The massive bird growled as her other prey escaped in a crack in the wall. That was the problem with all these small things, they could flee in the tiniest of places. It made for a frustrating hunt.

But, she at least still caught one tasty morale. Even now, she could feel it squirming around in her stomach. Good, the livelier the better. Her children loved it when their prey struggled.

She spread her wings wide and with a mighty flap, took to the sky. She gracefully avoided the dangling cages as she flew back to her nest, a beautiful thing in her opinion.

It was the largest one in the room, with patches of mold growing out of the faded red wood. Thick, grubby termites wiggled out of the wood from time to time, providing a delicious snack. And let's not forget the smell. Ammonia and rotten eggs.

Yes, her home was the perfect place to raise some children. And the location couldn't be better. So many tasty morsels appeared all the time. As long as she could pick them off before the other inhabitants, she had an easy meal source. And the best part was, they had little to no fur, just patches on the top of their head. It made swallowing them a breeze. Nothing to get stuck in her throat.

Which was especially good for her little ones. It was just awful when they gagged on something that was too hairy. She much preferred letting them tear into something that wasn't a choking hazard.

Indeed, Harry wasn't hairy enough to be a problem.

She landed on her perch outside her home, listening to the hungry cries of her children. They were so demanding, but she didn't mind. She was their mother, and they were her precious little babies.

Stepping inside the birdhouse, the incessant chirping grew even louder. They knew their mommy wouldn't come back unless she had something to give them. Hopefully it was one of those pink things. Those were their favorite, so plump and juicy with a satisfying crunch in the center.

Momma gave a loud squawk and they quieted down, but their eyes never strayed from her form. She began to make gagging noises, head bobbing up and down as she retched.

Soon enough, a slimy form appeared. They were delighted; it was one of those pink things. Their mom was just the best.

Harry had a different view of the avian creature. He thought her to be rather repugnant and downright rude. How dare she barf him up! Wasn't he good enough to eat? Did he really taste so bad a literal monster couldn't keep him down?

Perhaps he should have been relieved rather than outraged, considering he now had a chance to live, however small it might be. But he was coated in saliva and vomit, and that was just upsetting. The smell was absolutely awful.

Harry stood up and wiped the offending substance from his eyes. He made his own gagging noise as he did so. This day really was the worst. So bad, the Dursleys were starting to look pretty good.

Now being able to see, Harry shifted his gaze around the enclosure he found himself in. Firstly, it was somewhat dark, with the only light coming in from the hole in the front. It wasn't so dark he couldn't see, but he couldn't make out any fine details.

Not that he wanted to. The image in front of him was bad enough. Three large bids, about the same size as himself, stared at him like Dudley stared at a Christmas ham. It made him very uncomfortable.

And he couldn't forget the biggest bird, the one that stood behind him, preventing him from escaping. It kept an ever watchful eye, making sure he was eaten properly.

Harry guessed why he was kept alive. This species, whatever it was, must have preferred to feed their young live prey. Lucky him, he gets to see the inside of a bird twice.

He searched around frantically for a way out before they began to tear him apart. It wouldn't be long with that amount of drool coming from them.

Beneath him was grass and straw and things of a similar nature. There was also a ridiculous amount of bird droppings. He knew they were just mindless beasts, but come on. If you're going to invite someone over for dinner, at least clean up a bit. That's just common courtesy.

But through his mental tirade, he was able to spot something in the corner. It was a bit of light, seeping through the cracks of wood. Part of the bottom of the birdhouse must have rotted away. Perhaps even enough for him to slip through.

What he would do after… Well, one step at a time. First he had to make it over there, past three hungry, juvenile monster birds.

Easy, right?

He was thankful they waited for him to come up with a plan before attempting to eat him. Very considerate of them.

With a loud caw, one of the birds waddled over to try and take a nibble. Luckily, it was slow, and Harry managed to dive out of the way. The bird brough its head up, and angrily spit out a bunch of straw. Its siblings seemed to think it was funny, as they cooed with laughter.

