Dana's POV

"I understand your concerns gentlemen but believe me it will be worth your while. The second that our researchers have fully assessed the vial and its contents we can begin stage 2 of the operation, after that it'll be smooth sailing"

"And what about the girl? The woman who delivered the blood to you?" Someone asked from the far end of the conference table.

The voice, I realized, belonged to none other than Mr Kadi Denvt, the newest member of our covert operations. He seemed trustworthy, but in this kind of business trust never mattered for very long. His name, of course, was fake, but so were several other members' names. But there was one thing about him that particularly unnerved me. The man was too confronting; if he thought he saw a flaw in the plan or wanted to know something that the others had calmly accepted they didn't need, or want, to know, he would question and question again and again until he received an answer that satisfied, or frightened, him into silence.

"Mr Denvt I assure you that Ashley is perfectly capable of serving us, when we captured her infiltrating the base, we made a few modifications on her ability to act independently, she may have regained the ability to speak independently by now but I promise you that everything is going as planned."

At the exact moment I finished speaking one of the employees walked in and whispered in my ear. "Yes, thankyou. Gentlemen" I stood up, as did the rest of them "I have business to attend to" I left them in the conference room telling the employee as we walked down the hallway "Ensure all of the appropriate measures are taken, I want the facility evacuated, and meanwhile" I took a syringe out of my bag and smiled "I'm going to have a little discussion with our guest"

Will's POV

The airport was hectic, even at this hour of the morning. I waited at the counter to be served. Everything was being unloaded from a van onto the jet that Magnus had arranged for our flight to Scotland; meanwhile, I was getting everyone's orders. It was going to be a long day and we wouldn't have much time to sleep on the plane.

The woman at the counter served me, and I walked out of the airport and onto the runway; taking the steps into the jet two at a time to get out of the cold. I shivered at the slight change in air temperature as I stepped inside the jet. It wasn't as cold as outside, but not exactly cosy either.

I walked over to John, wordlessly handing him his cup of coffee. I set Magnus' tea in the cup holder of her chair and took a sip out of my own cup while I put the small bag of bagels on top of the mini kitchenette in the back. Magnus was making some last minute phone calls to arrange for a taxi to pick us up when we arrived in Scotland, and to make sure that we had somewhere to sleep for the night.

I sat down in my seat, taking another sip of the hot coffee, anxious to get up in the air. It felt good to be doing something, but I didn't like not being able to do anything. After another minute Magnus hung up the phone and walked into the cockpit, having a quick discussion with the pilot before sitting back down in her seat. She turned around to face us "You'd best buckle up now, I don't think this plane is very gentle with take-offs"

I quickly put my cup down and rushed to buckle up. John looked at me, bemused "What does she me-"He was cut short when the plane lurched forward, knocking him back against the seat. He quickly clipped his belt together after that. Magnus laughed and took a sip of her tea. "Ah, thankyou Will, the pilot said that we should be arriving in Scotland in around two and a half hours. So you'd best get comfortable, when the pilot says we're at the proper altitude there are a few books in that cupboard in the back. Wake me up when we get there will you?"

I nodded "No problem" I was glad to see that Magnus had decided to get some sleep, she needed some rest after all she'd been through in the past forty-eight hours. Sleep didn't seem such a bad idea for myself at he moment, but I decided I'd wait until we were at the proper altitude so I could take my seat belt off.

Once the jet had quieted a little, I started to slowly slip into sleep, wondering what would happen when we finally arrived in Scotland…..

The next morning at around 9:00 am Scotland time

I met Magnus and John in the small café in the hotel that we'd arrived at last night. I didn't know the difference in time change here, or if there was any at all. All I knew was that I wouldn't last another two hours unless I had a cup of coffee. If I was lucky enough to have a decent breakfast and not a hurried one, I'd probably last another five.

I could tell that Magnus was burning to begin searching immediately, but she made sure that we all had an extremely large breakfast before we headed out. We stood outside of the hotel, wondering where to begin our search. "The best possible place to start our search would be near the Loch, I did a satellite search of all the larger buildings and facilities in the area and I suggest that the best place to begin our search would be here" Magnus pulled out a map and placed her finger on a large area of woodland a few miles from the Loch.

John looked at the map. "Well, it would seem as the most logical place to start. After all it's secluded, near a site of significant importance and unlikely to be disturbed."

