The moon’s gaze starred down on the deep forest with all-knowing eyes. An unusual presence stirred. The cold air chills prickles at the fur of six beasts, one a wolf the other five, varying in size and color, a beast unknown to the man’s world, a werewolf. The largest, a male, had fur the color of midnight and his eyes were a piercing green. He stood on his hind legs calling for the others. Beside him in an instant was the smallest creature there. He was less than half of the size of the large male and unlike the large one the small werewolf’s fur was of a honey brown and his eyes matched a few shades lighter. Two of the werewolves were twins, there fur identical cherry red but their eyes were mirrored. The female had the blue eye on the left and green on the right, the male had green on the left and blue on the right. The last one, defying the ‘alpha male’ law, was the leader of this “pack”, her eyes a gleaming orange and her fur a pure white but her head was stained blue until it faded out to white on the body. Next to the leader stood the real wolf, still a young age just out of pup-hood, a sterling silver with bleeding black eyes.

Together they stood in a circle listening to the sounds of the forest. If you didn’t notice the faintness of their breathing, the slow movement of in and out, you would think they were statues. Off in the distance was the rustling of bushes, just a rabbit the feet didn’t pound. Farther off the echo of a branch snapping, then quite. A deer. A flash happened as all six of them jumped in the same direction the pounding of their feet did not exist. It was no use for the poor deer, its life was over the moment she snapped the branch. No use fighting, even though she did. The battle was gruesome, it was bloody, and the end was inevitable. The wolves had a feast that night. The full moon fell farther in the night sky till its shine was not seeable. There five wolves changed to five people, and in the dark night you could not see their naked bodies.

The next morning at least forty miles away from the forest was a small rundown abandoned apartment complex. At five in the morning five human-like creatures woke to the RING-RING-RING-A-LING of an alarm clock. A girl no more than the age of twelve, and her twin brother, woke first to turn the alarm off. They twins were exactly alike with their light mocha colored skin and hair a cherry-red but their eyes were mirrors of the other. The girl’s left was blue and right was green while the boy’s left was green and the right was blue. Together they went to a rundown kitchen that just barely got the job done. Opening a very old rustic refrigerator they took out eggs, pre-made pancake mix, and bacon to cook. The smell lured the youngest out he was six at the most his honey eyes closed and the same colored hair a mess. His pajamas were too big for him a hand-me-down from the boy twin. Rubbing his eye the little one spoke.

“Htaed is breakfast ready? G’ morning Efil.” The girl, Efil, laughed. She was the one who cooked it most but the youngest gave all credit to her brother, Htaed pronounced TAH-EED.

“Not yet Ted, almost though. Go wake the others first.” Htaed answered him and reluctantly Ted walked off to wake the other two, the eldest.

“Brother, I had a nightmare again.” Efil looked away from the cooking eggs to face her brother.

“Was it the same as usual?”

“No, it was different. I kept hearing a name, and unknown name, and wings. Many, many wings. It gave me a bad feeling.”

“What was the name?”

“Aish- hey Isis. Breakfast is almost ready.” Efil cut off her answer when Isis, the eldest of them all, came in trudging behind her was the second eldest.

“Mhmm, I want food now! Vinny? Make me have food! Oh! Look at the fluffy marshmallow……” Isis was still half asleep. Vinny was what she called Vincent, the second oldest in the house at the age of fifteen, Isis was a year older.

“Vincent, keep her occupied it’ll take like five more minutes.”

“Gotcha, she never has been a morning person.” Vincent pushed Isis to sit down at the broken table on the way he grabbed a spoon. When Isis sat he waved the spoon slowly back and forth in front of her face whispering. “Look at the pretty spoon Isis, look at how shinny it is. Isn’t it preeetttyyyy??” He stretched out the word pretty and Isis seemed to come back to reality. She slammed the spoon and Vincent’s hand down on the table, digging in her nails leaving deep indents.

“Don’t you dare ever treat me like I’m incompetent ever again. Or it will be your damn head.”

“Isis! Don’t curse around Ted, I don’t want him picking up on your “damn” bad habits too!” Efil retorted back at Isis, putting air quotes around the word damn.

“Whatever…..damn stupid ugly hypocrite……” Isis whispered under her breath sticking her tongue out behind Efil’s back. Htaed of course told on her.

“ You get breakfast last then.” Efil came over with plates pilled with eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

“What?! No! Please? I’m sorry!” Efil ignored Isis’s complaint and gave everyone their food first, she then gave herself some and finally gave the pitiful left overs to Isis. “Mean butt.” Upon hearing this Efil took Isis’s food and put it on her plate.

Isis and Efil fought out in the end Isis won. Isis always wins. It’s just what Isis is good at. Everyone finished eating and there was a silence they could tell that Efil had to say something.

“Go on, I’m all ready now. Just spit it out.”

“Well…um… Vincent be prepared to stop Isis.” Vincent nodded, it was time to be serious. Isis’s gaze set upon Efil, in moments like these was when you could tell she was the leader. Her back was straight and her eyes followed your every move. You wouldn’t be able to escape how hard you tried.

“I had another dream. This one was different then rest, it seemed more real. It had wings, lots and lots of wings. Also there was a woman, this woman’s name was Aisha….” Efil continued to explain her story to the pack. Isis’s eyes was whirling, the day had come. What she was told was true, the curse of being the first.

It was midnight before any of them arrived back safely to the house. River quickly took her role as leader, ushering everyone up to bed. Once they were all safe and sound in dreamland, she found a seat on a large window sill, glaring at the moon. She sat there for hours in silence until the moon dipped below the hills in the background and the sun began to rise above them.

River finally got up as she began to hear the sounds of morning time in a crowded home full of children with wings. The yells for people to get up, the shouts at people to hurry up, and the sounds and smells of breakfast in the next room were comforting to her, almost like a lullaby to a crying child. She sniffed the air hungrily. It smelled of burning toast and bacon, and of delicious sunny side up eggs. River chuckled quietly to herself and followed her nose into the next room to supervise, hoping there was no fire yet. That seemed to be a reoccurring thing in this home.

