ever increasing bad condition (being made worse by my rebellious nature) I was bound to tire myself out before we’d reached half-way there. And the whole trip would probably end up taking, about, two hours. Far too long. My brother and the rest of them would find that I’d snuck out of bed already.

Which left flying. In my condition, flying with Marcus’s assistance would give us about twenty minutes to make it back to the hospital. Enough time for the kids to find out about me being gone, but also enough time for me to get back without giving any of them heart attacks.

It was at a time like this that I wished Euro hadn’t decided to pick up and leave us. Damn that boy….man for having other things to do. With his herculean strength (or his car stealing skills) we may have slid out of this one at a much faster rate.

But no, I was left with other bird kids who were similarly malnourished to me, and just as clueless as I was about stealing cars.

Wonderful.

I wasn’t going to lie to them though.

“I don’t like this idea….but it’ll have to do. There’s no way we can make it back in time on foot…so to the air away….”

I spread my good wing, holding out my arm for Marcus to grab onto. My pride was bending my will into all sorts of impossible positions, and I could only imagine my conscience wreathing under my decision. What can I say? I liked being independent.

Motioning to the length of the alley with my other, not outstretched, arm, I said, “The alley should be long enough to give us an adequate running start.”

After all, with the two of us bumbling along, I didn’t think we’d have enough space to just jump into the sky.

“Maybe she should take a head start?” I said, jerking my chin towards Eins. If she was already in the sky, there’d be no worry about leaving anyone behind, and we’d have more space in the alley, rather than just having her go stand behind us, or outside by one of the stores.

Alice

There was so much to learn, so much to comprehend, I thought my mind would overflow with the questions that were pricking the back of my mind. Rubbing my forehead, I tried to make sense of what Mike had said.

I’d seen Vampires attacking the bird kids on the screens back at my father’s lab. But never before had I gotten a good in depth look on either species. What Mike was telling me was so different from what I knew from passing glances at blurry screens (you would think Gunther could afford better).

And McDonalds. The way he’d spoken of it all of sudden made it much more distasteful than I had originally thought.

Pursing my lips, I asked another question, a much more important one, that had been pricking my mind for quite a while.

“Where are we going now?” We were outside. The Arizona air was cool now, chilled by the snug blanket of the night sky. “Any place in particular, or are you just going to stuff me back in the Ward?”

For a moment, I surprised myself by breaking my usually monologues tone. The last words I said came out cracked, with a bitter tone, and I blinked away the strange wet substance known as tears. Father condemned me when I cried, and therefore I knew better than to cry. But he wasn’t here now, and with him gone, there was space in my head for me to think about how I felt. Emotions. Something I didn’t necessarily understand.

“Sorry,” I apologized quickly, going back to my dull, non-threatening tone.


Matthew

“What do we do after this?” Taylor asked, all of sudden concentrating on her swinging feet. I frowned. Good question.

"Well I'd say we get Marceline, and get the hell out of here. The nurse said she was doing alright. I'm sure she'd be alright now, right now we're taking a unnecessary risk." Samuel responded, looking my way and shrugging.

Raising my hands, I quickly made my position clear, “Don’t look at me that way,” I said, chuckling, “I’m not the leader. If there had to be a leader, I would chose Euro, but he left our sorry asses alone….well, anyway, I agree with Sam. I think we should get Marce, and get out of here. This place gives me the chills.” I shrugged my shoulders, as if I was trying shake of a nasty substance from my back.

I turned my head, searching around for the nurse that had addressed us earlier. My eyes didn’t find her for a while. She was camouflaged in with all of the other, similarly dressed, nurses, and even with my stellar vision, I was forced to pick body apart from body in an attempt to discern her.

When I finally spotted her, I waved my arm timidly, to which she responded by coming over.

“Yes, sweetie.” Aww she talked to me like I was a scared little kid.

“Umm, can you tell us what room Marceline is in?” I said in my most polite teenage voice.

She hesitated for a moment, before saying, “I’m sorry but you and your….siblings,” I arched my eyebrows in surprise. Marce must have told them we were all related, “Can’t see your sister just yet. You’ll have to wait till the morning.”

