My name was Rat. Odd name, right? Not like it mattered to me though. I chose it.
Just like I chose my last name, Chase. And then, when I had penetrated the age of eleven, I very much resent the choice of last names.
You get it? Rat Chase?
Laugh all you want about it but then you'll have to learn to sleep with one eye open. Just to warn you.
I had never been like other people. The people I had grown up with had told me I was special. Well, anyone could tell that I was in fact special (what with the wings in all) but, you know, those people never really liked me.
And, yes, I did just say wings to all of those people out there reading this and thinking I am crazy. Which most likely means all of you. But I'll get back to the whole "wings" thing later.
If any of you expect to get a whole tragic life story out of me, you're going to be disappointed. But, of course, that will come out as the story goes on, so don't start crying on me now. But at the moment I will only tell you about the present and maybe a little of the future if I can think up a convincing lie.
Right now I was walking in the forest in the middle of nowhere.
Interesting, right?
I could remember walking here ever since I was eight and had gotten away from…people.
The funny thing was, was that I still couldn't remember the huge puddle under my favorite tree. Pathetic.
At least I admit to it.
But today's walk was just a tad bit different. There were intruders in my forest. I figured it was just some random hikers, but I may as well just go and check it out.
The first thing I can tell you is that it was not some random hikers. In fact, these people weren't even human. Yeah you know what I mean: even less human than me.
For one thing, I didn't even know it was possible for there to be creatures out there that were less human than me. But there they stood, dog face and hair covered weirdoes. Not that I had any problems with weirdoes, it was just…creepy in this manner of speaking.
I stood in front of a group of maybe three of the hairy dog things and said, "Whoa, what happened to you?" Rude? I know, but hey, I couldn't help myself.
The thing just growled at me and barred its canines. I answered back with a "down doggy" kind of thing which made it really mad. It jumped at me.
I ducked easily out of the way. Number one rule of fighting, never attack in the mists of anger.
The other dog things were closing in on me and the other one was getting up with a huge cut in his head from where he hit a rock. I though that he looked pretty damned funny.
Just about out of nowhere, five other bird-kid-things dropped from the sky. Damn. I though I was special (unique not crazy).
"Nice of you to drop in." Pun intended.
One of them just looked at me and said, "Run!" I wasn't really sure why the hell he said that.
"No I think I'll stay and watch." I said as I saw the hairy-dog-dummies backing away because there were so many of us. Then they turned and ran off into the woods.
"Are you nuts?" The dude asked again. I felt the impulse to nod, but fought against the urge because that would probably make them think I was a freak of nature. Well, I kind of was, but still I would take it as an offense.
"Are you?" I shot back.
"You could have been killed!" He said.
"And so could you!" I yelled back at him
"But I'm…different then you." I gave him a mortifying glare and then unfurled my black/purple wings.
The dude and his friends looked kind of stricken when they saw my wings, and I heard one of them mutter something that sounded like, "Another experiment…" Woo-hoo.
"Do I look any different from you?" I said, giving the dude and his friends a withering glare. The dude stumbled back a few feet and someone else came forward instead.
It was a girl with blond-brown hair who had a stern (who is she, they're mother?) look on her face.
"Who are you?" She asked, eyes locked on mine.
"Who are you?" I asked back, staring just as intently as her. No one could intimidate me anymore.
"I asked you first."
"I asked you second." I said back. "You know, normally I would love to play this game, but I am dead confused, and in a really bad mood right now." Well, maybe it would get them to tell me who the hell they were!
Yeah, that would be nice.
Well that technique didn't work. The girl didn't say a word. It would probably take a little more time to get them to crack, and ,well, I'm just as tad bit impatient. So I chose to go first.
"My name is Rat." I said. No way was I going to give them my last name. That would be just a little bit too embarrassing.
"Max." The girl said. What an odd name, but, of course, I really had no room to talk. "This is Fang," Max continued, pointing to the dude. Next she pointed to a tall pale boy with strawberry blond hair. "That's Iggy," and ladies and gentlemen, we have finally found a more ridiculous name than Rat.
Next Max pointed to a girl with dark skin and crazy curly dark brown hair. "This is Nudge." That is just as bad as Iggy. Last but not least, Max pointed to a young boy, barley over the age of seven, with permanently ruffled blond hair. "And that is the Gasman." I almost laughed out loud at that one. Who knew that people could come up with such ridiculous names.
Never, ever, let a kid chose their own name.
"Nice to meet you, kind of. Now, bye." I said and started walking away.
I felt a hand on my shoulder as I was walking away. It was the tell dude with the most idiotic name I had ever heard in my life. Iggy.
I stopped moving and turned around. "What are you going to do, kidnap me to stop me from leaving?" I asked snidely.
The dude Fang said, "Well, there won't be anyone looking for you that aren't already looking for us." Note to self: never trust a group of bird kids with weird names. That is one I really have to remember.
"I have my own connections." I replied. Big lie! I hadn't had any connections with humans since I was eight. But it wasn't like I was going to tell them that.
"You're lying." Fang said.
I looked at him like he was nuts, which he very well might be. "What are you, a human lie detector?" Got to hang on to a little bit of my infamous bravado.
"No, I just don't trust you."
"Well get used to it because I don't trust you either. That's why I'm leaving now." I scoffed and started walking again, only to have Fang grab onto me hand and spin me around to face him, his eyes burning.
"I want answers," he said and Max nodded and moved beside him.
"And you think I haveanswers for you? I've been on my own sine I was eight. And might I add that I can barley remember anything before that." Yeah, that's why I wouldn't give you my tragedy story. I couldn't remember it!
"I think you could still give us a few answers." Max stated looking down at me. Did I mention that I hate it when people look down at me?
So, guess what I did? I spit in her face. Guess what she did? She slapped me. Guess what I did back? I punched her in the stomach with the hand Fang wasn't holding.
"That's what you get." I said as Max curled in on herself, eyes blazing.
Fang grabbed my other arm and pulled both of them behind me and started walking…somewhere.
"I am officially calling this a kidnapping now." I said irritably, dragging my feet.
"Oh well. Its not like anyone will ever know." He said, not looking at me.
"Didn't I tell you that I have connections?"
"Didn't I tell you that you were lying?"
I shook my head. "Just wait until someone comes and shoots you in the head for this." Luckily, I remembered that I did have one connection to the outside world. Enrique.
Enrique was a friend that checked in about every week. The only friend I had had since I was eight and younger. But if I did have any friends when I was younger than eight, I don't remember them.
"Give me a name and I'll believe you." Fang said.
"Adrian." I said immediately. Like I was going to give this guy Enrique's name. Ha! No, Enrique had said that if I ever found myself in a sticky situation to call him Adrian. It was close enough. They were both Spanish. I think.
"I don't believe you." He said. He asked for a name and I gave him one.
"What the hell! You asked for a name and I gave you one! Why wouldn't you believe me?" Well, the answer to that one was easy, but that's not what I meant.
"You said it too quick." He shrugged.
"Haven't you noticed that I have a tendency to speak fast no matter what?" I mean really? I was a serious babbler.
"You sound like Nudge, yes, but I just don't trust you."
I sighed. "Yes, you have made it clear that you do not trust me, but come on!" I didn't have anything else to say. This was going to be a new feat for me. Stay quiet for, like, a really long amount of time.
"Now, show us where you are living." Fuck you man! No way.
I said nothing.
"So now you don't want to talk?" I could clearly hear the exasperation in his voice. I started to wonder why he was the only one talking. Then, "Max why don't you try?" Fang said and stopped pushing me forward.
Max loomed in front of me. She looked like she could kill someone. Like, say, me!
"Look, you little street rat," I think that pun was intended. Bad wording on her part. "We just lost a member of this flock and you are going to help us get her back by whatever means possible. Now, tell us where you live." She said, and it was obvious that it wasn't a question, but an order. I shook my head.
She grunted in exasperation. I noticed that we were a little too close to where my house actually was. Then I thought up a plan.
The plan was ridiculously easy. I mean a two year old could have thought of it. All I had to do was unfurl my wings and…Well, you guess what happened.
So, once I was free I jumped into the sky, knowing that they would try to catch me and probably would, but I just couldn't let them come near my house on this day. The day Enrique always came.
Well, it didn't work.
Fang grabbed my foot before I was even fifty feet in the air and as I stumbled out of the air, I fell into a familiar clearing to see a familiar face…
"What happened to you?" Enrique asked, a half smile playing over his lips.
"Not now Adrian." I said and that tipped him off. He dropped the bag of groceries that he had been carrying and pulled out his all time favorite knife. I couldn't even count how many times it had gotten him out of trouble. And it was just a pocket knife!
The other bird kids emerged from the trees and took one glance at us, me wiping dirt off of me and Enrique moving in front of me with his knife drawn, and well, I guess we looked pretty pathetic because they all started grinning like this would be easy.
They were wrong.
Never in my life had I thought that I would be so happy to have a friend like Enrique. Even though I hated to admit that anyone was stronger than me, well, he was. He had been genetically altered like me, but instead of wings he got to be a vampire.
Yeah, I said it. Vampire.
So cliché, I know, but you can't say that it doesn't come in handy from time to time. But the whole blood sucking part, I will admit, is pretty unnerving. Even to me.
Fang moved in on Enrique and Max started moving in on me. The younger kids looked ready to jump into this if it got too rough, but not now. I really didn't want to hurt little kids anyway.
Fang made a move at Enrique and Max darted at me, but I was ready. I jumped to the side about half a millisecond before she would have rammed me. And that is what I call good reflexes.
But she had good reflexes to, and got up in less time than it took me to get out of her way. She sent a roundhouse kick to my side, and I returned it with another swift punch to her stomach.
I looked over for one second to see who was winning in Fang and Enrique's fight. Of course, Enrique was winning. Can't ask for anything less from a vampire.
Whne I looked back at my fight, Max was fully recovered and coming at me with her fist raised.
Do any of you remember what I said about never attacking in the mists of anger? Yeah, this girl could use some of my advice.
I grabbed her fist and spun her around, using it as a catalyst. I leaned into her ear and whispered, "Now who is winning?" She growled and kicked me in the shin.
I will admit it, it hurt like hell. But that does not mean that I was going to let go.
"Its going to take a little more than that to make me let go." I said in her ear. Max responded by head butting me.
That time I did let go. And I hated her for trying to kick me in the head. Trying. I grabbed her foot when she tried to kick me and elbowed her in the knee. She fell down and I got back up. I knew I was going to win, it wasn't like she was fighting one of those dog things. I was smarter than them.
"Give in already, and maybe we can just sit down and talk." I told her. She gave me an incredulous look like, that's what I was just trying to do!
"Fine," she muttered through clenched teeth. I sighed contently and got up and brushed myself off.
"They surrender," I said to Enrique. He looked up at me, shrugged and let Fang go from the choke hold he had him in. I almost laughed at Fang's red face, although Fang looked like he could murder us both right now.
The others had formed a circle around us, prepared to help their leaders if it came down to it. Now that circle collapsed in and we all went to our separate sides.
"I think its time we had a talk."