She walked into the kitchen, a buzz with noise even though she could still see the sleep gnawing at the members of her flock. After a quick survey, she found nothing aflame and settled into her spot at head of the table. Next to her sat Vexen, shaking his head silently as Gold and Jayden came down the stairs, bickering about something for the hundredth time. River pulled into her mind, shutting out the noise as she gathered her thoughts.

She couldn’t help but hate this house, the way that they lived in luxury. She almost wished they were back out on the street, where some might say they belong. Not because the house itself was bad, in fact if it wasn’t for her she probably could learn to love it. But she could never forget who provided all of this for them. All of the bills paid, the food was provided, as was bedding and anything else they could possibly want. It was perfect, but it came with a heavy price. She now owned all of them, not that she wouldn’t have found them eventually anyway.

It was part of the agreement that River’s flock had with Aisha. Aisha similarly had had an agreement like ours with Vernon. But at Aisha’s time there were more than one flock. Now, they were the only ones. At least, the only ones that Aisha had bothered with. River knew that as long as there were scientists willing to screw with DNA to create the “super being”; there would always be people like her and her flock.

River pulled herself back into the real world in time to see Vexen get up and grab himself a plate of food. He waltzed back over to the table and held a piece of burnt bacon in front of her face. She smiled and snatched it out of his hands before he could take it away.

“Guess we should get going,” Vexen stated in between bites of the final piece of charred toast. River was about to protest, saying she hadn’t eaten, but she vaguely remembered the plate that she had devoured as soon as Vexen had pushed it in front of her. She nodded in agreement and shoved the flock out the door lovingly. Vexen hung back behind her and snickered as she fought with Gold about going to school for the millionth time that week. Once River finally won and all the children were outside Vexen turned to her and asked a simple question, “Car or sky?”

Without hesitation, she replied, “Sky. I could use some control right now.” Because that was exactly what flying was to River. A sense of control in a screwed up world. Sometimes all it took was the feeling of the wind in her face and her wings flapping rhythmically to regain that sense of control.



She ran down the driveway, finally reaching a decent speed to let her wings spread. She did just that, and around her she could hear her flock doing the same thing. Goldie, being the showoff she is hurtled up above them. She stayed there for a while, mimicking flocks of birds that passed by, much to the amusement of the others.

River could see the slight twitch in Gold’s wings, reflected in turn by the rest of her flock. She released them with a slight wave of her hand, and they all joined Gold in a rush. River slowed, giving them space for what she knew they were about to do.

Goldie was the first to drop. She angled her wings down and plummeted to the ground. The others followed her lead, shouting and whooping as they whizzed by River. The ground rushed up to meet the five of them, but River remained cool and collected. At the very last second they pulled their wings up and hovered there for a short time, inches from the cold unforgiving ground. You could almost see the disappointment on its face.

“Come on you nimrods. We’ll be late if you keep this up,” River instructed. She sped through the sky, leaving them all in her dust. Vexen however was, in a matter of seconds, ahead of her. The other four were still trailing behind, struggling to catch up.

At last after twenty long minutes of flying, the school came into view. They continued to race across the sky until they stopped, bobbing up and down over the school. Quickly their groupies found them and stood beneath them, praising them and awing at their wings. Vexen dropped the short distance he was at and landed lightly on his feet. Gold, Jayden Trish, and Kingsley (better known as King) did the same.

River left the flock in Vexen’s hands and dove off the roof, her wings folded neatly against her back until about the moment of the would have been splat. She swooped, twisted in mid-air and continued flying, gracefully grazing the grass with the tips of her fingers and staring at the white puffy clouds that now blocked out the sun.

She bored quickly of this though, and right as she was about to right herself and land, she ran straight into Isis.

“Watch it you little winged abomination!” Isis exclaimed as she picked herself up off the ground.

“Great. Can’t stand on your own pup?” River spat as the whole wolf gang came strolling up. “Guess not. I’ve got better things to do right now, so why don’t you guys go sniff each other’s butts or something?”

Vincent, the wolf second in command, held their leader back as River walked away. She made it just about to her locker when she was confronted again by Isis, this time alone.

Isis walked briskly thinking to herself of how no damned bird had the right to call her a pup. I mean flaunting there wings all over the place, they are nothing special just a little tweeting canary, and wolves eat canaries. A fearsome smile stretching ear to ear spread on Isis’s face. Faded in thought Isis absently walked to River’s locker. She punched the locker next to her to get her attention.

“Hey, tweety-bird we need to talk.” All Isis got in return was an even gaze. Letting out a sigh she dropped her fist to her side. People were staring at them, the bird and the loner. A sight nobody would think of seeing. “Now, little tweety-bird before my friends were there to keep me back but right now I think we need to chat. Alone. But if you agree I can’t promise I won’t be having you for lunch. Poultry is my favorite after all.” Isis couldn’t help but let out a sneer. River didn’t lose her composure; she simply nodded and followed Isis to the courtyard.


“What do you want pup?”


“Nothing to do with you, but your little leader. Aisha I think it was?” A spark was lit in River’s eye. It was curiosity, they knew about each other but they knew nothing of the flock’s leader, and they wanted it that way.

“She has nothing to do with me.” The sneer appeared on Isis’s face. River just closed her eyes to blink, not even a split second, but when they opened again Isis was in front of her whispering words in her ears.

“I know, but today you’re going to play messenger. Tell miss Aisha to leave my pack the hell alone, and if I ever catch her messing with dreams I will personally host a hunt. I know what she is up to, I know what she has done, and I know her fear is nothing compared to my anger. Now be a good tweety-bird and pass my message along.” Isis patted River’s head. River would have, should have stopped and questioned her right then and there. But she, she wasn’t scared more like surprised into shock, never felt this feeling before. River turned around to ask her the question that whirled inside her head but she was too late. Isis’s words echoed in River’s head “I know what she is up to, I know what she has done, and I know her fear is nothing compared to my anger.”

Isis felt the world was off her shoulders, she worked hard for the happiness she had. Efil knew something was up. She walked by the side of Htaed like she always does towards Isis questions on her lips. Isis beat her to it.

“Don’t worry hun, I took care of it. No more wings to haunt you.” Isis had a smile of love on her face. She rubbed Efil’s head as a mother would do to a daughter and she patted Htaed’s back and walked down the hall.