Her tone was as friendly as ever, but I had a feeling she knew about our secret. Maybe from Marce’s doctor or something. And I had feeling she was keeping us from seeing Marce because maybe, just maybe, a certain government investigation team was on its way to apprehend us. Which meant they didn’t want us going anywhere. This nurse had, in the span of a minute, become far more creepy and deceptive than I had originally thought.

She smiled at me again, before curtly nodding her head, and disappearing back in the masses of nurses.

Getting up and stretching, I turned back to address Sam and Taylor, “So, who’s up for an adventure. Any ideas on which direction we should head?”

Alice

I grimaced under Mike’s conditions. They were, by the tone of his voice, absolute. Not that I knew how to fly. I mean come on, I’d been cooped up my entire life in Gunther’s lab. I’d never used my wings. Not being able to explore on my own, though, that one hit a tender spot. Even if Mike was locking me in room 24/7 I still had to stick with him. I was only learning as much as I was allowed to stray. Which meant I had no independency.

"Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I would like to ask you a question. If you choose not to answer, I will not be offended. Do you have any abilities, or powers that I should be aware of?"

At least he was giving me a choice. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t find out later. Somebody give him my files, and one way or another, he’d know everything about me, right down to my genetic make-up. So, might as well tell him now.

I sighed, before being my longwinded explanation. I would try and shorten it as best as I possibly could.

“First and foremost, you should know that I don’t have a pair of ‘parents’. Gunther’s not my real father,” I internally flinched when I said that but continued anyway, “I was born from the DNA of many of the bird kid mutants, including some of the ones you know…looking at it from that point of view, I have many parents.”

I twisted my fingers together as I began listing off my powers, “I have increased intelligence, for my age. It doesn’t mean to say I’m extremely smart. I just understand things quickly, and am smarter than the average child my age. Of course, most one year olds can’t do what I do. I can turn invisible for a small amount of time. It’s kind of like a shimmer, and I’m gone…but you can still hear my heart beat, my breathing etc. if you listen closely enough….”

I avoided Mike eyes for a second while considering if I should tell him about my last power. Sighing, I gave in. He would know about if I didn’t tell him anyway.

“I can shape shift…but not normal shape-shift…” Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to shimmer down to my much smaller six year old self, “I change the appearance of my age of so it seems.” My voice had risen about an octave with my more childish vocal cords.

Marceline

"Well..." Marcus seemed to be taking a shot at explanations. "Hovering is pretty much flying... kind of." He stopped abruptly, taking one long breath, before trying again. "Look, just get a running start and jump into the air. Your wings will do the rest. Worst case scenario, you get a few feet in the air and then fall. But if you can hover, I don't see that happening."

I sighed. I wondered if Marcus was just frustrated with her, or being a typical guy. I couldn’t tell, since I didn’t really know what the two’s prior relationship was.

I could feel my face softening, melting down to Mother-hen Marceline. I was pretty sure I had multiple-personality disorder, or something. Or maybe that was just me adjusting to the situation, like I’d always done for my brother.

Sighing, I pinched the bride of my nose before stabbing at an explanation of my own.

“Eins,” I said, trying to sound friendly, “Marcus is right. If you can hover, that means you have what it takes to fly. Besides,” I frowned as I stapled words together to form a coherent explanation, “Flying kind of has to do with the wind too. Flapping is to help you get up and stay aloft. The wind is what allows you to glide and stuff. The only time you really ever have to worry is when there’s little wind, which means you have put in some extra flaps…”I sighed. I could understand why Marcus had, had a hard time with this explanation. “You’ll understand what I mean when you get in the air…you’ll feel it, in your wings and body and stuff…Just trust me.” I said the last three words in the friendliest, most trusting tone I could muster up, before falling quiet.

I was never that…maternal…to people outside of Matthew. It was embarrassing. Clearing my throat, cheeks flashing red from embarrassment, I turned to Marcus, “I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to be a walk in the park. Both you and I know that. This is going to sound awkward but...I don’t think you’ll be able to hold me arm or shoulder. I’ll probably end up with a broken arm, or popped out socket…so..I think…you might just have to hold me…like…around the waist…or something…”

That was it. My face was full blown red. I frowned, quickly turning to look at my friend, the wall.

