I am so sorry I'm late, guys. I have no excuse other than I completely forgot to update. I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy, and please review! I own nothing but Seventeen and the Stranger.

I blink. Before I met you, the mention of Rosswood Park would most likely have sent me into a panic, but now it isn't as bad. After all, Stranger and Seventeen are proxies too, the only things I have to be afraid of are Hoody and Tim. If they're even here.

Seventeen throws her hands up in the air. The gesture looks extremely strange on her. I look back at Stranger. If I could see her eyes, I think she would be rolling them.

Seventeen clenches her fists, then begins to speak quietly. How do you expect us to find a safe place to stay here? The last thing we need is the cameraman getting wind of the rest of us, especially xir. She jerks her head in my direction. Can you imagine the field day he'd have with the sight of an embryo?

Stranger shakes her head. Jay has better things to worry about than we others. I doubt he even knows we exist; it's sometimes a good thing most humans associate us with poorly written stories.

They continue arguing while I press my back against the tree. The wind pulls at my clothes, chilling me through the thin cloth. I hear the sounds of crickets, and waving leaves, and footsteps.

Footsteps?

My eyes widen, and I feel my muscles tense. Stranger and Seventeen both go quiet. Adrenaline rips through my veins, turning them hard and hot, boiling my blood. The footsteps sound again, and I break.

I take off through the woods. In the fanfictions, you're always perfectly silent and skilled at killing and generally good. My feet are bare, and every step hurts and cracks a thousand sticks. My mind screams, wanting blood and death, and my body begs for air and slowness. But something is there, chasing me, and I have to run.

No one calls for me, of course. I can't hear them follow me. Was it all a trick? Did they not care?

I'm so afraid that I don't hear the static growing in my ears, or feel the nausea in my stomach. I certainly feel it when I slam into someone's chest, bring both them and me rolling down a hill. I lay dazed on top of them for a minute before I scramble up and away, breathing hard.

I can't tell who it is. They seem male, and their clothes cover their body completely, except for the face. The person lets out a soft groan, and moves, and I catch a glimpse of white plastic, marked with dark spots over the mouth and eyes.

I run even faster than I did before, tears falling from my eyes. I hear him behind me, following, and I wonder how I ever thought I could outrun a fully grown man. He's coming closer, and I'm tired, and everything hurts. A terrified, rending screech comes from my lips, and I'm amazed just how much I don't sound remotely human anymore.

Another pair of arms wrap around me, and I scream again, the raw animalistic sound scaring me almost as much as the two people I'm sure are here with me. The arms around me are cold, unfamiliar, and unable to be identified as male or female. My head is forced up, a leather gloved hand wrapped around my throat, and I look into red eyes over black cloth.

My head flops back down, and now I look into black eyes, with arching eyebrows and feminine lips over bright white plastic. His head tilts, as he pulls my head backward and forward, examining the wounds, no doubt. I don't think I'm sobbing, but I'm certain there are no tears left in my eyes.

My chest heaves, and the arms tighten. Masky doesn't let go of my head, and I try not to scream. That's when I hear the rustle, and another animalistic scream. Seventeen leaps out, brandishing the knife I saw her cleaning earlier. It's still stained with blood.

Stranger walks out, her steps calm while Seventeen's are raw and ferocious. She extends one gray hand, and Masky's eyes follow her. The forest hums, and the static is getting worse.

If you'll excuse us, Stranger says, one hand dangling by her side and the other extended, that embryo is under our charge.

Masky shakes his head, and I feel Hoody's body tense. Seventeen snarls, and Stranger wraps one hand around her arm tightly, to keep her from attacking. I don't think it will do much good.

The static is getting closer. I don't know who it is, but I can guess, and I do not want to be anywhere near here when he gets here. I try to squirm, and the hand wrapped around my neck only tightens. It looks like I'm not going anywhere until he wants me to.

Please. Make it stop. Let me go.

He's coming.