United States

(Heads up; I have multiple characters so this heading kind of helps you people know who’s narrating what. You guys don’t have to do this.)

Bacon.

Crunchy, mouthwatering, delectable, bacon.

Sitting there, across from me, on that damn ugly market shelf.

Someone remind why we’d stopped off at eight P’ frickin’ M to go do a night raid on a little Arizona grocery store?

Oh right. Matt was starving.

Personally, I could have done without all the theatric whining and irritating mimicry, but in the end, my little brother gets first dibs. When I say ‘little’, I don’t literally mean Matt’s years younger than me. Me and that sarcastic wit are the same age; twins at fifteen. It’s just, I had a 5 minute head start out the womb before he did, or so we’ve been told. It would suck if it turned out to be the other way, but while I can, I try to stress my elder sibling authority over him.

“What are you waiting for, Marce? Start grabbing crap and stuffing it in your pockets,”

I pulled the hood of my sweater down, promptly covering my face, and pointedly looking away from the cameras on the store’s cracked ceiling. Ew, was that dirty water leaking from up there? Oh right, no peaking. For all we knew, the Ward was observing us, recording our every movement, from that measly, 3rd rate surveillance camera.

“Crap?,” I hissed, shoving Matt in the ribs. I couldn’t see his reaction as he was dressed similarly to me, but I heard a satisfying “ow” come from somewhere under his hood, “Crap doesn’t sound very appetizing to me.”

I shook my heading rolling my eyes. Sucking my teeth for a moment, I gave in and grabbed two packs of bacon off the shelf. It was only two packs. It’s not like lightening was going to strike me for trying to keep my stomach full.

I heard Matt sigh as he watched me hesitantly plucking things from off the shelf.

“You’re such a wuss,” he whispered, and I proceeded to step on his foot, wishing I was heavier.

“Whatever lawbreaker. When the Arizona police force come to bust our sorry bird kid butts I have nothing to say.”



“Whatever,” I said, shaking my head, and taking a daredevil moment to pull my hood back and flash a cheeky grin at my sister. I was still waiting for her to bite my head off. Even though she doesn’t look like it, Marce packs a punch.

The brawls we’d get in when we were kids (and sometimes even now) puts my manliness to shame. If she kicks my ass one more time, I’m going to start watching videos of fluffy kittens. That is, if I happen to loot a laptop by then. And get a house. You know, with a functioning outlet.

“You ready to get outta of here?” she whispered to me, not bothering to keep the violence out of her voice. That’s my sister.

“Yep,” I responded, barely flashing her another look. Without indication that she heard me, we both bolted for the entrance, pockets overflowing with food.

Boy was that employee angry. All I could hear in my dash to the forest was a gust of vulgar, rated R curses, something no teen, however old, should be subjected too.

By the time we hit the shade of the forest, Marce had already pushed her wings out of the slits in her sweater and taken off. Slow to follow, I eventually got my footing (or rather winging?) and set out behind her.

We circled the area we’d just come from, moronically landing on the roof of the same market place.

Ripping open a pack of raw bacon, she threw a soggy, flabby piece at me.

“Until I learn how to make a fire, it’s raw food all the way.”

I nodded my head, chuckling, and shoving food down my face. The angry clerk below us was still shouting cruel obscenities, and I resisted the urge to cackle like a maniac. Poor guy. He was just trying to do his job. But when you’re a lone (or almost lone) mutant, stuck in a world of humans, you gotta do what you gotta do to keep you and your sister safe.

Leaning back against the hard concrete barrier that traveled the perimeter of the market's ceiling, both me and Marce took the time to unwind our muscles and let out wings hang free. Arizona is a hot place, if you don't know, but the shade of the night sky provided a cooling effect, occasionally causing the temperature to drop to freezing. Amazing isn't it? The world runs like one giant bipolar woman, changing temperatures here and there, causing sweltering heat affects, and chilling cool effects, and totally messing with me.

Not to mention we were in weirdo America. God bless America...it's a shame, I don't know the difference between our national anthem, and some the other, respectively, just as American songs.

Can't blame me, having been cooped up in a cage all my life. Ripping another piece of wet bacon off, I swallowed it in one bite, allowing my eyes to go searching. They landed on the ground in the front of the market, and I found myself have the biggest scare of my life. I had nearly gone into a staring contest with some guy who'd been staring up at the ceiling.

Watching me jump, Marce gave an equally frightened frown, "Who is it?" She whispered, bottom lip trembling.

"Some guy, just staring up here. I don't think he saw my face though," I said, "Well I'm sure he didn't."

I have super night vision. I could see that guy as clearly as day. As long as he wasn't some sort of freak, he didn't see me when I jumped. I'd moved too quickly. Hadn't I?



God, someone tell me I didn’t just see what I thought I saw. There I’d been, making my was to the grocery store for a late night pick up (pregnant people are picky) when out of the blue, two kids burst out of the market, carrying a load of what I presumed to be looted food.

Score one for those kids.

Jogging up to the salesclerk, who’d been dirtying the air with his words, I asked a very simple, very logical, question.

“What happened?”

“Two brats just ran off with half the bacon in the store,” he said, shaking his head. I suppressed a chuckle. His face was tomato red, and it was strange combination. The guy was no weight lifter. He was a skimp, puny clerk, and the combined red faced look was one that could have caused Masters to laugh.

“Sorry, man,” I said. For the first time since he’d thrown his tantrum, he looks at me seeming a bit taken back. I’m Hispanic, and generally speaking, I don’t often see a lot of tall Hispanic men in Arizona. Especially, not being stereotypical, considering the fact that most of the Hispanic people here are Mexican.

I’m a bit taller (okay, I’m not a giant) and my voice is pretty deep, so I’m guessing he wasn’t expecting to see a Latino guy talking to him.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, taking a one hit look at my arm muscles before slinking back off to his counter, still saying, rather loudly, some very profound curses.

Taking one last glance backwards, I stared into the darkness of the sky. Nothing out of sorts. Except the two gigantic birds going to land on the roof. No freaking way.

I stared at the roof for a while, contemplating whether or not to take a flight and investigate the birds. I like avians (due to my strange condition) and I dreamed of one day having a pet eagle. A harpy eagle. How nerdy am I?

For a while, one bird seemed to perch dangerously close to the edge of the roof, and I could make out his bright wings against the night sky.

Then a head turned to look at me.

Wait.

A head? Like a human head? It jumped, taken aback by my staring, and the wings abruptly disappeared from the edge of the roof. My heart was racing. Cause there was one thought that came to my head almost immediately.

Bird kid.

Low hanging tree branches whipped Haley's face as she ran through the forest. It felt like she had been running for ages, but she wasn't ready to stop yet. In the distance she could see a bright light shining through a dense patch of trees. Back at the ward they had done all sorts of fitness tests. She had been forced to run, jump, swim, and fly for miles. It seemed inevitable that one of them would be bound to come in handy eventually. Apparently 'eventually' was today. The trees were getting closer and closer together, and she could feel their sting as they hit the plethora of cuts and bruises that littered her arms, legs, and face.

Suddenly the trees were gone and Haley burst through onto the sidewalk of a busy street in what appeared to be a small suburban town. Okay, first things first, where on Earth am I? She thought, looking around for a street sign. She hoped the outside world was like the movies she'd been forced to watch in the ward. It looked about the same, so why wouldn't it be? Haley had had to teach herself to read with little things she found in the ward. It took a while, but it was a great way to pass the time and break away from the world she lived in. A few years ago she had found a book about a bunch of kids who's DNA had been spliced with that of a canine. They were just like her, well except for the fact that they had different animals inside them. Anyways, the book had been labeled "sci-fi" for "science fiction". It struck her as odd, why would it be science fiction? Back at the ward Haley had met a couple kids with canine DNA in them. That was lesson one about the real world, mutant kids weren't just abnormal out here, they didn't exist.

"Maine Street" She read aloud when she finally found a street sign. People were staring at her and her automatic assumption was that they knew. Somehow they could just tell she was different. Haley instinctively pulled her wings in a little tighter to her body and turned to keep walking, which is precisely when she saw her reflection in a store window. Her face was covered in small cuts and bruises, her clothes were torn and caked in a mix of mud and blood, and there were twigs stuck in the knot that was once her hair. That certainly explained the staring. Crap.

She walked into the store in hopes of finding a bathroom or something to clean up in. Instantly a motherly looking blonde woman ran over to her, "Oh my word deary, what in the world happened to you?" She asked as she started pulling the twigs out of Haley's hair.

"I, uhm, I went for a run and got a little lost." She lied, then realized it still didn't explain her appearance, "and I fell down a hill."

The woman shook her head, "my my my, well come on back and we'll get you cleaned up." Before she knew what was happening, the woman grabbed her arm and led her behind the store's counter and into a large storage room. There was a small sink in the corner with a first aid kit and a few basic toiletries next to it. "Thank goodness we have this stuff back here," the woman said as she picked up a hair brush, "The boss likes us to look pretty when we're working, says it will help us sell more clothes. Were you running down by Breton Creek? That's the only real big hill I can think of around here that could do this much damage. You would've needed to be going pretty fast though." Haley nodded silently.

The woman gave her a new outfit and bandaged up all of her cuts, talking idly about one thing or another the whole time. "No charge deary, do you need help finding your way home?" She asked as she led Haley back out to the main part of the shop.

Haley shook her head, "No I'll be alright," she said, inching towards the door. "Thank you so much, I'll be sure to tell all my friends about this place, I hope you have a good day." She said and made a beeline for the door. Friends? What friends? The only friend Haley ever had was a girl years ago that the scientists paired her with during tests to save time.

Now what? She thought.

