Mutt: Yo, if any of you are aware, yes this is a rewrite of the original Escape from Death Row. I wrote that before I decided to change my username. It used to be Blackheartmoon. Well, you see, I was very unhappy with how I wrote it before, so now I'm trying again.

Now for the disclaimers...

Disclaimer: I, Mutt, do not in any way shape or form own the show or comic Yu Yu Hakusho. And just for safety purposes, I do not own Maximum Ride. There are no characters or areas or naming of said book in this story, but some things may be eerily similar.

Anywho, you'll see what I'm talking about. And if you haven't read the original of this story good for you. It was a disaster. Spelling errors, plot blanks, and nothing made sense!

I have got to stop talking!!!!

Have you ever wondered what it was like to fly? You know, to be up there, high above the clouds, and looking down on the world below. To feel so strong, so alive, and at peace. I have. I find myself looking up at the sky most of my days. Just watching birds swoop in and out around each other, their wings surging them through the air so effortlessly, so perfectly.

How I envied them.

For as long as I can remember, I've found closure in watching the skies and admiring the birds. It seems to be the only thing keeping me sane after these long years. I am sixteen and living on my own. Right now, I'm just huddled around a tiny, insignificant fire gazing up at the night sky. Dreaming, desiring to escape the ground.

I'm tired of running.

I'm tired of hiding and scurrying off into the night. I'm sick and tired of just running and not having a home. Most of all, I've had enough of them. They have been on my tail for so long. Keeping me running. Never letting me rest.

I am always alert.

Always ready.

Unhealthily honed to react in an instant and be gone in a heartbeat.

That's what I was tired of. The fear and them.

I'll explain them later. If I have the chance. All that mattered was the calm that was ensnaring my senses. That and the diamond speckled infinite velvet sky above.

This was perfect.

Rustle...

My neck muscles tightened at the sudden obscure sound. I tried finding the source, but couldn't see anything. During the day, I had the vision of a hawk and yet, sadly, at night I was pretty much shit outta luck.

Rustle... Snap!

Dousing my small fire, I sprinted off to the side and limbered quickly up a tree. I pressed myself as close to the tree as I could while keeping a strong grasp on the branch below me, keeping me steady. Peering through the leaves, I tried to spot anyone, but all I saw was darkness.

"You idiot, why don't you just shout into a megaphone we're out here?" The voice was none that I had ever heard. It was a male's voice. He sounded kind of angry.

"Shut it Shorty. Don't think I won't take you on right now." This voice sounded kind of dumb. Though, from what I learned is to never underestimate anyone.

"Will both of you shut up?" Another male shouted in aggravation. Then the sound of hitting echoed in the air.

I tried moving around to see better, but I couldn't see a thing! Where are they? Where- Crack! Oops! I had accidentally snapped the branch below me!

"What was that? Over here." Hurried footsteps sprang forth from my right, but I didn't stick around to see them. I leaped out of that tree and had started running before my feet even touched the ground. Adrenaline surged me forward as I heard them running after me. I couldn't tell how many there were because of the echo and confusion of the trees and leaves around us. There were more than two of them. That much I was sure of. And if I was right on who they were, then they were most definitely in a pack.

"This way!"

"Which way?"

"This way! Come on!"

I kept running. My feet pounding the earth, carrying me onward, as if my life depended on it. Hell, it did! Trees. Trees. Trees. Creak. Ouch! Pointy rocks. Here was my life. I'll reiterate. Running, hiding, and running more. Not exactly the life I wanted, or would have chosen, but here I am!

"Holy hell!" My feet carried me onward normally from momentum and yet the ground had vanished out from underneath me. I tumbled forward and rolled painfully down a steep hill covered in sticker plants and broken sticks. When I came to a stop, I could only lay there for a second and moan. Oh, that hurt. I noted in the back of my mind that my ankle was throbbing horribly and slowly realized it may be sprained.

"Over here! I know I heard something now!" They sounded really close. Man these guys were like hounds!

Closing out the pain in my ankle, I stood shakily at first and continued my fretful sprint. Trees. Trees. Trees. Wait, is that a clearing? Oh, please be a clearing. I might be able to get away then. Swift and shadowy, I caught some type of movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look and almost screamed in terror as I saw a cloaked man holding a sword lunging at me. Reacting at the last second, I ducked in an awkward tripping kind of way. I saw the blade swipe and miss my head by barely an inch.

Jumping to my feet, I dashed toward the opening in the trees. I was on the verge of tears as I heard the men behind me running at me feverishly. That man who attacked me was no one I had ever seen. He didn't even smell like them! Yet they wanted to kill me. They wanted me dead just like the others.

