OHMYGOSH! Nineteen reviews! None of my stories have ever gotten that many reviews for a single chapter. In fact, no responses this chapter, actually. Let's just get to the story.
Riley didn't even try to fight back. She just braced herself for what punishment Annis had in store for her.
Ten minutes later, Riley found herself lying face-first on the ground. Her head was riddled with cuts and bruises, and her shirt was bloodied. Lying next to her, the hockey stick had been snapped in two.
Annis was busy cleaning off her shirt, then casually headed for the door. However, she paused to say, "Wasn't that fun, Riley? Oh, and just to give you a head's up, we're going up to this school. My boys told me that a couple hundred kids are hiding there."
Riley didn't respond. She was conscious, though just barely, but she was too tired to speak.
"Oh, don't be sad, Riley," Annis said, smiling. "Be happy you have such an attentive best friend. I spent ten minutes of my time with you, after all."
Annis then laughed, before closing the door. The moment she was gone, Riley struggled to get off the ground. She covered her mouth when she saw that blood and spit was drizzling from it. Grabbing onto the side of the bed, she used it as leverage to push herself up. After an egregious minute, Riley managed to flop down on the bed.
After a few minutes, the door opened, and for a second, Riley thought that Annis had returned. She was relieved, however, to see that it was actually Brooke.
The small girl climbed onto the bed with Riley, and gasped when she saw her. "What happened?" She asked, horrified.
Riley turned her head to face Brooke, her left eye squinted due to having a large, purple bruise on it. "Annis..." She whispered, then turned to look up at the ceiling.
"She was testing you," Brooke revealed.
Riley squinted her eyes in confusion. "What?" She asked.
"I think Annis was growing suspicious of you and Caroline," Brooke explained. "When she threatened my brother, I think it was a ruse to provoke Caroline. She wanted to see how you'd react if she hurt Caroline. She wanted to see who was more important to you."
Riley groaned. "I guess I didn't disappoint her, then," She said sadly. "Now Caroline is dead, and it's my fault."
Riley closed her eyes, but faintly heard the sounds of Annis shouting orders outside. Slowly, she got up out of the bed and limped to the window. Outside, she saw over a thousand children, marching onwards with Annis leading them. Dozens of dogs were being held on a leash as they were led out with the children.
"Oh, no," Riley groaned, then turned to the door. Suddenly, an idea formed in her mind, and her eyes widened. Slowly, she limped to the door and opened it.
"What are you doing?" Brooke asked.
"I have to stop her," Riley replied, limping out onto the hallway. "Least... I can do..."
"But you're hurt, Riley!" Brooke protested. "You can't-"
"Don't stop me!" Riley snapped, managing to pick up her pace as she hurried for the stairs. "I have to do this!"
With that, she hurried down the stairs, hoping to catch up to Annis in time.
(In Riley's Mind)
"This is a terrible idea!" Fear squeaked as the other emotions finished screwing the lightbulb into the control panel. "Annis will kill us if we disagree with her!"
"Come on, Annis is our friend, surely she won't be that drastic," Joy replied confidently. "We just have to be smooth with her."
"Besides, I really want to give that girl a piece of my mind," Anger declared, punching a fist into his palm. "And if pushes comes to shove, we can always just deck her one in the face!"
"But we're not in any position to confront her," Fear reminded. "Look what she did to us just now. At this point, we're not even strong enough to fight her! We're toast!"
"We have to do it for Caroline," Sadness said, driving the controls, along with Joy. "She was brave. We have to be brave, too."
Fear shrunk down upon being told basically the opposite of his job.
"We can't go out looking like this!" Disgust butted in this time. "The other kids will look at us and only see how weak we are. They definitely aren't going to help!"
"Who cares what those guys think!" Anger asked, slamming his fist on the control panel. "They didn't help Caroline, they definitely won't help us now! We're in on this alone!"
"How are we going to get there in time, anyways?" Sadness asked and paused, causing Riley to slow down. "At the rate we're going, we'll never reach the school in time."
Anger's eyes lit up. "Hey, I have an idea..."
(Minutes Later...)
"Oh, we are so dead!" Fear shouted as Riley drove a stolen motorcycle down the streets and towards the school.
"Annis, here we come!" Joy shouted as she got into a motorcycle-riding position.
Annis and her army and since reached the school, and they crowded in front of it, guns drawn. Annis held out a megaphone, and walked out from her army towards the school. Even from the distance, she could see the kids at the windows within the school.
"Children of the school, come out and join your new law and order!" She demanded through the megaphone. "You have ONE warning, but know that I am a merciful and trustworthy gal!"
The second the words left her mouth, Annis was pelted in the chest with a snowball. The kids in the school began to rain snowballs and any other weapons they could find at Annis and her army.
Annis grimaced, then turned to her army.
"Let 'em have it!" She bellowed furiously. Her enforcers obeyed, and began to wildly fire their weapons at the school. Most of the bullets struck the walls, while others smashed through the glass windows. The kids inside the school instantly withdrew and began to hide as the bullets rained at them.
