Chapter Seven:

Hazel's POV

"No!" I shouted as the Erasers dragged me out of the dog cage. "Don't touch me! Leave me alone!" I felt one of their arms snake around my waist and I screamed.

They yanked me out of the cage and practically threw me across the room. I skidded to a halt on the ground, my body far too weak to pull myself up.

One of them grabbed my arm with their strong, iron grip, and hit me across the face. I bit my lip to keep myself from crying out, as they roughly dragged me into the experimenting room.

The room was dark, with several Whitecoats standing along in and around the room. My eyes widened in few as they chained me down on the metal table that was marked up with claw scratches and blood stains.

"Today we are going to enhance Subject-63a's vocals to match ones of a hummingbird's," the Whitecoat said, straightening the medical supplies. "Let's begin."

They brought the sharp scalpel down on my throat and I screamed.

-••/•-•/•/•-/-/•••

Doctor's POV

"Hazel!" He shouted, running down the hall. They had all awaken from their psychic pollen-induced slumber, but Hazel wasn't in their dream. He could only assume that she was trapped in her own nightmare.

He entered the hospital room, Hazel sleeping on the bed, her face twisted with terror. He quickly went to the machine, doing a brain scan. "I don't understand," Amy said, entering the room. "Why hasn't she woken up yet? We woke up."

"She wasn't with us when we fell asleep," he explained looking at scanner. Extremely high brain activity.

He went to her bed, watching as she whimpered and yelped again, breathing heavily. "What can we do?" Amy asked.

"We wait," he frowned. "She needs to find some way to die in her dream, and when she does, we'll be right here when she wakes up."

•-•/-/•-••/•-••/•/-•

Hazel's POV

Their testing had left my neck bleeding and my body weak. Tears from pain streaked down my cheeks as they undid the chains, and pushed me off the table. The Erasers dragged me back to the room, and shoved me in a cage, locking the door.

I pulled my body close and tried to cry into my legs, but my throat felt like it was going to burn whenever I did so. I hesitantly closed my eyes.

Then the room changed and I was running down a wet street, my jacket clinging to my body because of the pouring rain over head. My wings too wet and heavy for me to fly. I heard Erasers howl loudly behind me, making me run faster.

Shelter, I thought, I need shelter.

I turned the corner only to find a dead end. I turned back, to see the Erasers had cornered me. Their human facial features gone and replaced with wolf fur that drooped in the rain. There were about five of them, each brandishing weapons that gleamed in the moonlight.

"No where to run, Tweety bird," the Eraser grinned maliciously.

"There's always a way out," I said, pulling out my knife that I kept in my back pocket.

The Eraser lunged at me, and I easily stabbed him in the side and dodging. The Eraser moved towards the wall, and glared at me, and I growled back.

We went again, I moved to the side, but the Eraser suspected this, snatching a fistful of hair and throwing me towards the wall. I hit the wall with a painful thud, landing on the ground. One Eraser took this chance to shoot at me, but I quickly rolled away.

I took a small knife out and threw it with dangerous accuracy at the Erasers leg and he shouted in pain, moving back. I stood back up, steadying my feet, when one of the Erasers came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my neck, putting me in a choke hold.

I gasped, clawing at me neck, my oxygen quickly escaping my body. I tried to pull on his arms, but his grip was iron. The other Eraser came over to me, I saw a knife gleaming in his hands. I gritted my teeth, and stabbed the Eraser in the stomach sharply, turning it in a full circle before he finally loosened his grip.

I took this chance to take his hand, pulling it over, just as the Eraser lunged at me, and he took the hit instead. I took the knife out and threw it at the Erasers head, going straight through his skull, and he dropped dead as well.

The final three Erasers glared and snarled at me and I growled back. Then, all three of them lunged, one of them grabbing me by the waist and bringing me to the brick wall. Another punched me in the gut, leaving me gasping, and the final holding a pistol out from a distance, ready to shoot me dead.

The Eraser slammed my body into the wall multiple times, until I felt blood from the back of my head and my vision going a dangerous murky black. My knife dropping to the ground, only to be kicked out of range.

I gritted my teeth and bit his hands that were holding my shoulders. Blood splattered everywhere, and the Eraser began to scream in pain, but I wasn't letting go. My other hand trailed around his waist until they wrapped around the hilt of a knife. I grabbed it out and stabbed him in the chest. I heard gun shots and a sharp pain in my shoulder but I pushed the body towards the other Eraser, knocking them both down.

