Young Writers Society

New Chicago, 2087

The cold war between the US and China has reached its peak. The American government has decided that a show of strength is necessary. As a response to China's newest advancement in Electromagnetic weaponry, the High Commander, who had seven years prior taken the place of the long-dead president, has approved an ambitious project motioned by the Biological Sciences Unit. Their goal: Human Weaponry.
The BSU suggested they use the newly developed process of genetic fusion, in order to give humans the powers of animals. The weapons would be able to blend in with society so completely that no one would suspect any attack. With the approval of the High Commander, the BSU gathered children ages 6-8, and began the experiment.

However.
The process was far from perfect. During the process, there was an error, resulting in the subjects physical form being altered. They gained the attributed of their animal, but also were transformed into a conglomeration of themselves and their animal. The BSU, seeing these subjects as failures, decided it was best to kill them. But one scientist, professor Hall, took pity on them and helped them escape.


Five years later
The Fused have been in hiding. Since their escape. Living only with--and for--each other. But when Professor Hall disappears, its up to them to find him, and along with their search for their savior and friend, they may find many other truths that will change their path forever....

Hi! Errie here to infest this forum with another little idea that had been floating around in my head. As always, let's get the boring stuff out of the way and start with the rules.




Now, my favorite thing!




Hope to see you all soon!

Abel Myers
It's not fair. When I was younger, it was my favorite thing to yell when I didn't get my way, over and over again. It's not fair, it's not fair One time my mother must have gotten sick of it because she turned right around, lifted me up so I could look her straight in the eyes .

"Life's not fair, Abel." She old me "And you know what we do about it? We live with it."

I was too young to really get it then. I probably pouted a little, but I didn't think about it. Never would have guessed that'd be the most accurate description of my life that anyone would ever give me. Only now, when I haven't seen or heard from my mother in eight years, when I've spent most of my time as a kid sleeping in alleyways, when I've been strapped into a machine and turned into the thing I am now do I understand how true that is. Life isn't some almighty judge. He's not gonna pick and choose bad people to do bad things to. He's just gonna put on his blindfold and throw a dart and wherever it sticks it sticks.

And I guess Life decided to buy some more ammo.

...

Professor Hall left in the afternoon. Me and the other kids living here had planted a little garden behind our little cabin so we didn't have to sneak into town for food anymore, but we still needed things like flour and meat, and DJ needed his meds, as much for our sakes as for his. Usually he'd come back before the sun had completely set, but this time it was different.

Different never sits well with any of us.

The sun was no longer visable from where we were, but the thin beams of light that we could see were dim. At this point most of us had gathered in the living room. Phoebe was sitting by the window in one of the little wooden chairs she had dragged from the dining room, watching through the curtains. Like they always did when she got nervous, her wings were fluttering a little. Cassie sat on the couch watching the door, ears pricked for any sound out of the ordinary. DJ sat beside her. He seemed intent on a tiny little machine of wires and metal that I could only hope wasn't a bomb. Ever so often his eyes would flick up. Darting around to look at all of us, then to door, then back down to his machine. Zack sat separate from everyone else, headphones on and eyes closed. His head nodded softly to the beat of whatever he was listening to. Of all of us here, he seemed to be the most relaxed. Almost like he joined our watch for the fun of it.
The room grew darker as the sun disappeared. I felt the tip of my tail twitch against the ground. DJ yawned softly and stood, his creation clutched in his hands. He stretched. As he did his black wings spread out as well, feathers shifting ans he worked out the stiffness in them. Silently he shambled off into the hall and moments later I heard the door to his bedroom shut. Aside from another flick of my tail, everything was still and silent. THe crickets came alive outside. The moon rose over the treeline. Zack skipped a track on his playlist. I sighed. If this kept up, we'd be at this all night

"I think its time we call it a night guys."

Cas and Phoebe turned to look at me like I'd asked them to murder someone. Phoebe's eyes were starting to tear up.

"Look, with any luck he just got into a bit of trouble and he'll get back her in the morning."

Cassie frowned "But if he's not--"

"We can't do anything about that. It ain't helping anything us staying up all night."

"But..." Phoebe's wings gave another small flap. "He'll still come back, Abel... Right?"

I started to nod, but then I thought of what might happen if I was wrong. Those big blue eyes staring at me full of betrayal. I sighed. "I don't know, Phoebe."

