The lights blurred into one on continuous line as I ran down the hallway. My cheeks stung from where Lilac had slashed me. Everything had worked out perfectly. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I approached the hallway where Raf was supposedly hiding.
I slowed down and whispered, "Raf? You there?"
"Above you." I looked up and saw him, claws buried in the ceiling.
"Hello," I said.
"Hey…please tell me that's war paint on your face."
"No it's blood." Raf gave an exasperated sigh and dislodged himself, landing on his feet.
"What the heck did you say to her?"
"Nothin'…just something about her wearing Hello Kitty underwear." Raf gave me a quick smile, then asked "Now what?" Suddenly a distant haunting howl, like one from an angry ghost, echoed through the hallways. We both looked in the direction of the sound and saw shadows coming around the corner some wolf some human. "Uh oh," Raf muttered.
"That my friend is an understatement…Let's move."….

Dr. Risa yawned irritably as she walked down to the hallway. She had taken a small nap and had been awakened by a call from the security room.
"This better be good" she thought to herself. She rounded a corner and walked inside a small room crowded with computer screens, tapes, wires and cables.
"What's going on?" she demanded as she walked into the room. Dr. McKinney was standing over the shoulder of security guard, who was watching the monitors.
"Ah! Dr. Risa. Mort, here, says a disturbance was caused in the mess hall, by your "dogs"," he explained. Dr. Risa rolled her eyes. Why did she hire him? She was beginning to realize, why PC hated him so much. McKinney referred to Raf and PC as her dogs, because they only seemed to obey her and no one else.
"Show me the footage." She commanded. After watching the spectacle Dr. McKinney asked with a sort of cocky tone "Should we end this game now?"
Dr. Risa suddenly burst out laughing. Dr. McKinney and the security guard we're taken aback by her reaction to the footage.
"I'm sorry. Pardon me."
"This spectacle is not over. PC and Raf are on hall C as we speak. Lilac will most likely pursue them. What do you suggest we do?"
"Nothing at the moment…I want to see how this little game will play out." She said leaning forward watching the two experiments on screen…

We jogged down the hallway, passing room after room, hoping not to meet face to face with Lilac, the howls of transformed Erasers incessantly ringing in our ears. My face felt like it had been painted as the blood from the slash wounds coagulated on my skin. It was odd that no alarms had gone off, since we were getting closer to off limits territory. As residents of Lab 7 and agents of the School, we were allowed to wander almost anywhere except for certain areas like Level 2. It was the place where the Whitecoats kept the larger and more dangerous experiments. We rounded a corner and skidded to a halt as we saw Lilac at the end of the hallway with her pack which consisted of Erasers of various types, three Jawz, two Wraiths, and two regular Erasers. Lilac was the only one in human form.
"Hello boys," she said with a grin
"Uh oh," Raf said almost musically.
"Will you quit saying that," I said. Lilac began to verbally taunt us, but instead of participating in banter. Raf and I, pretended to listen and concoct a strategy to get through that army of Erasers that blocked our path.
"Is there another way to level 2?" Raf asked.
"I don't think so…We're in a tight spot," I said, biting my thumb pensively.
"Ya, think."
"I guess we will have to fight our way through."
"NO," Raf whispered harshly. "I'm optimistic…but not suicidal."
"Than what do you suggest," I replied between my teeth.
"We lure them away than make our way back here."
"Sounds like it will work, okay then …let's do it."
"Blood is good color on you, PC… you should wear it more often," Lilac jeered as we turned our attention back to her.
"Excuse me?" I said sticking my finger in my ear and pretending to pick out wax. " I couldn't hear you."
Lilac giggled "Very cute PC…very…Normally your actions back in the mess hall would have earned you a minor beating from me and my boys. But since you've officially pissed me off…I have something special for you." As soon as she had finished her sentence, I heard Lilac's bones beginning to crack. It was a sickening sound. Then muscles began to swell under Lilac's skin and her teeth began to look more like organic knives. The change seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. Lilac had transformed from her stocky, petite, human form to a hulking she-wolf with snow white fur tipped with silver and a long black stripe that traveled from the tip of her nose to her tail. I swallowed hard and looked at Raf, who was either extremely impressed or about to wet himself. This was a sight that very few people saw and those unfortunate few who had never lived to tell the tale……

