Okay, I know it's not really like Maximum Ride, but bear with me.

I wrote this story with my favorite books in mind, only it's a little different. Okay, well, a lot, but I couldn't copy James Patterson because I did this as an english project at school.

But.

I do hope you enjoy it, even if it doesn't include Max, Fang (Fang! My love!), Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy or Angle.

But please DO read it.

Please...?

I run. I know nothing but the wind brushing my cheeks, whipping my long dark hair behind me like a long stream of shadows. My legs and arms propel me forward as fast as they can, my sneakers sinking deep into the thick mud. My chest feels as though it will burst open any second, spilling my burning heart onto the forest's earth that I run though.

But I don't stop.

They're after me, tracking me through the undergrowth. Them, with their traps and guns. Ha! If they think that will stop me, they don't know what's coming. Their weapons are mere toys to me, cute but deadly children's instruments. They can shoot all they want, but play-time's over.

I see a ledge up ahead, and I speed towards it, not knowing how far the drop will be, but not caring either. As long as they don't get me again. I lengthen my stride, sailing faster and faster until I'm almost there. I can hear them behind me, shouting, aiming, but that doesn't slow me.

One of them speaks into his phone. "Boss, she's headed for the cliff." His voice sounds a little hesitant as he asks, "What do we do?" I laugh inside my head, not wanting to spare the breath to do so for real. They had no idea what was going on, the idiots. They needed to take orders from their boss.

I don't need anyone.

I make a guestimation as to how far the edge of the cliff is from me, and take even bigger steps. If I'm going to make it before they shoot me…

I inhale deeply and leap up from the ground, into the open air.

Leaving the villains behind me, for a fleeting instant I soar through the sky, my arms swung out behind me, my head thrown back in a wondrous, triumphant smile. I feel like superman.

But of course, gravity then takes over, and I start to plummet. I know, somewhere in the back of my mind, that I should feel scared, that my body should have gone into shock. But oddly, I'm enjoying it. If these are going to be my last moments of life, I should at least have some fun. So I simply go with the flow and, stretching my legs and arms as wide as they will go, I free-fall from what I can now see is a seven-hundred meter drop.

Yippie!

Looking down, my heart speeds up as I see the sharp, jagged rocks that surface from the crystal-blue ocean. It seems as though they're moving towards me. I wonder how fast I'm falling — it must be at least a hundred and fifty miles an hour, since I can feel the skin on my cheeks beginning to pull away from my face.

I flip over to look up at the gunned men peering over the edge at me, speechless. I wave. They have tracked me for so long, stalked me for days — weeks — and now they had failed. Who will they experiment on now? Will they stick needles and monitors into another helpless child, or will they clone me from all of my stolen DNA? I don't care, as long as I'm free. Well, free until I hit the icy cool water below me.

I'm only moments away from the crashing waves, from my death. I have just enough time to bring my legs in, do a cool spin for show, and then —

Nothing.

Not a splash, no cold pressure engulfing me, drowning my breath. In fact, I felt exactly the same as I had a whole three seconds ago. I open my eyes, and I'm amazed to see that I am hovering just above a deadly, pointed stone. The only thing that holds me in place is air itself. Very strange.

I uncurl myself, realising that I am causing this phenomenon. My body is producing some sort of low-humming sound that seemed to be holding me in place, even allowing me to manoeuvre.

Hmm. So this is what they have been doing to me these past fifteen years; turning me into some super-human girl. A freak of nature. An experiment.

Okay, I could deal with that.

Without another thought, I spin and literally fly back up the side of the cliff. The shock on their faces is a look I'll never forget. I cackle, as I had heard them do so many times before. Then, as if by some scientifically-infused instinct, I twirl in place and dash away from the ledge, from the forest, from the killers. I zoom into the bright, open sky, thrilled by the feeling of flight.

It felt great to be free!

The end...or is it?

I really hope you liked it! Please comment and tell me what you think -- Anything I should add, take away, make more clear...!

Thanks for reading, and keep watching; I'll post more stories soon!

Later, Pounce