Hey everyone. Did you miss me? Well, I hope so. School is insane. I got a lot of work, but I like all of my classes so far. Creative writing and AP US History especially. Band is great too. I've been having so much fun. I just want to thank so many of you for the reviews, but I'd like to thank one person in particular. Sonya Rivers, you are amazing. I thank you so much for what you say to me on Max-Dan-Wiz. You guys should definitely read her stories. They are amazing. On that note, I also recommend you read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are amazing authors and even more amazing supporters. Okay, time for another chapter, finally. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Flying. My favorite thing to do in the whole world. The wind rushing through my hair, feeling so free, the adrenaline, it was all so amazing. I felt powerful. I'm telling you guys, it's indescribable.

Of course, it gave me a lot of time to think. It's sometimes hard to talk while flying because the wind can drown out your words. The good news was that I was more focused on where we were going than anything. I was anxious to meet this acquaintance of Jeb's. I was also wondering if Tanner would show up. I knew he would, it was just a matter of when.

I had woken up as a totally different person. I had gone out and caught a rabbit for breakfast and didn't say one mean word when Skye said that he wasn't going to eat it. I just shrugged and said, "Okay, more for me and Jewel.". He eventually broke down and ate it and I smiled to myself. He wasn't going to get to me.

I started to wonder where we were, so I signaled to Jewel to fly a little lower so we could check out down below. We were exactly where we were supposed to be, so we signaled up to Skye and descended to earth.

Once on the ground, I checked my watch. Three in the afternoon. That meant we had time for a quick lunch. I suggested it to Jewel and she was all for it, so we walked around until we found a small diner.

We walked in and every head in the place swiveled in our direction. Great. I just loved being the center of attention. Of course Martin, Tennessee had to be a small town. Where else could a contact of Jeb's live? Ooh, I know. How about in a big city where people aren't easily traced?

"What can I do you for sweetie?" the lady at the counter said, smiling real big. She had Dolly Parton like hair, long red nails, and tons of makeup. She was wearing one of those waitress outfits like in the movies and her name tag said: Louise. She did seem nice though, so I used my manners.

"Well, we'll actually eat anything. Could you suggest something? Just no tomatoes please." I told her, sitting down on one of the stools while Jewel hopped next to me and Skye sat next to her.

She smiled. "I'll see what I can do." She thought for a second and said, "How does a turkey sandwich sound? With some lemonade?"

"Sounds good to me. How about two for each of us?" I asked.

She frowned slightly and said, "If you're sure you can eat it."

I nodded. "Trust me, we can and then some."

She laughed and said, "Alrighty then." She turned towards the kitchen and shouted, "Hey Steve! I need six turkey sandwiches hold the tomato!"

I heard a man shout, "Who you feedin' in there Louise?"

Louise shook her head and shouted back, "Just some kids!" She turned back to us and said, "Don't mind him. He's just sore 'cause his wife made him quit smokin'. That and he's just plain nosy."

I nodded politely and took the lemonade she handed to me a minute later. I swirled my straw around the glass for a second before taking a sip. It was good. Nice and cold.

All of a sudden, I felt someone come up behind me and reach their hand around. I whipped my head around and saw that it was just Skye, reaching for a napkin in the dispenser next to me.

I turned around to hide my face, but I noticed Louise smile and wink at me which probably made everything worse.

Soon she brought out our sandwiches and asked, "Mind if I ask where ya'll are from?"

I noticed Jewel and Skye tense up, but I wasn't worried. Besides my mother's good looks and smarts, I also inherited her uncanny ability to be able to come up with a believable story in a split second under any condition.

"We're from Chicago. My dad's here on business." I pointed to Skye and Jewel. "My friends wanted to come and he said it was no problem."

She nodded and said, "'Kay. Just curious." I was on my second sandwich when she asked, "You kids want some pie?"

I shook my head. "No, we can't really afford it." Yeah, I know I had the credit card, but I didn't want to have to use it except for emergencies. As it was, this meal was going to use up the last of the money that Skye stole.

She sat down a piece of cherry pie right in front of me. "Don't worry 'bout it. It's on the house." She then handed me a fork and gave Jewel and Skye some pie too.

I eyed the pie, carefully, but ate it anyhow. I was hungry. That rabbit I had caught earlier was nothing but fur and gristle. Yuck. It was gone in less than five minutes and so were Jewel and Skye's.

"So, how much do we owe you?" I asked, standing up and reaching into my pocket.

She shook her head. "I said it was on the house."

"No." I stated. "You can't let me do that."

She continued to shake her head stubbornly. "I don't want your money. Now, go on. I assume you got places to go."

She headed back towards the kitchen and I slipped a ten dollar bill under my pie plate when I noticed she wasn't looking. She had made a nice offer, a kind gesture, but I couldn't accept it.

I walked out the door followed by Skye and Jewel. I stepped outside, turned around, and saw Skye standing right in front of me.

"What?" I asked, walking backwards.

"You know what." he told me. He looked ticked to say the least. "That woman in there wasn't going to make us pay and you left her ten dollars. We could have used that."

"Well excuse me for having morals Skye." I told him, trying to keep an even temper. "Excuse me for doing the right thing." I whipped around and pulled the piece of paper with the address Jeb gave me on it.

"Whatever Princess." he muttered softly under his breath.