"Oh dear," is all I managed to say. Lilac roared and the others in her pack joined her. "GO!" I shouted. We turned and bolted back to where we had come from and the Erasers gave chase. My mind was racing; I didn't know how we were going to get back to that area. But first we needed to survive. I heard the Erasers paws stomping the linoleum tiles.
"They're ganging on us!" Raf shouted. I pulled out a few eggs from my hoodie and threw them back at them. The Erasers snarl as the eggs pelted their angry faces. Raf joined in and threw more eggs. After ten minutes of sprinting I was already beginning to tire…man I'm out of shape.
"WE need to shake them," I muttered. Then I remembered my ration of vegetable oil and began to sprinkle it behind me and Raf filed suit. Three Erasers yelped in surprise as they wiped out, and crashed into the wall as we rounded a corner. I snuck a peek over my shoulder to count how many wolves we still had to contend with. To my disappointment Lilac was still in the lead with that morbid look her brother used to give me when he wanted to rip me apart. The memory of my execution fluttered in my mind briefly then disappeared, but it motivated me to keep up speed. Suddenly I heard a whooshing noise coming very close to my ears. I looked and saw a Wraith running beside me with a sly grin on its face. Another Wratih was running next to Raf.
"Yoooouuu thhhhhiiiiiiiiink yooooouuuuu..cannnnnn…ouuutttt...runnnnn usssssssssssssss?" the one running next to me teased. I grabbed an egg, but before I could throw it the Wraith had gotten hold of my hoodie and it didn't look like he was going to let go. Raf was in the same situation. Thinking quickly I let the projectile drop and purposefully tripped over it. The Wraith and I tumbled forward and every Eraser in pursuit tripped over us and crashed onto the floor. 7 experiment pileup on Hall D ! Everyone lied there dazed from impact. I heaved the Wraith off of me and searched for Raf. He had managed to stay on his feet by burring his claws into the wall, leaving claw marks that stretched for a few feet.
" Are they unconscious?" Raf asked. Lilac let out furcious bark and was beginning to rise. Acting like two spooked deer, we ran back in the direction that lead to Level 2…leaving a trail of vegetable oil in our wake.
Lilac groaned and forced herself to her feet. "GET UP! YOU IDIOTS! They're getting away!" The Erasers scrambled to comply and then dashed forward in an instant. "NO! WAIT!" Lilac commanded, but it was too late, the other Erasers were already sliding around in the vegetable oil, whining and snarling in frustration at their inability to stand. Lilac let out an irritated growl "WHY AM I SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS!" In a flash of rage she punched the wall leaving a gaping hole. She glared at the Erasers sliding across the floor. Wondering how she was going to catch up and also thinking with us when a thought entered her mind that made her smile…..

"That was close," I said as we continued our made dash through the hallways.
"I agree", Raf said. I looked around seeing objects that looked familiar, Level 2 was very close. We rounded a corner and skidded to a halt as we were confronted with the three Jawz that made up the brawn in Lilac's pack. They did hit the wall hard when they slipped in the oil we had left behind, and were lying unconscious on the floor. Raf and I began to tip toe around them, when suddenly one of them opened their eyes and lashed out at me. Not quick enough to move on the already slick tiles, I slid backward into the wall and hit my head. "OW!" I shouted. No sooner had I said that, did I realize my mistake as the three monstrous Erasers began to stir. Raf quickly grabbed me by the shirt and took off. It took me a minute to get my footing, no thanks to my greasy shoes, and then we were on the run again. This time we didn't stop to take a break until we found that door. Fortunately for us it wasn't very far.
The door was like any other one in size and in shape, but seemed to look heavier and thicker. When you spend as much time as I do behind closed doors you tend to notice certain things. It had a small glass window with wire cords interlaced inside, so you couldn't easily punch threw it without seriously messing up your hand. "Level 2" was spray painted on its front.
"Well… It's nice that they have the sign in big letters," I commented as we approached.
"Danger! Authorized Personnel ONLY," Raf said, reading a small yellow sign next to the door. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, "Does that mean anything to you?"
I looked at it briefly then shrugged "Nope not a thing…you?"
Raf stared at the warning and sucked on his lower lip "Nope… not a dang thing." I smiled and looked for the door handle, which a keypad above it.
"Oh Geez its one of those coded ones," I said.
"Come on, PC are you going to let a coded lock get the better of you?" Raf asked sarcastically and began to fiddle with the keypad.
"You only get two tries. So I hope you know what you are doing, because if you don't get it right the alarms will go off and the Whitecoats will be all over us," I warned.
"I know," Raf said dismissively, shooing me. I backed off and gave him some space to work. "You see, you have to be smarter than the lock…" Raf punched in 789521 which if you looked at the keypad carefully formed the letter "J" for Jeb. The lock beeped and a mechanized voice rang out, "Access denied". Howling began to resonate through the hallways.
"Hurry up," I muttered between my teeth.
"Patience," he retorted. I eyed the corridors nervously as Raf began to brainstorm a random series of numbers that would somehow work. I saw shadows stretching towards our current position and slowly began to change my hands claws, when the mechanized voice came on again and said "Access granted". We hurried inside and shut the door hearing it lock behind us……

