"Kill her!" the voice inside Angelwing's head was saying vengefully.
"No! Not her! Please!" Angelwing pleaded silently.
"Yes! Kill!" the voice spoke again.
"No, please don't." Angelwing's sould was growing weaker.
She felt powerless to stop the spirit. All she could do was sit back and watch.
Meanwhile..................
"Angelwing! NOOOO!" Jess was screaming. She ran
over and tackled Angelwing to the ground. "Stop it! What are you doing?!" Angelwing just kicked her with
both feet, knocking Jess backwards. Then she stood up and walked back to where Ariana was laying. Once again,
she raised the dagger above her head.
"You must die now!" Angelwing said in a raspy voice.
"NO!" Jess shouted as she jumped to her feet and ran back over
to Angelwing. She jumped up onto Angelwing's back and struggled to grab the dagger from her.
"Pesky human!" Angelwing yelled, in the same raspy voice.
Then she grabbed Jess and threw her over her head, onto the floor.
"Ow!" the human girl cried out in pain as she landed
hard on her back. She turned and saw Angelwing standing over her sister again. Jess winced and grimmaced with
pain as she tried to get back on her feet.
"Kill her," Angelwing kept repeating.
When Jess finally stood up, she took a few steps back.
"I hate to do this to you girl," she said softly, "but it's probably gonna hurt me more than it's gonna hurt you." Next,
she started running at Angelwing and jumped up, performing a flying sidekick. She caught Angelwing right in the chest,
sending her stumbling backwards right into the wall. First, her back hit, and then her head, and she slumped to the
floor, dropping the dagger.
Jess ran over and quickly snatched the dagger. She looked
at Angelwing to make sure she was alright, but she was unconcious. "Oh great," Jess thought, "now they're both out cold.
Smooth move slick!" Then, she remembered Ariana. She ran over to the medicom to check up on her. "Phew!"
Jess sighed as she wiped her brow. "She's unharmed." Suddenly, she heard footsteps
running down the hallway. At the same time, she also heard movement behind her. Jess turned around to find Angelwing
stirring. Next, Wildwing, Duke, Grin, and Mallory came bursting into the room.
"Jess, are you alright?" Wildwing asked her, sounding concerned.
The human turned to face him. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied
casually, as if nothing had happened.
"We heard screaming and-" Mallory paused as she noticed Angelwing's
body slumped on the floor. "What the-?!" Her eyes opened wide in shock.
Angelwing was groaning in pain as she started to come to.
"Ow, my head," she mumbled while rubbing the back of her head. "Wha- what happened?" she asked slowly, opening her eyes.
Everyone just stared down at her, speechless and bewildered.
"That's what we'd like to know," Wildwing finally spoke up.
Then, the Ducks turned towards Jess. She didn't want to tell them, for Angelwing's
sake. But, she decided she had to, for the safety of the team. So, as she explained to them what had happened,
Grin helped Angelwing to her feet.
Angelwing listened carefully and took it all in, as the pain
in her head became more intolerable. She started to feel dizzy and almost collapsed, but Grin caught her and helped
her up into a chair.
"I managed to knock the dagger out of her hand," Jess was finishing
her story as she handed the dagger over to Wildwing. "But in the process," she continued, "I also knocked out Angelwing."
"Unfortunate," their captain mumbled and glanced briefly at
Angelwing. "But it was probably best that you did," he told Jess.
Angelwing had now buried her face in her hands and was sobbing.
"I can't believe it happened again," she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Jess wanted to go over and comfort her friend, but even she
had to admit to herself that she was a bit fearful of Angelwing now. She just wished she could figure out what was going
on inside Angelwing's head. Although, she did have a gut feeling that the Saurians had something to do with it.
Jess just needed to find out how. She wanted to prove her intuition was right, before she mentioned anything to the
Ducks.
"So, what should we do with her now?" Mallory asked Wildwing
in a whisper.
Wildwing sighed deeply and looked over at Angelwing, who was
trying to dry her eyes through stifled sobs. "I know she's not going to like the idea," Wildwing spoke quietly.
