Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Lean On Me ❯ Course Of Attack ( Chapter 17 )

Authors Note: A new chapter!! After a long writers block, and after finally getting back into this story, I'm ready to continue it!

Disclaimer: I don't own GW. Riley and Vienna and all the others characters you've most likely never heard of, are mine.

Chapter Seventeen

She couldn't sleep. Her mind was far too troubled to even think about sleeping. And so, standing in the midst of Relena's garden, Riley gazed about expressionless. In the moonlight, the garden seemed like a lover's dream with the red roses and carnations, the blooming willow tree off in the far corner, and the small pond in the garden's center. She knew the flowers would soon be gone due to the cold weather that was late that year, and the pond would freeze up not long after.

Stepping up to the pond, she dipped her hand in and scooped up a small pool of water in her cupped hand. She looked into it and stared at her small, wavering reflection. She frowned. Her eyes were so dull nowadays. The only time she actually felt like her old self was when she was around Solo. Over the past three days, he had become like a son to her, if you wanted to go that far. The two of them had grown so close, and Solo had grown to trust her completely, Duo as well. If Solo wasn't hanging around Riley, he would be off with Duo. And, though she wouldn't admit it, she and Duo had become like parents to him. If anything happened to Solo, she would kill herself for not protecting him. As of yet, he still didn't know about what was going on. Trowa had continued to remind her, but she was always putting it off. She didn't want to worry the kid.

A slight breeze blew at her and some of the water flowed over the top of her fingers. She spread her fingers and let the cold water run through them. She had let Vienna slip through her fingers, and she wouldn't allow the same to happen to Solo.

With a growl, she grabbed a stone from nearby and lunged it into the water.

-------

Jack stared at the dead form of what had once been Raphael Baltimore, a shocked look on his face. From what he had heard, Raphael had been found only just that morning in his office, though the physicians said he had been dead since three days ago. Most were saying it was suicide, but Jack knew better.

"Alright, move him out of here," a restrained voice said from beside him. He looked over and recognized Raphael's son. Daryn looked tired and his eyes were desolate, and yet there was something more. Anger, perhaps?

"Everyone out of the way, let them through!" Daryn shouted at the cluster of curious soldiers. He shoved three grown, ten years his senior, out of the way to prove his point.

Jack searched the crowd for the once face he wanted to see. He knew she was there. He could see her name written all over this murder.

------

Early the next morning, Riley woke up earlier than usual after tossing and turning throughout the night, due to a variety of nightmares. Rising quietly so as not to wake Solo, she quickly put on a robe over her pajamas, slippers on her feet, and left the room. Padding down the hallway to the main stairs, she tied her robe securely around her and removed a hair band from within one of its pockets; she tied her hair back in a low ponytail as she started down the stairs. The grandfather clock on the parlour rang out, letting everyone know it was seven in the morning. She winced at the sound -she had always hated noisy clocks.

She found the morning paper sitting on the doorstep, and brought it in with her. As she neared the kitchen, the delicious aroma of coffee wafted to her, causing her footsteps to quicken. When she stepped inside, she was surprised to see WuFei sitting at the center island, staring into his coffee cup. He looked up at her out of the corners of his eyes before turning his gaze back into the murky depths of his black coffee. Knowing WuFei wasn't always thrilled about her company, she turned to leave when she heard him say, "There should be enough coffee left for one more person."

Though surprised, she took it as an invitation to stay and began preparing her own cup of coffee with a lot of creamer and milk. She soon joined WuFei at the island and watched him as he opened the morning's newspaper. He was just starting to read the first page when a white envelope fell out onto the table; it had been hidden within the many pages of the paper. WuFei picked it up and glanced at it. "It's for you," he said, his eyes narrowed, and slid it across the tabletop to her.

"What?" Riley picked it up and looked for a return address -there was none. She sliced it open with her thumbnail and removed its contents. Four sheets of paper had been folded inside, two of which were letters, and the other two were blueprints of some kind. She set the two letters aside and looked at the blueprints.

WuFei bit back a growl of frustration. "Well, what are they?"

Riley looked up at him, surprise written across her face. "They're blueprints of the World Rebellion's two main bases."

------

Vienna stared at the ceiling above her, hands tucked behind her head. She had woken up an hour or so ago and hadn't been able to fall back to sleep. Turning onto her side, she stared at the bars the prevented her escape. She glared at them as if she could force them apart with her mind, but, of course, that couldn't happen. She sighed and closed her eyes.

