Two weeks later.

Have you ever seen the sunrise from the middle of Manhattan? No, well, I guess you haven't. One of the only ways to see over the skyline is to fly, which is a very rare characteristic in the race of humans. Even if we aren't exactly human.

Here's what it's like: Even before the sun comes over the horizon, it shines off a bit of light. In the city, sometimes pollution and smog catches this, refracts it, and intensifies it. That small light from a rising sun gives birth to something else. A mirage. A false dawn.

The even stranger thing is, this happens at night, about an hour before the true dawn. It's extremely rare, but for some reason I got to see it. I guess the divine being was giving the mutant a taste of true freedom, breaking away from the norm.

But in a way, it felt mocking. My life had many a false dawns. Like when I escaped the School the first time, I got shot down with a bullet to my wing, then beaten. I still have the scars. This was like the true dawn. But that a false dawn on a true dawn would occur is really mocking.

I barely beat my wings, watching the false dawn. I hated this, when memories took over. What was it the whitecoats said? Oh yeah. Watch out. It's dangerous. Unstable. Its biggest flaw. Don't provoke it, unless you want your arms ripped out. Years of experiments, and they decided my mind had broke. Well, duh. Still, I knew it, and the flock did, too. I was a little insane.

The tears came, and I tilted my wings, streaking across the sky as I poured on the speed. The wind bit my face, numbing it, chilling until my body tingled, felt deadened.

I didn't care.

I preferred it that way.

A bit later, I landed down on the lip of the building the Flock and I lived in. It was grungy and old, but someplace to live.

The others, minus Ryder, were in the kitchen, stuffing themselves on bread and milk. We had to buy a lot to keep our energy up. I reached into the cabinet and pulled out a bag full of bread, and started stuffing it into my mouth, washing it down with milk.

"Morning, Night," Aeon grinned. "Boy, that's an oxymoron."

I shot her a glare, and managed to choke down the wad of bread in my mouth. "Yeah, and thanks for flaunting your knowledge."

She was suddenly contrite. "Sorry."

We ate in silence for a while, before Ryder came in, his usual snide self. "Hello, ladies. So, who made me breakfast?"

I threw a carton of milk at him, which he snatched out of the air. His smile faded. He knew not to mess with me in this mood. They all did.

I paced to the door, then froze, gasping. "Erasers, coming this way."

Aeon swore like a drunkard, while Ryder just kept saying shit over and over.

"C'mon, let's fly!"

We rose into the air, our wings working hard, as the swarms of Erasers came over the horizon. Then total chaos ensued.

I could see Lucy blasting fire at any of the Erasers that got too close. Me, I preferred the old-fashioned version of battle. Street fighting. Gotta love it.

The first Eraser that came at me reached to punch my face. I tucked in my wings, and flung my head back, letting momentum carry me into a back flip. I snapped out my feet, and hit his chin so hard his head snapped back with a sickening snap. He went down, tumbling until he splattered on the ground.

Ha. Flock splatter art.

I lunged, killing any that got in my path. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Aeon taking out their wings, and Ryder was stuck fighting an Eraser. He didn't look so good.

Another one came at me, and I felt a claw dig deep into my arm, tearing a gash into the already scarred flesh. I swore, and the Eraser bared yellowish teeth at me. "Watch your mouth." I hissed at him, zipped up, and caught his wing. As I moved, I clenched down on it. Hard. Pulling it behind his back, I felt bone snap, and he fell, going splat like his friends.

The other Erasers went flying away. The flock landed, and I saw that Aeon was helping support Ryder, who looked barely conscious. I reached for my backpack, pulling out the first-aid kit. "Everyone, fix yourselves up. Lucy, get Ryder to wake up, fix him up, and fly to our meeting place with him." Our meeting place was a clump of trees in Central Park.

She nodded and took Ryder into the living room, where she could take off from the balcony. I turned and jammed a rag under the sink, wetting it then using it to wipe up the blood on my arm. The cut was deep. I winced as I tied gauze around the wound.

"Uh, Night." I could tell from Aeon's voice that something was wrong. She was frozen at the window. "I think the splat-bodies of Erasers have drawn a crowd."

I rushed over to the window, and stared down at the crowd below.

That was when I heard the sirens.

Ah, shit.

Authors Note: Oooooooo, action! Same policy, reviews will get the next chapter posted, once I have time to write it.