Hey! I am sooooooo sorry! I have dropped off the face of the earth-I am afraid to see how many weeks its been! If you saw my little rant of chapter 7 (a.k.a To who this may concern) and I got 10 reviews and one private message all saying "OMG YOU CANNOT STOP I LOVE IT!" I actually got some helpful advice. Thank you all so much! And now...

Enjoy my literary genius!

"Who are you?" I asked the girl, who, frightened, stared at me with uncomprehending eyes. "What is your name?" She stayed put, eyes widening, and I noticed that she was shivering. "What happened…with your win-" I said, as I reached out to touch her dappled wings.

"No!"she shrieked. "Leave me be! You'll not do another test-not one more!" she jumped away from me, her face livid, and folded her wings. She began to run back the way from where I came, and stretched out her wings, and tried to fly. I began to sprint after her. She fell back on the ground, landing on her feet running, and tried again. This time she succeeded, getting up to about 35 feet high. I started to run, getting ready to take off. I launched and followed her.

Her flying was even more rough than I saw before, and I easily caught up to her. I lowered myself and tried to catch her. We were growing closer to the cave I was at earlier and I wrapped my arms around her. She began to shriek wildly, moving around violently…

…And passed out in my arms. I gripped her tightly, in order not to drop her, and made a sloppy landing. She was extremely pale and lifeless, and I lightly slapped my fingers on her cheeks-and they were icy. How could she have gone from fighting and screaming to a sudden death-like unconscious state?

I took off my coat and wrapped it around her. Maybe when she woke up, she wouldn't try to kill me. She was still pale and I grabbed a bottle of water and dripped some of its contents onto her face, trying to wake her. I'm afraid she won't wake up.

3 A.M. the following morning…

I sat in the cave, my eyes drooping heavily, my eyelashes brushing my cheeks. I fought drowsiness, but it was winning. Terribly. The fire was so warm and only a small nap would never hurt…

Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle

My eyes flew open, and I saw that experiment girl sit up, weakly, and began to cough. She was covered in that stupid aforementioned red dust flying everywhere. I tensed as she stretched, winced as her bones popped, and I gasped when she turned to look at me.

Her eyes were swollen, her lips also, red, and she was still pale, but not as pale as before. She looked at me with mournful eyes, almost like a small kitten, helplessly mewing. This time she spoke first, in a cracked, hoarse voice, "Ar-re you-u a-an eexxperim-ment too…?"

"Yes," I replied, discreetly loosening my wings until they were stretched out in full view, a black void of feather. She stared mesmerized at my wings. Her eyes looked fathomless, deep pools of deep brown, her hair a golden-brown, scattered around her. She broke away her gaze and looked at her hands, which were folded in her lap.

"What is your name?" she asked, surprising me. I didn't think that she'd speak again for a while.

"Fang," I replied. "And you?"

"Kate,"'

"I'm assuming that you escaped from the School." I said, trying to pull her from her distraught, silent thought.

She looked up, her eyes frightened and tormented. "Do you mean the aw-wful place that's white with all of those tests?" She bit her lip, looking at me, studying me.

"Yes. Most of the other experiments call it the School; it's a gruesome place that tortures kids for 'the furthering of science.'" I say, bitterly, and see her large brown eyes fill with tears. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" I said, reaching out to touch her face, stroke her hair, run her back, rub my hands across her wings…What?

She looked shocked, her eyes widened, but seemed to recover, and her tears streaked down her tan cheeks. I couldn't fight the want, I touched the face, and she snuggled it into my palm, reaching out, clutching my arm, sobs racking her thin body. I pulled her closer, not thinking, and squeezed her into an even tighter hug.

"They did so many…things…" she moaned, her tears dampening my t-shirt. She clawed at my back, running her lithe fingers through my black feathers. Her tears eventually subsided and she shivered slightly. I realized that it was extremely chilly for 4 A.M.

CRACK!

I felt her jump a little. "Fang? Will you not leave me? I don't want to be alone. I've never met someone like me. I was always isolated, always alone. Could you hold me like this just now? Even in the worst of the storm?" She looked at me with expectant eyes. The feeling in the pit of my stomach was not so surprising as it was before, a little more natural, not so…forced?

So I said, in what I hoped was a soothing voice: "Not for now, no, not now." And sighing, she wrestled closer to me, if it were ever possible.

"I feel safe with you, Fang." She murmured, her words muffled in my chest. She fell into a peaceful sleep. I soon followed suit.

As I began to drift off, I could only think of one thing…that I was hopelessly caught up like Romeo…but I can only hope that it won't end up involving poison or a rusty dagger.

Insert Romeo and Juliet rant! I heart it so much. The play is a little bit better than the movie. Thought there is a nearly nude scene where you see Romeo's butt (which is not as nice-looking as you might imagine) and a little boobage from Juliet. But they're married at that point...

Please Review it you love cheese, Band, and/or the miracle of toilet paper. (Which you have to love. Its either that or leaves...POISON OAK!)