BVQA: I'M SO SORRY!
Dani: She really is!
BVQA: I TRIED SO HARD TO UPDATE BUT IT DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH WHAT I WANTED AND THE SITUATION WAS OUT OF MY CONTROL PLEASE FORGIVE ME! *bursts into tears*
Dani: Gotta love those hormones. But she really is sorry, people! And she made this chapter extra-long!
Dani sat on the floor in a dark room. Her knees were drawn up to her chest, and she heard a strange noise rushing through her ears. She didn't know how long she'd been there, only that it was starting to get really old. She couldn't even see her own hands in the darkness, much less figure out where she was. The floor felt like concrete, but that wasn't much help in deciphering her location. Unless. . .
Fear gripped Dani like someone was pulling her heart out. She started hyperventilating. Her pulse fluttered in her ears and she started to shiver.
No.
Not in Vlad's lab.
She couldn't be. . . right?
Too dark to tell. . .
Dani's hand reached to the pendant hanging around her neck and clamped tightly around it. This caused her weight to shift backwards and her other hand- the left one- shot backwards and pressed against the floor to stop herself from falling. She felt something cold and wet around her fingers and yanked them back, shrieking. A moment later the wetness climbed her feet and she stood up, panicking. Now she realized what the odd sound had been.
Water. Someone was trying to drown her.
"Help!" She shouted, but her words caught under the pounding surf and were dragged under. She took to the air, but the water chased after her and pulled at her knees, her waist, until Dani finally had the sense to try turning intangible to phase through the water. It didn't work. In her panic, Dani just managed to break free. As she peered upwards into the darkness she saw a small pinpoint of light. The only question was if she could make it or not.
She fought. The water kept closing over her toes but Dani always pulled up, fighting harder, and the light kept growing brighter and brighter. Then. . .
"Don't go that way."
Dani nearly had a heart attack from shock but only stopped flying momentarily.
"Who. . . who's there?" Dani asked. She wasn't really expecting a reply- these kinds of voices never answered back. She was right, too. It was the distinct echo that gave it away, that and the fact that there was no visible speaker. Of corse, Dani couldn't see herself either, and she would have answered.
"Don't go that way," the voice repeated, "Because if you do, you won't ever come back. You have people who'll miss you if you don't come back, and it isn't time for you to go."
Time or not, if Dani slowed down she would drown. Intangibility made it possible to breathe underwater, but that wasn't working right now. Flight was the only one of her powers that was functioning.
"You're not flying, Dani."
Dangit. The oh-so-mysterious voice could read her mind. If she wasn't flying, then what was she doing?
"You're falling. You need to turn around."
Dani, frustrated, noticed the white prick of light was barely bigger than when she'd started. She flung this frustration at the nearest target- the dramatic voice that was still bothering her.
"If I turn around I'll fly straight into a concrete floor!"
"You're not flying, Dani. You're falling." The voice repeated.
Dani gritted her teeth and pulled back, turning around. She dragged in a deep breath and plunged into the frigid water. Her last thought before she placed her full concentration on staying alive was that the voice had better be right.
Cold.
Wet.
Those were the only feelings Dani could hold onto as she was spun through the water. It was rough, pushing her in circles and threatening to bang her into walls that Dani could just barely sense. It was harder to battle her way downwards/upwards, but she managed. Her fingers lost feeling first, then her nose and arms and legs. Ever since she'd gotten her ice powers, the cold had barely affected her. She'd been terrified that her powers seemed to be on the blink, but now though, she was glad they were. She could feel herself being smashed against walls like it was happening to a character on a far-off TV, a pain that would be much worse if she'd still retained feeling in her body.
Then she opened her eyes to a brilliant white light. There, just above the surface. She could make it. She clawed her way out of the darkness and pulled herself back into consciousness. It was a fight.
But it was one she chose.
"-not sure if she was going to make it, but she's waking up now. Look, her breathing's back to normal."
"Yeah, but that wasn't what I was worried about. We don't need another problem kid, and we don't even know all this kid's powers yet."
The two voices Dani first heard upon reentry to the land of the living sounded familiar with each other, but irritated, as if they had fallen into a pattern of bickering and felt no need to change things. Dani didn't feel like opening her eyes just yet, and soaked up the details. The first voice? Male. Deep. Probably an adult. Second? Female. About the same age. Annoyed about something. Dani wished she'd heard the beginning of the conversation.
"Don't call them 'powers', call them 'mutations'." The first voice had a mocking cast to it now. "These kids aren't 'special', they're freaks."
"Just wake the kid up." The second voice said, less annoyed and more depressed. Dani felt hands grasp her shoulders and a second later an electrical charge zipped through her body. She screamed and sat up, eyes flying open. The first thing that struck her was how white everything was. White walls, white floors, white ceiling, white lab coats, white restraints. . .
Lab coats?
Restraints?
