To Hell And Back

Chapter Four

Now, here's a little backstory. We were grown in a lab, then subdued to living in cages. This you may already know. But what you don't know is that we got out, but not on our own. Maggie helped. She was, in fact, one of the scientists - though we now call them Satanists - But she was good. Not evil. She wound visit us in our glass rooms of hell. She would read Jay stories, and I we were lucky she wound even give us sweets. She stole us away and gave us a home, a safe haven, and a temporary mother. She taught us how to fly, how to fight, and how to look after each other. And then she disappeared. We never saw her again. Ever. We all knew she was dead. Even though we never spoke of it. We all missed her, especially me. If she ever came us in our conversations we would talk about how I was her favorite and how she always visited me. And then wed change the subject and everything would go back to normal. I missed her. We all did. Even though we never spoke of her often. She taught us how to read and write. And when she way gone we had to adapt. The internet was our new teacher. We would take online courses and the little ones would do spelling quizzes. We were all incredibly smart. Elijah and Nemmie were the best at coming up with plans. Most including something either flammable, explosive, or dangerous. Even if it was how to cook eggs. It would have to include constructing an insulated tin box, then filling it with explosives and pushing a big red button. No wonder we had gone through all our food. We had a garden, but it would never provide us with enough food to last us. We even had chickens, before something happened and they got eaten or escaped. Nothing ever lasted when the twins are involved. I'm surprised the house hasn't burnt down yet. So, the Flock. Well, that's what we call ourselves. Six crazy mutant kids with mixed DNA and superhuman abilities. As I said in the beginning, we have Hell, Averie, Elijah, Mazzi, Jay, Fang, and me, Zoey. Hell, or Hellen if you want to go into extreme detail - which I will.

Hell is telepathic, which, if you didn't already know, means she can read minds. Also, she can't talk, but she can send you messages from her mind into yours, kinda creepy, but also really cool. She's only eight, but super smart for her age. She acts like an adult and thinks like an adult. She's my little baby, my little angel - get it, Hell, and angel, never mind.

Then there's Nemmie and Elijah, they're twins. Inseparable and super annoying. They're hair is corn yellow, and they have big bluebell eyes. When they were babies, you couldn't tell them apart. Their main strengths are speed and blowing things up. Eli can get up to speeds of 300 miles, and Ava can get up to 350 - talk about girl power. Eli is super smart - which is surprising since his number one hobby is mirthlessly blowing things up.

Mazzi. Little innocent Mazzi. Or at least that's what you think when you first see her. You see a brown haired, huge brown eyed, dark skinned, little girl. And then you get on her nerves. - And before I tell you, don't chuckle or laugh, or think, "This is impossible". I'm telling you a story about mutant bird kids with superhuman abilities. Get used to it - She can make control and manifest fire from her bare hands. Kind of helpful when the gas cooker stops working, or the hot water runs out, or if Jay starts getting really irritating. With her fire comes other things, such as smoke, and fog, etc.

Jay. He's as strong as a bodybuilder. Aka, really strong. He's smart too. One of the smartest out of all of us. He's our tech guy. Every now and again, when one our computers will break down or malfunctions, he is the guy to call.

Fang. Fang can melt away. Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous - well, I hope it's nothing dangerous. He can hide away in the shadows. I guess that's one of the perks of having black hair and only wearing black. Also, don't get on his bad side. He'll haunt you - he's that quiet, seriously quiet. We don't know how Fang or Jay found their strengths, but it seemed as if they just woke up one day with them.

And then there's me. Simple old me - apart from the fact that I have wings and was made in a lab in the middle of nowhere. I don't really have any strength. Not yet. We all found out about them after Maggie disappeared. All except for Hell. Her telepathy was already known from when we first escaped.

Nemmie and Elijah had been playing tag, when I had realized that they were moving impossibly fast. Then we found that flying used the same principle. And then Eli had hit a tree, and we banned running over 40 miles per hour and flying had to be supervised by Jay, Fang, or myself – unless we needed to, then the sky is the limit. Literally. Their speed has come in handy on many occasions, for example catching food if we were getting desperate, and for some strange reason – this was not my idea – shaping clouds into silly shapes. I admit, it was funny at the time, until Elijah make a peeing dog, and I banned cloud art.

'Please Zoey.' Mazzi pleaded.

'No Mazzi, that's a hard no.'

'Pretty, pretty please.'

I sighed. I tried not to look down at her eyes. She looked up at me, her eyes big, brown and pleading. I sighed again.

'Fine, but then we leave.'

'Ok, ok,'
She flew ahead - grinning widely - to tell the others.

I felt the rush of wind from Fang's strong wings behind me. 'Well that went well.' He murmured. I rolled my eyes.

'She did the puppy dog eyes.' I admitted. 'You know I can't resist the puppy dog eyes.'

He chuckled, then fell silent. I was surprised. Fang didn't chuckle. Not often. Fang was one of those, dark and brooding kind of guys. Not that I've known any other guys apart for Jay and Eli. We're all kinda bent out of shape. Glass prisons aren't really the best places to grow up. Mazzi had wanted to shop at Roden Gray. And since kids are kids, of course they all wanted to go. The younger kids landed first, followed by Jay, Fang and I.

'Clothing, food, then we leave. Promise?' I looked sternly down at Mazzi.

'Yes, yes, yes.' She said, nodding vigorously. She was hopping from foot to foot, Eli and Nem standing behind her, their eyes hopeful and excited. I glanced over at Fang and he raised an eyebrow.

'We're gonna die aren't we.' I said. He gave a rare wry smile.