"Right then" Magnus said decidedly, folding up the map and looking around "Now to get there"

Two hours later, near the Loch

After being dropped along the side of the road that led to the giant Loch, we'd began hiking towards our first facility. After an hour and a half, we'd reached a kind of winding path way, next to it was a sign saying 'Restricted Area Licensed Personnel Only'. It was the first sign that we were nearing the building, so we walked along the pathway until, finally, we reached it. The building was large and modern looking, made with dark, steel re-enforced wood. A perimeter fence surrounded the entire facility, topped with razor wire. At regular intervals there were small guard towers. I paused for a moment when I saw a gun barrel pointing towards me from a gap in a tower wall. After a few seconds, I realized that, because I wasn't shot, that the tower must have been empty.

The place looked eerie. There was no sign of activity. There was a gentle breeze blowing through the trees, surrounding the dark building, I felt like I was in a scene from a movie. Leaves were covering most of the out side surfaces of the building, there was a garage of some kind to the far edge of the facility, one of the doors stood open and you could see the back of some kind of military vehicle inside the garage. It looked like we'd found the Cabal's facility.

Six hours previously, Cabal facility, Scotland

Ashley's POV

As I put my foot down on the floor, I flinched a little and tensed, expecting something to happen. I waited a few seconds, but when I wasn't shocked or charged down in any way, I opened my eyes. Nothing had changed. My muscles loosened and I nodded my head "All right" I said, and started walking, more confident now, through the door.

"Good, you're up" I whirled around to face the speaker, fists coming up in a defensive position. "Oh no, don't worry, I'm not here to harm you." Dana walked around me in a circle, coming back to her position near the bunks. "I'm glad to see that you're awake Ashley, I've been wanting to chat with you."

"What do you want now Dana?" I sighed; a conversation with Dana was so not on my list of priorities right now. "Nothing, I just wanted to make sure you were feeling up to travelling"

"Travelling? I mean, I know I'm gonna bust out of here but I wouldn't exactly call it travelling"

"Oh, you're perfectly free to leave Ashley" Dana stepped up close to me "Go ahead" She gestured at the door "Please, go" She stepped back and sat on the bottom bunk.

I raised my eyebrow quizzically. "Okay" I said cautiously, and I turned to walk back through the cell door and out into the hallway.

One problem.

My legs weren't cooperating. In other words, I wasn't moving. I kept trying to push myself forward but my legs just stood there, not doing anything. It wasn't like they were frozen in a walking position or anything. They were in a normal standing position.

I looked up at Dana "What the hell did you do to me now?"

"I simply took a preventative measure" She held up a syringe, all the fluid had been drained "After all, I wouldn't want you to walk out on us during the transfer"

"Transfer? What transfer?" I asked; Dana was getting more cryptic by the minute.

"The transfer to another facility of course. The location of this facility has been compromised; I can't risk us being discovered. That fluid I just injected, will help keep you under wraps; I can't afford any mistakes Ashley, the board is getting anxious"

"Oh, fantastic! What am I, like some kind of human puppet now? Really humanitarian Dana"

"As a matter of fact that's exactly what you are, another few moments and you will do exactly as I say"

I tried to move my arms so that I could grab at her, but they weren't moving now either.

"Don't try to move Ashley; it's pointless to fight it." Dana looked at her watch "Just a few more seconds" She began walking around me in a circle again, watching my like some freak from the circus.

"You know Dana you really are a b-" I was cut off as my mouth stopped responding. Dana came to a stop in front of me. "Finally" She said "Ashley, you are going to walk to the military vans outside, you will not try to escape, and you will not resist any orders that I give you"

I felt my legs starting to walk, and I would have turned and glared at Dana if it weren't for the fact that my face wasn't responding.

As I walked through the hallway, I could see all of the other abnormals being kept here. Some of them looked distinctly human; others were more animal-like. We even passed a giant pool of some sort, there was a dark shadow moving at its bottom that I couldn't make out the shape of.

As we got to the front doors and were heading outside, I saw a man hiding behind some of the crates that were stacked next to the shed; he looked like he didn't want to be found. Not that I could have alerted anyone in my position.

I was loaded into the back of one of the vehicles, and we sped out through the gates.

Finally finished! I would just like to add that the next chapter will be really short. Please R&R!