She imagined she was back in the training room that she and Riley had spent most of their days, building up their strength and improving their skills. She was punching and kicking at a black punching back that hung from the ceiling, and Riley was throwing daggers at a stuffed doll across the room. She paused, breathing heavily, and watched as Riley threw her last dagger. It sliced through the air and hit its mark: in the center of the doll's forehead. Riley smiled at Vienna. "I never miss," she bragged playfully.

Suddenly, Rebellions soldiers stormed in through one of the three doors. Vienna watched in horror as one of them drew a revolver from his holster. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the gun was shot and its bullet hit its mark; Riley fell to the ground, a pool of blood forming around her. "Noo!"

Vienna awoke with a jerk, slamming her head into someone else's. She groaned, holding a hand up to her forehead, and looked to see who had been leaning over her. She recognized the wincing figure a foot from her bed as Jack, and was about to apologize to him when she noticed that he wasn't the only one who had invaded her prison cell; two soldiers were standing at the open door, staring at her coldly.

Jack rubbed his forehead and looked at her with concern. He wanted to know if she was all right, but he knew he couldn't voice his concern in front of Katana's soldiers. She shrugged. He nodded briskly before removing handcuffs from his back pocket and motioned for her to hold her arms out. She did as he wanted and he put on the handcuffs.

Jack looked over at the soldiers. "Let's go," he instructed them, stepping behind Vienna and pushing her onward. She walked ahead of him, the two soldiers in front of her.

Low enough just for Jack to hear, she asked, "What's going on?"

She heard him sigh before replying just as quietly, "A lot's happened. Raphael's been murdered and Katana has taken over." Vienna bit back a shout of indignation and waited for Jack to continue. "She's already taken full control of everything, and she's putting her plan's into motion. Soldiers are being shipped out as we speak to all their stations throughout Earth and the colonies."

"How does she expect to even get started when she doesn't even have Riley yet? And then why does she want me now?"

Jack thought a moment before answering. "I know she has a plan as to how she will capture Riley, but I'm not sure what it is exactly. To answer you're second question, I'm really not sure on that either. All I do is follow orders."

"Do you have any idea why they didn't just activate the machine and connect the discs inside Riley and I while we were at the Peacecraft mansion? I'm guessing they can still give us commands even if we are across the universe, right? So then, why didn't they just do that? It would have been easier than sending out men to capture us."

"You are right, they can give you commands even if they aren't standing before you. In the wrist band there's a small microphone that when they talk into, it sends it straight to your disc. It's sort of like they're speaking to you telepathically.

"The reason they didn't do that in the first place was because of who the two of you were with. Though you and Riley would be stronger than they are, the pilots could still overpower the two of you if they all worked together. If you two were ever alone in the mansion, and Katana knew about it, then she would have done that, but since the pilots were so protective of the two of you, they never let either of you go anywhere alone."

Vienna looked at the two soldiers in front of her; they were talking between themselves now, and seemed to be oblivious to she and Jack's conversation. "I sure hope the guys are being more protective of Riley, then."

Jack nodded grimly. "We better hope so."

-------

Everyone was gathered around the center island, though it had been a tight fit. Heero poured over the first blueprint with careful scrutiny. Quatre was examining the second blueprint, which was of a base in the L3 Colony Cluster. WuFei were reading over the letter that had been included, while Riley was re-reading the small note over and over again. She bit the inside of her lip in an effort to bite back tears of relief, and at the same, tears of agony. The note was from an unknown source -he refused to give a name- and all it told her was of Vienna's location and her well-being.

Solo, who was sitting on Duo's lap, shifted his position and leaned toward, trying to see what she was reading. "Riley, watcha doin'?" he asked, craning his neck.

She looked down at him. "I'm just reading a note from a friend."

"Oh," was the uninterested reply.

Trowa watched the small boy that had captured his sister's heart. He shifted his gaze over to Riley and made eye contact. Without saying a word, he sent her a message. She sighed and looked over at Solo before nodding slowly.

"Solo, come with me a minute," Riley said, getting to her feet. Duo let Solo climb down, and then made a motion, asking if she wanted him to come. She shook her head.

"Where're we going?" Solo asked, reaching up and taking her hand.