God if there was a time to slap me, it would be now.

Alice

"Okay, now that you were truthful with me, I will return the favor. The thing is, if I let anything bad happen to you Gunther will kill me. I hope you can understand and forgive me for these rules I've imposed upon you. If you prove capable, then I will make exceptions. The more you learn, the less strict I will be. Plus a few sessions at the fireing range wouldn't hurt either."

I nodded complacently as Mike told me the truth. I knew for a fact that what he was saying was honest. I knew Gunther. He would crush anyone who got in the way of his goals. The Vampires were just another expendable tool that my father used at his own discretion. When he felt they were no longer good, he simply got rid of them.

So, I knew Mike was telling me the truth when he said Gunther would kill him if he were to let anything happen to me.

"I'm not asking you to trust me in any way, but if you ever have a problem, or a question about me for that matter. Feel free to ask it. I won't mandate which form you choose, but I only ask you don't shift in public."

Well, to be quite frank, that was a rather open invitation. My questions still burned in my mouth, but I held my tongue. I had a few things of my own to inform Mike on, things that, in certain respects, made me feel embarrassed. My clothing at the moment hung loosely around my body; of course being for a sixteen year old, they would have never fitted me perfectly. Still, they covered me, overflowing around my body, and giving me a hard time when it came to moving.

Shifting back to my normal form, I said, “You won’t have to worry much about me flying away…I can’t fly. I’m sure you’ll understand when I say, Gunther’s never allowed me out and about much. Also, by his orders, I’m to stay in my sixteen year old form whenever I’m out and about with you, so you won’t have to worry much about me randomly changing back and forth between forms.”

I hesitated for a moment. My ability to speak with others, through my thoughts that is, was a handy thing. While I wasn’t able to mind read, I’d been able to persuade people, or rather trick them, into thinking that I was the one thinking for them. They didn’t understand that their conscience voice and mine were too different ones. It had come in handy in certain situations between me and my father’s personal assistants and scientists.

Taking a deep breath, I continued speaking, “I think I’ll be able to keep my brain in check, and resist using any mind abilities with one exception. Or rather a request. I want you to teach me how to fly. A least give me times of the day, and places where I can go out and practice. Not that I’m planning to, you know, run away or anything.” I tact on the last sentence quickly, hoping to avoid any suspicion from the Vampire.


Marceline

I didn’t expect what I saw when Eins broke out those wings of hers. My shoulders stiffened, and I eyed them carefully. Marcus was either extremely oblivious to what Eins wings looked like, or he knew something I didn’t. I was going to go with the second choice. Because I understood from what he was saying, something about knocking Vampires out, that he wasn’t stupid. He clearly knew what danger was, so why would he be with Eins if she was a Vampire. But she definitely wasn’t one of us.

“Good job, Eins,” I called in a hesitant voice, trying to reinforce Marcus’s thoughtful encouragement. I’d tried to keep the uncertainty out of my voice, but it cracked anyway. I internally reprimanded myself. I didn’t want Eins to be afraid of me. Or did I? I mean, how would I be so sure if she was on our side or not?

Marcus didn’t seem to be bothered by the whole waist thing, and with my new found surprise, the blush from my face began to recede away. I could feel a pulsating pain come from my damaged wing, and I assumed it had something to do with stress. Because I was stressing out. I mean what had I agreed to when I told them about the kids back at the hospital? For all I knew, they were double agents, about to whips out knives and guns on my sorry ass.

Shaking my head, and still looking at Eins, I slowly put an arm around Marcus’s shoulder. I was too scared and unsure to be bothered by the contact anymore.

“We’ll be able to take off,” I said in a far off sounding voice. Then, in a low whisper, out of Eins earshot, I murmured, “Marcus, what is Eins? I mean” I subtly signaled to her wings with a casual flick of my hand, “What are those? On her back. They’re not, you know, wings like ours…” I trailed off, nervously glancing at the girl. My instincts had kicked in, and all of a sudden I was in flight or fight mode. I swallowed quietly, eyes darting to the entranceway of the alley. My only escape. Not that I could fly or anything.