So far our plan had worked perfectly, Lilac and her pack played out their roles flawlessly. Now it was time to put the next phase into action. What that actually was I didn't know. But in any case, we were in Level 2 and that's what mattered. This level was well lit with shiny spotless floors and bright fluorescent lights.
"How do you expect to find Gozbud?" Raf asked.
"I don't know, but he has to be in one of these cages if not then we are definitely screwed," I replied.
We walked down a long corridor filled with all sorts of exotic, grotesque and deadly creatures most of them were Erasers combined with the parts of different experiments. . The experiments didn't make any noise as we walked by the cages, but their eyes followed our every move which made us nervous needless to say. My personal favorite was Oryctolagus, lupus, which didn't look that threatening in the form of large puffy rabbit, but when I approached the cage, the rabbit exploded and when I say exploded I mean literally exploded and in its place was a hideous creature that resemble a hairless rabbit with wolfish teeth and other characteristics. It would stay in this form for a few minutes then revert back to its cute and cuddly self. Raf and I found the exploding pat so amusing that we baited the creature into transforming repeatedly. After messing with the fabulous exploding wolf-rabbit, we continued looking for Gozbud.
"It's been awfully quiet…we haven't met any opposition since we got here."
"Well, it's late in the afternoon most people are going home at this point," I reasoned.
"PC? Raf?" We both turned around.
"Gozbud, there you are," I said. He looked very tired and disheveled, but other than that it didn't look like they had done anything to him, which eased the pain of my guilt. Although he had chains around his arms and legs, but they allowed him to move around.
"What are you doing here?"
"We've come to get you out of here." I said morphing one of my hands in a claw and beginning to fiddle with the lock on the cage, "I'm sorry this happened, Gozbud."
"It's alright; I know you didn't intend to get me caught."
"Oh, but he did," I voice said. I turned around and got my block knocked off by Lilac, falling to the ground. Gozbud roared loudly and charged the bars sticking his snout to bite Lilac, but she evaded him. Man! She hits hard. I struggled to get to my feet seeing double. Before Lilac could strike again, Raf attacked brutally slicing her with his claws. Lilac screamed in pain.
"My face! You miserable freak I'll tear your wings off!" she snarled. Lilac grabbed Raf and threw him against the wall, before turning on me and pinning me to the floor. I saw other members of Lilac's pack beginning to arrive. Gozbud roared and gnashed his teeth to intimidate them. But they didn't seem too scared. The Jawz fell on Raf, two of them holding him up while one punched him mercilessly in the stomach.
"Stop this, Lilac," I snarled.
She slapped me across the face "You are in no position to tell me anything… As for you," Lilac said looking up at Gozbud. "It was PC's intention for you to get caught."
"Shut up! Witch!" Gozbud snapped. "He would never do anything like that."
"Oh really, Did he ever tell you, who killed your younger brother, Lyle?" I felt a sudden rush of panic as well as desperation. This revelation could ruin our friendship. Instantly I transformed into my true body and unable to move my arms or legs I strain and bit Lilac in the face. Furious she slapped me again and then head butted me.
" It—." I tried another attack anything to shut her up. I knew this was killing my image of begin innocent. Overwhelmed by panic and fear, I began to change from cat to human almost simultaneously trying to break free. But as you can imagine these off and on transformations wore me out, to the point where I couldn't transform into a cat anymore. So all I could do was lay there and watch our friendship implode.
"It was PC and his little partner over there that killed you brother. Impaled him with a pole and stabbed him with glass."
"Gozbud! Don't listen to her that isn't how it happ—," I felt her claws began to burrow into the skin around my throat.
"Is this true?" Gozbud said his voice trembling.
"No—ah!"
"Tell him the truth PC…tell him…or your partner is dead." I saw a Jawz wrap his claws around Raf's throat with a grin. Raf looked back me and shook his head weakly.
"Lilac. Don't do this…please."
"Any favors you would have had from me are gone, PC…NOW TELL HIM!" she snarled tightening her grip.
"It's true…I killed him," I muttered, grimly.
"What was that? I didn't catch it."
"I KILLED HIM!"…..

