Assassination of Memories
Chapter V – Savours Of A Killer
As per usual I don't own Maximum Ride or the Pretender characters and for that matter the nano-technology idea

Warning: This chapter is insanely long; make sure you have some time on your hands so you don't have to come back to it later!

Remember Twihards, this had nothing to do with Twilight

Present POV
Past POV

Thanks for all of you who read, review and favour this story, I love and will try to fit in your suggestions and ideas if you've got any

***Flashback Continues***

Shadows' POV

I stretched, cramped from the hard bark I was sleeping on. On a thick branch in a large Douglas fir facing away from the trunk Tranq slept, his arms and legs dangling from the branch his mouth ajar. The night before we slept in the cave, we had to get moving and trekked throughout the forest for the second day, stopping only to rest and slept in trees last night considering we weren't able to find a cave or something else. The bags and rifle was handing from the branch above me, my stomach growled at the realization that we had no food having eaten it yesterday. Jumping down from the tree I walked to the slow running river not too far from where Tranq was sleeping, I stripped my clothes off and dove into the water. It was... colder than the showers at the Organization freezing me to my core, my teeth rattled together while I waded around in the greeny blue water. The water felt nice after a while, coming just over my collar bone cleaning of blood and grim from the past two days. The 'war wounds' from my fight with the mountain wolf stung slightly, most of the scratches were gone except the claw marks on my ankle and the bite on my upper left arm that was healing dark pink. Other than those developing scars there was more, one on my right shoulder at the back that looked more or less like a bullet wound that long ago happened that I didn't remember. There were claw shaped scars on my hips, thighs and back, not to mention the stick thick one that was at the base of my neck where it connected to my shoulder that shirts hid.

Taking a deep breath I went under, opening my eyes to see the fish that bravely swam close to me. I could feel them move the water a couple feet away from me, under the water my sense of smell died, my hearing enhanced. I could hear their tail fins swishing the water as they swam; a kind of almost muffled gritting noise followed the sand being turned up when they glided near the mixed rock/sand riverbed. Pushing off the riverbed I quickly shot towards the fishes lashing out with a stick I picked up. The school of fish darted off in different directions then grouping back together further away. I blew out in irritation a small amount of bubbles streamed to the surface. Squinting at the fuzzy shapes of the fish and grasping the stick in my hand I slowly moved towards the school determined to spear a fish. Moving at turtle's pace I raised my arm out of the water, aiming the stick towards the fish. As I neared they got restless, confused with their own instincts.

My foot came down harder than expected stirring up dirt. I froze, the fish flinched stopping their movement for a second before relaxing in the same instant I struck. The school scattered once again the one on the stick gave a last attempt to free himself. I broke the surface holding the fish above the water presenting my catch with a smirk on my face. The large blue fish flopped limp, the smell making me disgusted and hungry at the same time. I opened my mouth to bite down on it, stopped then rapidly picked up a rock from the riverbed spinning around. Tranq just passed the tree, the rock colliding with his head a millisecond after he passed the only thing that shielded his eyes from me.

He cried out hitting the ground with a heavy thump, I swiftly ducked into the water so my nose was just above it narrowing my eyes at him. He apologized his back turned to me awaiting another rock to be hurled at his head. "What is so wrong—" I saw Tranq eyed my clothes that I had thrown into a pile on a large boulder his face flaming red. Eight apologies poured out of his mouth embarrassment radiating off of him. "I didn't know, I'm so sor—" I threw another rock at his head to stop him from saying the word. Tranq bit his lip looking not at me but at the tree he passed. "What are you doing exactly?" he asked. How stupidwas this kid?! I glowered at Tranq not in the mood to tell him. "If you're having a bath" -finally!- "then why don't we go to a hotel to stay at?" I kept glaring daggers at Tranq though on the inside I was asking, 'what the hell is a hotel?!' I've heard the word several times before though I had no idea what it was or what it meant. I turned slightly settling farther down in the water so it was just at the bridge of my nose, the boy to my left me sighed.

"Never mind." Tranq left a rustle of fabric making me turn towards his direction. No one was there; Tranq's footsteps retreated back to the 'camp' though hanging on a branch near my clothes was a towel that wasn't there before.

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"We need to find an actual place to sleep at, not a tree or cave." Tranq repeated for the fifteenth time. For the fifteenth time I rolled my eyes not really understanding where he had in mind. Houses belonged to other people, so where did people with no homes go, or did you get a house from somewhere? Father didn't really teach me much, except how to shoot and about different animals, cars, bombs, guns and how to drive. I learned about most of the outside world from things at my target's location and CL's book or even some of the Copies, any fighting I learned was courtesy of my teacher that I hated to the core. The last time I saw him was two months ago, I had forgotten what he looked like however sometimes I would get wrenching anger in my gut when I saw some Copies, whether or not any one of them was my teacher I don't know.

"Okay one question, what are we going to do? We can't just keep running around from the Erasers, we have to have a point of... being alive. It doesn't make sense that we're here for no purpose. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Tranq inquired looking up at me. I shook my head.

"Wonderful." He muttered under his breath.

I stopped for a second just to check around for Copies when I smelt something. I turned my head towards the left flaring my nostrils to check that I was right. Tranq came to a halt staring at me in curiosity then looked where I gazed. I lowered my head taking a stiff; there it was again, that familiar and somewhat comfortable smell. Silently I followed it, slowly and cautiously till it was heavy in the area. Tranq, staying quiet beside me jaw-dropped at the huge cat in front of us, his eyes widening. Puma, or mountain lion depending on what you want to call it, adult female, she was a beautiful animal with claws made for attacks and great back legs to pounce on her pray and to jump greater heights. She knew we were there, turning her head towards us and looking straight at me. I looked calmly back judging that she was trying to figure if we were a threat or not by her ridged form. I'd never seen such a beautiful animal in my life. I slowly crept forward with Tranq eyeballing me as if I was insane. The mountain lion relaxed a little, her keen eyes trained on my every motion; I crouched three feet away sitting back like I was a cat sitting on its haunches. We stared at each other intently until she let her guard down walking away gracefully a 'follow' vibe coming off her.

I stood trailed behind a ways to give her room; unlike humans she didn't glance back to make sure I was following her. I too didn't have to look back to know Tranq was tagging along behind hesitantly as we started up a more rock terrain. Effortlessly the puma trotted uphill, with a little more thought I came after, Tranq having to speed up to stay with us. Soon the rocks became larger the mountain lion pushed off with her back legs to drive herself farther when larger obstacles presented themselves. I jumped from rock to rock, doing it as if I was skiing the mountain lion would slow down to make it easier for me while Tranq flew in behind. We got the top of the climb with more forest however the difference was much greater. Humans had never stepped foot here, I could smell it; instead different smells I didn't recognize scattered the area. The puma jumped to a high ledge now leaving us on our own.

"Well it's not every day something like that happens." Tranq said landing beside me. "Okay so what's up here?" I could smell a lake maybe a mile away surrounded by... was that brimstone? The ledge above smelt of more rocky caves, not like the bat cave we slept in two days ago but actual tunnels, the surrounding forest inhabited mostly by wolves, deer, scaly smelling creatures and a sickening sweet scent that made my insides coil with hatred as well as another smell I couldn't describe. "A lake, no humans and caves." I said unemotionally point blank. "Is it just me or is that the first time you've really answered a question?" in response I slapped Tranq up-side the head. But he was still smiling, "Now we're getting somewhere with you, alright so let's find some place to sleep!" I thought he didn't want trees or bat caves, I rolled my eyes. "Whaaaat?" Tranq said as I walked away. I smirked shaking my head. I immediately changed directions as the sickening scent got intense, heading towards the wolves so we could go around the creatures that smelled too sweet to get to the lake. "Okay since you answered that one you should be able to answer any other questions I have. I am talking English here." Tranq grinned. "Hey I smell something, well weird."

