I sat anxiously on the floor, looking up at the door. I hadn't been able sleep at all, though Crimson had settled down in the corner and fallen sound asleep some time ago. I had spent most of the hours of the night crawling aimlessly about, gently extending and stretching my wings. Now, as I saw the first rays of sunlight filtering in the windows, I stared blankly at the door.

Finally, after what seemed like years, I could hear footsteps outside my door.

Brady pulled open the door and smiled down and me, picking me up as he always did.

"Alright, here we go."

After taking some blood samples and fitting me with another shock collar, Brady and a few other Whitecoats led me into the same room with the high ceiling as before.

Brady pulled each of my wings out again, then using arm signals he had me stretch them out and allow my muscles to gain the memory of specific controls. Then, as the other Whitecoats resituated themselves at the other end of the room, Brady knelt down in front of me, his eyes level to my own. Though I tried to meet his eyes, some part of me just couldn't.

"Look, I know you are scared. Just don't worry, and do your best. Don't worry if your first flight is crooked and twisted, just relax and let your instincts take over. It will become second nature, and soon you will fly straight. Okay? I promise."

I tried to allow Brady's words to calm my nerves, but my heart refused to cease its pounding.

"Okay?" He repeated.

I nodded, still not finding it in me to completely meet his gaze.

"Alright." He said, standing. "You are going to need a running start to get airborne. Why don't you run a quick lap to get warmed up?"

I nodded and took off at a brisk jog, circling the big room and finding my way back to Brady.

"Alright, let's see your wings."

Rolling my shoulders forward, I extended my wings. The stretching I had done in the dull hours of the night had paid off. My wings extended smoothly and without hesitation, though my shoulders still ached horribly.

"Very good. Okay, I want you to take off at a sprint and slowly open your wings. When they catch the air you may need to jump, I just want to see how much air you can catch."

I nodded and did as instructed, sprinting off and allowing my wings to stretch out behind me. I felt my body temporarily become weightless for a moment before my feet hit the concrete again. I followed the same drill again, and each time that momentary weightlessness grew ever so slightly longer.

"Alright, looks good so far. Let's try getting a rhythm to them."

Brady held his arms out, signaling me to flap my wings. I did as he told, and with each painful thrust of my wings I felt myself briefly getting lifted off the ground.

"Okay, this time when you sprint, I want you to try and flap your wings like that."

Again, I nodded and took off at a sprint.

I leaned forward, my head tucked down, and pulled my wings out and up, allowing the air to catch them and pull me up. I felt the air suddenly pull me back and immediately thrust my wings down, shooting up into the air.

I dropped alarmingly back towards the ground before I remembered to flap my wings again. Slowly, I lifted myself up off of the floor, thrusting my wings up and then back down violently.

Every pull of a muscle hurt me, every time my wings bore my weight it stung. I could feel the membrane of my wings being stretched to capacity. But I continued to climb through the air.

Let your instincts take over; it will become second nature.

Brady's words rang through my head. I took my eyes off the floor and stared blankly ahead, allowing my muscles to work independently. I rocked my body forward and pulled my legs up, trying to keep my body straight as possibly, and thrust my wings out and up again.

I was flying.

I could hear the Whitecoats beneath me cheer and Brady called up to me.

"Okay very good! Now come down, don't let your wings get tired, or you'll drop."

Immediately, I obeyed and wheeled around towards him. I folded my wings in a moment and allowed my body to drop before shooting my wings out again. They caught me like a parachute, and I fluttered down and landed in a crouch on the table.

I pulled my wings in, feeling them fold neatly in an "X" across my back. All the Whitecoats smiled at me.

"Good job forty-three. I knew you could do it." Brady said.

A smile beamed from my face. I had done it. I was the first success. I had proved wrong all the statistics stacked against me. I was worthy of the title Chiroptera.

I saw a few Erasers come into the room, several of them heading over to the Whitecoats' table and helping them stack up the heavy monitoring equipment, lifting it effortlessly over their heads and carrying it out of the big room. One of the Erasers, I had heard others call him Ari, came up to me.

"Hey, saw the whole thing. Nice job midget."

He smiled crookedly at me, his teeth already half morphed into fangs. He was always teasing me, called me "midget" and constantly reminding me how weak I was. I wasn't created for strength, I was created for speed. I could outrun Ari any day of the week. I gazed at him with my one twisted eye, and I saw his smile momentarily fade, but one of the Whitecoats called him over, and he turned away from me.

I heard the doors creak open again and saw three Whitecoats escorting Crimson into the big room. She saw me and ran towards me.

"Chica!" She flung her arms around my shoulders. "How did it go?"

I smiled at her and extended my wings.

"You flew?!" She asked excitedly.

I nodded happily, my eyes half-moons of joy. Crimson jumped and clapped her hands.

"Yay! Oh, my gosh that is so cool!"

"Twenty-seven! Forty-three! Come here a moment please."

Crimson and I went over to where Brady stood. He knelt down in front of us, his usually soft eyes cold and serious.

"I've got a job for you. It's top-secret. Nobody can know, alright?"

Crimson and I looked at each other a moment, then back at Brady. Both of us nodded silently.

"Good. Now, you see this?"

Brady held up a picture of a small girl, probably five or six years old. She had blond hair and big blue eyes, and a pair of white angelic wings.

"She is one of ours, but she ran away. She is with a few others. They aren't any of your concern yet. But, I need you to find her. The two of you. Can you do that?"

Immediately all of the tracking lessons and the survival skills that Brady had been drilling into us the last few months made sense.

Crimson nodded.

"Yes." She said.

Brady looked at me, his gaze fixed within in mine.

I nodded. Then, raising my hands, I signed

We will find her.