I groaned, my muscles prickling with awakeness. My eyes fluttered open to blinding white lights and the sight of Angel flying above my bed, her soft white wings flapping up and down. I tried to fly up and hug her, but I got pushed back by metal restraints on my hands, waist, and feet. Those things are really starting to get on my nerves.

My mind went on hyper-alert looking for any possible escape, but slowly I started to realise the plan was hopeless. The rest of The Flock lay beside me on metal beds, in the same position I was. Only Angel was loose, but I noticed she was being restrained from reaching me, due to the forcefield above my bed. No wonder she hadn't flown down and given me a hug. One flap lower and she would be blown to bits.

Sadly the way we got in this position should of ended on a happy note. After defeating Itex and leaving the destroyed building behind, I "borrowed" some money, and treated the flock for some ice cream. Soon after ordering our cones, we all sat down on a park bench, not far away from the Empire state building.

"This is so so so good max!" Shouted Nudge. "Thank you sooo much! I can't believe you actually remembered my favorite was triple chocolate! I am just so excited, I mean, we never do this, and you actually remembered the one time we do!"

"How could I forget? You are always bugging me about it." I laid back on the bench listening to the rest of the flock talk. It was really soothing for some reason. Occasionally Fang would sit down beside me and we would chat about stuff, but really no one was bugging me. As I licked my mint chocolate chip ice cream, I happened to look up at one of the tall trees and notice a crow staring right at me. It didn't bug me much until I noticed it was glancing at me and every so often, and another one would join it. Soon there was a giant flock of them up there.

"Hey Fang!" I called. "Get your butt over here!" He walked over leaving Angel and Nudge to play with the local dogs. I leaned into whisper in his ear up and away, but I didn't have a chance to follow my own instructions. When the crows attacked, they clawed at my arms and legs. I grabbed and threw as much as I could off of me but it was no use. Their talons were so tight, they pierced my skin drawing blood. My wings were unable to move, due how there were so many of them on my back, that even if I tried, they would just cling on to them too making it impossible to fly.

They dragged us over to a side of the park normally unoccupied. I noticed a guy standing next to the corner of a building. He wore a suit and tie with his blonde hair, nicely greased back. "Welcome Max." He walked into the sunlight and I saw how blue his eyes were. "Nice to meet you my name is- well actually you already know who I am so I shouldn't have to tell you. Now if you would all just move a bit to the left-" The crows pulled us in that direction. "Perfect!" He smiled. "Now the fun can begin."

Before my eyes the world began to spin, pulling me in different directions. Black spots danced in front of my eyes. Right before I blacked out, he stood in front of me and said, "Come and meet your worst nightmare. See you when you're awake." He chuckled and I fell into a bottomless pit of blackness.

"Max I'm so glad you're with us now," chuckled a voice from the side of the room. I recognized that tone. It was the same voice that had taken us hostage in the first place. It belonged to the owner of Itex: Dr. Kevorkian.

"Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy," I strained against the metal clasps. "Fang?" No reply. "Fang, answer me!"

"He can't," said the doctor looking bored and inspecting his suit and straightening his tie. "He's in a sleep like state where he can't wake up until I give him this medication." He pulled out a syringe from his suit pocket.

"Give it to me." I cried. "Let me and the flock go!"

"Oh but I can't. You see we needed to get your father out of hiding and in order to do that, we needed you as bait. Sadly your father was smart enough to figure out our plan and hasn't left his hiding spot. However we can still use you and the flock for other things. One of which is a science experiment to see how loyal you are to you peers, Max. You can choose to save your memories with Fang, Nudge, Gazzy, and Iggy, but you let Angel die, or you could let Angel live but the rest of your memories would be replaced with the ones of another teenager," He laced his fingers looking amused. " Your choice. I'll give you two minutes to decide starting now."

"But-" I strained against the metal bars.

"Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Only one and a half minutes left."

My mind was abuzz thinking of all my memories. I would lose them if I saved Angel. He never said that Angel would lose her memories though so maybe just maybe...

"Thirty seconds."

"Oh shut up! I'm trying to think." Think think think! Max think. What would Jeb tell you to do... ?

"Ten, Nine..."

Make up your mind!

"Seven, six..."

Angel...

"Four... Three..."

Decide Max!

"Two..."

Hurry!

"One! Times up! Have you made your decision?"

"I choose," I looked at Fang, his eyes closed. He looked peaceful, happy even. Too bad I will probably never see him again. I stared Mr. Jackass in the eye. I hated him for this but If this is what I had to do to keep one of the flock alive, then it had to be done. "Take our memories."

"Perfect," He smiled then pulled another syringe from his back pocket. He plugged it into my arm. He did the same to the rest of the flock. Suddenly I couldn't remember who Jeb was. It was just a name. I couldn't remember how I had gotten here. It was just another place. The only thing I could remember was that the people in this room were my family and they always would be. The Flock will always find a way.