I smelt it too, ten times better than him and it was coming straight for us. I tackled Tranq down knocking the breath out of him, the nauseating smelling creature bypassed over where Tranq's head had been. Dirt kicked up as it skidded to a halt, the bright yellow-green eyes narrowing at me. I doubted it was an avian-human, all that I knew was I hated it to my gut. Defiantly male, beautiful, looked around thirty with perfect straw coloured jaw length hair and ghost white skin; he bared his teeth with a growl revealing some large canines. For the second time Tranq's jaw dropped, his eyes widening in fear and awe. Whatever this creature was was making me sick with hatred. What happened next took less than three seconds.

I launched forward changing form, my body becoming longer and more agile, black fur covered my body replacing my clothes and anything else I was wearing except for a blood red dog tag that hung from my neck. The creature smelled even worse this way; I bared my own teeth biting down on his side. However my teeth didn't sink far, it felt like very hard caramel not like the bodies of Copies and humans; his smell overwhelmed my nose 'blinding' it. An irritated snarl erupted from his mouth and he darted towards my vulnerable neck.

With a yowl I somehow batted the beast away, collapsing to the ground where my body arched at an unnatural angle. My neck burned, the pain gradually increased to an unbearable amount; my form became smaller yet still furry. Pain blurred my vision becoming black around the edges, my brain feeling like it was going to explode inside my skull. A pair of arms gathered me up, ice blocks against the fire. All I knew was I was being carried away by someone, a distant voice speaking gibberish before I faded from reality.

Tranq's POV

My body screamed at me to stop running, to rest for a while to get energy before using up my back up supply. I couldn't listen, I had to help Shadows. Her cat body trembled violently in my arms her violet eyes rolled in the back of her head. I was scared beyond belief, all I could do was hope that hitting the large tree down on top of the guy and pinning his arms would give me enough time to get out of here. Right now, as I panicked, flying was impossible, I couldn't even lift off the ground. My mind spun with images of a dead Shadows that I tried hopelessly to repress. When I first saw the guy I was mentally correcting Shadows that there were indeed people here. Though the assassin had still technically been right; there were no humans, because this guy was clearly not human. And I knew what he was, making the images even more horrific. When I had become a Bhairavi I just knew things and what I was, I had a feeling I knew what Shadows was when I met her, I knew what this thing chasing us was. Three words echoed in my head.

We. Needed. Help.

Pain exploded in my back as I was hurdled through the air, Shadows' flying out of my arms. I hit the ground in a painful skid while Shadows' small cat frame crumpled at the base of an oak. The guy was a blur speeding right to Shadows the horrible images in my mind becoming more vivid.

It was a miracle that something ran right into the guy knocking him down for a six feet slide. Another guy almost twenty stood to his full height, dark skinned and dark eyed with dark hair brown that went half way down his neck. He was quite muscular wearing only an old pair of ripped faded blue jeans that had become ragged and blood stained. He shot forward ploughing into the other man with great force driving the canine toothed beast into a tree. The wood snapped viciously at the large dent created in the tree, an inhumanly shriek filled my ears. You have got to be kidding me I thought levering myself onto all fours, Just like in the movies!? I would think there would be more extreme lengths to go to.

The darker guy jumped back from the creature's strike, his dark eyes locking on mine. He saw the sheath; he glanced ever so slightly up a tree then jumped out of the way of the creature's destructive path that tore down three trees on the way. I looked up where the dark guy had gazed at, seeing quite a long sturdy branch with a blunt point. He has got to be kidding. I scampered up the tree, looping my legs around the branch when I got up. I took the machete in both hands carefully gripping the flat side then started carving a point on the branch with the overly large knife. I was just on the second stroke when mean and...handsome (which does not work to the least bit) came back giving a swift kick to the dark guy's shoulder. I heard a CRACK,a howl of pain, looking up in time to see the dark guy fall to the ground with a repulsive looking large dark black spot where Mr. Beauty hit. I went as fast as I could sharpening the branch and jumped off catching Mr. Savour's attention. Somehow the man got up in a flash and heaved Mr. Beauty into the air straight for the stick. There was a muffled spurk making my stomach churn, I quickly turned away the noise was all I could handle. For a few seconds there was silence until the nails on chalk board shrill filled the air. Wincing I put my hands on my ears to no avail; Mr. Savour cringed at the sound. The dreadful noise faded away my ears were just ringing from it; 'ow' would have been an underestimate. Moments passed like years, the dark guy looking behind me where the dead man now hung making my stomach do another violent flip.

The stranger turned putting two fingers in his mouth giving a whistle, another person appeared, quickly picked up Shadows' and left. I stepped forward to stop what was happening instead flinched back when the dark stranger turned an intense gaze to me. "But—" I started just to have him put a hand up. "Do not worry about your friend. She will be alright." He said calmly with a sympathetic smile. How did he know... Okay know what, nothing surprises me anymore! I just stood in silence staring at this stranger hoping to God that I could trust him. "I would believe that you would question what's happening here because at first we thought a human had found their way up here until your scents proved us wrong. Any humans have been wiped out by the leaches a long time ago, when we came up here there was only faint traces of them." The guy said.

"And what do you mean by we"? I asked cautiously. "My brother, Willow, Katrina and I." He answered. "Then your name would be...?"

"Cain."

"Dune." I lied to which Cain smiled. "You are a bad liar Bhairavi." Crap this guy was good! "Tranq, my name's Tranq." I said glancing around Cain where one of his friends had taken off with Shadows. "The reason why I said you're a bad lair is because Bhairavi don't have names," well that's probably the reason for the whole whack load of numbers that the Whitecoats remembered me by, "How did you obtain one?" Cain asked as I started to walk to where I thought Shadows was. "Um, Shadows gave me the name." I replied accidentally giving away Shadows name; whoops! "Your friend gave it to you?"

I nodded in response while Cain started to lead at my side. "Well she was much treating you like an actual human." My walk paused slightly yet I still kept going staring at the ground following Cain's light footsteps. He was right again; Shadows had treated me like a human. Even when I was living on the streets everyone treated me like a rat, well except for one girl I met in a park just before I was captured. Shadows had given me a name and even though she tried to leave without me once after that she stayed with me. Shadows had saved me from the Organization, she even drove me away from there afterward. I couldn't believe I hadn't notice before, it made me guilty for not noticing this kindness that Shadows herself probably didn't see. "Cain what's going to happen to Shadows?" I asked. Now I wanted to help, to do anything I could to help her. "Well we need to stop any of the poison from spreading through her blood stream; I believe Willow has already started to cleanse your friend from the poison." Cain assured me. "Wow you sounded slightly like a priest there, the word 'cleanse' always seemed religious to me." I said trying to get a little humour to lighten up my spirits.

Cain chuckled nodding with a grin on his face, "Ah yes I think it sounds religious too." For no apparent reason my stomach did another flip making me feel sick. I stopped holding my aching stomach. What the heck? Oh man I didn't feel good. My knees buckled underneath me and my back met the ground. I rolled into a ball moaning, trembling slightly. "Tranq? Are you alright boy?" Cain asked. The only thing I could think of in my pounding head was instant fever, either that or my DNA was unravelling like I had seen happen to most experiments or it was the H1N1 virus the Whitecoats had been squawking about recently. Cain helped me up which made me feel insanely seasick, putting me onto his back and downright sprinting like he was in a race towards where I thought the caves were. I closed my eyes although that made it worse, the next thing I know is that the sun was getting dark, fast.

I opened my eyes a crack to see I wasn't going insane; since Cain was descending down through a cave in a hurry it was getting darker. It stayed light to which I became aware of the small homemade torches lining the wall. Little shrubs plus patches of grass dotted the floor some even blooming brightly coloured flowers. A series of graceful and foreign words poured out of Cain's mouth all of which I understood. He was telling someone that he was bring me, filled them in on anything I told him and also rallied out my condition. A more feminine voice answered back in the strange language I could comprehend asking more questions. Cain entered into a large cavern that was bathed in light from more homemade torches and even some candles, a woman around Cain's age or maybe younger was making what looked like a makeshift bed out of ferns, moss and other soft plants. She was wearing a shirt that had become a little too short donning a pair of ripped capris. Her shoulder length light red hair stuck to her face, the bangs being blown out of the way every couple moments. Her ocean coloured eyes worriedly looked me over, her tanned hands gently helped Cain put me down on the improvised bed and took off the cargo from my back. She put the back of her hand on my forehead telling Cain in the same language to get some cold water. I was glad to be lying down, but being on my side would be nice.

