My God, its been long since I last updated! I am so sorry, guys! Its like you can't trust anything I say! I was really excited to write these parts, but its like I just couldn't get it right. And I know that I still didn't get it perfect, but I think its about time I post this chapter. I've also been reaaaally busy with school and all that jazz, so now I will let you read on!

I own nothing :)


"Who do we have here?"

Crap.

Six people are standing behind me in the hallway. Cammie, Bex, Macey, Liz, that dude Zach, and Fang. Fang looks really pissed.

"Hello there, Cammie," I say, trying to be casual. "What in the world were you doing down in Sub 2?" Bex says angrily, walking up to me. I try and catch Fang's eye, trying to tell him that I had the file and we needed to go, now, but he was busy having a glare-off with Zach.

"Nothing in particular," I say, taking a step back from her. Personal space, please.

"We saw you come out of the elevator!" Cammie accused. "And you don't have clearance to go down there." This got me angry. What business of hers was it if I went into places where I shouldn't? Oh, wait a second. They were the nosy-gang. I forgot.

"How would you know?" I hissed, and took a step toward her menacingly. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me Cameron Morgan." Ooh, I sound... cheesy. I need to get some new lines.

"I know that you shouldn't be down there!" She began, equally angry. This might just turn into a fight- that I would win. "And I also know a lot of weird things have been happening here since you started attending school here. Who the hell are you, anyways?" Wow, she doesn't sound like Paris Hilton at all. Sarcasm.

Everyone looked at me, and I looked meaningfully at Fang. He got the message. "I am Max Ride. You know that, Cammie," I said calmly.

"Even your name is weird! And I am not the only one who thinks you are a little strange?"

"She's right," Zach said. Who asked him? Nobody, that's who. "There's something off about you."

"Even the way you walk," Liz agreed. "Even the way you talk,"

Macey added. "And Nick-" Oh yeah, Fang "-is just the same. Who are you guys?" Oh crud cakes, they're figuring it out. I think it's time to blow this popsicle stand.

"We're just abnormal people, going to an abnormal school, okay?"

"What were you doing in Sub 2, Max?" Bex asked again. "And what's in your backpack?"

"I don't have to tell you anything," I said snarkily. I jerked my head at Fang, and then took off running.

Running, running, running- that was what I was used to. I could feel the adrenaline starting to seep into my blood, and I could hear the five pairs of footsteps pursuing us. Fang was right next to me, and I glanced over at his expressionless face. I turned a couple corners, and then exited the building through a side door. Fang was right behind me, but unfortunately so were those pesky spy-wannabes. Who knew they could run so fast? Oh, I probably should have known. Silly me.

It was time to bust the wings out, and fly, fly, fly!

All of a sudden, the door behind Cammie swung closed and locked. Then a blaring siren of "CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK! CODE BLACK!" Came out of the building. Someone must have figured it out. Fang glanced at me. "U&A?" he asked while we sprinted across the grounds. I hesitated to respond for only a moment, glancing back at the five pursuing us, before nodding.

I took a deep breath, jumping into the air. And then- Swoosh!

What a... fabulous feeling. Feeling the air rush past my wings was phenomenal. After all this time- two months- I was finally able to be free. I could feel freedom coursing through my veins! Yeah, right. But, I was free of Gallagher Academy, and almost free of my job for the Circle.

We got up a couple hundred feet into the air, and Fang gave me a questioning look. I tossed my nearly empty bag at him, so he could see the folder.

Then something completely unexpected happened.

With my eagle eyesight, I saw something black shoot through the air. It wasn't a bullet, as far as I could tell, so I stopped flying for a second to get a closer look. That was the stupidest thing I did all day. I am such a dumb-butt. There was a pinching in my leg, and I looked down and saw the little black needle- the little black dart.

I could already feel myself getting... more... exhausted...

I could barely feel it when my winged body hit the ground.

Cammie's POV

30 seconds earlier.

I knew there was something wrong with the pair of them, I thought as I chased the Max around corridors. I always suspected something wrong. Why did I ever trust her? I shouldn't have.

I saw her disappearing through one of the side doors- her and that Nick Fang character that came with us on the trip to Amsterdam. I knew there was something fishy...I knew...

We all whipped out the door, only a couple of feet behind her now. Then, a wailing, "CODE BLACK CODE BLACK CODE BLACK" pierced the air, and I smiled because I knew that someone must have noticed her in Sub 2. It wasn't just me. If I could just tackle her, then help would come, and then...

My eyes had not left Max's back, so I saw immediately what happened, though I didn't comprehend it for a couple more seconds.

Two enormous light brown wings sprouted out of her back. I stopped dead in my tracks, just staring, as she jumped into the air and started flapping. Nick was right behind her, and their wings cast a great shadow over the lawn as they flew higher and higher.

"What?" I yelled out loud, absolutely shocked. Wings? Could wings have just sprouted out of Max Ride's back? All evidence said yes, but how? What was going on? A thousand thoughts ran through my mind that second. Was this a dream? It must be! It wasn't a dream though, that was for sure. I ignored all other thoughts, and was mainly aware that she was getting away. What a spy, really. And I just stood there, gaping like a fish.

For a moment, a stab of envy shot through my mind. I couldn't fly like that. I couldn't just get up whenever I want, and leave Gallagher Academy. I didn't have graceful wings. And for just a moment, I wished that I had wings, and not her. I wish that I was trusted to fill out important missions, and then simply fly away whenever I felt like. But only for a moment.

