I am a mutant bird-kid. I lay, exhausted on the floor of my dog cage after a long day of maze running. One of my powers is mind reading so I used that to my advantage. As the white-coats designed the new maze, I memorized which way I had to run. You would think that after 3 months of this, they would realize that I'm reading their minds, but they just keep turning up the heating coils until I'm burned by the slightest touch. Speaking of which, I should probably get around to healing those. Healing is my second power. While my burns are healing, I mentally reviewed my escape plan set for the next morning. I had realized about a week ago that when my breakfast is pushed through the door, the white-coat leaves it open and unguarded. Just what I needed to escape.
It's the crack of dawn and I'd barely slept. Soon, I heard the thoughts of the breakfast white-coat. I'm lucky; he's really tired today. I tensed as he leaned down to open the door. He set my food inside and backed away to close the door. I rocketed forward, knocking the white-coat down on the way past. As I sprinted for the outdoor courtyard, I could hear the alarm being raised. The Erasers would be there soon. I burst through the doors and threw myself into the air. My heart raced as I felt my wings catch the air, pulling me aloft. I laughed at the devastated and outraged faces of the white-coats. As one of the Erasers pulled out a gun, I veered sharply in front of the sun and headed for the mountains.
As the months passed, I grew lonelier in my mountain home. Soon, I decided to keep watch for more escaped bird kids. If I could do it, maybe some others could too. Besides, I heard one of the white-coats thinking about a group of bird kids that mysteriously disappeared a few years ago. For weeks, I soared around the skies, searching. My almost daily boats with Erasers had left me strong enough to fly for hours.
One day, I spotted six small dots on the horizon. "I hope they're not flying Erasers", I murmured to myself. I had recently encountered the new brand and still bore bruises from them. As they got closer, I could see that they flew smoothly and gracefully, not like lumbering Erasers. "Finally, I won't be alone!" I thought as I sped towards them. I took the precaution of shutting down my mind just in case they had another mind reader with them. When I drew close enough to make out their features, the group noticed me. They drew closer together; suspicious. I could make out three girls and three boys. One of the younger girls called out a greeting. Immediately, the oldest girl shushed her saying in an under tone "we don't know if she's one of them". But the youngest girl piped up confidently "Oh no, she's just like us." I frowned then realized that I had let my mind barrier drop. "That's good to know" I consoled myself, "The youngest girl is a mind reader". "What's your name?" asked the youngest boy. "Niki. What are your names?" I returned. "I'm Max", began the oldest girl, "that's Nudge, the Gasman, other wise known as Gassy, Iggy, Angel and Fang", she continued, pointing to each in turn. I took in their appearances, while they took in mine; my long almost white blonde hair, my strong body and silvery white wings. The boy named Iggy murmured to Gassy who began describing me quietly. Seeing my confused look, Max informed that Iggy was blind. I instantly felt sorry for him, but was sidetracked when Nudge asked Max if I could come home with them. Max nodded and we all began flying. While we journeyed, Max filled me in about the family: where they live, their ages, how they escaped from The School… As she talked, I felt someone watching me. I glanced over and met dark haired Fang's eyes. He blushed slightly and faced ahead. Max paused, saying "that's really weird". I looked over at her and she continued, "I don't think I've ever seen him blush before." After thinking for a moment, she added "I'm gonna go and ask the others. You'll be ok?" "I'll be fine", I assured her. With a nod, she flew off. With no one watching, I opened my mind to the thoughts of others. Angel was wondering how I learned to block my thoughts; Gassy was thinking about how stuck-up I looked; Iggy was complaining about how no on explained anything to him; Nudge and Max were brainstorming reasons why Fang was blushing; and crap. Fang was thinking about how hot I was. Closing my eyes, I mentally reviewed his face. With his high cheekbones, olive skin and silky black hair, he was easily the hottest guy I had ever seen (not that I've seen many). I opened my eyes and flew up closer to him. Feeling my gaze on him, he turned and met my eyes. His eyes were coal black, so dark that I could see my reflection in them. Fang's thoughts flooded my brain, "Oh my god! She's watching m! She must think I'm such an ass!" I smiled at him, interrupting his thoughts. He smiled back then flushed bright red and turned away. Slowing my wing strokes down, I dropped to the back of the flock. Lost in my thoughts, I heard Nudge cry "time to land!"