She wouldn't let me.

In ways she reminded me or Shadows, this girl here was as suborned to make me stay on my back as Shadows was not to answer my questions. I heard her sniff, and yes you heard right, sniff. Not like a wet slobbery sniff, more of a small slight one like a cat. She gently took hold of my arm taking a sharp intake of breath. I could see why, there was a cut as long as my finger on my lower arm that was bleeding in addition the sides had turned a seaweed green. Oh that can't be good...

At the sight of the cut my stomach gave a violent lurch making me moan loudly, the woman quickly helped me up to a small hole that had filled with dripping water in which I heaved up my guts. I felt kinda better if that was even possible, leaning against the rock wall taking a deep breath. The woman brought a small wooden cup up to my mouth helping me take a drink. Whatever it was it was warm and sweet so I gratefully drank it up a little discouraged when I was finished. She smiled sweetly putting a hand on my face before helping me up again to the plant bed. I laid down closing my eyes taking another deep breath. Where was I, what happened to Shadows, was she okay, who were these people? So many questions like these floated around my head while I wavered in and out of consciousness. All the while the woman stayed with me, putting a wet cloth on my head once Cain had brought the water, ever so often letting me have another chug of the sweet warm drink. A little voice inside my head said not to trust them though would the Organization help me then do something awful? I was sure about the awful part but I did know they wouldn't help me and nurse me back to health before or after doing something dreadful to me.

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I woke up to a shriek God knows how long after my last drink. I bolted up right when the sound pierced my ears; wincing as well wondering what sick thing the Whitecoats had done to a subject. Of course I had completely forgotten that I was out of the Organization since I was quite slow when I wake up thankfully the rock walls and floors reminded me all too well of what happened before. Most of the torches had died out now, the woman and Cain both were nowhere to be seen. Taking the brightest torch I could find I cautiously made my way down the other tunnel I had seen when I came, grabbing the backpack and the sheathed machete on the way. The walls slightly glistened against the torch's light; some roots had pushed their way through the rock, hanging down from the ceiling like spikes.

Okay let's see here: Shadows was fatally injured plus taken by some stranger, I got sick, got carried down to caves I don't know how to navigate and was left here alone with something that's shrieking and possibly dangerous creatures.

Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?

Not giving much thought to that I continued on hopeful I was going to run into Cain or the woman really soon. One thing I needed to do was to make sure Shadows is okay; yes Cain told me she was going to be fine but gut feeling told me that she was the one that woke me up just now. Then I ran into a problem. "Great two tunnels, what am I going now?" I muttered to myself glancing down the equally dark tunnels. "Alright then, eeny, meany, miney, mo." I pointed down the left tunnel feeling uneasy. Trekking on I got a squeamish feeling in my stomach, my mind spinning. The tunnel was getting, well, smaller or maybe it was just me. It felt like the walls were closing in like my cage had always felt making me way over a little paranoid. I tighten my grip on the torch stick if I had to use it as a weapon slowly coming to a bend with light, peeking around. The one I had been worrying about the most was there lying on a lifted plant bed, the unemotional mask slipped to show pain on her face. Cain was there with a man that looked older than him and another woman I didn't know, the woman I hadn't seen before was treating human-form Shadows. The assassin's jaw was firmly locked, her eyes closed, every muscle tightened; now she looked weak yet at the same time strong. Another shriek filled the air and I realized it came from Shadows making me entirely guilty despite the fact that it only last three seconds. That thing had come after me not her, still she pushed me down, once again saving my life and now she was in pain because of it. The noise died down but something else replaced it.

"Get out from behind the rock, coward."

I jumped startled that Shadows knew I was here. The last part had been muttered slightly to herself though she still sounded as pained as she looked. I got rid of the torch coming into the light; Cain gave me a sympathetic smile again. "You are alright Tranq are you not?" He said. "Yeah, I'm good." I risked a glance at my cut. It was gone, just a light pink line now. "That leach somehow scratched you with his teeth, now how the hell did that happen?" The other man said and Cain reminded the man to watch it with the swearwords. Well before I hit the tree down I sorta stopped him from attacking Shadows, "I have no clue." I lied. This time Cain didn't pick it out. Shadows eyes opened and she looked at my. "Look like crap." She told me with a smirk that looked hard to put on her face. Maybe the poison was getting to her head, because one) Shadows spoke to me twice, and two) she seemed almost happy to see me. Other than that and her pain Shadows was fine.

"I'm sorry we left you but your friend here needed more attention." Cain apologized; as a consequence Shadows glared at him. Maybe she wasn't in good enough condition to shoot or throw a rock at him. "No that's fine; Shadows probably needed more care than I did." I said. Pain flashed across Shadows' face then disappeared with her settling down in a cringe. "Well she's getting better. From the look of things she should be able to move around just after noon." The woman said. "Make that right before." Shadows muttered. The woman's mouth opened though closed it when Cain put a hand on her shoulder, "Katrina please, she heals much faster than us, however slower than Tranq here who was well within three hours of coming to the den. I don't suspect anything less from the stubborn Shadows." Man someone needed to tell Cain to watch what he says seeing as Shadows had a death glare on her face I think Cain was going to have more than bruises when Shadows could stand. "Ah yes, Tranq this is Katrina," the woman who had been tending to Shadows, "and my older brother Giles," the man standing at the back gave me a sharp two finger salute. Katrina seemed almost as tall as Cain with a darker complexion than the woman who had watched over me who I believed to be Willow. Her short, shaggy chocolate brown hair fell in front of her almost white eyes; two pale grey circles were the only things that told me where her iris and pupils were since the colour practically blended into the whites of her eyes. Was she blind or something? Giles looked a lot like Cain with lighter hair, skin and instead of dark brown eyes Giles had these golden brown eyes that gave me shivers. Katrina was wearing a simple faded jade green dress and Giles, like his younger brother was only wearing pants.

"Of course you've met Willow already." Cain said so I asked where she was. Apparently she was keeping watch for any more people that came up the mountain by Mountain Lion Express. Shadows listened intently while the other three chattered to each other, her ears perked when Giles started to tell stories that were hard to depict whether or not they were true. I laid on the ground with my hands behind my head letting the words go in one ear and out the other. Shadows glanced over to me once she got bored looking up pass me. Cranking my head upside down I saw the rifle and Shadows' messenger bag propped up against the wall. She probably wanted her bag.

I got up quietly shuffling over and grabbed the bag taking a quick peek inside before going back to the assassin. Inside the bag was a small metal briefcase, two books and a metal box that was probably heavily supplied with bullets. Shadows' gun was in there, I finally got a chance to see it up close. Zephyr was engraved on both sides of the black pistol; at the bottom of the handle was a string that had a medium sized hawk feather attached to it, a dark brown bead strung over the stiffer part of the feather. Good luck charm or personalization? I sat down beside Shadows opening the bag allowing her to pick out what she wanted. Out came the smaller of the two books where Shadows flipped through looking for something. From over her shoulder I saw what it was about. "Peter Pan, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, Snow White... Winnie the Pooh?!" I listed some out loud. She was reading these kinds of stories, that didn't make sense at all! Even in her calmness I could see the question on Shadows' face, she was wondering if I knew the stories. "Why are you reading baby stuff Shadows? I wouldn't say that this would be the kind of stuff you'd read." I said.

"Read to me."

Remember when I said nothing surprised me anymore, well I lied. I was thoroughly shocked; Shadows hadn't told me to read to her, she said it in a questioning tone. She wanted me to read to her from this book. "One question before that, where did you get this book?" I asked sincerely. "Found it. Read." Shadows repeated. "Which one?"

