A/N: Long time no write! Well hopefully that will change. Well R and R peoples!

Disclaimer: yawn you know what I'm going to say so I won't bother.

CHAPTER 4: Meeting the Flock

Sam's POV

Oh man what a headache! I opened my eyes slowly and was gratefully awarded with darkness. I could see best in the dark. I lifted my head and sniffed. I could smell...popcorn? I turned my head to the smell and my back fur raised. I leapt up and bared my teeth. There were kids. Not threatening looking but I wasn't taking any chances. Six of them. Six against one. I could take them. The oldest girl stood up and slowly walked towards me. I gave her a warning growl.

"Easy girl. You're alright. Easy." She spoke in a soothing tone but it was a little shaky with fright.

"We won't hurt you." Said the youngest girl. Something was strange about her. Then I felt something in my mind. Ah! Mind reader! I threw up mental walls to keep her out of my mind.

"Angel? You get anything?" The older one asked the younger.

"Well. She isn't fully animal because she blocked me. Could she be part human?" Angel, the young one, answered.

"I don't think we should trust her." An older boy warned.

"Can she talk? I'm tired of being the only animal here that talks." I located the sound and was surprised to see that it came from a dog.

"Here let me. Maybe I can calm her down." Said another boy. He never looked at anything specific so I figured he was blind. He walked over with a plate that had popcorn on it. I hadn't had anything to eat for hours.

"It's ok. We don't want to hurt you." Said the blind boy. He was my age. And tall, really tall. He set the plate down in front of me then backed away a step. I slowly let my fur lay flat and licked up some of the popcorn. The blind one came forward again and slowly reached his hand out to me.

"Iggy be careful." The oldest warned. Iggy nodded to show he heard but kept reaching forward. I stopped munching and sniffed his hand. I can tell a lot about a person by their smell. He definitely was blind. He was a good cook by the smell of food all over his hand. There was a smell of powder. Hm. And the smell of bird. What was that about. I took another sniff and my defenses went up. He makes bombs! I growled and backed away from him. Startled he took a step back.

"Iggy she smells the bomb powder on your hands." The youngest said and I realized with a start that she was reading my mind. I threw up the walls again and didn't let her get through my defenses.

"Well I didn't think that she would have that good of smell. She was have been genetically enhanced or something." Said a younger boy.

"Maybe she is just frightened and needs someplace to stay. Maybe if we tell her about ourselves she will calm down. If she can talk she can tell us about herself and...mmph" Said a middle aged girl until the older silent one clamped a hand on her mouth.

That won't be necessary I guess. I just need to know if I can trust you. I said slowly. Confused everyone looked for the place where the sound came from.

I can talk I just can't talk like you guys can. I explained. They looked at me with astonishment. The dog looked happy. Weird.

"Well we were kidnaped a long time ago and experimented on. We were given wings and different powers. Well some of us got powers." The oldest said. She nodded to the others and they all threw out their wings. Except for the dog who looked at their wings a little enviously.

Well I was kidnaped when I was four, ten years ago, and was turned into part leopard. I also have wings. I said flinging out my wings to show them.

"Can I feel? I can't see them." Iggy asked a little embarrassed. I walked up to him and put my head under his outstretched hand. His hand went down my neck and to my back. With butterfly fingers he felt my wings. His touch was wonderful. It was so welcoming unlike the whitecoats'. To my embarrassment I purred. The little ones laughed while Iggy and the oldest just smiled.

"Oh I guess I better introduce you to everyone. I'm Max. This is Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman, and Angel. Oh and Total." Max said pointing to everyone it turn.

Nice to meet you. I'm Sam. I said once Iggy stopped petting me. All of a sudden my hackles raised. I bared my teeth and my claws came out. I ran to the edge of the cave we were in and saw what I had dreaded. Silencers. Climbing up the side of the cliff. Max came to my side.

"What are those things? Erasers?" she asked.

No. They are called Silencers. They are part tiger part human. They can morph into a full tiger or full human. But they are all around bad. I replied.

"We have to leave now flock. Grab the stuff and put out the fire. Lets move!" Max commanded. Everyone rushed around. They grabbed what little stuff they had and went to the edge of the cave. Angel went first, then Gazzy, then Nudge, then Fang, who was holding Total. Iggy jumped out and I followed. I waited till Max had flapped up to us before I went to catch up with the others. Suddenly a Silencer jumped at my legs. He hit his target. I scratched at him but we were falling slowly. Iggy and Max came to my aide while Fang ushered the little ones farther away. The silencer pulled my wings down and we fell faster. We plummeted into the lake at top speed. Let me tell you. It hurt really bad. I was greeted by more Silencers who stuffed me into a bag. And this all happened under water too! I was captured once again.