Phoebe's gaze sunk to the floor, she blinked a couple times, like she was trying to get something out of her eyes. Or keep the tears in.

"Phoebe," I said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'll tell you what. Stay up for a few more minutes. Cas can stay with you. If your dad comes back, you let us know, okay?"

Phoebe looked up at me and smiled a little. "Okay."

"You gotta promise me you'll go to bed when Cas does."

"I will."

I looked over at the couch. "Cas,"

Cassie looked up at me

"Don't stay up all night."

Cas nodded.

I turned away and made my way in the dim light to the hallway. Zack was still leaned back in a chair near the entrance, completely immersed in his music. Now that I was closer I could hear the faint sounds of guitars and drums pounding out of his headphones.

"Zack." I tapped him on the shoulder. He opened one eye. I pointed to my ear and he removed his headphones. The sound of the music blares out from the speakers until he pauses it. I lean in until my lips are close enough to brush his ear. "We need to talk." I murmur.

Life had been weird for me. Trailer park. Streets. Lab... Living in an apartment with six other fused kids had been the most normal living arrangement I'd had. Until the night that too came crashing down. The night Professor Hall didn't come back...

××××××

Professor Hall always made us have an early bedtime, but that day, we were awake long past the darkest hours of the night. I tuned the others out with my music. I knew the situation was bad--I didn't need to see the worry in Cas's eyes or the tears that rolled down Phoebe's face. But then Abel tapped me on the shoulder and led me out into the hall.

Any time we had a serious decision to make, Abel seemed to confide in me. I wasn't sure why. I never exactly thought of myself as the leader type. Maybe it was because we had a connection over the fact we'd both lived on the streets, or maybe because we'd become close during our time in the lab.

The moment Abel clicked the door closed behind us, I turned to him. "What?"

"I don't know how to break it to Phoebe."

"Break what to Phoebe?"

Abel let out a sigh. "I don't think Hall is coming back."

A part of me knew this already, and I'd told myself I didn't care that much. But when the words were finally spoken aloud, the elephant in the room being exposed for all to see, I felt my stomach drop. We were all alone.

I tensed. "Why are you asking me? How am I supposed to know!"

"She's not going to take this well at all. I think we need to be really careful about how we--"

The more his words sunk in, the more angry I felt myself become. "Whether you break it to her softly or slap her across the face with it, it's still the same information."

"I know, but--" Abel began, but I cut him off again.

"Phoebe is Fused. If she's going to survive this, she needs to toughen up. And you need to stop babying her."

"Zack, don't you think--"

I threw my hands up and shook my head at him. I didn't want to hear anymore. I turned the handle on the apartment door, shoved it open and walked right up to Phoebe. Abel followed me and I could tell he was going to try and keep me from saying anything, but he was too late.

"Phoebe. Hall isn't coming back. You're waiting for a ghost. He's probably dead!" I took a step back. "Actually, I take that back. I think he's alive. I think the first chance he got he abandoned us. He never cared about us! We were a burden on him from the very beginning."

Phoebe's eyes started to well up at my words, but I ignored it.

"We are on our own and you need to grow up and accept that. Family is supposed to be important, but the truth is, it isn't, because they don't really care about you. And the sooner you get that through your head, the better off you'll be."

Phoebe stared up at me with wide blue eyes, glossy and reflecting off the orange sun coming through the window. In the corner of my eye, I saw Abel shaking his head. I didn't care. It needed to be said. Only, the truth was... it wasn't Phoebe who needed to accept it. It was me.

The moment seemed to drag on forever. Then it came to an abrupt stop when she stood up from the sofa and slapped me across the face. "I hate you," she said, then shoved her way past me and Abel.

I could feel their eyes on me. The room was far too silent. Without a word, I clenched my jaw, threw my hoodie on over my old teeshirt and headed for the window.

"Where are you going?" Abel asked, exasperated.

"Out." I slide the window open, jumped through and let it slide closed behind me. I flipped my headphones back up over my ears and turned the music back on. I let it drown out the world around me, the sound of Phoebe's words echoing in my head, the sting of the slap that still tingled against my cheek.

I flipped my hood up, then turned and grabbed onto the ledge above the window. Ledge by ledge, I pulled myself higher and higher. Our fire escape got smaller the higher I scaled. Somehow, the further I got from the apartment, the further I felt from my problems, too.