Before I knew it I was reading the story of Robin Hood to Shadows, followed by Sword in the Stone and Tarzan. Shadows looked over my shoulder as I read looking at the pictures that appeared on page. I was wondering how a book this small could have so many stories, the answer simple and plain: shortened versions. I strayed away from the last story as I got into telling my own while Shadows listened as intently to me as she had to Giles. Most were of ones I heard on the street, some I just talked about what happened in my life getting nods from my listener ever so often. "So what about you, feel like talking or am I going to have to get use to the silence?" I questioned. I felt like she had opened up to me more than she had to anyone else even though I've only known Shadows for a couple days. "Father never told me this kind of like existed outside of the Organization, all I knew was that you did not questioned what Father said. I had never questioned it and just did my job. I barely looked at things from houses I had been to so I thought that everyone was just living. When you said we all had a purpose I didn't understand you." Shadows said vacantly. "Why did you run away? Out here you don't have a permanent place to stay, food or clothes. You had that at the Organization; you even had a motorcycle not to mention a gun." I poked.

"I was living a lie."

We both sat in silence, the happy voices of the three people barely reaching our ears. Shadows eyes were emotionless and dead for a while until annoyance flashed in the electric blue orbs as if she was remembering a memory. "Father did not have the slightest notion of tell me that the Organization was conduction experiments on humans, or the fact that most of the 'threats' could do just about nothing against him. If it wasn't for CL's book I wouldn't have known anything and kept on living that obvious lie." If possible Shadows sound angry in addition to calm at the same time. So someone made a book about what was happening in the Organization allowing Shadows to figure out that this Father person was lying to her. "And here I thought my life was bad." I sighed. Though I wasn't expecting what happened next.

"I named you Tranq because I knew that the tranquilizer wasn't going to affect you."

"How did you know?"

...

"I can see the future."

I looked at Shadows, checking her face to see if she was pulling my leg. My leg wasn't being pulled; her face was as serious as a court room judge, still some things weren't surprising me. "I wouldn't suspect anything less from you Shadows. I thought that you'd have a 'special gift' of some kind." I gave her a weak smile. With a sharp nod Shadows sat up taking her bag placing the story book in it, slipping Zephyr into its gun holster. "Please don't get up, you still need to heal." Katrina said however not as a suggestion, more of a command. "Kat just leave it." Giles told her. "Come on, she's well now Katrina," I turned to see Willow standing at the entrance to the cavern we were in, "Let them do what they want." I turned to Shadows.

"Ya, what are we going to do next?"

Shadows' POV

"This is all you asked for." Cain said his head swivelling towards me. I stared back at him with a calm face and a smug smile. Yes this is all I asked; and I felt like I had a purpose. Tranq try to wrestle a piece of deer away from the large chestnut brown wolf that playfully growled at him. "Giles this is my piece!" he objected with a final tug that sent the wolf into a summersault knocking Tranq over. A sleeker dirt red wolf that was smaller than the first rolled her eyes giving the shaggy grey-black female wolf behind her a light kick with a back foot. They had allowed Tranq and I to come on a hunting trip which I had requested though Tranq had to keep his eyes off the head of any of the catch. They were Lycans, more commonly known as werewolves; Cain was the Alpha of the pack however stayed in his human form to personally teach me how to hunt like them or with a bow and arrow or even a knife. So far they had caught mostly deer, Cain only allowed me to catch a rabbit which I skinned and gave to Tranq. Therefore Tranq being Tranq he unsurprisingly made a fire that was now cooking the rabbit on a stick.

Willow –the dirt red wolf– shared her kill with me that I was eating raw. I ripped another piece off the chunk I had picked out watching as the shaggy grey-black Katrina stole the large piece of deer from Tranq and Giles running off with it. Giles snarled, Tranq cried out in protest at the same time, the pair chased after Katrina. I was sitting on a large stump cross-legged, the rifle slung across my back, the story book propped open on my lap, the story of Aladdin and the Lamp staring me in the face. My favourite would have to be either Robin Hood or Peter Pan, the master theft amused me, the boy that wouldn't grow up fascinated my imagination that I recently realized I had. "So you didn't know anything before about hunting?" Cain asked with a strange look on his face. I gave a sharp nod to verify his knowledge.

"That is a strange predicament indeed." He muttered to himself. I didn't care, all I knew was once we were done resting I would ask where the nearest city is and leave whether or not Tranq was coming with me. Though whenever I thought of leaving Cain's pack I had a weird feeling, I knew very well what it was trying to tell my, naturally I was going to ignore it like everything else. Willow howled to notify Giles Tranq's rabbit was done; looking sour Tranq lumbered back seeing me roll my eyes. "Katrina ate my piece." He whined. I hope to God he wouldn't come with me.

We needed to go; I had a bad feeling of staying. "Where's the nearest city?" I asked blankly. "Hmm, I don't know though I believe that the Bachelor ski village is close by." Cain answered. "We're leaving now!?" Tranq said past his rabbit. "Don't come if you don't want too." I told him dog-earing the page I was on stuffing the book back into my bag eating the last of my piece of meat. Tranq's gazed moved from me to all of Cain's pack ending back at me. I gathered my bag onto my shoulder staring at Tranq for his answer.

"Can we come back some time?" he finally asked. I thought it over for a second before rolling my eyes giving him a swift nod; Tranq jumped up getting the back pack from Willow's back. "Feel free to visit any time." Cain said, Giles growled a little making Cain sigh. "Except on September 12th, Giles' birthday." Cain added with a shake of his head. All I did was give them all a nod, flowing out of the clearing we were in with Tranq in a little unpleasant mood behind me as he waved good bye. He opened his mouth but thought better of it shutting it quickly, staring at the ground while we walked.

#########

It was a chilled afternoon, mist still cover the ground in a thick layer; the mountains tips that reached for the sky were stemming heaps against the sun. The trees were a mixture of pink and white buds; some of the trees had even blossomed. We had been walking for quite some time now, all the long I had stared at the trees wondering why they were acting like flowers. Tranq looked around his eyes characteristically wide at the scenery, "Wow, I wouldn't think it'd be like this in the mountains." He murmured. I couldn't help but nod since he was right. However maybe we should have been paying attention to where we were going instead of what was aroundus. Suddenly the ground fell out from underneath us; I dropped underneath the mist down a hill. "AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Tranq yelled as he rolled head over heels down the steep rock-jagged hill. I didn't have that kind of style; I was log rolling with my arms flinging all over until I rolled over them; to my panic the rifle's safety pin somehow lodged out. "Live gun!" I shouted to Tranq who put his hands over his head. A gunshot roared past my ear, wood splintering from a nearby tree. Just a couple hours after I had healed I was getting beaten back up because of our carelessness; another gunshot howled by my head, the ground chipped just before I rolled over it.

And things just kept getting better.

"Shadows— CLIFF!" Tranq hollered from farther away. I tried to focus with my eyes while my sense of smell was tumbled around like laundry in a dryer, on one forward somersault I saw the cliff maybe twenty feet away and getting close fast. Another gunshot, Tranq yelled at me to watch the gun before he got a hole in his head. Shit, shit, shit, shit I thought constantly with every whack of a body part against the hill feeling a searing sting as the back of my lower leg by my left ankle split open slightly. Great anotherankle wound. "GOD HAVE MERCY!!!" Tranq yelled just before going off the cliff. For the second time the ground fell out from underneath me, I fell head first down facing away from the cliff and saw Tranq holding onto a sturdy branch with one arm, reaching out to me with his other. I stretched for it...

And missed by three inches.

