I'm awful for not updating.

But to help, I'm trying to make the chapter's as filled as possible.

So I hope it makes up and I'll try harder in the future.

Enjoy.

Layla's POV

"Morning." I said and rubbed my eyes, sensing someone coming up behind me. I turned to see John walking past, his hands were shoved deep into his pockets. "It's about time Layla." Elizabeth chuckled as I smiled and walked to the fridge. "Who's cooking?" I asked, my voice being muffled by another yawn. "Not me, my attempt failed yesterday." Elizabeth said without looking up from her computer. "Not cooking, called it!" Jackie called out. "Me either." I said "Not me." Joey yelled, coming back up the stairs. "Already ate." Searette said while coming down the stairs. We all turned to John as he collapsed into an armchair. "You just made me get Layla up, as if that wasn't long enough." He said and I giggled. We all looked at Devin now. She backed away with her hands up. "Don't look at me. I can't cook." She said hesitantly as we all approached her. I got a frying pan out and walked over. "Everyone can cook. Just some people not well." I said and shoved it into her hands. She sighed loudly as we all snickered.

She moved into the kitchen as I cuddled up on the sofa next to Jackie. She didn't move but leaned her head back.. She was thirteen, so a year younger then me. But I still found her adorable. "What are we going to do today?" I asked cheerily as Searette sat in the armchair left of the couch and Joey sat beside Elizabeth at the kitchen table. John shrugged while Searette picked up his novel. "Something fun." Joey yelled loudly as Elizabeth laughed quietly. "Oh, I know. Let's go shopping!" I said jokingly, but they all took it a little too seriously. "Joey said something fun." Jackie groaned beside me, her eyes shut. John was smirking and Searette matched it.

Suddenly, there was a small sound like a spark catching fire and soon our alarms were going off. We all turned to see Devin waving around a flaming frying pan. "Put it out!" She yelled, waving it away from her. John got up quickly and so did Joey who went to the closet, pulling out the fire extinguished. John grabbed the frying pan from Devin and held it out to Joey who pulled out the pin. All I could see was a huge cloud of white powdery substance as the fire was smothered. The white powder settles leaving a steaming pan and John whose front was covered in white.

I burst out immediately laughing, soon followed by Elizabeth, then Joey, a few snickers from Jackie and even a grin from Searette. Devin was staring at him John, shocked before she started to try and contain her laughter. John just stared annoyed with all of us.

"How is this funny?" He mumbled and put the frying pan in the sink with a loud clank. "I'm so sorry." Devin was trying to get out between her giggles. John smiled a bit at her before looking at his shirt. He left for his room as we all continued to laugh. At least the day had started out on a good note.

Searette's POV

I found myself smiling among all the laughter. My favorite part of the day was when we all laughed, and with us, you could count on us laughing for at least 2 hours per day. "Welp, there's one task done." Joey said and re-pinned the extinguisher. "What do you mean one task?" Layla asked, now getting up and working her way over to the fridge. "Well, the daily task of ruining yet another pan of some sort." He said jokingly as he put the extinguisher in the closet again. Devin tightened her ponytail. "Sorry about ruining your pan." She apologized again. She had been uptight anytime she did the smallest thing wrong. A bit like she was desperate to be accepted.

Layla laughed as Elizabeth chuckled and shut the lid of her computer. "Don't worry. Everyone in this family has burnt at least three." She told Devin. It was true. My number was eight while Jackie held the record at eleven. "Think of it as a right of passage." Layla added as she pulled an apple from the fridge. Elizabeth sighed now, looking at the mess.

"We'll need to clean up." She said. 'Jackie and Devin, you deal with pots and pans, Joey your on sweeping duty. And Searette and Layla are on dishes. I'll go see if John needs help getting that stuff off the back of his head." She said and disappeared up the stairs. "Ditcher!" Joey called after her and we could hear her faint laughs. I shut my book and turned to Percy who sat beside me. "You can help us with the dishes until Luxmi gets up." I told him and he smiled and nodded.

"I'll wash, you dry."Layla said as we collected the dishes. "What should I do?" Percy asked me, collecting a stack of his own. "You stack, Percy." I told him as we moved to the sink near the window. Jackie pulled the pan out of the sink in the island. She inspected it with a frown before turning to Devin who stood beside her. "What was this supposed to be?" Jackie asked bu Devin only shrugged. "Eggs, I think."m She laughed as Jackie smirked at her. Layla turned on the tap and started to fill the sink as Joey got the broom from downstairs.

