Archive of Our Own ^beta

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If you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be? It could be anything. Flight? Soaring above the sky, without a care in the world? What about superhuman strength? Throwing away anything that blocks you in your path with ease. How about mind reading? Hearing the thoughts of those around you? Maybe catching those you call ‘friends’ trying to harm you behind your back. It sounds nice, doesn't it? The possibilities of what you could do with superpowers are endless! You could do anything or be anything you’d ever want in this world!

…Well. Needless to say, this kind of dream is better to stay a dream, then a reality. At least for the others, and myself. Oh yeah…haven’t properly introduced myself, have I? I’m Charlie. And these “others” that I talk about are my family. Which we call “The Flock”. Vinny, Juniper, Grace, Tommy, and Percy. We’re not all related by blood but we’re family, nonetheless. Nothing can change that. And why I talk about having superpowers, staying a dream…well. Needless to say, it’s…complicated. For a lack of better words. If I went through all of it, we’d be here all day.

To put it simply. We’re not fully human. Rather we’re human, with avian DNA. You take 98% humans 2% some other stuff to create 100% organisms of chaos. That’s us. Experiments. Freaks of society. Embryos that were messed with to create organisms that even I’m not sure how they’re still living sometimes. Again, if I talked about the full details, we’d be here all day. This avian DNA we have. These superhuman powers unlike anything man could ever dream of having? It may seem like a dream come true to you, but it’s a living nightmare for us. And sometimes…just sometimes. I wonder what it would be like if it all just…never happened. That we were all just normal humans who lived normal lives. But that isn’t this story…

This story, however? Well, you’ll just have to see for yourself. And besides if we were still… there. I don’t think they’d be very willing to just let this book roll about somewhere. So, if you find this, keep it. And if you wanna have your life saved someday. Keep reading. Trust me on this…If anyone else finds this ‘diary’ I guess you could call it…

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I suppose this story should start the night we left… there. And by ‘there’ I mean literal hell itself, a place called “The Void”. A laboratory hidden smack in the middle of Virgina. I remember the night we left The Void like it was yesterday. Even though it was…four years ago at this point? Maybe five? I’m not sure. He…Doc…woke me up from the dog crate I spent most of my life in and told me to go with him. To go as quickly as I could and not say a word. I was both terrified and confused. The way he spoke was a way I never heard him speak like before. Urgent and almost fearful. But Doc was the only adult I trusted back then. He cared for us… genuinely cared for us. The fact he would ask us how we were without having to jot it down for observations put him a pedestal above the rest. As frightened and confused as I was, I went with him. I know the twists and turns of the Void like the back of my hand, so my heart skipped several beats when we sprinted down a hallway I’ve never been down before.

The doors to the outside world.

Needless to say, I was terrified. But more than anything I was the happiest and excited I’ve ever been in my life. He led me into the car outside and told me to wait in there, he still had to get the others. I turned around to a chorus of “Charlotte!” …and there was DJ, Poppy, Perseus, and Thomas. My friends…Together and all safe. I almost started to cry when I saw them. But there was one person in our group missing…

Vincent.

I didn't have any time to ask Doc about him before he left. He went right back into The Void before I could. My heart sank deep into my chest as I hoped he would come back quickly…and bring Vincent with him…

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Waitting in that car felt like hours. The air was so tense you could cut it with a butter knife. Perseus tried his best to help calm me down. He’s a nice kid don’t get me wrong. But also…this is a ten-year old's first time in a car. His energy lit up the small back seat area in seconds. Honestly, I felt a little bad for DJ…being the tallest out of all of us he had to scrunch up a bit to fit. At least Poppy was making some humor out of it which brought the mood back up. Soon enough after what felt like forever Poppy tells us to look out the window. The inside of The Void was covered in red light. I could feel my heart rise to my throat. What happened in there!? Where are they?!

I suppose some deity out there may have heard my pleas because just a minute after that Doc came bursting through the door, holding Vincent in his arms. When the both of them came inside the car, I was the happiest I had ever been. We were all here…together and safe. Safe being debatable in this case but that didn't matter right now. I tried to reach down to give Vincent a hug, but Doc pushed the thought away as he told all of us to hold on tight. And speeded down the road, away from the Void. I clung onto the seat Vincent was on for dear life as we sped down the bumpy dirt road. I swear I thought I could feel myself getting a bit carsick, but not as much as Thomas was. 

And of course, the moment we began to think we were safe…a pack of Hounds. Void Hounds. People that turn into werewolves and are trained to be guard dogs for The Void. Four of them were on our tail. Doc sped up the car even faster and Perseus started screaming even louder than he was before. The worst part? Vincent jumped out of the car and started running away. He told all of us to keep going and that he’d find us later. Thankfully the distraction he provided got us away from The Hounds but…What in the world was he thinking?! As soon as we were far enough away from the Void and The Hounds the car stopped and we all got out to catch our breath. Thomas vomiting nearby thanks to the car sickness.