“This is bad, this is really bad. Htaed go find Vincent, I’ll go get Teddy.” Htaed nodded in his silent way knowing what his sister was thinking. The first thing she was thinking was, what mess has Isis got into now? The second, only Vincent can calm her down now. The third being, I wish I had some strawberry ice cream at the moment. He couldn’t help but let out a silent chuckle at the thought. But now he must get back to business because Efil had a really bad feeling. Efil’s feelings are never wrong.

River trudged into the classroom. She was still early, despite being confronted by Isis like that. The groupies flocked around her instantly, murmuring to her about the quote “weird loners.” She simply smiled and nodded, putting in only the occasional word of agreement.

“What did she want anyway? I bet you beat her up didn’t you?” a groupie, Alex or Abby or something along those lines, said. River was about to answer, but the teacher walked in and ushered them all into their seats. She began to lecture them about genetics, and River could feel her face flush and vomit creep into her throat. She felt as if all the eyes in the classroom were on her, staring at her with a blazing intensity. Finally, she just couldn’t stand it anymore, the thoughts pounding in her head and the constant hum of noise around her. She burst up from her seat and left the classroom, surprised her teacher allowed her to.

The courtyard was empty, so she readjusted the wrappings that held her wings to her back. River wondered who they would send this time. The school officials had long since given up on getting her back to the classrooms themselves, so they used members of the flock. Frequently it was Vexen or Trish, but today they sent King.

He floated up to her, for he didn’t often walk, and grinned. “What’s up tweety bird?”

“You heard about that, huh? Guess I probably shouldn’t have called her a pup, but hey, she kind of had it coming to her. But I know that’s not the reason you’re here. They, well their leader Isis, told me something. I quote, ‘I know what she’s up to, I know what she has done, and I know her fear is nothing compared to my anger.’ And then something about Aisha being able to mess with dreams. How do they know anything about her?” River questioned. She was almost glad they sent him today since he always had the inside scoop.

“The twin, Efil, she seems to have some psychic powers. Limited, but still present. What I’m confused about is the fact that we all know Aisha has no power over dreams, let alone minds. You of all people know that.”

“I know King. I know,” River mumbled. But for once she really didn’t know. For one, Aisha was never afraid, not since that day. And two, there was no way a message of that caliber would ever be passed along. Why bother? “Those pups don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s best we forget about it. Now come on, we should get back to class.”

King mumbled a do we have to and River shoved him playfully. She returned him to his class and lumbered through the hall, trying to head her own advice and forget about it. She kicked the door to her class open, making a grand entrance. All her groupies grinned and greeted her warmly before being shushed by the teacher.

It wasn’t a short time after she settled into her seat that the bell rang. River gathered up her textbook and ballpoint pen and headed to her locker. She was spinning her lock’s combination as she was confronted yet again by Isis.

“You really need to get some better timing pup. Still kind of busy here you know?” River said, keeping an even gaze on the inside of her locker.

“Today. Wood’s behind the supermarket down the road. Be there at five,” Isis threatened. River said nothing; she just walked to her next class, alone at last.

Isis waited for the minutes to tick by. Her thoughts on only that of the fight, rapping, tapping, rap-a-rap-tap, she piddled her fingers on her desk the clock tick-tocking. The final bell rang and she ran, she ran like the wolf she was down to the park. I got here way too early. I guess I’ll just…nevermind she has wings. Here she comes.

“Hello little tweety-bird, so I was thinking and all and I came to a decision.” She smirked up the sides of her mouth.

“You can think?” River retorted in a way that made Isis clench her fits.

“Yes, much better than you. I decided that we will fight. The winner picks what they want to know for example you must be wondering about my relationship with Aisha. It goes back long ago, and you must be wondering about the train and operation Decease. I wish to know about…certain things. So we fight, the winner gets the information that they wish for. What do you think?”

“It’s a stupid idea thought by a stupid person.” But I really wish to know…. I’ll find another way if I must.

“Oh, too bad. You don’t really have a choice.” Isis shrugged and before you could blink she was behind River, her arm choking River’s neck. River took Isis’s arm and flung Isis over her shoulders and on to her back. Leaping up Isis came and kicked River in the stomach knocking her on her butt. Isis came over and stepped on River’s chest knocking her down. River grabbed Isis’s foot and tugged her to the ground and rolled on top of her. Isis punched River’s face and was about to swing again when something stopped her. Isis swirled around to kick whoever stopped. She stopped her kick mid-way when she saw it was Vincent.

“Isis, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Getting information my way.”

“But you’re bleeding and Efil is worried sick about you. Ted’s got a fever and won’t take his medicine. Come back home, now.” Isis stared at Vincent and looked back at River. Another tweety came, the named Tish, to pick up River. They were both bleeding. Isis stared back at River and spat.
“This isn’t over.”

Trish and River flew back in silence. River could feel the blood dripping gently down from her face to her neck where it pooled slightly before continuing down. Trish flew around her in a protective way, as if something would attack them while they were flying. River smiled at the thought.

“Hey Fish,” River said, only to break the silence that hung thick in the air around them, “I was winning, right?” She grinned and twirled, mock punching the air.

“Of course River. ‘Cause you were doing so well from what I saw. What was that about anyway? Isis seemed pretty intent to win.”

“Something about wanting information. And being the idiot she is, she wanted to get it by fighting. Typical wolf pup.”

Trish laughed. It happened in only a moment. Something whirled by Trish, a blur even to River’s eyes. And suddenly, like a puppet cut from its string, Trish crumpled and began to plummet.

River’s head was still processing what happened, but instincts took over and led her from then on. She instantly folded her wings, allowing herself to plummet alongside of Trish. Her mind was whirring, telling her not to do it. So she did.

She grabbed onto Trish and swooped so steeply that she was forced to slow, with Trish’s weight suddenly becoming obvious. There was no way to stop them from falling, so River angled herself towards a tree a shot towards it. At the last second she threw Trish out of the way and onto the grass. She however flew straight into a thick branch and collapsed, falling and hitting against pretty much every branch possible along the way. She was unconscious by the time her battered body hit the ground with a hard thud.