(@ Abridged. I think perhaps you should have them take off in the your post. I don’t mind if you rp Marce’s actions. Then I’ll have her, you know, lead them to the hospital post after that. I don’t want this whole taking off thing to take too long.)

“You won’t have to worry much about me flying away…I can’t fly. I’m sure you’ll understand when I say, Gunther’s never allowed me out and about much. Also, by his orders, I’m to stay in my sixteen year old form whenever I’m out and about with you, so you won’t have to worry much about me randomly changing back and forth between forms.” Alice said after shifting back into her normal form

Mike nodded, Gunther was very intrusive, he liked to impose his own opinions upon others. Mandating that they listen to him as if he was something more then an ordinary man. Mike had only met Gunther in person once, the ordeal hadn't been very... enjoyable. Had Mike known what kind of situation he was currently in, he probably would've killed Gunther that day.

“I think I’ll be able to keep my brain in check, and resist using any mind abilities with one exception. Or rather a request. I want you to teach me how to fly. A least give me times of the day, and places where I can go out and practice. Not that I’m planning to, you know, run away or anything.” Alice's request was innocent enough, plus Mike had planned on teaching her anyways. Mike also nodded once more. He started moving once more. Not knowing exactly how to teach Alice how to fly, Mike kinda took the concept and did it.

"Flying is really easy once you got the basics down. I'll teach you, and if you want, you could always fly above the woods around the facility without me. Everyone flies differently, plus I'm not the best when it comes to flying. I prefer a fight on the ground. I'll teach you the essentials, and after that you can practice in your free time." Mike finished.

"While we're talking about flying, we shouldn't fly in the city. If a bird kid sees us first we lose the advantage. I doubt we'll see any today." Mike offered advice, and he somewhat was deceptive about that last part. Mike only slightly doubted the fact that the bird kids still remained in the city. He saw Marceline get hurt in the fight. Claw marks across the wing, that would give the birdkids limited mobility. The night air was chilling, he looked up at the moon for a few minutes, then back to Alice.

"Ok we should get the basics of flight down now, we could fly the rest of the way to the city. The trick is to kick off of the ground as hard as you can. When you are at the peak of your jump, flare out your wings. It's important to move your wings as hard as you can. Gaining altitude is the obvious goal of talking off. The rest is just managing how fast you move your wings, and the angle in which you move them in conjunction with your body. I'll give you an example." Mike angled to his left, and walked into a clearing. Mike ran about ten meters, and jumped as high as he could. His large bat-like wings exploded from his back in a flurry of motion. He battered the ground with wind from his wing beats. Mike rose just above the tree line. He circled around Alice's position.

"Now it's your turn, keep in mind I don't need as many wing beats, because my wings are larger then most. You need to adjust to what feels right." Mike hinted to Alice that she would need a few extra wing beats. The night sky would cover Mike well. His black wing color would make it hard to see at night. Mike was a night predator, he could track and take down targets much better when he got enough cover to get close. All Mike needed was a longrange ability, and he would be the perfect hunter.

Marceline

"Because the only people who have natural white hair are old people and mutant escapees, and obviously you're not old. People will notice and remember you... maybe the wrong people."

"Like I said, normal people don't have white hair," I snapped, irritated by the repeated explanations. Some small voice in the back of my head told me it was wrong. Told me I should have given Eins the benefit of the doubt, be more light about it. But I wasn't in the mood to keep up with innocent curiosities when I had more pressing matters on my hands. I had just brought two completely clueless mutant children in a place that I was most certain they didn't want to be. My lips pursed as I warily eyed the door. I wondered if the doctor from earlier was still seething about my "masturbation" accusations. It left me grinning mischievously, almost evilly, and, for the benefit of my two new mutants, I quickly wiped the smirk off my face. At this rate, they were going to start thinking I was insane.

For a while, I deliberated on what to do, while Eins and Marcus stood off idly waiting for, I guess, directions.

"I don't think we could get out without saying we snuck in," Marcus said, breaking the silence, "Maybe... me and Eins should go back out the window and go in from the front. If they would let us in..."

I scrunched my nose, unwilling to leave the two of them alone. Eins had already proved to be more than enough to handle, and I didn't think she and Marcus alone in the hospital would do any good.