Harry ran past the first bird as it was trying to get the straw out of its mouth. Bird number 2 tried its luck next, but Harry confused it by hopping from one leg to the other. It wasn't sure where to bite, and attacked where Harry was, and not where he was going, allowing him to slip by.

That only left one more obstacle, in his path to freedom. It also happened to be the largest of its siblings, with distinct plumage covering it. It stood with a petulant squawk as Harry approached.

He wished he could use his power right now, but he was completely drained. The last bird jumped into the air, flapping its wings as it attempted to pounce on him. Harry rolled forward, barely managing to avoid its talons.

Part one accomplished, now for part two, squeezing through the opening. Harry dove for it, arms frantically tossing aside anything in his path. The exit was so close, he could feel the breeze.

So of course, that's when he felt something bite into his ankle. One of them must have caught up to him, and Harry was betting on the big one. It pulled him away from the edge, as Harry grabbed at everything he could to slow it down. He was just thankful they didn't seem to have their teeth yet.

It felt familiar. Maybe Six would show up and shine the…

Flashlight! Of course! If it worked on the moth, maybe it would work on them too. If nothing else, it might startle them long enough for Harry to get away. It was his best chance.

Thankfully he didn't lose it in the bird's stomach. He reached into his oversized pocket, and pulled the slimy thing out. Gross. Now as long as it was waterproof, he was in the clear. He pointed it at the happy bird and hoped this would ruin its day.

Let there be light!

He flicked the switch on, and to his immense relief, a brilliant beam of light erupted from it, straight into the bird's beady little eyes. It screeched in pain and released Harry from its grasp. He shined the light into the eyes of the other two birds, their cries of pain music to his ears.

What wasn't, was the sound of the angry mama bird as yelled at him for daring to hurt her precious little ones. It reminded him of his aunt and cousin. No matter what Dudley did, it was never his fault. Petunia would blame everyone and everything before her Duddykins.

With them now distracted, Harry crawled as fast as he could toward the crack in the wood. He removed the final bit of debris halting his path forward, trying not to think about the human looking skull he just tossed behind him.

But with that out of the way he was able to cram his way through the opening and into the outside. But once there, his worst fears were realized. There was nowhere to go.

He might be able to make it to a small ledge on the wall, one made from a protruding stud. It was just big enough for him to stand on, but he wasn't sure he could make the jump.

And even if he did, what then? He was sure mama bird would realize he escaped soon enough and come looking. Once that happened, he would be trapped. But it seemed like he had no choice.

Standing up on the tiny space he had available on the birdhouse, he shimmied his way closer to the ledge. He nearly tumbled into the darkness below when one of the baby bird things slammed into the wall, but thankfully he was able to keep his balance. It was a lot easier compared to the walkway below.

He scooted as close to the ledge as he could. Unfortunately, it wasn't flush against the wall, the birdhouse jutting out a good ways. He would have to make a jump, onto a ledge that was barely wider than his own feet.

Easy right?

He psyched himself up for a moment, doing mini squats in preparation. Just as he gathered the necessary courage, one of the fledgling birds inside rammed the wall once more, sending Harry sprawling off the birdhouse.

Thankfully, he landed on the ledge, though he did so ribs first. He frantically grabbed for the edge, managed to grab hold of it just in time, gripping it for all he was worth. Which according to his relatives, wasn't very much.

He dangled there for a moment, hanging by his hands, before turning to glare at the birdhouse. Only to find something else glaring right back at him. It was one of the little birds, the biggest one in fact, glaring daggers into Harry's prone form.

With a panicked look, Harry began to lift himself up. But of course, it couldn't be that easy. His avian hunter seemed to take offense that his breakfast was attempting to escape, and began to violently thrust himself at the small opening, attempting to break through and devour him.

