"Get up! Wake up!"

My eyes flew open along with my wings and I rose to my feet, startled and ready for action. It was still nearly dark outside, though I could see the sun peeking her head over the horizon through the trees. The world around me seemed grey from the lack of lighting. It certainly wasn't when the five of us usually woke up- a quick glance at my watch confirmed that. Were we being attacked?

A fist flew toward my face. Literally entering fight or flight mode, I propelled myself backward, black feathers flying into the air as I frantically flapped my wings. Oops. Too hard. My back hit the bark of a tree and I was dazed once more, the world spinning before my eyes. If I stood I would probably vomit, so I rested my head against the tree and tried to steady my senses. "Damn. You're literally useless, aren't you?"

My senses stabilized to find Rhiannon in front of me, giving me the most judging look I'd ever been given. Dakota and Parker watched from across the clearing, looking shocked and half-asleep. Parker quickly lost interest and went back to where he was tending to Delilah, head down.

Rhiannon looked me up and down, shaking her head. "All it took was a hand flying toward your face- without hitting you, even- and you're incapacitated."

"I wasn't expecting that!" I exclaimed, rubbing the back of my head in an attempt to prevent it from bruising.

"That's the problem! You weren't ready. If I had been anyone else you'd all be dead!"

I huffed and ran my hands over my bent and dusty feathers. "So what was this? Some kind of test? You woke us up screaming at 6:30 in the morning and expected us to fight back?"

She scoffed. "It's not like you don't need it." She gestured to where Delilah was lying on the ground, neck wrapped in gauze and stirring silently in her sleep. She'd managed to survive her wound and pull through. I didn't know a lot about medicine, but I was pretty sure she was going to be fine. It would definitely scar, especially considering we didn't have a lot of medicinal salves or creams to help it heal, but she would be fine.

"We were caught off guard-"

"That's the problem! You need to be prepared for anything! When you're all bleeding out on the floor, slowly losing consciousness for the last time, you aren't going to suddenly heal and be back at full potential just by saying, 'Hey! That wasn't fair! I wasn't ready!'"

I rolled my eyes. "What are you going to do then? Make us omniscient?"

The girl narrowed her eyes. "Don't be stupid with me." She got into a fighting stance, bouncing her weight from side to side. "Let's dance, princess."

Her fist flew toward my face and, focused this time, I managed to duck out of the way. Dakota, who had been silent until now, ran up behind her and tried to get her into a chokehold. Rhiannon relaxed her muscles and turned into jelly, sliding right through his grip and out of harm's way. He was left clutching his chest like an idiot before we stood off, neither wanting to be the first to attack.

I took initiative, tucking my wings tightly against my back and swinging an arc toward her cheek. She easily saw it coming and grabbed my fist with one hand, using her leg to knee me in my gut. I groaned, clutching at my abdomen and staggering backward, and Dakota went in for a leg sweep. He managed to get her off balance, but she was able to steady herself while he stood and kicked him back to the ground, planting a foot on his chest. We all laid in silence, loud breathing the only noise other than the natural sounds of the forest. "That was pretty horrendous."

I glared at the girl but kept my mouth shut. She continued talking. "I just beat you in a 2v1. I was able to fend off both of you. If Parker was here, probably not- after all, you have been able to survive the past few attacks from the scientist- but alone or with one other person, you guys are feeble."

"Look, we get it, okay?" Dakota said from his spot on the ground. He could have lifted her foot from his chest if he wanted to, probably could have sent him flying with his super strength, but he remained where he was. "How about you teach us something instead of randomly launching attacks and laughing at our 'feeble attacks'?"

She lifted her foot off of his chest and crossed her arms. "The best way to learn is through experience, but I guess I can let up for now. We can spar again after you guys actually have a chance." I rolled my eyes. "Get Parker over here. Delilah can survive an hour or so on her own."

Parker was suddenly behind me, and I jumped backward and raised my fists, ready to defend myself, before I realized it was him. "Good, Carson. Now you live in fear just like me. At least your reaction time can be salvaged." Yikes.

"Let's get this started." Rhiannon cleared her throat. She slid her feet apart to shoulder-length and brought her hands up in front of her face, palms outward. "Protect your face. Bend your knees. If you have a wide base, but not too wide, it's harder for you to be knocked off-balance. Too close together and you're knocked over by a weak breeze." The three of us watched her intently, eyes set on her feet. "What are you doing?" She barked. "Copy my movements. You can't learn if you don't try."

