Kaysies: here's the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews. I love 'em.

The story will start picking up soon, don't worry. It gets more interesting.

Chapter Six

"Uh...Wolf?"

My eyes snapped open and I sat up, looking around wildly. I was in some sort of cave, and Angel was sitting cross-legged by my side. "How long?" I asked, running a hand through my hair.

"...A couple days." She said, picking at her tattered shoelace. "Iggy said you'd be fine. Everyone else is outside somewhere." She shrugged, standing up. I tried to do the same, sitting back down as the world spun before me. A couple days? What happened to me? Then it all came back in a flood of memories.

That was too close...What if I had hurt one of the Flock?

"You wouldn't have." Angel said, her voice breaking through my thoughts. I turned to her, feeling horror rise up within me. Did she know? "You're not evil. It's not your fault that you were taken to the school."

I nearly laughed with relief. She still didn't know. "Thanks, Angel." She smiled and nodded.

"You're welcome."

I let out a deep breath, shaking out my wings. "Ouch." Flapping experimentally, I worked out the kinks and cramps. There was a weird empty feeling at the pit of my stomach, and I recognized it. When I was stuck in the cage with barely enough room to even extend my wings halfway, it was like a constant stomach-ache. Ever since they had given me wings, I had needed to fly. To feel happy. To feel whole.

I walked to the edge of the cave and looked down. There was a steep drop that led to a river, way down. Perfect. Turning around, I faced Angel, feeling sort of stupid. She cocked her head, listening to my thoughts.

I know what I'm doing. I directed at her, watching as she nodded again and relaxed. Actually, the last time I had done this, I was trying to kill myself. Once and for all and all of that stuff...

"What?!"

Crap...she must have heard that. I waved and fell. Backwards off the face of a cliff. I leaned back, turning until I was hurtling down headfirst. I spun, corkscrewing downwards without even opening my wings.

Yes, I know I have thrill-issues.

I picked up speed until my vision started to do that weird zeroing-in thing. All I could see was the bright blue water below. Now was the important part. If I snapped my wings out too early, I'd stop dead. That would hurt...a lot. If I opened them too late...well, I didn't want to think about that. Merely a couple feet above the river, I unfurled my black wings and in a fluid movement tilted until I was gliding directly over the water.

I let out a laugh and flapped once. I shot forward, already doing near 200. Seeing the other wall of the valley loom before me, I arched my back, going straight up the rock face. I could see blue sky above me, and headed up. It was one of those things that almost made me thankful for the two giant appendages stuck to my shoulder blades. Almost

Slowing down near the top, I landed, out of breath. I folded my wings halfway, letting them hang loose by my sides. In the distance, I could make out several specks that were too large to be birds and too small to be planes or gliders. The Flock.

Looking around, I could also see Angel flying towards me, her wings seeming to catch the sunlight and hold it. Watching her fly towards the grassy spot I was standing on, I heard wing beats behind me. From the way they sounded, Max was in front. Iggy and Fang were somewhere in the rear.

Wait a minute...how could I have heard that? I turned around. Sure enough, I was right! They landed, and I frowned, was this something wolves could do? If so, it chose a weird time to kick in...

"So, Sleeping Beauty decided to wake up?" Max asked, grinning.

"...Sleeping Beauty?" I asked, confused. What the heck was a Sleeping Beauty? Angel giggled from behind me.

"He doesn't know who Sleeping Beauty is!" she said, sounding incredulous.

Iggy brushed past Fang, an exasperated look on his face. "It's a character from a Disney movie...You do know what Disney is, right?"

I thought back. "I think I may have been there...Disneyland?"

"Tokyo, Paris, California, or Florida?"

I racked through my memory. "Sorry...not sure. Florida, I think."

Max shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, I think we should get-"

Nudge interrupted, "Food?"

Gazzy rolled his eyes as Max did the same.

"Food and new clothes." She finished.

"Yay!" Angel and Nudge said together. Max eyed my tattered shirt and pants. I had long since shredded the sleeves of the black shirt, and my pants looked as though the washing machine had gotten a little hungry. Not that I had ever used a washing machine or anything...

"Nudge and Angel, you're with me. Gazzy and Iggy; don't buy anything explosive. Fang, please grab Wolf something that isn't black." Max ordered. We were at a mall. In the middle of nowhere. I was beginning to think that I'd never make it out of 'nowhere'.

Fang shot me a look. I was almost as tall as him, maybe taller if I stretched my imagination, but at least two years younger. It must have been a weird experience. Max sighed. "The guys' stores are over there." She said, pointing.

"I don't think either of you will find anything in the children's section, so you'll have to skip Gap. Meet back here in ten."

Fang and I both made a weird face at the same time. Max ignored it and turned to Iggy, saying something we couldn't hear.

"C'mon." Fang grunted, turning towards the store that Max had pointed to. I followed, not even glancing at anything that wasn't black, gray, or dark blue. It was weird, but it was like a habit. What was even weirder was that I knew about what was going around me. I'd never been in a mall before, but it all felt familiar.

What the heck?

Fang stopped in front of a shirt that looked exactly like the one he was wearing. I shook my head and kept walking. A shirt above my head caught my eye. It was dark gray, so close to black that it was hard to tell.

The creepy thing was the picture on it. There was an eagle, proud and steady, gliding above a stream. Beneath it, a sleek silver wolf, baring its fangs in pure pleasure as it leaped over the rushing water.

I knew that feeling. That was how I felt when I dived from so high up in the air that I could barely see the ground. I had to have this shirt. Grabbing it easily from the rack, I continued forward, grabbing things that looked like they might fit.

By accident, I hit a shirt rack. I would've been fine with just putting it back, but then I heard a laugh behind me. Dropping the rack, I whipped around, ready to bolt out of there.

Oh. It was just a girl. In a guys' store. Okay, then. She had long red hair and green eyes. I was just about to consider calming down when she said something like:

"OHMIGOD!" Except, she kind of shrieked it, and I backed up. "Nick! I thought you moved!!"

Who the heck was Nick? Suddenly, I heard someone step towards me from behind. By the way his foot fell, I could tell it was Fang. There we go with the freaky hearing thing again.

"She thinks you're me." He whispered. I could hear the grin in his voice.

"Nick? Wait...that's a bad thing, isn't it...?" I said, stepping to the side so that she could see him. She blinked.

"Uh...are you guys, like...twins?"

"Yes."

Sure, I'll run with that...

"He's Nick."

"What?!" I glared at him, gaping. Well, two can play at that game. "No, he is!" Confused, the girl stepped closer, and I stepped back.

"Ha!" she said triumphantly, pointing to Fang. "You are Nick!"

"No. I'm not." He protested again while I ran for the counter. I paid for the jacket, shirt and jeans and ran with my purchases in hand. I fast-walked out of the store, not stopping to wonder what Fang was going to do about the girl.

I banged right into Nudge, who happened to be leaving some store with tons of jewelry on display.

"Ouch!" Something had stabbed me. Oh. It was just an earring. "Sorry!" I said, standing and holding out my hand. She grabbed it and pulled herself up, picking up her bag and continuing to walk.

"You should be." She said. I stopped and looked at her, then relaxed when I realized she was grinning.

"I am."

It was a nice moment until we saw Max running towards us, nearly dragging Angel along. "Erasers!" she yelled frantically, running towards the exit.

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-Dreamer