Chapter 2

"What are your names?" I asked while placing a few fruits on the counter in front of the children. They began picking at the apples and pears while observing Fang and I. The flock were still outside playing.

"I'm Mela. This is A.J., he doesn't talk much." The girl ran a hand through her hair to pull the strands past her ear. Her dark eyes squinted to stare at me. She gave a quick smile before taking a bite of the melon in her hand.

"Are you like us?" I asked, "Were you in cages?" I felt angry at the idea of these kids trapped, like my flock and I, in the School. Had they gone through countless experiments or had they been rescued soon enough that they had no memories.

"Nope," Mela replied, "We have a mom and dad. No cages for us, not ever. There are pictures of us at the hospital with mom. She keeps the picture in her wallet." I realized how well her speaking was. There was no flaw, so she must've been smart.

I stared at A.J. for a moment, he had a pouting lower lip, a bit of drool in the corner. I reached to wipe it away. He slapped my hand away and glared at me. Mela was the one to explain what had just happened. "A.J. doesn't trust people easily. Mom says it's a problem. The only people he gets along with are me, mom, and dad."

"Why?" A.J. tilted his head, wiping away the drool, before grabbing an apple slice and then going to leave the room. Fang placed a hand on my shoulder lightly before following after the boy to make sure he didn't get into trouble.

"One day, when we went to the park- a man and woman met A.J. and I on the slide. They had sharp teeth, green eyes, and kind of furry. One of them grabbed A.J. and hurt him real bad. Dad and Mom had to heal him. Then," Mela took a bite of food, ate it, and then continued, "Mom said 'Don't ever trust anyone who does not like your father or I. Don't go near strangers, even if they say they know who we are.'" Mela shivered. "Mom was real scared."

"When did the woman who brought you here find you?" Mela shrugged. She was busy working on the grapes. "Anything important I should know Mela."

"Can I meet the rest of the flock?" She jumped down from the stool. Height wise she went up to my thigh. Again, she was pushing back her hair out of her face. "Are they out swimming?" I smiled.

"So, you've never been in a lab before?" I asked, just to make sure I had it right. That would mean Nudge's mom had lied to me about where these children came from. Who were they? Were they nature working on its own? Evolution stepping up and taking its own path without the use of science? Maybe.

"No," Mela whined now sending me this harsh glare saying I better drop it. "Can I please go see your family? I've always wanted to know if others had wings like my family." I pushed open the glass door and let her walk outside. She said her family- did her parents have wings? Maybe Itex grafted wings on to her parents backs like they did to the Erasers.

Just as Mela started down the stairs, Angel was walking up. "Hello," Mela said with a bright white smile, "My name is Mela. Who are you?" Angel looked up at me and I shrugged- it was best not to explain everything that had just happened.

"Angel," was the response Mela got back.

"I'm living with you now. So is my brother A.J. but he doesn't like people so you should meet him after he gets use to Fang and Max." Angel looked the girl up and down. "Can you introduce me to the rest of the flock? I think Max wants to go see where my brother and Fang went off to."

How did she know?

I hadn't thought it.

But I had the urge to do so.

Angel lead Mela down towards the beach after sending me a look that said "I hope you will tell me about this later." I stepped back into the house and went in the direction that Fang and A.J. had disappeared too. I entered the living room, with the large couch and television. The rooms walls were covered in books.

I saw Fang's head just over the couch. The TV was on to a cartoon that I didn't recognize. I came around the couch to see that little A.J. was leaning against the edge of the couch staring at the television, sucking his thumb, as far from Fang as possible.

Fang turned to face me and gave a shrug. I slipped into sit next to him. The little boy was propped up on his elbows, sitting on his legs, while watching the cartoon. Fang rested an arm on my shoulder. I leaned against him, feeling his heartbeat.

Did he say anything to you? I asked, knowing Fang would hear. I took a deep breath and sighed, pretending I wasn't doing anything.

No, Mela say anything interesting? Fang responded. Suddenly, A.J. was peering over his shoulder at us. I gave a shrug as I twiddled my finger around my hair in thought.

Yeah, I'll tell you later. I managed that thought before A.J. observed Fang and I. We didn't move, hoping not to scare him. He looked like a little lost puppy. Then, he came towards us. He crawled over, he was a bit taller than Mela from what I could tell. He wasn't sucking on his thumb anymore. When he was inches away from us, he titled his head and looked at us closely. Then, he opened his wings up a bit to stretch them out.

Finally, A.J. closed the gap between him and I. His small arms wrapped around my neck and he pressed his face against my neck. I felt liquid touch my cheeks as a loud wail erupted through him. He was shaking all over. Instinctively, as if he was always part of my flock, I wrapped my arms around his tiny body. I shushed and cooed at him like I had often done with Angel or Gazzy when they were around his age.

I adjusted as that was I was facing Fang. He too, wrapped us up in a tight embrace. Fang's head rested on mine as we let A.J. cry. I wondered if he would say anything but he just cried. His heart was beating faster than most bird kids. "It's all right A.J., I'll protect you." I whispered. Where were his parents? Why weren't they taking care of him?

Minutes later his crying dulled.

Then, he fell asleep in my arms.

Fang and I kept hugging, holding on to him to keep him safe.