Chapter 1

I was exhausted as I grappled with my hunger to keep me aloft in the air, I was about two thousand feet up darting through clouds for cover. I need to land soon or I would fall out of the sky. I kept my eyes cast downward trying to spot land and wanted to dive towards a claws shaped island. I tucked my wings in diving low until I was parallel with the water I shot a glance upwards finding the familiar Big Dipper it was in the two o' clock position which meant it was very early. The white sands of a beach were coming up fast on me and I excitedly rowed my wings forward gaining more momentum. I stretched my feet out and they dug in deep but I stopped. I stood there a moment wings spread just letting the breeze pass over me. My knees shook and I fell ungracefully into the sand. My wings ached from flying for so long and my body weak and hot from exertion. But I was smiling broadly as I worked my fingers into the silky sand I had never felt so free. I never had been able to fly at the facility so I could say for a fact that I never intended to go back there after tasting the sky.

A deep growl made me start to climb to my feet I needed to find something to eat fast, flying consumed a lot of my energy and all my calories. I stumbled across the beach wings tucked in so I looked somewhat normal. My hair was snarled and tangled, and my eyes clear and happy. I shuffled along until it drove me crazy I grabbed the edge of the cloth tube and ripped it making it easier to walk. I made it to the sea wheat before I saw another expanse of beach and I sighed. I looked about and lights caught my eye. I turned and saw that there was a small town in the distance. I took a few running steps before taking off; if my muscles could speak they would have screamed. I nearly fell out of the sky so I stayed low my wings blending in with the dark terrain and lack of light in the sky. I landed half an hour later behind a rowdy pub where some kind of drinking song was in full riot. I tucked my wings in tightly and snuck through the back alleys of the town until I came to a residential area. I blinked a few times my vision blurry from lack of food and exhaustion. I stumbled against a small cottage with dark windows I peered in it looked like no one was home.

Although it went against my moral compass I turned towards the cottage finding the door and punched out a small window. I reached in to unlock it and was grateful they had no alarm system. I stepped inside closing the door quietly behind me I shivered at the smell of the house it was lived in and it was comfortable. I snooped around the house out of curiosity and found out a family of four lived here they had a son and a daughter. I stared at the family portrait sadly I had always wanted this kind of life. A growl from my stomach forced me to move to their kitchen, and open their fridge. I wanted to leap for joy, but I busily started grabbing containers of left overs, preservatives and condiments. It's hard to say what I ate but I knew one thing it filled me up. I breathed in a hearty sigh as I slumped down on the floor I destroyed all their food and a gallon of milk and some bitter tasting drink.

I struggled to my feet closing the door to the fridge and moving all the empty containers to the sink. But I just felt so bad eating all their food and then leaving them the dishes. I looked for soup and found something even better a dishwasher. I stacked the containers in and flipped the switch on. I shuffled out of the kitchen feeling a little dizzy and giddy, I made it over to a comfortable sofa and sat and inadvertently turned on the large thin screened television. I watched in confusion as a reporter came talking in a mellow manner in the same foreign language as the men from the ship. I got bored after a few minutes and hopped up and cautiously made my way to the bedroom of the girl. From the photos plastered over the walls I could tell she was somewhere in her late teens. Her room was a mess and I had to pick my way carefully across the various items spread across the floor.

I recoiled a bit when I stepped on something slippery and caught sight of something that looked like a latex glove. I turned quickly towards her closet suddenly feeling much more claustrophobic and uncomfortable. I dug into the clothes on the floor and found a pair of jeans a plain blue shirt and a large black hoodie. I gulped as I moved to her dresser I found the drawer with her delicates and pulled out both a bra and panties.

"This feels so wrong!" I muttered nervously, but I knew I looked absolutely wild.

I made my way down the hall to a porcelain room with a large shower, I turned it immediately to hot and the water came out like that. I quickly tore off the tube and stepped under the steaming stream shuddering. I washed myself thoroughly even spreading my wings washing the sand from them. I lathered up my hair with this red shampoo and scrubbed my skin. Reluctantly I stepped out of the shower drying myself with a towel that hung behind the door. I started to dress I wiggled into the jeans and was glad they fit. I took a small set of scissors and cut the back of the shirt and jacket for my wings. Once I pushed them through I looked at myself in the mirror. The person with the reddish brown hair and bright hazel eyes staring back looked like a stranger. I smiled at myself shaking out my short hair that naturally feathered out. Because of its shortness it dried fast and so did my wings.

I shuffled out of the bathroom moving towards the couch again, and this time when I sat I must have fallen asleep for a while because when I woke up the news reporter was frantically and excitedly talking. I started confused and frightened it must have been early because the sun was just starting to shed pale light through the windows. I scrubbed my eyes unhappily as I squinted at the television. Suddenly my blood froze when a night vision video started to play it showed me landing on the beach wings spread and me taking off again. My demeanor switched over to survival mode instantly. I had broken the one rule of the facility, I flew. Busted.