Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride!!!!!!!!!! I only own Skyla and the plot! ON WITH THE STORY!!!!!!!!

A/N: I edited this chapter...I found Skyla to be a little Mary-Sue-ish.

Skyla's Point Of View(POV)

Finally, I thought, sitting down in the bookstore cafe with a steaming mug of hot cocoa. I can take a break. I had been running for the past hour from Erasers that had found me, and finally hid in a small town in Southern California. I grabbed a magazine off the racks near me and opened it up.

In case you're wondering who I am(Which you most likely are), let me explain. My name is Skyla. No last name. Just Skyla. I chose it myself. I'm thirteen and three quuarters of a year old. I escaped from the School a little over a year ago, thank God, but now I'm on the run. Litteraly. As in, almost every day, I walk, run, or fly for most of my time, and never stay in the same place for more than two days.

I am 98% human and 2% avian. So I have wings. Big, blue wings, about eleven feet across, with black and white feathers contemplating the blue ones. I have dark blue hair, too, that goes halfway down my back, though I usuallt keep it in a ponytail or two pigtails. Most normal people think I dyed it. If I was one of them, I probably would have dyed it blue. I have skin that stays pretty tan year-round, and I'm extremely skinny, only about eighty-five pounds. I am, however, five foot six. I have extremly light bones and bigger than average lungs. I usually wear black jean shorts, and a black t-shirt. I have black skater shoes with red stripes, too. My favorite color's black, if you didn't guess yet. I have a backpack that I keep my few belongings in. As of now, I have a couple more pieces of clothing, not much, about a hundred bucks(don't ask how I got it), my trusty skateboard for getting around when I can't fly, a couple of granola bars and water bottles, a little first-aid kit, and my black baseball cap.

I'm one of the few experiments at the School that knows their exact birthday--October 4th, to be exact--because until I was about six, the whitecoats took some pity on me. Well, if not being forced to run and fight other experiments, instead injecting me with stuff to see how I reacted, and doing mental tests was pity. When I was born, I was crippled. The growth in my left leg had been stunted, so I couldn't walk without the help of a cane or wheelchair. When I turned six, the gave me a prosthetic leg, so I was able to move around, but, unfortunately, gave them en excuse to start torturing me some more. One whitecoat, I remember, named Jeb Batchelder, actually took me out of my cage on my birthdays and would take me outside secretely to help me learn to fly.

The School was where I lived basically my whole life up to last year. For me, there's School, and after the School. I can't remember before the School, if there was a time like that. It was there that I got wings and the blue hair. That, and all my other bird crap. I've seen other mutants--there were other ones like me, but I never got the chance to talk to them or meet them. I simply knew they were there. I also knew I was the only one with hair that matched my wings. I heard that they escaped, three years before I did, but I never did find out if that was true or not.

I also have powers. I have a photographic memory, and healing powers that I'm still getting the hang of. Actually, I can use them as offense in a fight, by using it to mess up people's bodies. It's harder than it seems, let me tell you. I have to concentrate super hard, and it's kind of exhausting. I have another power that I can't control, though. It's not exactly one that I like. What it is, you ask? I'll tell you. Sometimes, certain words trigger a kind of flashback. The wierd thing is, for instance, I once ad a flashback when someone said "experiment", and then I remembered some of the horrible things from the School. But the word "experiment" hasn't triggered anything since then. And when that happens, I usually pass out, or at least get the shakes really bad.

Anyways, the School creates tons of us, different mutant freaks, different combinations of DNA. Most don't live longer than a few months, except for avian-human hybrids, and Erasers. Erasers are human-lupine hybrids so they're part wolf. Most of the time, they look like human supermodels, totally gorgous, and have the voices of angels, no lie. Then they transform. Into huge, freakish wolf-men. Think of Wolverine from X-Men. Multiply his strength by, oh, say three dozen times, and add on a couple more feet onto him. Oh, and make it ugly.

Nice, huh?

