Days blurred together. I never knew when it was day or night. I slept when I could. I comforted Speck when she returned from testing. She cooed at me when I came back covered in sweat. We held hands as much as possible. I always woke up with a wet hand; she cried every time she slept. Bruises formed up and down my arms from needles. My back ached every day.

Weeks rushed by. They began testing my wings. They hurt. They put me in a wind tunnel. I wasn't a good flyer. My shoulders always ached after each round of tests. Speck learned my name. I taught her to say hers. My wings are red, like a cardinal's. Sometimes they bled, but I could never tell.

Months passed. Speck was gone, along with multiple others. I was one of the few left. I couldn't cry anymore. I was used to the pain; the physical, mental, and emotional kind. Sometimes I woke up in tears from dreams of my "parents." Sometimes I had trouble breathing. They tested my lung capacity at different altitudes. I had asthma attacks. I've never had them before. They kept saying it was a flaw. They kept saying they'll have to start all over. They kept saying I was a letdown, a mistake, useless.

But I was still alive.

A door opened, and I heard people and wolf men talking up a storm about a new batch of kids being sent in. Some were babies. Some came from test tubes. Some were clones. The thought of it made my stomach churn, but I pushed it aside. It's not like I can do anything about it… I sighed and rested my head on my knees, bringing my wings around me like a blanket and closing my eyes. I didn't look at them. I could hear them clear as day though.

"Grab the two in the corner," said a woman in a thick Spanish accent.

"Mmm, and the one with the wings?" growled a wolf man. I heard him lick his lips.

"Not yet, it wouldn't be fair," spoke another wolf man.

Fair?

My eyesight was stupendous, but I could only barely see through the darkness. I blinked to see two cages with kids in them being lifted onto a cart. They whined and cried, not wanting to go. Both wolf men cackled, pushing the cart out of the room and slamming the door behind them. The sound was deafening, and I quickly covered my ears. They were more sensitive than my usual ones. The ones without fur.

Once it died down, I reached for the bars, my muscles sore and making me hiss a little. I stared in the direction of the door, trying to figure out what was going on. I must've been the only one in there, because when I knocked my knuckle against the steel, it echoed and in turn made me jump. My breathing was heavier and I could feel my pulse in my ears. What did they mean by fair? Fair as in like a game? Wait…

Before I could catch my breath, the door opened again with the same two wolf men from before. I could recognize their footsteps. What can I say? I got bored there, so I had nothing better to do than memorize footsteps. These two rarely entered the room. They only left for…

Oh no.

"Ready for a game of cat and mouse?" one of them sneered right in front of my face. He shone a fat flashlight in my eyes, startling me to where I fell back in the cage. I rubbed my eyes as he cackled with the other one.

"Well, it would be more of dog and cat… mutant… thing," the other one added as I was hauled onto the cart. They laughed again as I hugged myself in the cage. I knew what they were going to do. And this time, it wasn't a test. Not like my first one. Nothing like my first one. They had a job, and I was part of it.

I was rolled back out into the courtyard with the barbed fences and sky. The sky was fading to a yellow, as if the sun was setting. My pulse throbbed everywhere; my adrenaline kicking in. I saw a line of werewolves leaning against the building's wall, sharpening knives or licking their lips. I looked for Jacob, but he wasn't there.

A slam on the top of my cage made me jump. A guy placed my cage on the ground and long, tan plants brushed against my skin. Brown needles poked through the bars, and I noticed the ground wasn't green anymore. How long have I been here? My mouth parted and I could barely see my breath.

My door opened with a slow squeak, and I froze in place. The white coat threw the keys in his pocket along with his hands. Something square was in the other one, and he glared at me. "Don't try anything, or else."

I gulped.

I didn't want to get out of the cage, because I had no chance in fighting off these wolves. But on the same hand, I was even more screwed inside of the cage. Come on Amber, think! My eyes glazed over the row of hungry men. One of them licked his knife. And quick!

Then it hit me.

"Must I drag you out like the other two before you?"