I slid my feet outward and raised my arms, squatting slightly. After we were all in position, she walked around and pushed at us from all angles to check our balance. Parker stumbled pretty easily, but Dakota and I managed to stay upright. She clicked her tongue. "Not bad." The girl returned to her original position in view of all three of us and easily slid into the stance. "Now we need to focus on basic self-defense, and the mindset that you need to have when you face your opponent." Rhiannon slid one foot back at a forty-five-degree angle, keeping her hands up in front of her face. "When someone swings at you, you're going to have to step back diagonally. Keep it forty-five degrees, not ninety or one-eighty." She had Dakota stand in front of her and do a simple punch forward, going through the motions of what to do and what not to. "Forty-five will keep you out of harm's way, while ninety or one-eighty- or anything close to that- will still be in the range of your opponent."

I slid one foot back the way she had shown us, and she shook her head. "No. Keep your front foot pointed in front of you and your back foot turned outward. You need to keep your balance even when you're twisting." She did the motion a few times with me until I got it correct. "Good. Your angle is pretty accurate; I wouldn't be able to hit you if I swung from where I am now." Rhiannon moved over to Parker and Dakota. "Go a little more diagonally, Parker. Turn on the balls of your feet, it's easier and more accurate. Dakota, you're doing a straight ninety-degree angle right now. I'd hit you easily if we were fighting right now. Turn a little bit less."

By the time we were finished with self-defense, the sun was high in the sky. The three of us could now dodge attacks fairly well against the girl and each other, but that was only in a basic spar. It'd be a lot quicker when we were in actual combat, and technique- while important- wouldn't matter nearly as much. It was going to take a lot of practice to go through the movements subconsciously when in the heat of the moment.

"We need to move onto attacking. When in battle, you all rely too heavily on basic physical fighting. You have abilities for a reason, and while using them is riskier than sticking with your basic human talents, it's much easier to fight someone with powers when you use your own." She took a deep breath. "I had to learn how to fight normally. My abilities are far too dangerous to use in a battle. For all of you, however, you can learn to control your side effects more and use them to your advantage."

I gulped. What good would my wings be if I flew off in the middle of battle? How effective would it be if I randomly got lost in my subconscious, debris flying around me and hurting my teammates as much as my enemies?

Rhiannon, of course, went for me first. She motioned for me to spread my wings, and I did so hesitantly, keeping them halfway tucked. "Untuck them fully. Stretch them as though you were about to fly." Reluctantly, I complied, and the girl stepped backward, analyzing me with a sharp gaze. "In general, you need better control. Your wings are large, they're powerful, they're made for flying. You need to be accustomed to their size and their sheer strength. The good news for you is that you are already using them in battle, but the issue is that you're using far too much of their strength; you're trying too hard if you will. Think of it like driving a car. You don't need to slam your foot on the pedal to scoot forward a few inches. Be a bit more gentle and you'll be able to use them to your full advantage." She paused for a moment, before reaching out a hand and running her hand through my feathers. I felt myself sinking a little bit, and I fought to stay upright and in the moment. It took every ounce of willpower, especially when she began to use both hands and straighten my feathers with commitment.

I gritted my teeth and straightened my back. "I think that's enough," I hissed through gritted teeth. She stepped back, and I was finally able to breathe again.

"That's exactly what you need to do when you're in a fight," she told me. "Do everything you can to stay grounded. You're of no use to us if the second someone touches your feathers you faint. Cling to your anger and adrenaline, and try to think about the things that you can feel other than your wings." I took a deep breath and nodded. It was going to take a bit of practice to get over this. If someone brushed against my feathers during a fight and I was incapacitated immediately, that would be bad for both me and my team. I shuddered to think about my vague memories of flying off when I had first discovered my side effect. I was innocent, reverted to a childlike, dreamy state where the only thing I cared about was the wind and the air around me. I never wanted to be that helpless again.

"We need to figure something out for your telekinesis." The girl stepped back, thought for a moment, and then shook her head. "We're going to have to experiment for this one. The question is whether it happens when you are strained, or whether it's entirely random. I'll come back to you." She moved down the line. Dakota, who was next, braced himself for what he knew was to come. "We don't even know what one of yours is, do we? Unless there isn't one. It's rare, but it's possible. Every now and then the scientists will get something right and you won't experience anything too bad. It could also always be something minor that you haven't noticed because of how small it is."