The Eraser with a gun shot at me a few more times, but I dodged it, going near the trashcans. Finally, he ran out of bullets and I took this chance to jump at him. I climbed up his body easily and snapping his neck, and he fell to the ground.

I looked at the final Eraser, who moved the dead Eraser's body off his own, and growled inhumanely at me. He got up and we circled each other, like I had done earlier. I had suffered many more wounds than he did, after being strangled, my side's bleeding, a bullet in my shoulder, and my head's bleeding. The only injury he suffered was a knife in his thigh, that looked to be perfectly fine right now.

He jumped at me, and I rolled away. He grabbed out a gun and quickly shot me at me. My wings quickly shielded my body, but a sharp pain went through them. I cried in pain, my wing drooping.

The Eraser jumped again, tackling me to the ground. It wasn't much of a fight, since I had a bullet in my wing. He easily pinned me down, not before punching me with his razor sharp claws a few times.

Then he wrapped his fingers around my neck, strangling me. I gasped and clawed at his fingers, he chuckled, "You know, you got a large bounty on your head. 'Bring 'er back alive' they said," he laughs maniacally. "I guess I'll be draggin' your dead-ass back to base!"

I tried to shake him off, only to have him squeeze tighter. My chest heaved with panic and the alley began to stain with darkness until finally, everything was a dark black.

It took me a few seconds to realize the horrifying truth.

I was dead.

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Doctor's POV

"She's choking herself!" Rory called watching the dark-skinned girl who was wrapping her hands around her neck and gagging.

His eyes widened, "Her hands, strap her hands down," he ordered. Amy and Rory pried her fingers away from her throat and strapped them against the bed with the leather bonds. He ran a hand through his hair, and stared at the panicked girl, who was struggling against its hold.

"I thought you 'chose your friends with great care'," Rory muttered.

"She fell out of a tree and had wings on her back!" He argued, "What else was I supposed to do?!" She screamed again and everyone jumped.

After a few minutes of silence, her body went slack. They could only assume that she had 'died'.

-••/••/•/-••

Hazel's POV

Where was I? I thought automatically as my mind was brought back to consciousness. The familiar scent of sterile air flooded my nostrils, making me cringe. I tried to sit up, only to have something strong hold my arms back down.

Not a second later, fear and panic filled my body and I began to hyperventilate, pulling as hard as I could against the leather bonds on my arms, legs and chest. "Hazel, calm down!" A male voice said. I didn't care to distinguish whose since I was too busy trying to get my hands out of the bonds.

"Take the straps off!" He ordered. Some else moved towards me, to undo the leather straps, but I growled at them when they came too close.

The only thing running through my head was how did the School find me again? They promised that they weren't with them! They-They promised that they weren't! How? Was I too naïve, again? Did I misjudge them?

"Hazel, please, we aren't going to hurt you," a female voice said. I looked up to see a redheaded woman, Amy, staring at me with bright green eyes concernedly. Beside her was a male. He was blonde and had blue eyes, Rory. My eyes widened when I realized that he had the distinct scent of a Whitecoat.

My breathing quickened and I pulled harder. I heard the straps, surprisingly, rip slightly in protest. "Hazel, listen to us, you're perfectly safe," the first man, who had floppy brown hair and dull green eyes assured.

I shook my head and heard the strap rip again, enough for me to wriggle my hands out. As soon as they were out, I pushed the floppy haired man — the Doctor — away, and undid the straps on my chest and feet.

I jumped up and off the bed, but immediately regretted it because my head throbbed with pain, causing me to stagger backwards, holding my head firmly.

The Doctor came beside me, whispering soothing things in my ear, but I quickly pushed him away, and falling back on the bed parallel to the other one. My chest began to heave with panic once again. There were three of them and only one of me, not to mention god-knows-how many that could be possibly coming. I crouched down on the bed, my hand trailing to my waist, ready to arm myself if need be.

"Hazel, calm down," the Doctor said again, holding his hands up protectively. "It's okay, you're in the TARDIS."

"Don't come near me!" I shouted, moving away from the approaching man.

"I won't, I won't," he promised. "Just let me talk. We're not going to hurt you. We just needed to make sure you didn't choke yourself."

I shook my head, "What do you want with me?! I thought you said you weren't working with the School! You lied!"

"I'm not lying, I swear on my hearts. Just let me help you," my eyes widened, he sounded just like them...