As Layla started on the first dish, I shrugged my shoulders and let my wings out. They were always stiff after I'd slept. Mine were almost completely white with only small touches of brown on the tips of the back feathers. Layla smiled and did the same, letting out her wings.

"Brown today?" I asked and she smiled. I noticed her think brown hair as well before spotting her nails changing from clear to silver. Layla could change plenty of things about her appearance like her hair colour, nails, wings, even eyes which were a mercury silver today to match her nails.

She handed the first plate to me as I dried it on a hand towel and passed it to Percy. He opened the cupboard before stacking it inside. I could see Devin from the corner of my eye, staring at Percy for some strange reason. I decided not to question it, plenty of people stared at Luxmi too.

We continued and I eyed everyone myself. Joey was muttering something to himself while sweeping. He other sink was overflowing with bubbled as Jackie and Devin tried to stuff in as many pots as they could at once. But then suddenly, Layla let out an earsplitting scream next to me. "What happened?" Joey asked frantically as Layla turned. She was extremely tense as she turned, one hand holding a wet spoon, and the front of her shirt soaked with water.

"It sprayed me!" She cried helplessly as Jackie laughed. I smiled and passed her the towel as she let out a small chuckle. "Mind if I go change?" She asked and I nodded. "Percy and I will finish it." I reassured her as she ran down the hall, holding her sopping wet shirt away from her. I started to wash now and Percy dried. Soon after that, we only needed to stack them, simple as that.

"Good morning." A voice said suddenly. It surprised me and I jumped a bit, loosing my focus. Another shock took over me as Percy dropped a plate and it shattered on the floor. Everyone turned to look as the voice spoke again. It wasn't one I'd ever heard before. "You need to leave now, and quickly please." The voice said and I looked around. No one strange was around, at least not that I could see. I thought of what it had said and wondered why. Shockingly, the voice responded to my thoughts. "There's going to be a battle soon." It told me before I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Searette, you okay?" Joey was looking down at me strangely. I nodded. "Fine." I said quietly before motioning to Percy and running up the stairs towards John's room. I had to tell Lizzy.

Devin's POV

"What's gotten into him?" Jackie asked aloud. Joey got to work sweeping up the broken plate but not before watching Searette disappear down the hall. "Who knows." He said absent minded. I shrugged and started on the dishes again. I filled the pot with soapy water before two hands came from behind and took it from me. "I'll finish up here." John said, now clean and trying to take over. "No, I'll handle it." I said, but he was already pulling it up and above my head. I let him and moved out of the way as he flashed me a ghost of a grin from the side. I felt my cheeks flush a bit and quickly shook my head, remembering not to get attached.

Everything was getting done, so I decided to check on Searette. Joey seemed a bit concerned, and maybe it would help. I followed up the steps and down the hallway. Searette was nowhere in sight as I moved down the hall. John's door was open but i couldn't hear anything, so I went to Elizabeth's door. It was shut, but completely silent, so I decided to go in.

Elizabeth was at her dresser with the small top drawer opened. She was holding something that looked like a small picture frame. She just stared at it, her index finger brushing the picture slightly. She looked remorseful in a way, just standing there like a frozen image. She didn't even notice me come in.

"Elizabeth?" I asked hesitantly. She jumped in surprise before stuffing the frame in the drawer and slamming it tight.

"Devin," She breathed and turned to me with a weak smile. "You scared me."

She wasn't looking at me directly; I watched as the brown speckles in her turquoise eyes darted around the space near me. "Uh... Searette came up here. Have you seen him?" I stuttered. She didn't speak but only shook her head, keeping a tight-lipped smile plastered to her face. "O-okay, thanks." I muttered and rushed out, shutting the door behind me. She was weirding me out.

I looked down the hall and headed toward's John's room. Sure enough, Searette was in there, staring out the window. "Hey, what's up?" I asked, coming to stand next to him. He was up on his toes, leaning forwards like he would jump out of the room at any second. He tared up at the sky with a mild shock, but a small smile formed on his open mouth. I followed his gaze to a big black and moving smudge in the sky.

