Because of Autumn

Aura's Notes: This is one of the most angst ridden chapters so far, so, just as a warning. :) Oh, and at the end, it's a flashback, just to tell you ahead of time. :)


-Chapter 9-

Scars of Memories Past

The Flock froze up. I girt my teeth.

"Then let 'em have me."

Max gasped. "Are you crazy Iggy? We have to fight them!"

"I know that!" I snapped back. "I know what… I know what they want!"

"How would you know?" Max retorted. I sighed and reached into my pocket, feeling around for what I snagged off of the Eraser. I pulled it out and everyone gasped once again.

"Wha- what is that?" Nudge questioned.

I held it close. It was a smooth green gem on a gold chain. "I snagged this off of the Eraser's neck, but I never told anyone I did so. They may want it back…"

Max slammed on the table. "Well of course they'd want it back! You may have just stolen something important!"

Autumn came over to me and took hold of the necklace. "Something's weird about this necklace. Almost like…" She suddenly ran out into her backyard. We all chased after her.

Autumn had the gem up to the sky, peering closely into it. "It's opaque, so I can sorta see through it." She paused. "I see micro-lines, like the lines you'd see on a microchip for a flash drive or so on."

"What do you think it means?" Gazzy asked her.

"It's… it's made of quartz…"

"So? That's just a common gem, then. The lines could just be natural or something." Max scoffed rudely. I clenched my fists.

"Sorry Max, but there's something highly wrong with your theory…" Autumn continued on, "Quartz, though it may not seem like it, can contain several gigabits of information, I think even more. Tell me, Max, or any of you, have you by chance heard of the Crystal Skulls?"

"Like the Indiana Jones' Crystal Skulls?" Fang piped up.

She nodded. "There are thirteen of them in existence. Scientists believe that… they stand for thirteen other planets that contain life. And when they all come together, something big will happen."

"And that has anything to do with this, how?" I asked Autumn nicely.

"This gem has information on it… important information."

"Uh guys, Erasers, remember?" Angel reminded us. I nodded and took the necklace back from her. I then handed it to Nudge.

"Nudge, stay here with Autumn and see if you can crack the code and if you can, the information on this." She took the order and went inside the house.

Max cracked her knuckles. "Alright gang, I can really go for a butt whooping right about now. So let's bet the crap out of these wannabes."

I turned to Autumn as the Flock took to the air. She ran her hand along my cheek.

"Be safe and… come back." She choked out.

"I will." I promised her and spread my wings.

I bent down and kissed her on the cheek. I felt the crinkle of her smile across her face and pulled away, only to then kiss her on the lips passionately.

"COME ON ROMEO!" Max tugged my collar and I flew up with them, leaving Autumn behind with Nudge.

"Down there." Angel murmured. "In the woods below."

I flapped to stay aloft. "That's where I ran into Mr. Ugly the other day."

"Well, we better hurry." Fang flapped powerfully. "It looks like a storm's coming."

We may not have time… "How dark is it?" I questioned him.

"I don't know, really dark I guess?"

"How far away is it?"

He placed his hand over his eyes. "With our raptor vision, about 2 miles, so probably 4 or 5." He hesitated. "What's with the 20 questions, Ig?"

I clenched my fists. "Autumn taught me a thing or two when I stayed with her. The storm… we have 10 minutes max."

Max punched her hands together. "That's 9 more minutes than we need."

"I don't know Max," Angel said, "there's quite a few down there."

I fixated my feathers slightly and dove down there first. The Flock followed me afterwards. We landed in a clearing that was all too familiar for my liking. Max placed her hands on her hips, and judging by the soft sound she made after that, I assumed she tapped her fingers on her hip also. A sign of annoyance.

I heard the crack of a tree branch.

"My my, lookie who's fallen into our clutches." An Eraser stepped out into the clearing. A few more followed behind.

Angel's voice rang through my head. "Iggy, you need to get out of here. They're here for you."

I sent a message angrily back to her. "No way, I'm holding my ground."

I could feel her uneasiness in the air, but I ignored it and took a battle stance. An Eraser cackled. "A little blind bird thinks he can take us on. His mistake."