He thought for a moment. "I can always just lift a bunch of stuff until something seems different."

She shook her head. "In a moment. While I help Parker, you can do that. For now..." Rhiannon grabbed him and shoved him to the ground on his knees. "Listen."

He groaned, shutting his eyes and hugging his legs to his chest. Before I knew it, the world was gone. I looked around at the shifting trees and chirping birds, and they were suddenly soundless. They continued to move, but the sound was sucked out of the air as soon as it entered it. Dakota, however, didn't seem to have any issue with hearing anything. He curled into the fetal position, his hands over his ears and his mouth curled into a grimace, writhing as though the very atmosphere was painful to him. I shared a look with Rhiannon and Parker, and we all began to make various noises. With each noise we made and couldn't hear, his pain seemed to increase. It only went on for a little bit until, all of the sudden, I could hear again.

"Ooo! Oooooh!" Parker was hooting, dancing like the floor was on fire and making as much noise as possible. He halted his sounds too late, and Rhiannon and I doubled over laughing. "I didn't know he was just going to suddenly snap out of it," he mumbled.

"Uh oh," I said aloud. Rhiannon and Parker looked over in surprise at Dakota, who had stopped writhing and was groaning, rolling over onto his back with red leaking out of his ears. "I think we have a bigger issue than Parker's demonic screeches. His ears are bleeding."

Rhiannon was pensive. "He doesn't necessarily have extreme senses, he quite literally sucks all of the sounds in. That's why he cringed with each noise we made. He could hear it loud and clear, but we could not because he became some sort of a magnet for sound waves."

"That's great and all," Parker said, "but he's kind of bleeding out of his ears. I think his eardrums burst or something. I don't have any idea how this works."

"I've only heard of stuff like that in books and cartoons," I admitted. "How loud does something have to be for someone's ears to bleed?"

"Damn loud," Rhiannon muttered, still lost in thought.

"Language," Delilah murmured from across the clearing. We all looked over, surprised, to find Delilah with her eyes half open and attempting to sit up.

Parker sprinted over to her and slid on the ground to sit in front of the girl. "You're awake!" He cried. "Sit down, sit down. You're going to reopen your wound."

"Can barely speak," she whispered, her throat cracking. "Dunno what happened."

"It doesn't matter. You were attacked and we healed you." Parker smiled at her with tired eyes. I felt as though I was interrupting something. "Lay down again. You don't need to say anything. All we need you to do is feel better." He helped her sit up and leaned against a tree, making room so that he could sit next to her.

"No one treated me like that when I was electrocuted," Rhiannon grumbled. "Where's my tender love and affection?"

"Up your ass," I answered politely, cracking a smile when she rolled her eyes and looked toward the trembling boy on the ground.

"How are you feeling?" Rhiannon asked, and Dakota didn't respond. "Hello? How are you feeling?" The girl repeated, a bit louder this time. Nothing. She leaned down and tapped him on the shoulder, and he finally lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. "Are you okay?"

He looked confused, and then relieved. "Yeah, actually. Usually when someone's ears bleed it's due to an eardrum rupture; it can cause mild to moderate tinnitus and hearing loss. I had a bit of ringing in my ears immediately following the noises, but I feel pretty decent right now." He saw our surprised faces and blushed. "I wanted to be a scientist. Didn't really work out for me, obviously."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "You're only fifteen."

"You can't get into ten years of schooling when you live off of one income of minimum wage and can barely scrounge up enough cash to keep your house." I gulped and looked away. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Dakota had come from the household that he had. It was something that I wanted to push from my memory, something that I wanted to forget. That news broadcast was wrong on so many levels to release the information that they had. It wasn't for the public to know.

I hummed to myself to get my mind off of things. It was a familiar tune, one that I'd heard many times before; it was the kind of song I'd loop on my favorite playlist. I felt myself crescendo a little bit as I leaned down to tie my shoe, getting to my favorite part of the chorus and I weaved the laces to and fro.

"Is that a song from Wicked?"

My eyes widened, and I stopped humming. "You know the tune?"

"Yeah, I do. I'm not that uncultured." Rhiannon gave me a judging look, regarding me in a different light than she had before. "You into musicals?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. "A little. I guess." Boy, was that a lie. You could name any musical and I could recite the soundtrack and the plot. Some people had one musical that they liked, but I loved them all equally.

