Hey guys. I hope you all are ready for another chapter. This should be good. It's still Melody. So, just a quick little recap. Mel had a conversation with Angel in her dream about Skye and everything. So, loads more Tanner in this chapter. Joy. (Sticks out tongue.) This is the chapter before the really exciting one. You all my scream all you want. I'm working really hard on all of my stories. So close to getting the Harry Potter one and my two other Twilight ones posted. I might have a couple more Maximum Ride ones. We'll see about those though. I have several ideas. There's one for a story about Fang and Elisabeth's mom. It's sort of a prequel to 'With Wings Wide Open', but it connects with it later. Then I have some story ideas for melody growing up. There will be tons of time jumps though so it could get confusing. I might even do one about Skye growing up at the School, but that will have time jumps too. Like I said, we'll see on those. Okay, I'm about to get on with this chapter for all of you with ants in your pants. Just read 'NeoFlock' and 'Deadline' by Talon666 and 'Dark Blue' and 'Maximum Ride: Wings vs. Wands' by Madeline Cullen. They are just plain amazing. Okay, so let me go ahead and begin this chapter.

I had been sitting still blindfolded, handcuffed, and tied to a chair for about a half hour. You would think that if Tanner wanted me so bad he wouldn't leave me in a room alone for so long. Maybe this was supposed to be a punishment, like when a small child is put in time out to think about what they've done wrong. However, I was not a small child and I had done nothing wrong, so this was pointless. In truth, everything the School did was pointless. I didn't know why they didn't just give up. It was obvious that someone out there somewhere was going to be strong enough to take them down. Maybe not me or my family, but someone. Maybe it was Jewel. That would be amazing. That would make me happy.

I wondered about many things in that half hour. What was going to happen to me? Was I going to die? Would Skye kill me? Would Tanner kill me? How would they do it? Would they inject poison in me? Would they rip me to bits? What would that feel like? (I didn't really want to think about that too much.) Would they shoot me? Would they stab me? Would they strangle me to death? What about Jewel? What would they do to her? Would they kill her too? Would they do something else? Would I see her in the afterlife? Was there an afterlife? What was it like? Was there just an endless nothingness? What would nothingness feel like? What would it sound like? Could I stand that for eternity? Would I go insane? Could you go insane when you were dead? What was going to happen to my family? Would they be okay? Would they all be captured and killed? Would they manage to escape? Would they hunt down Cory and Felecia and torture them? Would they kill them? I had so many questions and no answers. The future was unknown. I didn't even know that I was alive at that moment. What a scary thought that was. What if I actually was dead? Would I know if I was dead? Shouldn't I know?

Suddenly, I heard the door open and shut and then I heard a set of footsteps walk towards me. Okay, obviously I wasn't dead. Right?

The footsteps stopped suddenly and I felt someone brush my cheek with their hand. I recoiled, knowing it was Tanner. I heard him chuckle softly. I was definitely not dead unless I was in hell, which I doubted. I was generally a good person.

"I'm not going to hurt you Melody." he promised, slowly removing his hand from my face. "I just want to talk to you. You can have a civilized conversation with me for a moment can't you? Come on. Talk to me."

I growled, wishing I had the energy to kick him. "No, I cannot have a civilized conversation with you. I don't want to have any type of conversation with you. I want you to leave me the hell alone! And I thought I told you to keep your freaking hands off me!" I felt even more exhausted when I finished yelling. That should tell you how weak I was.

"You're in no position to be making demands Melody." he whispered calmly. "So, just hear me out."

When I said nothing, he continued. "I've told you a hundred times that you get a ton of perks when you join the Director. You get better food, you're safe, and you'd get to hang with Skye again. Wouldn't you like that Melody? Hmm? Wouldn't you like to be near Skye?"

My heart ached to the point where I thought it would burst. He was trying to bribe me with Skye. However, I knew he would not allow me to be 'with' Skye. "Yeah, but what would you do to me huh?" I asked. "I'd be subject to you wouldn't I? You'd want me to be your girlfriend right?"

He chuckled, clearly amused. "Something like that." he said. "Hey, you can consider that one of the perks if you'd like. It'd be something you get that no one else does. I never saw why you loved Skye anyway. I'm so much better in every way. I can make you feel things that you've never felt before." He brushed my cheek with his hand again and then kissed my forehead lightly. I recoiled again.

"Don't be like that." he whispered in my ear. "It's no fun when you do that to me. You know I love you right?"

He was sick and twisted. I growled, "You don't know what love is. All you want is the physical stuff. Well, you aren't going to lay a hand on me ever you perv."

He laughed loudly. "You think that's all I want Melody?" he asked me.

I growled again. "Duh. I'm not stupid."

He sighed. "No, you most certainly are not." He paused for a second and then said, "You really have no idea how beautiful you are. You have no idea how you make me feel. I want you so bad." he admitted.

"I don't care." I barked. "I'm Skye's and nothing you do will ever change that. You're pure evil, the single foulest thing that ever walked on the face of the Earth. You don't even deserve to be alive."

He laughed again. "Skye hates you and no matter what you do he always will. It's over Melody. It's time to face reality. You will be mine or you will be dead. You don't really have any choice in the matter. Well, not much of one."

"There's always a choice." I snarled at him. "I choose to be true to myself. I choose to not give in to you. I choose to die rather than join you and hurt innocent people. I choose to die rather than be your little toy. I choose to do what my family taught me. I'll never join you. Not in a million years. You can offer me anything you want, but I won't do it. Not even for Skye or my own life. You lose Tanner. You're never going to get me. Your big plan is over."

"You think I need you to carry out my plan?" he asked incredulously. "I'm smart enough to do it without your help. I only wanted you to… relive the stresses that I'll soon be acquiring when I've conquered the world."

So that was what Angel meant. The Director was just a pawn in Tanner's schemes. Everyone was. He probably planned to get rid of her. He was more insane and evil than I ever imagined. I wondered if anyone else knew any of this. Was I actually the only one who knew what his true intentions were?

"Well, I see you've figured it all out Melody." Tanner said slowly. "I figured you would eventually. Pity you can't do anything about it."

"Yeah, it is a crying shame." I said. "But if I can figure it out, then so can someone else."

He laughed like I just uttered a very hilarious joke. "You mean Jewel? That's a laugh Melody. We've already taken care of her. That half hour you were in here alone? I was attending to her. Skye helped me out."

My breath caught in my throat. He killed Jewel. Worse, Skye had helped him. I knew he was too far gone to be saved. I knew his situation was hopeless. If he really could be saved, he wouldn't have helped Tanner kill Jewel.

"You are a monster." I growled at him. I was freaking seething.

He chuckled. "Why thank you Melody."

Before I had even a second to react, Tanner hit me and I fell unconscious. I had no last fleeting thoughts; there had been no time for those. However, I did see something before I totally blanked. I saw Skye's face. He was happy, laughing. I honestly hoped that if there was an afterlife and I was ever reunited with him he would be like that again.

Dun, dun, dun. The dramatic music says that this chapter is over. What's going to happen to Mel? Did Tanner really get Skye to help him kill Jewel? Was Mel right about Tanner's plan? What is going to happen to poor, trapped Skye? So many questions. A few of them will be answered in my next chapter. The rest will be answered in upcoming chapters. So, leave me some long reviews. I could use them. They might motivate me to write a longer chapter. Yes, that was a bribe. So, see you guys next update, whenever that will be.