Why me? Why!

My escape was right in reach. I was safe. I could get away! I was going to live another day!

I leaped through the barrage of branches and leaves, a smile spread across my features despite the fear racing through my body. The sky opened up and seemed to continue onward like some expansive deep violet ocean. I couldn't take my eyes off it.

Then I looked at the ground.

"On no!" The ground cut off into a steep, jagged cliff just a mere seven feet from where I was currently running. I stumbled and panicked, trying to stop myself from hurtling over the edge and plummeting into the darkness below. There was no way to see the bottom of the cliff. It seemed to go on forever. My heart sank as I searched valiantly for some type of escape off the ledge. Sadly, I was trapped in a corner. The ground was in a peninsula shape. Only air surrounded me on either side but behind.

No.

My pursuers were all that stood between my freedom and me.

Turning around, I stared at them with emotionless eyes. I refused to show any amount of fear. I noticed that there were only four of them. Glancing quickly at the stars, I tried to think of a way to take them out. The odds were against me.

One of them opened his mouth to speak. It was the male with gelled hair. He smirked at me. "You're a quick one. I didn't think you'd get this far." I just stared at him blankly while my ankle hurt horribly. "Now, you're in some big trouble. So you have to come with us." He saw how I was refusing to budge, so he formed a cocky smile. "It's quite simple. Either you come with us or you jump." I knew he wasn't seriously thinking I would consider jumping.

Rethinking what he said a few times, I replied casually, "Not much of a choice." He just stared at me.

The redhead cleared his throat suddenly. "It doesn't have to be like this you know. Just come with us. Everything will be all right."

Who did they think they were? They think they can just chase me down and expect me to come with them? Yeah right. When pigs fly!

As I looked them over a few more times, I still had no idea who they were. I've never seen them before so… how can they know me? And why are they after me? They didn't look like they were in league with them.

"Who are you guys and what is it that you want from me?" I asked carefully. Keeping a careful gaze on them, I found my attention continuously being dragged back to the shorter crimson-eyed male. He seemed to have the fiercest look of them all.

"Who we are is of no concern to you, and as far as what we want with you. Well, you have to come with us." Okay the guy with gel is really starting to get on my last nerve. It was his freaking cockiness!

I glanced at them then to the sky. The night sky looked so inviting. It called to me. Beckoning me to be with it.

"Hey, are you ignoring us?" The man with orange hair had such an annoying voice. It hurt my overly sensitive ears.

I looked at them once again as I made up my mind. My heart rate seemed to pick up from the excitement. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly?" They looked at me funny. I guess that was a serious mood killer to the tense situation. "You know, just to be up there in the sky." I feel like I'm repeating myself. Finally, I just looked at them simply. I tried to play an innocent smile as I stood straight and said, "Fine."

They seemed to relax a great deal and then the redhead stepped toward me. "Very good," he said. His eyes looked so kind, but I wouldn't fall for it. I wasn't sticking around for him anyway.

Taking a step back, I held out my arms and felt myself tip backwards.I heard them shout in surprise and the redhead even attempted to reach out to grab my hand. It was too late. I was already plummeting down into the darkness far beyond reach.

As the wind whistled and whipped passed my ears, I could only smile pathetically at the irony of it all. I felt like a young fledging falling with premature wings. It seemed so unfair. Yet, how my death was being carried out seemed…oddly relaxing.

"You stupid girl!" they shouted at me. "How could you jump? I wasn't serious!" I could no longer distinguish their outlines through the darkness and I could hardly hear them anymore. It was just me and the descending sky far, far above.

A strange feeling flooded my senses as I closed my eyes, blocking the image of the sky. It was icy. As if a cold gauntlet had my heart gripped in a death lock. It clenched down painfully and I couldn't help but cry.

I was crying from the irony. I was crying because I was going to die. I was crying because I didn't have wings! Then the pain shifted to a type of blissful haze. A warm blanket seemed to cover my senses and I cried harder, but they were no longer tears of bitterness and fear. They were of happiness. Peacefulness. Tranquility.

When I died, I realized, I would be in the sky forever.

Then something hit me. Something hit me with such a painful force I thought my head was going to shatter from the impact. It struck the back of my head with a starburst flair and my world was starting to fade. This was it. I must have been dieing. The sky was getting darker and fainter. The pain didn't let up as I started to slip from reality.

One thought ran across my mind as I went out: Is death supposed to hurt like this?