It was cold. Freezing cold. I couldn't move, and every part of me hurt and ached. I felt like someone had just dropped an elephant on me.

I could just barely make out voices, but I felt like someone had stuffed cotton in my ears, so I couldn't make out what they were saying.

Then I finally realized my eyes were closed. I blinked them open slowly, flinching from the bright, harsh light. I was outside. Kneeling over me was a girl with curly brown hair and caramel-colored skin, chocolate eyes flashing with worry. Suddenly she gasped.

"She's awake!" The girl exclaimed, and five people crowded around me. Another girl, probably older than the one with brown hair, had dirty blonde hair, and she was eyeing me warily. I tried to sit up, but once again I say, it was like someone had dumped an elephant on me. I still couldn't move.

"Can you talk?" The first girl murmurs softly. I try open my mouth, but no sound comes out, and I end up coughing.

"Nudge, stay back from her. That girl could be an Eraser." A guy said, with dark hair and pale skin. Suddenly I noticed something each of them had a pair of…wings…on their backs. Even though I couldn't talk, I managed to gasp, and the girl they called 'Nudge' focused back on me.

"I'm sure she's not, Fang. Look! She had wings like us!" Nudge says pleadingly. The guy called 'Fang' sighs. "Whatever. Max, what do you think?" He asks. Max, who's apparently the girl with dirty blonde hair stares at me, then whispers something to a little blonde girl who couldn't be more than six. She shakes her head, and then whispers something to Fang.

I stare at all of them. I can't remember anything, but part of me says that having wings is not at all normal. Max notices my stare and walks over to me, wary, but also a bit curious.

"Can you tell us your name?"

I try to talk this time, finally managing to rasp something out. But…my name? I don't remember…Oh, that's right! It's Corinne! "Corinne," I murmur. Suddenly I groan as a splitting headache pierces through my head.

"Are you alright, Corinne?" Nudge asks, and I blink, suddenly the pain gone. "Y-yeah…" I say shakily. "Where am I?"

"You're at Lake Meade." Max says, seeming surprised that I didn't know my own location. I waited for other memories to return, but nothing happened. I only remembered who I was, and my family. Nothing else. Maybe I live around here…?

I touch my forehead, and gasp, feeling a long, scabbed wound. "What happened to me?" I worry, probably sounding like a confused toddler. "Why can't I remember anything?"

"You probably have amnesia. Whatever gave you that head wound, caused you to get amnesia too. Can you remember anything besides your name?" Max asks.

"I…no…" I frown as I try to remember things, but nothing pops up in my brain. All I know is that my name is Michelle and I'm lying on the ground surrounded by kids with wings.

"Do you at least know how you got here?" Max frowns, and I shake my head. I try to sit up again, but this time I manage and stand up. Apparently the elephant left.

Then I glance behind me and see pale gray-silvery wings. I gasp. "I have wings…too?"

"Apparently. I would ask you if you know the School, which is more than likely what did this to you. But since you don't remember anything, I suppose there isn't any point in asking. Anyway, my name is Max. That's Fang, Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, and Angel." She motions to the other kids standing in the cave. Iggy, the one with the strawberry-blonde hair and blank blue eyes, I notice, is kind of cute. Angel, the blonde girl giggles and I stare at her, confused. What's so funny?

"Don't try anything fishy. Right now you look pretty harmless, but I warn you, make one slip up and you're dead." Max threatens, and my eyes widen. "But for now, you can stay here…I need to talk to the flock about… a few things, so just wait here. We'll be back soon." Max says, and then the six of them jump out of the cave and then…fly! So those wings are the real deal. I sit down and flap my silvery wings, thinking. All of this kind of seems like de ja vu, but I don't know why…

….

Max's P.O.V

I leave the girl, Corinne in the cave and shoot out into the clear blue sky, Iggy, Fang, Gazzy, Angel and Nudge right behind me. Once we're high enough, I stop in mid-flight.

"Okay, Flock. What do you guys think of her? Angel? Picking up any bad thoughts?" I ask, glancing at Angel.

"No. She's really confused, and it really seems like she's lost her memory. She thought it was weird we have wings, even though she had some herself…Anyways, she seems pretty harmless. I like her. Although there is something interesting she thought…but I'll tell you that later." Angel says, and I glance curiously at her. What's something she couldn't say in front of the flock? But then she sends a thought into my head and I understand. Apparently, the girl thought Mister Iggy was cute. More than anything I wanted to tell him and see his reaction, but being as polite as I am, I kept it to myself.

"Fang? You think she could be an Eraser in disguise?" I ask. Fang, ever the silent one, shrugs. I'm taking that as a no. I ask around and everyone else either doesn't have an opinion about her or think she's harmless. But I can't take any chances. We decided to let her stay with us and see if her memory returns at all, and then we'll decided from them. But I'm not taking my eyes off of her.

When we fly back into the cave, Corinne is still there, flapping her wings all hyper-like, as if she were a little kid. I couldn't help but grin. She glanced up when we came in, her brown eyes wide, and her cheeks were flushed. She was embarrassed.

