Part One: Flock Fright
Chapter One
I sat calmly, watching the basketball game and munching on popcorn. I knew where each member of my 'flock' was. Tanner and Devin were on the court, playing the game. Heidi and Anna were behind me, talking to some boys. Riley was with her friends, coloring on some blank pages of paper.
No trouble was in sight, there hadn't been any danger for two years. No sign of Erasers or whitecoats.
Okay, maybe I should explain something. The six of us aren't exactly human. Were 98% human, the other 2% is avian. We're bird children, ha-ha. But seriously, we have wings. There are others like us, but we split up for safety.
They are Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel, but you'll meet them later.
We all have wings, Devin and Riley don't know about us yet, but we know about them.
We were raised in dog crates at a place called the School, where we went through painful experimentation. We don't know who our parents are and we live with our fake parents.
We all have special abilities. I can make people believe anything I tell them, plus I'm apparently super-smart, and I can fly at speeds that near two hundred. Did I also mention I could read minds? I don't do it that often, I mean people deserve their privacy. I have shoulder length brown hair with a dash of copper that comes out in the sunlight, and my wings are pure white, like an angel.
Tanner has more strength than the rest of us, meaning he can lift heavier things, or knock someone out faster in a fight. He has short, light brown hair, and light brown eyes. His wings are brown with darker brown and white spots.
Devin we aren't quite sure about yet, because we've had to keep our distance from him so far. Same goes with his little sister, Riley. Devin has short, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Riley has blond hair that goes to her waist, and bright blue eyes.
Anna can tell if someone was lying, and had a perfect memory. She never forgot anything she's read, written, or seen. So bad and good. Anna has dirty blond(she says its brown, but I think its blond) hair that goes a little past her shoulders, and grayish-blue eyes. Her wings are white and speckled with light brown and tan spots.
Heidi can see better in the dark, and can hear things more clearly than we can, sometimes she can even see glimpse of the future.
All of us can fly at high altitudes, have greater stamina, have raptor vision, and can see pretty well in the dark. We are stronger than the average grown man, and have more speed than one. We are also pretty dang good at self-defense.
I watched the game and suddenly I got this strange feeling, like I was being watched. I looked up and Tanner met my gaze, he felt it too. Heidi and Anna were also alert they had left the boys they were talking to, and we now at my side.
"What's going on?" Anna asked, her eyes searching the gym for any sign of an Eraser. No one looked like an Eraser, no one was walking around and having a sudden interest in any of us.
"I don't know, but something feels off." That's when we heard Riley's scream. I looked up and saw someone who looked like a model carrying her out an exit of the gym.
Even though everyone was looking that way, I was out of my seat and running at the man, who was most defiantly an Eraser. Once he spotted me, he turned and grinned, but didn't pause in his move towards the door. That's when I realized he wasn't alone.
A hand grabbed my shoulder and I went into full fight mode. I grabbed the hand, and pulled using all of my strength. I managed to throw the Eraser down using a judo flip, then when he was down, I kicked him full in the side, possibly breaking a rib.
But even after that, he got back up. The entire gym was staring at us now, and Riley was gone. But I was bound and determined to get her back.
"Heidi, Anna, Tanner after the Eraser who has Riley. I've got this one." I motioned for them to go, and they did.
"Don't you remember who I am?" The Eraser looked at me, like he expected me to remember. This Eraser didn't look right, like he hadn't been born this way. Then I remembered a little boy who followed his dad around everywhere. The man who had saved us, and we never saw his son after that.
"Ari." I breathed, but it was loud enough for him to hear.
"That's right." He grinned at me, showing parts of his fangs that were beginning to elongate.
"What did they do to you?"
"They made me better, they made me strong. Strong enough to kill you." Then he came at me, his claws fully extended. I dodged and narrowly avoided being raked with his claws.
I twisted and gave him a good, hard roundhouse kick to the chest. His breath came out with a whoosh! and he stumbled a little bit. He came right back at me, and punched me in the face.
I staggered back, my nose began to spurt blood. Then he kicked me in the stomach, and I felt the cracking of my own ribs. I tried to take a breath, and I felt pain. Yep defiantly broken.
I got back up, and just as Ari started to come at me again, he backed off, listening to orders in his earpiece. He nodded at something and stopped his advancement towards me.
"You're in luck, you won't die today." Then he ran out of the gym, following the Eraser that had taken Riley. I ran after him, feeling the pain in my ribs but ignoring it.
I got outside and found that Devin had followed me. Standing outside looking seriously ticked off were Anna, Heidi, and Tanner. Anna had a black eye, and a cut on her arm, Heidi's nose might have been broken, but the bleeding had stopped, and Tanner looked like he might also have some broken ribs.
"Everyone alright?" I asked them, Tanner kicked a basketball that was laying in the grass.
"Where's Riley?" Devin asked, staring at all of us, thinking that she was with one of them.
"She's gone. They took her." Anna told him this in a solemn voice.
"Where did they take her?"
Nobody wanted to answer this question, but I figured someone better before Devin's head explodes. "They took her to a place called the School."