"We're going out to the garden for a minute. We'll come back." She led him outside and around the back way to the garden. It was mid-fall, and the wind was chillier than it had been. Absently, she remembered the flowers around her and noticed they were slowly dying. She glanced down at Solo; he wore a simple pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. She could hear his teeth chattering quietly and she could feel him slightly shaking. She quickly took him over to the garden's bench and sat down. She pulled him up onto her lap and hugged him to her in an effort to get him warm. His shaking calmed down a notch and his teeth stopped chattering.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" he asked.

Riley took a deep breath. "I've been meaning to talk to you for some time, Solo. You see, something is going on with me, and there may come a time that I won't be here for you. I want you to know that I still love you, and no matter where I am, I always will."

Solo looked up at her in puzzlement. "Gone? Why might you leave?"

"Well, one of my friend's is in trouble, and if she needs my help, I'll have to go and help her. That means I won't be here for you."

"What about Duo? Will he still be here?"

"To be completely truthful, Solo, I really don't know. My friend may need Duo's help, too."

"Then where will I go?"

Riley closed her eyes and sighed. She should have known this would be difficult. She should have known this was too much for her to handle on top of everything else. Oh, she hated it when Trowa was right!

Solo tugged on a strand of her hair that had fallen out of its ponytail. "Riley, what's wrong? Something's the matter, I know. Everybody's been acting sad lately, especially you, but I don't know why. Does it deal with your friend who needs help?" He tilted his head back so he could look up at her face. His eyes widened when he saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes. He hugged Riley tightly in an effort to stop her tears. "Riley, don't cry. I'll be fine. If you have to leave, I'll be good. Where ever you need me to go, I'll go, just as long as you're happy."

Riley smiled through her tears and hugged Solo back. "Sometimes I swear you're an angel in disguise, Solo."

"Are you happy now?" he asked sincerely.

Riley chuckled. How had the conversation switched to her well-being?

Solo grinned. "You'll see, I'll be good when you're gone, and when you get home, I'll have a big surprise waiting for you, you'll see! You'll be so happy when you see it!" He jumped down onto the ground and turned back around to face her.

Riley ruffled his hair affectionately, even though she knew he hated it. "You little squirt."

Solo scrunched up his nose and waved her hand away. "Aw, quit it, now was that all?"

Riley shrugged. "I guess. You ready to go back in?"

Solo shivered, and with a decisive nod, he said, "Yes."

The two of them hurried back inside, welcoming the heat once they stepped back inside the mansion. Relena was just heading up the stairs when they came in and she turned around. "You're wanted in the kitchen," she said.

Riley nodded. "Thanks." She bent down to Solo's level. "Solo, do you think you could entertain yourself up in my room for awhile? Duo and I need to talk about some things with the others."

"Does it concern your friend?" Riley nodded, and he shrugged. "Okay then. Come get me when you guys are done though, `kay?"

"I certainly will. There's paper in the desk drawer if you want to draw." She watched as he ran up the stairs only a few paces behind Relena. Relena jumped out of the way as he came running up behind her, almost toppling her over the side of the railing. Riley bit back a snort and hurried to the kitchen. When the stepped inside, Duo looked up at her and smiled. She returned the smile and sat down on the remaining stool. She leaned forward to see what they were all doing. The blueprint of the base in the Arctic -Granger- was spread out on the table. "That's their headquarters, correct?" she asked, looking at Heero for an answer.

He looked up at her and nodded. "From the note we received, it states that Vienna is here," he said, pointing to a section in the lower level of the base. "There's only one way in and out of the lower holding cells, and its entrance is in the center of one of the main hallways."

"Then we either find uniforms and pretend to be Rebellion soldiers, or cause a major distraction. Either way, there are still risks." Riley sighed and drummed her fingers on the table.

"What other choice do we have?"

For the next few hours, they all planned their course of attack against the two bases and what they would do. The group would be split into three's: WuFei, Quatre, and Duo would attack the Gemini base in the L3 colony cluster, while Heero, Trowa, and Riley would attack the Granger. The date would be exactly a week from that day.

-------

The hallways were dark and not a sound stirred the air. The outline of a woman disappeared down another hall, her actions quick and precise, resembling that of a panther. With a glance, she took in every single security camera without the need of night goggles, and analyzed her situation. The nearest security camera was directly above her, moving from left to right, but not low enough to catch her on tape. The second closest was two feet down the hallway, on the opposite wall. She knew that camera wouldn't catch her on tape either.

