Fallen Angel

Chapter 1

I hated these tests with every fiber of my being.

I had learned long ago how to have steady hands, steady so the nurse couldn't see them shaking or the overseers couldn't predict my anger, but that didn't mean that my mind was steady.

My mind flitted from one thing to the next. I may have been physically trapped, but my mind was free. I noticed the small layer of dust building on top of one of the cabinets, the slight paint chip on the trim of the ceiling, and how the stethoscope looked a little duller today than usual.

My fingers flexed slightly, keeping myself awake. I'd mastered the art of staying still, sometimes staying so still that my fingers went numb as my mind wandered. Every twitch in my body was exaggerated when I stayed this still, my thoughts racing and noticing any slight change in the routine. I'd learned long ago that change was not a good thing.

Steady body, wild mind.

I was poked and prodded, something was stuck in my ear, and a light shined in my eyes. Every single week I went through this same medical checkup, and yet I'd never quite settled down into the routine.

My legs swung beneath me as the nurse quickly wrapped up her physical tests, putting everything away in a hurried manner.

She seemed afraid, and rightfully so.

"You are free to go," the nurse said, and the moment she spoke I was off of the medical berth. My wings spread out, intentionally whacking and toppling over several pieces of medical equipment. I smiled with glee as the nurse cursed aloud and scrambled to assess the damages on the fallen equipment. The bastards had it coming for them.

Despite my best efforts, however, the blood bag was still intact, and I glared at it on my way out of the examination room. It seemed to taunt me, saying that this was my purpose and nothing else- a simple toy for the human race, a genetically mutated freak, freaky enough that they just needed to study me. Probably to make more freaks.

Regardless, my blood was drawn every week. The few times I'd asked about it the answers were vague, the times after that there were no responses, and eventually I was ordered to stop questioning what happened. I'm sure it wasn't the only set of information they sent off to who knows where, but the ideas of what happened to my blood both entertained and haunted me.

The halls were sterile, as was most of the building I lived in. I saw the sun on occasion, always through a window with bullet proof glass. The window was in the hallway, and strange straight lines ran through it. I remembered growing up, sitting by the window and letting the sun soak into my feathers. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling.

I remember pushing my face against the glass, leaving little marks on the glass when I was done looking through it. My hands were also pressed against the glass, and a younger version of myself imagined being on the other side of the glass and peering inside, seeing the sterile hallways. The free me would look around curiously before walking back to the line of trees and disappearing.

The outside looked so much more warm and enticing than the little room I slept in.

The door opened automatically for me, and I sat down on the chair. The room was not small, it was enough for me to stand up and walk about five steps in any direction. A small rug dotted the room, and I was given a simple device with small games and my lessons on them, which was how I knew about the outside world.

Everything about the outside fascinated me.

On the desk was a small plant with a grow light, something I had requested and received after haggling and refusing to participate in tests in the lab. I was fascinated by it, supposedly the plant would flower but I had yet to see a single bud. The trees that were showed on the educational iPad had hundreds of flowers that bloomed at once, and supposedly they smelled. The outdoors smelled "musty" and it was sometimes "humid" and while I had never felt like the air was wet or smelt the decomposition of plant and animal material it was nice to imagine when I was bored.