I jerked around fast and yelled, "I heard that!" before turning back around.

Jewel, who was walking next to me, mumbled, "If they fight again, I swear…" so I patted her on the shoulder, assuring her that there would be no fight.

We walked around for a while before I found the right road. We walked a little further along and found the right house. I immediately wished we hadn't. The house was a dump. Paint was peeling off the sides and the gate was broken. The yard wasn't in the best shape either. The grass was brown and in desperate need of trimming and there was an old rusty car parked in front of the house.

We stepped onto the porch and I thought I heard some kind of animal growling under the porch. I didn't know if it was a dog or worse. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Skye shake his head, a disgusted look on his face. I rang the doorbell and heard a crash.

"Crap!" shouted a voice from inside. "Stupid chair!"

I turned to Jewel, unsure of what to do. Should we just run? No, Jeb wouldn't have told me to come see this guy if he couldn't be of some help. Right?

Finally, the door swung open. A man, about my parents age I suppose, opened the door, looking like he had just recently been awoken by… I dunno… three kids ringing his doorbell.

"Hey, who're you kids and what are you doin' here?" he asked, jumpier than my parents. Well, of course if he was a friend of Jeb's he'd have to be at least a little paranoid. If he wasn't, it'd be weird.

"We're friends of Jeb Batchelder." I informed him.

His eyes went wide and he made to shut the door, but I stuck my foot in it. "Oh no. Heck no. No. I am not doing anything else for Jeb. Do you have any idea how many times I've had to move? How many bombs have exploded in my house? How many people have tried to kill me? Whatever it is my answer is: no."

"Listen." I said, pulling on the door. "He just wants you to give us a place to spend the night. We'll be out of here tomorrow."

He looked at me hard. "You one of them bird kids?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

I nodded. "All three of us are."

He stared at me harder and said, "You look familiar."

I shook my head. "We haven't met."

"No, I mean I've seen your face somewhere before. A long while back ago." He stared off into space, snapped his fingers, and said, "Oh crap. That kid. What was his name? Fang?"

"You know my uncle?" I asked, really wanting to hear this story.

He looked just as confused as I was. "Uncle? He ain't your dad? You look enough like him."

I nodded. "My mom was his twin sister. You probably never met her. My dad… Iggy. You didn't know him did you?"

He frowned. "Iggy? Tall kid? Strawberry blonde hair? Blind right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, that's my dad."

He sighed. "Well, no use standing outside. Come in and shut the door behind you quickly."

We did as he told us and I was disgusted by the inside of the house too. Dirty dishes were on the coffee table, the carpet looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in a long time, and there was trash everywhere.

The guy noted my face. "Excuse me. The maid hasn't dropped by."

I rolled my eyes and sat down on the floor. Jewel sat next to me and Skye just leaned against the wall.

"I guess you should know our names." I told him. "I'm Melody, this is Jewel, and that's Skye."

He nodded and said, "I'm Mike."

I thought the name rang a bell, but I couldn't put my finger on it. "So, how do you know Jeb?" I asked.

Mike sighed and plopped down on the couch. "He contacted me 'bout…" He rubbed his face with his hand. "… I dunno… fourteen years ago. Wanted me to hack… Itex or something. I did and got him a bunch of files. Paid me for it. After that I kept having the oddest things happen to me. Like I said, bombs, death threats, and warnings. I'm schizo, so it made everything worse."

I suddenly knew who this was. "You're the MIT hacker guy the flock met on that subway tunnel. You helped Fang get a message to basically the whole world."

He nodded. "I take it… Fang musta mentioned me to Jeb which is how he found me."

I nodded and took out the laptop. I noticed Mike eyeing me and looked up. "What?"

"Two questions. One: What are you doing? Two: Can I see?"

"A blog and yeah, you can take a look."

He walked over to me and bent over, reading over my shoulder as I typed up a new blog.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Whadda ya mean I'm crazy?"

I shrugged. "Spice up the reading a little."

He looked at me and nodded. "Yeah. Right." He watched a little more and then said, "Pretty sweet computer. Pretty old too though."

"Yeah. It was Fang's. It's hack and track proof."

"Cool." Mike whispered in awe. He then looked up at Skye and Jewel. "Wanna explain how you guys ended up travelin' together? And where are your parents?"

I closed the laptop and said, "I was kidnapped a little over a month ago. Itex. Anyway, Jewel and Skye were my… roommates I guess you'd say. We just busted out."

He nodded again. "These Itex people. What do they do exactly?"

I rolled my eyes. "What don't they do? Graft wings on to poor innocent kids, ruin lives, torture children, and destroy families."

Mike quietly said, "When I was hacking their files for Jeb I saw some pretty sick stuff. I remember something called… the 'E' virus. Can't remember what it did exactly, but it was pretty nasty."

I heard Jewel let out a loud yawn and decided we need to head for bed. Mike led me and Jewel to an empty room and tossed us some covers and pillows. Skye got the couch again.

I was asleep before my head even touched the pillow.

Yes, I brought Mike the MIT hacker guy into the story. He's my favorite minor character, so deal with it. Since Mel updated her blog, I'm updating the one on Max-Dan-Wiz. Really sorry this took a while to put up. I had some delays. Hope you liked it anyway. Hope to get tons of reviews. Bye.