Looking up at the camera above her, she reached for its wiring and began pulling them out. When the small red light went off, she knew it had been disconnected. She turned her attention on the next camera. She waited for it to swivel away from her, focusing in the other direction, before she sprinted to the opposite wall and ducked underneath the second camera. She pulled out this ones wiring, too. She continued to do this until she came to her destination.

She put her ear to its door and listened. She could hear the faint sound of a man snoring. Smirking, she tried the doorknob, but found it locked. With a low growl, she removed a picklock from her pocket and picked the lock; she was inside in mere moments. The security guard had his back to her and his snoring was all the more distinct. She closed the door behind her softly and crept up on the guard. She removed a gun from the waistline of her pants and slowly eased her way around to the guard's front. His head was titled to the side, with drool escaping out of the corners of his open mouth. With a frown of disgust, she quickly attached the silencer onto the gun. All it took was a pull of the trigger, and the man drifted into unconsciousness. With a grunt of approval, she tucked the weapon back into the waistline of her pants, and got to work on the remaining security cameras. She shut them all down, and then got to work on the security codes. Within five minutes, she had everything she needed, and was heading back down the hallway, a floppy disc tucked into her pocket.

------

The ringing of the telephone woke Riley up with a start. She glanced at her alarm clock and growled in annoyance. Who in their right mind was calling at five-thirty in the morning? The telephone stopped ringing, signifying someone else had picked it up. She sighed and dropped back on the bed. She felt someone climb up onto the bed beside her and she looked down to find Solo, crawling over to her. She smiled. "Did the phone wake you up?" she asked.

He dropped down beside her with a yawn. "Yeah. What time is it?"

"Too early, go back to sleep," Riley mumbled, closing her eyes.

"Can I stay up here with you?"

"Go right ahead. It's probably more comfortable up here, anyways." Solo snuggled up next to her and the two of them fell asleep that way, though not for long.

Only five minutes later, the door to their room was slammed open and Duo came stumbling in, pulling a shirt down over his head. Riley cracked an eye open but quickly shut it again. "Duo, next time you come in my room, make sure your shirt is on properly."

Duo continued to tug on it, but it seemed to be stuck. "Uh, sorry, but we're kinda in a hurry."

Riley shifted Solo to where he wasn't laying on her and sat up, rubbing her eyes. When she opened them again, Trowa was standing in the doorway, glaring daggers at Duo. Riley burst out laughing, knowing what was going through her older brother's head. Duo finally got his shirt on correctly and looked over his shoulder to see what Riley was laughing at. He jumped when he saw the death glare Trowa was giving him. He smiled nervously and shook his head furiously. "It isn't what you think, man! I didn't even touch her!"

Still laughing, Riley climbed out of the bed and grabbed her robe. "Chill out, Trowa, he only just got here." She folded her arms across her chest and walked over to the two of them. "So, what's all the commotion about? First the phone rings, then Duo comes stumbling into my room, and now you appear. Something is up."

Trowa shifted his eyes away from Duo to look at his sister. "Noin called. Someone hacked into the computers at Preventers HQ. Their security guard was found dead with a bullet in his forehead."

Riley frowned. "Any idea who it could be?"

Trowa shrugged. "They don't know, but they're almost positive it was an agent of some kind from the World Rebellion."

Riley face grew pale. "Why do they say that?"

"A virus was left behind on their computers called Rebellion Fever. You can only guess from there."

Duo looked quickly over his shoulder, remembering Solo was in the room. He sighed with relief, seeing that the boy had fallen back to sleep again. He turned back around and looked at Riley. She looked to be in a stupor. He looked over at Trowa, who stepped forward to grab Riley's arm. "Riley, snap out of it," he instructed.

She blinked twice and her eyes seemed to clear, but in its place was a cloud of anxiety and heartache. "Vienna," she whispered. "They're already taking the first steps. That means that Raphael must have a plan as to how to capture me, otherwise he wouldn't have made the first move with Vienna."

"We don't know for sure that it was Vienna," Duo pointed out.

Riley looked at him sharply. "I know it was. Their only `agents' are Vienna and I. Everyone else is just soldiers. Their only purpose is to invade bases that Vienna and I have already shut down, so if any Rebellion agent got inside the Preventers HQ, it was Vienna."