Unfortunately for the predator, it didn't realize just what the consequences would be of ramming into a fragile structure over and over would be. But Harry did. He could see exactly what was about to happen. Small cracks appeared in the wood, getting bigger and bigger each time it hit the wall. With any luck, it would collapse and take them with it.

After a few short moments, Harry's prediction proved to be true. The bottom of the corner gave way, and the three birds tumbled out of it, heading straight down. With a panicked squawk, the mother exited the birdhouse, and dove down after her babies.

Two of her babies.

The smaller of the three hadn't yet developed the necessary feathers required to fly. But that wasn't true for their big brother. The one responsible for the collapse flapped furiously, flying for the first time. It took him a moment to get his bearings, and he may have flown into the wall a time or two, but he eventually got the hang of it.

And that was bad news for Harry. He looked down at the bird as it slowly rose in the air, staring at him with hunger in its eyes. His breakfast was late, and that just wouldn't do. With a loud, "Scree!" it dove at Harry.

He cursed, and barely managed to get to the side as the bird crashed into the wall. It backed away, shaking the cobwebs from its head.

It glared even harder at him and went for another attack. Harry knew that even if dodged this one, sooner or later he would fail, and become that thing's snack. Or he would fall however far to his death. Neither option sounded pleasant, but what could he do?

He couldn't pull himself up to the ledge in time and even if he did, then what? There was nowhere to go. But there had to be something he could do, somewhere he could go. Ideally, he would go the same path as Six, and reunite with his…friend?

Still workshopping that.

The question was, how? How could he get down there? He couldn't see a path, and with the bird trying to kill him, it likely wouldn't have mattered. So what? What could he do?

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Watching the bird getting closer and closer, an idea popped into his head. If a bird brought him up here, a bird could bring him down. If he could just time the jump right and grab onto the thing, maybe he could steer it toward the exit. It wasn't exactly a good plan, but at the moment, he would take a bad plan over no plan at all.

He placed his feet against the wall, noting its sandpaper like texture, and got ready to jump.

Almost…

Almost…

Now!

Using whatever strength he had left, he leapt backwards from the wall. The bird squawked in surprise as Harry managed to grab onto its legs, sending it spiraling downward.

Harry let out a frightened yell as he and the monster plummeted toward the abyss. With Harry's added weight, it wasn't able to keep itself aloft, no matter how hard it flapped.

Part one was successful, now he just needed to steer the beast in the right direction, something it wasn't currently doing. So he pulled on its right leg, mostly in desperation, but fortunately, it seemed to work. Harry controlled the monster like he was parachuting.

Left… no right… keep it steady… almost there…

Harry was concentrating so hard on controlling the bird, that he failed to notice something coming up from below. It was none other than momma, and she wasn't very happy.

She flew by them, the wind from her wings sending him and the beast into a tailspin. Something that was less than ideal. He heard a loud squawk from the parent monster, most likely calling her child back to her.

It tried to head in her direction, which was the exact opposite of where Harry wanted to go. So with an angry, violent tug on its left leg, Harry corrected its course. It let out a noise of pain, something that normally would have made Harry feel bad. But he had zero pity left for this thing. It was relentless in its desire to eat him, and Harry found himself uncaring of its pain.

He kept tugging at it whenever it tried to go in another direction, bringing it back on track, and soon he was nearly there. He could have cried he was so relieved. There was just one problem left…

He was going too fast!

The end of the room was approaching quickly, meaning he was about to splat against the wall. Something he would like to avoid if at all possible. But if he lets go too soon, the bird above him might be able to correct itself and take a nibble out of him; another thing he would like to avoid.

He would have to time this perfectly as well. Hopefully his luck would allow for two in a row. If he did it just right, the creature should still slam into the wall, just without Harry. That was the plan, now he just needed to execute it.

Looking ahead in determinations, he carefully yet violently forced the bird in the direction he wanted to go. It tried to bite him, but unlike its mother, its neck didn't extend far enough. One more lucky break for Harry, but how many did he have left?