"The birds..." He trailed of suddenly and peered closer, his brow crinkling He cocked his head like he was listening to something as I looked at the flying smudge. It was only then that I discovered what they were.

"Those aren't birds..."

John's POV

"Elizabeth!" Devin was yelling upstairs as I drained the sink. Jackie was relaxing on the couch while Joey threw out the placte pieces. I could only hear murmurs of speaking before the two shot down the stairs.

"We need to go, now!" Elizabeth said, carrying a bag. It looked like it was carrying a thin, rectangular box of sorts before she stuffed her laptop into it. Then she turned to the non-moving rest of us. " Didn't you hear me? I said now! Grab only the stuff you need, and in two minutes and meet at the door!" She yelled.

Devin rushed past her and down the stairs. It only took two seconds of pause before everyone rushed out of the room. "Layla, start packing!" I heard Jackie start to explain while I watched Elizabeth scrambling to stuff any nonperishable food items she could into her bag. Devin ran up the stairs in less than a minute.

"John, what are you just standing around for?" She panted, putting her bag over her shoulders.

"Does one of you want to explain to me what's going on?" I asked. They both stopped moving and waited fro a few seconds, catching their breath. Girls were so hysterical.

"Flying Erasers." Elizabeth finally gasped.

"A whole pack of them coming." Devin added as thy both started to move again. That was something to be hysterical about. I bolted up the stairs to grab my stuff. It was just one of those days, wasn't it?

Joey's POV

My gun was all I really needed, plus extra bullets of course. I stuffed some cash into my pockets too, not wanting a bag to slow me down. My hair kept getting in my face, so I grabbed a U.S air force cap too before bolting up the stairs. Whatever Elizabeth was freaking out about, it had better of been pretty damn important. Making me run on my bad left foot was killing me.

I grabbed my green military boots and strapped them over my tan cargo pants. John, Elizabeth, Jackie and Devin all were standing by the door. "Where are Searette and Layla?" Elizabeth asked as I noticed her peering out the window, her short brown hair messy and her eyes a little blood-shot.

"Right here!" Searette said and came running up the stairs. A small bag was hooked on his shoulders. "I had to get Luxmi up." He explained before running and putting on his black converse. He rubbed his head, his hand getting lost in his platinum blonde and curly hair.

"And Layla?" I asked just as she came dashing down the hall.

"Sorry, sorry!" She cried as she skidded across the floor on her feet. "I couldn't decide what to pack!" She said, a larger bag was hanging across her left shoulder. Jackie shook her head and smirked before brushing a brown short strand behind her ear.

"Let's Fly!" She shouted and bolted out the door. It looked like more than being worried, this was giving her a rush. And I had to admit it was giving me one too. That was, until the fight actually started. That part wasn't as enjoyable.

Devin's POV

We all ran out after Jackie and took off into the air. But I guess the Eraser's must have been coming faster than we expected. Before we knew it, they were dropping out of the sky. I think the first one hit John, but we all were tackled pretty fast. This couldn't happen, not only after three months!

There were too many to count, and we were much too outnumbered. I tried spitting a few fire balls, but most didn't even make it out of my mouth before I got hit or kicked in the gut. One of my eye's were swelled shut, and from what I could see with my other one, we were definitely loosing. Joey and John were both unconscious Layla was thrown to the ground when she tried to fly, Searette was crumpled at the base of a tree, and Elizabeth and Jackie were being held down like me. And Jackie was loosing it.

"Hey, I remember you. The kitty cat." A specific Eraser stood out and leaned in close to her face. "Man, I thought dogs were supposed to be cute. But your damn ugly." She spat as him and he kicked her in the stomach.

"Oh suck it." He spat at her. Seems like these two knew each other, and well.

"Sorry, I can't put small things in my mouth. Choking hazard, you know?" She gagged and got to her hands and knees before he kicked the side of her head. She was out.

My blood was boiling as I tried to push the Eraser's foot off my chest. My vision started to blur into shades of red.

Oh god, not here. Not now! I screamed at myself. I felt a snapping in my neck as something impacted with the side of my head. The red drained from my vision and I caught a glimpse of the horrific scene before my vision went completely black. It was the first time I'd ever been so happy to be knocked out by someone kicking me in the head.