:D my second update this week! enjoy :)

Anything familiar is James Patterson's :(

I awoke in a blindingly white room, on a soft, feather bed. Was this heaven? Was I dead? Then, the sterile, hospital-like smell assaulted my nose, and I was painfully reminded of the time that I'd given Fang my blood transfusion.

Then the memories of the last few days came back, and I realized I was still in the School. I glanced down at my left arm and saw the pink line of my newly healed flesh. I attempted to twitch one finger, and it was futile. My arm was gone. But that was the least of my worries – where was the Flock, why was I here, shouldn't I be dead?

In a small corner of my mind, I acknowledged the opening and closing of a door, and then hesitant footsteps.

"Max?"

It was Fang. Stupid traitor. My heart constricted painfully as I was reminded of everything that had ensued, and I turned away, clutching my useless hand like some childhood teddy bear, from the childhood I'd never had. His steps faltered, and I hoped that the guilt was killing him.

"I'm sorry… you know, about your hand." He choked out, as if holding back tears. "The Flock, they're gone. They erased their memories, sent them off to homes and a better life. You and I are the only ones left. And we're going to be gone soon, too."

So that's what his explanation was. He tore apart our family for our "greater good". Well guess what? I wanted to keep all of these memories, regardless of how much I hated them. I wanted to keep them so that I would never have to make the same, blind mistakes again. And I wasn't going down without a fight.

I heard footsteps again, approaching me. I flinched away from him as I felt a small prick on my arm.

"Sorry Max." He whispered as doctors, or rather, experimental and insane scientists, flooded the room and dragged me away, and I couldn't fight – Fang had immobilized me.

Tears that had been held back for days stung in my eyes, and I forced my eyes to flicker to Fang, betrayal written all over them. He took away my Flock and the life we'd known, he'd torn my heart into shreds, and now he was stealing my memories.

"I hate you." I choked out, tears streaking down my face, and I felt myself falling into the dizzying darkness. As I fell into the now-comforting sleep, I thought I heard him say "I know."

I woke up on a hospital bed. Where was I? WHO am I? I thought, bewildered, and then my memories flooded back to me. Right. I was Charlotte Johnson. Such a plain name, I remembered thinking. And I lived in Portland, Oregon and was homeschooled. I blinked a few times as everything swam into focus, and winced as someone wrapped their arms around me tightly.

"Charlotte! We were so worried! Don't you ever EVER do that again. Trying to kill my nerves, that you are." My mother sniffled reproachfully. I sighed and let my mom hug me, her perfect flaxen hair splayed across my chest. A nurse smiled down at me patronizingly.

"How do you feel, sweetheart?" She asked. I tried to scrutinize my pain.

"I don't know. What happened?" I replied carefully, feeling my lips form the words as if they were something foreign.

"You thought you had wings, and tried to jump off a cliff in hopes of flying." A deep voice answered. I gaped at my father.
"But… but that's utterly preposterous!" I said. And then a small voice in my head replied, But you can feel them, you can feel the feathers against your back and the strength of them snapping out behind you….

"See there, Char? [pronounced shar, not char as in char broiled]I can see the confusion on your face, the doubt in your mind. The doctors say that there's something wrong with your mind…" He explained. I gasped, outraged.

"Are you calling me MENTAL?" I fumed. My dad looked at me, confused for a moment, and then grinned.

"Well, technically, everyone's got a mental infrastructure…" He started, and then trailed off at my piercing glare.

"Of course not, sweetheart." My mother cut in, finally releasing me. "But your father and I believe that public school… might help you. Once you're better, of course." I glanced up at her, considering it. I'd always wanted to go to public school, more friends, you know.

"Okay." I replied hesitantly. "We'll try."

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