One of my favorite sayings: You should never give up on something you can't live a day without thinking about.

What do you think about everyday? Just something interesting to think about…

Jone POV

This really sucks…

I sat in my medium sized dog cage, my full weight against the very back side, my legs limply extended out in front of me (or at least as far as they could go in a cage).

What was I thinking? How could I ever earn enough sympathy to get an entire family to willingly return to there worst nightmare? I don't even remember the reason why I said I wanted wings. It was just… some part of me was so tempted to do it. To go to the School, where the people I trusted most were tortured.

Yes, I know I've only known them for a short while, but I haven't met many people, let alone people I trust or even like.

I remember the moment I first saw the entire flock, and their wings. They had everything I ever wanted. A home, a family, a slight chance at survival. I guess I was just… jealous. Or something like that. I wanted part of it. But I was so blinded by the possibility of life that I didn't think about the consequences for the flock.

Wow, poetic much? Where did that come from?

I shook it off. I shouldn't be thinking about poetry. I should be thinking about what's going to happen…

Was the fact that I was being held in a cage a good thing? Were they going to fix me? Or were they planning to kill me? But if they were going to kill me, wouldn't they have done it already? I mean, why wait? The suspense was agonizing. I couldn't take it anymore!

Before I started screaming my head off and started to go completely insane, I heard a voice coming from one of the cages across from me.

It was Max.

Max POV

"Jone," I said, my voice just above a whisper, as her head slowly rose to face me, "I- I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you into all this."

Jone just shook her head. "No, it was my fault. You wouldn't be here if it weren't for me."

I tried to think of a comforting answer. "We've been in worse situations." I lied.

Jone sighed. "You know that's not true. Being in a dog cage in the School is the worst situation."

I cringed, knowing she was right.

Looking at Jone in a cage made her look like an experiment. She reminded me of those many failed experiments who sat just a few feet away from us in their own dog cages everyday, only to die shortly after. I didn't want that to happen to Jone. I didn't want anything bad happening to her.

Oh, no, I thought, my circle was expanding again. Pretty soon, it's going to be hard to keep track of everyone I needed to keep safe, if it wasn't hard already.

I thought more about Jone, this poor girl who happened to stumble into our lives, or perhaps we stumbled into hers. The more I thought about her life, the more I realized how similar it was to ours. She was an out of the ordinary girl who drew attention no matter where she went, who was currently running from the place she grew up in, a place where she was in pain everyday, whether it was physical or emotional pain.

Sound familiar much? I thought so.

About two hours past before the doors of the large room burst open, revealing someone I really didn't expect to see.

Dylan POV

I made it. I landed smack down in the very front of the School. There were nets, small weapons, and shatters of white lab coats all over the ground.

The flock's been here.

I built up my courage, double checking my pants pocket to see if the tiny camera was in there. It was, and so was the card that I need to plug into a computer. Max will never believe Jone was evil unless I have proof. I didn't really know how I was going to show Max the videos, being that I needed a computer to hook the camera's memory chip to. I figured I'd just wing it (no pun intended).

I saw that some of the very few windows on the side of the building were broken. Definitely the flock's handiwork. I flew through one of the windows, successfully kicking a whitecoat in the face, and ran at my fastest speed toward the center of the building. I don't know why, but I just had a gut feeling that Max was there. Maybe it was something programmed within me. Something that had to do with me being Max's scientifically made soul mate.

Whatever it was, it helped. I was close, I knew it. I was almost there, and then-

"Hello, Dylan." I froze. I turned slowly, coming face to face with someone I hadn't seen in a while, and wasn't too glad to see either.

"Hello, Jeb." I crossed my arms over my chest, showing that I wasn't very fond of him anymore, and that I didn't have the patience to talk to him at the moment.

Jeb pursed his lips. "I assume you're looking for Max and the flock."

"What's it to you?" My eyes narrowed.

Jeb hesitated, thinking his answer through. "I could bring you to her."

That took me off guard. I blinked a couple of times, then got my head together. "No, you'd just put me in a cage next to her."

Jeb nodded. "They probably would."

After he said this, I noticed a large bruise near his right eye. I wonder if Max got to him already…

A couple seconds passed, and I wondered if he was going to do something. Knock me out, sedate me, have people come for me, anything. But no. He was alone, his hands shoved in the pockets of his stupid lab coat.

I didn't take the chance. I broke out running back in the direction I was heading. I looked over my shoulder, and there he stood, motionless, smiling a bit. What was so damn funny? Wait, no. He wasn't smiling because something was funny. He was smiling… almost as if he were proud.

I navigated my way through the place, wings tucked tightly against my back. I even stole a lab coat from a supply closet and pretended to be busy so that people wouldn't get suspicious. It actually worked! Those idiots.

I tried a bunch of different doors hoping to find the flock, but I came up empty.

I swung open what seemed like the doors to a large room. And I was right.