I knew this wouldn't work. I should have known better to think that we could actually get away with something this risky. Although this is the most fun I have had in a long time, even though I am currently getting the snot kicked out of me. I struggled against the Jawz, who were holding me and wishing that there was at least one shard of glass. With one spec of glass I could kill every Eraser here including Lilac. My injured wing added to the discomfort I was feeling. After the tenth punch in the stomach I was ready to puke, when they suddenly stopped. I had tuned out everything else that was going on around me hoping to dull the pain but once they stopped all the events around me were coming back into focus. "I KILLLED HIM!" PC shouted. Why did he say that? It was a lie and everyone present except for Gozbud knew the truth. Why? I felt a twinge of hatred deep inside, It was me…IT WAS ME! ….but I was too messed up to dwell on the feeling.

I looked up at Gozbud, his eyes wide with disbelief, "So it's true then?"
I wanted to explain everything to him, but when I felt Lilac's grip tighten I lied again, "Yes, it's true." Gozbud backed away from the bars and sat down. He looked so dejected it was depressing.
Lilac sighed blissfully "I'm glad that is all sorted out…wouldn't you agree PC?" It didn't matter what I said to her, there were no words that could describe how low and how angry I felt at that moment. "Gozbud, What do you think of you friend now?" she asked getting to her feet, but to make sure I didn't go anywhere she placed a heavy pawed foot on my chest.
"You lied to me PC…and worst of all… it was to my face…TO MY FACE!" Gozbud snapped, slapping his tail on the ground.
"Gozbud please…I—."
"NO, I've heard enough from you. I was wrong when I said that you hadn't changed. You have and for the worst."
" Listen I—." Lilac rolled me over and kicked me across the floor.
"That's enough out of you. Maybe you should try shutting up for a change… I think its time I finish what my brother started…only I'm going to do this really slow." I looked up at her that psychotic look in her eyes gave me chills it reminded me too much of Fox. When I saw Lilac's dripping fangs appear out from under her lips I had had enough. Just as she was about to put her foot down to keep me still, I grabbed it and snapped it. Lilac howled in pain and fell back on her tail.
Angered by my actions the Erasers all began to descend on my when someone shouted, " STOP". The Erasers froze and turned there heads. Dr. Risa stood a few feet away, with a pack of armed Wraiths behind her and an angry scowl on her face. "This little game has gone on long enough. You three collect Lilac and take her to back up to level 1, take her to the clinic on hall C. MOVE NOW!" She shouted. The Jawz grudgingly obeyed and carried Lilac away leaving Raf and I alone. "You two," Risa commanded to the Wraiths flanking her. " Take PC and Rafmire to the clinic on hall B level 1. The rest of you clean up the mess these two left behind and be quick about it."
" Whaaaaatttt abbbbbooooutttt thhheeee reeeepptiiiiillllleeee?" one of the Wraiths asked. Risa looked over at Gozbud calculatingly and said "He looks in good shape a bit disheveled but fine. Don't concern yourself. Just do what I have instructed." Wraiths forced as to our feet. After all none of the injuries we had sustained prevented us from walking. As they led us away I had a feeling that once the Whitecoats had patched us up that I …in particular was going to be in BIG trouble…

