Chapt.1
I could hear my brothers and sisters screaming on the other side of the wall. Their voices echoed off of the metal corridor walls. The closer the scientists got to my cell, the louder the screams got, making me shutter.
The voices started as a panicked pleading, trying to save their lives. Once that didn't work and the hacking started, the screams became loud and full of pain. After several minutes, the screaming died down into painful whimpers. Then, silence.
Like hell they're gonna kill me. I thought, trying to take even breaths and gathering my energy so I'd be ready to attack. My feathers were already starting to ruffle from my agitation. I'm not going down without a fight. I'm not gonna plead for my life. I have a right to live, and I'm gonna show it.
I tried pushing the sound of the screams out of my head, knowing that if I thought about the deaths of my siblings, I'd be too distraught to fight.
Hearing the footsteps echo down the hall, I froze and listened until they stopped at my door. I held my breath, feeling my fear start to bubble in my stomach, but I tried to ignore it and act brave. I needed to be strong if I wanted to somehow get out alive.
The door unlocked and clicked open, revealing two scientists, both with sharp knives that were covered in blood. My sibling's blood.
I wanted to puke from just looking at the red droplets of blood dripping onto the floor. Not only did it make me want to puke, it also made me want to rip off the murderers heads.
"We were saving you for last twenty six." One of them chuckled. "You're coloring is going to make us a lot of money when we sell your wings."
I hissed, and backed up a bit, not being able to fly due to the low ceiling.
"Now, don't be difficult, twenty six. If you don't struggle, the less you'll suffer." One of the scientists chided with a smile, as if what he was saying was the nicest freaking thing I ever heard.
"Maybe I want it to hurt." I growled. Tucking my wings back as I got into a defensive position, ready to strike.
"Cute." One of them laughed. With that, the larger of the two lunged at me, his knife aimed to impale me in the stomach. They didn't need my body. Just my wings.
I quickly blocked the attack, however I cut my arm in the process. Lucky for me, the guard wasn't expecting me to defend myself, since my other siblings didn't put up most of a fight. My only guess for why they wouldn't is because the food we ate for dinner was most likely drugged with something. Good thing I felt sick and didn't eat much.
His grip on the knife was loose, and I was able to snatch it out of his hand. There was no time to think. Only do or die. Without hesitation, I stabbed him several times in the chest before his partner ran at me with his own knife. He managed to cut me several time with some quick swipes.
He got in some good cuts, but I wasn't going to stop defending myself. I managed to dodge, and then I slit his throat.
I felt the blood splatter on my skin, but I couldn't stop to think about what I had done. I needed to get out.
Running out of my room, I quickly soared down the hall, flying as fast as my wings would let me. At the end of the hall there was a window.
I have to fly and break through that window and get out before anyone realizes that I've just killed two people.
I gained speed, put my arms in a locked position in front of my face, and then propelled toward the window.
I felt the hard window shatter and heard the arm raising crash of splintered glass. I managed to get through the window. However, it wasn't a painless experience and I felt the bones in my body creak and ache as I continued to fly.
Blood dripped from my body from all the cuts I had received, but I pushed myself forward, trying to fly away from the compound as swiftly as possible.
Unfortunately, someone must have spotted me in the night sky and a gunshot rang out. Feeling a bullet sink into one of my wings, I screamed, and plummeted to the ground. The bullet burned and it hurt more than the fall.
The compound was surrounded by a forest, which I didn't mind, but it was cold. I did not enjoy cold weather, nor was I dressed for it, still in sweatpants and a tank top. My small feet were bare and I felt the snow stinging them and turning them a bright painful red. I tried to fly, but with the bum wing it was no good. I had to run.
Members of the compound will be after me in no time. I tried to run faster through the icy rough snow
Goddammit! I wasn't supposed to get shot!
I stumbled through the snow as long as I could, but I couldn't take the cold weather for very long. I fell, feeling as the snow settled into my skin all around me. I hated it, the cold and the snow. But I didn't have it in me to get up.
I fought. I thought. And since I'm going down, at least I took two people with me… not to mention shooting my wing makes them worth a bit less than they would have been… freezing to death sounds better than getting hacked to death anyway.
I didn't want to die, but I didn't see any other options.
I closed my eyes, and tried to drift off. I prayed that when death came for me, I'd be asleep.
~O~O~O~O~O~
My fingers tinged along with my toes. I felt warmth all around me, which was something I truly reveled in.
When the scientists chose to splice me with their bird of choice, they used a parrot. What type of parrot, not a clue, but the other experiments used to make fun of me saying that my colorful feathers were ugly and useless for blending in to fight, which was originally what we were created for.
However, when I started punching my brothers and sisters for taunting me, I earned the nickname "Rabid Rainbow" and the question of me being useless for having vibrant colors was quickly dismissed.
Unfortunately, a disadvantage I had with sharing some DNA with parrots was that I functioned the best in tropical and warm environments, while my brothers and sisters, who shared their DNA with eagles, hawks, robins, crows, and so on, dealt well in the cold.
