In the air, nothing matters. Not loss, not hardships, not sadness... that's why I loved to fly. I closed my eyes, letting myself soar on an air current, feeling the wind in my powerful wings.

"Freedom is awesome!" I heard Daphle yell, and I opened my eyes just in time to see her do a double front flip. In mid-air. Then she dove towards the earth at about a hundred miles per hour, her long brown hair rushing behind her, and pulled out at the last second. I smiled. A week ago we had been in cages at the School, but now we were free. No more cages. No more whitecoats sticking needles in us. Just... freedom. But, at a cost, such a cost.

No, I thought. Don't think about it. It's over, and there's nothing you can do about it now. So don't think about her.

I sighed and followed Daphle. She turned around a little. "So, where are we going now, Garrett?" she asked me.

I attempted a smile, for Daphle's sake. She was only eleven, after all. "I was thinking New York," I said. "There's a lot of people there, so we'll be hard to find."

Daphle thought for a second or so. "New York's far away from the School, right???"

I leaned over and ruffled her hair. "Yes, it is. Maybe we can learn some geography there, too."

Daphle smiled and rolled her eyes. I mentally praised myself. I was getting pretty good at this.

****************************************************************

Another hour of freedom passed.

"I'm hhhuuuuuunnnnnggggrrrryyyyy!!!" complained Daphle from beside me.

I sighed and looked down. Below us was a small town, and I could see the Golden Arches from where we hovered. "Okay," I agreed. "Quick break."

We landed behind the McDonald's. I tucked in my wings close to my body, and shifted Daphle's jacket so her wings were unnoticeable. Walking to the front of the restaurant, I spotted a sign that said we were in Ohio.

"Come on," I called to Daphle, taking out the money they had 'borrowed' from an unsuspecting person back in Colorado.

I pushed open the doors and scanned the restaurant instinctively. There were lots of windows, most of which I could probably break if the door was blocked. There were a few people eating, and I scanned their faces. You could never tell...

"Hello?" came a bored voice.

I looked up in surprise and whirled around. The voice had come from the girl behind the counter. She had short spikey black hair and was wearing a pink nose ring.

"Huh?" I asked.

The nose ring girl rolled her eyes at me. "Wanna order something???"

Oh. Right. "I'll have the-" I glanced at the menu, then decided just to pick a random thing. "Three double cheeseburgers, four large fries, two Dr. Peppers, and two chocolate shakes."

The girl looked at me with wide green eyes. I self-conscientiously folded my wings tighter against my back.

Daphle stepped up. "I'll have the same thing."

If possible, the girl's eyes grew wider. It was... kind of amusing. Then she blinked and turned to punch in the numbers. "Here or to go?"

"Um..." I started.

"Here," Daphle answered for me. Good old Daphle. What would I do without her???

*****************************************************************

Soon afterwards, the food came. And believe me, a double cheeseburger has never tasted better.

"Yum," I said between bites.

"I SO second that motion," Daphle said, slurping her shake. "How much longer 'til we get to New York, after this?"

Well, we were in Ohio, so... "Three, four hours," I estimated.
Daphle nodded.

I did another quick restaurant scan. No one seemed to be turning into wolves yet. Daphle was finishing off the last of her burger. "Ready?" I asked her.

"Yep," Daphle said happily. "Let's go to New York!!!"