########

I opened my eyes feeling like crap. I had a tight feeling in my side, breathing was difficult. I didn't remember hitting the ground, all I knew was that I had landed and how far down I couldn't tell. The forest was quite except for my almost silent moan as I sat up, the world spun making my head hurt. How long had I been down here? Where was the great annoyance Tranq? Where the hell am I? Slowly looking around so the word wouldn't spin out of view again I saw I had landed in the middle of a prickle patch, thankfully there was a hole above my head that was big enough that I fell through it without any more injury. The ground was covered with coarse grass, prickles jutted out at every angle possible while a strong wind blew through the area I was in. The rifle was suspended by prickles too far away for me to reach, my bag hung from a branch that had bravely grown in the prickle patch. I checked the bag, the story book had fallen out yet CL's big book and the case Artemis had given me was still there. Zephyr's luck feather hung out of the gun holster to my relief; out of my pocket I produced some cloth from my cloak that I had kept and covered my new ankle wound that I remembered.

Now that was done I needed to get out of here, however the devils from hell wanted to make my life difficult. In short I could stay standing so Tranq was going to have to find me. I am going to die. Once failed at trying to move prickle branches away I lied on my back staring at the grey cloudy sky that I could see above me. From the look it was probably near three o'clock, a couple miles away from Cain's territory making it impossible for them to come to get me unless they were really good of hearing.

###########

Silence. No paws scurried on dry leaves, no tree rustled. A lone stag nibbled on a bush, unaware of the deadly weapon that was aimed towards it. Breaths tried to be quieted, arms straight and still, body cramped in a statue position. One eye closed, the other trained on the prize that innocently ate, finger at the ready.

A howl pieced the silence, the stag galloping away to the hunter's irritation. The mournful howl reached three other intelligent ears, one of which quickly started running towards the sound, the other stopped in confusion. Other animals perked up at the sound, many other wolves howling along with the sorrowful voice that filled their ears, numerous large cats halted mid-hunt to listen while all prey animals ran to hide.

The owner of the third pair of ears was crouched in a tree, cocking his head to the side ever so slight, a pair of saddened navy blue eyes tearing up at the sound. Lips quivered to stop a sob, a tear ran down a dark brown skinned cheek. "No one understands you. I do, but I can't tell you that." He murmured. No noise was made when he landed on the ground, holding the black cowboy hat on his head.

Mutely he made his way towards the noise knowing that that fear demon would be there first. The faded blue jean jacket provided no camouflage in the forest yet not a living thing saw him while he walked without a sound past the pack of wolves that howled along with the unknown creature that cried with such grief the wolves themselves were saddened. He came up to them putting a comforting hand on the leader the howling lessening as he comforted the mourning pack. Once the pack had quieted other than the downcast whimpers of the wolves he continued on slowly like a funeral procession past the staring mountain cats and the annoyed hunter that was stomping off to go around to the howling.

Once stopped the source was thirty feet away from him, yet the howling had stopped. Above thunder rumbled threatening for a storm a drop of water landing on his face. The rain soon became heavy still he stayed dry watching as a dark shape disappeared and reappeared in two slowly moving away. He followed at a distance to make sure they were going somewhere dry, a over hand from a nearly vertical hill provided shelter for both and he left knowing they would be fine on their own for a while.

#########

"You sure your okay Shade?" Tranq asked his dripping hair clung to his face. I was wet; really wet, giving the boy a swift nod. Tranq had practically dragged my ass out of the prickle patch and all the way to an overhang that was dry. I noticed the nick name quickly and like everything else I didn't really care, Tranq gazed out at the rain, "Man that storm came out of nowhere." He muttered. My clothes, along with his were drenched, already Tranq's teeth started to chatter. "Funny thing I was going in the complete opposite direction that you were at." He laughed nervously. I was so close to dying; I thanked him shortly. "You're welcome Shade. I'm just glad your okay." He smiled at me. Whatever I thought staring through the rain.

I blinked at the semi-brightness through the rain sitting up. Tranq was curled up beside me characteristically snoozing away. When in the name of hell did I fall asleep? I rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hand and gave a small silent yawn. Well I was hungry, cold and was going to have a hungry and cold kid on my hands, what could be better? My head throbbed slightly from an oncoming headache; I shivered pulling my knees to my chest wrapping my arms around my legs. My stomach rumbled like the thunder above informing me what I already knew. Sitting in the overhang I realized something that displeased me: life in freedom was not worth it. I had been in pain here, sleeping cold with barely enough food, what was the point? Tranq was right, the Organization gave me what I needed and wanted. Did it matter whether or not I was living a lie when I had food and a place to sleep? Why did I care what the Organization did to other humans if they didn't do anything to me? Why was I listening to an immature human being in the first place?

Questions I had no answers to racked my brain tearing me from going back to the Organization and staying on the hostile Outside. How many days had we been out of the Organization again, I could not remember. A flash of light outside followed by an angry CRACK told me the storm was getting closer, the wind picked up blowing rain into the over hang onto Tranq. He woke slowly shivering before he was aware that he was being rained on. Quickly sitting up Tranq scooted as far back from the opening as possible shaking his head sending water flying everywhere getting me wetter. I gave him my famous calm-slash-slightly-pissed look getting a 'whaaaat' from Tranq. "Feel free to wake me next time, especially when Erasers come." He told me lying down to go back to sleep. He didn't sleep so we both stayed in the overhang for a couple hours until the rain stopped; yet looking back I didn't understand why we didn't go out seeing as a little rain wouldn't kill us. I used my arms to drag myself out from underneath the overhang while Tranq stayed waiting for me to say it was safe, sniffing the air. It was crisp; a human had been close by not to long before the storm started with no sickening sweet smelling creatures or Copies. Once I gave Tranq the okay he immediately came to help me up. I must have landed on my right leg when I dropped, it wouldn't hold my weight unless Tranq helped me limp along. We walked for another couple hours until the sun seemed to go down too early, by now I could limp on my own without Tranq's help. I was impressed that Tranq caught our dinner, feeling less guilty of killing fish than land mammals.

Days went by like years and after losing the back pack we had no way of knowing where we were going, both of us knew we were lost, physically and in our own spirits. I had no idea what day it was, my sense of time had left me. After what seemed like two weeks after we got lost I notice that Tranq was praying every morning, noon and evening; muttering 'thank you' to no one in particular whenever we got food. It didn't take long for Tranq to get use to killing animals for food; he didn't even ask what something was when I gave it to him. Our clothes were caked in blood, dirt and mud, torn to rags. My second layer of clothes were washed as best as we could in a stream and used for bandages for any server cuts, however neither of us could come to getting rid of CL's book. Anything we didn't need (other than the book, the small brief case and Zephyr) we left yet we didn't toss the worthless book. Every so often I would predict major storms that happened frequently in our area, though we could never stay dry given that there were no caves. We were tumbleweeds every day, never really stopping unless we were hungry or it had become too dark for my companion to see, sleeping in trees was a big thing with us. The only reason I could think of why we kept the book is because it kept us looking for a town or a city to find CL, if under the circumstances CL would take us in. We couldn't find any humans even though I could smell a male human constantly through our pointless journey, never once did I smell a numerous amount of humans foretelling a town ahead.

Tranq collapsed to the ground with a moan one day, tired and hungry. I had stopped watching him as he laid there wasting away to nothing. "I'll never let the rocks, cry out, louder than the voice you've given me,"Tranq had muttered quietly, "As long as I have breath to breathe, my lips will sing your praise. Until the day in glory when I find the finest melody with words to rhyme. As long as I have breath to breathe, I will sing your praise..."

"Praying to God never did anything." I had told him coldly. "As Artemis would say we've hit rock bottom." Tranq had looked up at me with those dead eyes that I had seen for so long, his face very much blank like mine. "Might as well, other than you only God's listening since we're going to die anyway." He hard-heatedly had shot back. I grasped Tranq's after that collar lifting him off the ground, "Whether you think you can or you think you can't your right, if you keep saying we're going to die we aregoing to die. Now get off your ass, stop complaining and get walking." I stonily said, I had narrowed my eyes at the demon in my grasp. Tranq's dead gaze had dropped from my face, I let go of his collar making him stand just by dropping him. We were both on bad moods I knew, we both had had enough of each other, and if that had continued we'd end up killing each other. Tranq had lost hope; my own was starting to fade, if one of us didn't keep us moving we'd never make it. I knew Tranq didn't have enough energy to fly himself out of here let alone both of us. I wish I wasn't a failer, if I wasn't we'd probably be saved.