Annis began grinning widely, shaking with excitedly. She raised her hand, signaling for her army to cease firing. Then, she signaled for one of her bodyguards to bring out a rocket launcher. He and another bodyguard held the rocket launcher, and took aim at the school's entrance.
"Stop!"
Annis paused, and spun around to see Riley stop the motorcycle at the far end of the line of enfocrcers. Getting off the motorcycle, she started limping towards Annis quickly. The bodyguards lowered the rocket launcher and stared at Riley as she passed by them.
"What are you doing here, Riley?" Annis asked, then shrugged off her confused feeling. She grabbed the rocket launcher from her bodyguards, and held it to Riley.
"Never mind, I'm glad you're here," She said, practically shoving the rocket launcher into Riley's chest. "I want you to blow out that entrance!"
"No, that's not why I'm here," Riley said. "I came here to stop you!"
Annis froze, staring at Riley in shock. She turned to her army, who were watching in anticipation. Then, she turned back to Riley, and glared.
"Can we talk, alone?" She asked, before grabbing Riley by the arm and dragging her onto a small wooden bridge over a frozen lake close to the school. The army stared at the two, and Harold and Jake took a few steps towards the two girls.
"What do you think you're doing?" Annis asked irritately. "Are you trying to embarrass me in front of everyone?"
"Embarrass?" Riley asked in disbelief. "That's what your concerned about? There are much more important things to talk about now."
"Is this about Caroline?" Annis asked, sizing Riley up. "It better not be!"
"It's not just about her, it's about everybody!" Riley pointed out, standing up tall despite her injuries. "Don't you see the danger you're putting everyone else in!"
"I'm what this city needs!" Annis snapped, jabbing a finger into Riley's shoulder. "Without me to establish law, then all of the kids will go about with no rules, and without rules, everything goes to chaos! I'm here to make the rules, so that everybody obeys them! When we all grow up, they'll grow up under my rule, following my way! Understand!"
"And what about the people who don't follow you?" Riley asked. "What happens to them?"
"Why do you care?" Annis asked, shrugging.
"It's called empathy, Annis!" Riley shouted. "You should learn about it someday!"
For once, Annis didn't respond, giving Riley time to continue.
"Caroline was my sister, and I loved her," She revealed.
"She wasn't really your sister," Annis pointed out. "I assigned her to you."
"She was my sister whether she'd been of my own blood or not!" Riley shouted hoarsely. "But you took her away. You and..." She stopped, and turned to stare at Harold. The red-haired boy instinctively shrunk away into the crowd.
"It doesn't matter," Annis scoffed. "These kids follow my lead, not yours."
"Yes, it does matter!" Riley retorted. "Ever since I met you, I've done what you've wanted. When our parents died, I turned to you, because you were the person closest to me. But now, I need to think for myself."
"If you didn't like following me, why didn't you say anything?" Annis asked.
"Because!" Riley shouted, tears started to form in her eyes. "Because I thought that if I left, you'd take your anger out on our friends! Because I thought that I could help you cope with things. But most of all, I stayed because I trusted you. Every time you hurt me, I stayed because I trusted that you would change, Annis! That's why!"
Annis' skin paled, and her eyes widened. For a moment, it looked like Riley had gotten through to her. However, then her eyes narrowed.
"Do it, Riley!" Annis shouted, holding out the rocket launcher to her.
Riley batted it away. "No!" She refused sternly.
"Then I'll do it!" Annis said, and turned to aim the rocket launcher at the school.
"No!" Riley shouted in a panic, and grabbed the rocket launcher, wrenching it out of Annis' hands. She threw it off the bridge and watched it crash into the frozen lake below.
Riley slowly looked up at Annis, who was staring at Riley in shock. Then, she grimaced.
"If you won't follow what I say, then you don't deserve to have any part in my law!" She declared. Before Riley could do anything, Annis grabbed her and hoisted her into the air. Riley tried to struggle, but she was still weak from her previous injuries, and couldn't properly defend herself.
Without a moment's hesitation, Annis tossed Riley off the bridge and into the lake below. Riley screamed as she fell through the air, but her cries out terror were abruptly ended when she landed onto the frozen lake below. The ice smashed as Riley crashed into it. The back of Riley's head struck the ice, knocking out her senses.
"Riley!" She heard Madison shout. Even through her fuzzy vision, she saw Madison run onto the bridge and stare down at her, horrified. Annis roughly shoved her away.
A few of Annis' bodyguards were about to run down to retrieve Riley, but Annis shouted, "Leave her! Maybe when she wakes up, she'll learn to appreciate me!"
Reluctantly, the bodyguards relented and backed off. Riley lay on the smashed ice, feeling cold water soak her body. Her eyes dimly stared at Annis, and she could make out her ordering her bodyguards to retrieve the rocket launcher. Soon enough, they had handed her the rocket.
Riley let a few cold tears stream out of the corners of her eyes. She shut her eyes as she slipped into unconsciousness.
The last thing she heard was the sound of the rocket being fired.
Read and review.