Then he turned back to Mallory. "But, until we find out what's going on, we should lock her in her room."
"What?!" Jess exclaimed in a whisper, overhearing the conversation.
"We can't do that!" Jess said, trying to keep her voice down. "She'll be devastated."
Wildwing just stood in front of her with his arms crossed.
"I'm sorry Jess, but we don't have much of a choice right now."
"What if she escapes?" she questioned the Ducks' leader.
"She won't," he stated bluntly. "We'll each take turns
keeping watch, outside her room."
"Oh, that's even better," Jess snapped at him with a hint of
sarcasm. "She'll be treated like a prisoner."
Wildwing was getting very frustrated now. He didn't want
to argue with Jess, but it seemed like she didn't understand. He had to get his point across to her. "Look," he
snapped back, "I'm just trying to keep the team's safety in mind."
Jess looked away, feeling hurt, and a bit foolish for not thinking
clearly. Although she knew that Wildwing was only looking out for everyone else, she still felt that locking Angelwing
up was wrong. Jess also knew that she had been defeated in this argument, but she hated having to admit it. Her
expression softened as she slowly turned back to face her leader again. "I'm sorry. You're right," she apologized.
"I'll go along with it." Then, she headed for the door, but before leaving, she turned back to Wildwing with an angered
look on her face. "But I still don't like the idea."
"Neither do I," replied Wildwing. "But you let me know
when you come up with a better one," he told her sarcastically. Jess glared at him, then walked off, closing the door
behind her.
While this was going on, Duke and Grin had been checking up
on Ariana and trying to comfort Angelwing. Ariana was still sleeping, unconciously, but she hadn't been harmed again.
Angelwing, on the other hand, was still wincing a bit in pain.
"You okay now sweetheart?" Duke asked her.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," she managed to answer as she sniffed
back her tears. "I've been in worse conditions."
Grin put a hand on her shoulder. "At least you're at
peace with your inner self again," he told her, trying to sound positive.
Angelwing forced a weak smile, but it quickly faded.
"Yeah, for now, anyway," she replied doubtfully. She looked up when she noticed Wildwing and Mallory approaching her.
"So what's going to happen to me now?" she asked Wildwing sadly.
Wildwing looked at her regretfully, trying to avoid her eyes.
"Well," he started, uneasily. He felt almost as if he was choking. He hated to tell her, and didn't want
to, but as the team captain, he had to. "I hate to do this," Wildwing continued, "and I know you won't be too pleased
either, but, we're going to lock you in your room for now. One of us will be guarding the outside of your door as well."
"Angelwing's eyes opened widely and her jaw dropped.
"No!" she whispered as she sat up straight, gaping at Wildwing. "No, please don't," she begged him. Then, she
stood up and moved closer to her leader, looking up at him with pleading eyes. How could he do this to her? This
wasn't fair, she thought. Angelwing briefly glanced over at Mallory and thought she noticed a slight grin on her face.
She could feel the anger rise up in her. "This was her idea, wasn't it?!" Angelwing yelled as she quickly pointed at
Mallory and looked back to Wildwing.
Wildwing just gently moved Angelwing's arm down and gave her
a stern look. "No," he replied calmly, "it was mine." Angelwing was in shock, but she quickly calmed down.
"I'm sorry," Wildwing continued, "but it's for your own good and for the safetly of the team as well."
Angelwing slumped her shoulders and lowered her head, as to
claim defeat. "Very well then." She held her arms out in front of her. "Lock me up." Once again, Wildwing
pushed her arms down, and he sighed.
"I'm not gonna cuff you."
"Oh," she replied.
"Come on," Wildwing motioned towards the door, "I'll walk you
to your room."
With that, the two Ducks left the infirmary and headed for
Angelwing's room. Once Angelwing was inside, Wildwing shut the door. Then, he changed the pass code on the panel
as Duke came up and offered to take the first watch.
To be continued......................................
Disclaimer: All original characters are owned and copyrighted by Disney,
all others are owned by me.
