Chapter 11

"I should have expected to see you here Alpha," He sneered as he mentioned my codename. He knew how much I hated being called that.

"Lucas," I replied, "what an unpleasant surprise." I kept my voice perfectly neutral. No point in giving him the satisfaction of rising up to the bait.

"That hurt Alpha," Lucas replied, faking hurt, "I was so looking forward to our next encounter."

"Really?" I asked, "I was hoping to never see you again."

"Ouch. Now that really hurt me" Lucas said, "We do have feelings Alpha, we aren't monsters you know."

"You could have fooled me," I replied, "By the way, my name is Blaze, not Alpha, remember that."

"Why do you resent us so much, Blaze?" Lucas asked, truly wanting to know.

"I think you know Lucas." I said, "It was because you got to roam free. You got to walk around like you owned the place while we were stuck in cages. We were used as your training toys. Your kind has killed so many of mine, I lost count. You've never been held in a cage, wishing to be free, trying to ignore the call for freedom. You always had it. I was born to fly, yet they kept me bound to the earth." A thought came to me. One that would hit a nerve. "I don't lie about who I am, I can't. You have to, you're a coward. You don't want anyone to see what you really are. You're afraid of not being accepted, of being locked up like we were. At least I never hid who I was."

Lucas had turned red with rage. Bones started grinding in his face. His face was stretching out, forming a snout, canines were growing into fangs that lined his mouth. Fur began to spread along his body, covering him. His eyes turned from an ice blue into the bright yellow of a wolf. His nails lengthened into claws and he went down on all fours as his body finished transforming into a wolfs.

"You will pay for that comment Blaze." Lucas replied, Anger in his voice, "Never insult the pride of a wolf. Reilly wants you and the others alive, but I will cause you plenty of pain without breaking my orders."

Lucas leaped at me, claws fully stretched, fangs bared. I reacted quickly and grabbed the paws to stop his leap. His weight slammed me into the ground, pinning me there. He raised his head and was ready to bit down on my shoulder when I kneed him I the stomach. For a split second he wavered. That was all the time I needed. I heaved him off of me and sprang up from the ground, ready to fight if I had to. Two wolves came at me, trying to overwhelm me. I spin-kicked one in the head, letting the force slam him into his partner. That was two down three to go. The other kid was doing well, fending off one of the Erasers all on his own. I saw another sneaking up behind him and shouted a warning. He spun and dealt with the second by slamming the first wolf into him.

"Look out!" He shouted, just as a pain spread through my shoulder. Lucas had sunk his teeth into me. The pain made my world swim…

Chapter 12

I shook myself of the double vision and swung a punch up into Lucas' snout, forcing him to release me. He dropped to the ground and tried to attack me again. I avoided his attack and bought up my foot to kick him in the ribs. My right side was going numb from the loss of blood. I didn't know how much longer I could last without looking at my wounds. My foot connected with his ribs and sent him flying into a nearby tree. The impact had made me lose balance and fall to the ground. Lucas began to charge me. I heard a creaking and groaning coming from around me. Next thing I knew the roots from the trees began to attack Lucas. Stopping him from getting to me. They whipped back and forward, creating an impassable maze. Lucas gave me a glare of pure hatred and let out some short barks. The other Erasers that could still walk picked up the unconscious ones and they retreated back into the forest, leaving us alone. I looked up into the canopy to find Terra floating there an green aura surrounding her. The aura began to fade and the roots began to return back to the earth from which they came. Skye descended from the canopy and approached me.

"Ouch, that has to hurt," She commented, noticing the bite wound on my shoulder, "let me have a look at it." She approached me and began to examine the wound. A slight tickling sensation began to spread from the wound. I twisted my head to see what was going on. Skye's hands had a white aura around them and it was spread over the wound. I watched as the teeth marks began to heal and close up. After about a minute had passed, the bite mark was fully healed and the only trace it had been there were the tears in my shirt and the blood around the tears.

"Thanks," I said, impressed by such a useful ability, "now that is an ability that is not well seen. Your sister can control the element of earth I take it?"

"Yes I can." Terra replied, landed on the ground in front of me softly.

"Who's the new guy?" Skye asked

"I don't know," I replied, "He kid, who are you?"

"I hate being called kid. Thanks for the help though," " He replied, "My name is Falcon."

Chapter 13

Journal Entry 3: Telekinesis, the ability to control things with your mind. Many people would kill to have abilities like that. I wish I didn't. Call me nuts but it's true. My Telekinesis had first appeared with my other ability. The Telepathy was a package deal, it came with the Telekinesis. When it had first shown up I was barely able to control it. I caused havoc around 'Eden', destroying things; the only way to stop it was by exhausting myself. Whenever it started, the whitecoats locked me in a room and let me go wild. I usually trashed the room. But it hasn't shown in three years. I thought my Telekinesis had disappeared because I was afraid to use it or my mind had locked it away. I had feared what I could do with it. I had almost hurt Flame when I lost control. I swore I would never use it again. So why was it showing up now? That was the question I needed answered. Perhaps only time will tell. Skye and Terra had abilities that could both harm and help people. All powers could help or harm people. I had only discovered the harmful side, that's was why I hated my powers. I wish they came with an Instruction manual. Terra's ability I could see both sides of, but Skye's? I wouldn't have a clue. Both girls seem to understand their powers. Skye had been nice, once she began to trust someone. Although I guess it wouldn't be trust. All of us had trust issues; acceptance would be a better word for it.

