Mindless; Chapter 17

-Eren's POV-

I slip through the door just in time to see Gwen's head drop forward. She doesn't say anything. She just sits there, head bowed and silent.

"Gwen, are you alright?" Langston leans forward. "Gwen?"

"Stop calling her that," Gwen's voice floats across the room. It’s not just her words that send a warning through my mind; something about her voice is off.

"Pardon?"

"Gwen." Gwen slowly lifts her head. "I'm getting really sick of everyone calling her that. It's not her name."

Chancellor McNamara tilts his head. "Then what is your name?"

"My name's Vitani,” she says, pausing for a beat as her head drops to the side, “But that's not her name."

"Her who?"

Gwen/Vitani stares at Chancellor McNamara for a moment before rights her head, sighing. "The one you insist on calling Gwen."

"That's you, is it not?"

"No. I'm me and she's her. We just share this vessel," she says motioning to herself.

Chancellor Pond tilts his head. "I've never heard of a case of split personality where one side is aware of the other but the other isn't."

"Oh, no, she is very aware of my presence, just not like I am of her's. And my previous note on shrinks still stands."

The blackouts. . . Were those. . . Vitani?

I remember the first day she had met Ace. I remember fighting with her after she told us to run. Her eyes had been hard and cold. She had seemed gleeful in the fight. I remember finding the complete personality switch odd. I remember mentioning it to one of my friends who had been a part of the group that rescued her from the Facility. He had commented that she had gone from quiet and timid to a fighter in seconds. She had injured quite a few of the soldiers. I remember what Ace told me about how she had so easily taken out the soldiers sent by the Order to grab her and then thrown away the gun in shock, not seeming to realize what she had done.

All seemed like complete personality flips because they were. Gwen hadn't been the one fighting. It had been Vitani.

My fingers twitch toward my holster as my eyes quickly case the room and guards. It’s hard to say what would happen if she got up from her chair.

"Can Gwen hear what's happening currently like you seem to be able to?"

Vitani sighs heavily. "How many times do I have to tell you that her name isn't Gwen?"

"That's what she wants to be called,” Chancellor Barns points out.

"Because she can't remember her name."

"And you know her name?" Langston asks.

"They never made me forget my memories." She pauses, shrugging. "Our memories."

Chancellor Barns leans forward. "Are you saying you remember everything from the Facility?"

"Of course. How else could I do my job?"

"Then perhaps you can fill in the blanks that Gwen couldn't," Langston says.

I half expect her to sigh again, but this time, silence hangs in the air, heavy and tense before she responds. "I don't like repeating myself. Gwen isn't her name."

"What is her name then?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Well, if you don't tell us her name, we'll just have to keep calling her Gwen."

Vitani slowly cocks her head to the side. "Do that and I'll just have to come over there and snap your neck."

The guards behind the chancellors straighten, reaching towards their weapons.

"Then tell us her name."

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's detrimental to my primary objective."

"And what is your primary objective?" Chancellor Harvey asks.

Vitani slowly turns her head towards him. She lets silence hang in the air for a couple of seconds. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Chancellor Barns clears his throat drawing her attention to him. "In regards to Langston's previous point, there are some facts about the facility that we don't know. Gwe- . . . You're other half, was going to tell us what she could remember, but she never got to-"

"Because I showed up?" Vitani sounds almost pleased with herself.

Chancellor Barns nods, "Yes. Since you remember everything, perhaps you could pick up where she left off."

"Now why would I do that?” She asks with a light laugh. “I'm the one who shut her up after all."

"Why won't you let her talk about the Facility or tell us about it yourself?"

Vitani leans forward. "Keep digging and you'll just dig up more danger."

"So long as you stay put, we can protect you," Chancellor Harvey says calmly.

Vitani laughs. "She keeps trusting you and she keeps almost dying. No. I think I'll just protect her myself."

Before anyone can do anything else, Vitani is on the move. She's on her feet, turning on the guard behind her. He can't react fast enough. There's a loud bang before he falls to the ground. The room erupts into chaos.

Three of the chancellor's guards are working to get the chancellors out through their back door while the other two move to face Vitani. Which, past experience told me, was a terrible idea. A couple guards from outside the room run past me towards her as the second of the two that ran at her hit the ground. She easily turns on them.

Vitani was in perfect control right now. There wasn't going to be any rushes of emotions like all the previous black outs. I couldn't rely on that to bring Gwen back into control.

My fingers brush my gun. Also, probably a bad idea. If she knew everything Gwen knew, she wouldn’t hesitate to call my bluff or worse- shoot me in response. Maybe I could talk her down. Would it even be possible to talk Vitani down?

The last of the guards hits the ground and Vitani looks towards the door. I couldn't let her out into the compound. Everyone would assume she was Gwen. By the time they realized it wasn't Gwen, it would be too late. I guess I was about to find out if Vitani could be talked down.

I step into her path and she halts. Vitani calmly studies me for a second. I can see the recognition in her eyes. As expected, she remembers me from all the previous times.

Smirking, she lifts the gun, glee shining in her eyes. "I've been waiting to do this."

"Then why haven't you?" I challenge her, praying she takes the bait. If she didn't, she was going to shoot me.

Vitani doesn't take the bait. She simply shifts her finger to the trigger. Milliseconds before she fires, seconds before I’m hit. She knows I’m wearing Kevlar. She won’t aim for the heart or torso. I’m preparing to attempt to dive out of the line of fire as she pulls the trigger, but instead, her hand twitches, shifting the gun away from me for a second.

We’re both frozen in place, staring at each other. Both surprised and unsure. Her eyes twitch to her hand, eyes hard and irritated. She hadn't done that. I have a feeling she also hadn’t chosen to rest her finger back on the gun either. I watch as her finger twitches but refuses to drop back to the trigger.

She sighs, eyes coming back to me in resigned annoyance. "Fine,” she says, lowing the gun. “My other half clearly trusts you, so I guess I'll give you one more chance." Closing the distance between us, she slams the gun against my chest. "Protect Nora."

I’ve just started reaching for the gun when her eyes roll back and her eyelids flutter shut. The gun becomes a secondary priority and I do my best not to fumble it as I try to catch and pulls Gwen to myself as well.