Taylor

Thin branches whipped at my face. I was constantly ducking under large tree trunks to avoid being hit. Trust me; you only make that mistake once. Even though I couldn't hear them behind me I kept flying. I had stayed close to the ground, flying through the forest. It was hard, with something freaking smacking you every three seconds. I don't know why but I was afraid to fly in the sky. Maybe I was afraid someone would look up and spot me. Whatever, it doesn’t matter now. I stopped, lowering my feet to the ground, folding my wings in as I began to take on a sprint. I didn't even last ten seconds before I collapsed on the ground. I was lost, tired, bruised up and now I was getting hungry. I guess most of it's my fault though. I could have stopped a while ago to rest but I kept going, even though I had stopped hearing there snarls a long time ago. But still, no point in taking chances.

I lay sprawled out on the ground. I couldn't see the sky at all, all these leaves blocking the way. Sighing, I rolled over and forced myself to my feet bringing a hand to my face. Dirt, cuts, bruises. Pretty much all of them from my careless mistakes. What a lucky girl I am. I walked the rest of the way, but this time headed west. I figured if I went north I would just keep coming across trees. And honestly I was getting sick of trees. Though after a five minute walk, I could see where the trees ended. I stopped, and stared ahead. Was this the right thing to do? Was I walking into an ambush? I’m not sure why but now that I was here....I was actually scared to go out.

God I sound like a baby. "You can do this Taylor I thought trying to reassure myself. I straightened up and began walking quickly, until I came out and saw a town. It wasn't much but that's what made me less nervous. I walked, keeping close to the forest, looking over my shoulder ever five seconds. I wasn't safe anywhere. Oh great am I paranoid? I bit my lip and jumped, as a car rode by. My heart was beating fast, and my body ached. I know I needed to rest but definitely not at somebody else’s home. Nothing but trouble, I could do this on my own without anybody's help.

Haha keep telling yourself that Taylor. I continued walking, looking for a deserted house, anything. But I didn't have all day. I decided to go get food. So I walked to the nearest place with food. A bakery it seemed. As soon as I entered, the smells of all kinds of deserts filled my nose. There were racks, racks filled with all types of treats in little wrappers. The big deserts like cakes and stuff were in a display table to the side. It took everything inside me not to go berserk and try and eat everything in there. I looked over and saw a man at the register. He looked old but just in case; I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I could see nothing but a blue swirling color around him and a warm feeling rushed through my body. His intentions were good. Which meant I could trust him for now. I took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing" I muttered and began walking towards him.

"Um....is anything here free?" I asked lamely. The man looked up and narrowed his eyes. He knew I was probably trouble. I braced myself, waited for him to yell and try and kick me out but he just snorted. "Nothing's free here." he said and turned away. After that I got a little pissed off. I know his intentions were good, but good or not you can be rude as hell sometimes. As soon as he turned his back, I marched away over to an aisle and looked to see if he was watching. All clear. I slowly grabbed something off a rack, it looked like a piece of bread. Maybe banana bread? I couldn't tell for sure and I wasn't about to taste test now. I moved slowly, taking things one by one. Small things like candy and little cake slices. Food that would probably take him days to notice was missing. As soon as I felt I had enough to fill my pockets, I left. As soon as I had made it outside, I ran, ran as fast I could. It was only a matter of time before someone would ask questions. My jeans were torn and dirty, my shirt had several holes in it, and my hair was all over the place. If I were me, I would probably call the police on myself too.

It was another uneventful day in the life of Marcus. And by uneventful, I mean that I was minutes away from starving to death with no known solution at hand. Okay, maybe not minutes... but it sure felt like my stomach was about to devour the rest of me whole.

It had only been a few days since I'd escaped certain doom, but it felt like it had been years. Here I was, clinging to the roof of a tall building like an overgrown crow, trying not to let my guard down despite the fact that it was dark. There were lights, and my enemies had night vision. Probably.

I mentally laid my options (or lack thereof) out before me:

1. No money, so that rules out actually buying food.
2. I was covered in dirt and my clothes were torn. Maybe I could beg?

I put that option on the back burner, even though the idea of holding up a "BIRD KID WILL FLY FOR FOOD" sign made me snicker.

3. I could steal some food. I'd only tried that once and I had immediately been spotted by an employee. I had spent hours flying like a maniac, convinced that I was being chased by hoards of Vampires. First time I'd ever experienced absolute mindless panic, and needless to say, I wasn't eager to experience it again.

I scowled down at the streets, wracking my not insubstantial brain for solutions. I could steal money. Even late at night, there were quite a few people walking the streets. It would be nothing for me to snatch a wallet, but there were plenty of ways for that to go wrong. Still, it was a lot better than going on a manhunt for a piece of cardboard and a sharpie to complete my homeless act. Sharpies are hard to find.

I turned and sprinted across the building, hopping over the raised edge and letting my wings unfurl. I circled around a cluster of buildings until I spotted a small rear parking lot and partially folded my wings, angling myself down in a slow (for me anyway) dive and pulling up at the last minute to land gently on my feet. I flattened my wings tight against my back and straightened out the bundle that was my lightly scuffed leather jacket.

Shrugging it on and glancing around for potential witnesses (none, except some drunk guy hanging out by a dumpster), I sauntered through an alley and onto the streets like I owned them. It's all about attitude, or so I've heard: You don't act like an extremely nervous and highly dangerous mutant lab escapee, and no one will treat you like one.

Seemed to work; only a couple people spared me a passing glance, and they were an older couple who probably thought I was some kind of gangster, but who knew. Unfortunately I hadn't developed telepathic abilities. I wasn't about to steal from a couple of old people, so I walked like I had somewhere to be and kept both eyes out for any opportunity. After dismissing several people, I spotted a tall man up ahead who, for some reason or another, attracted my attention.

I sped up and studied what I could so of him critically, looking for the little signs that would point him out as a Vampire, or a Master, or anyone from the Ward for that matter. After being surrounded by them for most of your life, you tend to pick up on a few things. He looked clean to me, one arm occupied with a grocery bag, so I sped up even more, shooting glances all around me to see if anyone was paying attention, which they weren't. And after that it was a simple matter to reach forward and pluck a weathered wallet out of his back pocket.

Except that it was attached to his belt loop by a chain, which I realized right after I jerked on said chain. Greeaat. Might as well go for broke!

I yanked on the chain hard enough to rip the belt loop off and ran for my life and freedom... right into a network of alleyways, which in hindsight, wasn't actually the best idea. I sprinted through them until I found a fire escape and climbed that thing like an olympic monkey. Once on the roof, I took a running leap into the sky and headed for the nearest hiding place as fast as my wings would carry me.

Brendan McAdams:
"Up to you bro." I said as I looked from the brunette girl, to the pair sitting on the roof of what appeared to be a gas station, and back again. From our perch up high we could easily see both. It wasn't like I didn't already know which one Carter was going to pick, but if I asked him about this it should hopefully give me more pull on our next decision. Or at least I liked to think it would.

"Let's split up." I heard him say.

I knew it, of course he would pick- wait, what? I could feel his eyes on me, could sense the smirk forming on his lips, but before I had a chance to say anything he was gone. In the blink of an eye he was on the ground with his wings tucked in and his hand extended. Well, at least I'd been right about which he would pick.

I turned my attention back to the pair on the roof. They were obviously eating, and by the looks of it they'd stolen the food from the building they were sitting on.

"Sounds like something Carter would do." I muttered to myself. The street lights hummed below, emitting a pleasant orange glow over everything they could reach. Wasn't that from a movie? Something about 'everything the light touches...' - oh, it doesn't matter.

I took off into the night, circling high and wide above the gas station twice to make sure everything was clear before dipping below the tree line and forcing myself into invisibility and landing silently on the roof.

Invisibility isn't what everyone likes to think. At least not for me it isn't. There's no simple on/off switch to flick that magically makes me disappear. It's a mental strain that takes so much focus and energy it's absolutely ridiculous. Even so, it comes in handy. Like now for instance, when I can stand on a roof top and go unnoticed while I listen to what the two not so subtle bird kids have to say.

Carter McAdams:

The look on Brendan's face when I flew off; priceless. He seriously looked like I had just threatened to steal his first born or something, which just for the record, I definitely don't want. Well, maybe someday. Kids can be cool sometimes, but really I don't want any. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm totally going to have a son someday. I think I'll name him Tyler. I like the name Tyler.

Wait, can I even have kids?

Doesn't matter. Well it does, but now's not the time.

Focus Carter.

Oh God, now I sound like Brendan. That's all he ever says to me. 'Focus Carter', 'Pay attention Carter', 'Are you even listening to me Carter?', "Carter stop playing with that, it's explosive'. Annoying, right? I don't know how he ever get's anything done.

Right, okay, focus.

Mutant or normal girl? She looks normal enough. Then again, so do I, looks can be deceiving. She looks flustered though. Probably needs help right? I should probably stop circling her now and just introduce myself. I'm getting kind of dizzy anyways. Yeah, I should stop.

"Hi there," I said with my most charming of smiles as I held my hand out for her to shake, "I'm Carter."

Haley Price

To say I was surprised by the sudden appearance of the boy before me would be a HUGE understatement. Floured maybe, completely stunned, possibly even a little terrified. Even those descriptions don't quite hit just how shocked I was.

The entire interaction caught me so off guard that I found myself grabbing Carter's hand if for no other reason that to keep myself from tumbling backwards. He had to be from the ward, no doubt about it. Either that or I'm seriously losing my edge.

When I found my balance again I smiled and shook his hand quickly before releasing it.

"Haley. It's uh, nice to meet you." I said, about as awkward of an introduction as possible if I do say so myself. Instinctively I took another step back to put some distance between us. He seemed nice enough, but this entire situation was about as strange as it could possibly get, and I still needed to figure out where in the world I was. Okay, where in America I was, I knew for certain I was in America. Then again, he could probably help.

"Yeah, so I'm uh, I'm going to go now.. Carter, right? It was nice to meet you Carter." I said with a small smile, taking a few more steps back towards the safety of the woods in the process.

