Hey guys! Did you miss me? I hope so, but I'm back with another chapter. It is a filler, but it's sort of funny and you learn some things. Yay for learning! *Claps a little too enthusiastically* Ok, so you probably are thinking I've gone off the deep end. Well, I haven't. Trust me, it's not a lot of learning, so it won't hurt your brain too much. Haha. *Wipes tear out of eye* Now you all think I'm probably some kind of nut case. I assure, I'm not. I just have ADHD. No big deal. Okay, now let me get on with this chapter before you all kill me. Remember, read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. You'll love them, I promise. I would never lie to any of you. He is one great author and I think he deserves more recognition then he gets. Uh oh, I'm babbling again. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. On with the chapter, before you hate me and stop reading.

The whitecoat dragged me back to my room rather roughly. "Tomorrow you're mine." he snarled before opening the door, shoving me inside, and slamming the door. Can you say rude much? What had I ever done to him anyway?

I rolled my eyes and turned around to see Jewel looking at me, concerned, and Skye, lounging in his hammock, looking at the ceiling. Somehow, that made me feel a little hurt, but I shrugged it off. Couldn't let something that stupid bother me.

I plopped down on my new bottom bunk and grabbed another sandwich out of the mini fridge. It had a tomato slice on it. I hated tomatoes. They were about the only thing I wouldn't eat. I wouldn't eat one even if I was starving. I placed it in the plastic baggie that the sandwich had been in and threw it in the small garbage can next to the fridge.

"What happened?" Jewel asked after a silence so long that I had finished my sandwich and was working on another one, throwing away yet another tomato slice. She looked nervous and it made me wonder.

"Uh, well I was taken to the Director's office and she tried to get me to work for her." I replied.

She looked slightly sad. "Oh, so I guess you're leaving huh?" she asked. "It's ok. Really. Me and Skye are used to it now. It's happened a couple times before."

I was thoroughly confused. Leaving? Oh, she had obviously thought that I had agreed to the Director's offer. "No, I said I wasn't going to do it. Why would you think so?" I asked.

A big grin spread across her face and I thought I heard Skye groan. "I'm so glad you aren't leaving. I don't know why I thought Maximum Ride's niece would just give in to that evil woman. What was I thinking?" She hugged me. "Thanks Mel."

I hugged her back. "You're welcome." She let go and then I asked, "So, what's this about you being used to people leaving? You said it's happened a couple of times before."

I heard Skye shift in the hammock and Jewel looked sad and depressed again. "Oh, well there are these two kids who used to be our friends who are now two of the Director's three favorite cronies. Tanner and Willow. Tanner was Skye's best friend and Willow and I got along pretty well too."

Tanner. "Wait a second." I said, causing Jewel to look surprised. "Is Tanner really tall with spiky, copper colored hair and dark chocolate brown wings?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah." she said slowly. "But, how do you know that?"

I sighed. "Well, while I was down there, the Director used Tanner to try to persuade me to join her. When I still refused he lunged at me and tried to choke me." I said, grabbing my neck and breathing a little more heavily. I normally didn't get scared, it was part of growing up with the flock, but when he was choking me, I couldn't help but feel afraid.

I noticed that Skye was sitting up in his hammock, breathing deeply, his jaw clenched. Why was he reacting like that? Maybe he was upset that his best friend would do that to someone. Yes, that was definitely it.

"Yeah, well Tanner's a couple years older than Skye. About…seventeen." Jewel continued. Skye had calmed down and was lying on his side again, facing the wall. "Um, like I said, they were best friends. Tanner was always really good at fighting, Dr. Mason saw that. One day she asked him to help her and he jumped at the chance."

She turned to look at Skye for a second and then continued. "He rushed to tell Skye, asking him to talk to the Director too. Skye wouldn't hear of it. He didn't trust her, he hated her. They got into a fight. Tanner bloodied Skye up pretty badly. Haven't spoken since, well except for Tanner insulting Skye when they have to fight and Skye cussing him out. It's pretty bad." She went quiet and looked over her shoulder at Skye again. He was still lying down, trying to stay calm I supposed.

"What about Willow?" I asked, remembering the name. Skye shifted again. This one must be bad too.

Jewel looked at me unsurely. It was like she couldn't decide whether she should tell me about Willow or not. It sounded like the loss of her was worse than the loss of Tanner. I wondered why.

"Well," Jewel started out slowly, carefully. "Willow's about Skye's age, we think. About a month after Tanner went over to the dark side, she followed him. That time, there was no fight. Skye and I just sat here and stared at the walls every time we had nothing to do. The first time we had to fight her was brutal. She massacred us. We never thought she was capable of that." She cast her eyes to the floor and nervously played with a strand of super long red hair.

"Wow." I whispered. "That must have been horrible. Do you know why she decided to help the Director?" I asked, hoping this wasn't pushing too far.