Finally, I pulled myself onto the roof. This building didn't even have stairs to the roof. The only way to get to it was to climb, which is why I was always the only one that went up here. The city in front of me stood tall with apartment towers and skyscrapers, behind me, a giant lake that the sunrise reflected off of each morning.

Somehow, everything felt better up here. When I was alone, I was Zack. Not the science experiment gone wrong. Not the boy who had been on the run for five years. Not the weirdo who could change the color of his skin or turn his eyes 180 degrees. I was just a boy, looking out over a city, feeling the cool morning breeze cool his warm cheeks.

I walked to the edge of the roof and sat, letting my legs dangle over the side. I watched the hustle and bustle on the street down below, as normal people with normal lives began their day. I had a strange feeling that day--a sense of impending change that I knew would change everything, and yet there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I don't know how long I was up there. Twenty? Thirty? Fifty minutes? All I know is it ended as soon as I saw him. A man in a sharp black suit and sunglasses. He was talking into something in his ear. If it had been a bluetooth, I wouldn't have thought much of it. Every businessman nowadays talked with one. Always with a laptop in one hand and a latte in the other, never having enough hands for a phone call.

But this was no bluetooth. This was the kind of clear earphone that went inside your ear and was connected to a twirling cord that went beneath his neatly pressed, white collared shirt. No one but me would have been able to see that from up here, but my eyes were different.

I scaled down the side of the building, level by level until my sneakers landed on a fire escape a few floors above the ground. I hurried down the steps, then to the edge of the building. I pressed my back into the brick, and within a few moments, my skin changed to the pattern of the wall. With that and the shadows of the early morning concealing me, I was invisible. Then I strained to hear what the man was saying.

"No sign of them. Are you sure they're here?" A moment of silence. "Of course. If they're here, we'll find them. You can count on that."

I knew in that moment that I had been wrong. Hall hadn't abandoned us. He'd been found, and they were coming for us next.

Cas

He left and once again I was useless.

I assured Phoebe that her dad would never leave us. I tried to think of an explanation for what was happening but I couldn't. I put everyone to bed and crouched in the window trying to search for any sign of Dr. Hall. I stared out into the inky blackness of the night trying to make myself believe that he would return. I sniffed the room trying to keep his scent intermingled with that of the pack in my memory. I opened the window and sniffed the air looking for his scent on the breeze but knowing I would not find it.

I inhaled the crisp fall air and the smell of gasoline from the road. The smell of wet grass mingled with a bit of smoke from one of DJ's gadgets. Then it hit me, I could smell him. Excitement gripped me and I hoisted myself further out the window. Before I could even feel the relief that I longed for it sank in my heart and turned to fear. My eyes had landed on a figure moving toward the house. It wasn't Dr. Hall.

Zack lunged through the window knocking me to the floor. Eyes wide he sputtered out what he had heard the man say. I jumped to my feet and dragged him along behind me.

"Get everyone together and tell them to be as quiet as possible!" I barked, padding down the hallway as silently as I could. "We are leaving and we won't be coming back."

Zack hurried to assemble the others and I opened DJ's door. He looked up from whatever contraption he was working on this time annoyed at being interrupted. "Cas I'm not ready to go to bed yet!" He whined.

I looked at the timer attached to his wiring and grinned. "DJ please tell me that's a bomb"
He looked at me bewildered. "You aren't going to tell me to stop?" I looked at him carefully and then told him what I feared.

"We might need it."

As the others gathered together in the living room, I sat against the closed door of my room, listening at first to their silence, then their quiet murmurings as Abel tried to get them to go to bed. I let out a long breath and closed my eyes.

The others probably thought that I didn't care. I didn't mind what they thought of me. But what they would never know was the strange depth of pain and worry I felt at the disappearance of Professor Hall.

Before this life, when I was an orphan in China and then a test subject imprisoned in the American lab, no one had ever looked at me like I was a person, not even the caretakers in the orphanage or my 'Chinese teacher' at the lab, who was there to make sure I remained fluent despite being in an English-speaking environment.

Until the moment Hall had opened the door to my tiny cage and looked into my eyes with such sincere compassion and shame, I myself had never considered myself human. So, I had always felt a certain obligation to him, though it was bewildering and my philosophy in life was to protect myself before others.