We hunted for awhile getting as much as we could out of using my panther form, however it would still not be enough. We were on edge, most likely losing our sanity out here in the woods where we constantly felt like we were being watched, the human scent not helping me in the least bit. I knew Tranq wanted to hear a voice other than my own, craving it like we did food. Many times he would collapse for a minute before following after me. I never stopped for him treating him like a dog that was following me. "And Cain said you treated me like a human." Tranq muttered under his breath one day making me punch him in the face. I left and he didn't follow, instead he went the opposite direction glowering in anger.

I thought of going after Tranq just to make sure he didn't kill himself but thought 'better' of it. What the hell did I care, if he dies then he dies. I soon after found a place to sleep yet found myself climbing to the top of the tree gazing out over the tree tops. Up here the wind made the tops of the trees sway, the mountains hid the sun from full view. A flock of birds flew high above six specks of black against the grey sky flying in loose formations, many more birds flew down lower sparrows bravely flew around me chirping happily until I swatted one out of the sky to which they all scattered. I was surprised that not too far away that my hawk-like vision was not needed I could see Tranq settling high in a tree staring at the sky as well not looking my direction. His face zoomed into focus as if I was looking through binoculars; his face was a mixture of anger and misery. His scent was blown over in my direction I shook my head at my childishness roosting on a large down below the canopy of the trees closing my eyes.

As Shadows snoozed a distance away Tranq hid inside his anger watching the birds that caught his eye when he scampered up the tree. How could he be so stupid in tagging along with Shadows, the assassin had so much bottled up anger waiting to explode he should have know she would strike him. At first Tranq had been shocked that she'd do that however when the blood had run down his face that shock had been replaced by anger. Had he not save her from that thing before Cain came to help? Had he not helped her walk after she fell off the cliff? Had any little thing he'd done not matter?! The thick branch Tranq had been holding snapped under his hand, the noise startling birds on the ground. Somewhere else the hunter stopped glancing towards the noise of a violent snap bringing his rifle more level with his eye, "Where are you, you damned bastard?" he grumbled slinking towards the source of the noise.

Someone else stopped blinking in confusion wondering what could have made that kind of noise; the cinnamon brown Border collie beside him lifted its head perking its ears. The boy hidden behind the man stared also knowing it was the Bhairavi that did it wondering why she let the demon out of her sight. The man crouched beside the dog scratching its head, "What do you think it is girl?" The dog cocked its head at the man's voice. "Let's go find out."

Even above in the sky the six specks heard the noise, looking at each other in wonder. Should they stop, slow down or just get out of the area as quickly as possible? The leader scanned the land below and decided it would be best to leave, coasting quickly with the rest following closely behind.

The sun descended quickly behind the mountain, enveloping the mountain range in darkness so even the moon dared not to show its glow, a lone wolf howled for its absence. Shadows slept fitfully tossing around on her roost, uncharacteristically mumbling in her sleep.

Suddenly bolting upright Shadows' eyes flashed open as she woke from her nightmare, instantly she knew something was wrong. She wasn't sleeping in a tree; Shadows was on the ground sleeping on dirt and rubble, runes of an old building surrounding her, yet that still wasn't it. Panting Shadows stared at the woman in front of her, eyes wide as the woman turned from her night watch duty. "Oh you're up little angel." Rinslet smiled. The woman as Shadows remembered was small with keen dark green eyes and braided navy blue hair that went halfway down her back. Rinslet was only a couple inches shorter than Shadows and even though the 'woman' looked contrary to it Rinslet was, in fact, much younger than Shadows. "Did you have a bad dream again?" Rinslet asked her smile weakening slightly while the girl stared at Rinslet like it had been forever since Shadows had seen Rinslet. Mistaking the look for fright Rinslet wrapped her arms around Shadows, "Oh little angel don't worry." Rinslet said sweetly. Everything had been a dream Shadows concluded happily, letting the supposed dead Rinslet hug her. "As long as we stick together my little angel, everything will be fine." Rinslet murmured in Shadows' ear to which Shadows' nodded. Little angel, a nick name Rinslet gave Shadows before the girl had a name. Shadows stared at the woman as she pulled away knowing what she was seeing in front of her was true. Rinslet hadn't passed on.

Shadows touched her hair absence minded which was still the same shade it was in her dream however straight/wavy instead of short, jagged and spiked. The pair was in a section of the building that resemblance a hallway only a little lip was left of the roof, bright stars filled the sky where the roof had been. Shadows and Rinslet were out of the way, hidden by a large chunk of wall that had crumbled, a little ways in a full room that had survived. "That's my girl, not letting her guard down even at night." Rinslet said proudly turning her head to watch the two ends of the hallway even the gap for something Shadows couldn't remember. What were they waiting for? Then it dawned on Shadows; they weren't waiting for anything, they were hiding from something. Moving slowly Shadows slid in beside Rinslet, sitting down like a dog would sit on its haunches. "Can't sleep little angel?" Shadows shook her head. Rinslet wrapped an arm around Shadows' shoulder, "That's fine."

What are we hiding from? Shadows thought to herself and that's when she smelled it. Copies.They were all over the place; glancing up for a second Shadows could see a pair of bloodshot eyes peering down at them. Casually Shadows tapped Rinslet's knee pretending to look down one end of the hallway while Shadows was really trying to figure out if there were any more Copies. They had surrounded Shadows and Rinslet, the only way out would have to be by running into the complete room and knock a hole big enough for both of them to fit through. Shadows tapped Rinslet's knee four times. Rinslet glanced at the room hoping the Copies wouldn't see. Shadows gave Rinslet a sideways glance for less than a second wondering what to do. A series of taps told her.

'We'll phase through the wall. Count ten seconds then go'

Damn can I do that? Shadows thought praying she could. One. Two. Three; the Copy above shifted closer. Four. Five. Six, Shadows could see brown around the bends of the hallway from the corner of her eye. Seven. Eight. Nine, the Copies charged.

Pushing off with the balls of her feet Shadows launched herself backwards; putting her hands back she pushed off with those covering the length of the room. Rinslet was by Shadows at all times as they phased through the wall and full out booked it down an intact hallway. Breathing fully Shadows took long strides to keep up with her friend slightly panting. I wonder...Shadows leaned forward, her hands hit the ground and Shadows exploded with speed. Now you might be thinking that Shadows rear-end was sticking in the air, which it was not. Racing on her hands and feet Shadows was straight and streamline looking like a dangerous cheetah. She was faster than the Copies overtaking Rinslet who now was a couple feet behind.

"Now how did you learn that?" Rinslet called from behind. A dreamShadows thought to herself with a smile. A shriek far back made Shadows skid to a halt. Rinslet morphed desperately trying to lock her teeth on the large Copy on top of her. No, not again. This can't happenagain, RINSLET!

It had all been a dream Shadows had thought, everything since she fell asleep with Rinslet guarding, Rinslet's death, Shadows' training, Tranq, the Organization was supposed to be all a dream when what she was experiencing now was just a nightmare. Blood cover the Copy's mouth and teeth, what remained of Rinslet underneath him. Fury boiled in Shadows' blood as she charged with a roar of mixed agony and rage, ripping the Copy to literal pieces, anger blinding her judgement. Every Copy she came across was slaughtered unmercifully, rage bathed in all murders. Shadows found her way to the top of what was the ruined 34 floor, an inhumanly screech filled the air, a black fire exploded killing all living things in the runes leaving Shadows alone wrath clouding her mind.

With a painful bolt Shadows gripped her head, tears streaking down her face. A nightmare, one that had so frequently visited during Shadows' first week at the Organization. This time it was so vivid she was sure she wasn't dreaming that Rinslet was still alive yet again Shadows had been proven wrong. After that horrible experience Shadows had turned cold, hating the Copies the minute she stepped on the Organization's grounds. As her painful nightmarish dream ended something flashed behind her eyelids making Shadows get to the ground as quickly as possible. A gunshot shrieked in the distance Shadows shrieking along with it.