"I don't think, if we were normal you'd get in any trouble. But I'm willing to bet whatever I have," If I was wrong there went all my clothes, "That a couple of those nurses have been informed about my present...condition."

Meaning my wings. A sighed, resigned to our plan.

"Here's how things are going to go," I said quickly, trying to give as much information in a little span of time, "We're going to go out there casually. If no one asks us anything, great. But if stuff happens, we're just going to wing it. No doubt the commotion is going to bring the attention of the....family," I smiled wryly as I thought of referring to Matt, Sam, and Taylor as my collective family. If Marcus and Eins stuck around long enough, no doubt they'd become a part of that family too.

"Once we're all together we bust out of here."

I didn't wait for their approval. Assuming they were following me, I carefully opened the door, walking out with caution written all over my face.

A male nurse immediately threw me a grief stricken look, "Miss you're not supposed to leave..."

"My ass!" I said, pushing a hospital cart into his stomach before he could wrap his too big arms around me. He was too fit, too muscular, and way too accurate to be a hospital nurse. I could deduce from this that we were probably surrounded.

"Run!" I screeched last minute dodging the same nurse from before.

(@ Abridged and Tsuk
You guys can probably go into a fighting scene. We'll be up against a few nurses (male and female) who aren't actually nurses, but rather gov't officials. The commotion should bring all the other bird kids, who have split up, to the same point. From there, I'm thinking los government officials will apprehend them and bring them in for questioning.)

Alice

I looked at Mike intently listening to all his directions and observing his take off. I grimaced when he hit the air, flying what looked to be a dozen feet above me and circling my position. My teeth gnashed together. It looked so easy that it was laughable how frightened I was of the actual take off. Him circling me didn't make it any better; I could barely imagine myself getting in the air, much less angling myself enough to go round and round.

But I was determined not the let that deter. Putting on a confident face, I gave myself some space, trying to mimic the amount of the space Mike had given himself. He was taller than me so the space was no doubt more than what I needed to get in the air. My foot steps would not be as striding as his, and so I would be able to pick up speed in a relatively small space. The extra space made me feel comfortable though.

From what I'd seen of the bird kids, they didn't need to run to fly. I figured Mike was teaching me this was because I was just beginning. There was no way I was ready to just snap out my wings and fly from a stationary point.

Taking a deep breath, I snapped out of my standing position, racing forward. When I thought I covered enough ground to give me an adequate amount of speed, I jumped pushing my wings out, and pumping them fiercely in attempt to get in the air. And...it worked!

I smiled triumphantly for moment, before nearly tumbling out of the sky.

"Woah!" I yelped, forgetting about my momentary happiness in favor of trying to stabilize myself. I was not circling anywhere, at least not today. Looking up at Mike, I tried again for the grin. I didn't smile often, and the stretch on my mouth felt good.

"How was that?" I asked, as I waited for him to lead me on further to wherever we were going. All of sudden I was excited. What if I did see bird kids on this night?

Marceline

"Where?!" Marcus retorted sarcastically. Figuratively speaking, his sharp response provoked an equally sharp feeling in my chest.

It was like venom versus venom.

"Anywhere but here," I said, scathingly, pausing just enough to get in a pouting scowl. My own sarcasm burned my tongue; it was natural, for me at least, to act that way. To challenge when I felt I was challenged. And so, I flinched internally, hoping Marcus wouldn't take it badly.

The pseudo nurse was still coming after me, his long, heavy muscled arms outstretched in a threateningly uncomfortable way. Grimacing, I imagined that the incoming grip was a gentle hug, rather than the tight squeeze I knew I would feel in less than a minute. I gasped when his arms wrapped around me, quashing the breath out of my lungs and making my world spin with oxygen deprived dizziness. Ouch. I could feel my wing crushed up against my back; it disturbed me when I realized that my damaged wing had gone limp. I suppose the pain had been a bit much for it to endure.

I was in the air now. I was tall myself, but this guy was taller and stronger. With his height, my toes could barely reach the ground.