River suddenly became aware of the things around her. She opened her eyes, but they fluttered because of the bright light that was staring down at her. Her body ached and throbbed, but she still tried to push herself up from the ground. Instantly pain shot through her. No good. So she rolled to the side and found herself staring directly at a sleeping Trish whose only wound seemed to be right below her ribs. Still, it was a deep wound and probably would require stiches once they got back to the house. River sighed and turned to the other side. There, she saw a man’s black boot.

Her heart pounded as she angled her head up and found the head that belonged to the body which belonged to the boot. She dreaded seeing the face, hoping it wasn’t the thing that had attacked them moments before. It was Vexen.

“You idiot! You’re supposed to avoid the trees, not run into them!” he laughed nervously. River heard Trish awake beside me, yawning noisily. She got up and stood beside Vexen, slightly limping.

Jokingly Vexen picked River up, gingerly still, and tossed her over his back. He carried her like that for a while as she struggled to stay awake to the rhythmic pounding of her body against his back. She could only inhale his scent and watch their backs, which left her feeling useless. The last thing they needed was to be attacked again though, so she took her job seriously and swiveled her head, making sure they were clear every minute or so.

After a few minutes he murmured something to Trish. She nodded her head. Vexen shifted me from his back to his front, cradling me like a baby in his arms. Trish took to the skies, and he followed her closely, protecting not only River but her as well. River finally gave up her battle with sleep, resting her head against his broad shoulder. She slept deeply and soundly, escaping her thoughts for the time being.

“You think I’m stupid don’t you.” They were back at their apartment. Isis was sitting criss-crossed on the floor; Vincent was in the chair next to her. Isis traced her fingers around the burn marks on the floor; Vincent sent Efil, Htaed, and Ted out so they could talk alone.

“A bit, why’d you try and fight her? I know you could have one any other day but, on the night of the new moon? You could still beat her but not without a struggle.” Isis tilted her head that was hanging in shame; her short blue hair fell over her eyes as she looked at Vincent with a smile upon her face.

“Aisha resurfaced her ugly ass again.” Isis stood and walked toward the pathetic excuse for a window. She looked out on the rundown, beaten up old town. This town has seen and known too many things. It reminds Isis of herself in a way.

“Oh…” That was all Vincent said in a wispy breath.

“Vinny I know you guys don’t know nearly as much as I do, and I’ve tried to explain but you won’t get it unless you lived it, but there is a reason why I’m the leader and it is not because I’m the eldest. It’s because I was the first, and their favorite. I don’t ever want to go back, or even talk about those days in the Institute but Aisha is part of something bigger, something that will hurt my family.”

“Go on. I’m here to listen.” Vincent did not move he just stared at the back of Isis watching her shadowed figure fade far away, away to a time before he knew her.

“They called it operation Decease. They made the plan after I turned ten. Aisha was part of the scientist that looked after the avains and us. We weren’t the real first, I was just the first success as they called it. Before there were…I don’t wish to describe the horrors I saw. Let’s just say they lied to us about being naturally born. We all, including the tweety-birds, were one hundred percent artificially made. I know River blocked out all her memories from when she first met me, it was by chance only. But let’s just say the truth is I owe my life to River and she owes her freedom to me. I hardly remember that day but I was playing with River not knowing she was a bird, but we got separated and I found a secret room. Aisha was in there discussing something with Mr. Barnard. They were talking about how they had to dispose of all the old ones, the mistakes as they called them. Then they were saying something about how they had to do it, then they went on to if we ever got out of control, or didn’t follow orders we’d be next. You want to why I never ride trains?” Isis finally turned around, she was slightly shaking.

“Yeah.”

“It’s because operation Decease involves trains. I don’t know freaking how or why, but it does. I mean who freaking kills people with trains?! But anyways, they did and they do. So I got us and them, them being River and the gang, the hell out of there. So here we are now. But the fact that Aisha’s name has popped up again isn’t good. It means they are coming after us again. I hate to say it, I mean I really hate to say it but- we may need to team up with the tweety birds.” Isis continued on with Vincent talking as such. Her calm iced over face never faltered, never gave way to the anger and fear inside her. But something else was happening. Efil made her way out of the house to someplace else, without Isis or Htaed knowing. But Ted followed her.

A knock came on the avains door later that day. When Tish opened the door she was staring at Efil and Ted.
“We apologize for Isis’s behavior, it’s the only way she knows how to behave. But we need to talk. Well you and me need to talk, Ted doesn’t talk to anyone but family. But Ted’s like me but more so, a psychic I mean. But like I said, we need to talk.” Efil looked up at Tish clutching Ted’s hand. The porch step emptied as the two wolves enter the home of the birds.

Trish led the two wolves into the house. “I assume you want to talk to River. I’ll wake her up for you, but she might be a bit cranky. Stay right here.” She left them standing in the room alone and searched for River and Vexen.

Her fingers traced over the rose tattoo left over from her “other life.” She was still amazed by its beauty and the frightening power it seemed to have over her. Whenever she got to comfortable in one place, it served as a reminder that things could change. And not always for the best.

Trish finally found them sitting in her own room. River was still passed out, and Vexen sat beside her gently stroking her hair. “Vexen, we have visitors. Will you wake her up for me please?” Vexen woke her without question, sensing the slight bit of urgency in Trish’s tone.

River’s eyes shot open, but she made no motion to move. Since Trish didn’t feel like having to get wolf stench out of her room, she motioned for Vexen to follow her out into the living room. He carried River out, much to her displeasure, and set her on the couch. Her eyes searched the room, and when she found the wolf pups she scowled.

Goldie, Kingsley, and Jayden all filed into the room. River read the mind of the older pup, not wanting to bother asking why they were here. She met a little bit of a wall, but she passed through it with ease and continued on her way. Once she found her answer, she began to speak, “It was about eight years ago. It was only Vexen and I at the time, and we were about Hold and Jayden’s age. The bioscientists made sure we interacted daily with the wolves, but it only allowed for more conflict when we grew older. So they quickly cut off that contact. Instead they designed a sort of training course where we honed in on our own personal skills. Eventually, they began to have us do relay races against each other. And finally, they began fighting us first against them, then against one another. They were brutal battles.