Samuel slowly brushed passed the trees breathing raggedly, he had been running through this god forsaken forest for hours without pause. However fatigue had finally began to impair him, and now he was walking sluggishly. Samuel's eyes twitched and his wings ruffled as he casually stopped and began breathing deeply, his eyes slowly began to analyse his surroundings he was currently residing in some sort of clearing, as the sun shone through the trees he exhaled "It'd be so much easier... if I could fly." However Samuel had great reluctance to do so, for fear that the Ward would somehow find out, and drag him back to that hell. Samuel knew it was crazy they couldn't possibly find him now, but his irrational paranoia was justifiable he'd spent all of his life in that hell and going back was the last thing he had on his mind.

After his brief pause Samuel decided it'd be best to get marching again, he pushed himself off a tree which he had been leaning against for support and slowly began trudging forward. After walking lamely through the forest he noticed the atmosphere began to change, a peculiar feeling which Samuel couldn't describe but it excited Samuel as would anything new would. As he pushed on wards he came out of another clearing, however this one was different from the one before. There were roads of concrete and buildings, there was only one word in Samuel's vocabulary to describe it, which was urban he had heard the word before, but he didn't know its meaning but the word just seemed to fit here. Samuel muttered to himself mostly in confusion, "This is beautiful..." Samuel knew very little of the outside world other than the small snippets the Ward has shown him to give him a vague idea of what the world outside would hold, but this was amazing to actually be there rather than seeing and hearing about it.

Samuel's eyes flickered as he familiarized himself with his new found surroundings there were cars, building, stop signs and so many other things that seemed so odd, he had seen them before of course, but that was different he wasn't actually there now he was seeing one in reality. He paused before concluding he must look so out of place here, the set of jeans he was wearing were torn to shreds, his shirt also along with a pair of hiking boots which were already worn out, not to mention the fact that he had wings he laughed dryly at the realization. However he noted his flesh was unmarked and had sustained no injury, which puzzled him slightly as he remembered sustaining several small cuts while running out of the forest.

"Okay, okay Sam think of some sort of plan." he paused drawing a blank before sighing hesitantly, "Okay... lets at least figure out where I am..." he concluded. His eyes began scanning the various signs until he spotted a particular sign of interest, which was further down the road which seemed to lead to nowhere. The sign was green and it had white posts supporting it, he paused squinting to read it 'Arizona' Samuel's eyes relaxed before he muttered casually, "What the hell is an Arizona..." he figured it must be a location of some sort, probably where he was.

His mind drew another blank for the next stage of his plan however, frustrating him slightly. However his stomach rumbling gave him a slight clue on the next part of his plan. Food, the prospect sounded and almost tasted delicious, but the means of obtaining it were difficult as far as he knew. He'd have to find a trader or something, a shopkeeper to be more precise which wasn't any trouble since there was a sign on a particular building that looked more public than the other buildings that read 'General Store' it had a slogan underneath but Samuel couldn't be bothered to read it and simply approached the building cautiously figuring this must be a store of some sort.

As Samuel entered the store he noticed several people giving him weird looks and strange glances, which made him even more nervous than he already was. Ironically the only thing that kept him from running out of there while screaming was the different variety of food the store had, there were so many different things which made his eyes bulge. He paused before nervously grabbing the clostest bags of food off the rail without checking what it actually was, before whistling nonchalantly. He spotted a woman at a counter of some sort who expected him to approach, he began to shuffle towards her before dashing towards the stores exit, food in hand. He heard voices raise as he dashed towards the door, hearing shouts of concern shot bolts of panic up his spine and his most primal instinct kicked in, flight literally. His wings snapped forward and he jumped up into the air screaming frantically, as he took off away from the ground at a rapid speed flying uncontrollably away from this destination.

Matthew POV

We waited, listening. Finally the footsteps faded into the store, and both of us allowed our shoulders to shrug it off.

Marce’s wings were still raised, and I could tell she was thinking of a make or break plan for us to go by just in case we got caught. It’d most likely involve fighting. Woot, for the violent sister.

Shoving a glob of dry, untoasted, bread down her gullet, she pulled a pair of crumpled, slightly ripped, papers, out of her sweater pocket.

I shuddered. Those papers were papers about us, a few records we’d managed to steal in our escape from the Ward. Unfortunately, they were just records of our names, age, hair color, and all the other necessities that probably go on a form. A little log of how many times we’d been transferred from Ward to Ward was placed in the lower left corner of each paper.

Neither of us had read them subsequent to our escape, simply concentrating on surviving. Let me tell you, when you’re a bird kid that’s just escaped to the outside world, to the real world, everything is impossibly difficult. You don’t know where you are, you don’t know what regular people are like, and you don’t know how to socialize like an average human being.

It took us a total of three freaking days to finally come out of hiding in the forest, and figure out what part of Arizona we were in.

But then again, we were kind of different. Most bird kids were alone. For the past fifteen years, every other bird kid I’d met, in our Ward transfers, was dissocial and awkward. Which made sense. Me and Marce were a different situation. As frightened and awkward as we were around Masters, we had been together all of our lives. We knew how to interact with other kids our age because we interacted with each other all the time. Which was a total blessing. Most other bird kids were kept alone, and I couldn’t imagine how terrifying that must be.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I asked, “What do they say?”

Her eyes roved over the papers, and her lips pouted out in her trademark disappointed Marcy look.

“The only important thing I can glimpse from these loser records is that we were transferred from a Ward in the city, to two Wards in Long Island, before we were totally taken out of New York and brought here to Arizona…”

A Ward in the city? How the hell had the Masters been able to keep a Ward in New York City? Even though I’d never seen it up close and personal (every time they transferred us, they’d put us in large steel crates, with only six puny holes for us to breathe through; then they’d stuff the crates in traveling vans; we’d never gotten a look at what was outside) I knew, from common knowledge, that it was supposed to be huge, and crowded with skyscrapers. How’d they ever hide something like a Ward in there?

“I think we’ll be heading back home, to New York,” Marcy said, looking up and grinning at me like a manic. But it was grin full of hope. We could find our parents.

“Maybe we’ll search up stuff about the Ward too,” I said, flicking a bug off of my arm, “I mean, we don’t even know if our parents are alive.”

Marce nodded her head, not looking disappointed, just sad. I looked down at my hands, not willing to meet her gaze.

We never said it to one another, but both of us didn’t have much hope for our parents.

Looking back up at Marcy, I stiffened.

Her eyes were glued to mine, and her hand was casually resting on her thigh, with one minor difference. Her pinky finger, and only her pinky finger, was insistently drumming on her leg. In the Ward that had been our way of telling each other that someone was there behind the viewing glass observing us. Even if we couldn’t see them, we, with our advanced bird kid hearing, could hear them.

But there were no Masters here.

Marceline POV

God, why hadn’t I been paying more attention? Someone was here. Whether it was natural instinct, or some lame intuition, I knew there was someone here.

Problem numero uno: I couldn’t freaking see them.

Casually, Matthew took a sweeping glance around the roof. He had extreme night vision, so no doubt about it, he would have been able to see whoever was there. That is, if they were visible.

My heart caught in my throat, and I began wondering if this was some kind of new Vampire stealth mode. Invisibility combined with ferocious, blood craving, horrendous, monsters was not an idea I liked.

We’d pretty much demolished the food, so I began standing up, leaving whatever leftover pieces there were on the ground.

Matthew followed suit, and as each of us got closer to being in a standing position, each of us spread our wings farther apart, getting ready for a fight or flight situation.

By the time we reached a standing position, we froze, giving whoever was there the benefit of the doubt. I wanted them to make the first move.

Cause there’s no way I’m punching empty air. If there’s invisible Vampires out there, then I want to break some noses.

Euro

Tell me again why my girlfriend wanted a pack of fake ramen late at night? Jeez, pregnant people.

Desperately trying to ignore the definite eyes, and human head, that I’d seen looking down at me, I shuffled my way into the store.

God.

More bird kids? Did that mean the Ward was here?

Would they find me and Solo?

Grabbing packs of cheap ramen from off the shelf, I hurried my way to the checkout counter. There were only two late night workers there. The tomato faced man, who’d been yelling at the little thieves, and another, younger, brunette girl. I’d probably say she was about sixteen, and had taken this job as a way to make quick cash.

After she’d checked everything out, she batted her eyelashes at me a few times, before saying in a very sultry voice, “You need anything else with that?”

Seriously? This chick was trying to get me hot-and-heavy in a market? With tomato face over there staring us down?

“I’ve got a girlfriend,” I said, not bothering to keep the disgust out of my voice.

She looked taken back, like I’d just dropped the offer of my lifetime.

“Thanks,” I mumbled, grabbing the bag from her hand, and ignoring the disappointment and hurt on her face as I left. Human women were something else.

As I made my way out of the store, I did something that normal humans don’t do. I made a beeline for the forest, and soon enough, found myself in the air, circling the area.

I was going to find those bird kids and whoever the hell else was over here.

Then I’d deliver my Solo her ramen, like the hero I was.

Carter McAdams:

Woah is she skittish or what? If I had to guess I'd go with a week out, maybe two, but definitely no more than that. Definitely a bird-kid though. Unless normal people learned the art of healing their cuts and bruises in a fraction of a second. Which I seriously doubt.

I took two quick steps forward and one to the side, which did a pretty good job of blocking her route back to the forest. Woops, those were supposed to be normal steps. Great now I'll really scare her off. Brendan's going to kill me.

"Look, you're probably hungry right?" I said.

Food was always a good way to win people over. It would be a good way to win me over. Especially pizza. Pepperoni, or buff chic, or oh, what was that one I tried that one time? Hulu chicken? Yeah, that was good. Wait, why am I talking about pizza?

Haley, right.

"Just stay here for one second, okay? I'll be right back." I said, and without waiting for a response I was off again.

Brendan McAdams:

I could feel him coming before I could see him. Of course, with how fast he was moving how could I possibly see him? He could see me though, because in the blink of an eye he was standing directly in front of me with his hand out asking me for money.

