Chapter One- The Lone Ranger

Flying was my one escape. I loved to soar in the air. It made me forget everyone who was chasing me and those who I had to chase myself. But as flew towards the place that had once been my prison I felt nervous. Would people be waiting for me? Who remained there? What remained there? I had almost talked myself out of going there but I had to I needed information. I was head towards the school and I needed to find my brother.

When I was a baby my brother and I had been taken to the school. We had Avian DNA grafted into us so we had wings and other things related to birds. There had been another girl who was part Avian too and four more had joined us in time. I had never gotten to see the five others. A day after I had the DNA grafted I was separated from the other two. The white coats at the school had decided that my DNA was the strongest. I was tested on more than the other Avian-Human Hybrids. I was also a test to see if we operated best as a flock or on our own. My brother never knew who I was but I knew who he was. The white coats showed me everything about his life and the other hybrids. Then they escaped with Jeb Bachelder. When that happen I was allowed out of isolation and was free to roam the rest of the school. I had been kept in a small part of the school in isolation the only people I ever saw were the white coats

Up until a couple of months ago, I had heard nothing of my brother. Then I heard the youngest of the flock was back in the school. I was put in isolation again. A few days later all the rest of the flock had been captured. I tried to see my brother but was stopped by the people guarding me. The flock escaped and for the second time I was left behind. I followed them through a blog they were keeping and from what the scientists were saying. They had been captured again but again they had escaped before I could talk to them. Then came the collapse of I-tex.

All the experiments were being 'retired'. I was left in the hands of one of the younger scientists to be killed, Miranda Collins. She had been the only scientist who had been kind to me in my whole life. I went to sleep the night before I was supposed to be killed. I awoke in a cupboard with a note and enough food for a few weeks from Miranda saying she couldn't kill me and to stay in the cupboard until everyone left for the big I-tex meeting in Germany and then to escape. The minute I was sure they had all left I bolted. For the past three months I had been flying around trying to survive.

A couple of days earlier I was sleeping on the ground of a field of thick grass because I had nowhere better to crash. When I woke up there was a newspaper dated three months earlier lying a foot or so away from me. On the front page, there was a detailed article on the fall of I-tex. The flock has been at the heart of it. I had really fallen behind being on the run and all that. So I set of for the school to find my brother and the flock.

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to say to them. I could picture how stupid I would look. "Hi I'm your long lost twin sister and get this I'm part bird too... You're wondering why I wasn't raised with you. Yeah the school is even more sadistic than you thought." Yup, most definitely stupid. It wasn't just meeting my brother I was worried about. It was the rest of the flock, particularly Maximum Ride. I was insanely jealous of her; she got to grow up being like a sister to my brother whom I was separated from when I was a month old and had only ever seen through a window or in photo's. She had a proper family and a flock. I hated her so much. I didn't know or care that much about the other four flock members I just called them, the blind guy, the chatty one, Sir-farts-a-lot and the mind reader.

I had reached the school now. I landed softly on my feet about 100 feet away from the building. It looked run-down, like no-one had been in it for months. Three months to be exact. I walked up to the building and pushed open the main door.

"Hello?" I called my voice echoed around the school. No-one answered. I never thought I'd be back here at least not on my own terms. I walked the white, dusty, halls that were coated in spider webs. My breathing spiked up in fear. I walked slowly, cautiously through the school. I went into the room where all the monitors for the security cameras were typing in a code at the metal door. The monitors were working but all of them were still, I was alone.

I left the room and went into the once brightly lit room that was now dark. I flicked on the light switch and went over to the large central computer. I turned it on and waited for it to boot up. I typed in the password that I had seen the white coats type in. I knew all of I-tex's passwords; I had a photographic memory and in the cupboard I was hiding in there were lists and lists of passwords, for the school, the institute and all of I-tex. They were quite careless actually. To just leave them lying around like that.

I clicked on a folder labelled Human-Avian Hybrids and then another that said Experiment F6598235B. I typed in another password and waited for the file to load, it gave me all the information I needed.