Am I in heaven? I slowly blinked my eyes open to realize that I was in a warm bed, with a wool blanket draped over me. Around me was a room that was almost spotless aside from a rug and a desk and lamp. It appeared to be some sort of log cabin.
Okay… maybe not heaven. I examined my body and noticed that my wounds were wrapped in band aids and my bum wing was patched up as well. It wouldn't be able to be used to fly anytime soon, but it would heal.
I instinctively started combing through my feathers with my fingers, clearing away any debris in them. First I started with my outer dark blue feathers, then my light blue feathers, then the green feathers, and lastly, my red feathers. I did this often to calm myself as well as clean.
With a low creak, I heard the door to the room open, and I tensed, feeling my feathers start to ruffle up a bit. The door opened all the way to reveal a woman with long coal black hair that had a bit of wave to it and blue eyes. She wasn't thin, but it was clear that she was fit. She was definitely beautiful.
In her hand was a bowl containing berries and fruit. She gave me a small smile, but stopped in the doorway.
"May I approach you, sister?" the woman inquired in a gentle voice. She seemed warm and comforting. I wanted to embrace her and praise her with thanks, but I couldn't help but feel suspicious.
"What are you planning to do… Blue Eyes." I didn't like not having a name to identify her with. All my brothers and sisters gave each other names since numbers weren't enough. As I stated before, I was Rabid Rainbow. My one sister with red tailed hawk in her was Swift Crimson. My one brother kept his down feathers longer than most of us, which resulted in us simply calling him fluffy, even after got in his adult feathers.
My heart panged for a moment. They were dead. Swift Crimson, Fluffy, Raspy Coal, Red Laughter, all of them.
"I just want to give you some food and make sure you're okay. Is it alright if I come closer to you?" the woman questioned, and I slowly nodded.
She approached me and then sat next to me on the side of the bed, handing over the bowl of fruit. I picked up a blue berry, sniffed it, and then bit into it. My stomach let out a low gurgle, and I started eating the food faster.
Meanwhile, Blue eyes started examining my injured wing. I kept an eye on her as I continued to devour the food, making sure that she didn't do anything that could cause me pain. She ran her fingers softly over my wing, and it was more comforting than painful. I let out a soft sigh, and she continued softly stroking my wing.
Gentle Blue Eyes. I thought to myself.
"Thank you for the food, Gentle Blue Eyes." I smiled at her. She looked confused but then smiled back at me.
"Not a problem. By the way, my name is Donna."
"Donna." I repeated slowly. It sounded nice. Sweet and simple. And I loved the feeling of my tongue on the roof of my mouth saying the n sound in her name. "Donna."
"What's your name?" she inquired.
"My brothers and sisters called me Rabid Rainbow. The scientists called me twenty six." I informed, and Donna raised an eyebrow.
"So you never had an actual name?" she inquired, and I shrugged.
"I suppose." Donna shook her head.
"Sister, you're going to have a name. I'll make sure of it. We can look through name books and you can pick one." she informed happily, but I cocked my head at her, confused.
"Why are you helping me?" I questioned. Donna sighed, stroking my wing soothingly again.
"I came here hearing about how there was some… illegal human experimentation going on. I came to help the experiments and see what was going on myself, but then I found you in the snow."
"What makes you think that you could have just walked into the place and just check it out?" I questioned. No one could just waltz into the compound.
"I have… a certain power about me." she shrugged. "Tell me… why were you out of that place with a bullet in your wing?" I let out a long sigh, shaking my head.
"Funding got cut off. Winged soldiers don't sound very popular so in the end, we were only good for our feathers… which were going to be collected off our dead corpses. I was the only one who made it out. They… they killed…" the realness of the situation was settling in. My siblings were dead. Dead. I'd never see them again.
I raked my fingers through my curly dark brown hair, feeling tears well up in the corner of my eyes.
"M-my siblings are…" Donna didn't let me finish. She was gently hugging me, which surprised me. However, she was so soothing. I couldn't help but let my tears spill over and I hugged her back. She was so warm. I could stay in her arms for hours.
"Those scientists are going to pay for their murders." Donna growled. Her sweet gentle voice was replaced with something much more steely and hard.
"Donna, they are very strong people. It's… it's best to stay away from them." I stated. I couldn't let this kind and gentle person get hurt by those scientists.
Donna chuckled a bit, looking down at me with a small smile on her face.
"Sister, I can promise you that I am stronger than them. Not to mention, I have two friends that can help me."
"But-"
"Sister, please don't worry. Everything will be alright. You should rest yourself and heal." Donna smiled as she gently stroked my wing one more time, then stood from the bed.
"Wait, you're leaving?" I inquired, and I honestly didn't want her to go.
"I'll be back. In the meantime, one of my friends might come in to keep you company. Is that alright?" she questioned, and I nodded slowly. Friends of Donna's couldn't be that bad, right? And Donna had made no moves to hurt me and almost every move to help me.
I watched as she left the room, and sank a bit in the pillow on the bed. I was quickly asleep again.