###########

"You damned bastard, get your ass over here and fight me like a man!" The hunter bellowed another bullet screeching past Tranq's ear. Are you on something!Tranq thought, horrified that this hunter was actually hunting him. Tranq's boots thudded noisily as he dashed through the forest the hunter tearing after him, bullets screaming in all different directions.

Going out hunting, going to kill something, don't know what it is
Maybe a raccoon, maybe a gopher
Maybe the neighbour's kids

Holy crap Arrogant Worms, shut up! Tranq irately thought as the song chose a bad time to randomly pop up. "You make me lose my meat, you pay the price!" the hunter roared like a mad man. 'I doubt that my life should be the price!' Tranq wanted to say but kept his mouth shut in fear of getting a bullet in the head. The boy was tired, he was hungry, and his body couldn't take much more of this. He heard bushes violently rustle as the hunter tried to come round to cut Tranq off. Tranq's foot lodged into an up sticking tree root making him fall face forward in the dirt; he felt his disguise slip for the whole world to see. He desperately tried to get up, on his hands and knees Tranq was horror-struck when he saw the hunter rise from the bushes; one eye closed, the good one trained on Tranq with the rifle raised. "Now I've got you." The hunter muttered in victory pulling the trigger.

"TRANQ!"

A hand came down on Tranq's head pushing him down out of the bullet's path, the hunter's eyes widened in surprise. The bullet made its mark, Shadows fist tightened pulling Zephyr's trigger, the hunter collapsed out of sight. With a thud Shadows landed on the ground eyes rolled into the back of her head while Zephyrconstantly fired until it ran out of bullets. "Shadows!" Tranq cried crawling over to her. Her chest wound bled, coating Tranq's violently trembling hands in dark red blood. "Oh God, no please God no..." Tranq was stuck; he had no idea what to do. A bark made him look up adding to Tranq's horrible luck. The Border collie, seeing Tranq bared its teeth, a low growl coming from its chest. The man that had been in Patterson's truck stood there his dark eyes wide either at Tranq or Shadows. He was quite tall, maybe in his late twenties with dark brown hair that passed his ears his eyes almost childlike. Suddenly Tranq knew this man was the only option left to save Shadows.

"P-please help, she— she's going to die."

Jared's POV

I had never seen anything like him in my life before, more accurately I'd never seen something like him in real life, books yes. Anna barked at the boy showing she displeased him very much; my eyes were drawn away from the boy to his hands covered in blood then the teen laying on the ground, eyes closed.

"P-please help, she— she's going to die." The boy's voice choked. Right now I didn't care what he was, this girl needed help. I rushed forward kneeling beside her to see the damage, he pulse was going, she was breath; not good, the bullet entered fairly close to the heart. Anna stopped growling coming to assist in her way by lying down beside the girl for comfort.

"What do we need?" the boy asked me. I turned my gaze to him; his eyes told me he was doing something he shouldn't. Where exactly was he going to get anything I needed? He repeated what he asked with an all serious face. "A stretcher would be ideal," I answered quickly, "Since it would be better for me to treat her at my place." The bat like wings on his back quivered; the boy turned slightly, pointing to a stretcher made of branches and leaves. When did that get there? I mentally kicked myself for rushing ahead; this boy wouldn't be able to help carry this girl. "I might be completely starved but don't underestimate me," he responded when I told him this, "It just depends whether or not you can keep up." I was practically running to keep up with the kid as we hoofed it to my car. Apparently the boy knew the road; the Volkswagen I had passed on the side of the road had been theirs. My doubts were skyrocketing, the girl was around fifteen, the boy that told me his name was Dune couldn't be any older than eight, how could they drive the Volkswagen?

"Well Amberlynn was butchering it up while she drove though she still got it to go more than forty miles away from where we got it." Dune said as we trotted up to the car. With some difficulties I opened the door, leaning the seat back as far as it would go. Anna jumped into the back seat with Dune once we set Amberlynn up on the improv bed belting her in. I shut the door quickly running around the front of the car sliding into my own seat. Closing the door I hurriedly turned the key in the engine putting my seatbelt on at the same time. The blue Kia rumbled to life, smoothly taking off down the empty road. "Where's your place exactly?" Dune asked from the back seat looking completely different. His big hazel eyes had barely any life in them; his pale olive cheeks were ever so slightly shallow. His dark auburn hair was a mess, greasy and full of dirt. His camouflage clothes were torn to pieces providing what looked like no warmth. "A small town called Branklin that isn't even on the map. My house is tucked in the corner of the outskirts of town." I answered looking at Dune through the rear-view mirror for a second. I kept my eyes on the dark road from that point on, foot to the floor gripping the steering wheel tightly. Dune opened his mouth as we went pass the speed limit sign that clearly stated the speed 30 miles an hour. "Speed all you want as long as you get to your place fast." Dune said, Anna gave a bark.

It didn't take long until we had passed Branklin's welcome sign, then the dark semi-residential road towards my house. A moan came from the passenger seat and Amberlynn sat up halfway which I instantly objected to. She glanced around slightly, her eyes meeting Dune's as if to make sure he was there. "Turn right." Amberlynn ordered feebly, using her elbows weakly to prop herself up with all the strength she had left. "I want you to lie down. You've been shot and you shouldn't be straining yourself." I retorted. "Turn right." She ordered more dangerously her shocking electric blue eyes flashing angrily. I rolled my eyes turning right at the next road that wasn't a dead end or a 'round about. It wasn't more than five minutes after I turned left I heard the sound of a crashing car a few blocks up from where we had been driving. My gaze turned to Amberlynn; Dune gave the girl a sideways glance as her eyes flashed vacant. She flopped down into her seat bed unconscious; I floored it as much as I could shooting off towards the house. I would have to ask about that later, if she hadn't have told me to turn we would have crashed into the other car. With a sharp turn I brought the car onto the dirt path to the house, speeding down the windy road. It took a short drive in a long stretch, pebbles kicked up as I slammed the brakes skidding to a halt by the front steps.

"Okay everyone out." I said getting out myself and opening Amberlynn's door. Dune helped me bring the Amberlynn in, I quickly got her off the stretcher and onto the couch after Dune put a blanket that had been lying out down. Dune found the stuff I asked for fairly easy by my directions, setting them down on the coffee table. I pulled Amberlynn's long coat off of her, putting the reasonably intact jacket aside, her shirt was cut aside leaving her in her blood stained tank top. I couldn't see the bullet when I shined my flashlight in it, I turned Amberlynn over freezing. Dune's own eyes widened his mouth dropping. Tightly pulled against Amberlynn's back was a pair of jet black wings, little hints of bright silver looked as if it were randomly drawn on the beautiful wings. Gently I pulled the left one slightly out of the way feeling Amberlynn's back. The bullet had almost gone all the way through, completely missing her heart by the angle it went up her back. She must have been dropping when she was shot I thought to myself taking the needle Dune had hastily bring me when I asked for it. "Later," I said gently pushing the needle in, "You have some explaining to do. And I doubt now that your names are Dune and Amberlynn."

"I don't know where to begin." Dune answered solemnly.

Shadows' POV

My head hurt, my nightmare had recurred and I had flashes of being shot and shooting others. What could be better than this? My eyes blinked slowly open adjusting to the light. My head throbbed painfully in time to my heart; I resisted the urge to rub my temples. Wait a minute... Slowly sitting up my coat fell off of me the world spun slightly, I looked around. I was sitting on a couch in a living room, light poured in from the window by a door way that looked like a kitchen. Putting a hand on my face I felt a bandage going around my head, another one went over my left shoulder wrapping around me halfway down my ribs. I was in only my tank top that was stained crimson red, what I carried around on me to show how much a failer I was was becoming cramped against my back.

