Hey, I'm back from a very cool camping place. Aspen Grove? Anyone heard of it? Well, it's very cool, in case you want to go. And, last week I finished School's Out- Forever! It is AWESOME! So you should read it very soon, if you haven't. But anyway, I think this is the longest chapter yet. So, I hope you enjoy. Remember, R&R. I NEED your ideas. So, please help me out. Cuz I still need a title, too. Here's the chap:

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Blinding light flooded my vision. I quickly closed them. Then, slowly easing my eyelids up, I let my eyes adjust to the brightness. I tried to sit up, and noticed that my arms were bound by metal bands to the cold, hard table I was lying on. I tried to move my feet and felt the cold iron cut into my ankles. Perfect.

Well, Max, you've gotten yourself into a bit of a situation here, my Voice stated.

"Oh, really?" I asked aloud, making the sarcasm in my voice ring loud and clear. I hadn't heard from my Voice in a while, and I wasn't exactly thanking it for showing up now.

You need a goal, Max. Find your goal, my Voice reminded me.

I let my mind slip into memories. The last thing I remembered was the cave. Fang had been with me, and the others had been just outside. They could have gotten away, but as I thought of Angel's scream I predicted that they hadn't. At least one of my fellow flock members was here, too, but there might be more. Probably more. I had to get them out.

Good, Max. You have your goal. How do you reach it?

Well, I don't know, Voice. That is why I haven't done anything. So, if you're so great at giving advice, how about you give me some now? No response. I sighed. If I had to have a Voice in my head, couldn't I at least have a useful Voice?

I strained against the metal bands on my arms. Nothing happened. I pushed harder, feeling my muscles tighten as the metal remained immobile. I shoved myself forward against the bands, until I was sure the hard edges had cut into my skin. I struggled until I felt the blood running down my forearms. My face was heated and my back burned. The blood running across my limbs now felt like ice. I pushed myself harder, feeling like my head was about to burst. I wasn't going to break the metal. Just as I was about to give up, a bright orange stream of light shot up on my right. Just inches away from my face, the small strip of fire made me even hotter.

Where had it come from? I suddenly thought of the burning sensation on my back. I tried to spread my wings, wincing as my weight plucked feathers off of them. After straining against the ropes that I now knew were holding my wings behind me, I felt my left wing emerge from under my body. The few feathers that had come out were now spitting flames everywhere, making me feel like I was lying in a fire pit. Thankfully, my body seemed able to tolerate the heat. I struggled more, pushing my wings further out while straining against the bindings.

Suddenly, I heard a snap on my right side. My arm was free. I lifted the right half of my torso up, releasing my wings. As the flames flared higher, I felt the other bindings snap under the pressure.

Quickly jumping up, I flipped myself off of the table and onto the ground. I immediately sank back onto the burnt metal, though I stayed in a sitting position. I let my legs rest as I examined the black table. I could see exactly where my wings had been for most of the time. Next to the giant wing imprints lay a black string- the roped that my wings had been tied with. Slowly, I let my legs go back onto the hard ground, hoping that they had regained some of their power.

Max, my Voice suddenly put in, do you think that these flames just magically appeared?

I mentally hit myself. Of course- where had the fire come from? Well, I knew it had come from my wings- but how? I had just gotten a new power.

§§§

I made my way down yet another long, white hallway, trying to keep the smells from entering my senses by putting a hand over my nose. I ran quickly, pushing myself through one door, then the next, and the next. I thought about my new power. What else could my fire-wings do? I smiled as the possibilities flooded my mind.

Suddenly, I felt something hit my foot, sending me flying (or, not so much flying- more like tumbling through the air). I spread my wings, but it was too late. I crashed into the wall, creating an incredible amount of noise. Slowly, I stood up, trying to clear my mind. I glanced at the wall and, to my dismay, saw that a red smear from my arm now decorated it. I would have to hurry.

I set off running again, crashing through doors now that everyone in the School must have known I was there. I hurried around a corner, slamming into something that sent me tumbling to the ground. Again. Quickly looking up, I felt my mouth drop open. A full grown Eraser stood in front of me. But, it was not him that made me freeze. Behind the giant Eraser, others lined the hall. Some were fully grown while others looked like they were the newest batch yet. I hadn't seen a single Eraser in the past hour in the School, and now, the hall was full of them.

All I could see was the line of Erasers in front of me. They were squished together so I couldn't see behind them. There could have been hundreds of Erasers down that hall, or just the ten in front of me. Either way, it was too much. Realizing the danger of my situation, I shot up and down the hallway on my left, signaling the start of a chase behind me. As I raced down the hall, shoving things into the way of the Erasers, I thought of the others. Where were they?

Recognizing the double doors coming up on my right, I went to the side of the hall, and through the doors, into a room full of crates. I ran through the room, calling the flock and glancing into all of the crates to see if I recognized anyone.