It was almost time. He only had one shot at this, there were no redos in the game of life. Succeed or fail, those were his only options, and Harry chose to succeed.

He let go, just as the bird tried to take another bite. He hit the rough, wooden platform and rolled. The unevenness of it made it far more painful than it needed to be. He came to a stop as he rammed into the wall.

So it wasn't exactly perfect, but he was doing better than the bird. It hit the wall with enough force to snap its neck. Or at least, that's what Harry thought the sound was, what he hoped it was.

The bird's body fell towards the floor and Harry rolled out of the way with a panicked yelp. It hit the floor with a resounding thud, right next to Harry. He panted and gasped for breath, the whole ordeal having taken its toll. Harry may have liked flying, but he would be happy to never take that particular mode of transport again.

He stood on shaky legs and approached the body, wanting to make sure it wouldn't be a problem anymore. He gave it a good kick, and when it did nothing, gave a satisfied sigh, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding.

That was one problem out of the way, now he just had to make his escape and join back up with Six. He hoped she hadn't gone too far. Turns out, she was closer than he thought.

"Hairy?" questioned a voice coming from the wall. Harry's head whipped around in a mild panic, trying to find the source. Much to his surprise, he spotted a familiar head of messy hair and crimson eyes, staring at him in a combination of relief, wonderment, anger, and a few other emotions he didn't recognize.

"Hey Six," he said back, as he approached her. She took this moment to completely crawl out of the crack in the wall, standing up and facing him.

"You're alive? But how? I saw it eat you," she questioned. When she came out to see what that loud noise was, this was the last thing she thought she'd find. Not that she wasn't glad that he was alive, it was just a shock is all.

People don't come back from being eaten. That was as true in this world as it was in the last. It may have been more true, considering how many other kids she's seen disappear into the drooling maw of a creature, never to return. Not until Harry that is.

"And what's this thing?" she asked, giving the corpse next to her a curious glance. It was clearly a smaller version of the thing that ate her companion, but why was it here? And what happened to it? Was that the cause of the loud noise? She returned her gaze to Harry, waiting for him to answer.

"Well, after I was eaten, the big one took me up to her nest. Turns out she wanted to feed me to her young, and barfed me back up to do so. It was… unpleasant," he said. Six crinkled her nose at that. It sounded disgusting. It also explained the smell. She thought it was coming from the body, but it seems she was wrong.

"I see. But how did you get away?" she questioned, trying not to think of the fact that she would be stuck with him smelling like that. They needed to find somewhere to bathe, and pronto. There was little doubt the other things living within these walls would be able to smell him if he continued to release such a stench.

"After being thrown up, I managed to avoid all the baby monsters and squeezed through a crack in the wood. But they were persistent, and ended up breaking the wall and falling. This one," Harry said, motioning to the dead body on the ground, "Was extra persistent, and kept coming for me. I managed to grab its feet and steer it over here."

Six raised a brow at that. It seemed so implausible that it borderlined the impossible. Perhaps there was more to the skinny kid than meets the eye. Actually, she knew there was...

That strange power he used to save her.

Should she ask him about it? Or was it better to leave it be for now, and focus on what to do next? She wasn't sure what the right thing to do was, and she didn't like that. Not knowing things got you killed. Like not knowing this room had a giant bird monster. That very nearly ended badly for both of them.

Not knowing what to do or where to go, bumbling around in the dark, hoping you would find a path that led to somewhere even remotely safe, that was a recipe for disaster. Unfortunately it was one she had to follow far more than she would like. Everything turned out fine so far, but eventually, that recipe would produce something sour.

So following that logic, it was best to know about this extra variable. The more unknowns there were, the greater the chance of death. It was best to get all available information she could, no matter how small. Anything could be of help, and a strange power seemed pretty helpful.