Falcon was a different case, he was curious about us, who we were, why we were here, yet he told us very little about himself. He had been born in another installation called 'The nest'. Strangely enough, the only experiments they did there were the bird human combinations. Flacon hadn't told me much about the place only that the people were made from different species of birds. That was all he said. I kept an eye on him, watched how he would react to us and the environment. I had learnt to evaluate people not by their words, but by their body language, how they reacted to different situations. Falcon wouldn't speak to me with words, perhaps he would tell me about himself with body language. I know it sounds strange, but I learnt because the white coats would never speak the truth to me. I had to learn… to survive.

Chapter 14

I awoke to the sound of banging on the door. Who could be banging on my door this early in the morning, I thought, I guess they don't know I'm a late riser. I looked at the clock next to my bed; it was only seven in the morning. The banging continued, so I got up and chucked on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I answered the door to find two Erasers standing there. What do they want now? I thought.

"Come with us," The one closest to the door commanded, "Reilly wants to speak to you."

I recoiled from the stench of the guy's breath. Geez, haven't they heard of mouth wash? I stepped outside the door and closed it, locking it so that no-one could snoop around inside, and followed them down the corridor. They seemed to follow the orange stripe that led to the staff dormitories. After about ten minutes, they stopped in front of a door. I looked at the sign and read 'Dr. Jack Reilly'. His first name was Jack? Interesting. I opened the door and stepped inside the room. It was pretty bare with only a desk, chair, bed and computer in the room. I noticed Dr Reilly sitting at the desk, typing something into his computer so I spoke first.

"Excuse me Dr Reilly", I started, "You wanted to see me?"

Reilly looked up from the computer and turned to look at me. I caught a glimpse of camera footage on his computer and realized that it was from the previous day, during the fight with the Erasers. They were filming the cavern as well? I thought, can't they give us any privacy? Reilly noticed me looking and shut off the screen. I looked back at Reilly and saw he had something important to tell me.

"What did you want, Reilly?" I asked.

"Alpha, I mean Blaze," Reilly answered, "I wish to explain something to you. It's about why you are here."

Oh boy! I thought, normally if they use such a grievous tone of voice, they usually have something unpleasant to tell you. And By the way Reilly spoke to me, why I'm here isn't going to be a picnic.

"Cut the crap Reilly." I said, annoyed, "Just spill the beans."

"Since you put it that way, Blaze," Reilly replied, "I told you when you first arrived that you were here to be trained. The training isn't about you behaviour and the countless escape attempts. That would actually come in handy."

"Handy? For what?" I asked, sounding confused.

"Your training will cover things from hand-to-hand combat and martial arts through to guns and demolitions," Reilly explained to me.

"Why would you want to teach us things like that?" Now I was really confused, "Are you trying to train us to be soldiers or something?"

"No Blaze," Reilly explained, "we aren't trying to train you to become a soldier. We're training you to become an assassin."

The shock reached me before the words. We're training you to become an assassin.

Chapter 15

"What!" I just couldn't believe it, "You're training us to become assassins!"

"Look, listen to me before you jump to conclusions…" Reilly began.

"No, I won't listen to you any more," I interrupted, "You already ruined our lives and now you want to make us murderers? I won't do that for you. I'd rather die myself."

"Would you watch the others die before you do?" Reilly retorted, losing his cool.

Damn He had me there.

"No," I said through gritted teeth, "I couldn't, but then again you would know, wouldn't you."

"Calm down Blaze," Reilly soothed, "there are two erasers outside that wouldn't hesitate to kill you if I give the order."

"How can they get the order if I kill you first?" I whispered so quietly, Reilly had to strain to hear it. I went like that when I was serious about things, when my anger turned my heart cold, when I felt no emotion. I had done that once before, when I nearly killed Lucas, that's how he got the scar. Damn I really wished I had killed Lucas now. He had made my life a living nightmare.

"Oh come on Blaze," Reilly said, "don't be like that. At least listen to me."

"I'll give you five minutes," I said, "If you can come up with a reason why, I'll listen."

"Fine. I'll tell you everything you wish to know," Reilly replied.

"Start with why you began this entire operation," I demanded

"Alright," Reilly said, "I'll tell you the entire story. Do not say anything until I'm finished. As you know, the year is 2020. The story I'm about to tell you starts fourteen years before you were born. Have you ever heard of a girl who goes by the name Maximum Ride?"

I did recognize the name; Max was the only experiment to successfully escape with her family, her flock. Max and her flock were also the only experiments to stay free. They had managed to avoid captures. I noticed Reilly was waiting for an answer and nodded my head.

"This story begins with the birth of Maximum Ride..." Reilly said.