The Experiments huddled in their cage. Their eyes—bright golden, ice blue, green-silver, dark violet, hazel flecked with gold—glared at him, some with fear, some with hate. 'Now, now," the whitecoat murmured, crouching so that he was their eye level. "I'm not going to hurt you."
"I'll believe it when I see it," the one with white-gold hair spat. Her odd silvery-green eyes were filled with hate.
The man chucked slightly. "Well," he said, "how could I be expected to do anything to you if you don't even have names yet?"
"Names?" the dark-haired girl asked cautiously. Unlike her companions, her violet eyes were carefully guarded.
"Yes, names." The whitecoat said. He reached out to cradle the blonde girl's chin in his hand. "You…" he murmured to her, "will be Phoebe." She only glared.
He turned his attention to the copper-haired girl, who was gazing up at him with ice blue eyes filled with fear. "You…" he murmured, "will be Ariana." She didn't speak, only looked down.
He looked at the dark-skinned boy. His eyes were liquid golden. "You will be Dwayne."
He turned to the youngest member of the flock. The golden flecks in his hazel eyes reflected the weak light. "You will be Christopher, Chris for short."
"And what about me?" the dark-haired girl asked softly.
The whitecoat chuckled again. "I didn't forget you," he said. "You will be Mara."
He stood. "Mara, Dwayne, Chris, Phoebe, and Ariana," he boomed, "your training begins tomorrow." He left.
Finally Phoebe spoke. "I don't like the sound of this training or whatever it is they call it."
"Neither do I," Mara agreed. She twisted her fingers in her short black hair. "We've been here two weeks and they only just sent someone in here to check on us. I wonder what they were waiting for?"
"No clue," Dwayne said.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Phoebe said grimly.
"What are we going to do about it?" Ariana asked softly.
"We can't just stay here!" Chris proclaimed. He glared at his companions, almost as if he were daring them to disagree.
"What do you mean?" Mara asked, shocked. "There's no way we can outrun them."
"Um, hello?" Dwayne asked sarcastically. "In case you haven't noticed, we're winged mutants, here!" He rustled his multi-hued feathers.
"Dwayne's right," Phoebe agreed. "We can outfly them."
"But we don't even know how to fly," Ariana pointed out.
Phoebe snorted. "We're half bird. How hard could it be?"
"Okay," Mara said, looking irritated, "that's all fine and dandy, but first we have to get out of here."
Phoebe looked around. "I bet I could pick this lock." She crawled over to it.
"Good luck," Dwayne commented dryly.
Phoebe struggled and cursed for a few minutes. "Okay, I give up," she sighed dramatically, sitting back.
"Let me try." Ariana pushed the older girl out of the way. She reached out her hand towards the lock.
The 'click!' resounded around the empty room. "How'd you do that?" Chris gasped, his eyes wide.
"I-I don't know," Ariana stammered, scrabbling backward. "I-I just—"
"That's brilliant!" Phoebe grabbed the girl in a huge hug. "Ariana, you're amazing! Now we can get out!"
"Um, think about it, Phoebe," Dwayne pointed out. "Do you really think that they'll leave us in an empty room with no guards, no alarms, no anything?"
"Hmm…" Phoebe sat back. "See if you can find any windows."
All of them looked up, gazing around the confines of the odd, circular room. "Look!" Chris cried suddenly. He was pointing at the very top of the room. There was a thin circular window that ran all the way around the room, held in place by metal stints.
"Five, ten inches tall," Dwayne guessed. "No way we'd ever fit."
"Actually," Ariana said, "I think we would. I mean, if we, like, crawled through."
"But it's still a fifty-something foot drop," Mara pointed out.
"Uh, wings?" Chris rustled his.
"Oh right."
"Okay, everyone," Phoebe said, taking charge. "On the count of three, we bust out of this cage and leap straight into the air. Then head straight for the windows and we'll try to get out of here. Leave no one behind. Got it?"
The rest of them nodded silently.
"On the count of three then. One…"
"Two…" Mara whispered.
"THREE!" Everyone shouted it at the same time. Phoebe and Dwayne lunged at the door as one. It popped open with a squealing sound of protesting metal. The rest followed in a rush of feathers.
Within seconds they were all out, hovering in the air. "Guys! Head for the window!" Mara shouted as the door banged open and a bunch of whitecoats swarmed beneath them, shouting angrily. As one, they all soared upwards, heading straight for the thin rim of glass.
"Yes!" Phoebe whooped as she reached open air. Chris, small as he was, slipped out with ease, Dwayne on his tail. Mara followed a heartbeat later, gliding gracefully on the warm air currents.
"Help me!"
The cry made them all turn. Ariana had hit the window slightly sideways, and was stuck, scrabbling madly in a desperate attempt to free herself. "Help me, please!" she wailed again.
Mara and Phoebe soared towards her. "Turn!" Phoebe panted, trying to drag her out.
"I can't!"
"Calm down," Mara murmured soothingly. "You're alright…try to fold your wings, okay?"
Trembling, she obeyed. But almost immediately she began to slip back into the room. "Ariana!" Dwayne cried in a panic.
"Grab my hand!" Mara shouted. She lunged, arm outstretched.
"No, Mara!" Phoebe cried. "You'll fall!"
"I don't care!"
Ariana's small hand closed around Mara's. With a sigh of relief, Mara pulled her back out into the open air. The little girl wrapped her arms around the elder's neck, still shaking uncontrollably. "That was so scary," she whispered.
"You're okay now," Mara soothed. She turned to her friends. "Let's go."
Back inside the room, it was chaos. People were everywhere, shouting and yelling. From the corridor came a short man, the one in charge. "What's going on?" he boomed, reaching the room.
Instant silence. "Um…sir," one said, "the Experiments…they have…escaped."
"Really?" the man strode into the room, gazing up at the windows. "They escaped, you say?"
"Yes, sir."
The man smiled. "Perfect," he murmured.