"Hair-"

Six was interrupted by the sound of a loud and frustratingly familiar sound. The two of them looked up to see the sight of the giant bird once more at her nest, looking around for her baby. It was only a matter of time until it found them. Luckily, they were very near an exit, one far too small for it to get through.

Turning to face Harry, she was about to tell him they needed to go, when a movement caught her attention. It was the smaller bird, having been roused from its unconscious state by its mother's calls.

Guess it wasn't dead after all. Isn't that just perfect?

"Come on," she said, receiving a nod in return. The two of them quickly made their way to the crack in the wall, just as the monster made its way to its feet. It looked around for a moment, confused, before its eyes caught sight of them, and a burning anger radiated from its entire being.

It let out a similar shriek to its mother, which caught her attention, before charging at them. It had no intention of letting its food get away. It was food! It should be happy to be eaten. That was the whole point of food in the first place.

The two reached the crack and began squeezing through, first Six and then Harry. They made it just as the creature reached the wall. It gave a loud, frustrated cry as it stared after them.

On the other side, Harry and Six released sighs of relief, looking back at the crack from the center of the room. It seems they were safe for now.

"We made it… Somehow," Harry panted. He was 100% done with today. All he wanted to do was lie down and take a nap. Ok, a nice meal sounded pretty good too, but he doubted that was happening anytime soon.

"Seems like it," Six said, getting her own breathing under control. She was just glad that thing was too big to fit inside.

Or at least she thought it was. The sound of claws scraping against wood, and angry, pained cries coming from the crack drew her notice. Turns out, it was far more persistent than either of them gave it credit for.

Its head elongated into the room, staring at them with anger and hunger, as it tried to force the rest of its body inside. It was a tight squeeze, and they could see the blood oozing out of the cuts it received for its efforts. But still it did not cease. It struggled, even as the fluffy feathers coating its body sheared off onto the wall.

Very persistent indeed.

Moments later, it shot into the room, stumbling to the ground as it did so. It slowly got to its feet, and gave them a triumphant glare.

They needed to move, and fast, but where would they go? Looking around, Six spotted another ladder-like structure leading upwards. It wasn't very high, maybe ten feet, but it wouldn't be able to reach them there.

"Up there!" she shouted. Harry looked to where she was pointing and agreed. It was their best option at the moment. Hopefully there was another exit up there. The two took off at a sprint, ignoring the sound of the bird as it ran after them.

It was a good thing birds weren't fast runners. Or at least, this one wasn't. It looked like a tap dancing penguin as it chased after them. It might have been a comical sight if it wasn't planning to eat them.

They made it to the ladder and began to climb. The bird let out another squawk, and Harry imagined it was telling them to stop, but neither he nor SIx had any intention of following that order.

They climbed quickly, or as quickly as two exhausted children could. It was made all the more difficult as the thing down below slammed into the structure, trying to knock them down.

Thankfully, it didn't succeed, and they made it to the top. Six helped Harry up the final step, as they once more caught their breath. It was a good thing it was so easy to catch, with how many times it seemed to get away from them.

They crawled over to the edge and peered down, watching as the thing threw a temper tantrum.

"Why isn't it flying?" Harry asked, watching as it tried to climb up with little success, making pitiful whines every time it failed. But it wasn't giving up, and Harry feared sooner or later it would figure out a way to reach them.

"Its wing is broken, see?" Six said, pointing to its left side. Harry squinted as he tried to see what she was talking about, and lo and behold, its wing was definitely broken. Or at the very least, dislocated as it dangled there uselessly.

"You're right. You have good eyes," he complimented. He hadn't noticed a thing, too busy running for his life. But that explains the noise he heard when it slammed into the wall. He would have preferred it was its neck, but he would take what he could get.

"All the better to survive with. I see something else too," she said. Harry turned to her and saw her looking behind them. It was a metal cage, the ones big enough for kids like them to fit into.

Not a thought he found to be pleasant.