It's a weird fault with my power. Carter can always see me, no matter what. Kind of like how I can always tell where he is even if he's moving to fast to actually be seen. We just call it the 'freaky twin thing' because really, what else could it be?

Carter's always had terrible timing when it comes to stuff like this. The fact that he didn't even glance at the other two bird kids but rather came and stood with his back to them to ask me for money? Especially when they're clearly getting ready for a fight.

"What do you need money for Carter? We just ate." I said as I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and handed him ten bucks nonetheless. We've only actually been buying our food for a couple days now, and I know Carter hates it, but I'm fairly certain it helps us stay under the radar.

I didn't get an answer, because as soon as he'd come he was gone again and I was standing there alone on the roof. No use being invisible now.

It's always a huge relief dropping the invisibility cover. It's like my mind just gets so much clearer and lighter.

"You guys can relax." I said, ruffling out my wings for good measure, "I'm Brendan by the way."

Michael

The only sounds present, was the sound of dripping water, and the faint noise of birds chirping. Mike sat atop the ward facility, some of the fences surrounding the facility were open. Vampires were scrambled in every direction to find the experiments who escaped. Mike swung his legs silently observing the sky. The sound of bird's wings were made apparant to him. Mike's eyes grew alert, and aware. He scanned the skies, looking for figures. Suddenly a small weight was pressed onto Mike's hand. He looked down and beheld a small bird resting on his pointer finger on his right hand. Mike's eyes lost the cold edge that Mike forced into them. He hadn't heard a bird kid, but a simple bird. He almost forgot the idea of birds being normal. Mike never got to enjoy the beauty nature had to offer, he was a killer. He had no other purpose to do anything else. His mind wandered, he tried to think about his early life, but it was when he was in his maddened state. Everything was unclear, but now Mike can understand his actions. There's a special place in hell for him. That much was for certain. He looked down at the bird. Mike shooed the bird off of his hand. It fluttered away, and dipped back into the treeline.

Mike sighed as he got to his feet. He had work to do. There had been many that escaped. His job was to restrain and bring atleast one back. If he could do that, then the rest would willingly return, or atleast some of them anyways. Mike's wings flared open, and he launched himself off of the roof. He would land when he was close to the city's perimeter. After all arousing attention wasn't his objective. Regardless of Mike's intent his life marched on violently. He landed at the edge of the treeline, his wings came back in. Mike's jacket covered up his gear, and his wings quite nicely. Mike activated his beacon for his partner. Vampires generally didn't work alone all of the time. Mike usually worked by himself. Listening to the mad ravings of his brothers and sisters made him feel sick. Anyone like him was either dead, or turned back into their former monsters. There was no one who could help him face the things he'd done. Like it or not Chasing bird kids was tearing his heart in two. He simply didn't know what to do. Vampires didn't survive long outside the walls of the Ward. Bird kids tended to kill on sight, or reject anything with bat wings. Like it or not, there was no alternative. Mike would continue to uphold his dark reputation.

Mike had tried to run at one point in time. He only got large burn wounds, and a dead partner out of the deal. He cracked his knuckles. Mike had the strength, and reflexes of a trained soldier. He was also the designated marksman in his old squad. He was more than proficient with a firearm. Not to mention, he was of a bulkier brand of Vamps. Mike could deal a real mean punch when all of the standard abilities were taken into account. Mike practiced his slouch, and leaned against a wall. He was getting pretty good at it. He had his hands in his pockets, and looked around for any hints or signs of birdkids while he waited for his back up.

The only thing that labled Mike as ineffective when trying to be incognito, was his eyes. Anyone that saw them once would recognize them again. They were something Mike couldn't hide. Mike tried contacts, but he always threw them out if the Masters wanted him to wear them. They made his eyes puffy, and they itched. Pausing for an itch mid combat wasn't acceptable by Mike's standards.

Mike simply began whistling a tune, and sat by a thrift store with his eyes shut. He simply told himself to relax, and wait.

Haley Price

Food hadn't even crossed my mind. Okay, that's a lie, it crossed my mind about 10 miles ago, but the thought was gone just as soon as it had come. Probably swiped from my mind by one of those tree branches. At the mention of it though I felt my stomach grumble. Honestly though, when wasn't I hungry? Oh yeah, that's right, never.

"Yeah I-" I started to tell him I was hungry, but before I had the chance he was gone. So I wound up just mumbling a "nevermind" to myself. I adjusted my new clothes a bit while I waited. They were still a bit stiff and uncomfortable, not worn like what I'd had on before. Of course, my previous outfit was practically falling off and unwearable, so I guess it's good I got rid of it.

Carter was back far too fast for my liking. I still hadn't decided whether or not to trust him, and I'd barely even had the chance to turn around before he was in my my face again. Of course, he was holding a crisp ten dollar bill in his hand, and the prospect of food was just too promising to want to leave.

"What can that get us?" I asked. The concept of money was understood, but I didn't have the slightest clue how to use it.

I leaned against a building, stuffing the food into my mouth. It was so delicious. I swear, I was in heaven and for once, actually felt peaceful. And then......I ran out of food. Well back to reality I guess. I looked around, checking my pockets for anything but no luck. It pissed me off at how quickly I devoured everything instead of saving it or something. I looked around and not far from me, I spotted a trash can. I slowly stood up staring at it. Maybe I could see if there was more food in there.......no. I'm not that desperate. Or at least not yet anyway. I turned away so I wouldn't be tempted and looked up at the sky once more. Maybe I could take off? Maybe nobody would notice right? I closed my eyes thinking about this for a second. It seemed like the only choice I had. Either that or stay here and wait for death. Fun.

I walked, looking for a good running place to start. My wings slowly started unfolding from my back as I did this. First I started off with a nice simple jog. Then it turned into a sprint. Then I jumped. My feet didn't touch the ground again after that. I flew straight up at first until I was sure that I was high enough, and then flew north. With no exact idea where I was going. Pretty soon I would have to settle somewhere and figure out a safe place to chill while I got my thoughts together. I was quiet for a moment then snorted at how ridiculous I sounded. I would never be safe, and never find a place to chill would I? Anyways, I glided along the air, wind brushing softly against my skin. Thinking about it now, it's a magnificent experience. Smooth and easy going, something that no regular human would ever experience. This was a good thing because if everyone could fly then the sky would be filled with idiots.

Just for the heck of it, I sped up and began to fly in circles in the air. Large, wide circles. I laughed at this moment. A moment that would probably be the best in my life. I stopped and looked down at the little ant looking people below and looked up ahead of me. I nearly had a heart attack. Something, too big to be a bird and too small to be anything else logical was flying. It's flying was all messed up though. Like it was sin a hurry or something. I was torn between getting a closer look and taking off. Eventually I decided answer A would work and flew slowly towards the object. Boom, another near heart attack. It was a person with wings. Like me. Oh no was it from that place? Did they make more weird bird people, except these want to kill their own? But then I saw something in it's hands. As it flew closer I could see it was food (and I could also see that he looked like a dude). I wasn't sure what to do now. Attacking him seemed unfair but then again life's not fair right? "Hey, you!" I called out, putting as much authority and control in my voice as possible. And just to make sure, I studied him carefully until I saw a blue aura.

Connor

"GET HIM!!!" a Master screamed as Connor sped past the guards and into the wilderness. He had just gotten out by one of the newer Masters not locking his cage properly. A few vampires came bounding after him as Connor dashed to the woods hoping to escape from them. He jumped over the branches and looked back to see one fall over after a branch hit him in the gut. He made it around a bend but the remaining four that hadn't crashed into themselves were faster than most. Connor realized what had happened and jumped to the ground and started running. His legs were weak from the testing he had just gone through but he did it anyways, making it out of the woods and leaving the vampires back confused and lost in the dark forest.

Connor was exhausted and about to faint but made it to the edge of a small town. It was almost abandoned and quite run down at that. He looked down the streets and saw no one. No humans, or more important not a single vampire had followed him, he hoped. Connor wrapped his arms around himself and walked over to a large building and knocked on the door lowly. The door creaked open and revealed the dusty inside. It was quite tidy luckily and Connor began to search fruitlessly for something to eat. He went to the kitchen and found nothing but a box of rat poison. There were dead rats scattered around but he wasn't that hungry anyways. He opened a dresser and found some candles and a box of matches. "Yes finally something useful. " he said happily and took a match out and lit a candle with it. He put the box in his jeans pocket and sat the candle down on the table and looked around a bit better at the now slightly illuminated home.

He saw what looked like a painting and wiped the dust to see the picture. It seemed to be the home of a small but normal looking family. Connor sighed and ran his fingers over the painting. "Why can't that be me ?" he said to himself and pressed his wings to his back ashamed of them. He sat down in a large chair and curled up and sobbed slightly. He didn't want to be like this, he didn't want to run anymore. He just wanted to lay down and die, but he knew silently he would never be able to do it so all did was lay down hoping he would be able to sleep and wake up the same way he came inside. Alone.

Samuel angled his body towards the sky before flying slowly upwards, the occasional yell of surprise escaped his lips due to the altitude he was flying at, this was his first proper flight after all, since he wasn't exactly allowed to fly in the Ward apart from the occasional flap of his wings, and he was too paranoid to fly when he escaped. The situation currently however was different, he did it to escape the people at the store, who as far as he was concerned were probably the Ward's spies or something similarly creative. The sensation was amazing, the wind in his face the fact that he was defying gravity and perhaps because it was also in his genes. Samuel gave a gasp for air before laughing crazily. Although he wasn't exactly graceful in the air, he looked rushed and unbalanced this was his first time, and he felt proud of his accomplishment, after all he was flying purely on instinct.

