A Flock of My Own (Maximum Ride fanfic)

Chapter One

1...a second goes by. 2...Another second imprisoned, another second contained. The clock on the wall has large claw marks scratched across the fine glass. Huh, that wasn't there before.

3...4...I try contorting my body the other way to see if I can stretch out my wings for a bit, but my body is too tired to move and I just end up in another cramped position. 5...I shut my eyes, hoping to at least get a half hour of sleep, especially if howler boy starts howling again.

6...The slight squeak of a door makes my eyes pop open again and I stop counting. I close my eyes and pray that it's not me for once. Loud voices follow, and the howl of, whatever weird mutant besides me, sends shivers down my spine.

"This is the one," A husky male voice says, pointing to the howler boy beside me. As they cart his cart down the hallway, his bloody screeches echo in my brain. Oh boy, guess who's going to have nightmares tonight.

I can hardly tell the difference between my waking life and the nightmares that haunt me as I sleep, but I guess that's kinda good, and sad at the same point.

My life has been this living nightmare for pretty much my whole life. I haven't known any other way of life, not knowing freedom, not knowing joy. Hell, the only joy I get is if I get to count to ten without being interrupted.

Light flooded into the room once again as the scientists came back in, accompanied by two Erasers, their long toenails scratching on the cool metallic floor as their engineered teeth mashed together. Shit, they're even freakier than I am.

"This one, we need this one," I heard them say, and with that, my heart sunk into my chest. I opt to keep my eyes shut. Maybe playing dead will make them chuck my body off the side of a cliff and end this already, but knowing them, it'll probably just make them more curious and they'll saw my body open, you know, 'for science'.

This time they didn't bother lifting my whole crate like the howler boy. The gnarly Erasers unlocked the door, and clenched my scrawny arms and dragged me down the hallway.

"Time to play little girl," they whispered in my ear and cackled. Damn, playing dead doesn't work anymore.

With my limb figure hanging in between them like a puppet, they dug their long claws deeper into my skin, making my arms bleed. The drops of blood ran down my arms, staining them, looking like a spilled grape juice all over them.

They propped me up against a large table, with my hands tied to the wall. I didn't even bother trying anymore, what's the point anyway?

"Experiment number two, look at the screen," A clear female voice spoke, with a tone that was not implying that this was a suggestion.

I squinted at the screen, trying not to pass out.

"Begin the show," she commanded, and the lights went off thank goodness.

A shit ton of images flooded the screen. My weak tired mind wasn't even capable of comprehending it all.

A large farmhouse

A tropical island

A pair of wings

A giant tank with water spilling out of it and nothing but darkness on the inside.

A girl with curly blonde hair

A German Flag

The Effiel Tower

The Statue of Liberty

A girl with giant bat wings

And something that looks like-

Oof! I let out a whine of protest as they jammed a needle into my arm. An Eraser clamped his hand over my mouth so I couldn't scream.

The point of this was what? I thought to myself. Blink. Nothing.

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My head jerked up, clashing on top of the metal bars. Well back in my crate, I guess they still have a use for me after all, I groaned as nausea gurgled in my stomach, great another thing to look forward to.

As I rubbed my head, I tried to figure out what had happened. I remember the light, the erasers gripping on my arms and of course the needle. I know there were images on the screen, but I don't have a single clue about what they were.

Footsteps came again, but this time down the hall and out the door. Loud voices, "Can't wait to go home," one of them exclaimed.

I snorted quietly, be glad you have a home and not just a crate where scientists drag you out of five times a day to drive pointless needles into your skin! I was half-tempted to yell out after them but knew it would only result in more needles.

As the last of them, exited the room and locked the door, I curled up into a ball, ready for howler dreams.

Several nightmares later, I heard a clanking in the waking world. I woke with a jolt. Did someone forget their car keys? I wondered, but then closed my eyes again, not really caring.

Young voices whispered through the room, okay, now I'm interested.

"Max, look at this," A little blonde girl pointed to us.

"They're all mutants..."The boy with long, black hair gaped at us.

Rattling started from the cages, a silent plea echoing through the room. Help us, please help us, I begged silently.

The little girl's eyes widened, "Max, they need our help."

It was my turn for my eyes to widen, as I saw wings poking out of their backs. They're like me! I cried silently.

Her tiny, blue eyes stared at me, "Look, this one has wings... Max." Huh, maybe they engineered her to read minds, I've seen it before.

"Max", bit her lip, staring directly at me. I looked away, not wanting to stare back into intense brown eyes.

She looked around at the rest of her group, the girl had found a little Scottie dog, and the boy was staring at us from the corner.

"Alright," My heart started pumping faster, "But we got to move quickly." She quickly undid my lock and pulled me to my feet.

"W-why are you helping us?" I asked breathlessly, the first words I said out loud in a while.

Max looked at me and nodded, "It's the right thing to do," she pointed to the end of the tunnel, "Now run!"

I heeded her words and took off down the hallway and down the tunnel, to freedom.

The heat of the moment caught up to me, and my knees buckled beneath me. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, literally.

The howling of the Erasers caught me out of my daze, they're here. They're coming. I stumbled to my feet, and thick hands helped me up.

It was the boy with the long, black hair. He dressed in all black too, maybe he liked it a little too much.

I nodded my thanks and started towards the tunnel again, but he stopped me. His hand grabbed my wrist, it was surprisingly warm.

"You can come with us, we can all fly, we can teach you," He spoke softly, offering me a chance of a new life. A family. It sounded like a dream come true.

"I-I'd love too, but I can't trust someone yet if I can't even trust myself yet," I said, looking down at the grungy, cement ground.

He nodded, and let me pass, "Good luck." Motioning for me to go as a herd of a Erasers scrambled towards him. I hope he'll be okay.

 I looked down at the sea below me, the howls of Erasers seemed to get closer and closer. Now or never. I breathed in the cool salty air and jumped.

What kind of parallel universe are we living in where I actually publish a chapter? Don't freak out, just doing a bit of editing. No promises. ;)