But what did she want with that? His confusion must have been palpable, because she rolled her eyes before pointing at the cage, and then down at the bird below. Slowly it donned on Harry just what she wanted to do.

He stood up and gave her a look of determination as he nodded. With that, they made their way over, and placed themselves behind the cage, before pushing it toward the edge. It was a fairly difficult thing to accomplish, given how heavy the cage was and how uneven and rough the ground was, but they managed, inch by inch, until it was dangling over the edge.

The bird below was unaware of the danger it was in. It heard them making some noise up above and assumed they were trying to escape, so it hastened its attempts to climb. It just made it onto the first step, letting a trill of joy at the success.

That's the last thing it would ever do. Just as it looked up to prepare its next attempt to reach the second step, a metal cage slammed into its skull. It didn't even have time to cry out before its entire world turned dark.

Harry and Six observed their handy work from above, watching and waiting for any sign of movement. They doubted it would get up again, considering the pool of red liquid consolidating around its head, but they didn't want to take any chances.

It had fooled them once already, and they weren't willing to be fooled a second time. But after a few minutes, they decided it was safe enough.

"Come on," Six beckoned, as she began to climb down far more leisurely than she climbed up.

"What for?" Harry asked, following nonetheless. He had noticed what looked like a vent on the other side of the platform they were on, and figured they would leave right away. But apparently, SIx had other plans.

"That thing should be edible," she said. That caused Harry to pause in his step. Edible? She wanted to eat that thing? The thought was gross in Harry's mind, but his stomach thought it sounded like a great idea, the perfect way to exact revenge.

His gut hadn't led him wrong yet.

"I see," he said. They made it to the bottom without issue and inspected the corpse, making sure it really was one this time. Thankfully, it seemed like it was, as its skull was split open. It wasn't a pretty sight, but Harry was just thankful it wouldn't try and eat him anymore.

Instead, he would eat it.

"So, how do we do this," Harry asked. He wasn't a stranger in the kitchen but this was a far cry from his usual equipment. Six seemed to ponder his question for a bit, looking around, before she seemed to come up with an idea.

"We can use the cage as a fire pit. Cook the meat over the bars," she said. Harry thought about it for a moment, before nodding his head. The metal cage had four solid walls which would contain the fire well, and the bars provided good ventilation to keep it going as well as providing a spot to place the meat. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it would do.

"Good idea," he told her. It was hard to tell, but she seemed to appreciate the praise, even if only a little bit. Harry made to move the cage with Six, but stopped. He felt like he was being watched. It was similar to the sensation he felt while in the hot air balloon, and all those eyes were staring at him.

But that couldn't be what was happening now. It was impossible that they were observing him at this very moment, wasn't it?

Looking around, he didn't notice anything at first. It wasn't until he looked at the crack in the wall, the one they used to enter this room, that he noticed it.

It was a large eye, but not the same ones from before, yet it was familiar all the same. It belonged to the mama bird. Harry shuddered at the sheer amount of hatred in its eye, promising him pain and torment should it ever get the chance.

They stared at each other for a few moments, before it took off, the sound of its wing beats getting fainter and fainter. Harry released a sigh of relief, before the feeling of a hand on his shoulder startled him.

Turning around rapidly, he calmed down when it was only Six. "You good?" she asked. He wasn't sure how much she truly cared, but he was thankful nonetheless.

"Yeah, just… I hope we never run into that thing again," he said. She looked at him for a moment, before nodding and removing her hand. Her gaze shifted to the crack, a thoughtful frown on her face.

"You know, most of the monsters seem to forget about us fairly quickly. Once we're out of sight, they tend to return to whatever it is they were doing. But I don't think that thing will ever forget us. Especially you," she said. That look in its eyes was something she had never seen before, and it was something she hoped to never see again.

Harry's gaze lingered on her for a moment as well, before he too looked back at the crack in the wall. "I think you're right."