“It was in one of those battles that I saved Isis’ life. They had paired us up, and for the first time they were going to run two battles at once. Vexen was to fight Vincent, and I was to fight Isis. Isis was talking the smack of a typical ten year old kid, calling me a wuss and Vexen a girl. When the alarm sounded, Isis tore out of the starting area and into the trees. I took to the skies, following her closely. Isis changed into her wolf form mid-leap as she charged at me. Her claws raked the side of my leg, tearing my jeans and leaving blood pouring off of me. I landed quickly on a branch, holding my leg to stop the bleeding. Isis jumped and tried to attack me once again, but I was too high up for her to reach.

“Vexen darted through the trees, chasing after Vincent. Isis had long since disappeared into the shadows, along with Vincent. But for some reason she decided to reveal herself at that moment, running past the tree in a blur. Vexen only saw the wolf form, so he followed his hunting instincts and attacked. I watched as he kicked and punched the now still body of Isis.” At this point, Vexen left the room, not too happy at the turn of the story. River continued.

“They came out, congratulating Vexen. But they encouraged him to finish her off. He refused to, so the largest one pulled a gun from his hip. He raised it to shoot, but I leaped at him, knocking the gun from his hands. Vincent then finished him off by snapping his neck. We all took off running, and thanks to Isis who had surveyed the land before this had happened, we escaped. Answer your question?” River snapped, not enjoying retelling the story any more than Vexen had hearing it. The wolf pups nodded and began to leave the house.

Suddenly the window crashed open and smoke filled the house. Everyone felt the effects instantly, dropping to the ground coughing and wheezing. River managed to stay awake long enough to see two huge men crawl through the window and pick her and Vexen up. She protested, but the man pressed a cloth to her face, forcing her to give into sleep. Beside her Vexen did the same.

Isis and Vincent were surrounded in silence. After pouring out her story Vincent didn’t know what to say. It was a tense moment, and then Htaed came in.
“You know Efil and Teddy left. They went to River’s. They wanted to talk to Aisha, but she wasn’t there. They should be back soon.” Isis looked back and nodded.
“Let’s go pick them up.” Isis gave a motherly smile as she left the apartment.

Walking down the street she saw Efil and Teddy coughing their eyes out.
“What happened?” Efil looked up with her blood shot eyes.
“Operation Decease happened. Well, at least the beginning of it.”
“Walk and talk.” Isis picked up Teddy on her shoulders as she walked back to the apartment talking to Efil. The evening’s sun gleamed over the horizon.
“River told us how she saved you. Never thought it was like that, I never imagined.”
“That’s because you couldn’t imagine. But what did you mean the operation happened?”
“The institute came in with gas bombs, specifically made for avians, and took them away leaving us.” Isis remained in silence the rest of the way home. On her mind was that they were coming for them next and there wasn’t any stopping it.

At the door of her apartment she heard banging inside. Isis took Teddy off her shoulders and put him behind her as she kicked open the door. Instantaneously there were six wolves varying in sizes. Shadow, the real wolf the pack adopted, finally woke up with a defensive stance. There were six men to fight them, and they already dropped bombs filled with narcotics. Isis watched as all her family around her fell down, asleep; until she also forcibly closed her eyes.

When Isis awoke she was in a strait jacket, her feet bonded and her mouth gaged. A needle was taken out of her arm, probably the thing that woke her up. The pack was still around her, each in their own, chair tied up. Even Shadow’s grey fur was covered in rope. Isis looked up to see someone pacing around the room. The person stopped, Aisha faced Isis with a cruel dainty smile.

River awoke, finding herself still groggy from the drug the men had given her. She looked around, seeing nothing but the white walls of the large room. Vexen who sat near her had been awake for a while, watching over her as she slept. She could see that he too still felt the effects of the drug, for they sat in two cold metal chairs, bound to them only by the effects of the drug. The familiar click of Aisha’s heels against the tile floor floated into the room, quickly followed by Aisha herself. Behind her came the sound of new sneakers squeaking across the floor.



River tried to turn her head, as that was the only part of her still able to move, but the man belonging to the squeaky sneakers quickly held another cloth to her face. Aisha did the same to Vexen. She wasn’t sleepy, but her head and everything else was now immobilized. She stared in front of her as Aisha began to talk. “As you may know, I own you. I own your flock, every part of you. So I have determined what to do with at least you two. If it works, I’ll try it with the younger ones once they get older. But I guess I should tell you what I’m talking about now. Darren, step out here please.”



The man stepped out from behind River. He smiled wildly when he saw River’s face. He stepped towards her, grinning like a mad man. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, sloppy and wet. Vexen stared wide eyed at him, struggling against the drugs. Aisha grabbed Darren’s collar and pulled him back. “Now Vexen, I’d like you to meet my good friend. Oh Maria!” she called.



Maria walked through the doorway, her heels clicking like Aisha’s. She covered Vexen’s eyes playfully. “Hey hot stuff.” She giggled. She kissed him quickly then joined Aisha and Darren standing in front of them. They stood there for a while, River doing her best not to look into Darren’s eyes and Vexen having the hardest time looking away from Maria.



“You both have a choice. The scientists and I have decided we will try to engineer a “super breed”. But messing with DNA has too many nasty side effects. So instead we are going to breed you with the best fit werewolves. River, you can choose to be with either Darren here, or you can choose to be with Vincent in the next room.” Aisha explained.



“I pick Vincent. No doubt about it.” River answered quickly. Darren lunged at her, trying to change her mind, but Aisha tugged on his collar again. He stayed obediently by her side.



Aisha continued, “Vexen, you can be with Maria or Isis. Now remember, if you choose Maria, you won’t have to deal with the younger ones any more. Frankly, neither of you will anymore, no matter who you choose. You will have your own houses so there will be no distractions.”



River waited for Vexen’s answer. She hoped he would pick Isis, but she feared the temptation of being alone would be too great for him. She held her breath as he began to talk, “I choose… Isis. This means I can still see River, correct?”



