Free Falling

The guys looked at each other, before nodding, unsure of what was going to happen. "Okay," I sighed, glancing around. "Karla go to work!" I ordered, as she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Yes mom," she rolled her eyes, making me shake my head as she walked out of the door. Alex sat next to me, a hand on my leg. Giving me a small amount of courage to get through the next few minutes that would be hell for me.

"Close your eyes," I commanded, making the guys do as they were told. "Let me know when you see a white farm house." I saw their faces of surprise before they gave me confirmation, making me smirk. I took a breath, then closed my eyes to help me focus. "Everything you see will be in my point of view," I warned, before starting that dreadful day all over again.

I transported myself to nearly ten years ago, back when my family lived on a farm. "We'll be back around nine," my mom informed, as they got ready to go on a date. "Celia listen to your sister."

"Okay," Celia replied, as she went off to do something else.

"Keep the doors locked and don't answer the door for anyone," my mom walked over to me and gave me a hug.

"I know, I know," I replied. "I need to lock up the chickens right?"

"Do that before dark," my dad instructed, as he put a coat on.

I nodded, then waved as they walked out of the house. "Have fun," I called after them. I looked out the window and saw the sun was setting. "I'm going to lock up the birds," I called to my sister, who was in the living room.

"Okay," she replied, too busy into whatever she was doing to give a better response. The night went without a hitch, after I came back in from locking the chickens and ducks and geese up, I locked the house. I made supper for my sister and myself then got her upstairs for bed. I started getting ready for bed when we heard a window break from downstairs.

"What was that?" my sister whispered from her bed.

"I-I don't know," I stammered, walking towards the hallway. "I'll go check it out, you stay here."

My sister gave a small nod, hiding under her Lion King comforter. I walked down the hallway, then quietly went down the stairs until I came to the door that was cracked open. "How many kids are here?" a gravely voice reached my ears.

I shrunk back as a figure walked by the door into the kitchen. "Two," another voice responded, "but we only need one." I slipped out of the stairwell doorway and went to my right into the den. I figured it was dark enough nobody would see me. Maybe the cordless phone worked that was in there.

"Well, well, well," a voice came from behind me, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I turned around to see a wolf creature licking their chops. My heart sped up as they reached for me. I was stuck. There wasn't a lot of room in the area, because of the shelves and desk that were there. I tried backing up, but there was someone behind me now. I squealed as they grabbed me, putting a cloth with a sickly sweet smelling scent on it. I breathed it in then felt my head go foggy.

I woke up, the light was blinding me. Blinking several times, my eyes finally adjusted to the brightness. With a start I realized I was in a cage. Looking around I saw a few other kids in cages that were starting to wake up as well.

I curled up into the back of the cage, rocking myself as some of the other kids started to cry. I looked around trying to figure out where I was. There was no distinctive markings in the room, everything was glaringly white. The only fixtures were the lights and the black cages that the other kids were in.

A loud bang from behind us, made us turn around to see a door opened, with a lady in a white coat and two of the wolf people. The woman started circling cages, making notes in a notebook as the two wolf people stood to the side. It looked like they were waiting for orders. The woman would instruct them to take certain cages out of the room, then move onto the next cage, circling and making notes.

Finally it was my turn. The woman circled my cage as I shrank back from her. She clicked her tongue, as she scribbled notes. I was too scared to ask her anything. "This one," she pointed to my cage, making the wolf men move towards me. They picked up my cage and carried it into the next room. I got sat on top of someone else's cage. I heard the kid crying, as the things left.

Looking around I was in another white room, but this one not as bright as the last one. This room was filled with cages, all with kids ranging from five to at least ten. They all huddled to the backs of their cages. As more people in white coats walked up and down the makeshift aisles, taking more notes.

One of the men in white coats stopped in front of me. "This one," they pointed at my cage with their pen. I was roughly pulled from it, shaking with fear as I got pulled into another room. This room was full of exercise equipment and tanks. The man set up a treadmill and told me to run. The man forced me into speeds I could barely keep up with. Keeping me going until I collapsed on the machine, unable to keep going. He let the machine eject me off of it, then moved on to more machines. The man kept me going until I was no longer able to keep myself upright. "Sit her down," he told the wolf men, as he exited the room.

The wolves listened to him and put me in a chair, but they never went far from me. I was grateful to sit down. The man came back carrying something I couldn't make out. I felt a prick in my arm, then I was roughly grabbed and thrown back into my cage. There was some food sitting in it already, waiting for me. I took a few nibbles as other kids were thrown into cages like I had been. I heard them groaning in pain and exhaustion.

After a few days the amount of kids had dwindled down. I had heard kids taking their last breathes all around me. Some of them stayed in their cage for several hours, before the white coats came and got them. I got regular headaches, as I started to hear voices in my head. I knew they weren't my own, sometimes I thought they were the kids that were dying around me. Every day the white coats came and took us out and performed more tests. Some of us got additional shots, while others were put back in their cages. I had lost count on the amount of things I had been injected with.

Finally, after so many days of tests and injections I thought it was my turn to die. I had extreme pain in my back, so bad that I couldn't move when the white coat came to take me to my tests. They had the wolves, which I had found out were called Erasers, pull me out of my cage. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I fell, in too much pain to stand. I was sobbing on the floor, unable to process anything.