Samuel began circling a lower altitude simply enjoying the fact that he was in the air and away from the struggles and pressures below, he almost forgot the fact that he was starving but his growling stomach reminded him every so often, making it impossible to forget. As he continued flying in a circle, he glanced at the food that he had picked up. It was some sort of pastry and was edible raw, he nodded thoughtfully before stating curiously to himself "I wonder what pastry tastes like..." the word and the food were alien to him, but he was sure it would taste better than anything the Ward had to offer. Samuel's wings continued to flap steadily, and he decided he'd fly for a couple more minutes before he attempted any landing, it'd probably end up with him breaking a bone or something but you've got to learn sometime, and now was the best time since he summed up he'd have to a lot of flying.

"Hey, you!" a feminine commanding voice called. Samuel bucked in surprise the voice seemed to come from above him and was fairly close. His head twisted upwards slowly and he almost stopped mid-flight at what he saw, a girl with wings much like his except the color scheme and pattern were different. His eyes focused on hers and he paused not sure what to say, was she hostile? a part of him whispered but the rational part of him saw that she would've attacked him above while she had the advantage, unless she wanted to confront then attack him but that seemed unlikely. Samuel wasn't really sure what to say, he stumbled awkwardly before calling out randomly, "Who're you!?" Samuel's voice housed slight fear, but mostly it was confusion. Samuel had been flying in circles the entire time, it'd be a lot easier if they continued their conversation on the ground.

Luxure

"Oh look its acting dead again...stupid monster..." 'Sink...' "B-but what if its really dead, and i-its our fault!? We're gunna get in trouble!" "Your not worried are you? Come on you know this thing has the ability to do what its doing..!" "Still! Im going to check!" 'Line..' The sound of the metal cage opening resounded in the room. "Sinker.." I whispered calmly, her blue eyes snapping open, and meeting with the ordinary brown. How boring. "A-AH!" The two scientist jumped and were about to restrain me, but I quickly flickered away, and flashed right before the two, my eyes emotionless and dull. "Bye." Forever idiots, you were "awesome" roommates. Side kicking them both to the wall, I crack my neck gently and peered around. No one else. 'What an idiotic idea..' I thought, while I casually leave the laboratory and to the outside world. The world I always strive to go to, but luckily enough for me, all these humans are idiots, dumb.
I escaped three times already, and this is my forth, though still, they didn't stock up security- The sounds of light snores hit my ears, and I glanced at the source briefly, my face neutral. A guard. Asleep. "Wow...Dumbass..." I muttered, and then again flickered away, shaking my head in shame.
"H-huh?" The man shot up awake, and looked around dazed. "Oh i guess its my imaginations-..."
-
My thin and slender wing stretched in the air, and I flapped them gently.
I sigh in relief, feeling the strain from my wings vanishing. I gasped with pleasure, though slowly i start to stretch the rest of my body. My back, spine, where ever.
Looking up, I stared at the sky and began to estimate the time. The room didnt have any clocks..the scientist believed it would hype up the experiments hope, or give them some ideas. But they were just paranoid and dumb. "Well...I guess I'll find the others..maybe a bird kid while I'm at it.." A little grin ghost over my lips at the thought of those birds in her grasp, straggling and dieing...slowly. "heh~" A giggle escaped my parted lips, before flickering away and into the sky. Soaring the airs quietly, she scanned the ground, watching cars driving, buildings in the making, etc, etc. 'Stupid...stupids.'

MarcelinePOV

I stared at Brendan, wondering whether or not to punch him anyway.

I wasn’t really angry at him, per say I was wound up. Adrenaline was pumping through my bloodstream, and every fiber in my body told me to smack something silly.

Regaining my posture, I tucked my wings closer against my body, giving Brendan a once over. He looked…okay. Not evil I mean. He seemed normal for a bird kid. And his face didn’t look all I’m-going-to-kill-you.

Beside me, Matthew had relaxed into a stress free looking disposition. My brother always cared less for these kinds of situations. He was friendly, and confident, and didn’t take as many precautions as I did.

I was the adult, he was the kid. It was as simple as that.

“Well, Brendan,” I said slowly, “I’m Marceline, and this is my brother Matthew.”

“Sup,” Matthew waved a nonchalant hand, lazily letting fall back to his side.

I hesitated for a moment before saying, just to make sure, “You were invisible just now right? It wasn’t…it wasn’t a mental kind of ability like mind reading. I was physical wasn’t it?”

Matt POV

I nodded alongside my sister. She brought up a good point. We’s seen a lot of mutations in our life, but we hadn’t seen all of them. As far as I was concerned, there were too many to actually all be seen.

“And what about your friend over there?” I asked, keeping my voice even and polite, “Who was that? He was a bird kid too,” Well obviously he was. His back had been turned to us, so while we couldn’t see his face, his wings had been out in the open clear.

I scratched the top of my head waiting for an answer and remembering something intriguing. The guy had money.

“Oh, where’d you get the wallet from?” I asked, giving as easy going grin. It didn’t occur to me till later that it probably sounded like I was going to jump him, which in turn caused me to chuckle. Marceline very deliberately jabbed me in the ribs, sending the air out of my lungs.

“Damn,” I muttered, as we waited for Brendan to answer our array of questions.

---

The cage was cold as usual, and the gnawing and gnashing of teeth and claws around Jude were also very similar to what they normally were. Everything around him was black and grey. Walls, floor, ceiling, bars. One of the only rooms he knew anymore. He sat, concentrating on honing his skills and planning an escape in his loneliness. He put his finger against a bar of the cage and concentrated.
That was the first time he heard another voice belonging to another prisoner. It was a girl's voice, and it was soft and warm, as it came to his ears from what seemed to be the back of his head. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?" Jude spun around thinking it came from behind him in his little cage, but there was emptiness.
"YES! I'M HERE!" Jude shouted in response, but the voice echoed back: "Anyone? Help me."
Jude struggled against the bars of his tiny cage and continued to shout. "I AM HERE! YOU'RE NOT ALONE! I WILL HELP YOU!!!" With his adamant response, he sat back again and replaced his finger on the bar. He shut his eyes and silenced the burning inside of him, detaching all feeling from the tiny appendage. The finger seemed to fade, not fully a whole finger anymore, as it slid through the metal bar.

2 months later:

Jude sat in his cage sending his entire arm back and forth through the wall of his enclosure. He had only- up until then- been able to send arms and legs into intangibility at once but never his whole body. He spent the past two months attempting to perfect that ability as well as discovering two new ones, which he knew would come in handy.
He had declared himself mentally insane by his own calculations. Other than screams of pain, no words had been uttered from his mouth in two months. He let himself hold in all of his words, saving them for his captors and for his only friend: the voice. He yearned for the voice again. At the same time almost every day, the voice- who proclaimed her name to be Eins- would send out messages, relaying thoughts in the form of sentences and JC heard them. They were choppy and short at first, but JC heard them and recently he had been able to somewhat respond to them. He did not know however how legitimate she actually was. Jude had not seen daylight in a very long time. He has been the only person other than the monstrous doctors around that he knows exist. All that time without any human contact did a number on him. He had no idea how to even fathom someone being able to talk to him, nonetheless through his thoughts. He looked at the clock he could see out of his cage in the distance. 12:43. The voice was 5 minutes late.
He waited and waited and finally heard something from inside his head. "One more turn and that should do it!"
"What do you mean?" Jude responded in the silence of his mind. He had never heard anything like that before.
"I'm out. I'm free!" the voice shouted.
Jude sat in horror. Could this actually have been another human being? Or did his mind grow tired of playing games and needed a way out? If it were a human, how did she escape? Could she be like him? He looked to his back and shook his head- no one could be like him. The only thing close enough were the Vamps- horrible ugly creatures, that caused all the noise around him, barely intelligent enough to walk, let alone fly.
The voice came to Jude once more, this time it shouted: "JUDE GET OUT NOW!"
He shot upwards and turned to the wall behind him, not fully conscious of what he was doing. He took a deep breath in and shut his eyes. He placed his hands firmly on the wall in front of him. In his mind, something almost clicked as he felt his soul's burning silence. He felt his entire body lose feeling and a cool sensation passed straight through him from his palms, through his face and abdomen to his legs.
He opened his eyes again. He was in an unfamiliar hallway, lit be fluorescent rods and signs that numbered testing chambers. He had done it. He completely phased through the wall and was on his way to escaping. He stretched his wings to their full length and removed the "patient suit" that he had been wearing, now clothed in only a pair of boxers. He leapt into the air and glided down the hall on his large maroon wings. He had never had very long to use them so he decided he better use them as often as possible to get used to them.
His flying was not spectacular but it was getting there. He beat his wings and traveled faster towards the end of the hall. There was a locked door which had written on it the words: "Personal Belongings" He jiggled the locked door and upon failing to open the door, again concentrated and phased through the wall, this time faster than the last. He looked for normal clothing that would now fit him. He found a pair of blue jeans and a tee shirt which he strategically ripped holes in the back for his wings. Black sneakers and a black-grey hoodie were the next things found. He put the sneakers on and put the hoodie in a messenger bag he found. Then he saw it. The most elegant knit hat he had ever laid his eyes upon. It was a grey hat that was too big for him. He put it on anyways, letting his longish hair fall out of the front of it.
He phased out of the room, this time without placing his hands on the wall but imagining they were there. "This is to real," he whispered to himself, "but I have to get out." He took to his wings again, and bounded through the air towards the other end of the hallway. He picked up speed and closed his eyes again, letting go of his body again and again passed through the cinder wall.
He landed hard on the ground, rolling to a stop. There was dirt in his mouth but he was unscathed. His skin had developed its own "Armour" or so he called it, not being able to be pierced by sharp objects an standing up fairly well against blunt force. He looked around. The sky was dark, and the moon was full and high in the sky. He stood and turned his back to the facility to breathe in the cool night air.

A loud swooping noise and a thud ended his peace. He turned to see a small humanoid creature with batlike wings standing behind him. It was a Vamp! He lunged forward placing his large hand around her neck and shoving her against the cold building. "I am giving you three seconds to explain yourself."

Alright I couldn't help it. When he stopped so suddenly I smirked. I had a major ego boost in the last three seconds and was loving it. I put my hands on hips and put a no nonsense face on.