I…I was so scared. Scared for us, scared for Vincent. What was he thinking?! Why did he have to run off like that?! I couldn’t help but keep thinking of what could’ve happened. Is he alive? Is he still being chased? Is he dead? Was he caught? My legs completely gave out during my moment of panic…and I just sobbed. Sobbed for what seemed like hours. Doc, Perseus, and DJ tried to comfort me the best they could. But my mind couldn’t wander off of Vincent no matter how hard it tried…God wherever he was and whatever he was doing I hope he was ok.

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I don’t remember exactly how long we waited but it for sure was around an hour or so. That's at least what it felt like if anything. We eventually heard a shout calling for us. We turned around and there Vincent was. Unharmed and still his usual self. I was…we were all so relieved. When he came down Doc immediately rushed to him for a hug, and we all did the same. We all kept telling him never to never do that again. And looking at both me and Doc…he swore on it.  All he wanted was for us to be safe…it’s admirable of him. 

Vinny’s a good man. He would never just abandon us like that. He always comes back like a superhero to save the day, right? Well…I liked thinking so back then. It’s been four years since that incident when we escaped. It was two years after that when Doc disappeared…we all assumed he was dead. At least that's what I was always told. You’d think being one of the older ones you’d know a bit more but nope. Nope really. But Vinny has his reasons…and I respect him for that. He just wants what’s best for us and our safety…

And now this leads to where we are today. And frankly…I wish I could forget every minute of it. All I wanted to do was have a nice fun time picking strawberries with my friends but no. No of course we can’t have anything good in this god forsaken world. The day started out fine and I just suggested we go pick strawberries and everything was great! Everything should have been fine! But of course…it wasn’t. It never is. We can’t have one moment to catch a breath and stop worrying about running for our lives…wanna know what I did?

I got myself kidnapped. Void Hounds apparently found us from who knows where. Grabbed me, stuffed me in a sack in a helicopter. And just left. I just…I can’t help but blame myself for everything. Maybe if we had just…never left our home that day. Just maybe we could have avoided it and lived peacefully another day…Why does everything have to go wrong?!

…shit. Going to hope and pray Vinny doesn't find this.

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Ok. Took about a day or so break from writing about this (may or may not have almost forgotten about it entirely) because it turns out remembering traumatic experiences is not fun in the slightest! Would not recommend at all. Anyway…about where we left off. Oh yeah. Me getting carried away in a helicopter by Void Hounds. Good god don’t even get me started on how terrible that entire ride was. I heard Vinny's voice yelling and his wings flapping to try and get to me. I tried my hardest to get out of the sack and get to him. I really tried but...it was too late. That hound…Stephen I believe his name was.  Completely knocked him out of the helicopter.

I was only able to get a small portion of my head out by the time he fell. And then all of a sudden…everything went dark. I don’t remember anything after that. All I remember was the exact same fear that I felt the day he got himself chased by them when we escaped those years ago. Everything else was a blur after that. And then once I woke up. The same feeling had returned when…I woke up in a dog crate. Wings were out…mutant human experiments in cages were everywhere. I only just…remember panicking. Just thinking to myself “why…why did it have to be me?”

And then some whitecoats come into the room, see me, and tell me to come with them. My entire body froze. Couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. Eventually they just ended up dragging me out. I…I can't do this anymore. Writing it hurts, thinking about it hurts. Everything hurts. I’m done. I don’t want to talk about this anymore than I have to…but. I’ll at least leave this portion of the story with this. And I’m not gonna lie, was dreading the part about writing this specifically…Remember Doc? The guy who saved me and my family from The Void all those years ago?

Apparently, he wasn’t dead after all. In fact, he was still working for The Void. And still is to this day as I’m writing this. I don’t wanna go into full details, but nothing in this world made me want to go as ballistic as Vinny would’ve done at that very moment.

…It has only been a couple sentences and I’m already tired of writing this. And frankly there wasn’t much more to it, so we’ll leave it at that. I don’t wanna talk about it anymore...

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Vinny and the others told me about all their experiences about what happened while I was kidnapped. Some good, some bad, some…interesting. Apparently, Grace and Tommy decided to... make bombs?? And they somehow worked against The Hounds?? Honestly, I’m both impressed and…a little concerned as to how they went about making said bombs that blew up car full of Hounds. But knowing those two, can't say I’m that surprised. A girl who remembers everything she’s ever read and a boy who’s the biggest tech wiz known to man. Those two could conquer the world together. Almost quite literally.

Although something felt…off. About Vinny once I asked him about something specific. Heard him, Percy, and Juniper talking about it a couple nights after everything happened…it was about Doc. He apparently told Vinny something like “the world was in danger!” or something like that. Vinny said he wasn’t buying it that much but…something felt so off about it. Even he was unsure, and that’s saying something knowing Vinny. Always one to not think, just act. But here he was…actually thinking about whether something was true, whether he should agree to something. The look on Juniper’s face just said he called bullshit while Vinny was talking how he didn’t buy anything of what Doc said to him.