I was drug into a room and laid down on a table, my back to the ceiling. People were murmuring, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Hot tears streaked my face, as the pain increased. My skin felt like it was going to rip itself from the pressure. Surely death was coming to take me out of this place!

Then, just as fast as it had come, the pain disappeared. I lay on the table in relief, but uncertain on what had happened to me. The white coats were still talking in the background, but they didn't sound mad or disappointed. I opened my eyes to see a big red and white feathery thing hanging off the bed. I turned my head to the other side, knowing I was hallucinating things. Only to see the exact same thing on my other side. What is that? I thought to myself.

I went to lift myself up, and saw the big things twitch. The murmuring increased. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then tried again. The things twitched again, I could feel the weight pulling on my back. I forced myself up into a sitting position, only stopping when I became light headed. There was a mirror in front of me, which allowed me to see what was behind me. I stared in horror at my wings. Moving the muscles in my shoulders, I watched as the wings shifted slightly. They were too heavy for me. I stood, but almost toppled over from the weight. The white coats murmuring was becoming too much for me, it felt like it was taking over my head. I fell to the ground as their thoughts and voices took over my head, causing me to black out.

Fast forwarding to a year after I had my wings. I was sitting in the back of my cage, staring out into the dark room. I was wearing a black form fitting shirt and black pants. To either side of me were two more experiments. My friends. My attention went to the left of the room, when I heard a door open and whispering. I edged to the front of my cage to see a familiar White Coat. He was leading six of the newer experiments out. I had had brief interactions with them before. The oldest two were Max and Fang, they called themselves The Flock. I made a mind connection with their youngest member who was also a psychic. Let me out I pleaded with her.

I saw her blue eyes look into my cage, they were scared. "Angel come on," I heard Max call, as she hesitated in front of me.

Please, I tried again. She reached for the lock and undid it. I held the door closed so it wouldn't swing open right away. After she caught up with her group, I dared push the cage door open, and step out. My friends stirred in their cages. I'll come back for you as soon as I can I informed them. I didn't want all of us to get caught, if this attempt didn't work.

I silently ran after The Flock, sticking to the shadows, so they wouldn't see me. I was good at this. They had been training me for a while now. I stopped as the White Coat turned and pressed a finger to his lip, letting the kids know they had to be quiet. I watched as a couple of Erasers walked by, guarding the entrance. The White Coat motioned for the kids to pass, once the Erasers were out of sight. They ran out the door, the White Coat being last. I waited until the door was about to close, then lunged for it, catching it at the last second. Then slipped out into the night.

Suddenly my memories, started jumbling together. I tried to regain the control I had, but keeping this up with several people was taking it's toll on me. I felt a jolt of electricity, then opened my eyes, breathing hard. The guys in the room, were looking shocked.

I kept silent as everyone's minds reeled from the experience. I did my best to shut out their voices, so I wouldn't get overwhelmed. "After the night I escaped," I started after a while. "I flew to the farm, and have lived on and off with my parents. I've been taken back a few times, but I've somehow always gotten away." I looked towards Hazel as she played in the toy kitchen my dad had gotten her a few months ago. "Ever since they found out I had a baby, they've tried to get to her. But last night was the first time they've tried to attack in force."

"Your friends," Zack started.

"They're out. I was never able to get back to them, but they escaped on their own." I cut him off.

"Are your friends the 'other two'?" Brian asked, making me nod.

I looked towards Matt who had tears in his eyes, "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I never knew. All the times I stopped receiving letters, I thought I had made Lorie mad. But now I know...you were being tortured."

I grimaced, I wasn't good at feelings. "There's nothing you would've been able to do anyways." I shrugged, as my phone rang. "Hello?" I answered the phone.

"Were you coming into work today?" a voice on the other side of the phone asked. I looked towards the clock to see it was later then I thought it was.

"Oh shit," I gave a nervous laugh. "Can I use a sick day? I'm really not feeling the greatest."

"Well, today's you're lucky day. The call center got attacked. No ones allowed in until the police figure out what happened," the voice responded, making me gasp.

"I hope everyone was okay," I responded, my mind still reeling.

"Thankfully nobody was in the building that I'm aware of. Wait for our call to let you know when you'll be working again."

"Okay thanks," I responded then ended the call.

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked, reminding me she was still in the room.

"Um, yeah," I responded, then shook my head, everything clicking. "No, no it's not. I need to pack. They just attacked my job."

"Pack?" my mom walked into the room, obviously upset. "Where are you going?"

"Away," I said, standing up. "They're getting too close, and I won't let them get Hazel." I walked into my room to start packing things that I would need.

"But where?" my mom pressed the subject following me into my room.

I felt my agitation build up. "I don't know!" I ended up yelling. "Not here!"

"Don't raise your voice at me," my mom threatened, making me roll my eyes. I didn't respond, which made her even more upset. She walked into my room, shutting the door on Matt as he walked up to the room. I looked towards my mom with my arms crossed, regretting it once I saw the tears in my eyes. "You've never told me what you've gone through."

I sighed, "It's really hard to, when you don't give me the time needed to do it." I saw the pained look in her eyes. "I'm not mad at you, I just need to get away before they take Hazel. I can't let her go through the same stuff I did."

My mom nodded, understanding, "Ask to see if Matt would be willing to take you on tour with him."

"I don't want to put them in danger."

"Just see what they say,"

"Fine," I breathed, rolling my eyes, as my mom left my room.