"Who're you!?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Taylor" I said and flew in closer towards him. I eyed the food in his hand again then quickly looked away. The last thing I needed was for him to run off think was gonna take his stuff. Which actually wasn’t a pretty bad idea. Wait, no I'm not a thief! "Are you running away from them too?" I asked. I didn't feel like I needed to explain who they were. I looked around as if realizing for the first time I was in the air. "Let's talk down here" I suggested and without waiting for a response, tucked my wings in and flew straight down.

Was I being rude to him? I don't think so. As I headed down, I looked over my shoulder to see if he was following. I knew I was taking a big risk but he seemed okay enough. I looked down for somewhere to land and saw a building, larger than the one I was previously at. It looked like the back of a restaurant or a really big store. I looked for a landing place to focus on and spotted a large dumpster. One lid was closed and the other was open. Seemed legit to me. I sped up even more. I would only slow down once I got close to my landing pad. Maybe I'm paranoid but I was still afraid of someone seeing me. As I neared the building, I spread my wings out and glided down, landing on the dumpster. My foot flipped as so I landed though and I almost fell off. Aren't I smooth? I looked up at the guy as I jumped off the dumpster, still slightly wary.

Carter McAdams:

Okay, I take back what I said about two weeks. Definitely less than that. Maybe one?

I wrapped my arm around Haley's shoulders to lead her towards the store. "So how long have you been out for?" I asked. Part of me wanted to know how she'd gotten out to, but those stories hardly ever ended well so I bit my curiosity in the butt.

Weird phrase right?

As we walked through the store I stared picking up random cheap foods from the counter and handed them to her in quick succession. Ten bucks was certainly not enough. Why did Carter only give me ten? I obviously need more, and I bet he knew that too.


Brendan McAdams:

"Woah slow down." I said as I threw my hands up, palms facing forward. "One question at a time, yeah? Right, okay so where do I start? Yes I was invisible, and that was my brother Carter, right twat that one, can't even have half a conversation with him before he's gone, and what was the third question? Oh yeah, the wallet. Carter swiped it about a week ago from some guy in Nevada."

That was probably way too much information to give two complete strangers right off the bat, but from what I could tell they seemed nice enough. Besides, they're looking for their family, how bad could they really be?

Mike gave the ready signal, marking bird kids as he went along. His partner got into position, flanking him as he traversed the town. Mike yawned, and stretched; pointing to a series of rooftops. The attack was not ready to commence. Mike was the first of many, he was supposed to gather intel. He opened his cell phone, and began speaking. The phone was designed to be a radio in disguise. He was broadcasting to the base. "There are two that took flight a while ago, another I glimpsed on foot. The store appears to be the hot spot. When you move in, make sure to patrol the routes around the general stores. Make sure to check the flow of power in the city, if an abandoned building is using electricity, bring the hammer down. Ask around for kids with tattered clothing, I want this op done in record time. Break." Mike's phone would buzz if they needed to contact him.

Mike continued to walk, his face umoving, doing his best to disguise all emotion. The Ward likely had someone watching Mike, to observe any changes, anything that would warrant an execution. Mike whistled a small tune, stationing himself across the street of a store. It appeared as if A bird kid recently landed there. He would have to wait for back up. Two Vamps couldn't take down multiple bird kids, Mike assumed there were around four in the area, maybe more. He had no way of knowing if any escapees bugged out.

150 centimeters. That was the diameter of the circular world around me, its stone walls the very boundaries of existence in my eyes.

Jude was his name. That identity was the only one of its kinda that had jumped out at me from the chaotic mess of thoughts that bounced around through my head, as though it, unlike the others, wanted to be heard, instead of being simply eavesdropped upon by myself, an uninvited guest into the outside world. It was frightening, knowing not all of these pieces of knowledge were my own, but after a while, I grew accustomed to their presence, and slowly discovered how to differentiate the thousands of the screaming voices that assailed me from all sides through my waking hours. I soon found myself able to recognize the faint voice of Jude - reaching my ears (not literally, of course) from some distance outside my world - and the quiet whispers of my own subconscious, as well as the voices of the countless other nameless beings that dwelt in worlds close enough to my own to hear. Sometimes, they were loud, and sometimes, they were very faint, as though mere murmurs spoken in sleep. In truth, this was actually probably the case. I understood from the thoughts I received that outside, there was something called a "sun," and a bright time and a dark time, but for as long as I could remember, all I had ever seen was the spherical concrete shell that encased me even now. The time in which I was awake probably varied over time, alternating between consciousness in the light - or "Day" - time and unconsciousness in the dark - or "Night" - time, and vice versa.

Jude was, from what I could gather, somehow similar to myself, and yet different. He, like me, was not what the majority of thoughts I inadvertently intercepted defined as "Human" - specifically, a sapient of the genus Homo (supposedly the only species in that genus, although the existence of creatures such as myself or Jude disproved this hypothesis entirely) - but was also unlike me in many ways. According to his knowledge, he was apparently something called an "Angel," a Humanoid sentient modified to also possess avian characteristics such as feathered wings, air sacks, and hollowed bones. I was apparently something different, a creature known to him as a "Vampire," and yet, many of the traits associated with this creature were greatly different from myself. I found that I - unlike the Vampires of my contact's knowledge - possessed feather-like scales on my wings, and was much lighter and swifter than these creatures - similar to Angels like Jude - while also sharing some similarities with those beings, such as my compact frame, bat-like - as opposed to feathered - wings, and, most notably, in the nagging voice which spoke to me from within, rather than reaching my thoughts from outside.

This voice soon came to be known to me as "Sariya." This, at first, was greatly confusing to me, as that name did not match my own designation of "Eins," as given to me by the mysterious beings - known to Jude as Masters - who created me and placed me here. However, this dilemma resolved itself as it dawned on me that this voice, unlike the others I heard throughout every instant of my existence, was, in fact, a part of myself that had always been there, concealed by the thoughts rampaging through the inside of my skull until I grew skilled enough to tune them out. This made me wonder if the thoughts I assumed to be my own were not, in fact, simply external knowledge I was receiving and assimilating for my own use - meaning the person I defined as "I" might not, in fact, be myself. Because of this, I decided to wipe the slate clean, and treat my own existence as uncertain, deeming it more logical to pass on my knowledge to this "Sariya," as it was the only one of the voices I could safely assume to be my own.

Sariya. That was the name I devised for myself. From what Eins had gathered, it was desirable for name to have beauty, and to compliment oneself. The simple numeric designation of "one" I had received at creation held neither of these qualities - there was no proof that a "two," or a "three" existed along with myself, making my own number of "one" meaningless, according to the reasoning provided by myself/her - so, as I redefined myself as a person rather than a collective of thoughts, I replaced it with a real, actual name that I felt suited me. That was one of the happiest times of my life, knowing for once that, without a doubt, I existed, and more importantly, I was a "person" with a "heart."

It was hard to adjust, at first. When Eins had been who I was, everything had been so simple, painted in terms of black and white, of rational deduction and logical proofs. Now that I had come into myself, I also had to deal with the emotions about which Eins had heard so much, but had never experienced. Because of this, I soon found myself feeling alternatively lonely, sad, and bored.

To these three problems, Eins proposed a solution. And so the games began. They were very simple things, various physical activities meant to keep my mind off of the pondering in which it had delighted before the hard times came - questions like "Why have I been left trapped here?" and "What did I do wrong?" nagged my new-found conscience, haunting my psyche and bringing with them that gloomy, distant feeling of forgotten guilt, as though I had committed some grave crime so long ago I could no longer remember what it was, or worse, that I was continuing in my unknown error up to the present, warranting my continued imprisonment. Far worse than this, however, was the fear that I simply was no longer of any value - that my mistake had been so complete and final as to deny me any hope of redemption. The fear that I would be left here forever, cold and alone save for the voices of beings I could not be sure were real, just as I had once realized I could not be sure of my own existence, nagged me eternally.

Cold? Ah, yes, I forgot to mention how very frigid it was inside my little world. As I said before, it was spherical in dimension, with a radius of 150 centimeters from side to side - this knowledge of distance I acquired from the mind of one of the mysterious Masters by accident, but used to define my circumstances ever since then - made of solid concrete. It was not very thick, a fact I could determine from how often the cold air from the ventilation systems nearby pierced through it, chilling me to the bone. There were no furnishings to my abode, and the only clothes I had were the tight, thin jumpsuit I wore - a variant of some garment known as a "straight jacket," although the cuffs on its wrist section had been left unfastened during my imprisonment, leaving only a binding around my mouth to prevent me from speaking (this collar having been installed after I bothered the monitoring staff by incessantly singing tunes of my own invention, which were evidently quite terrible by Human standards, although I adored their sound as much as I enjoyed the distraction their creation and repetition allowed me). This garment hugged my skin closely, meshing seamlessly into a foot-covering that was half high-collared boot, half rigidly hard stocking, and was made of a soft, flimsy material that probably framed my figure in such a way that made me look like a marble statue due to its blank white coloring - although the cuffs and collar departed from this scheme, instead being a dark navy with silver buckles - and did nothing to keep me warm. When I was not spinning - a favorite activity of mine that amused me to no end - to keep my thoughts from wandering - sort of like they have been for the past few paragraphs - and my body from freezing, I generally found myself curled up on the floor of my world, my knees hugged tightly to my torso and my wings - which fortunately poked out through my jumpsuit, as it was backless for specifically this purpose (although, unfortunately, this made me even colder than I otherwise would have been) - wrapped around me as a sort of blanket, although their cold, hard texture and small size did little to keep out the frigid air.

During these times of silence and stillness, I would relent and allow my mind to wander. But, instead of pondering my existence and what my current loneliness meant, I contemplated the existences of other beings outside of my own little world. Most often, the person to whom my mind turned was Jude.