"Idiot," I grumbled under my breath, knowing he wouldn't hear me. He grinned down at me condescendingly, and I could feel my rage growing. Writing in his arms, I tried to slip out of his grip. Instead, my foot clipped him in the knee, forcing him to drop me as he doubled over in pain. Good. I hoped his knee would feel pain for a good week or two (you know, if he happened to survive this encounter.)

While he was wreathing on the floor, I found myself in the vice tight grip of much slimmer, more sure, arms. A woman. She'd been so quiet, I'd barely had time to react before I'd realized that her slim hands were wrapped around my neck. The best I could have done was slip out from under the delicate strangling half circle she created with her left arm, only for me to grab her right and fling her over my head. My wing (both of them, thank goodness) were beginning to feel normal again, as the blood flow previously constricted returned back to its normal flow, and I ripped off my blood soaked sweater. I was taking this bitch down.

She snapped up on her legs faster than humanly possible, and began charging at me again. I would have compared her to a hunting lioness, if I knew what one looked like.

"You are going down." I snarled charging back and snapping out my wings. The elongated hall of the hospital was perfect; flapping hard, it was less than three seconds before I was in the air at my top speed, my wings slightly bent to compensate for the fact that hall was smaller than the length of both my wings put together. For a minute second I wondered how the boys, with t their probably large wingspans, would have been able to cope with the claustrophobic space.

I have no idea what my top speed it; but, I do know that it supposedly breaks the speed of sound. Curiously I wondered if this was the fastest I could go. Could I break the speed of light? It was a good question, since I hadn't always been able to fly this fast. It had built up over the years, till I had hit a maximum speed. The Ward Master hadn't labeled it as my utmost max speed, and so it left me wondering how they had programmed my body.

And for that matter, for the first time in my life, my eyes. Normally, a bird kid, even with our advanced sight, would not have been able to see at my speed. Their eyes would have teared up and everything around them should have been a blur. But I was seeing just fine. A slight frown tugged at my lips; it had always seemed so natural that I had never considered it. Perhaps, when they had messed with my brother’s sight they had messed with mine too?

I didn’t have enough time to contemplate all those questions. Before the lady was able to hear the flap of my wings I had crashed into her (what with my faster than sound thing going on). I heard a sickening crack come from her arm, and a splatter of blood whipped across my face in a diagonal line. Ew.

We crashed into the very end of the hall, rolling in a discordant ball, and tumbling more than a few nurses out of the way. When we finally stopped, I was able to look back and check out Marcus and Eins.

To my surprise, and dismay, Eins seemed to have been hurt. However, he’d done it, Marcus had saved her. As I tried to get up, I froze, feeling a strange tingling sensation rolling down my back. It was stressful, as thought my muscles had tensed up, and I realized that was exactly what happened. To make matter worse, the muscle spasm had my left wing (the hurt one) constantly pulsing with pain. I kneeled on the ground, not sure if I was giving up or taking a break.

Matthew

I nodded briefly before dissolving from our little group to head down my hall. It was only now, when I was away from Sam and Taylor, did I realized how frightened I really was. My mouth feel dry, and I could feel the early stages of a headache crawling up along my brain. I needed an Advil or Aspirin, or whatever the hell people used to get rid of headaches.

I could give you all the boring details of my exploration through the hall but I’m not trying to kill you. All you need to know was that is exceedingly dreary and frightening to be alone and worried for my sister. It had all my nerves on end, and I found myself carefully picking my way from nurse to nurse, politely asking them discreet questions, hoping they wouldn’t relate me to my sister quickly.

After about fifteen minutes of searching I heard the strangest thing I’d ever heard in my entire life. Third floor, eastern corridor off of room 308. The Angels are under attack. Help them. I hissed (at least in the human approximation of the word) before I began making sense of the urgent invasion of sorts. It didn’t take me long to deduce how I had received such an alien plea for help; either a) there were other mutants in the hospital, or b) the Ward was trying to bait me. And either way you looked at it, if the Ward was trying to bait me or not, it meant that either Marce, Taylor, or Sam were in trouble.

Following the direction, I soon found myself close to room 308. And that’s when I spotted her. Relieft flooded through me.