The older girl saw right through me. "Mhm. You're a theater kid, aren't you?"

I felt my face redden. "I'm not!" I cleared my throat and stood, brushing the dust off of my capris. "Not that there's anything wrong with being a theater kid. It's just that... the stage isn't really for me. I'm more of a behind-the-scenes kind of girl."

"I don't know, Carson," Dakota said, joining the conversation. "You were humming pretty loudly before we interrupted you. It sounded pretty good, too."

I felt myself grow even redder. "Oh." I had never thought I sounded too good. I had wanted to be on stage at one point, sure, but that would never happen again. Once was enough. Sure, it was a lead role, and the audience loved it, but my parents...

"Carson. Are you sure that's really what you want to be doing with your life? Theatre? You know you can't make a living through a game of pretend, right?"

I shuddered. Part of me still wanted to chase that dream, but knowing how hard it would be and just how good I would have to be to make it... it wasn't worth it. I needed to stick with other things, more stable options. Plumbing, maybe. I could always become an electrician.

"Carson? Earth to Carson?"

I snapped out of my trance and looked at Rhiannon, who had been waving her hand in front of my face until I had moved my blank stare from the ground to her face. Her red eyes seemed to be penetrating my soul when she asked me, "you there, Siren?"

"I'm not a siren," I scoffed. "I'm terrible at singing. That's also one of the worst nicknames I've ever heard."

She shrugged. "If you say so." The girl clasped her hands together and looked around at our sorry-looking group. "So here's where we're at right now." She pivoted and pointed dramatically at Delilah. "One Princess, out of commission and even more useless than she was before." She pointed at Parker, who was still sitting by Delilah, half-asleep from being up all night. "One Loverboy, about to pass out from exhaustion and obsessing over his girlfriend. Also rendered pretty much useless."
Her finger was on me next. "One Siren, who is mostly competent until you ask her to do anything at all involving using her powers." Dakota jumped a little bit when she stuck her finger directly in the center of his chest. "One Brood, who has a deep dark past and is actually fairly decent at fighting but sucks at any level of human interaction." She pointed at herself. "And finally, me, the mentor, and the only person who isn't totally incapacitated and actually knows what they're doing in a fight."

"Seems pretty accurate," Dakota responded.

"You're only saying that because she didn't have absolutely nothing positive to say about you," I grumbled.

"Who's brooding now?"

"Your mom."

I put a hand over my mouth, but a giggle still escaped me. His jaw may as well have hit the floor. "You did not just make a mom joke at me."

"I'm as surprised as you are," I wheezed, my chest shaking with laughter. He looked at me, who was doubled over at the sound of my stupid joke and shook his head, trying to hide his smile. "Don't be like that. Lighten up."

"It's hard to lighten up when there's dry blood on my ears and huge wings sprouting from your back," he answered seriously.

My smile faltered, but it didn't go away entirely. "Come on. You can laugh a little bit. The situation could always be worse."

"I guess."

"I know what will lighten the mood!" Rhiannon shouted, jumping into the conversation. "A spar! Let's see what you've learned!"

"Oh, no."

"Oh, yes," She told me. "Get in a triangle. You're both fighting me. You can go next," she yelled over to Parker, who didn't hear a word she said, as he was asleep and drooling on Delilah's shoulder. The girl turned her head back toward us, her eyes glowing a little bit as she spread her feet to shoulder length and grinned. "Get in position." I took in a shaky breath and bent my knees a little bit, untucking my wings slowly and methodically. Rhiannon's seminar ran through my head as I prepared both mentally and physically for the beating I was about to endure.

"I'll give you a head start this time," she told us cockily. "Attack whenever you're-"

A masculine fist flew toward her face, and she barely managed to dodge. "...okay buster, I guess we're doing this," she hissed, looking upward through parted hair. I felt my adrenaline spike and shoved my hands forward, using my palm to try and set her off balance. She caught what I was doing and retaliated; I was sent flying but managed to not slam into anything this time. While I caught my breath, Dakota attempted a leg sweep and succeeded. She landed hard on the ground. I ran over, using my wings to propel myself forward, and tried to pin her to the ground. Rhiannon rolled out of reach and tried to swing at me, but Dakota grabbed her from behind. I was prepared for her to slide out of the way, so I did what I could to keep her upright, but she managed to drag both of us to the ground and escape our grip. She kicked me at the joint from behind, causing my legs to buckle, and pinned me down, fending Dakota off in the meantime. Rhiannon grabbed my head with both hands and raised it above the ground as though she would slam it downward if Dakota made another move. Thankfully, it was only a spar, and I was released and allowed to safely climb to my feet. "Checkmate," she breathed. "Damn, I'm a good teacher. I was almost worried there for a second. You guys did pretty well for your first actual spar."