Experiment F6598235B

Human- Avian Hybrid

Born: 30th January 1994

Taken: 20th February 1994

DNA: Grafted 25th February 1994

Escaped: 6th June 2004

Father: Unknown

Mother: Christina Phillips

Siblings: Fraternal twin sister Experiment F6598235A also taken on 20th February 1994 and Avian DNA grafted 25th February 1995. Separated on 26th February 1995.

Known to flock members as: Fang

Possible locations: Colorado, House of agent Anne Walker in Washington DC, House of Dr Valencia Martinez in Arizona.

After that there were a lot of test results and pictures, videos and audio. I printed the file for proof to show to Fang that we were related. I opened my file it was very similar but had a lot of notes about being in a flock verses being solo. I could tell them which one I would have preferred. I found the location of Dr Martinez's house. I also borrowed a considerable amount of cash from the school's stock. Let's just call it payment for the last fourteen years. I was starting to get quite tired. I would need to sleep and soon. Since I wasn't up for sleeping in my old dog crate, I left the school quickly and found a tree that would have to do. I drifted into unconsciousness and let sleep wash over me.

I dreamt of the school again, it was a reoccurring nightmare that never left me. I dreamt I was a little baby again in pain from the graft being torn away from my brother the one familiar thing in my life. I loved him and was scared. I started to cry loudly. I awoke with a start and almost fell out of the tree I was sleeping in. I wiped the tears from my eyes. I hardly ever cried but recently I had been waking up with tears streaming down my face after having that dream. It scared me a little. I guess all the years of abuse were coming back to haunt me psychologically. Today was the start of my new life, today I would find Fang. I stopped at Mc Donald's on my way eating three Big Macs, two large fries and a chocolate sundae. I was starved. I flew south trying to figure out what to say.

I flew almost all day; I broke into an empty house by picking the lock. It was stocked with food to spend the night in. I slept in a bed for the first time in my life. It felt as sort as candyfloss. All my life up until three months ago I slept in dog crates and after that in trees of on the ground. I made myself Bacon and eggs for breakfast and watch a bit of TV before flying out again taking some food for the road. I flew over a high school and hovered above slightly watching normality. How my life should have been. If I'd had a non-crack addict mom and didn't have wings. I watched a group of girls talking and laugh. Maybe I'd be like them care-free and only concerned about school or dating or rock stars. I sighed and flew on before someone noticed the flying-girl.

When I got to some forests I sat in a tree and ate some lunch. I knew it wouldn't be too much further to Dr Martinez's house. Maybe three hours at the most. I would make it by sundown. I'd do a quick check to see if the flock were there and if not I'd set out to find them. If they were there I wasn't sure what I'd do. I'd probably make it up on the spot. I was good at that. When I had consumed my meagre lunch I sat for awhile looking out at the forest. I wasn't sure what I'd do after I found Fang. Would I stay on my own like the lone ranger I was or stick with the flock. Would they even accept me? I just had the worst feeling that something bad would happen. Knowing me I wouldn't get along with any of them and make bone-headed decisions like always. Was it even worth it? Maybe I should leave Fang in peace and leave the country and just survive somewhere overseas.

Eventually I put all doubts out of my mind. I told myself if I didn't do this I would always regret it and wonder what if. I did that enough already. I didn't need another to add to my ever-growing list of what-ifs. I took to the air again stretching out my dark feathered wings to their full thirteen-foot wingspan. Flying felt free and careless. The ground was terrifying.

I flew for another two hours when I saw a large blob in the distance I flew towards it and it came towards me. It turned into the shape of a tall and thin winged boy, whose wingspan was even wider than mine. As I got closer I started to see myself in him, same black hair, same dark eyes, same features but his were more masculine, same olive skin and the same black feathered wings. My carbon copy with a few tweaks. After fourteen years of missing him and watching him from afar I was finally standing (well hovering) face to face with my brother. The moment I had dreamt for all my life had arrived. Fang was here.

"Who are you, are you a clone of me gone wrong?" he asked scathingly. I shook my head. I pulled the files out of my bag and handed them to him. He just stared at them.

"I'm experiment F6598235A or as I prefer to be called, Violet. I'm your twin sister." I said sincerely and waited for the judgement. The moment of truth had arrived.