It's only a matter of time before one becomes ill. Very ill. The type of sickness that only flying and fresh air can cure. Yes, my friends, yours truly came down with a case of cabin fever. We'd been stuck in this dipwad's house for one week and none of us were allowed to leave. Not even Jeb. It's like we were under house arrest or something. But through our boredom we began to wreak havoc around Dr. Athens's mini mansion.

Come on—6 bird kids plus 1 not-so-evil-anymore Whitecoat plus 1 evil plan to destroy an evil murderous scientist equals fun for us, anger and complete annoyance for Dr. Dipstick. Yep. That was Jeb's master plan. For us to annoy the heck out of our lovely host while he does the snitch work. Frankly, I love doing the snitch work but, hey, annoying people I hate is what brings me joy in the morning. It's my reason for living. I found my calling. I wonder if I could get paid for it.

So far we've done a pretty good deal of damage. Iggy and Gazzy "accidently" dropped fireworks into the upstairs toiled and exploded it. Comic reaction by your evil one. Nudge crashed the dude's computer (not before backing up all important info onto a disk). Angel called wild animals to destroy his back yard (yes, her wacko communications now go beyond just SeaWorld). Fang has broken quite a few lamps, frames, mirrors, windows and just about any fragile item he could find. But I think I did the worst. To thank Dr. Athens for all of the stuff he's put up with for us, I made him a very special thank you dinner. Yup, I cooked. And my cooking can make anyone go anorexic. It's beautiful.

We've also just annoyed the crud out of this guy. Motor-mouth Nudge talks his ear off, Fang goes all invisible and freaks the guy out, Iggy pretends that his blindness actually gets in the way of him like, walking and stuff causing him to keep running into him, Angel plays mind tricks on the poor guy, Gazzy does his specialty and I pretty much just sit around and trash talk him. So our little friend is getting quite annoyed and spends most of his time cleaning, chasing us, yelling and driving away to get a break. Until now.

After the latest dose of blowing up a wall and almost killing Dr. Evil's stupid pet cat, the guy sat us all down in the living room. I eyed everyone in the flock with my silent U&A message if anything got out of hand. The man paced back and forth in front of us with his hands behind his back, eyes locked to the floor. Finally, he sighed and stopped and looked at us. His eyes stopped when he got to me and he glared.

"Maximum Ride," he began. "I gave you chance. I gave you an opportunity to continue living. I opened up my home to you and your friends." He paused and let out a huge sigh. "How do you repay me?"

"With gratitude, I assure you," I said smiling.

The man glared. "No!" I sank in my seat slightly and Fang nudged my arm. "With destruction, disruption, disrespect, disaster and-"

"Dysfunction?"

"…yes. That too." Dr. Athens straightened his stance and kept his glare locked with my "innocent" eyes. My heart raced up with my mind as I hoped and prayed that this guy would kick us out or something. Jeb had said that he came up with a vaccine and had enough for each one of us. All he needed to do was get it put away and stored. I figured that was what he was doing now. "You've left me with no choice…"

This is it, I thought.

"I have decided to keep you under complete surveillance." My heart dropped. I could hear Nudge gasp and the slight angry groan from Iggy. He was keeping us here? "I've set up cameras in each room to watch your every move, your every plot, your every action. They will be activated after this conversation."

"Every room?" Gazzy asked, intrigued. "Even the bathroom? So you'll like, watch us shower? I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

Angel giggled and Dr. Athens shot the two a death glare. Instantly the two shut up and stared at the man.

"Anyway, you'd better be cooperative with me. I'm your only hope at surviving. Remember that. Dismissed."

Everyone started shuffling out of the living room when the doctor placed a hand on my shoulder. I spun around and looked into the man's eyes. He looked angry, frustrated…evil. I clenched my fists by my side and waited.

"If you make one false move, one slip up, give me any reason not to trust you, you are going to be dead faster than this stupid mutation can kill you, Maximum. And believe me, you don't want to leave your Flock. They'll suffer a much worse fate than you could even imagine. You can't get rid of me that easily."

I stood and said nothing as the doctor turned around and went out of the house. I looked around the room. I couldn't see any cameras here so I'd have to be extra cautious. I went out the room and to the stairs and almost ran into Jeb on the way up. I opened my mouth to speak but Jeb nodded.

"I know. I heard."

"What are we going to do?" I whispered. "He's watching our every move."

Jeb took in a deep breath and let it out slow. Carefully he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a bottle of clear liquid followed by six needles in a back.

"They're sterilized," he began. "It's the vaccine. I need you to get the Flock out of here, Max. Leave tonight after Dr. Athens has gone to sleep. Make sure he's asleep. But be careful. If you open a window or door an alarm will go off. I need you to get to safety."

"How are we supposed to get out, then?"

"Listen, Max. I said if you open a window or door an alarm will go off. Use your brain. Don't panic, don't stall. Get out. I'll stay here and try to get away some other time. But you need to leave tonight." Jeb handed me the vaccines. "Got it?" I nodded. "I love you."

I looked up to Jeb and blinked. It had been years since I heard him tell me that. Two years. Suddenly I felt like a little kid again, looking up to Jeb with swelling eyes and an open heart. I love you. I smiled and hugged Jeb as tightly as I could. For a moment he just stood there, probably shocked but hugged me back. I was taking a chance. Believing him. Trusting him. I hoped I wasn't making the stupidest mistake of my life. Before I could start getting any more emotional I let go and ran upstairs and into Fang's bedroom to tell him and the Flock the plan.

--

Night came in no time. There were three quiet taps on my door and I opened it to find Iggy.

"He's sound asleep," he informed us.

I nodded. "Good. Fang, start working on that window."

Fang nodded and pulled out a knife and carefully started cutting the sealing between the wall and the window. I gathered everyone together and straightened out Angel's windbreaker. I took the medicine and shots off of my bed and wrapped them in a pillow case before carefully placing them into my backpack. That's when I noticed it. Up in the corner of my bedroom. A little black camera about the size of a tack.

I zipped up the pack and stood on a chair and grabbed the camera. I ripped the wires out and through the device on the floor just as Fang carried the window and set it on my bed. A gentle breeze blew in from outside and made me shiver. This was it. We were getting out of here. I checked the time. It was ten thirty. I sucked in a breath and glanced at the Flock.

"Ready guys?" Nods were exchanged. "Up and Away," I whispered. I waited before everyone was out the window and in the air before I put on the backpack and jumped into the night sky. I felt my wings snap out and gently start to carry me through the sky. I missed flying. I quickly caught up with the others and went beside Fang who was starting to get a little wobbly.

"You're not getting sick, are you?" Fang shook his head and stared ahead of him. His dark eyes closed for a moment and reopened. He breathed in and out heavily and dropped about a foot. Gazzy looked towards me, concerned. "It's okay," I told him. "He's just tired." I glanced below and stole a look at Fang's neck. My stomach sank. We didn't have much time.

PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! Yes, it's been a long time but I've kind of had writer's block. The kind that lasts 3 months.