Hello!

So I've been writing so much on this story recently - just finishing up Chapter 7 now - that I thought I'd give you a second chapter this week. It's one of two mini-chapters that I felt needed to be put in for the sake of understanding Fang's mental processes, so I may double-update next week too until the real chapters start.

Enjoy. x

Chapter 2: Decommissioning

The smirk melted right off his face when he was hauled into the hallway, finding himself face-to-face with two more looking far too smug for his liking. Now he wasn't a valuable commodity to the School, the first thing one of these Erasers did was punch the bird kid squarely in the stomach. Fang found himself sagging in the arms of his escorts in pain, as close as they would allow him to curling up into a ball.

"Playing with this one would have been fun," the Eraser grunted as Fang regained his composure, letting the feeling of nausea the impact created slide away. Around him the other Erasers agreed, hauling him back upright and tightening the preteen's arms behind his back until his shoulders began to prickle with pain. The statement made him wonder if decommissioning was usually a trip to the exercise yard - a place he hadn't seen since he was four when Jeb taught him to fly – to be torn to pieces by Erasers.

If so, where am I going? He asked himself.

His bare toes clipping the floor, Fang was forced to stumble along with the group of Erasers as they dragged him through a series of winding corridors. Every attempt he made to wrench his arms from their grip resulted in a clawed swipe across his face, or a sharp kick to the back of his knees to make him stumble, followed by a retightening of his arms until he was sure one would soon pop out of its socket.

Eventually they turned another corner and came face to face with a lift; they were so far from his crate he recognised nothing. Even the walls were a different colour on this side of the School, painted a soft magnolia instead of stark white.

The lift doors opened, and he was greeted with a small, white box-shaped space, much like an enlarged dog crate but without the bars. A small part of him panicked upon noticing there were no windows set into the room either, and when the erasers behind him attempted to drag him inside Fang dug his heels into the floor with everything he had.

"Afraid of a little tin box, bird boy?" The Eraser on his left asked, hoisting him painfully from the ground by his twisted arm. "This is nothing compared to where you're going."

Without really thinking, Fang smashed his head backwards, feeling the back of his skull collide with the Eraser's forehead. The monster stumbled, letting go of his arm, allowing Fang to spin on the spot and aim a fist at the eye of the Eraser on his right. It connected with a sickening crack, the force of the blow snapping the Eraser's cheekbone, and the creature fell back howling with pain.

A sharp kick to the back of his leg and Fang fell to one knee. Before he could react, something struck him hard in the cheek, sending him sprawling onto his side. Instantly a pair of hands was pulling him roughly to his feet. His face burned where a bruise was now blossoming, and his legs felt weak and shaky from both the previous impact and the adrenaline flooding his system. It was at this moment, as he was being dragged into the lift backwards, that he looked up.

There, standing just twelve feet away, was Jeb. And he looked horrified.

He struggled against the arms hauling him into the lift. "Jeb-"A cuff to the face silenced his shout, the clawed hand digging into the flesh on his forehead. A thin trickle of blood began to weave down the contours of his face, and it wasn't until he looked up a second time that he realised there was a young girl standing there too, a similar expression of horror on her face. She was tall and thin, with a wave of sun-kissed brown hair falling to her shoulders and light brown eyes that were wide in shock. She wore exactly the same clothes as he did - a grey smock over sweatpants of the same colour – and like him did not possess shoes.

"I didn't authorise this." Fang finally tuned into the conversation taking place beside him, and was surprised to hear the ever ice-cool Jeb raising his voice. A glance showed his face to be flushed a deep red, and his usual cold smile was straightened into a tight-lipped seriousness.

One of the Erasers flipped Fang around and shoved him into the lift, right into the arms of two Erasers already poised to catch and restrain him. "Doesn't matter, old timer." The Eraser's voice was scratchy. "You removed him from your charge years ago. His decommissioning is up to his carers, and they all agreed – he's too much hassle."

Fang was turned around in time to see Jeb sending him a look, but could not determine what the emotion attached to it was. His former carer stormed away just as the lift doors were closing, and Fang got one last glimpse of the girl as Jeb took her hand and began to march her down the corridor. She took a single glance back at him.

Then the lift doors closed, and Fang's life at the School was over.