After a quick tour of the house, we sat down for supper. To my surprise, Iggy cooked the meals. At first, I was hesitant to try the food, but after watching everyone else dig in, I decided to try it. It was delicious. While we were cleaning up, Iggy turned to me with a smile, "you never asked how a blind guy could cook." I shrugged "I decided it didn't matter. It's better than my cooking anyway". He turned away, but I felt that I was accepted more after that.
In the following months, I spent time with everyone in the flock. I picked strawberries with Angel, built gadgets with Iggy, hung out with Max, listened to Nudge talk, goofed off with Gassy, and best of all, flying with Fang. I seemed to be the only one that Fang would warm up to. In the house and around the others, Fang was quiet and serious. However, when we were flying, we would laugh, joke and tease each other. With my light hair and wings against his dark hair and wings, we looked like the angels of light and darkness. By now, the flock knew of my healing powers; I had to use them quite often. However, I hadn't told them about my mind reading. Yet.
One day before a flight, I pulled Fang aside asking him, "Do you think we could get away from the rest of the flock? I need to talk to you." He nodded, "leave it to me". Shortly after we took off, Fang challenged me, "Race you to the cave!" "You're on!" I called back. The cave was about ten miles away, perfect for our talk. We raced to the cave; Fang let me win. Once inside, Fang settled against a large rock. I paced in front of him, nervous. Taking a deep breath, I said quietly, "I can read minds." Raising his eyebrows, Fang swore quietly "Well crap", and fell silent. After a while, I sat next to him, but not too close. Unable to take the silence any longer, I pleaded in a small voice, "Please don't be mad at me Fang." Shifting so that he could look into my eyes, he smiled and said "I could never be mad at you Niki." Still looking into my eyes, he said solemnly, "I love you Niki." Struggling to hold back tears, I whispered, "I love you too, Fang." Fang held out his arms and I let myself melt into them. As he held me tightly, I felt the tears begin to flow. For long minutes, I cried into his shoulder. When I had finished, fang tenderly shifted me into his lad and asked, "You ok?" I nodded. "So," he began. "With that mind reading thing… can you talk to me too?" I replied, "Yea. I can talk to other mind to mind even if they can't mind read." Suddenly, he grinned, "Well that makes life easier. Is the flock here?" I reached out with my mind and heard them a little ways outside the cave. Max was circling to watch out for anything and the others were in a tree. I nodded and Fang sprang to his feet and reached down a hand to help me up. We ran to the front of the cave together and launched ourselves into the sky.
After that night, we were inseparable. We flew, we laughed, and we even fought Erasers side by side. Until that night one year ago.
That morning, Nudge announced that she 'really wanted to go have a picnic'. Glancing at each other, Max smiled and said, "That can be arranged". Immediately, Iggy got up to start making our lunch. "Could someone find the picnic basket?" he called over his shoulder. "I'll get it!" yelled Gassy, running off. Almost seconds later, he ran back, without the basket. "What is it Gassy?" sighed Max. "Why don't we have a camp out at the bird cave? Niki's never seen it before." "Yea, let's do it!" chimed in Nudge and Angel. "We can take some money to, like, buy food and stuff. 'Cause I'm not eating cooked desert rat again," suggested Nudge. Once we all agreed, we headed off to pack our stuff. In our room, I listened in awe as she described the birds. When we were finished packing, we headed out to the living room. "It looks like we're all ready," observed Max as we entered. "Let's take a couple minutes rest before we go," suggested Fang. "It's a long flight." I leaned back against the couch and opened my mind. The first thoughts I heard were Iggy's, "I wish I could see the birds for myself. It's just not the same when the flock describes them." I mentally hit myself in the forehead, "Why didn't I think of this before?" "Hey guys." They opened their eyes. "I wanna try something before we go." Without waiting for them to agree, I walked over to Iggy. "Hey Ig, don't open your eyes until I tell you, ok?" "Sure," he agreed and closed his eyes. Lightly resting my fingers on his eyes, I sent my power out into them. "Ah, there's the problem," I thought to myself. His retinas were badly cut up and I set about healing them. When I was finished, I turned Iggy so he was facing the room and said "ok, open your eyes." As he slowly opened his eyes, he yelled out, "I can see!" He room erupted in cheers as he hugged me, thanking me again and again. With light hearts we took off; we were on our way.