I believe Eins mentioned him a little while ago. I didn't know much of him, but I did know that he was an Angel, similar to myself, and a prisoner, like myself. From what I could tell, he had failed in some way also, and was being punished for it almost constantly. This made me feel sorry for him, because in a way, I saw he was just like me, and wanted to make him feel better just as much as, if not more than I wanted my own happiness. Because of that, I finally resolved to reach out to him, reasoning that, since I myself felt lonely, he likely felt this way as well. And so, mustering my courage and my wits about me, I attempted for the first time to reverse the link between us, and to send my own thoughts to him.

To my delight, it was a success, for the thoughts I could hear him experiencing drastically changed, his fearful resignation being replaced by confusion and wonder.

"Can anyone hear me?" I had asked. "Can anyone help me?" I added, still holding onto hope that there was something - or rather, someone - outside, who might free me from the cold shell surrounding me.

"YES!" The resounding reply had been as he desperately latched onto my voice, instantly wishing for me to receive his thoughts and inviting me into his mind, something which, to my delight, made speaking with him all that much easier. But, equally to my dismay, I found that his mind was almost too much for me to take in, overwhelming me with countless sensations of pain, grief, and anguish. Acting completely on instinct, now, I tried my hardest to take all this in, hoping that if I did so, his words would become clear.

It worked well, too well, even, for in an instant, I felt as though my body was being consumed from the inside out, terrible pain wracking me to the very core. It was a feeling I had never experienced before, and, taking me thus by surprise, completely and utterly wrecked me, knocking me to the floor of my cell where I lay in tears, the agony far too much for me to bear without first growing used to it. I'm not ashamed to say that I sobbed profusely, if silently, and that my eyes were blurry for some time afterwards, the hardness of the billowing cuffs on my sleeves only serving to increase my pain rather than alleviate it as I frantically rubbed at my wet eyes. But, through that chaotic mess of agony - a feeling I would soon grow used to, as I began taking on the pain from my newfound friend almost unceasingly - I could discern four words, words which, despite my tortures, filled me with relief and joy.

"You are not alone."

.....

The cold wind blew powerfully beneath my wings, a sensation which, like the pain I had felt so long ago in my solitary, silent world, I had never experienced before. The night was chilly, especially this high up, but after feeling this cold for all of my life, I probably would have been more surprised and uncomfortable if it had been warm. Although I had gathered how to fly over time through my contact with Jude, I had never actually been able to practice it until now, so what I was doing was not only instinctive, but also very risky. But the prospect that I might fall and kill myself was far less terrible than a much more horrifying threat. I was, after all, fresh out of my prison, only just awoken in an unfamiliar world not all that far from the place I had emerged from. Those who had held me captive for so long might well have realized that I had, in fact, survived my supposed "Death" - although how I had done so I could not yet understand - and come in pursuit of me. With this hellish specter of fright on my heels, I admit, I wanted nothing more than to fly as fast and as far as I could away. But, there was just one small thing keeping me from doing so. That hindrance, that little voice on the edge of my conscience, called to me just as it had done all that time ago in my prison.

I could sense Jude, and to my surprise, he was here - outside, in the world beyond the walls! I didn't know how he had escaped, but I did know that I would be much safer with him than on my own. And, I admit, I was anxious - anxious to finally meet him face to face, desperate to finally connect with someone else in a manner I had never thought possible... But, most importantly, I felt terribly lonely, and the thought that I might finally be able to have a "friend" was just too much for me to resist. And so, I turned back toward the facility, diving to meet him as he emerged from behind the storage warehouse - ironically enough, the very same building from which I had made my escape not an hour ago. As I landed, folding my wings and stepping out into the light, my heart was beating faster than it ever had before, my excitement simply too much to hold in.

And so, you can probably imagine my surprise when, as I opened my mouth to hail him - forgetting for an instant that I was still gagged, not to mention cuffed by my straight jacket after the guards had taken me to be executed - revealing myself as the Eins he had known for so long - I had used that name simply because I wasn't used to being referred to as Sariya, and had in fact once been mocked for calling myself thus when, on a rare occasion, the one who delivered meals to my cell had sparked a conversation with me on a random whim - I found myself interrupted by a powerful hand clenching around my throat, sending me crashing backward into the hard concrete wall behind me. I could feel the rough surface of the wall grinding into my back, which was left woefully uncovered by my jumpsuit, as mentioned before. My wings very well might have broken from the impact, were it not for their protective, scaly coating. This didn't stop it from being absolutely agonizing, even more so than the very first pain I had taken from Jude when I had first contacted him. I screamed in surprise and anguish, but this sound was unfortunately muffled by the cloth gag buckled tightly around my mouth, meaning my captor probably didn't even realize the incredible amount of pain I was in right now. Even worse was the fact that the very same gag that stifled my voice before it could leave my throat was the fact that it covered my face nearly up to the base of my nose, its white folds concealing almost all traces of an expression from view and preventing him from understanding my anguish by this means, as well, although it fortunately did not conceal the tears beginning to flow from my tightly shut burgundy eyes. Regardless, if he was handling me this roughly, I had a feeling that he wouldn't care, regardless. Was this really Jude? It couldn't have been! Even if his face was silhouetted by the light of the moon shining down from behind him - although I wouldn't have been able to see through the water blurring my eyes anyway - thus preventing me from recognizing him based on the descriptions I had uncovered amongst the Angel prisoner's thoughts, I was certain that this being any other than an adversary was impossible.

"I'll give you three seconds to explain yourself," The man restraining me hissed in a voice that made me fear for my very soul, let alone my life. That question seemed to point toward his being a guard meant to keep me from leaving rather than the fellow escapee I had been so convinced I would meet here. And, while under normal circumstances I might have been able to wrench myself free thanks to the strength packed into my mutant body, my arms were tightly bound, and he had the upper hand in size and power, rendering me helpless. On top of this, I couldn't even answer him, since my mouth was gagged, and any telepathic appeal would surely be a death sentence to me! My only hope now was for Jude to save me, but this mysterious man's appearance seemed to cast doubt on the idea that he had ever actually escaped. Both his mind and mine were in a haze of pain and fear, leaving them so confused that I could neither make sense of my own circumstances to plan a means of getting away, nor could I beg him to come and help me - or even so much as discern his location!

And, I realized, this man knew exactly what I was. The silvery moonlight that bathed me in its radiance revealed every single feature of my body to him, from my silver hair and wings, to my tear-streaked face, to my even more incriminating straight jacket and restraints, fastened tightly to keep me from escaping, a purpose they were serving even now, after I had thought myself finally free. Oh, the irony, to think that my escape would be cut off so early, that I would never see the outside world beyond a glimpse of light in the darkness before I was sent back underground in a casket not unlike my previous prison save for the length of neverending time it would hold me! No, fate was a cruel mistress, and I could never escape it. I was a hopeless failure, and because of that, even now that I was "free," I was still alone.

Driven to desperation by my circumstances, I acted on impulse. It was the first thing that occurred to me, and, even if it probably wasn't the best plan I could have devised, I went through with it regardless. In my situation, it seemed like the only hope I had, even if it was a dim one. But, even if the protector upon whom I now relied could not reach me in time to be of any use, I still wanted him, at least, to know of my final fate, to know that I had existed, once, and paid the price for that life I had led, and the failures I had once apparently committed.

"Eins! Sariya Eins!" I screamed telepathically, directing the thought toward what I hoped was Jude's accepting mind and releasing it with all the mental power I could muster.

"Help me! Please.... H-help me!"

(OOC Addendum: Well, that was much longer than I originally meant it to be. Sorry about the wall of text, everyone. I guess I got a little carried away. Anyhow, it looks like I can't tag my character due to the " beginning her name, so I apologize for that as well. XD)

Haley Price

"Out?" Haley repeated as she walked alongside Carter into the store, "only about two days."

It felt like so much longer than that though. Some how running made time move so much slower. Especially when it came with the constant fear of being chased. It moved even slower staying up at night to keep guard. Sure eventually she'd passed out from pure exhaustion, but sitting up and listening for the vampires had basically been torture. Almost like another test from the lab.

"What about you, how long have you been out?" Haley asked.

Judging by the ease with which Carter moved around and blended in she had a feeling it had been quite some time. While Haley kept sneaking glances over her shoulder, Carter's main focus seemed to be the brightly colored packages of food he kept tossing at her. Most of them were things she'd never even heard of, too accustomed to the boring and bland food of the ward.

Haley found that if she just stuck close to Carter no one stared. They could easily just be two normal kids out for a late night snack, and wasn't that a nice thought.

This whole thing was a terrible idea.

I was a bundle of nerves, guilt, and paranoia. What had I been thinking, walking around like I had a right to be there, and snatching people's wallets? Sure, that guy had looked like a jerk, but he had calluses on his hands and work boots on his feet... he'd probably worked hard for that money! Or maybe he was just a nature fanatic who went hiking in his spare time. But who knew? While I had been condemning myself to eternal damnation in my head, I'd also been slipping the guy's credit card into an ATM.

It only let me withdraw two hundred dollars, but there were also three twenties in the wallet. Any normal teenager would've been buying video games and electronics, but I would be buying food. And a change of clothes. I had a better reason for this than just being trendy; kids who walk around looking like homeless people usually drew attention to themselves.

I broke all the credit cards into little pieces and left the wallet at the ATM, hoping someone would turn it into the police once they realized it only had an ID and a dozen discount cards. Satisfied with my work, I sprinted briefly and launched myself into air, working my wings hard in my effort to get as high and far as possible from human sight. I rose until the people below looked like ants and straightened out, soaring quietly. I had plenty of time to go over my actions in the last hour, even as I kept a sharp eye out for trouble.

Seriously, what had I been thinking? Someone would be tracing that card. But it's not like they have any way of knowing who stole it and used it; it could easily have been any other normal, wallet-snatching human thief. Still, I went over the whole incident in my mind, arguing back and forth with myself about the morals of stealing and of course worrying consistently about leaving a trail or being caught.

