More reviews would be much appreciated. Sigh. That's okay though, I write so people have something (hopefully) good to read, not so my head can get bigger.

Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter Three

I looked up in time to see someone let loose a powerful roundhouse kick straight at Ari's chin. I nearly laughed, but ended up coughing. My shoulder burned, and without my willpower holding them in, my dark wings exploded out of my back in a rush of feathers.

When I had recovered enough to straighten up, I saw a flash of blonde hair. A girl around my age was kicking Ari's butt! I joined the fight, throwing myself in and taking down as many as I could. I was in and out in a flash. They didn't even have time to react to my kicks and punches. After all, I had trained with the best.

I could tell Blondie wasn't alone. I could feel a guy next to me somewhere, one in front, and another behind me. There were two other girls, too.

Suddenly, I saw Blondie held by the wrists, flailing against Ari's hold. Silently, I spun, watching him drop as my foot connected with his temple. She looked up, rubbed her wrists and nodded. She flashed me a quick smile, "Thanks, Fang."

I frowned. "What the heck?" She looked me in the eye, and then gasped. It took her a moment to regain movement, but she was looking at me weird. I think it may have been the big black wings.

When the last of the Erasers dove into the jeep, I turned back to the other people. "Thanks." Then I saw her glance from my eyes to my hair to my wings, and then finally, she looked at a guy standing next to her.

I blinked. It was like looking into a mirror. The other kid blinked too. I narrowed my eyes, and so did he.

"Who are you?" Blondie asked, still kind of astonished. To tell you the truth, I think it was worse for me. It feels odd to meet someone who could have been your identical twin. I glanced over at him again, just as he did the same. His eyes were...brown. Mine were a dark blue. I still didn't answer the question. I wasn't sure if I could trust them.

The little girl spoke up. She had bright blue eyes and curly hair. "His name is Wolf, Max. He doesn't know who we are and doesn't know if we can be trusted." She stopped, frowning. "There's something else...Gimme a second..."

She was reading my mind! I quickly blocked everything, putting up as solid a wall as I could. Blondie, whose name was apparently Max, laughed. "Don't worry. We're not going to hurt you." She told me.

I grinned wryly, "Yeah, well, that's what they said, too." I said, gesturing at the jeep that was speeding away. She laughed again.

"Anyway, you don't need to hide the wings. You're not the only one who escaped from that place." Saying this, she showed me her own wings, and the others followed suit. They were all different colors. The one who looked like me had the same wing color; dark as feathers can get, but mine were longer and designed for speed, rather than grace.

I think I was almost as tall as him too. At least I got some satisfaction out of that. The little girl, I had seen before. I wasn't sure when, but when I remembered the mind-reading I realized she was the one. The only experiment who could actually tap into other people's thoughts.

Her name was...Angel. It suited her, too. Her wings were the purest of whites and her curly blonde hair and blue eyes were striking. She fit the adorable little girl category nicely.

Adorable? Since when did that word appear in my vocabulary?

"How did you get out?"

I looked at Max, then back at Fang. They didn't trust me, I could tell. "They didn't think I would fly." I said, wondering if that was the truth.

Fang broke in suddenly, "Why do you look like me?"

I shrugged. "How am I supposed to know? Maybe we're cousins." Yeah, right. And Justin Timberlake was my uncle twice removed. "Where are you guys going?" They didn't look aimless, like me. Well, I had a goal: Get away from Erasers. Does that count?

The two shared a look before Max answered. "South," she said vaguely. A little too vaguely.

I saw the little blonde one – Angel, I reminded myself – bounding up. "Can we keep him, Max? Please?"

I blinked. What was I? A stray? Max threw me an apologetic look before shaking her head. Angel would not take no for an answer, and even as Fang took off; the six year old continued to pester Max. "Why not? He has nowhere to go, anyway!"

I winced. Well, it was true.

"Why is your name Wolf?" It was Nudge. She hadn't stopped questioning me since we had taken off. Max said I could come...wherever they were going. I wasn't sure that I liked being a tag-along, but it certainly wasn't horrible to be able to talk to someone other than a stupid dog-boy.

"Why's your name Nudge?" We'd been at it for a while, and my shoulder was killing me again. I probably should have stayed at the hospital long enough to grab some painkillers. Oh well.

My wings beat on their own, in rhythm with the chatterbox flying beside me. It was weird; I didn't have to think about it, it just happened. I could stop them, but I didn't need to remind myself to adjust the tips of my feathers to catch the wind and turn slightly. Let me tell you, it was cool.

Scratch that. It was cold. I was freezing. If you thought it was cold on the ground in the morning, try going a couple miles; straight up. It looked beautiful, but it was nature's own torture. I shivered, refusing to hug myself. It may have been stupid, but there was no way I'd do that.

Suddenly, I saw something drop out of the corner of my eye. Turning around, I saw a flash of white going straight down. Angel? "Uh...Nudge?" I called, pointing.

Nudge's eyes widened and she shrieked "MAX!" at the top of her lungs. She turned – too slowly, I thought – and dove after her. But Angel was already a good distance down, and still picking up speed.

She sped up, going so fast she was a tan and white blur. Whoa. I thought I was the only one that could go that fast! At last, she caught up, scooping Angel into her arms and shooting back up to join the rest of her flock.

Nudge started laughing. Apparently Angel was asleep.

Do I even have to ask?

-Dreamer