“Correct. Now if you will wait for a second, I have to get one of my colleagues to deal with these two.” She walked out of the room and returned with a burly man. Maria screamed slightly as he injected her with a deadly poison. Darren attempted to run, but the man threw the syringe at him, killing him on impact. River shuddered at how expendable they all were to the scientists. “Please take these two with me Dr. Jones.”



The scientist hurled the two of them over his back. He walked out of the lab, and out into the bright sunshine. The man threw them into a car with Isis and Vincent next to them. Her fingers began to twitch and a few moments after that she was able to sit up on her own. Vexen sat himself between Vincent and River, afraid of who knows what. “I assume you know what’s going on. We’ll talk later.” She assured Vexen as she and Vincent were escorted to their new home. Before she went into the house, she saw Vexen take the hand of Isis and whisper something into her ear. River shut the door quietly behind her.

Isis trying to get the cloth out of her mouth bit threw her lips and started to bleed. Aisha slowly came over and removed the cloth and wiped Isis’s mouth with it. Isis bit her hand and didn’t let go until and echo waved through the air of the slap Aisha gave Isis.
“That was uncalled for.”
“This is uncalled for, whatever this is.” Isis spat in Aisha’s face. A startling groan made Isis snap her head to look at where it came from. They woke up Vincent, but the children were still asleep.
“This is me saving, or breaking, or life. It’s up to you. Well to tell the truth everything has already been decided it’s just to make you guys feel better in side, but I won’t save you that piece of mind because I hate your mutt guts.” Aisha spat back.
“Oh, dear Aisha I love you too. Now get me the hell out of here before I rip you to shreds.” Isis spoke with a smile. For a while they just locked eyes on each other, the air was meant to kill without mercy. Pure hatred spun in their hearts.
“Can I know what’s going on?” Vincent asked groggily, breaking the silence.
“Of course, at least one mangy mutt has manners. Basically we here have planned to make the superior breed. Now we know DNA would be easier but it gets us some nasty side effects and the bugs will take forever to work out. So we just decided to breed you with the avains, and the best part is….no more looking after the children! You’re going to be put in separate housing, Isis with Vexen and Vincent with River.”
“No way in hell will you ever get me even stay in the same room as those damn tweety birds! No way in hell will you separate our pack, no way in fu-“
“Isis! Language overload there. Keep it PG-13 man, PG-13. But Aisha you do realize wolves are pack creatures, we need to stay together or we go crazy.” Vincent punched in stopping Isis mid-sentence. In this situation Vincent knew he needed to keep his head or there all going six feet under. If only Isis would calm the bloody hell down to realize this.
“Of course, we have that planned out. A mile off will be another house with the avain and wolf children residing inside. We’re scientists not heartless.”
“Then how do you explain your nobodies…….” Isis whispered under her breathe. She calmed down some, getting the signal from Vincent. “But, like I said there is no way we are going to be able to…..breed…with those twee—avians.”
“You can and you will.”
“We can’t and we won’t.”
“Oh, than I’ll just tell Lucas you’ve really abandoned him.” Aisha looked nonchalantly at her nails. The trap has been set and the prey has been captured. Isis hasn’t heard of Lucas for four years, hasn’t even spoken his name for three. She thought, she was so sure that he was dead there was no point in it any longer. Isis starred wide eyed at Aisha contemplating what she just said. She stood in silence, she looked back and forth at her pack. Efil and Htaed asleep on her right and Ted to her left, even Shadow in her wound up state looked peaceful and forgetful.
Finally she spoke. “You can’t trick me, Lucas is dead.”
All Aisha did was smile her know-it-all smile, slowly she spoke like she had the winning hand. “That’s what you think.” The rage in Isis built up, her eyes slowly turned a fiercer orange she was now running on adrenaline. Isis snapped out of her restraints and leaped at Aisha encasing her throat between her now wolf like claws.
“Where have you hidden him?! Where is Lucas?!” A growl rippled out of Isis’s mouth. Stomach acid choked out of Aisha’s mouth as she tried to speak.
“If….you let me….cough cough….go I’ll tell you….” Slowly Isis released Aisha’s neck, her wolf claw morphed back to her human hands and her eyes faded to normal as she dropped to the floor. The adrenaline high was all over.
“I’ll do it. Only…only if you tell me where Lucas is. Only if you give us Lucas back alive…..only then will…..only then will I go along with your plan. Until then, I have free reign.”
“Good, now what about you Vincent?” Vincent’s mind was whirling with thoughts…if he went along he’d get to see his older brother, but going along meant he might lose Isis and his family. Also he needs to go incase Isis gets in trouble and needs him, and if he didn’t go they would probably just kill him. If Lucas truly is alive it would make things much more complicating for them and everyone. Vincent was also thinking about how they lost him, Isis didn’t want to believe it but Lucas betrayed them….or did he?

Vincent let out a heavy sigh. “Fine, but I have my own condition. Isis and I get to see the kids and Shadow every day for at least three hours.”
“That can easily be arranged. Now please follow Dr. Barton.” A woman with long black hair came in. She wore a doctor’s robe and led Isis and Vincent outside. Vincent looked back to see four men, each carrying the other members of the pack.

They were escorted into one car, while the rest of the pack went into another. Together Vincent and Isis sat in silence.
“Do you think Lucas could really be alive? I mean…. I just need to know what happened that day…”
“Anything is possible.” Vincent’s usually warm voice became cold and distant in that one second.
“Yeah…I suppose so.” They once again fell silent. The car doors began to open behind them River and Vexen came in. Vexen sat between River and Vincent which made Isis be squished against the window and Vincent on the other side. It was a long silent car ride for them both.

“So we live here now.” Isis whispered under her breathe as she looked at the house. She turned around to say something to Vincent but he was already walking to his house with River. I guess I shouldn’t have brought up Lucas around him after all…. Isis thought solemnly. Vexen startled Isis by suddenly taking her hand and walking toward their house.
“Help me keep up the act. “ Vexen whispered into Isis’s ear.
“Gladly but only if you don’t mind helping a mangy mutt you stupid tweety-bird.” Isis told him back. She looked Into Vexen eyes and smiled she slipped out of his grip as they got to the house. Isis opened the door and slammed it in Vexen’s face. Opening it back up she said, “Sorry, habit.” And let him inside.