“Marce!” I called out, elated. She was hurt, so that definitely meant something was going on. There was a woman not too far away from her with a deformed looking arm. She was slouched against the wall, her lips twitching angrily as she stopped me quickly lopping towards my sister.

“Don’t you dare,” the woman growled at me as I went in to pick my sister off the ground. I had been about grumble my own response back when I realized she was holding a gun to my face. I swallowed noisily waiting for her to pull the trigger. Time seemed to stop, and I barely had a fraction of a second before I ducked. The bullet careened off the metal top of the hall, reflecting back and digging itself into the flat marble floor.

I looked back at her stunned; had she really been out to kill me? Usually the Ward went for capturing, not killing. And there was nothing even remotely Vampire-ish about her. Out of my peripheral vision I was just able to spot the blurred shapes of two smaller (or rather thinner) people, about my age, I would guess. I didn’t risk glancing, too afraid that the gun was still loaded.

Alice

"You did great, I fell on my face a few times before I could even fly at all. You're a natural, When you want to land just get as close to the ground, flare your wings a few times to reduce speed."

I felt a genuine smile creep onto my face. How many times in my life had I even been complimented? I’ll answer that for you; not many.

Even with the space Mike was giving me, I found myself angling away from him, not wanting to be smacked by his mammoth wings. For a while, I admired the way he flew. It was far more graceful than me, and if there was anyone who was “natural” at flying out of the two of us, I would have thought it was him rather than me.

For a while we flew separately, until it seemed that he had something to tell me. Carefully, he angled his wings, coming close enough that I could hear him, but staying far away enough so that we didn’t collide.

"We'll be landing at the edge of the forest, we wouldn't want any bird kids seeing our approach." I nodded quietly, listening intently as he spoke.

Then, as he had described to me earlier, he began descending towards the ground, flaring his wings out in order to make a smooth landing. I watched him with envy; I knew this was the part of the day where I failed my flying test.

He called down for her, and she grimaced when he mentioned “handling this nicely.” This was not going to be nice.

“Here goes nothing,” she muttered under her breath. Taking a steep (probably too steep) dive downwards, she angled herself as best as she could, for the ground. It wasn’t enough.

“Ouch,” she growled, as she tumbled in a pile of crumpled leaves and pointy bushed. Groaning, she asked sarcastically (something she had picked up from observing one of the bird kids), “How was that.” She rolled her eyes, not at Mike, but rather at herself.

Twisting around so that she could see her wing, she grunted when she realized that her Vampire wing, jet black as it was, was marred with the small trickle of blood that indicated a cut. Her pure white Angle wing seemed find, albeit a bit ruffled.

Mike stood on the ground with his arms crossed across his chest. He wanted to offer Alice more advice, but really couldn't. Mike couldn't remember the first time he took flight. It was filled with rage; it was unfiltered, amplified anger. The odd Vampire sat there, digging through his own mind for answers. He imagined these same answers would set him free. If he could find the files that shed light onto his past, he would no longer have to stay with the scientists, masters, and Gunther's spies planted to watch him. He often wondered if Alice was under Gunther's orders to report back on his strange behavior. It didn't matter though. If Mike even caught the slightest hint of his death, he would cut and run. He would leave without the answers he sought. It wasn’t worth his life. Plus Alice seemed genuinely as mixed up in this crazy world as Mike was. He was a soldier designed to deal death, yet he never had the stomach to kill. Mike despised what he was, every day he looked into the mirror. He had caused too much pain to be forgiven.

Mike was ripped from his thoughts by Alice’s descent. He calmly watched as she approached at a steep angle. He had already been wincing when Alice careened into the ground. It wasn’t the worst landing he’d ever seen. It wasn’t exactly the best either.

“How was that.” She rolled her eyes.

Mike breathed out calmly. He shambled over to her, and knelt down next to her. Mike preferred to help people out with advice, it’s just he really wasn’t in the right place to help people. His purpose was to do the exact opposite. He looked at Alice with his multicolored eyes. In the same demeanor he was always in; he spoke. “You’ll get better, you just need to practice.” Mike rose up and offered an outstretched hand to help her up. For a monster, Mike was surprisingly polite.

“Are you okay?” Mike offered mild concern to mask genuine concern.