A couple of hours later, we arrived at the bird cave. Knowing that the birds were very territorial, we rested in the cave until they got used to us. For the next day, we hung out, learned some cool new moves from the birds and had a great time. That night, the Erasers came.
We were resting near the fire after dinner, when Gassy suddenly called out "hey look! The sky is turning black". "What is it? Is it a cloud?" Nudge mused. Angel and I found out first. "It's Erasers!" we yelled at the same time. "Everyone out! Move, move, move!" shouted Max, herding us out of the cave. But it was too late. The Erasers were everywhere. And they seemed to have only one goal: capture me. I fought, the flock fought, but for everyone that we knocked out, 2 more took its place. Iggy threw every bomb that he had, although they hardly made a dent. All too soon, I was being held by two Erasers with a living wall of them between me and the flock. As the two holding me began flying to a distant helicopter, I heard the voices of my newfound family screaming my name. They were frantically trying to reach me, but it was no use. I was being pulled into the helicopter by the time they beat their way through the Eraser wall. The last thing I saw was Fang's horrified face. As a bag was slipped over my head, I sent out a thought to the flock "….the School…" and floated into unconsciousness.
When I woke up, I was in a dog crate. "Kanine Kamper, size large. Bigger than they gave me last time," I thought sarcastically. Hearing the white coats coming, I made a plan - to take down as many white coats as I could. So, when they opened my door, I came out fighting. In a flash, 3 white coats were down and I was surrounded by Erasers. Immediately, I stopped fighting and allowed myself to be led to my first experiment, endurance. "Oh, fun," I thought to myself and started running.
Hours later, the white coats pushed me back into my cage. I was so exhausted that I couldn't put up a fight. Unable to do anything more, I opened my mind to the thoughts of others. Shuddering at what I heard from the white coats' minds, I listened to those of the other 'experiments'. Some of the things I heard shocked me. One experiment had some of his inner organs taken out to see what happened. Some were even worse. Many could not even form comprehensive thoughts. I doubted many could speak. Just as I was about to stop listening, I heard something on the fringes of my mind. "Could it be?" I thought, listening harder. "It's them!" My heart leaped with joy; they were coming! They were flying as fast as they could but wouldn't be here until morning. Knowing that I would be forced into more experiments soon, I closed my eyes and rested.
An hour later, the white coats came. Because I was so very tired, I only managed to take down one white coat before the Erasers came. Again, I stopped fighting and let them lead me to my next horror. "Please no!" I almost groaned aloud. "White coats-in-training. And I guess that I'm the subject of examination."
It was oh-dark-thirty by the time I crawled into my crate. Utterly exhausted, I checked to see how close the flock was. They were close but for some reason, I was unable to make contact. With sleep clouding my mind, I was unable to think up a logical reason for this. Mentally shrugging, I drifted off to sleep.
