Disclaimer: I own nothing except Bel.

Author's note: Thanks to Butterfinger45 and Eva for their reviews. And to Eva I'm going to be using your comments for future chapters. Enjoy and please read and review.

The Forgotten One

Chapter 7- Love is hard to admit

If you love me, won't you let me know?

-Violet Hill- Coldplay

"It's against the law to climb trees in Central Park." I opened my eyes and glanced down. A woman stood at the foot of the tree waiting for us to descend. I watched silently as Fang made his way down the tree. I froze. I'd never climbed down a tree before. Iggy motioned for me to go next. I made my over and whispered.

"I've never climbed down a tree."

"I'll go first," He said. "If you fall I'll catch you." I nodded watching him descend. As I stepped off the branch I clung tightly to the tree hoping I wouldn't fall. I made my way down very slowly and almost made it down without falling. But a couple of feet from the floor I slipped. I expected to fall flat on my back, but as promised Iggy caught me.

"Thanks." I said smiling up at me. My heart sped up slightly as he held me arms underneath my knees and back. Chuckling he set me lightly back on my feet. As the rest of the flock climbed down the woman studied us. There was something not right about her.

"Run." Max hissed. It seemed she had also sensed it. Once again Iggy grabbed my hand as we ran. It seemed to be something that he would do every time, but I didn't mind. Behind Max grabbed angel as she attempted to reach her bear. But the woman already had it. We were all running now.

But the woman was following along with four other men. We couldn't seem to put any distance between them and us. Then Max stopped and headed into a large building. Iggy had let go off my hand again, but stood close to my side. We followed Max.

"What is this place?" I breathed.

"A church." Iggy replied. It was beautiful. Light shone through multicoloured glass casting rainbows, giant archways stood tall above us and the front grand statutes stood of people I didn't know. It felt safe and welcoming. And better still we hadn't been followed. The others were making there away to the front where they knelt down.

"What are they doing?"

"Praying. You know to God." I nodded, but I didn't know. I didn't know what praying was or who God was. More words I didn't understand. We joined the others at the front. I tried praying silently in my head.

Erm… hey God. Could you help me… Erm… figure things out with Iggy? It's confusing and I don't understand what to do. Please help me. Erm… thanks.

I lifted my head and gazed for a second at the statues wondering who they were. But they were just something else I didn't understand. I stood up and walked around the church. I watched the people.

One young girl skipped along behind her parents with a bright smile in her face. I wondered if I'd been normal would I have had family like that? I sat down on the floor and thought. It was typical what I thought about… Iggy. What could I say to him? Just walk up to him and say I love you. It didn't sound right. I didn't know what to do.

"Bel?" I looked up. Iggy stood in front of me.

"We're going. Max has seen a building on 31st Street." I nodded and was about to lift myself up when Iggy held out a hand. I took it ad he pulled me up. W stood there for a while face to face, neither of us being able to form words. But the flock walked past us and we had to follow. We didn't go straight to 31st Street; instead we went to a money machine. Max pulled out a card. A gift from her voice. After using three machines she still hadn't got any money.

But at the fourth Angel saw the password. The flock were slightly shocked. But there seemed to be more to Angel. A little girl with dangerous powers she didn't understand. The day she understood them was something to be weary of. The institute was the next on the list. It was just like any other building. It looked normal, not like the school. I shuddered. It seemed hard to believe that amongst all this hustle and bustle was a place like the school.

Yet inside the place was still unschoolish. That was until Max asked about the basement. We hit the street running, Iggy's hand clenched around mine once more. It seemed we were no longer any closer to any answers or results. Everyone seemed down and fed up. But Gasman was the first to crack.

"This sucks! Everything's wring! Max's head is busted, Angel lost Celeste! We're all hungry! I hate this!" We all stared at him in shock. But even so Gasman's words echoed my thoughts. Nothing was going well at the moment. Max crouched down in front a Gasman and placed an arm around him. She spoke quietly to him.

"I just want somewhere I can sit down and rest and eat." Max nodded. We ended up at a place called the Garden Tavern. I didn't like it. It was too full of people and too open. I shrank back amidst the flock trying to become unnoticed. Iggy however noticed this.

"It's okay." He murmured. I nodded trying to calm down. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. At once I felt better. We were seated near the kitchen, which Max said would be a good escape route. A man called Jason handed around some sort of book things to us. I stared at it unsure what to do.

"It's a menu." Iggy whispered opening it. I looked though it. There were so many names I'd never heard of. Food I didn't know anything about. I couldn't decide what to have. I didn't know enough to decide. Jason had turned to me waiting for me to pick.

"She'll have the same as me." Iggy said. Jason nodded before turning to Max. Jason seemed uncomfortable around us. I turned my attention away from him.

"What did you order?" I asked Iggy.

"Lamb." The man was gone now, but he wasn't gone for long. He came back with another man.

"You seem to have ordered a large amount of food. We wouldn't want you to be wasteful, or present you with a shocking bill because your eyes are bigger than your stomachs." The new man said. He was the manager. He laughed. But it was strained. We needed to get out. I could feel it. I looked nervously around the place.

"That's sweet of you. But we're pretty hungry so if you could just get us what we ordered." Max replied to him. This did not go down well. The man stared at Max.

"Perhaps you would be happier in a different restaurant." He said. Max lost her patience at the point. But out of the corner of my eye I could see movements. More people were coming.