Just then WuFei passed their doorway and glared at them. "Come on you guys, we don't have all day!"

"Give me three minutes to get dressed," Riley said, turning around to head for the wardrobe.

Trowa held her back. "You're staying here, Riles. If you're right that they have a plan to capture you, then this could be a setup to get you out of the mansion."

"What! Trowa, I'm just as safe with you guys as I am here. The protection here is pathetic! At Preventers, the security will be on maximum."

"Then I'll just increase the security here," Trowa replied before disappearing out the door. Riley stared after him angrily. With a growl, she slammed the door shut with a bang.

------

"He came in some time after midnight, only a few hours ago," Noin was saying, showing the boys into the security room. "Whoever it was tore apart our security cameras on his way here. Once inside, he killed our security guard and shut down our remaining cameras. We aren't sure what he downloaded, but we suspect it was some of our security codes. After, he put the virus into our computers."

"How long will it take to get rid of the virus?" Quatre asked, who was standing near the back.

Noin sighed. "More than a few days."

"Until then I suggest you keep a high security on this base," Heero said.

"Security has already been increased, but whoever got in here early this morning will have no problem getting past the security again, no matter how much I increase it."

"Was anything left behind?" Trowa asked.

Noin shook her head. "Nothing. They even checked the cameras for fingerprints, but the person must have been wearing gloves."

"Any sign of forced entry?" WuFei asked.

"They were minor scratches from a picklock on the security room door, but otherwise, there wasn't any."

Duo frowned. "Sound's like the World Rebellion to me. From what Riley says, they're a pretty complicated group."

"I doubt they'll come back to this base again, but I would make sure the other bases are on the lookout. They could strike again any time," Heero said.

Just then, Lady Une's voice came over the intercom, "Noin, report to my office ASAP. We have something to discuss."

Noin looked at the pilots. "Why don't you guys come along? I'm sure Une would want your opinion on this, too."

In Lady Une's office, Une sat her desk, shifting through papers. She looked up as the door was pushed open and Noin stepped in. She stood when she noticed the pilots were following her in. "Good, that saves me a phone call," she said with a smile.

Noin sat in one of the three chairs, and Heero and Quatre made themselves comfortable in the other two; Duo, WuFei, and Trowa stood.

Une sat back down and folded her arms on her desktop. "Any ideas?"

"I'm assuming Noin filled you in on the entire process of the World Rebellion?" Heero asked. Une nodded for him to continue. "Then you would know of Riley Barton and Vienna Chang, and that Vienna was captured awhile ago. From what Riley tells us, the Rebellion only has two agents who do this kind of stuff: she and Vienna; the soldiers are just backup."

"So you're saying that Vienna got in here last night?" Une finished for them.

Heero nodded. "Under the influence of the control device, that is."

"That means their plans have already been set in motion. It's only a matter of days until their next move, then. Any idea where they'll hit next?"

"I'm guessing another Preventers base will be hit." Heero leaned forward. "Yesterday, Riley received a letter from an anonymous person. Inside were two blueprints of their two main bases, the Gemini and Granger, along with a note concerning Vienna's health and conditions, and another note giving us the facts about the mind control device. How the sender knew where Riley was, we don't know."

Noin smiled. "Then I'm correct in assuming you already have a course of attack?"

"Yes, but we had planned on attacking a week from yesterday. With this turn of events, we need to attack sooner, before things get worse."

-------

Riley was sitting in the parlour drumming her fingers on the arm of the couch when the clock struck ten in the morning. Without moving her head, she looked down at her wristwatch and groaned. The boys had been gone for a long while, and she was beginning to get agitated. On second though, it was more like beyond agitation.

"Riley, is there something I can get you before I head out to pick up Miss Relena from one of her meetings?" Pagan asked, stepping into the parlour.

Riley looked at him from the corner of her eye. "Can you get me a car?"

Pagan blinked in surprise. "A car, ma'am?"

With a sigh and roll of the eyes, Riley stood to her feet and stretched. "Never mind, Pagan. I was only being sarcastic." She patted him on the arm and headed upstairs. As she neared the top of the stairs, the faint sound of a scuffle met her ears. With a frown, her eyes narrowed. Where was it coming from?

