Saving Annabel

Chapter 9

Finally a new part! Thank you all for being so patient :) and this chapter is dedicated to NCRisAWESOME! Thank you for all your support!! :)

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My head lurches up and I look around with frantic eyes. I feel my heart stutter, then pick up speed. I take a few steps backward and bump into a tree. The rough bark scratches my back, tearing at my clothes.

I take a deep breath to calm myself. Dr. Shields said I needed to find my teammates. That's most important. But how am I supposed to do that if I can barely see and I have no ability?

I start walking in the general direction of the gunshot. At least I know there are people there. If I can get close enough, I can hide in the bushes and try to decide who seems the least likely to shoot me. Hopefully, then I can guess who my teammates are.

Not the most solid plan in the world, but it's the only one I have at the moment.

I make it one hundred feet until I hear a rustle. I freeze and hold my breath, straining to pick up another sound. A few seconds later, I hear a twig snap from above me. Looking up the hill, I see a small group of people nervously walking down a steep decline. The woman in front suddenly turns her head to peek behind her. She quickly turns back, panic stricken on her face. She hisses to her teammates and they scatter, taking off at a run down the ravine, towards me.

My heart races and I look around panicked. I need to find a hiding spot before they see me. I look up to see a man running down the ravine toward me. Ten more seconds and he'll see me.

There's a small drop off from the main path. It'll have to do as a hiding spot.

I gently step down and hide behind a tree. Behind me, there's a steep ridge going down to a creek. If I slip, it would be a hundred foot crash to the bottom.

I can hear his footsteps pounding as he races down the hill. I look at my hands that grip the wooden trunk. They shake uncontrollably and I grip at the tree trunk harder.

The rhythmic beating suddenly breaks off and then is followed by a loud crash.

"Urghh." A man's painful groan comes from just behind the tree.

After he doesn't get up right away, I peek my head around the tree. His body is strewn on the ground from where he fell, his gun strapped to his back. He's lucky, the vest took most of the blow.

He moves his arms to push himself up. I try to duck behind the tree before he sees me, but my grip slips and I fall backward with a yelp. The ground makes contact with my head and my back follows until I'm doing somersaults down the ravine, every rock and stone cutting into my body.

Finally, my body stops rolling and I lay at the bottom with my mangled body sprawled out by the creek.

"Are you okay?" The man's voice calls from above.

I get up on my elbows, but hesitate at standing up to look at him. I'd be in range of his paintball gun.

"It's okay. You can trust me." He calls again, but I don't respond. I feel a pit form in my stomach. Somehow, I know not to trust him.

I ignore the searing pain in my head and body and crawl back further into the underbrush and away from that man.

I can hear people talking around me. Within seconds I am rudely awakened by Dr. Shields shaking me awake and ripping the machine from my head.

I look around, foggy and confused. Dr. Shields grabs my arms and shoves me into a sitting position.

"Come on," she urges gruffly, "We have to get you out of here."

I blink several times to try to understand the commotion around. Tyler appears next to her confused.

"What are you doing? Reagan wasn't done!"

Dr. Shields suddenly stops tugging at the machine. She straightens her back and lifts her chin up slightly to meet Tyler's gaze head on.

"You fool." She hisses. "This girl obviously doesn't have an ability. The longer she stays here, the less likely it is for her to return without permanent damage from the memory loss procedure."

I look at Dr. Shields with wide eyes. Memory loss? They can't do that to me. Not now that I know how to cure my sister!

"How can you be sure? She—" Tyler starts, but Dr. Shields immediately cuts him off. "Tyler!" She exclaims, "Reagan fell down a ravine. How much more proof do you need?" Dr. Shields pauses and before continuing with extra emphasis. "She's not one of us."

Tyler meets my gaze with his pained eyes. His once seemingly icy eyes now have a summery glint to them. "But I felt something...I know she has an ability, I just can't figure it out." Tyler looks at me with pained eyes.

"Your emotions got the best of you again, didn't they?" Dr. Shields curls her upper lip into a snarl. "Didn't they?"

Tyler shrinks back. He breaks eye contact with Dr. Shields and instead looks at me. A shiver goes down my back. "No, I thought..." Tyler drifts off, scrunching his eyebrows together. Then after a few seconds he says, "No. I guess not."

Dr. Shields grunts, satisfied that she won the argument, and turns around to face me.

Crossing her arms she says, "Get up."

I hesitate and look at Tyler. He looks down at his feet and bites his lower lip, refusing to look at me. I hesitantly look at Dr. Shields' impatient face. Slowly and carefully I stand up.

She grabs my arm, her long fingernails digging through my shirt and poking into my flesh, and pulls me forward.

"We don't have much time."

Tyler steps toward me, but Dr. Shields holds up a hand, stopping him.

"You stay here. I have to treat her before it's too late."

She pulls my arm and I follow her hopelessly toward the door. I look behind me at Tyler and he stares at me painfully.

I look at Dr. Shields' hard and determined face and my heart jumps. I jerk away from her grasp, but she turns toward me with the swiftness of a snake. Grabbing both of my arms she shoves me forward and whispers into my ear, "Trust me."