But I’m so confused…and I overheard Grace thinking the same thing (thinking as in me reading minds and all that. Cause yes, I can do that). Why did Doc tell Vinny all of what he said to him...but not the rest of us? It’s obvious he needed Vinny more than anything but…if they needed him so much why come after me first? Heh…probably cause I’m the smallest and the weakest compared to everyone else. Not like I can defend myself as much as everyone else can. But either way, something just doesn't feel right. I’ll update this once I gather enough info to write down here. And I continue to pray nobody finds this random diary.

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Ok it’s been a few days since I last wrote here. However, I was able to get some more information out. Granted thanks to me staying up till the crack of dawn cause I couldn't sleep for the last three days but still. The wonders of coffee…and praying Vinny doesn't get mad at me for both spying on everyone and. As for the information…to be honest it was pretty much everything I haven’t already said. And a little bit of Grace getting on my case about why it looks like I’ve been spying on everyone. I just had to keep making one lie after another. It sucked to do but…I just need to know.

I need to know what everyone is hiding. I want to know why everyone's acting the way they are. Ever since I was rescued everyone has just been so…tense. And like it’s usually been now; Vinny doesn't want to hear a thing about Doc or The Void or anything else. It’s been almost a week now and the entire house has just been so…silent. And I’m no different in some ways, I haven’t left my room ever since…other than for the problem I’m currently writing about. I don’t know what else to do. Cause it’s clearly showing I’m not gonna get answers anytime soon. And I don’t want to be as much of a bother as I’ve been to everyone already even more…

I guess all I can really do now is just…imagine different circumstances. Not like I don’t do that much already. Daydreaming also certainly helps to pass time…speaking of that. I came up with something the other day. A story. Like the one I’m telling right now. A battle between good and evil! The hero vs the villain! Cliche, I know. But here me out. Humans, vs a god! I might think more about this and write about it more…I actually like what this brain of mine is coming up with for once! And then maybe I can tell the others about it! That’ll bring up the mood! ...I hope it will.

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I spent all of last night writing down ideas for that story I was thinking about. Characters, scenarios, and so much other stuff! Unfortunately, I didn’t realize how hard writer's block can hit though. I haven’t really thought of anything else for the past day or so…but that doesn't matter to me right now. Right now, all I want to do is just...spend time with my friends. My family. Everyone's been so sad and angry for the past two weeks…I hate seeing everyone like this. But I don’t know what to do. We all saw how the last time I suggested something for all of us to do went…

Maybe I can ask Vinny if he wants to get everyone to do something? Try and go out and steal something to bring back home to play with? Look I know stealing is bad but it’s not like we have much knowledge on currency and how “normal” life is. Freaks like us need to do what we have to get by. Or…maybe I can ask Tommy if we could find some game for everyone to play together? He’s the tech wizard I’m sure he could find something along his massive line of…whatever he has in his room.

So, it’s been a couple hours after what I wrote before this. Never got up to ask. Feeling bored beyond anything else in the world. However…I love Vinny and Grace I really do. But I swear if those two start arguing about Doc or anything that’s happened in the past month again, I’m gonna go insane. Just…ugh just MAKE IT ALL STOP PLEASE! I’m tired of all the constant arguing about Doc and myself, I'm tired of hearing about everything that’s happened. I'm done…I’m just done.

…Maybe I could write again? I mean I guess I could put it all here but…this is just a diary. I’m just saying what’s on my mind throughout the day here…what will just write in here when all that's in here waiting for me is memories of the past I wish I could forget…

Well…nothings gonna get better if nobody brings up the problem. And everyone in this family is all feeling similar pain. Someone's gotta say it.

Maybe I will.

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Well. It took some courage, that's for sure. But I eventually did it. I guess understanding people’s emotions is a bit of a specialty of mine. I just got up, told Vinny what I was feeling and what I wished would happen with the rest of this group. And a little bit surprising to me, he agreed. He was happy about the fact I brought it up. So, I guess that solves one thing. And...nevermind what I was originally thinking. It’s been a long day, I cried three different times before getting up to talk with everyone. So, I’ll just be brief with the aftermath.

Talking about feelings is hard. But thanks to Vinny everyone was gathered in a room to talk about feelings from the past several weeks. It was a bit difficult to get through, but everyone eventually did it and we came to terms with our feelings. And they all happily ever after!

...that's how these usually end right? Eh? I don’t know. All I know for sure; things can't stay all happily ever after forever. Bad things happen but…it’s on us to help each other and ourselves move on from them. It’s a long and rough journey. But if there's one thing, I learned from trying to get through everything that's happened. Bad things don’t last forever. There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel. Everyone has a happy ending. Sure, there are some people who don’t believe that as much, but I want to do everything in my power to make sure those I love get their happy endings…even Doc for that matter.

Needless to say. It’ll be fine, so don’t worry about it