I grit my teeth so bad I thought that they may chip off. "No… your mistake." I threw a kick at him, but he caught my leg mid-air and bore his claws into it. Blood began to draw.

The others began their fight with the other Erasers that were here. I focused on my own battle and kicked my other leg into his jaw. It broke on impact and he howled back in pain and released my leg. I fell limp to the ground, but still stood. It'll take a lot more than that to bring me down.

I threw a stick at him and ran for another clearing. He let out a low and horrific growl. Once reaching one a few yards away, I could feel the wind violently whipping at me. Possibly blowing me away if I had my wings open. No sign of the Eraser until he made the terrible mistake of lashing out. My ears picked up on his beginning movement and I ducked out of the way. He clawed at my chest, tearing open the shirt and burying into my skin, and into the muscles. I screamed at the top of my lungs as blood pooled out of me. I kept on fighting, however.

I lunged at him and managed to grasp his forearm. I twisted it with all of my remaining might. He yelped and pulled back only to attack me with the other arm. He just barely scratched my skin. I slapped his paw away and nicked him in the stomach. Leading way for a direct punch, I sent him back several feet and heard his ribs crack.

Leaves were being blown by the wind all over the place and even sticks were being thrown in as part of the debris. I desperately held my hand over my chest trying to ease the pain. It didn't help.

The Eraser let out a chilling howl that wolves do on a Full Moon. Within mere moments, Erasers surrounded me.

I was gasping for breath by now and becoming light-headed. The dark world becoming dizzy and I could feel Earth's rotation.

Out of nowhere, a sack was thrown over me and I lost my connection to oxygen . The walls (or fabric in this case) was closing in and I no longer could hear the noises from outside. I was a dead weight. I should've listened to Angel when she told me to leave. Now I have no idea where I am or where they're taking me.

Worst of all, I left Autumn alone even though I was warned.


I finally had air to breathe from. It felt likes hours… forever since I was kidnapped. Now… now I was at the School. This is honestly the last place I want to be in the world.

I was in a large dog cage and flashbacks of the disturbing memories from my life at the School. They were like raging sharks in a sea of meat. I just couldn't fight them back any longer.

I opened my eyes wearily. The cage was getting too small for me now and my wings hogged most of the little space I had. I could hear the White Coats from down the hall.

"The director would like to give one of them better vision." A young man said. I looked nervously at the other members of the Flock. They were fast asleep. I clung to the bars out of fear.

"Even better vision than they do now?" a woman asked, shocked.

"No… night vision." The man specified. "He claims it would be useful for when they go for field tests. More so, for the people we'll hand them off to."

The woman became more interested. "I see… Do you know which one you want to run the test on?"

"They never said a certain subject, so I'll go with Subject #918."

"You mean…!"

They swung the door open. Light drifted into the dark room. My heart began to race even more and I attempted to get to the back of the cage, but no prevail. The White Coats walked up to me with devious and large smiles on their faces. I gulped.

"Today's your lucky day, Experiment #918." The man unlocked my cage and they ripped me out from it.

"Nooo! Let go of me! No me molestes!" I yelled out, kicking and screaming. I picked up on their frequent use of other languages. It means 'do not bother me'. "No me toques!" That means 'don't touch me'.

The smirked and dragged me out of the room. The Flock members woke up and clung to the edges of their cages, trying to knock them over to get to me.

Too late.

I was taken to a lab room where they restrained me to a lab table. I was swinging myself furiously, but the restraints were too much. A White Coat pulled out a large needle with a green liquid encased. Other White Coats kept track of my vitals.

Without warning, the White Coat stabbed me in the eyes with the needle. I yelled out in agony, the pain unbearable. Blood squirted out form my eyes.

But, the experiment failed. I became blind.


Author's Notes: To begin a new month, here's a new chapter! I've had a rought day at school today, so this was a perker-upper. :) This I believe is the longest chapter yet. YAY! I hoped to enjoyed this THRILLING chapter! This is one of my favorites so far!

Please Review!~ {Thanks for Reading!}

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