My head ached unbearably. My vision was cloudy and I could feel my eyelids growing steadily heavier as seconds passed by. A sudden, unpleasant shock down my spine alerted me that my task was not yet completed. Fighting back against by body, I rose shakily to my feet and stood to attention.

I couldn't see the clear blue sky behind the thick blanket of dull clouds, but I knew it was there. I couldn't see the sun, but I could feel its gentle warmth on my skin. I was almost finished, this would soon be over, and I would be back – safe—in my room.

My opponents circled me. There were three of them, the Erasers, all much taller and stronger than me. But I was not bred for strength or size.

I was bred for speed. Agility; it was my best trait.

Gathering the little strength I had left, I raised my clenched fists, guarding my already bleeding face. Snarling wildly, one of the Erasers let out his beastly side, his body contorting unnaturally and morphing into some creature suspended between wolf and man. He lunged, claws like needles slashing at my small body.

I dropped to ground, flattening my stiff body against the concrete as the Eraser flew over me, his claws narrowly missing my forehead. Landing, he immediately dug his feet into the pavement and swung around to come at me again. I rolled onto my stomach and pushed myself upright just in time to have the air knocked out of me by a second Eraser.

He smiled menacingly at me as I doubled over and fell to my knees. My vision momentarily faded, but the adrenaline that was now coursing hot through my veins refused to be defeated.

My eyes snapped open, and I looked up at the Eraser in front of me.

My right eye was still cloudy, but images in my left eye were crystal clear. I could see the Eraser's face as he slowly backed away from me, his smile fading. In my peripheral, could see the White Coats lean forward in anticipation. I drew in a sharp breath and got to my feet, every muscle in my body tight as elastic.

"Get her!"

I heard a voice yell, and at once, the three Erasers charged me.

Whipping around, I saw the closest Eraser draw his arm back, preparing to swing. My keen eyesight saw the second coming towards me from my right, braced for a body slam. Before I even had time to draw a breath, I ducked the punch from the first Eraser and grabbed his arm as it sailed by me. Pulling him in front of me, the other Eraser slammed into him, and both went hurtling to the ground. A low snarl from the third Eraser was quickly followed by a hard kick that landed straight on the small of my back.

"Hey!" A voice from the sidelines called. "Be careful!"

The Eraser turned to the voice and growled menacingly at the speaker. I seized my opportunity. Leaping upright, I flung both my arms around the Erasers neck and squeezed for all I was worth. The Eraser flailed his arms about wildly, trying desperately to dislodge me from his shoulders. But I hung on. Erasers were slow, and definitely not flexible. I had them outmatched by that much. Relying heavily on my body's ability to bend and twist, I hung on to the Eraser's neck until he finally slowed his movements, gasping for air.

The other two Erasers had finally composed themselves and now came hurtling towards me and my prisoner. One of them swung his claws at my face, but I snapped my neck back and avoided his blow, returning it with a swift kick to his throat that sent him sprawling back. I felt the body beneath me shudder and realized I was actually killing the Eraser. Hastily, I let go and leapt off of him.

Finally, the last Eraser stood facing me. He clenched and unclenched his clawed fists, but didn't make a move. I stared expressionlessly at him with my one twisted eye, and he flinched, looking away. I smiled inwardly to myself. All of the Erasers feared my gaze, they were afraid of my one golden eye.

A whistle blew, and the Eraser hastily backed away from me, morphing back into his humanoid state.

"Well done, you lasted much longer this time forty-three."

I turned to the speaker, one of the White Coats, and nodded. He held out his hand, motioning me to come over to where he and a few other White Coats were standing. I did as instructed, and he picked me up, setting me down on the table.

"Let's have a look at those wings; you took a pretty bad hit to your back."

I simply nodded and turned around so he could look at my wings. Undoing the buttons in the back of my shirt, he ran his hand down my back before gently pulling my left wing out.

I flinched. My wings were still growing in, and though they were floppy and useless, it still hurt to flex them. My muscles weren't yet used to bearing their weight. The leathery skin that grew out from my back and along my wings was limp like wet paper.

"They are coming in nice, very good. Do they fold in comfortably?"

Again, I nodded. The White Coat folded up my wing back into place, lightly pressing it into the indentations on either side of my spine.

The sudden, heavy scent of fresh fruit filled the air, and I looked up. One of the White Coats pulled out a ripened mango, holding out to me. I smiled and took it in my hands, sinking my fangs into its juicy sweetness. The White Coats all smiled at me. Then, one of the tallest White Coats, a lady with brown hair and glasses, pulled the White Coat who had checked my wings over to the side. With my keen hearing, I heard every word of their conversation.

"She's not like the Angel Experiment, Tim; we can't just clip her wings to keep her from flying off."

"I really don't think she would attempt to fly off, she's happy here, look at her."

"You didn't think that before either, did you?" There was a pause in the conversation, and then the lady in the glasses spoke again.

"I suggest you arrange a separate confinement area for her. Perhaps have her cell connected to a large indoor arena where she can fly about. Whatever you decide, I strongly suggest you keep her indoors at all times from now on."

"I can't do that to her, she loves coming outside…"

The lady held up her hand, and the other White Coat ceased talking. A harsh look from behind her glasses, and the man nodded and said.

"Alright, I understand."

"Very good. Now, I want to see the other one. Can you go get her?"

"Yes ma'am."

The White Coat came over to me and picked me up, hoisting me onto his hip.

"Come on, let's get you back inside."

I nodded and continued eating my mango. The White Coat carried me back inside the whitewashed building and down the cool hallway. Opening a clear bulletproof glass door, he set me down inside my room and took my shock collar off.

"There you go, that probably feels a little better."

He turned to leave, but I reached up and grabbed his coat, causing him to look back down at me. I folded my pinkie and thumb into my palm and made a "W" with my fingers, then brought my hand to my open mouth.

"Oh, you want water?"

I nodded.

"Alright, I'll be right back."

I smiled and climbed up to my perch.

My perch, as I called it, was a metal rod with a leather pad around it that ran across my room close to the ceiling, from one wall to the other. I climbed up to it and looped my knees around the leather, hanging quite comfortably upside down.

See, I am number forty-three in the Chiroptera Trial. We are bred to be lighter, smaller, and faster than the Erasers, and trained to track down just about anything. A heightened sense of smell and impeccable hearing are only some of the traits we possess. Our skin is thick and leathery, our ears large and somewhat pointy, and on our backs, we bear the wings of a bat.

But, our gifts ever have their… effects. We can't stand upright; it would tear the membrane of our wings from our backs. And our sight, well… Many of the original experiments were conducted using Vampire bats.

Not me.

I carry the DNA of a Fruit bat. Where Vampire bats rely on echolocation and heat to find their way in the darkness, Fruit bats instead have nearly perfect eyesight, something that had not been factored into the original equation, and something that my body didn't seem to accept.

My right eye was natural, human almost. It was a hazel green. My left eye, however, is nothing of the sort. My left eye is most often twisted, looking in all different directions while my other eye remains focused. And my left eye is gold.

I don't know how or why it happened, but it did. My left eye responded to the DNA, and is nearly perfect. My right eye though, remained normal.

The White Coat came back with a jug full of crisp, cool water. He set it down on the floor of my room.

"There you go." He said and looked up at me. From where I hung upside down, I held my hand to my lips and then drew it out towards him. He sort of smiled and said,

"You're welcome."

Oh, that's another thing about me. I cannot speak.