FW, STWAOES, & SOF flashbacks. Not all are in this chapter, but will be in upcoming chapters. Sorry about the wait. Life's been piling up on me. I've finally gotten a handle on my homework and on my non- habit-forming habit. I'll write a longer than usually chapter to make it. Okay?

Chapter 20

It's been two days since we've dragged Shadow to the cabin. The moment Rico saw Shadow he'd flown into action. He may not know much about Avian-hybrids, but with wolves he was in his element. In hours he had Shadow covered in bandages and settled in one of the spare bedrooms. Shadow was awake and grouching, but so far I've avoided him like the plague.

The pack came in ones or twos to visit their leader. I've learned a lot about them by simply observing from my post at the kitchen Island. Since the downstairs was one large room, except for the bathroom, I was able to keep out of the way.

What I learned was a little weird. I read about wolves in the books Rico had. These wolves acted almost nothing like them. They acted more like humans in wolf bodies. I was beginning to wonder if they were somehow related to the wolf things in my flashbacks, both on and off paper. It was also painfully obvious which wolves were original pack members and who had came from other packs.

The normal wolves were smaller, didn't speak, and always stuck close to their mates sides. They looked freaked out to be in a human dwelling. They must really love their leader. This made me feel guiltier. Of all the wolves I hurt, it just had to be the most loved. Strangely, they didn't seem to hate me. Anytime I happened to make eye contact with one of them, he or she just nodded respectfully and kept going.

I haven't seen much of Yamir since Shadow was taken upstairs. He only strayed from his sons side when natured called. Rico took both of their meals up to them, but Rico was gone tonight for a town meeting. This meant that I was going to have to take them meals and probably have another skirmish with Shadow.

That was why I was at the stove cooking while rocking out to the radio. I didn't care that I was dancing badly. There was no one here to see me shaking my hips and bobbing my head like an idiot. It felt good to just let go and have fun. Something told me I didn't do much of this in my shadowy past.

I was in a huge toy store. Right inside the front door was a huge two-story clock covered with moving figures. The song "It's a Small World" was playing loudly.

A life-sized stuffed giraffe surrounded by other life-sized stuffed animals led the way to the whole way to the whole stuffed-animal area.

I looked down at two blond haired kids. They were staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

"Iggy," the blond boy said, "there's a whole room of Lego and Bionicle."

"Go with them," I told the Dark Angel. "And let's keep an eye out for each other, okay?"



He nodded and followed the boys into the Lego room while I trailed after the girls, who were picking up one stuffed animal after another.

" Oh, my gosh," The black girl was saying, holding a small stuffed tiger. "Oh Max, isn't he the cutest thing? Oh, his name is Samson."

I dutifully agreed that he was in fact the cutest thing and kept glancing around.

"Max?" The blond girl tugged on my sleeve. I turned to her, and she held up a small stuffed bear. It was dressed as an angel, with a white gown and little wings on its back. A tiny gold wire halo floated above its head.

The girl's eyes were pleading with me. I checked its price tag. The pleasure of owning this small stuffed bear could be hers for only forty-nine dollars.

"I's so sorry, Angel," I said, bending down to her eye level.

I snapped back to the present. The meat was burning on the stove. I turned the stove and the radio off before shakily sitting down on a stool. I put my throbbing head in my hands.

Except for the kissing memory, I've been only getting fragments of pictures, parts of sentences, or little bits of random knowledge. This memory had knocked me off my feet my it's clearly. I wasn't just remembering, I was there. I could see it, taste it, feel it, hear it.

I was so disoriented by it, that I didn't notice Yamir till he was sitting right in front of me.

"You okay?" he asked. I nodded my head.

"Yhea, just a little dizzy. I just had on hell of a flashback." I told him. A low snort from a few feet to my right told me we weren't alone. I raised my head to look into Shadow's dark eyes.