So anyhow, I was finally taking a break, enjoying myself for once. I was halfway done with my drink when the bell opove the door jingled. I glanced up, expecting to see a geeky high schooler or a buisness man like almost everyone else here, but saw three men in suits come in. Three gorgous, tall men, with cruel eyes.

In the middle of them was Ari.

Oh, damn.

My brain went into panic mode. Erasers were here. They found me already. And Ari was with them. Ari. He despised me ever since I beat him in a fight at the school the whitecoats made me do as a strength test. It was probably his life's dream to kill me.

I had to get out of there, one way or another. I grabbed my hat and walked out the door. I crammed my hat onto my head and then when I hit the sidewalk, startd to run.

Only seconds after I was moving, the Erasers come out of the store. I picked up my pace, hoping I looked like an innocent, completly normal runner. One Eraser got into a pickup parked next to the curb. Ari and the thrid Eraser started running after me. I poured on speed, going as fast as I could. I'm faster than an Olympic runner, stronger than a world-champion weight lifter, but Erasers are even more so.

I dashed to a park that was completely deserted and was about to open my wings when Ari lunged at me. Not seeing this coming, I managed to move a little bit out of the way, but not enough. Ari didn't comepletely pummel me, but I lost my balance and fell over onto the grass. I rolled out of the way as a kick came, aimed at my face, and jumped up, facing Ari, now beginning to transform. "Long time no see, Skyla," he said, almost casually. "How long has it been, twenty minutes?" This caused the other Eraser to laugh.

I glared at him, knowing I was going to have to fight him. I was still exhausted from my escape from him earlier, so this was going to be difficult. Would my powers be any help? I sure hoped so.

He grinned at me, now fully transformed.

Ari snarled and came at me suddenly. He spun a kick at me and I ducked under his leg, kicking his knee on the leg he balanced on. He fell to the ground but was up in a second. I managed to get a few feet away. I ran at him and jumped, my leg aimed at is chest. He grabbed my leg and spun me around, and I crashed to the ground. He grabbed my arm and twisted it behind me. I kicked at him, which only irritated him more.

The Eraser that went to the van came up then. He managed to tie my hands behind me while Ari held me down--with difficulty. He grabbed me, freeing Ari to do as he please. I was kicking and yelling, going nuts. To shut me up, Ari punched me. Right. In. The. Stomach. Ouch.

I gasped for breath--my God, this guy's strong--and Ari took that opportunity to throw me over his shoulder. He carried me to the pickup and threw me in the back. He tied my feet together and then threw a bunch of blankets over me, hiding me from prying eyes.

I heard an Eraser get in beside me and tensed, expecting another blow. Instead I heard him pass something to another Eraser, then he got in the front with the others.

I stayed quiet for a while, making a plan. Then I realized something--if I tried to escape, the Erasers would have to get out first before they could get me. I moved around and realized even with my arms close together behind me, I could unfold my wings. I waited until I could tell we were on a highway, then kicked the blankets off me. The Erasers took no notice. I stood up carefully--moving at 60 miles per hour, that's a dangerous feat. Then I heard a shout from Ari. I grinned and jumped as high as I could, unfolding and beating my wings as fast as I possibly could. I was airborne and rocketing up. THe Erasers managed to pull over, but their voices were already fading into the distance.

I flew east. After an hour I stopped and landed. I managed to find a sharp rock and saw through the ropes. Then I took a quick break, eating a granola bar and chugging down some water. I took to the air again in five minutes. I flew and flew, feeling wonderful as the air whipped my now loose hair around my face. I grinned and then I saw a lake.

I decided to go down. Maybe find some people, or at least a safe place to stay and get my strength back. I saw hawks circling, flying above the water. Five of them looked way too big to be hawks. They had to be something bigger. Then I saw them land on a ledge in the cliffs surrounding the water. Curious, I followed after. I landed on the ledge and heard--unbelievably--voices. Talking. I took a few steps into a cave, and then heard feet running. Then two hands grabbed me by the arms and held me back from going any farther before I could react, other than letting out a little yelp.

A voice--a girl's voice--said,"Who are you? What are you doing here?"