He was sitting legs up to his chest, arms wrapped around them trying to keep warm. His head was resting on his knees as he shivered and tried to think of a way out of his hell hole he was forced to call home. He had never had a real home such as the one's you or I have. No his home was in that oh a Science Laboratory located in Death Valley California, living in a large sized dog crate which was too small for the taller then average boy.

But the location of his 'home' wasn't the only thing that made him different from other boys. No that was only the beginning. The other thing that set him apart was he was only 98 human. The other 2 was avian DNA that scientist grafted into him before he was born. He had black wings, with a silver tint flowing down the sides of each feather. The wings were pulled in tight to his back, so to give him more room in the already to small dog crate. They ached to unfurl, catch the summer wind and take this poor boy far from this place, from the endless days of suffering tests. He shuddered at the mere thought of the tests, holding in tears knowing that it would happen all over again the next day.

Scientists would pump his body full of chemicals just to see the reaction. He would get forced to though impossible mazes which would contain Erasers (Lupine hybrids), hot wires under his feet, endless dead ends, and when he finally would complete the maze, they would give him a small sip of water and make him run through more just to test how well he handled stress. To test his strength and how much pain he could endure, he would get locked into a room with a new Eraser and be the prey while the Eraser learned to hunt. Other hybrids that he got close to would get harmed or even killed so the sick scientists could see what emotional stress did for him fighting. Night after night he would get tossed back into his crate so worn out all he wanted to do was sleep, but couldn't due to all the pain he was in. He couldn't take it anymore. He longed to be free.

A door opening let in a small ray of light causing the boy to jerk up as a dark silhouette walking towards him. He boy pushed himself against the back wall of his crate, shaking violently in fear of what was to come. The footsteps from the scientist stopped in front of his crate. The boy kept trying to push himself farther and farther back in the crate in attempt to keep his distance from this horrible man that would hurt him in some way. The man bent down, becoming eye level with the terrified mutant.

"Shh, I'm not going to hurt you" The voice sounded so sincere that the boy wanted to believe he was right.

But years of getting abused and tortured completely shattered his chanced of ever trusting anyone. He watched as the man reached for the latch of his crate.

"I promise I won't hurt you" The man said again. "I'm going to get you out of this place. I just need you to co operate" The boy looked up at the man and nodded.

There was something about him that set him aside from other scientists. Though he had never seen him before, he looked oddly familiar. The boy's light blue eyes widened as he remembered who this man was. This was the scientist who had kidnapped a group of kids from this school two years ago. His name was Jeb Batchelder. The boy inched closer to the opening of the crate knowing he could trust him.

"Good I need you to be very quiet. We don't want to wake anyone and risk getting caught." Once again the boy nodded.

Inside he was shaking with excitement. He was actually getting out of here. Jeb opened the crate and stood aside as the boy climbed out onto the cold damp cement floor. He watched as Jeb used the same method he had used on him and released four more mutants from their too small crates.

Jeb pressed a finger to his lips, motioning for the group to remain very quiet. He then began to walk down the hall; five mutant children following close behind. He led them down one hall then another, through a set of metal doors and down four flights of stairs into a garage like room. He opened the door to a black SUV.

"Hop in children, I'll take you far from this place" They nodded and cautiously started to get in one by one.

A little girl with emerald green eyes and medium brown hair stopped before getting in the vehicle with the other children. She looked hesitant about getting into the confined space. She turned and looked up at Jeb, her green eyes filled with fear

"Why are you helping us?" she asked, her quiet voice barely a whisper. Jeb smiled

"No one deserves to live like this" The girl smiled her first real smile of her life.

Once the girl got in he closed to door and walked over to the driver side. He put the key in the ignition, starting the car and pressed the gas pedal. The van began to move as Jeb took the children to the destination of where he would release them.

Four hours later the vehicle stopped. "this is as far as I can take you"

The children cautiously got out of the SUV, unsure of what to think about the green forest surrounding them. Jeb walked over carrying five backpacks.

"Inside are a few cloths, enough food to last a few days, and other essentials you will need" he explained handing each child a bag.

As he handed the oldest boy his back he spoke one again, this time so only he could hear. "You must stay hidden and take care of the flock, especially her" he whispered glancing at the oldest girl with Black hair. The boy cocked his head as if asking why. "You will find out soon enough." With that Jeb got back into the SUV and drove in the direction he came.

The boy turned to his new flock and looked at the sky. He unfurled his dark wings, ran a short distance and jumped into the sky wings pushing up and down as he gained altitude. The rest of the flocked followed their new leader as he flew off into the sunrise looking for a location they could call home.