I was so confused with what I was thinking, that when Max fell out of the sky, I didn't realize exactly how that had happened for a full five seconds. Then I looked around for the source. Zach. He was holding a tracer dart gun, and watching Max fall without moving a muscle. He didn't even seem surprised that she had wings.

When Max hit the ground, I started walking toward her, but Zach grabbed my arm. "Don't touch her," he said. "This is out of our hands. We'll wait until someone comes outside." I nodded, and looked up at the sky. The other boy- Nick? Was that even his real name?- was hovering in the air, looking down at all of us. I bet he was wondering whether he could come back for Max. Well, if he was stupid enough to try his luck, we would get him. But, only a moment later, he flew away.

"Why didn't you shoot him, too?" Bex asked angrily, walking up behind me. "Why did you let him go?"

"I had to let one fly off to tell its little bird-buddies, didn't I?" He said smoothly. I thought it over... yes, it did make sense. If they wanted Max back, along with whatever she stole, they would have to come and get her. Here. To Gallagher Academy. It annoyed me for a moment how much better Zach was at this spy-stuff.

We didn't have to wait long for someone to find us. The whole school had been riled up by the Code Black that was still blaring, and someone must have noticed we were outside. It was Mom and Mr. Solomon who came out of the building.

"What happened?" Mom asked me first.

"We were outside the entrance to the Sublevels, and we were talking to Max's friend Nick," I explained, trying to keep it brief and informative. "Max came out of the elevator door to Sub 2. We knew she did not have authorization to be down there. She and Nick, who appears to be her accomplice, ran, and we took chase. Once we were outside, Max- "I hesitated for a moment. What if they didn't believe me? Well, if they didn't, we had Max right here in front of us to prove it. "Max sprouted wings, and took flight, along with her accomplice." Mr. Solomon gave us an inquiring look.

"Wings?"

"Look for yourself." I took a step back, so that they could have a full view of Max's unconscious form. It was the first time that I had ever seen Solomon look the slightest bit surprised. But, Mom just sighed.

"I still can't believe she has wings," I heard Liz say.

"Why is she unconscious?" Mr. Solomon asked.

"I tranquilized her, Sir," Said Zach. I can honestly say that I've never had to admit that I've tranquilized someone. But that's just me, not some Blackthorne boy.

"And the other spy?"

"I thought it better to leave him as a messenger, Sir." Mr. Solomon frowned, but asked no more questions.

"Let's get this girl into Sub 1. We can question her there. And where is the stolen file?" I looked Max up and down; sure enough, she didn't have her bag with her anymore. She probably gave it to Nick. I heard Bex curse under her breath.

"She must have handed it off," Macey said. "Alright, let's get this girl inside."

Liz and I carried Max between that. I repeat, me and Liz. How did we not notice Max was so light? And yet, she was basically made out of muscle. I could feel that through her shirt. We had to hold her carefully, so her ginormous wings didn't bump the sides of the hallway.

While we were making our way through the empty corridors (Everyone had been sent to their dormitories during the Code Black) my head was reeling with all the new information. And most importantly, perhaps- other than the fact that Max had wings-had my mom been in on the secret? I would ask her as soon as I put bird-girl down.

It creeped me out to hold Max unconscious. I had this weird feeling that I had killed a bird. Of course, I would never kill a bird. That's cruel. But, it felt like that. Weird pity-molecules were flooding my brain. Stop that!

In the room we keep for practice interrogations, we tied Max down to the iron chair.

Just as we were fastening the metal cuffs around her wrists, her eyes suddenly popped open. I swear, I jumped three feet into the air. She shouldn't have been able to wear off the tranquilizer for another four hours, at least! Her eyes focused on me.

"Ay," she said, sounding irritated, and slightly slurring her words. "Let me go!"

"Can't, Max," said Bex coldly. "You're not one of us anymore."

Max rolled her eyes. "This is unconstitutional! You cannot hold me against my will without an arrest warrant. Illegal, I say!" I don't even know where she was getting these ides. Bex and I walked out of the room.

"The thing is, Max," I said. I felt... almost smug, now that I had beat her. I knew something was wrong with her! And she duped the whole of Gallagher Academy. "We're spies. We don't care about laws."

"You know, I don't think my father would let me agree with that," said Macey once we were outside the room. Oh yeah, she's a government-girl.

"Don't worry, Cam was only trying to sound cool and dramatic," Liz said, grinning. I shrugged.

"Could you girls stop joking around? A theft has been played here at our school, and you seem not to care. If you don't have something of input to say, then go back to your dormitories." Mr. Solomon snapped at us. That shut us up. But not for long.

"Wait a second, I have a question," I said, looking at Mom. "Did you know about this? Did you know that Max was a bird?" We all looked at her.

"She is not a bird, Cammie. She is an avian-human hybrid. I did know about this, and I did knowingly accept her into our school. I thought, given her background, that she would excel at this school. I was wrong. She seems to be here, not to learn, but to endanger our spies."

"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" I said it so accusingly, that she winced. I was out of here. "Maybe we could have prevented this if you didn't try and keep so many secrets, and trusted someone's opinion other than yours. I'm going up to bed," I grumbled, before storming out of Sub 1 like a little kid.


I promise next one will have more of my best writing in it, not like this sorry excuse for a chapter. See you all later! Thanks for reading!

Loveeeeeeee-

Laila