Guilt flooded through my veins as I left all of the other caged kids behind me. But, the flock came first. I would save the other kids when I didn't have giant wolf-men chasing me. As I ran past a small crate, I heard a voice call out to me. "Max!" Quickly retracing my steps, I looked into the crate to see the Gasman's blue eyes staring up at me.

"Gazzy!" I whispered. I swiftly unlatched the cage, letting the young boy out.

The Gasman jumped out of the crate and, understanding my hurry, muttered a quick 'thank you' before running toward the other crates. "I saw where the others went," he whispered as we ran across the room. I stopped at another cage where Angel was held as Gazzy moved a few crates down to free Nudge. When the girls were out, we ran further, toward the other end of the room.

"Max, where were you?" Angel suddenly asked.

"Angel, I'm sorry, sweetie. I was in another room, all tied up," I murmured. "It took me a while to get out and find you guys."

"So, you just found us?" asked Nudge. "No Erasers?"

Suddenly, my mind went back to the Erasers. Where were they? Not that I wasn't thankful for not having them here, but shouldn't they have found me by now? Keeping the problem in my mind, I continued running, going through the possibilities.

We stopped at a large crate in the far corner of the room. Iggy was inside. As Nudge was freeing Iggy, the Gasman whispered, "Fang's cage is right there." Going over to the crate that Gazzy had pointed out, I froze.

"Gasman," I choked, "are you sure that this is his?"

"Positive."

My heart plunged inside my body. The cage was empty. "You guys, Fan's not in here."

I watched Nudge frown while Angel and the Gasman came to look in the cage themselves, trying not to panic. "They took him out about an hour ago," said Iggy.

I glanced over at him. "Did they say where?" Iggy shook his head. I felt panic rising in my chest. We were lucky that the Erasers hadn't found us yet. We couldn't just go around, looking in all of the rooms, and hoping we wouldn't run into anyone else.

I glanced at the others, wishing someone would just tell me what to do. "I have an idea," Nudge said suddenly. She walked to Fang's cage, placed her hand on the latch, and closed her eyes in concentration.

Just as here eyes snapped open, a huge, scarred Eraser burst through the double doors on the other side of the room. Ari. "Run!" I whispered. We raced to the nearest door. I could hear Ari advancing quickly, followed by innumerable Erasers. I yanked the door open, hoping that we wouldn't find Erasers on the other side.

As soon as I saw the empty hallway, I urged the others through the door, and we ran down the hall. "Wait!" yelled Nudge. "We have to go through that door." She pointed to the door that we had just passed.

Without question, we all darted through the door. This time I let Nudge lead the way, realizing that she had used her power to access the minds of the people who had taken Fang from his cage. We were going to find him. As we raced after Nudge, the passageway narrowed, leaving only enough room for us to go through in single file.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Nudge stopped outside a door. She jerked her hand forward, to the doorknob, and shook it. "It's locked," she whispered.

"Okay, guys, step back," I told them. As the others moved away, I steeped in front of the door. Turning, I shot a quick sidekick at the door. I flew open. I stepped in and felt my eyebrows lift in surprise.

Fang stood in the middle of the room, a female Eraser struggling next to him. I heard a loud crack as he snapped her neck and let her body fall to the ground. The bodies of at least five other full grown Erasers littered the floor, some still twitching. The female had been the last one standing. Behind Fan, there was a metal chair with broken ropes still hanging off of it. They had tried to keep Fang tied down with ropes. And I had believed that these people were smart?

I walked over to Fang. He was covered in blood again. Although I knew that some of it was Eraser's blood, I was sure that most of it was his. I stepped behind him and started untangling the ropes that still bound his wings. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah. How about you guys?"

"We're fine," replied Iggy. "But I don't know how you got all of these Erasers down," he added, making me wonder how he knew the number of Erasers in the room when they were mostly immobile. But I still let my eyes scan over the Erasers. There were a lot for one person to take on. Even if that person was a bird kid.

Suddenly, my eyes stopped on one of the Erasers. The female. I took a sharp breath and made my way over to her. Kneeling down, I looked at the back of her head, hoping I was wrong. I reached out, not noticing the others staring at me, and turned her face toward mine. I heard a gasp leave my mouth.

I felt my eyes burn as I stared into Ella's dead, empty ones. A tear rolled down my face, forcing me to wipe it away. I stood up and looked at the others. They were all gaping at me. Fang stood, glancing from me to the girl he had killed, and back to me, not knowing what he had done.

A burst of anger flooded my chest. "Let's go," I barely managed to whisper. I ran to the large window and threw myself at it, breaking the glass. I fell for a few seconds, then unfurled my wings, catching myself on the night air. I was free.

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Alright, there's the fourth chapter. How was it? Please tell me. I need your ideas for the story and title. Even if you don't want to give me ideas, just tell me if you liked it or not. Okay, I'll update as soon as possible. I hope you have fun reading- Dringer