But the fact of the matter was, I did what I had to do and I did my best not to slip up. If I got chased by a hoard of Vampires, then I would just have to do my best to get away from them. I imagined trying to out-fly a hoard of those things and it didn't make me laugh at all. I glanced around out of pure paranoia in search of any other suspicious winged beings and was relieved to see that the coast was clear. What to do next? I felt a vicious warning of an impending headache, a dull throb at the base of my skull that, in half an hour or an hour, would probably be another migraine.

Having a photographic memory has it's drawbacks. I absorb knowledge like a sponge absorbs water, most of the time without really paying attention. Every memory I've ever had is etched in perfect detail in my mind, every color, every noise, every texture... everything. Without my sense of humor and my unhealthy ability to repress things, I'd probably be a walking (er, flying) nutcase, just like those Vampires.

Just thinking about not thinking about what I'd escaped from was enough to make me search for a distraction. Like... food. Not only is food a distraction, it's also handy for staying alive and not dying a slow painful death of starvation. I'd already passed like, five fast food joints.

I turned sharply and began to fly back in the direction I'd come from, and it seemed like only about ten minutes passed when I glimpsed the last fast food restaurant I'd passed. There were only maybe three cars in the parking lot... bingo. I folded my wings and dove hard and fast through the air until I could count the specks in the asphault of the parking lot, then I threw my wings out fully and swooped into the nearest tree.

And no, it wasn't nearly as graceful as it sounded. I smacked into the tree trunk with my shoulder and landed on a tree branch, which promptly flipped me over and sent me crashing to the ground on my back. I probably knocked half the leaves off the tree with that stunt. It took me a minute to get my breath back, then I shot to my feet and glanced around. No one had seen my embarassing stunt, or more importantly, the giant wings sprouting from my back. I tucked them in and threw the jacket on, the warmth of both spreading through my chilled body.

I seriously had to work on my landings.

I beamed at what appeared to be the last two people in the restaurant as I walked in. They were about my age and dressed nicely. The girl sneered at me like a snob and the guy (her boyfriend probably) choked on his food, no doubt wondering when the place began to allow homeless people. I ignored them after that and went up to the counter, squinting at the menu above the dubious clerk's head.

"I would like..." I paused to stare for a moment more, and to get my order together. "A number 3, 4, and 9, all large... hmm. A bottled water, a piece of chocolate pie, two extra orders of chicken tenders..." I paused again. "And I guess that's all. Oh, and I need it to go." I didn't want these people to think I was screwing with them. In fact... I went ahead and put a twenty on the counter. The clerk had a pinched, sullen look on his face like he wanted to tell me to leave, but couldn't. Probably though I was messing with him.

"I'm serious," I said, giving him my poker face. I have a great poker face. Lady Gaga wrote a song about it.

Apparently deciding I wasn't going to burst into giggles and reveal my stupid prank, the clerk called the order back. I asked where the bathroom was and went in that direction. The mirror showed me that my face and hands were covered in dirt and my black hair, which is kind of long, was a bit tangled. I scrubbed my face, neck, arms, and hands with soap and water and then ran my fingers through my hair to straighten it out. At least my jacket hid my shirt; the torn jeans could easily be a fashion statement. Well, if they didn't have mud all over them.

(@ Guardian Angel, I couldn’t wait for your response, so I posted the post. Hope it’s alright with you.)



“Twat?” I snorted. He’d just called his brother a twat. Beside me Marcy chuckled.

“High, five, Brendan, for being stuck with a twat brother like mine,” Marcy said, smiling and raising her hand.

I gaped at her. Marce had just called me a twat. What a twat.

While my sister was in the process of giving up five fingers to her new found buddy, I took one scoping glance around the place. Everything was different with my night vision. Brighter.

Most bird kids couldn’t see this well, due to the fact that most of us didn’t have owl vision. And, in reality, while birds could see for what seemed like miles, their night vision was only about as good as a human. This meant that my enhanced left eye was a serious bonus for me.

And that’s when I saw him.

He was leaning on the opposite building, across from the store, casually looking it over, imposing and petrifying as ever. He was like a Cheetah. We were the Gazelles.

I got the impression that he hadn’t seen us on top of the roof yet.

Hopefully.

I nonchalantly scanned the area surrounding him, beginning to internally panic when I realized that I couldn’t see any of “them”. On the outside, however, I remained as relaxed as ever. Showing fear was not what bird kids were supposed to do. Showing fear was what got bird kids killed.

One thing did stand out against my eyes, causing my heart to jump into my throat, and covering me in realization. The same buff guy who’d been staring at me in front of the market when I’d been on the ceiling. He was there, on the roof of the building that our potential Vamp was leaning on, holding a bag of groceries (most of which looked to be like ramen…WTH?), and looking just about ready to leap down on our observer. He caught my glance, and punctually put a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet.

But, I wasn’t entirely concentrating on the guys face. I was concentrating on his two huge, obviously matured wings, sprawled out against the length of his back. They looked a bit bulkier than the norm for our type of wings, and I assumed his genetic makeup made him more muscular than your average bird kid. Kind of like a heavy Rottweiler, compared to a more streamlined Doberman.

A noticeable fact however, was that, due to his height, his wings were only about as long as Marcy’s, and far shorter than mine or Brendan’s.

Damn. An adult bird kid…bird man…whatever. I’d never seen one of us fully matured. Most of us were deemed failures, and “put down” before we could reach our adult age. Once again, damn.

“Guys,” I whispered, lips barely moving, at a volume so low only our advanced hearing could make out the words coming from my mouth, “Building opposite us.” I said the three words, stressing on ‘opposite’, and hoping the two would be smart enough to take a passing glance at the guy leaning against the wall.

He was familiar. That’s how I’d spotted him, and known what he was. Because he’d guarded us for weeks on end before we’d escaped.



Hearing Matthew words, I continued smiling, but allowed a glance out of my peripheral vision.

Oh god. I knew him. I knew how Matthew had spotted him.

That was Michael, one of the strangest, most terrifying, Vampires you will ever meet. He’d been put to guard us often, during our stay at the Ward, and he was no pushover. Something was kind of different about him, compared to other Vamps, which was a reason that I thought they put him in charge of the kids. Because he scared us in ways I couldn’t quite understand. There were days when, he’d seemed so calm, I wasn’t sure if he was going to hit me or not.

I doubted the idea that he would remember us. I’m sure we hadn’t been the only kids he’d babysat before. Besides, to him, we were just lunch.

“Brendan, you can fight, right?” I whispered, just as low as my brother before me.

There was no way Mike was just standing by the opposite building of ours. He’d seen us already. And damn, why hadn’t we noticed? He was obviously planning an attack, standing there indifferently as if he had all the time in the world.

About a million misgiving started going through my brain, all at once. Why hadn’t I been paying attention? What about Brendan’s brother Carter? Where had that kid gotten off to? For all we knew, the Vamps had already snatched him. Were there even more bird kids in the area than I had previously thought? I mean, what other reason would their be to ensnare us in an ambush so elaborate we couldn't see any of the other Vamps?

My wings remained plastered to my back, and in an attempt to calm down and look unaware, I push them out into a limp relaxed position.

This was different from when Brendan had been invisible. That time, we had known he was there, and he had known we were aware of him. That time, if he had been a Vampire, a fight would have been inevitable. But this time, the Vampires didn't seem to be closely surrounding us. They were definitely in the area, but not enough for us to immediately snap our wings out and start flapping. That would only alert them to the fact that we knew of their presence.

"I think we should let them make the first move," I said quietly, lips barely moving. I was trying to think up possible escape routes and fighting tactics. My brain was in overdrive, and once again, adrenaline was pumping through my blood. My muscles twitched with the fight or flight urge, and I used every humane judgement I had to fight my instincts.

The girl raised her eyebrows before saying simply "Taylor" after she spoke she flew closer towards Samuel, he didn't really expect that, and he angled backwards slightly in surprise. Samuel stopped when he realized that this gesture wasn't a threat he winced at his mistake, he tilted his head before looking at her curiously, he had never talked to someone who was like him before, the prospect of talking to someone he could perhaps relate to was fairly comforting, as he often felt alone in his predicament. He paused before blinking owlishly, still surprised at the situation he found himself in, he wasn't sure on how to approach it. Samuel looked down at the ground before glancing back up at the girl, the rush of the air was beginning to wear thin, due to his increasing hunger which kept on distracting him from the situation at hand.

"Are you running away from them too?" the girl asked, the mere question caused Samuel to jump in the air with surprise, his eyes began to widen and his pupils narrow, when she referred to 'them' she could only mean one thing, the Ward. He thought carefully about how to answer Taylor's question, which would require some precision at the very least. Before he could think up a suitable answer however, Taylor quickly suggest "Let's talk down here" she didn't wait for him, she quickly tucked her wings in and flew downwards. A few hesitant seconds passed as Samuel was wary of Taylor, he didn't exactly trust her, but she probably knew more about the world in general than he did. He shook his head wryly, before muttering "It's worth a shot..." he tried to mimic her descent, as he tucked his wings in and followed in pursuit.

The rush of flying downwards at such a velocity, was simply incredible. Samuel did little to contain his joy, as the wind at such a volume was amazing. His eyes looked forward to see where Taylor was heading, it was at the back of a building, which was rather large it was like the store he had previously been to except different. As Taylor neared the building, he watched her spread her wings, he tried to do the same but the upthrust of the wind caused him to convulse into the air, although he was hindered by the wind he still managed to land, albeit a bit awkward. As he scuffled against the ground he laughed slightly at his landing, it was his first attempt and he proud that he didn't break a leg or something.

After regaining his balance, Samuel looked up for Taylor, he saw she had a little trouble with one of dumpsters, his mouth slowly formed a grin before he asked casually, "Are you alright?" he then shook his head, remembering the question she had asked him, his grin slowly mellowed before he asked meaningfully, "What do you know about them?" his voice was more curious than anything, but he stressed the word 'them' obviously disturbed by it.