Chapter 1

I floated lightly over the trees as the sun went down and landed gracefully on a hiking trail near the city, stretching my fourteen foot wingspan from the long flight. Rolling my shoulders, I tucked my bold sky blue wings against my back. You'd think when making an avian-hybrid they'd go with something a little bigger like an eagle or a hawk or something along those lines. I looked like I had blue jay or blue bird or something like that infused into me. I guess with me they just wanted see if a small bird would still produce a good hybrid. Congrats, science guys! You did it! Whatever.

I really liked my wings though. They were white underneath with flecks of black, the white coming through on top some too. Just like a blue jay's wings, only MUCH bigger. Sighing and adjusting my backpack I had stolen while some kid was talking to her friend, I headed into the city, hopes high. There was a newspaper bin outside a coffee shop, and curious, I grabbed one and sat down. Apparently it was May 20th and the paper was raving about an upcoming air show. Ha, they thought planes flying in loops was an air show spectacular. That's not even really flying, it's being propelled by a jet engine through the air. They didn't really know flying until they'd used their own two wings. Oops! Guess that wasn't happening.

I glanced around, wondering what to do next. My stomach was snarling at me, but I had no money and no means of getting any. You can't exactly pick up a job application. Education: none. Past experience: none. References: none. Home address: none. Email: none. Phone number: none. Honestly, I had nothing but two changes of clothes (including the one I was wearing) that I had bought using money that was in the bottom of the backpack. I frowned, thinking I might have to go dumpster diving after McDonald's closed. It sounds gross, but everything they don't sell at the end of the day they throw away, wrapped up and everything. It's perfectly fine.

Just then, something shiny caught my eye. A lonely quarter stared up at me from the curb of the street. Heck yes! That quarter meant a clean change of clothes to me. Immediately, I made a beeline for the laundromat (that I found after some wandering around aimlessly). Inside, I tore open the backpack and plucked the crumpled wads of clothes from it and tossed them into the washer. Inserting my only quarter into the machine, the clothes began to toss in foamy water and yet again I had nothing to do but sit and watch the clothes go around in circles.

Right then, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck. You know the feeling, like somebody's watching you? I got that feeling too often. When you're on the run, you kinda have to be hypervigilant. I whirled, slightly crouched, ready to jump and fly if I needed to, but I didn't see any Erasers. Not even any guys, and all Erasers were boys so far that I had seen. Just two girls who looked like they could be my age (not that I looked my age. For some reason I was taller than your average fifteenish year old girl. I'd say I looked more sixteen or seventeen. I say fifteenish though because there is no way I could know my birthday, but I was pretty sure of the year I was created, just from hearing scientists talk about it). The girls appeared to be identical twins, almost mirror images of each other right from their dirty brown hair down to their torn up jeans. The only real difference between them was that one had dark bruises on the left side of her face, another had scabbed-over scrapes on her arms, red around them like healing bruises. They watched me suspiciously and I returned the gaze. Feeling uncomfortable, I turned around and sat on a bench, counting the number of times the washer spun, just to get my mind off of the twins.

Eighty-six spins later, the twin with the bruises on her face stepped in front of me. Slowly I look up at her damaged face and into her sea-green eyes. She smiled weakly at me. "Hey," she said in a sweet voice. "Are you alright?"

She was asking me if I was alright? "I'm fine," I muttered, glancing away.

"What's your name?" she asked smiling at me. I looked back up at her. What was with the 20 Questions? Was she with the Institute? No, she couldn't possibly be, she was too young. "Er..." My name? Uh, I'd never had one. Never needed one. 'Course I couldn't tell her that. The thought of my wings popped into my head and I blurted out, "Jay."

Well it wasn't very original but it was kinda cool. "I like your name. I'm Sara, and that's my sister, Tara." Tara was leaning against their spinning washer on the other side of the room, glaring at her twin. Way to roll out the welcome wagon.

"What's her problem?" I asked cautiously.

Sara shrugged. "She doesn't really like making new friends." Well I understood that. I think I was more understanding of Tara even though I'd never even talked to her. Just then my washer buzzed signaling the end of the cycle. I opened its door and removed my wet clothes, looking at the dryer but knowing I didn't have another quarter. I opened my backpack to stuff them back in there when Sara held out a quarter to me. "Need this?"

I took it tentatively. "Thanks," I said, slipping it and the clothes into the dryer.

"Where do you live?" she asked.

I almost laughed and suppressed the urge to say 'Nowhere' but instead kept my composure and said "I'm just passing through."

She opened her mouth like she was going to ask something else, when Tara appeared beside her and said, "Well it was nice to meet you, Jay, but we really have to go." Huh. She must have really good hearing. Like really good...

Sara looked at her sadly, but her sister didn't waver. They picked up their laundry bags and made their way towards the door. Sara called over her shoulder, "See you around, Jay!"

I hoped she was wrong. I watched them until I couldn't see them in the window anymore. My mind replayed the conversation over and over. How weird.

After my clothes were dry and back in my backpack with my knife and blanket, the sky had turned to dark indigo velvet, tiny silver stars one by one beginning to appear. By this time my stomach was about to eat itself, so I went around the backs of the few restaurants that were closed this early, and sure enough, found a large supply of good food sitting right on the top of the trash pile in the dumpster. I know it came from a dumpster, but God did it smell good!

I wolfed down the food that was there and wasn't really hungry anymore, so I figured it was time to find a place to sleep. I was pretty beat; it seemed like that day had gone on for a week. I was walking towards a nearby park when I saw two backpacked figures up ahead, silhouetted by streetlights. They stayed in perfect step, and I almost groaned aloud when they stepped into the light.

At that moment, Sara and Tara turned their heads at the same time and saw me behind them, Sara smiling slightly, Tara frowning slightly. Their similarity was so plainly evident, but differences subtly showing the more I saw them. Sara waved me over, and Tara side stepped to make room for me between them. I wasn't all that comfortable with being sandwiched between two strangers, even though I knew I could take both of them if it came to that, so I stood on the other side of Sara. "Are you going home?" I asked, seeing possible accommodations for the night.

"No," Tara answered plainly. "We're going for a walk around the park."

"Oh," I said, suppressing a sigh. That meant I'd either have to pick a new park to sleep in or stay up later. "Me too," I said, deciding it might be good to get to know these girls. They could help me find my way around the town at least. Just be careful not to tell them too much, I reminded myself.

We had just reached the entrance to the park when a large black car came screeching around the corner of the closest intersection. I didn't take the time to wait and see who got out. I just took off running. To my surprise, so did Tara and Sara. We tore down the pathway, just as I heard snarls and guns loading behind us. At this point, I really didn't care who was around. I whipped out my wings and beat down hard, lifting myself into the air, racing upward into the night sky. All I could hear was my heart and my heavy breathing and... bullets? Yes bullets whistling past my ear and all around me. My pulse quickened, turning my blood to ice in my veins. Adrenaline kicked in and I picked up the pace, easily breaking a hundred miles an hour.

Wait... bullets! Crap! They had guns and I had just left Sara and Tara to get away. Oh well, they'd be okay. The Erasers weren't interested in normal people. They'd be alright. They would... I concentrated on the beat of my wings and the sound of the air rushing around them. Up, down, up, down, up, down, one, and, two, and, three, and, four, and. The swish of my feathers against each other was comforting, and soon I couldn't hear bullets or shouts from below. Swish...swish...swish...swish...swish-swish-swish... What? Immediately I looked behind me. Something was throwing off the rhythm. It sounded like...but it couldn't be...no...