Dani went on autopilot, thrashing back and forth. Her mind flashed back to Vlad's lab, and she fought harder. She didn't want to have to deal with that again, not ever. Dani could feel the restraints- white plastic cuffs reinforced with anti-ghost energy- digging into her skin, tearing it, and the rational part of her mind reminded her that there was no way she could break them without her powers, but she shoved that part away. Ectoplasm- cool, wet, and terrifying- smeared over her hands, her wrists, the table-
A second shock, harsher than the first, and Dani went down all over again, panting. The world grew hazy, and the overhead lights burned into her retinas. So Dani shut her eyes tightly, blocking out the world. The gashes on her wrists didn't hurt, but Dani knew that was too good to last. In a few minutes they'd be burning in agony.
"Alright, stop flailing around." The man's voice said. "We don't have time for this. Are you going to play nice, or do we have to sedate you again?"
Dani's electricity-addled brain couldn't think of a sensible comeback, so she just shook her head. "No sedative. . ." She murmured.
"That's what we like to hear." The woman's voice this time. "Sit up."
Dani tried. She really did. But when she moved her wrists pain shot up her arms and looped around her heart, tightening in little twists of pure torture. She whimpered, clenching her hands into fists and feeling her fingers slide around in ectoplasm. "My wrists hurt." She whispered.
"And who's fault is that?" The man asked. Dani gritted her teeth. She wasn't going to betray any weakness in front of these people. She was going to be strong. Like Danny. Like Sam. Like Tucker. Like Jazz. Like her mom and dad. Dani arched her back, pulling herself up without using her arms, rocking back and forth until she pulled herself upright. She opened her eyes and gazed down at herself, noting the restraining system. The cuffs around her wrists were ridiculously tight, while the ones around her feet were looser, making it possible for her to sit up without being able to lift her ams. Right now the cuffs on her legs were resting around her thighs, and her hands- drenched green- were making her hunch forwards slightly. The next thing Dani noticed was that she was still in ghost mode, even though she felt none of the energy that she normally would. She scowled. They were blocking her powers.
The man and woman standing next to her were typical GIW goons- white suits, dark glasses, and perpetual scowls. Dani's face, for the moment, matched theirs. Kidnapping her was not a way to get onto her good side.
"What are you going to do to me?" Dani growled.
"Don't talk to us like that, freak." The gal-in-white growled back.
Dani hissed at them. She wasn't entirely sure why she did, it just seemed to suit the situation. Never mind that it was probably just proving them right that she was a freak, or that it wasn't a very good comeback. Who cared? There were just some people that needed to be hissed at, no matter what the consequences. And Dani was proud of her hissing ability- she'd once had an argument with Maddy the cat that consisted entirely of her trying to hiss louder than the white fluff-ball of evil. She'd won, too, and was glad her skill hadn't deteriorated. The two Guys In White, for their part, jumped back in surprise. Dani had to hide a grin.
A moment later the poker face became effortless when there was no more grin to hide, since it's hard to smile when there's a small army of Guys In White crowding into the room you happen to be chained up in. Dani had to focus in order to breathe correctly. A single operative- Agent K- walked up to her and held out a white prison uniform. It was an odd piece of clothing, and Dani examined it with a skeptical eye. It was almost like a jumpsuit, except it's arms- rather than ending in openings- ended in fingerless gloves, and the legs- rather than ending at a reasonable length- ended in toe socks. It looked rather ridiculous.
"Put it on." Agent K instructed, and Dani's eyebrows leapt up to her hairline.
"Now?" She asked innocently. The other agent- agent what's-his-name- apparently took it as a challenge.
"You will put on this jumpsuit, or we will have to sedate you so that you won't wake up until your trial! Our job it to protect the population of the earth, not to babysit you until your full custody is handed over to us! Now, put on the jumpsuit!"
Dani shut her eyes briefly so she could roll them skyward in the privacy of her own skull. "Did you miss the fact that I'm chained to the table? How about the little thing about me being a girl and not wanting to change in front of a room full of boys? Or didn't you notice that? I would've thought the long hair was a dead give-away." Dani tossed her head, flipping her long white tresses in a smooth motion usually only found in shampoo commercials. She noticed everyone in the room tracking its motion involuntarily, as if it was hypnotic. Maybe they viewed it as a threat.
"You will be escorted to a room of rest for no longer than a sixty second interval. Now get moving!" Agent K snapped. There was a click as the cuffs holding Dani down snapped open- all except one which stayed clamped around her left wrist, rendering her powerless. The gal-in-white grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and pushed her into an adjoining bathroom. Dani tumbled to the ground, gritting her teeth against the pain in her jarred wrists. A moment later the white jumpsuit landed on top of her with a plop, and the door slammed shut. Dani scrambled to her feet and locked it before sagging down against it and breathing a sigh of relief.