Silently, she started down the hallway in which the bedrooms were kept. The sound grew louder as she drew nearer. The sound was indefinitely coming from inside her room. She listened a moment longer, but when she heard the muffled yelp of Solo nothing held her back. She threw her weight into the door and it slammed open.

-------

Katana watched as the shuttle pulled into the hangar, fiddling with the band wrapped around her wrist. She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Behind her, the door was pushed open and she heard someone enter. She narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

He strode over to her and gripped her arm fiercely. "I know you killed him," he stated, seething with anger. "You may have others fooled, but not me."

Katana looked down at his hand, preventing her from moving away. "I suggest you remove your hand at once before I call in my guards."

"Your guards! Those men were my father's guards, and they still would be had you not killed him." He dropped his hand, but continued to glare at her. "I never should have trusted you."

Katana returned his glare. "If not for me, Raphael's dream would not be coming true, and this federation would never have come to be. In truth, I should have been the leader from the start. We could already have half of the things we want, had I come to power ages ago."

Before Daryn could continue, the door was pushed open again, and Vienna stepped inside. Her emotionless green eyes seemed to stare straight through Katana, piercing her to the core. Katana turned from Daryn and smiled chillingly at Vienna. "Did you get them?" she asked.

Vienna gave a brisk nod, removing a disc from a pocket hidden within her trench coat. She walked forward to Katana, holding it out. Katana took it. "Did you have any trouble at all?"

"No."

"Good." Katana strode over to the computers and inserted the disc. She quickly saved the information into the computers logs, and then pulled of the band. She set it by the M.C.D before disconnecting the connection between the machine and Vienna. She turned around in time to see Vienna slump to the floor, breathing heavily. "Daryn, pick her up while I call one of my men from the Core group." The Core was a group of four men, all of which who were skilled assassins; the group was known to few people.

While she waited for her man to pick up the call, she looked back over her shoulder. Daryn had done what she had asked. Vienna was conscious, but very weak. She looked up at her through slitted eyes. Katana turned her back on Vienna, hiding a shiver that passed through her.

The call went through and a voice, somehow familiar to Vienna, answered. "You called, Commander Rosco?"

"Do you have him yet?" she asked, watching Vienna from the corner of her eye.

"Not quite. We have a slight setback."

"A setback! What kind of setback?" Katana demanded, her voice rising.

"We had assumed Riley Barton had left with the others to check out the Preventers base, but as it turns out, she had stayed behind."

An idea formed in Katana's mind. "Is she in the room with you, and are you certain no one else is in the mansion?"

There wasn't a reply for a few moments. "Yeah, and she's giving my two men a load of trouble. I was watching from a tree just outside the balcony doors, but now I'm going in. And, yes, nobody else is in the mansion. An old man just left in a limo about four minutes ago."

Katana's fingers were flying over the M.C.D.'s keyboard. "Get in there quickly, but don't be surprised if Riley suddenly backs off of her attack."

------

Riley threw a punch at one of the two hooded men, hitting him square in the jaw. He reeled backwards, moaning. The second man came at her from behind, ramming into her back. She fell forwards, holding her hands out in front of her. Her chin missed slamming into the floor by inches, but her head had been jerked terribly. She grunted and rolled aside. She got onto one knee and looked over to Solo, standing near the balcony doors, which had been torn off their hinges and broken into wooden shards. "Solo, get out," she shouted at him. "Don't just stand there!"

Solo prepared to sprint for the door when a third man climbed up onto the balcony and leapt at the boy. He caught Solo around the waist, pulling him down to the floor. "Get offa me!" Solo shouted.

Riley got to her feet, but suddenly felt light-headed. She placed a hand to her forehead. What was wrong with her? There was a slight tingle in the back of her head now.

Suddenly, a pain ruptured inside her head. She screamed in pain, clutching her head. She dropped back to the floor, her eyes jammed closed. She felt as if a thousand nails were being drilled into her head, and her body seemed to be going numb. She couldn't think, she couldn't move, she couldn't even scream anymore, no matter how much she wanted to. It was as if her body wasn't her own anymore.

Okay, this was an edited version of the first chapter seventeen. Originally, the first one had been put up, but the actual document had been screwed up royally, and it couldn't be fixed, so I had to go back and copy, paste, and re-type the entire chapter. Sorry for the inconvenience!