Ambra closed her eyes as she sat on the dirty ground of the abandoned apartment, head rested against the wall.
2015. The War was raging on.
She was thinking back to two years ago.
For years, she had planned her escape from the Institution. They'd kept her there for years. Three, to be exact. Away from her family. Her brothers. Her friends. She thought of them every single day while there.
The Angels. She was their science experiment. They poked and prodded her, tortured her, forced her to tell them her secrets. "What are you?" "Tell us your abilities!" She never broke, never told them. Bleeding, crying, and broken, yelling the names of her beloved family and friends to keep her from going insane, she never gave in. But of course, they found out anyway. They had their ways. They made her transform, go crazy, insane with her powers. She barely remembered any of it. Except for the man she killed in the frenzy, his blood all over her and the floor. His body in a crumpled heap, as she stared lividly down at him, her golden eyes glowing as a wicked, sharp-toothed grin stretched across her face. The black, thirteen-foot wings stretched out behind her, the long, sharp nails at her sides.
That's when the Angels knew they could use her. She could be a most valuable weapon. With her powers, they could get one step closer to winning the War.
They took her DNA, tried to clone it, but failed. something as missing. They attempted to do it many times, over a period of three years, but each time they almost got it, the experiment failed. But they were getting closer to their goal.
At first, because of her lethal behavior, they kept her locked up, screaming and growling and hissing at them. That man wasn't the only one she killed during experiments. Even in her livid, retched state-of-mind, she realized that if she behaved, they might loosen her collar.
And that's exactly what they did, in her third year in the Institution. With an exception of course. She had to tell them the secret, how to make more of her. Ambra honestly didn't know. How could she? She wasn't one of them.
With extreme frustration, the Angels performed more tests. Carefully, though. They could not lose a source to a future weapon that could help win it all for them.
It was one very quiet night when Ambra escaped. No one could have seen it coming."Even thought she isn't giving answers, she's cooperating with the testing...maybe she'll finally give in."
Oh, how they were wrong.
She was sitting in the white, immaculate cafeteria, alone at her own table, staring off just as the other "Specials" in there were. Her plastic-looking food was untouched as she sat there in a clean white gown the Angels made everyone wear.
Years ago, she'd tried to break out, only to fail miserably and be locked up for days, being painfully tested. They'd made her run and fly for hours on end. Almost daily, they'd take her blood or something else like bone marrow or brain fluid. but the tests were only making her stronger.
She'd had plenty of time to think about her new plan.
Guards were at every entrance and exit, naturally. There were barely any windows in the Institution, only skylights. Skylights with six-inch-thick glass. Wherever she went, a guard went with her, but since she hadn't been "acting up" lately, it wasn't so heavily forced.
As she sat there, guard behind her glancing distractedly away. She looked blankly around at the other tests subjects, saying her telepathic farewells to them. Of course, they had no idea what she was planning. Except for a few select "friends" she'd made there. The friends occasionally glanced over at her, but she didn't make the tiniest gesture to acknowledge them, she only looked at them.
With no warning whatsoever, her wings ripped fourth from her back, tearing the clothes on her as she jumped up on the table. Her nails and teeth grew elongated and sharper as she killed the man with one quick slash of her taloned-hand. The golden eyes flashed as a fierce scream filled the cafeteria.
The many Angel guards had their tazer-guns at the ready, a few fired, only to have her dodge them.
She rocketed upwards, right towards the skylight. The amazing strength and precision, she crashed through the glass, sending shards flying everywhere as she felt the cool, crisp night air against her skin.
Hearing yelling, she flew up more and went south. The sirens blared, more men and women yelled. She heard the excited cries of her friends, feeling faintly remorseful for not getting them out with her. But it would only slow her down. Maybe she'd come back for them later.
And that's how the Avian-Woman escaped from the Angel's Institution.
But now, as she sat there, leaning on the wall in her black leather jacket, she felt an emotion like regret.
Regret from escaping? Hell no. But regret, maybe, from not seeing that the Angels could be on the winning side. She hated what she was doing now. Constant hiding. She knew that they'd take her into their side if she went back to the Angels.
But what about her family? Where was George in all this? And Danny? Danny. She was almost sure he was dead. Ambra had heard absolutely nothing about him, Why would she though?
And her friends from St. James? Eric? Where was he.
She still hasn't found anyone, but she was searching.
Searching desperately.
As she stared out the dirty window, her fierce golden eyes flickered in the moonlight.
"It's time for change."