Okayy so I'm baack (: Thanks for all the nice reviews, btw. They really make my freaking day, when I'm usually depressed. So that means REVIEW. Finished up this chapter at Grandma's and Papa's house, watching Elf. Like you care. Ok, this chapter's longer. I hope you like ittt

I woke up, and everything was blurry and dark. I rubbed my eyes, trying to figure out where I was exactly. The only thing I remembered was getting hit with a baseball bat, and some sort of searing pain in my back. Which is still there.

"Oh, good, you're awake," says a voice from somewhere behind me. I try to turn around and find that I'm in a cage. When I finally figure out how to turn around, I see a girl in a cage, kinda like me. She looks about my age, with long, curly brown hair and big, beautiful blue eyes. She was wearing a large, white t-shirt and jeans, which were both ripped in multiple places. I couldn't tell how tall she was, since she was in a cage like me, but she looked to be taller than me.

"W…where am I?" I stuttered, looking toward the girl.

"The School," she said simply.

"Why am I at school?" I stupidly ask.

"Not school. The School. It's a nice faculty, no?"

"Um, what am I doing here?"

"Well, feel your back. That will tell you." She pointed at my back as she said this, so I decided to follow along with her silly games. Slowly, I rubbed a hand along my sore back. It was silky, almost….feathery. I grab at my back and, bringing my hand in front of my face, I find one black feather.

"What!" I exclaimed, dropping it suddenly.

"They gave you wings. Like me," she said, moving a bit in the cage. Then, suddenly, I see them. Long, light brown wings were sprouting from her back, the same color as her hair.

"The School is a lab. They basically experiment on people, usually horrible, painful experiments. I'd say you and I lucked out, but a lot of people die soon after the wings are put on. I'm probably the longest lasting experiment of theirs," she murmured. I stared at her with my mouth open. Could she actually be telling the truth? Should I believe her? She seemed quite crazy, along with the fact she was so casual about having freaking WINGS. Or maybe this was just a dream, and I had to wake up.

The only question I could think of popped out of my mouth. "How long have you been here?"

"Oh, 2 years or so?" she said, staring off into the distance like she was thinking. Then the door to the room we were in started to rattle. "Oh, God, you can't deal with this yet. Act like you're still out cold!" she whispered. I closed my eyes right as the door opened.

A harsh voice rang out from the direction of the door. "Ready, Piper?" it snarled.

"What would you do if I said no?" the girl said, as if she did this every day.

"This," the voice said, and then I heard a loud cracking sound. Then, the sound of a cage unlocking and Piper being dragged out of it. When the door slammed, I cracked open my eyes to see if the coast was clear. Then, I sat up as well as I could in the cage, and started to think. About everything; what had happened to my dad, about what the girl just told me, and what had happened to me. I now had wings, for Christ's sake. It had been a while when the door finally creaked open. I laid my head against the cold metal side of the cage and closed my eyes. When the door was slammed shut again, I looked over to the girl's cage. She was lying there, curled up in a ball. Her face had a huge gash down the side, and it was bleeding profusely.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked softly, all thoughts of my dad leaving my head. This girl probably knew everything about wherever I was, and I needed her to help me get used to it. She grumbled, and turned over so her face was facing me.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" she growled, clearly angry.

"God, I'm sorry for being concerned," I snapped back.

"Well, for your information, this type of thing happens every day here. So you better have a great tolerance for pain, or gain one quick," she said, finally sitting up. She rubbed the large cut on her face and her hand came back, crimson red. "Apparently they don't have the decency to patch me up," she muttered, ripping a piece of fabric from her t-shirt and holding it to her wound.

"What….what did they do to you?" I asked, still concerned, even though she acted like it was no big deal.

"Oh, they were just testing my endurance. Again. They usually do that two or three times a week."

"And what does that entail exactly?"

"Oh, just running on a treadmill until I collapse. Nothing new." I stared at her in shock. She acted like this abuse was no big deal. "What?" she said when I wouldn't look away.

"Nothing," I said, looking up at the ceiling.

There was a long silence, and then she broke it with a question. "Do you want to hear how I got here?" I heard her murmur, and then saw her big, blue eyes staring at me.

"Sure."

Mmm, now I have to figure out Piper's story. Lovely. Review pleasee (: