Fang POV

If you stay, the Flock will die. Leave and your family will survive.

Those words floated around my head as I flew further and further away from my loved ones. I had to stay away from the Flock, it was their own good.

Tears threatened to stream down my face as I flew faster and faster away from home. My heart felt like it was being ripped out. I am leaving Max, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel. I'm leaving Max… I can't imagine what she is thinking right now. I said I wouldn't come back for twenty years, but even being away from twenty minutes was draining the life away from me. This was worse than when the Flock split up; at least I had Iggy and Gazzy then. Now I have no one. Trying to keep the emotions off of my face was physically impossible.

But why, Fang? Why leave when it is causing you and the Flock pain.

Because if I stayed, someone was going to kill them. I received a phone call when I got home after the wedding.

"Hello?" I asked when I picked up.

There was heavy breathing on the other side, then finally they spoke up, "Fang, hello. I am not going to tell you my name, but I am going to tell you a very important message." They paused and then started up. I was silent. "The Flock are all chipped, yes including you. I can tell at anytime where any of you are. I want you away from the Flock, or they will all die. I won't kill them fairly either. They will not even know they are dead when I killed them. If you stay, the Flock will die. Leave, and your family will survive." The voice stopped, waiting for my answer.

My fists and jaw clenched, "Who the hell is this?" All that was running through my mind was the Flock being murdered in their sleep. Even though they were light sleepers, they could still easily be bombed. "How do you know this phone number?"

The voice on the other side laughed evilly, "Fang, just do what I instruct. Don't imply that you received this message, or they will die. We will be monitoring you for the next couple of hours. If you are not miles away from them, say bye bye Flock." The person hung up.

I was miles away from the Flock. Miles away from Max. At any moment I was willing to give up and just go back, but that would kill them all. Which would kill me on the inside. I shook my head. Quickly I pulled my wings in close to my back and started free falling. My life can't get any worse, so I might just have a little air before I d-…

Ooof!

Something hit me halfway through my fall. They were flying upwards and caught me. I outstretched my wings and began flying again. I just tried killing myself. What the hell, Fang? I looked at the thing that caught me. It was a girl. Not a human girl, no, this girl had wings. Her wings were longer than mine, longer by about a foot or so. She had light brown hair and bright blue eyes. She was tall and muscular. If this girl had blonde hair, from behind she would look like Max. Oh shit… Max.

The girl stared at me, then three other figures started flying in behind her, "Who are you?" She said. She looked like she was seeing things.

I hovered in the air and looked at her. Her wings were huge. They were mostly black, but on the outside there were white feathers placed randomly. "I'm…" Should I tell her my real name? Might as well, "I'm Fang." I crossed my arms over my chest and switched my eyes over to the three other figures that joined us. They all looked at me like I was a freak. But we all had wings…

The girl nodded. "Hi," She said, "I'm Hawk." She smiled and looked at a little boy who looked about ten. He had shaggy brown hair and a darker blue shade of eyes."That's Xavier, my little brother." Hawk looked at a girl who was about my age, "This is Janie," Janie looked at me with giant brown eyes that matched her wings perfectly. She gave a small wave. Hawk looked at a boy who looked to be about twenty, "This is Josh." Josh looked like he could kick my ass, kill me, bring me back to life, and kick my ass again. I, the infamous Fang, just admitted that this guy scared the crap out of me. Josh had light green eyes, platinum hair, and he was huge.

Hawk looked back at me, worried, "Why did you just fall out of the sky like that. You have wings and they seem to be working perfectly. Did you forget how to use them?" She asked sarcastically.

I gave a rare smirk, "No, I remembered how to use them. But I forgot that tonight's episode of America's Next Top Model was on, so I started diving down to get to the nearest TV possible." Sarcasm was practically dripping off of every word I said.

"Oh, you just want to know how to be fierce?" Hawk smiled and looked back at her own flock that was laughing behind her. "Let's go land, there are no clouds and someone is going to ask questions." Her flock nodded, but I was a little hesitant at first. Hawk noticed this and sighed, "We won't do anything bad. Promise." They all started flying down, and I slowly followed them.

We all landed in a cave that was… how do I put this? … decked out. There were beds, furniture, TV's, a kitchen. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. "Welcome to casa de la owl children." She smiled and shook her wings. So they are part owl. That would explain why their wings were so big.

"So, Fang." The little boy, Xavier, looked up at me. "Why are your wings so… small? Mine are almost as big as yours and I am only ten." Xavier spread out his huge snowy white wings. They were magnificent.

"I am part avian, not owl. You had owl DNA mixed with you. I had avian DNA mixed with me. An avian is much smaller than an owl. That would explain why my wings look tiny to you." I looked over at Josh who was spreading out his light brown, twenty foot wings. Yes, you heard me, twenty foot wings.

Xavier said a little 'oh' and sat down on a bed.

"Why aren't you with a flock?" Janie said suddenly. How did I know this question was going to come up?

I was hoping someone would say 'that's none of our business', but they all just stared at me intently, waiting for an answer. I took a deep breath and began, "Have you ever loved someone so much that it hurt?" All of them seemed shocked that I started off my story like that, but they all nodded. "Well, I loved my Flock. A couple of hours ago, someone called our house and told me that if I didn't leave, they would all be killed. I could have stayed and tried to find out who called, but that would end up with my family ending up dead. I left, trying to get as far away from them as possible. Soon, I am going to find out who was threatening my loved ones." I bit my lip and looked down at the gravel. I was never that open to anyone, but Max. For some weird reason, I trusted these people.

They all nodded and sat down on their beds. Hawk was the first to speak up after the silence, "You can stay with us." She said. "We will do our best to help you and your flock. We will do some research tomorrow. Let's get some rest first. Would you mind sleeping on the couch, Fang?" She looked at me.

"A couch is better than a tree branch." I said. She nodded and laid down in her bed, as did the others.

I lay there on the couch, tired, but not able to fall asleep. I sat up slowly and walked to the mouth of the cave. The cave was a hole in a cliff, thousands of feet above the ground. I sat down and let my feet dangle off of the side. The stars and moon were shining down onto the meadow that was underneath me. The events of earlier today came flooding back to me. Max and I walking down the aisle at Total's wedding, Max looking gorgeous in her black dress, coming home because I hate dancing, getting that stupid call, leaving, and now ending up with a totally different flock of people. This was a very interesting, sad, heartbreaking, and awkward day.

My heart almost fell out of my butt when someone sat next to me. Hawk gave a small smile and looked out to the meadow. I didn't even hear her come up from behind me. "So, who is she?" She whispered, not wanting to wake anyone up.

I raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb." She said, "You tried killing yourself today, your speech had everything to do with loved ones, and you are sitting here deep in thought. Actually, you are in such deep thought that you didn't hear me come up behind you." Hawk smiled, "So, who is the girl who has your heart."

I sighed. Damn, this girl was a good emotion reader. "Her name is Max; Maximum Ride. I have known her since we were both genetically enhanced at a science lab in California. Isn't that romantic?" I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair.

There was silence for a few minutes. "Where are we anyway?" I asked her.

"North Dakota." She said. Hawk looked at me with her bright blue eyes, "How do the people who called you know if you are with your flock or not?"

My face was calm and cool, "The person who called me said it was because we are all chipped, but Max and I had received x-rays before and never once was there a chip on the picture. Well, actually, Max had a chip, but it was removed. She was the only one with a chip. That means the person is close to the Flock." I mentally went through the list in my head:

Jeb – No, it didn't matter how messed up Jeb was, he knows not to separate the Flock.

Dylan – No, he isn't smart enough… okay maybe he is, but just let me be happy with thinking he is dumb.

Dr. Martinez (Max's mom) - No, Max would kill me for even considering her.

Itex – Wait a second… I am going to keep them on the list. That is a giant group of crazy, messed up people.

My ex, Lissa – Just because you don't like her, Fang, it does not mean she will kill your family.

That list only left Itex. Why would Itex want me away from the Flock? I thought they wanted Max? And Itex isn't close to the Flock. So many questions, so little time.

"We should get to bed, I guess we can talk in the morning." Hawk said to me. "G'night."

"Good night." I said as I walked over and fell onto the couch, drifting into sleep. I had questions and if I didn't get answers soon; I think I would go insane.