"Cops." Iggy whispered. We were stuck. The cops blocked the kitchen and we had no other way of getting out.

"Up and away." I heard Fang say. I stared at him in surprise. There was no up to go. Max was the first to jump and snap her wings open. Everyone stared in surprise. The rest followed. Soon there was only me left. The cops were closing in so I jumped off the table and joined the others. We were circling the roof now looking for a way out. Fang was the one who found it breaking through a window.

"Back to the trees." Max said once we were all out. We set off wearily. That had been bad and none of us felt any better. It didn't get any better either. Erasers were surrounding the trees. We stopped in front of them. Iggy stood in front of me. But as I peered round him I noticed Ari. I stepped round Iggy.

"Ari." I said. Ari snapped his head in my direction.

"I see you've joined the flying flock Bel." He said. But eh spoke with such venom in his voice I couldn't believe it was him.

"Yes." I said. I tried to sound strong and tough, but I sounded like the scared girl I was.

"Tell me Bel. Are you anyone? Or are you still a nobody? Do any of this flock know you? If I asked would any of them know how you felt when you saw them escape? What you did when you found out about your mother? Or how good it felt to know you were going to be terminated? You may be free. But you're still a nobody Bel. Nothing's changed."

I stood there stunned unable to move as Ari smiled at me. A single tear ran down my face. I stepped back not wanting to listen to anything else. I was unaware of everything around me. I just feel the tear running down my cheek, but I didn't wipe it away. I looked around the flock were gone now hovering above me. There was just Ari and me left. The rest of the Erasers had disappeared.

"What about you? Do you think I'm a nobody?" I whispered.

"No. You're not a nobody. You're nothing!" He spat the last words at me. I caught a sob in my throat and then took off after the others. The left me alone as we set off. We ended up in a half-finished building looking out over the city. I sat on the edge lent up against a wall my knees tucked up to my chest. The flock left me alone. Iggy made a move to come towards me at one point, but Angel shook her head. I needed to be alone.

Ari had brought back bad memories and the way he'd spoken made me feel small. I'd lost my first true friend. I sat there the whole night never moving, never sleeping. Max and Fang's watches came and went. The sun was coming up when it was Iggy's turn. By this time I was sat with my legs dangling over the edge staring out over the city watching the sunrise. Iggy came and sat next to me. After a few minutes he spoke.

"You okay?"

"No." I replied truthfully. We sat for a few more minutes in silence.

"What are the answers to his questions?" I turned and looked at him.

"The night you escaped was one of the worst nights of my life. Jeb woke me up as he opened your cages. I watched you crawl out of your cages one by one. I wanted to scream 'Take me'. But I was scared someone would hear and find you. So I sat in silence and watched you leave. It was so hard knowing that you were out there safe while I remained. Then with my mother… I was devastated. All those years trapped in there I'd always hoped that perhaps somewhere someone was looking for me. But I was wrong. There was no one. I cried till I had no tears left. Ari was with me that day and he stuck a finger through my bars and stroked my head. He was my small glimmer of happiness in that place and I thought he was my friend. But I guess not." Tears were flowing freely down my face now. Iggy lifted my chin with his hand and wiped my tears away with him thumb. I smiled sadly.

"What about your termination?" He asked.

"I think it was the happiest day of my life in there. I was going to get out. I didn't care that I was going to be ripped to shreds. In the end it meant I wouldn't have to spent my days alone being prodded and poked."

"Your not alone now." He said.

"Iggy. Let's go get some food." Fang said from behind us. Iggy stood and nodded. I watched them descend into city. The other woke when they returned, but still I did not move. Iggy brought me a muffin and we sat in silence looking over the city. Fang and Iggy had also brought back… newspapers. Our faces were plastered all over them. We were no longer safe in the city. But we needed to food. Max wanted to leave at sunset, so we stocked up on food before hand. However wile we out a strange man jumped out yelling.

"You!" I stepped back and felt Iggy at my side immediately.

"You guys are prefect!" He continued pointing to a sign behind him. Max watched a couple of girls exit.

"I'm up for it. Make us completely different." She said as she stepped towards the door. By the end we were all different… including me. I'd never paid any attention to how I looked since I'd been a cage. But now I looked different, kind of pretty. My hair had been cut into… layers that flicked around my face and coloured with streaks making my blonde hair sort of golden.

And make-up. I'd never heard of it before and now I was covered in it. My face was golden brown now and my eyelids were coloured purple fading into blue with green underneath my eye. The clothes Max had got me had been changed for some tight jeans, a small sleeveless white top and a black jacket. I'd just finished getting ready when I turned and bumped into Iggy. He looked… nice. His hair had been spiked and coloured with black at the end. He'd also got his ear pierced with a small gold loop.

"You look nice." He said.

"Thanks." I said smiling. The rest of the flock were leaving the shop now, we followed. I wanted to tell him everything, how I felt. But my mouth couldn't form the words I wanted. So I stayed silent. After making slits for our wings we set off over the city. We flew silently. But Iggy flew by my side the whole way his wings almost brushing over mine with each beat.

It was dark when we landed, but we were somewhere new and strange. Small gritty stuff covered the ground beneath us and I could a sort of crashing sound in the distance. We were somewhere I'd never been before. It felt strange and uninviting. But there was nowhere else to go. So I laid down to sleep wondering where I was.