I looked at the door to the group that had formed behind me. I took a deep breath and decided I would be the one to see what all the commotion was. I was a foot away when I started to hear sobs from the other side. Without wasting another second I swung open the door to see Annie slumped against the reception desk, crying next to the body that was Karen. Annie's head snapped up when she heard the door open and she scurried backwards away from me.
"Annie," I said softly, trying to calm her down. She looked like a frightened kitten. "What happened?"
She shook her head, trying to suppress the wave of sobs. "Stay away," she choked out, standing up fully and holding a hand out.
"No," I said, walking to her, holding her gently by her forearms. I started walking backwards, leading her back to Rufus's office. "We're going to make you better, you can stay here and we'll go down to the labs-"
"No, no," she kept muttering over top of me, tears spilling out as she shock her head more. "It's too late."
"No it's not," I told her, struggling to keep hold of her as she tried to fight out of my grip. "We're going to get you your medicine and all this will be over."
I turned the both of us so the seven of us in the room now surrounded her.
She pushed my hands away as she started to back away and past Tseng and Elena, stopping only when she up against Rufus's desk.
"No," she whispered. "It's too late, I- it's to strong. I'm...I'm to weak to fight it anymore."
"Don't say that!" I said, advancing to her as she skirted around the desk.
She let out a gasp that stopped me cold in my tracks. Her face contorted into a painful expression. She bit her lip to stop from yelling, as she fell forward on the desk, using her hands for support.
"Annie, stay with me" I yelled, trying to keep her attention, trying to stop Jenova from taking over. I leaned over the desk and grabbed her face, pulling it up to look at me. Her green eyes locked with mine as she yelled through her teeth. "Someone go," I yelled back to the other, "go and get the medicine."
I head the door close as somebody left.
Xavier and Tidus had rushed to the desk, one on each side of me.
"Annie, come on, you can fight this," Tidus said to her while Xavier asked her "Annie, what's wrong? Where's it hurt?"
"My back," she let out in sobs. "It's like someone's stabbing me."
I rounded the desk, putting a hand on her back asking her where.
"Higher," she said.
I slid my hand up to left shoulder blade and felt a strange feeling. It was as if something was pushing against the skin, trying to get out.
The look on my face must have told the other something wasn't right because there wasn't a beat missed as Xavier told me to take the shirt of to see.
With time ticking away, I pulled my switchblade from my pocket, pulling it up quickly against the fabric, letting it fall to the ground in one motion. What I felt was exactly what I saw, something trying to break through the skin. I pushed her bra straps aside to get a better look and checked to right side to see if the same effect was happening there. When I saw that it was just the left, I shifted sights back to the left.
Annie let out a yell as she arced her back forward. My breath stopped as I watched something black pierce through the surface, then another one a hair lower than the first, then another. Hundred if not thousands started to rush out of her back and before I could get a look at what they were, they made a straight line at me, hitting me hard and pushing me to the ground.
I jumped to my feet and stood frozen at the sight before. Annie was hunched over with her eyes closed, arms wrapped around herself, breathing hard and from her back was a giant black wing that sway ever so slightly.
"Annie?" I said, swallowing hard.
She kept her eyes closed and grinned.
"There is no Annie," said a low voice. She whipped her hair back as it flashed from dull brown to silver. She turned to face me, opening her purple her eyes.
Annie's soft face had turned hard and sinister looking; the figure in front of me was almost an exact replica of the Jenova I saw in labs long ago.
"No," I whispered, my heart sunk.
We all watched her as she put her hand in front of her face, turning it slightly, checking out her new body.
"Finally," she said, "I have control, no more of that pesky girl."
"No," I said again, "Annie, listen to me, I know you can hear me. You have to-"
Jenova turned away, ignoring what I had to say. She lifted her hand at the back wall as a ball of light started to grow in her front of her palm. It grew to twice it size before it shot out and blew open a gaping hole to the outside. She started to walk her way to the hole but I intoned to stop her.
"No, you aren't going anywhere," I ran to her.
"Reno, no!" Elena yelled, grabbing a hold of me.
"Let go!" I snapped at her, trying to push her off me, only to have Tseng grab me to. "I said let go!" I yelled, giving them both a hard shove. By the time I had them off Jenova had stepped of the side of the building, dropping down.
"Annie! I yelled, running to the edge. Her body shot straight up in the air, as she took flight of into the distance.