I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, there was a commotion outside in the living room, and footsteps came running down the hallway. I leapt up from the ground and sprang back from the door with a warning hiss as Zack opened it as quickly as possible.

"We're leaving," he said, meeting my eyes briefly, before heading off to the next person's room.

I didn't have to ask to know what he meant. The look in his eyes, and what had always been pounded into since we had been freed, told me everything I needed to know. A rare stab of fear went through me.

They've found us. Professor Hall was captured.

I grabbed my backpack, which was nondescript and light; it held everything I felt I would need in case we would ever have to go on the run, which wasn't much at all--just my knife collection and other various survival items.

I slung the pack on and quickly put my hand up to feel for my jade pendant. It was a reassurance to feel its cool surface, though I had already known it would be there. Then I exited my room and waited in the living room for the others to finish their last-minute packing and gather so we could leave.

My body seemed to burn with nervous energy and adrenaline, and the need to run, run, but as Abel and Zack were herding some of the others to wait beside me, I took some time to glance around at what had been my--our--home for a few years. The corner of my mouth tugged up mirthlessly. It had almost started to feel familiar.

But one could never get too comfortable in one place, when powerful, dangerous people were after your life.

Far away, I could hear many footsteps, running in the direction of the house. "I hear them," I said. The others' faces were sober, some full of fear.

Just then, Cassie came out with DJ, who was carrying his latest contraption, which looked quite suspiciously like a homemade bomb.

"This is our distraction," said Cassie, gesturing at DJ's project.

Abel stepped forward, glancing at the group of Fused. "Okay, so that . . . bomb is going to buy us some time. Stay together, don't get caught."

Don't get caught.

"They're almost here," I reminded them, my heartbeat quickening with each step I could hear nearing the front entrance of our soon-to-be former home.

"Get ready to run," said Abel as DJ set the bomb.

I am not dense enough to think that my anger at Zack was more important than our safety. I may have diminished mental capacity, but when DJ was preparing set the bomb, I was determined to get everyone out of there, despite my opinions on some of them. I am not as much of an asset to the team as others are, so I was more focused on getting them somewhere secure than concerned for my safety. I only vaguely knew where I was going, but I knew that north of us, there was a forest. How we would get there was questionable, but I thought that it would be the safest place to recollect ourselves and get ready for the journey ahead of us. I stated my idea to Abel, so that he could put it into action with his phenomenal leadership skills.

"Abel, we should go to the forest," I began.

He looked up, curious but guarded. "Wouldn't they look there first?"

"Most likely, but hear me out," I answered. "At first, it would be difficult to find us. We should rest there and prepare to flee for our lives."

"That sounds difficult," Abel replied, "How do we get to the forest?"

"We split up; Chunying blends in with the crowd in the streets to get to the forest, Zack can hot-wire a car to bring you, Cassie and Cody to the edge of town," I explained.

Abel continued for me. "You can carry DJ, right? He couldn't fly fast enough on his own."

"That's right," I exclaimed, happy that he understood my plan. "Do you think you can make it happen?"

Abel nodded and gestured for everyone to come closer. He repeated my plan to them, and one by one they agreed to it, even if it was reluctantly for some of them. We all agreed on a meeting spot at the beginning of the forest.

DJ finished setting up the bomb as the rest of us began leaving the apartment. Chunying, Abel, Zack, Cody, and Cas all took the stairs down to the ground floor, avoiding the elevator at all costs. DJ and I prepared to fly from the window.

"I'll be holding you tightly, but you will need to hold me tightly as well," I said to him.

"I will," he replied. "I'll help with the flying as much as I can, too."

I nodded. "We should focus on height at first and then try to glide towards the forest."

I grabbed DJ's wrists and jumped off of the windowsill. We were only falling for a second before we started ascending upwards.

The feeling of flying was both exhausting and exhilarating. My arms and my wings hurt, and my lungs were burning, but soon, we reached a height high enough for us to glide down and give our muscles a rest.

"You okay, there?"

DJ was panting, out of breath like I was, but he nodded. "I'm fine. This is faster than I am used to flying."

"I understand. We can glide now if that makes you feel better."

I rested myself a bit and focused on steering towards the spot where we agreed to meet.