"That was insane," I responded. The entire thing couldn't have been more than a minute long. My heart throbbed and I slowed my breathing to try and steady myself. "It really did go so much better. Thanks, Rhiannon."

The girl looked a little flustered, as though she hadn't expected anyone to actually agree with her. "Oh, it's uh, it's my pleasure. You still lost, though."

Dakota rolled his eyes, his chest heaving. "Obviously. You've got over two years of experience under your belt, plus the added weakness of not having an ability to use. You're really good."

Her face was red, and I was pretty sure it wasn't just because of the spar. "I guess so." She cleared her throat. "Parker, you're up. It's just me versus you." He looked up from where he was laying, spluttering as he woke, and scrambled to his feet sheepishly, trying to get out of his sleepy haze.

As they set themselves up and prepared to fight, I crossed over to Delilah, who was still asleep, and sat on the ground beside her, studying her intently. She was resting fairly peacefully. I looked at the gauze wrapped around her neck guiltily. While it was mostly her fault that she had gotten targeted (due to her complete refusal to fight and tendency to run and hide at the slightest hint of conflict), I couldn't help but feel like it was partially my fault. I guess that was just something natural. There would always be what-ifs- what if I had protected her or looked for her sooner?- but in the end, I wasn't the one who had slashed her neck. That was the fault of the scientist, and we were already doing our best to make him pay. His time to suffer as we had would come. I would make sure of that.

A noise in the woods. I tensed, glancing over at the sparring teens. They hadn't heard anything.  I heard it again- the shuffling of shrubbery. I leapt to my feet, shoulders tensing and hands clenching. Maybe his time had come.

I followed the noise for a short while and came to what looked to be just a normal patch of woods. I don't know what I was expecting, but to be lead to the same scenery I'd passed on the way here was surprising. I searched the bushes carefully, green leaves brushing over my skin and occasionally getting pricked by brambles and briars. I came upon a black canister, and felt an ominous feeling settle over me. Staying aware of my surroundings and scanning the environment with every sense but my eyes and hands, I opened the container and carefully reached into it. I pulled out an unmarked tube and a small note.

Hello again! :)

Sorry about the mishap with the whole "almost killing one of you" thing. My bad. This should fix her right up. Say hi to the rest of the group for me!

- You know who I am ;)

Bile rose in my throat, but I choked it down. So that wasn't even supposed to happen? It was an accident- a "mishap" as he called it? Huh. I examined the tube carefully and opened it up. Despite the usual medicinal smell, the interior of the tube was... green. The cream was green. That didn't seem like any Neosporin I'd ever come across. Oh well. I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, steadying my nerves as best I could. From the sounds of it, he couldn't kill us- not yet at least. It was time to relay this information to my team and get the mystery salve onto Delilah's neck.

*
*
*

"Mm-m. Nope." Rhiannon shook her head. "Maybe he didn't mean to almost kill Delilah this time, but that is not something you can count on. The next time he might try his hardest to exterminate the five of us, and he won't be so kind to let you know beforehand. This man's a psychopath, he has no patterns. You always need to be prepared to fight for your life."

I sighed. "That sucks. I thought we'd have a bit of a break or something."

She shook her head. "Nope. It's safe to say you can never let your guard down in the situation you're in. Treat every battle like your last and every rest or sleep as a temporary necessity. It's not always going to be an option."

My jaw clenched and I fought the urge to complain. We'd all done enough of that.

"I think it's time we discuss more about what this situation actually is," I said instead, crossing my arms. "There's very obviously things that you aren't telling us."

She sighed. "I'll tell you what I can. Just... keep in mind that some of it might have changed since my batch. And try not to freak out more than you already have been."

I looked between our group of people, with Delilah wrapped in yet another set of gauze, Parker falling asleep where he sat, and Dakota obsessively reading the note we were sent over and over again.

"Sure. How much worse could things get?"