Rita felt calm and at peace, she was floating in a black void, it felt like she had been here years, but at the same time, less than a day. She never grew bored of her surroundings, she just sat there, floating in the eternal abyss. Then, there was a light, a floating ball of light hovering right before her. She reached out to touch it, it burnt at first so she pulled away but the glow stuck to her skin. It spread, travelling up her arm and engulfing her entire body in light, there was a strange sensation and then cold. There was light, but it wasn't harsh, it was faint. There was a cold table beneath her, the air was cold; Rita could hear beeping machines. There was the sound of a door opening and then closing, followed by loud footsteps. Rita could pinpoint the location that they were coming from, she could hear it, she turned her hear groggily in that direction. She opened her eyes, it was bright, and white, an unnatural white, artificial white, it didn't seem real, or normal. She turned her head to see the scientist, she tried to sit up but remembered that she was strapped down. She struggled against the straps and grew panicked with every passing second. As her heart sped up a machine made faster beeping sounds. Why was she strapped down, she should be able to move around. The scientist tried to calm Rita down.

"It's alright kid, you're safe, calm down, deep breaths."

Rita looked at him like he was crazy, how could she be calm when she couldn't move? Gosh this was terrifying.

"But. I. Can't. Move." Rita said in a panicked voice.

The man bent down and unstrapped her, Rita got off the table as quickly as she could; the table felt too flat, it felt weird. Rita rubbed her sore arms, she noticed something different, it felt normal, but different. There was something on her back, it was weighing her down; her hand flew to where her shoulder blades were to feel two lumps.

"What're these?" She asked, panicking again.

"Give me a minute." He muttered, removing the wires and bandages from her body.

The second the last wire was gone Rita began to pace, not because she was nervous, but because she had to be moving, she just had lots of energy all of the sudden. The scientist watched her with amusement.

"The things on your back?" He asked.

Rita stopped pacing for a moment, looked at him, nodded, and continued to walk. Every time she changed directions and she had to turn around the extra weight threw her off.

"Wings."

Rita stopped and looked at him.

Wings, I have wings, great. Well at least I can fly! Fly and be free!

And as if the scientist read her mind, he said.

"You're not allowed to fly, it might be a distraction to other students."

"Oh. That's not fair though!"

"Life ain't fair kid."

"Well, um, you can't- fine, I won't fly."

"Good, now for the other stuff I need to tell you." He pulled a piece of paper and in a thoroughly bored voice he read what was written on it.

"Congratulations Rita Young, you are now part of historty! The DNA we injected you with is not from a specific bird, it is from a combination of all the avian creatures in the world. This combination will make you virtually unstoppable in combat due to the fact that one bird's weakness may be another's strength. There are certain upsides and downsides to the bird DNA, for example, you are no longer human and will be viewed as a 'freak' in public. The upsides, most you're senses are better and you are now a one in a million."

The man sighed and put away the paper.

"You can go back to your room, you have the rest of the day off to... adjust."

Rita walked out, she left the infirmary and went into the rotunda; there were already several other kids returning from their tests. They were walking with their friends, and talking, Rita picked up on every word. She could hear every footstep, she could hear everything, see everything, and it was driving her mad. She entered the Alpha common room and closed the door behind her, the room was strangely empty, which meant that it was quiet. Rita sank into the armchair, relishing the silence. She listening to the crackle of the fire, she could hear every pop the wood made and see every single ember in intricate detail. Rita looked at the ceiling, then at the walls and then she realized something.

I can't go anywhere, I'm trapped, the bird part of her mind began to panic.

Calm down, the human side of her mind reasoned, they're just walls

But walls are unnatural, walls aren't a part of nature!

....You're right

Rita began to panic, the bird part of her mind was taking control, and it was making her afraid. Rita looked to her left and right, forwards and backwards, all walls, the only way out of these traps was through doors and those led to more rooms, with more walls.

Stop it! They're just walls

Walls are bad

Rita stood up, she was getting fidgety, she needed to move around, why was she freaking out over walls? She rushed to the door that led to the rooms, she fumbled for the key in her pocket and unlocked the door, she found the forth door on the right and unlocked it. She closed the door behind herself and pressed herself against it and sank to the floor with her eyes closed.

Better, I'm in a safe place now, safe, no more panicking, okay?

Rita took a deep breath and hesitantly opened her eyes. And there were walls, no windows, only artificial light all unnatural. She began to freak out again, Rita forced herself to take several deep breaths and she slowly calmed down. She walked up to her bed and lay down on it, there was a sharp pain in her shoulder blades; she jerked upwards. The bird part of her mind interpreted the pain as a sign of being attacked and she began to get jumpy. Rita, had just been reminded of her wings, went to the bathroom to look at them.

She walked in and closed the door, thankfully she stayed calm despite the fact that she was in a tight space. She wiggled off her shirt, leaving her in jean shorts and a bra. She reached back and felt them, the large feathery mass flinched away from her touch. Rita made a mental note of where she felt it and tried to control it, surprisingly, it was easy. They unfurled slightly, she watched in wonder, the feathers were brown, there were feathers of varying shades scattered throughout. There was an occasional golden colored feather, and now that Rita was looking in a mirror, she realized that the wings weren't the only things that had changed.

Her hair which had once been a single dull shade of brown was now a lighter and livelier, the color was similar to her feathers colors. There were even several natural highlights of blond hair that looked completely natural. Her eyes that had once been so dark that you couldn't distinguish the iris form the pupil were now a beautiful shade of brown which gradually changed to a light golden brown, there were honey colored flecks scattered throughout her iris. Her eyes also looked sharper and more focused, she looked slimmer and more toned, her features more defined. Her waist was, curvier, Rita looked healthier, more alert; happier. But she also looked, out of place, like she didn't quite belong with normal people, she couldn't really figure out what made her look different, but something made her look like a completely different person. She continued to inspect her wings, they were far too big to open all of the way in this cramped bathroom, so Rita went back to her normal room. She opened them all of the way and stopped when they were all of the way stretched out. There was a sense of serenity that came with her wings spread out, like if anything bad happened, then she could just fly away, it made her feel safer. Rita let out a breath of awe when she realized how stunning they looked, she had a wingspan of around fourteen feet. Wow. Rita closed her eyes and focused on what she could hear, she could feel the beating of her heart and hear the sound of it pounding in her ears.

That's a new sound

Rita brought her forearm up to her ear and listened, she could hear something, it sounded like thick water gushing through a small tube.

Is that the sound of my blood? Oh my gosh it is

Rita listened to everything around her, the whole hearing thing was definitely cool. She looked around her room, everything seemed to be in high definition; it was like watching a movie in amazing quality. She could see the weaving of each individual string that made up her blanket, and she was on the other side of her room, she could see every dust particle in the air, Rita was more aware of everything now. The sight was amazing, she doubted that she would ever need to wear her glasses again.

Thank god, I look terrible with glasses

She folded up her wings and felt an uneasy feeling settle in her stomach, with her mind unoccupied it began to freak out... again. She tried to occupy herself by playing a game on her computer, she could play solitaire. Rita turned it on and listened to the hum of the laptop, the screen lit up, showing Rita her home screen. There was a ding, followed by several more, followed by about five dozen more rapid dings, at the bottom of her screen a notification popped up.

Email from Robin, Email from Robin, Email from Robin

Rita waited until the dings stopped and opened her inbox and found 573 emails and they were all from him.

Gosh, I've only been gone for half a week, wait, is that the date? It's been a year and a half?!? I left at around the end of summer so that means that I've been asleep for a year and a half?!?

Rita stared in wonder before her mind registered something, how was she getting these emails? She must have Wi-Fi, which means that, if she was careful, she could send an email back out to Robin.