It was 11:00 pm when the white coat came. I was so deeply asleep that neither the sound of the crate door opening or the prick of a needle in my arm woke me. However, when I woke up being pulled from my crate, I was incapable of doing anything. I watched as the white coat carried me through the School. Suddenly, I realized where I was being taken. "Not the operating room!" I thought with horror. I tried to struggle but it was too late. The white coat laid me on a table and began to strap me down. The last thing I did was send a thought to the flock just in case I could get through to them, "Help…operating room…"
Unknown to me, the flock closed their minds as soon as they flew in range of the School. Just in case. Luckily for me, Gassy let his mind barrier drop just before I sent out my call. When he heard my voice, he whispered to the others "Listen! It's Niki! Oh no…"The others quickly opened their minds in time to catch the last of the message. As it faded away, Fang was shaking with rage. "What's the plan?" he whisper-yelled at Max. "Umm…now that we know where she is, we kick down the doors to rescue her? Anyone know where the operating room is?" "I do," offered Iggy. "Quick! The directions!" ordered Nudge. Iggy told them. "Ok, Fang, you get her and we'll cover your back." The flock nodded in agreement. On Max's cue, they burst through the doors and flew as fast as they could down the halls. As planned, only Fang entered the operating room. As he slammed through the door, his heart stopped dead. A white coat was about to begin the operation. Still in the air, Fang kicked out at the main white coat and smiled with satisfaction as his feet connected with the man's head. Within seconds, he had taken out the man's 'assistants'. Fang gently untied me and picked me up. He then sprinted back through the doors, yelling for the flock. Max gasped at the sight of my limp form in Fang's arms but dutifully led the flock back out to the School, fighting Erasers every step of the way. Once in the air, Iggy asked "Is she ok?" "Looks ok, but hasn't woken up yet" answered Fang, returning to one word answers. "Lets' get back to the house," suggested Angel. "I'm tired". We al sped away from the School, hoping for what would be the last time.
Back at the house, the flock rearranged the rooms so that Fang could be with me. Fang gently laid me on one of the beds then left so the girls could change me into more comfortable clothes. Five minutes later, he came back and lay down beside me on the other bed. After checking to make sure I was alright, the flock left to get some much needed sleep.
3 days later, I still hadn't woken up. "Do you think she's ok?" whispered Iggy to Fang. "She'll wake up when she's ready," replied Fang. "Anyway, I'm gonna make lunch. You want some when it's done?" Fang nodded and Iggy left the room. Fang sat on the edge of the bed and gently brushed some of my hair out of my face. At his touch, my eyes opened and the first thing I saw was Fang. "Fang?" I croaked my voice rusty from disuse. "Niki!" he half yelled. "You're awake!" Laughing at his excitement, I pulled him down for a hug. When we broke apart, he leaned his head down towards me; for a kiss? Suddenly, Gassy burst into the room followed closely by the rest of the flock. "Niki!" he yelled and made a flying leap onto the bed, Angel and Nudge right behind him. Max laughed as she and Iggy sat on the edge of the bed, "We thought you'd never wake up" said Iggy, from next to Fang. "So how's sight working for you?" I asked him. His face lit up as he answered, "It's awesome! I can never thank you enough!" I smiled warmly, "That's good. Now where can I get some food?"
An hour later, Fang and I grabbed some blankets, a radio and set out for the cave. When we arrived, we settled against a large rock near the back. After turning the radio down to background noise, I cuddled up against Fang's chest. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed his face into my hair. For hours we talked, about everything. After a while, we ran out of words. Snuggled against his chest, I sighed happily and tilted my face up to meet his eyes. "I love you Fang," I whispered. I could feel him smile as he answered, "I love you too Niki." Looking into his eyes, I began "Fang…" "Shhh," he murmured, pressing his finger against my lips. "Listen." Behind me, I could feel him turn up the music. The song was Because You Live by Jesse McCartney. I could hear Fang quietly singing along. Tears came to my eyes as I understood what he was trying to say; this was how he felt. As the last notes of the song died away, I looked up at Fang. Bringing his face down to mine, he gently pressed his lips to mine. The minutes turned to hours as we kissed. When we broke apart, I smiled saying "That was the best moment of my life." Smiling gently, Fang replied "Why not try for two?" This time, when he leaned down, I pulled myself up and met him halfway. I could feel his hand come up to support the back of my neck as he deepened the kiss. This time when we broke apart, we were out of breath. Laughing quietly, I said "I changed my mind, this was better." After a moment, I corrected myself, "Never mind, the first one was better." Shaking his head, and laughing, Fang got to his feet, pulling me up beside him. "We need to get back, it's late." Gathering our stuff, we flew back, our wings brushing on every down stroke.
Upon arriving at the house, we walked in holding hands. As we entered the living room, we saw that the flock had waited up for us. Seeing us, Nudge yelled "Group hug!" and we did. Breaking apart, I looked around at all their faces and thought, "This is my Family."