"I'm…sorry…" She mutters, and I laugh, much to her confusion. I pat her on the back, between her silvery wings.

"We've decided that you can stay with us for a bit. Until we figure things out with your memory and stuff." I say, taking the leader position so she knows who's in charge. Her eyes widen again, and she gasps.

"Really? Thank you so much! I promise I won't cause any trouble, and I'll do whatever you say, and I'll help you…" She keeps going on and on and I'm worried we might have another Nudge in the family.

"It's alright." I say. I hate to admit it, but I like her too. She seems pretty harmless. Maybe we have another addition to the Flock. But then I shake my head. This is too easy.

…

Corinne's P.O.V

I was so surprised when Max came back and said I could stay with them. I had kind of expected her to kick me out. I mean, if I was her, I would've been pretty freaked out if a random stranger was crashed out in a cave saying they lost their memory and had wings. But they had wing, too. So I suppose between us, it's normal. I was pretty embarrassed when they had come in and seen me flapping around with my wings like a little kid, but I was glad Max didn't tease me.

It was already nighttime, so Max had set up a campfire in the cave we were in.

"Do you…do you guys have a house?" I asked tentatively, worried it was a touchy subject. But Max didn't seem concerned.

"Nope. Our home is pretty much all around the world. When you live with us, you get used to running for your lives at every second. Or, in our case, flying for your lives." Max replied. I smiled, and sat down next to Iggy. He didn't seem to mind me sitting next to him, and breathed a sigh of relief. I looked at his blank blue eyes and noticed how hollow they seemed…was he okay?

"He's blind. But for being blind, he's incredible." Max explained, noticing my gaze. I immediately flushed at being caught staring, my cheeks turning bright pink. Iggy shifted uncomfortably, and I could tell it was a touchy subject.

"I'm…sorry…" I murmur, staring at the ground.

"It's okay. You didn't know." Iggy says, and he smiles at me, and to my surprise my heart skips a beat. What's wrong with me? "I wasn't born blind. But back at the School, those stupid scientists tried to enhance my vision but ended up making me blind."

I stare at him sadly. "I'm sorry," I say again, and I bite my lip. Even though I've only been with them for a few hours, I already realized they had a tough life. Iggy laughs. "You don't have to apologize. It's not your fault." He says and I exhale.

"It's amazing, though. Even though you're blind you…you can still get around and everything…you're incredible." I say, watching as he perfectly roasted his hot dog in the fire and blew it off when it got too hot. He blushed when I said that.

"It's-It's nothing, really…" Iggy replied, blushing.

"It's not nothing." I insist. "It's incredible!" I smile, even though he can't see it. Iggy still blushes and fiddles with his hot dog. Angel smiles at me from across the campfire, and I wonder what could be going on in that six-year-old's head.

For the rest of the night, Max tells me about the Flock and how they escaped from the dreaded school. I gasp as she tells me how their house was blown up, and tells me about each of the flock members and how she cares for all of them. I listen intently.

"That's…amazing…" I say as she finished. It seems like all I can do is get impressed tonight. Max just shrugs, and then she stretches.

"All right, flock. Time to hit the hay. I'll take first watch." She stomps out the fire with her boot, then everyone heads deeper into the cave. I stand, a bit confused, as everyone settles down on the cold rock ground. I guess this is what it takes to survive. Utterly confused, but starting to understand a bit, I lay down on the ground, staring at the ceiling, wrapping my wings around myself like a blanket. Who am I? What am I? What's going on? I sigh, then turn on my side, closing my eyes. Lucky enough I remember at least how to sleep. Finally, I fall asleep, miraculously, and wake up morning feeling oddly refreshed. I silently gasp I realize I was sleeping right next to Iggy. His hand must have moved in his sleep because it was now wrapped around my wrist, and I blush. Ever-so-carefully, I slowly remove his hand off my wrist, still blushing. I look around. Max was asleep now, and Fang was taking watch.

I noticed Angel curled into Max's chest, and I smiled. Getting up, I stretched. Even though everyone had seemed so happy when I met them, their faces were tightened as they slept, as if each of them were having nightmares. I didn't blame them. They had only just gotten Angel back, the poor thing, from the dreaded School.

Once I got up, it was like a cue, and everyone else started to get up too. Max stood up and yawned, flapping her wings a bit, and Angel smiled at her. Iggy stood up and rubbed his sightless eyes, coming to stand over next to her. Gazzy and Nudge both groaned as they woke up.

Fang stood up from his post. "It feels weird staying in one place too long." He mutters, and everyone else nods. "Where do we go now?" Fang asked Max.

She sighs deeply, eyes closing in concentration. Then she opens them. "East. We'll go east."

Hi there! Thanks so much for being patient with me! I'm sorry that I keep taking this down then putting it up again. Hopefully I won't delete this version. I'm really sorry if any of the characters acted OOC, but I'll try my best to make them act like they do in the books. Please review! If you do you get 's cookies!