Once safely on the other side of the door, River collapsed against it. Vincent stared at her for a little while, but then went in exploration of the house. Too tired to follow him, she stayed where she was until he came back. “If you come with me I can make you something to eat,” he offered. She numbly followed him into the kitchen.

They ate in silence. After dinner, River followed Vincent around the house until they came to the single bedroom. “There’s only one bed. If you want to…” he explained apologetically. River brushed past him and threw the covers over her head. They smelled hideously of Aisha, but she still kept them over her head so Vincent wouldn’t have to see her cry.

She felt him settle in beside her, not in the covers but on top of them. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to his chest. She fell asleep to his rhythmic breathing and his hand stroking her long red hair.

“River!” the voice pierced her dreams like a sword. “Where are you River? We need you to come back!” the voice exclaimed. It sounded extremely familiar to River; she knew it from somewhere…

“It’s Trish! Come on River stop struggling! Let me in I need to know where you are! River……”
River woke with a start, almost toppling to the floor. Vincent caught her just in time, saving her from a nasty black eye. She thanked him by getting up and leaving the room in a huff. She found her way into a small room and locked the door behind her. She heard Vincent follow her down the stairs, but after a few moments of searching he gave up. She heard him walk into the kitchen which contained a wall phone. He dialed the number of Isis and Vexen’s house which was conveniently placed on the counter.
“Isis? I’m coming over. We’re going to see the kids. Yes I’m sure! What’s gotten into you? Fine, I’ll meet you outside in ten. Oh and can you send Vexen over? I think it’ll be good for River,” he got off the phone and sighed. River finally decided it was time to man up and face her fears. She might actually have to live this way, so there was no reason to build any bad relationships now.
She walked out into the kitchen and met Vincent at the table. She smiled weakly, too stubborn in her ways to apologize, but hoping he’d understand. He seemed to, for he smiled back and passed her a plate with assorted fruits on it. River poped one into her mouth as a knocking came from the front door. She began to get up from her seat but Vincent stopped her and left to answer it.
River listened to the hushed voices talking in the foyer area as she ate. The front door slammed and she got up from the table, not knowing what to expect. Vexen stood alone now, Vincent having gone over to collect Isis to go see the kids. River felt a pang in her heart as she walked into the foyer area, seeing Vexen leaning up against one of the walls. She felt like it had been years since she had seen him last, and so many things had already changed.
She couldn’t let him see her weak, so she grimaced and stood awkwardly by him. “We have the whole day to do something. I think we should go see the kids. Explain this whole mess to them ourselves. You with me?” River asked, knowing the answer by the flash in his eyes when she mentioned the kids. He nodded and they headed out, opting for the new Porsche instead of flying. She allowed Vexen to drive, using the twenty minutes or so to catch up on some much needed sleep.
When she awoke to Vexen’s car door slamming behind him, she jolted and slammed her head back onto the headrest. Vexen walked around to her side of the car, opening her door like a gentleman. River giggled and hopped out. They walked together to the front door, knocked and waited. And waited. And waited. After five long minutes, Vexen kicked down the door. It burst into shards of wood, flying all over the place. Trish who was behind the door held her arms up to block the shards, but some still cut her like glass. She made a girly squeaking noise and was about to run when she noticed it was only us.
The knife she was holding clattered to the ground. She embraced Vexen and held onto him like a little girl. He patted her back and walked awkwardly into the living room, Trish still holding on like she was certain if she let go he would disappear. King sat on the couch, stroking Gold’s hair and comforting Jayden as he poked at wounds new to his skin. “What happened here?” River gasped.

“Not here. We were flying to school-“King began.

“School?” River turned to Vexen. “How long was I out?”

“Two days. I kind of assumed you knew…” he trailed off, and River, now satisfied, allowed King to finish his story.

“As I was saying, we were flying to school and they ambushed us. We didn’t know what hit us, and then Trish started freaking out, saying she could see enemies all around us. There wasn’t anything that we could see, but we were being cut with what seemed like invisible ropes covered in knives. We dive bombed and got away, luckily but they didn’t even care who they were hitting. Gold here took the blunt of the attack.” King gripped her hand. River noticed now the cuts cutting across her face and running down the entire length of her body. It cut River deeply, seeing her family in such pain. And she couldn’t help but wonder if it would have happened if she was around.

“I’m so sorry you guys. I would’ve never let this happen to you if I’d been around. I would’ve protected you….. I’m really sorry. Vexen and I came to explain things to you. Aisha has told us that we have to….um… breed with the wolves. She forbids us to live here anymore. So I’m leaving Kingsley in charge of you guys. I’m gonna miss you guys so much.” River burst into tears as they all hugged her tightly. “We’ve got to leave. I’m sorry.”

River ran out of the house and flung herself into the car. Vexen followed after about ten minutes. By that time she had already turned the car on and had the music pounding loudly in her head. He settled in beside her and rubbed her shoulder before backing out of the drive way and driving away. He didn’t turn the music down at all, he allowed her to deal with the news by her own terms.

They pulled up after the mind numbing drive and found Isis’s car already back in the driveway. This meant that they were back now as well. Just as River was about to slip inside her new home and collapse, Vexen pulled her close to himself. River noticed the differences between Vincent and Vexen immediately, kicking herself mentally for being like all other girls and comparing the two of them. Vexen was familiar to her, his body safe and comforting. But with Vincent there was a sense of excitement. Every time she saw him, her heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

She pulled herself slowly away from him. Smiling, she silently hoped that Vexen didn’t see the hesitation in her eyes. He seemed not to, and strangely enough that hit River deep. She had hoped he would, after all, they had known each other since she was six and he was seven. But she let it slide and they said their goodbyes, each heading into their own home.

Vincent met her at the door. “How was your day?” he asked sweetly. It was strange to River, but it seemed like he actually cared about her answer. She wondered what she had done to deserve his care.

“It was… interesting. How are your…?” River trailed off, not knowing how to finish the statement.

“They’re fine. We’re all just trying to get used to it, you know? And we had to leave Htaed and Efil in charge.”