Dani gently touched her still-bleeding wrists, feeling the holes where the cuffs had torn through the spandex gloves to the flesh beneath. Dani peeled off the remaining flaps of fabric- they'd been shredded beyond any possible use. The boots were the next to go- she could put them on over the jumpsuit- and finally the remnants of her crime-busting outfit gave way to the stupid prison uniform. Dani had a bit of trouble getting the fingerless gloves to fit under the stupid cuff, and in a moment her fingers were submerged in ectoplasm. Rolling her eyes, Dani yanked off the top of the jumpsuit and grabbed one of her old gloves- the white one that was slightly less damaged. She quickly ripped it into strips of cloth and bandaged the cuts on both her wrists.
There was furious banging on the door.
"What's taking so long, freak?" Agent K shouted.
"I'm a girl! We take a while to change!" Dani called back. There were some click-y noises as agent K attempted to force the door open, but the lock held. Dani smiled and took her time getting the prison uniform on. It was likely to be the only alone time she was going to get for a while.
The bathroom didn't have a mirror in it, so Dani was unable to take a look at how much dirt and grit had gotten into her hair and on her face while she'd been out. She was, however, able to give herself a once-over to check for any new injuries. Aside from a couple of bruises she seemed ok. . . one on both her ankles, probably caused from being thrown into restraints, and a thin red line of pain around her neck-
Wait, where was her necklace?
Dani's hands flew to her throat, and she let out a sigh of relief as her hands found a small silver figure. The silver chain holding it had tightened to a thin circlet, probably the only thing that had kept the Guys In White from removing it. Dani gently hooked her thumbs under the chain, pulling slowly outwards to loosen the chokehold it had her in. She then patted down the pockets of her old jumpsuit and found her iPod- another thing her captors hadn't discovered. Rather than put it in her pocket, where it would definitely be found, Dani dropped the piece of machinery into her boot. Now that she had her iPod, she felt that she could deal with solitary confinement. Dani exited the bathroom with a small, satisfied smile on her face.
It didn't last long. The first thing that met her gaze was the Gal In White, wielding a pair of scissors. Dani realized, a second too late, that her hair was probably not up to the prison's standard length. Or, to be more accurate, not below it.
"Oh, no," Dani said, backing away. "You are not putting those things anywhere near my hair. Nuh-uh."
Dani spun on her heel with the full intention of racing back into the bathroom, but suddenly found herself unable to move. Dani's brow furrowed and she put real effort into moving, trying her hardest to push forwards. The only things that moved were her fingers.
"What the heck. . ?" Dani asked. Agent K entered her field of vision, grinning. He was holding a device in his hand that held a red button in the exact center.
"Does this answer your question, ghost girl?" He asked smugly.
"Uh. . . no, not really," Dani replied.
Agent K's eye twitched, but he quickly covered it up by turning and walking around her dramatically.
"That jumpsuit you're wearing is made out of a very. . . special material. Not only does it take away a ghost's energy, but at the touch of this button it hardens instantly, rendering you defenseless. Any more questions?"
"Yes," Dani said. "Can you stop walking around me in circles? It's making me dizzy."
Dani figured it was at that point that Agent K gave up and just gave the order for her hair to be cut. She had no way of really telling, however, because the moment she felt hands in her hair, tugging at the green ribbon pulling it back, she fell into shock. In a second, her hair tumbled down in loose waves to her waist. She watched it, unable to do more than just stare in horror as long strands of her pearly white main tumbled to the ground, clipped roughly off her head.
This was the wakeup call to Dani. She was no longer in control of the situation, hadn't been for a while, but she was only now realizing exactly how bad things were. As each chunk of her hair drifted to flop loosely on the ground, she could feel her lifelines being cut. Dani wasn't sure what happened next- just that she found herself in her cell when she finally brought herself back to the world. Shaking hands found her hair, feeling where it fell to barely below her shoulders.
The sobs came then, when she was alone in a strange room far away from home. One hand came up to wrap around the tiny silver figure hanging around her neck, and she sobbed harder. The other hand pulled her iPod out of her boot, setting it to a familiar song.
"Do you know what's worth fighting for, when it's not worth dying for? Does it take your breath away, and you feel yourself suffocating? Does the pain weigh out the pride, and you look for a place to hide? Did someone break your heart inside?
"You're in ruins. . ."
Dani sucked in a ragged breath and joined in on the chorus.
"One, twenty-one guns! Lay down your arms, give up the fight. One, twenty-one guns! Throw up your arms into the sky. You and I. . ."
Dani smiled a little and shut off the song, scrubbing the remains of tears off her face. No use crying now. She could hold out until Danny got there, surely. He'd know how to fix everything.
And that was when Youngblood's face poked through the wall and grinned at Dani.
"There you are!" He exclaimed.
Dani: Well, there you have it.
BVQA: I feel so bad, I'm about to try something never before attempted by an author here!
Dani: Not ending with a cliffie?
BVQA: No, not that. I'm asking. . . no, begging all you good people out there to please, please flame me! I AM BEGGING YOU! It'll make me feel better about having missed to many updates!
Dani: . . .well, you've finally lost it.
BVQA: I'M SO SORRY! *starts crying again*