"We have a couple theories. We think she either did it because Tanner talked her into it or because she wanted protection. She knew the Director valued people who helped her. She knew she'd be safe. She wasn't the best fighter before she joined the Director."

Skye had put his pillow over his face. He was pressing down on it with his hands, like he was trying to suffocate himself.

Jewel looked at me and whispered, "He does that all the time. Don't worry about it. Everyone has ways of dealing with things and that's one of Skye's." She smiled slyly, like she knew something. It was a look I'd seen on Angel a couple of times before.

I tried to get my mind on something besides Skye. "Uh, you said the Director had three favorites. Tanner and Willow are two, so who's the third?" I asked.

Jewel made a face that caused me to chuckle. "Flint." She spat the name out like it was poison. "He's a year older than me and meaner than a striped snake. I hate him." she said, shaking her head in disgust.

"That bad huh?" I asked, curious to know more.

She nodded her head. "He was never a friend of ours. When he was first brought here, it was clear to everyone that he was going to be on the Director's side. Tanner used to hate him too, but now he trains Flint, treats him like his little brother in a way. You'll meet him and Willow tomorrow. It's our turn to fight them."

I had remembered my question from earlier. "Jewel, how do things run around here?" I asked, hoping for an answer this time.

"Well, we have to get up around seven. Sometimes we get up earlier, but if we get up later…" She pulled her shirt sleeve down, exposing her shoulder. I looked closely and there was a scar.

I took in a hissing breath. "Electric cattle prod?" I asked. When she nodded I felt a pain run through my heart. Those cruel vile, sick, twisted- I couldn't even say what they were. How could they get away with this?

"It didn't hurt much." she assured me. "A quick little zap. No big deal." She shrugged it off, reminding me of Nudge.

"Anyway, we eat breakfast and then we have certain things we need to do. Cleaning, fighting, tests, that kind of stuff. It depends on the day. I'll let you know what we have to do every day when we wake up. It usually takes a long time. We don't ever get lunch. When we finish our assigned task for the day, they make us train. Run, spar each other, whatever. Then at around eight, we can come in our rooms and rest and eat and do other stuff."

She paused to take a breath and then started up again. "If the Director calls someone out, they have to go to her office, no matter what time it is or what you're doing. If the government comes in for an inspection, we all have to scrub the place spotless the day before. We get rests on the day they are here, so Dr. Mason and the others don't wind up in jail. Those are also the days we get real food. Every other day all we get are sandwiches. No one is ever full, except for Tanner, Willow, Flint, and a few others. We can also go to sleep whenever, but if we fall asleep during our tasks, we get zapped or beat, it depends on what they feel like."

It was worse than when my family had been here. They were just locked in cages, fed very little, and made to do excruciatingly painful tests on a daily basis. Here, while we got a mini fridge and rooms with beds, that was about the only luxury. Every day we had to do back breaking work, tests, and training.

I let out a yawn, suddenly feeling sleepy. I hadn't realized how worn out I was until Skye had started snoring. I wondered if every bird kid did that, but decided I could find out later. At that moment, I was too exhausted.

Jewel looked a little sleepy too, so I asked, "Think we should hit the hay?" She nodded and let out a louder yawn then mine.

I crawled into the bottom bunk and threw the worn, gray cover over myself. It was itchy, but I didn't care. For some reason the pillow's smell soothed me. I wondered about it for a second and then remembered this had been Skye's bed before he had had to sleep in the hammock.

Forget it Mel. I ordered myself. He's a jerk. He's rude. He hates you.

But he's cute. I answered back. I looked at his sleeping figure for a second then shook my head. What was I thinking? I pounded my pillow and then rolled over, looking at the wall.

A few minutes later, Jewel had drifted off into sleep. I could tell because she was snoring.

I suddenly thought of my family. I wondered what they were doing. I knew they weren't coming for me. They couldn't, for a lot of reasons. Max would probably be on the phone with Jeb or her mother, trying to figure some way to get me. Fang would be trying to keep Max from going into hysterics. My mom would be crying and Dad would be soothing her. Nudge, the Gasman, and Ella would be very quiet, not like themselves at all. Angel would be trying to keep everyone calm.

I smiled, knowing exactly what Angel would be saying to me in my head if she were there with me.

"It's okay Mel. Busting out of here will be no problem. You're like Max and Elisabeth, good at coming up with plans. Everything will be alright. In the meantime, just try to stay safe." That's what she'd say to me.

I fell asleep thinking about my family. I couldn't wait to see them again. But I wondered what would happen to Jewel… and Skye.

So, did you guys like that? Probably not my best work, but I still think it's a pretty decent chapter. Longer than usual for a filler. Read and review. Tell your friends. Read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666. Peace, love, and ice cream. (Silly Addison haha.)