Our injuries weren't very severe, so I wasn't surprised when they dropped me off at my room, with two large bandages on my cheeks with stitches throbbing under them…the cuts from Lilac's nails were deeper than I had previously thought. As usual, I laid down on my bed letting as small cloud of depression rain down on my head. Gozbud now knew what I had done…not thanks to Lilac, for making me twist the facts. I was too tired to be angry, though. I looked at the clock it was 12:00am.
"I guess I should get to bed," I muttered. No sooner had I said that, there was another banging sound coming from the door. I turned my head in the direction of the door. "GO AWAY!" I shouted.
"Is that anyway to talk to your superiors?" the voice behind the door said. I rolled my eyes and wandered lazily to the door. Dr. Risa stood in the door way with her arms crossed in front of her chest.
"Oh it's you," I said, making sure to not sound completely rude.
She gave me a quaint smile, "Are you going to let me in?" I noticed that she didn't have a furry fanged escort with her, as she walked passed me.
"You didn't come with an escort…that's pretty bold Dr. Risa," I said closing the door.
"Shut up, PC…I haven't wronged you in anyway so you have no reason to hurt me."
"Yeah you're right."
"But I will admit you are no pussy cat…on occasion."
"Cute. What do you want?" I asked sitting back down on my bed.
"Your little charade has caused quite a bit of damage."
"Well I was going to blow this place sky high, but Raf said that that might be over doing it…by the way how is he?"
"He's fine."
"Are you going to report this incident to the School?" I braced myself I knew I was in trouble I just didn't know how deep.
"No. What happens in Lab 7 stays in Lab 7." Okay this is odd…cool but odd."But do to these events," Risa continued, "…you have driven Lilac completely berserk…you should have broken both of her feet. She will stop at nothing to make sure you and Raf do not survive the night. So, both will be transported in a few hours. Until that time you will be confined to your room. Understand?"
I made a saluting gesture, "Yes, Ma' am…Is that all?"
"No there is one more thing I would like to discuss with you."
"What is it?"
"I was watching you and Raf on Level 2…It appears that you had some kind of relationship with the experiment, Gozbud." I stiffened a little as she continued. "This gives me reason to believe that you are some how connected with the Network, that I have been hearing about lately…is this true?" I knew silence would only prove that I was. I had to think of something and quick.
"Don't you think that's stretching it a bit? How would I be able to contact them?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
"I don't know how you do it. But I trust my gut, PC just like you. So I know for a fact that you are connected in some way." NOT GOOD! "However, like I said before, what happens in Lab 7 stays here. Besides, you are no longer under my charge."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"This is a dangerous game you are playing. I just figured you should know that."
"I know what I'm doing," I replied.
"That is debatable..." I flinched as Dr. Risa poked one of my bandages.
"Some of my plans have worked," I said in my defense.
"Yes, but half-baked plans will not work in the School, PC. You are playing a game with Jeb, now and he is an excellent player."
"So am I," I said sternly. I wasn't going to let her scare me. I had to do this it was for the Network and if Maximum Ride could win against Jeb than so could I.
"I can see that you are determined to stay in the game…that is amiable, best of luck to you, Purple Cat." Dr. Risa moved towards the door and looked back at me and said, "I am ready to leave now." I got up and opened the door for her and then watched walk down the hall and out of sight. She is a strange one that woman …but during our conversation…call me crazy, but I think she was actually concerned.

The sun was beginning to rise when they took us to our transport. We were both shackled, standard procedure…for experiments of our caliber. Hey it beat being transferred in a cage. Our transport was a truck with a divider in the back, so that Raf and I couldn't see each other or talk. We were a bit on edge, because of what Dr. Risa had told us about Lilac. I expected her to appear any second, but thankfully she didn't. For some morbid reason I was already beginning to miss Lab 7. For I knew that our lives were about to get a whole lot more interesting. As the truck rolled away I looked out the tiny tinted window on my side of the divide. The sky was changing numerous colors as the night began to fade….

I was going to miss those boys. Whatever happened to them now was out of my hands. But I hope for the best, just as an owner gives their dog up for adoption. As I walked back to the compound with my army of Erasers at my side I saw a very odd sight. A falcon perched on the fence. I watched it momentarily, such a beautiful specimen. Then the bird let out a fierce cry and took off in flurry of feathers….