I glared at him with a feeling of tears in my eyes, but I blinked them away. He looked back at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Well?"

Letting out a shuddering breath, I gripped the top of the cage and pulled myself out. My feet scraped against the harsh ground; dirt, rocks and dead shrub looking things were scattered everywhere. I could feel my heartbeat in my ears. My fists clenched as I stared at the wall of killers in front of me. I had a plan, hopefully a good plan,

I let out another, deep, breath and heard them growling at me deeply, waiting for me to move.

So I ran.

Fast.

I bolted for the fence and heard shouts behind me, the wolves trying to gain on me. Once I got close to the fence though, I heard a humming sound and I jerked to the side just in time for a guy to slam into it. He screamed as the electricity pulsed through him. He managed to clip my heel, cutting into it, and managing to shock me as well. I shouted, not feeling the pain just from my ankle, but also from something around my neck.

The collar.

I forgot all about it.

Well, there goes my plan.

I stumbled, trying to stay up as I heard the other guys rushing toward me. They growled and shouted at me, ready to tear me apart. My vision was blurry and my body shook from the fire, but I knew I couldn't give up. Gasping, I barely dodged a man barreling into me, and starting running again for the other fence. Maybe, maybe I could-

One of them grabbed me by my arm and threw me into the middle of the yard. I landed hard on it, pain shooting through me, but I dismissed it. Glancing up, two of them raced for me while another one picked me up by my neck. His breath was hot in my face, and I gagged as he pulled me close to him, baring his teeth and growling, "What a tasty little cat."

Before he opened his mouth to take a chunk out of me, I swung my legs hard and nailed him in the balls. He collapsed with a whine and I scampered backwards quickly. I spun and started to run again, only to see another few guys ready for me. I got as close as I could then ducked at the right time and took a hairpin turn to the left, kicking up dust behind me. My chest heaved, the speed taking a toll on my lungs. I could feel the asthma-like attack coming again, but I couldn't stop. I was not going to let these guys kill me. Not like this. But I couldn't keep running forever.

Oh yeah.

I smirked and darted towards a group of white coats chattering like they were at a football game or something. One of them was the guy who gestured me out of the cage. They didn't see me coming. They screamed when I came at them with roundhouse kicks and punches. I knifed one in the neck and kneed one in the head, both of them crumpling to the ground. The last one started running for the building, shouting into a receiver but I got to him quickly. I planted both my feet into his back and he coughed, landing face first with the receiver out of his reach. I smiled until I heard the wolf guys shouting towards me. I could hear them, and I readied myself as they ran for me, ready to tear me up into millions of pieces. They were getting closer, and closer, but before I took off again, I heard barking. Actual barking. Actual dogs! And they were pouring out of Itex's doors. Well crap, there goes that plan… again. There was no other option.

Taking a quick glance of the area in front of me, I sprinted again, hunching over and scraping past the men lunging at me. I felt claws, knives, everything slice against me but I kept going. I angled myself lower to the ground, feeling hot, dog breath at my heels. I closed my eyes for a second, aiming my strides to be longer as the dogs got closer.

One, two, three.

My heart raced.

Four, five. My strides got longer.

They were about to dig into my calves.

Six, seven.

I jumped.

Or at least as high as I could, and I unfurled my wings. They brushed against the dogs below who jumped after me, the end feathers ripping slightly. I winced but focused on my muscles. It's just like the wind tunnel. Just going up. Come on! Up. Down. Faster. Come on! I beat my wings faster, my altitude rising as the wolf men and others spilling out of the building shouting and pointing at me from below. They were the size of gerbils now, and many were shading themselves from the sun. I hovered the best I could, despite my weight and lack of wing muscle I had been using lately, and looked at the sky. It was a deep red now, with pink shading on the clouds and purple mottled the rest of it. It was gorgeous, and the sun looked orange, almost amber. Amber. An amber sky. That had a nice ring to it. I smiled just slightly and felt a breeze roll through, my long, pale red hair waving past me. I had to balance myself against it, but I did it. I was actually doing it.

I was flying.