•-••/••/•/•••

I was strapped down on the silver table, thrashing around hopelessly. One of the Whitecoats walked over, a strong hint of bloodlust radiated off him. "Now, now, Subject 63a," he cooed, caressing my cheek and I flinched to the touch. "I'm going to fix you; make you much better than you were before... Just let me help you..."

-/•-•/••-/••••

My breathing intensifies and I moved away from him, shaking my head as I went. "No. No! Stay back!"

"Hazel, please," he begged but I looked at him, my wide, brown eyes flooded with terror.

"Don't come any closer!" I shouted, glancing at the only exit I could identify, which was the door.

The Doctor took another step, "Hazel I—"

"Don't!" I yelled, my eyes blazing yellow, "Not another step!"

"Hazel, I'm sorry," was all he said and he dove his hand in his pocket, pulling out his sonic. Before I could do anything, he held it in the air, a loud whirring sound filled my ears painfully.

I gripped my ears trying to block the sound, but it didn't work. A scream rose in my throat, but before I could release it, the Doctor tapped my forehead and everything when black.

•••/•-/•-••/•-••/••-/-•-•/••/-•/•-/•••/•

"Hey, hey, she's waking up," I heard a male voice say, as my eyes slowly opened. I was in my bedroom on the TARDIS. Amy, Rory, and the Doctor sat beside my bed. By the way their chairs were positioned, they were probably talking beforehand.

"What's going on?" I asked, sitting up. My neck felt sore, and I rubbed it. I glanced at each of them, they all had worried faces, which made me frown, "What? Is there something on my face?" I joked lightly.

"You were in a psychic-pollen induced hallucination," the Doctor finally said. "You nearly choked yourself to death, and then you attacked us."

My smile fell, and I ruffled my eyebrows, "Oh. Sorry?"

"Doesn't matter now," Amy sighed. "How're you feelin'?"

"Fine, I guess. Bit of a headache, but it's going away. My neck's a bit sore to... And..." I rolled my shoulders, making my wings pop and crack, "... There. All's good. No harm, no foul."

"Nice to know," the Doctor nodded. "What were you dreaming about?"

I blinked at him, "Uhm, it's... Complicated..." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "Besides, I thought that you three were going to Rio or something."

"We were, after you woke up," Amy answered. "Wanted to make sure you were alright."

"Well, I'm good now, so let's go to Rio," I grinned, but the Doctor frowned at me.

"You still lost a lot of blood earlier. You shouldn't even get up."

"Then give me some orange juice," I rolled my eyes. "I'll be fine."

He still gave me a skeptic look, "We'll eat. You've been asleep for a few hours, so you must be hungry. Then, we can go."

"Fine with me," I nodded, moving to get out of the bed and standing up. I suddenly felt a wave of vertigo, making me stumble, my wings flapping frantically as a reflex to keep me up. "Whoa..." I murmured, steadying myself.

"You okay?" The Doctor asked, coming to my side, a worries expression splayed on his features.

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine," I forced a laugh. "Felt a little wobbly for a second, sorry." I smiled at him and clapped my hand, "So! Let's go eat!"

•-•/••/-••/-••/•-

The Doctor made a homemade pizzas, much to my surprise, seeing I had no clue he could cook(he honestly looked like one of those 'Take-out' guys.) At first we were supposed to one, but I needed more calories than just one pizza, so I pretty much devoured the extra one he made.

"So, Rio," I said, finishing off the last slice. "What do you plan on doing?"

"You... Just ate two whole pizzas..." Rory awed, either looking disgusted or impressed.

"I'm part bird," I rolled my eyes. "It would be unhealthy to eat just one pizza. So, Rio?"

"Right!" The Doctor grinned, "The water's awesome and everything's really pretty and gorgeous. It's actually one of the places I most favor on earth."

"Sounds like you've been there a few times," I hummed, rubbing my greasy hands on my pants. Actually, I heard that they were passing through South America to go to Antarctica a few times. It had only been rumors, I wasn't so sure it was true, so I never checked it out. I made a mental note to talk to the locals to see if anyone had seen any large flying bird kids lately.

"Hazel?" Someone said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"I asked if you were ready," the Doctor repeated.

"Oh, yeah. Let me get dressed first." I pushed myself off the chair. "Give me ten minutes. I'll meet you in the console room." I quickly exited the kitchen and headed for my bedroom.