Inside the room were medical supplies, including a couple a computers up against the right wall. In the back of the room was another door. It only took five long strides to get me to that door, which needed a key.

Great.

I looked around the room, and saw a small fire extinguisher sitting underneath one of the tables. I grabbed it, and used it to break the lock off. Thank god for my inhuman strength. The door opened, and I alertly stepped inside.

Dozens of eyes turned on me. Eyes that were in dog cages.

"Dylan?" Someone said. I think it was Max. "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying home! And why the hell are you wearing a lab coat?" Yep, definitely Max.

"I need a disguise, don't I?" I said, walking over to her cage.

As I did, I noticed Fang, Iggy, and Jone in their own cages. Jone should be in a cage.

"Where are the others?" I asked, picking her lock with a bobby pin I found on the floor in the hallway.

"They got away, luckily. Dylan, you're never going to get mine open in time. Do Iggy's first, that way he can free the rest of us faster."

I did what she said. "Hey, Iggy, where's your lock pick set?"

"He lost it on the way here," Max said before Iggy could reply for himself.

"Weird. Oh, and I've got other news." I stood up and pointed accusingly at Jone. "Jone is a lying traitor." I said it simply, as if it were just normal conversation. I kneeled back down and worked on Iggy's lock again.

There was nothing but silence.

I lifted my head, and noticed that Max and Jone were gaping at me, Iggy was looking at me as if I were insane (it was freaky how close his eyes can come to reaching mine), and Fang raised a questioning eyebrow at me.

"How can you say that?" Max said at the same time Jone said "I am not! Why would you think that?"

I finished the lock on Iggy's cage (finally), and let him out. He took the bobby pin from my hand, and worked on Max's lock.

"Dylan!" Max faced me once she crawled out of her cage, and I braced myself. "What the hell are you thinking? How can Jone be a traitor? She helped us find Fang. Not that you would know… because you weren't here!"

"Max! Shut up!" I said, officially agitated with her.

"Excuse me? What did you say?" Max put her hands on her hips leader-like.

"I said, shut up. And if you want an explanation, come with me."

Max POV

I cannot believe this bastard.

I didn't want to follow him. I wanted to go and find my flock. But since, with my luck, that would only get us in a situation that would result in pain, loss, pain, and -occasionally- pain, I decided to signal Angel.

Ange, do you know where you are?

I waited a couple seconds. Had the thought not gone through? Was I too out of range?

We're hiding out in an air vent somewhere over the east side of the building.

I guess it did get through.

Okay, Dylan came and got us out. We're-

Dylan's here?

I mentally sighed. Yes, Dylan's here. I'll explain that later. Take everyone outside, hidden somewhere away from the School, but close enough that you can here my thoughts.

Okay! Angel said enthusiastically. I wondered if she was excited because she was- unofficially- in charge. I have to start rewording my thoughts.

Dylan brought us to the room outside of the one we were just in, and started playing with one of the computers.

"Dylan? Are you serious? What are you doing?" I said frustratingly, "This really isn't the time to be chatting with your one friend on Facebook right now!"

That got his attention. "Would you just be quiet?" I raised my eyebrows at him. I hope he knows his days alive are going down by the boatloads right now.

Iggy came up behind me with Jone in his arms. I snatched a chair and set it down so that Jone could have a good view of the screen as Iggy lowered her into the chair. Yeah, cause that's not spooky for a bind kid, right? (I do hope you could see the sarcasm drooling from that sentence)

Dylan shoved something into the side of the computer, clicked on some things, opened some windows, and badda-bing badda-boom, a video popped up.

It showed the flock in the living room. The sound wasn't on, but I could make out what they were saying from reading their lips. Nudge was saying hi to Jone, and waving in the camera's general direction. I saw Angel playing cards, Total babbling away. Everyone was in the video except Jone.

"This camera was attached to Jone's wheelchair. She's been filming us the entire time." Dylan said, his eyes not moving from the monitor.

I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to tell him he was being ridiculous. But I remained silent, mainly because it actually made sense. The camera's angle was right where Jone's wheelchair would be, and Nudge even looked above the camera and said "hi, Jone". I also remained silent because I honestly didn't know what to say.

I looked down at Jone next to me. Her face showed a mixture of confusion, betrayal, shock, dread, but mostly confusion.

"I-I don't know anything about this." Jone looked up to me, her wide eyes locking with mine. I couldn't see one single tiny sign that she was lying. But the evidence was clear. She said she's had that same wheelchair her entire life. How could she have missed a camera attached to it? "I swear! I have no idea how that got there!" She continued.

Fang was whispering everything that was going on frantically to Iggy, and Dylan was obviously trying to keep himself from laughing in her face and calling her a liar.

"Jone, I don't know if I can believe you" I said truthfully.

"Oh, she's telling the truth alright." Someone said from the doorway.

I spun around in a nanosecond to see the intruder.

Of coarse, because he has the answers to every freaking thing that happens in my life, it was Jeb.