I had wings and I couldn't fly. I had tried at the Runes just before Rinslet died; I was like an ostrich, I had these wings and I couldn't do anything with them. Where was I, when I woke up in the car, had that all been a dream? Now I wasn't sure whether or not I was asleep or awake. Wait a minute Tranq had been here, a male human around an age of maybe twenty and a dog was here too. They were outside; the open window blew in their scents. Listening I could hear happy barking along with Tranq's laughter. Or at least I thought it was Tranq's laughter, I'd never heard Tranq really laugh.

Grabbing my coat I wrapped it around my shoulders slacking my wings slightly so they weren't cramped but just looked like a slightly large lump on my back with the coat on. Tranq must have gotten help when I was shot, so the man that I smelt clearly had seen my wings; I knew very well that humans didn't have wings yet I was surprised we were still here if the man did know of my wings. Painfully I got off the couch pathetically wobbling to the kitchen and out the open door. It was Patterson's passenger that had shot at the Copies' van; he was playing like a child with Tranq and a cinnamon brown Border collie in the large yard. From here I could see a large barn and stables, forest surrounding the house we were at. The Border collie glanced up and barked happily galloping up to me and doing quick circles around me. "Alas the angel awakes." The man said coming up to me with a smile that filled his eyes. Ah hell more angel shit. "So you must be Shadows, your friend over here as got quite a story." The man said. "Shadows this is Jared, he saved you after you were shot." Tranq said looking tired however he had life in his eyes now. Jared put out a hand, "I've seen some odd things in my life but I've got to say I've never seen anything like you two before. For one you should be up right now, you shouldn't be able to get up until tomorrow."

I shook his hand firmly looking down at the Border collie with a sideways glance. "This is Anna; she's got a lot of energy watch out." Jared warned with a grin. Nice, really nice. "How about we go in for some food, I bet you're starved." Jared said motioning to the door. I smirked; You don't know the half of it.

Even when I was really hungry I usually would eat casually, now I was some sort of hyena bird creature devouring the food Jared had set out for me. Tranq must have talked to Jared a lot, the man had both cooked and raw steak. "I must warn you I might come down on you with a scientific outlook, many things about you two are so interesting." Jared apologized. Past some of his food Tranq gave me an 'I didn't tell Jared about you-know-what' look. "You were overly luck that the bullet hadn't gone any closer to your heart, you were hanging by a thread there shadows. You even recovered from that shot in less than five hours, you're in perfectly good condition other than the fact that you two almost starved to death," –don't remind me– "By how much you consume it seems you need more than 2000 calories each day." Jared said to me. "Just one question—"

"No, I can't." I uncaringly answered before Jared started asking. Jared seemed taken aback but Tranq reassured the man that I was normally like that. "Hey, um Jared?" Tranq spoke up. "What happened, exactly, to Mr. Patterson?" Jared smiled warmly telling Tranq that Patterson was okay and well. "He was really worried about you two; I called earlier to say you were okay. Don't give me that look Shadows I didn't tell him anything else." Jared promised. You sure as hell hope not I thought grimly.

"Shadows, Tranq thought of something I want you to consider. Maybe you two should stay with me; I'll provide you a home and food, Shadows you need to learn more about the outside world and I know both of you need some time to heal." Jared turned to me with a childish grin, "So what about it Shadows, want to join Jared Rehab?"

I closed my eyes, thinking over it. Something flashed behind my eyelids; a smirk crossed my face. "When do we start?" I said opening my eyes.

Oh the power to be strong
And the wisdom to be wise
All these things will come to you in time

Books laid out in front of me, titles of places in the world, times in history and famous people. A good number of the books were scattered open on the floor, pages highlight and marked. "Shadows, dinner!" Jared called.

On this journey that you're making
There'll be answers that you seek
And it's you that'll climb the mountain
It's you who'll reach the peek

People surrounded me in the large place Jared brought us, my large camera with what looked like a freaking telescope on it constantly clicked at the pictures I took. My face was in awe as I watched the everyday things.

Son of man, look to the sky
Lift your spirit, set it free
Someday you won't toy with pride
Son of man, a man in time you'll be

Jared had us gathered around, telling us about stuff he did in his life, how even him was all new to this. "Help people to be forgiven for things that you've done. A friend of mine told me that after I escaped."

Oh, there's no one there to guild you
No one to take your hand
But with faith and understanding
You will journey from boy to man

Tranq and I gave another heave, the rain spitting down on us as we pushing the horse back onto its feet. We smiled at each other, continuing our survival training in the dust bowl with Jared watching us from the skies.

Son of man, look to the sky
Lift your spirit, set it free
Someday you won't toy with pride
Son of man, a man in time you'll be

I lunged forward my foil clashing against Tranq's; stepping back then forward quickly, I made him lose his sword. He gave a kick up; my sword flew through the air. Tranq cart wheeled backwards catching it, "En garde!"

In learning you will teach
And in teaching you will learn
You'll find your place beside the ones you love

A paint splatter on the face, a sponge at the wall, our paint war continued as we tried to paint my special room. Jared put his green paint coloured hands on my hair, I put a brush of pink in his fatherly face.

Oh, and all the things you dreamed of
The visions that you saw
Well the time is drawing near now
It's yours to claim it all

I bolted up right in bed grasping my heart. Damn it all.|I jumped from stable door to stable door, using a broom handle to defend against Tranq's pitch fork. "And I saw that coming, oh he's going to come at me again!"

Son of man, look to the sky
Lift your spirit, set it free
Someday you won't toy with pride
Son of man, a man in time you'll be

Who, daya
Who, daya
Who, daya

Son of man,
Son of man is a man for all to see

I kneeled down in front of Jared, on the school's front grounds. "You've completed your training quickly and efficiently, are you ready?" he asked me. I smiled at him, "Ready as I'll ever be Jared."

**Flashback Ends**White Wing: Holy hell that chapter took a long time to write!

Neofreak: And it's 25 pages on Microsoft including this

Doesn't help that I had a camp the week before last week and a high school retreat, and at points I had a six feet of solid steel door called Writer's Block! And if you are confused on what the hell is happening time wise here's a timeline for those of you who are in a muck

The Great Organization Escape (in Dormant Angel): Dec 29th
Serenity's Death: Dec 31st
Rinslet's Death: Jan 11th
Shadows' first kill: Jan 18th
Shadows' Escape: Mar 7th
Meeting Cain: Mar 10th
Leaving the Pack: Mar 11th
Tranq and Shadows Separate: Mar 28th
Jared Rehab Starts: Mar 29th
Jared Rehab Completed: Apr 17th

Logan: What are you talking about; the timeline was just as confusing as the chapter itself!

Really, and does anything make sense in my head? The answer is NO! And if you're confused about the end part it was a written montage of Shadows' time in Jared Rehab, everything wasn't the day after, it was the days in Shadows' 'rehabilitation'

White Wing: I think they get it now

*Tank falls on White Wing*

(mumbling from under tank)

Tristan: I believe this happens often?

*Everyone nods, Tristan shrugs*

So let's catch up in my life here, Tuesday the sixth I'm checking out my uncle's old Air Cadet squadron and I'm probably going to join and I recently got a cool book called Werewolf's Guide To Life, A Manual For The Newly Bitten , Of course my werewolves can't really turn someone into a werewolf by just biting them

Neofreak: Do I want to ask how?

Nope

Neofreak: Then I won't *Thinks Akiko's gone insane*

Logan: (in Neofreak's head) She went insane a looong time ago

Neofreak: When did you get the telepathic powers?

Logan: *shrugs*Don't know, don't care. And what do the reviewers give a rat's ass about your life Akiko!?

(From under than): Hellooo can someone help me here?

I know that this chapter was very confusing (like everything I write) and why I didn't mention Shadows' wings sooner was mainly because I wanted to keep it a surprise. And also, read Dormant Angel if you already haven't because it'll get even more confusing later on it you don't

Logan: This story had too much confusion already for people who have read Dormant Angel