River was silent for a while. Isis and Vincent were going through the same thing they were, and their youngest member hadn’t even hit eight yet. She smiled softly and agreed with him.
Suddenly, her world went black around her. She felt her body hit the floor, but she couldn’t see or hear anything. The world around her sounded like it was trapped underwater, all sound muffled and unnatural. She felt her mind being dragged out of her own and into the mind of Jayden.
It was pitch black inside the house, even though it was only 4:00. The storm had rolled in extremely quick, but it was still going on hours after it had come. River could hear the hushed whispers that surrounded Jayden, and Gold’s hard breathing that seemed to slice the air. They waited for something to strike out at them, knowing it would.
Jayden sucked in his breath. Something had wrapped around him, and it was squeezing and cutting his body all over. He pulled at the invisible chains without prevail. King beside him cursed under his breath and pushed him away. That unraveled the chain enough to where Jayden was able to unravel himself further and further until he finally slipped out.
All at once the house burst into a ball of flame. It surrounded them. Flaming bits of the house fell around them, and the scene in River’s head went black……

“For the last time, and I mean last, you take the bed and I will sleep wherever! I prefer rotten floors to pristine beds anyways.” Isis had been arguing with Vexen on sleeping arrangements for at least five minutes now, “Unless you’re so desperate to sleep in the same bed?”
“No! Fine you win I’ll take the bed.” Vexen confusingly admitted defeat.
“Good.” Isis revealed a rare smirk as she went to the kitchen, as she walked Vexen could swear he saw a wolf tail swishing.

First thing Isis went to the freezer, stalked full with fresh red meat. Pulling one out Isis couldn’t help but think of Ted, red meat was his favorite after all. It was getting closer to the full moon, only a week left, and Isis was losing more control of her wolf aspects. Fangs grew in her mouth as she bit into the red meat, blood slipped down her face. Vexen walked into the room a disgusted look on his face.
“How can you eat that? It’s disgusting.”
Isis wiped her face with her arm licking up the blood. “It’s in my DNA, just like flying is in yours. Full moon is coming next week can’t really control it well, oh I advise you don’t come near me on full moon unless you want to be dinner.” Isis opened up the cabinet to see what else kind of food there was. Opening the first door revealed a row of bird feed and bird treats underneath was a labeled in bold letters reading VEXEN. Isis cracked up laughing, she couldn’t hold it in.
“What’s so funny?” Isis merely pointed at the cabinet. “Oh that’s just wrong and rude. I wonder if there’s one for you.” Vexen opened up the next cabinet is had a row full of dog treats and canned dog food with a label saying ISIS. Isis reached in and opened up the box of dog treats, she pulled one out shaped in a little red bone and plopped in her mouth.
“Don’t knock ‘em till you try ‘em. Right after we escaped from the lab we took on full wolf form and survived off free hand outs of dog food, we even lived in a shelter for a bit. Hate to say but those were some of the best meals we had.” The phone rang right beside Vexen and he reached to grab it but it was already gone, Isis had it in her hands, she somehow managed to come across the room without Vexen seeing and take the phone.
“Yeah? Are you sure? Had a dog treat that’s what’s wrong, I’ll see you outside in ten. Sure, and since when do you give a crap?” The phone went dead.
“He hung up on me! Oh, he’ll pay but after we see the pups! Vexen get dressed we’re getting rid of each other for a while.” Isis yelled down as she climbed up the stairs.

It wasn’t awkward, more strange to be in the company of Vincent after spend time with Vexen and actually not hating him. Isis just wondered what Vincent thought of River.
“They left us dog treats, the good kind, they also left bird food for Vexen made me laugh.” Isis started to start a conversation, trying to get to a more serious subject.
“So you call him Vexen now? Not tweety-birds? That’s nice glad I won’t have blood to clean. What about those sleeping arrangement? River and I have ours worked out.”
“I sleep wherever and he takes the bed, my choice. You of all people should know I hate beds, remind me too much of being strapped to a table with people prodding at you with needles.” It then went awkward because Isis remembered a piece of something she wanted to forget. “Vincent, do you think that…” Isis paused, knowing this will be a sensitive subject, “that Lucas is really alive, also what about the full moon situation?”
“We’ll see when we get there.” Isis knew that was all he was going to say. He still didn’t forgive Lucas and Isis supposed he never would.

The house the children were in was nice, much nicer than the rundown apartment but Isis did not like it. It didn’t have a feeling of home; she suspected it never would, although Shadow did seem comfortable running around the place.
“Efil, how have things been?” Isis said taking a seat and Vincent sitting beside her. He is so close, but so far away. Isis thought on this heavily barely listing to Efil’s respond.
“It has been….interesting. We decided not to go anywhere it’s too quiet, too still. I know they are up to something so we won’t move until they do. I already have felt a disturbance in the ‘tweety-birds’ so I suspect they plan to do something after full moon, when we are at our weakest.” It was quite for a moment and Efil spoke again, “Isis Htaed wished to tell you something.” Htaed is not the one to speak he prefers to be quite looking onward hanging around Ted so he doesn’t get in too much trouble. Isis looked at Htaed, standing in the far corner with a sullen face.
“You may not wish to hear this,” Htaed spoke with his voice, calm and smooth. Isis will never get used to his voice, “But if they do produce a Lucas to us and it seems as if it might be real remember that it is not. We saw him die with our own eyes after the fight.” Isis wanted to scream but she didn’t, she felt Vincent tense up beside her and she spoke in return with calamity.
“I understand he will not be the same if they do produce him, but understand we did not see him die, we saw him fall. We never found the body. That is all that will be discussed on that topic.”

The rest of the visit that day did not go as planned, it was not that enjoyable. It felt awkward and Isis hated to thinks this but she did, she thought it was better with the poultry. When the visit was done they parted and walked to where they belonged. A rift was set between Isis and Vincent, a rift that could mark the end.

Back at Isis’s house she was very tired. All her energy drained out of her, she found her way to the wooden floors and fell asleep.

Vincent did not enjoy his alone time, it made him think of that day. He did not like thinking of himself as a killer nor his brother as a traitor, but it was all as so. Nothing he could change and he would never get why Isis wouldn’t drop the subject. All he wished for is that it could go back to normal, well their normal. But nothing could be normal anymore. Nothing could be anything anymore.