Hello everyone! CJzilla here with another update. In this chapter Lucius has a dream that peaks his interest in Heloise. Now if he could only think straight. Enjoy.
As I rampage all over this city, alls CJzilla has to roar is this: R&R! Love on me.... Hate... Review.
AN: I don't normally do dreamsquences in my stories, mainly because they are so cliche and worn out. It worked in this situation, though. I own nothing of Mr. Jacques.
"A good relationship is like fireworks: loud, explosive, and liable to maim you if you hold on too long."
Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content, 11-14-08
Chapter 2
Feeling Strange
Lucius looked out his window of his penthouse office at his ever expanding empire. The sky was red, doomsday weapons were running rampant, and the people were miserable; life was good. Lucius Heinous VII had succeeded in everything he'd planned for this town. The next step was expanding his rule into neighboring lands. If they were anything like Miseryville, it would be a piece of cake to invade and conquer.
Then he heard a door open and shut. Looking over his shoulder, Lucius saw Heloise standing behind him. Spinning, he met the girl's eyes with his own. She looked different. Her blue-grey eyes did not have an icy evil as they usually did. They were soft and held to a hunger. He cocked his head in curiosity.
"Heloise? Is-?" Lucius began. The girl cut him off.
"Your campaign has spread into neighboring counties, great one." Heloise voiced, leaning into him. "Your kingdom is blossoming… as is our love."
Lucius blinked, processing what she just said. He couldn't open his mouth to say a word. Then Heloise dove into his arms, hugging him. Lucius could only feel the way her fingers dug into his back, how tightly she pressed her young body to his and the way she hummed in his ear. Lucius felt like his soul was being stolen; siphoned through her touch. It was only then that he realized that he surrendered and hugging her back. Her dirty blond hair tickled his neck and cheek as she breathed into the shoulder of his suit. Lucius felt the heat from her breath seep through the fabric and touch his skin. Shivers danced up his spine in a sensation that he hadn't experienced before.
Lucius exhaled, tilting his head toward the ceiling so that more of Heloise's hair could touch his face. He found himself pressing his head onto hers and pulling her closer, deepening the embrace. Heloise then kissed his neck. Like lightning hitting his nervous system, Lucius felt a wave of surprise spread through his body. He let her kiss his cheek. Suddenly she pulled away just enough so they could look into each other's eyes. Heloise looked at him and blinked slowly. Lucius felt a grin tug on his face. Then the girl leaned in, relaxing her mouth and holding her lips just inches from his. Lucius leaned toward her, coming in for a torrid kiss.
Suddenly Lucius's eyes snapped open. He awoke with a sharp exhale; his breath gone. The devil-like monster found himself in his recliner, the taste of alcohol still in his mouth. Lucius sat up and ran his hand over her bald head, glancing out the window. Darkness so that must mean that he slept into the night. It was just a dream; just a dream. He was at home, Miseryville was normal and Heloise was not in his arms.
Lucius blinked and swallowed. His dream was disturbing but not for the fact that a girl was making a move on him. He was amazed at how quick he surrendered to her and to how fast he rushed into that kiss. Granted, it was a dream but he couldn't shake the fact that everything he felt was real. The stealing of his soul, the desire he felt and the shivers that were still dancing up and down his spine. With his heart still "thunking" in his chest, Lucius got out of his chair and stumbled to his bedroom. Sleep would find him again but not without haunting images and the lingering sensation of Heloise in his arms.
In the morning, Lucius Heinous VII went to work at his usual time. He found himself in his penthouse office gazing out the window and twiddling one of Heloise's "Devil Boogers" in his fingers. The CEO of Misery Inc had barely said two words since waking up this morning. Though pretty quiet, Lucius was on edge. His dream about Heloise was seared into his every thought and made him feel naked to the world. He replayed the dream sequence over and over to the point of obsession. Though he wanted to deny it, Lucius Heinous VII was beginning to believe that he enjoyed the dream. As twisted and revealing as it was, it was liberating and entrancing. It made him wonder about possibilities and if there was more to his view of Heloise than being a bossy, spoiled lackey.
"Mr. Heinous!" Samy's yell jolted him. Lucius jumped, inadvertently squeezing the Devil Booger too hard.
The weapon exploded, splattered on his desk. A wee drop landed on his hand. Lucius shrieked in pain, jumping out of his chair. Samy screamed and between him and his boss, the entire room was filled with girly panicking.
Heloise was busy welding on her latest doomsday machine. Her feet hurt and her shoulders were stiff from leaning forward but she kept her mind off of the pain as she thought about the rewards. When her invention was done, Heloise would get to watch it level Miseryville. That far outweighed her discomfort now.
Then she got a slap on the shoulder. The girl felt her temper shoot through the roof. Yanking up her mask, she glared down at the annoyance. To her surprise it was Samy with a very frightened look on his face. Heloise dropped her welding torch and hopped off of the ladder.
"What?!" She snarled. "I'm busy! Tell Lucius that if he wants this doomsday weapon done at the end of the week that he should stop bothering me!"
But her boss's assistant grabbed her hand.
"Lucius! Boogers! Explode! Hand! HORROR!" Samy rattled off, his face going a whiter shade of pale. Heloise yanked her hand out of his grasp.
"You're not making sense! What's wrong?" She barked. Samy swallowed.
The look on his face made the girl feel a nip of concern.
Lucius paced his office, holding his hand tight against his chest and letting out grunts of agony. It hurt so bad! Just one little drop of that Devil Booger stuff and he was in writhing pain. His expensive desk was totaled and there was a hole the chemical had eaten in the floor. He cursed at the pain and how paranoid he was. On any other day, he would have been more attentive and maybe Samy would be the one wearing the Devil Booger. Speaking of the loudmouthed twit, where was he?
Suddenly the door burst open and his assistant came running in.
"Sir! I brought Heloise! She says she can help you!" Lucius's eyes widened in horror. Not Heloise! Not NOW!
And then the dirty blond girl marched into his office, looking rather cross. Her eyes came to her boss writhing in pain.
"You shouldn't mess around with those things!" Heloise immediately scolded, not seeing the awkward fear in Lucius's eyes. "They can eat through anything! Including YOU!"
She stalked over to him and held out her hand.
"Let me see." The girl gestured impatiently. Lucius took his hand from his chest and gave it to her; immediately she grinned. "You big baby! I don't see anything."
But the pain was real.
"It's there! On my index finger!" He pointed doing a little pain dance. "Oh mama it hurts!"
Heloise found the wound. She grabbed his hand and curled his fingers, except for his injured finger, into a fist. Lucius noted how warm her hands were even though they were callused and dirty.
"Suck on your finger." Heloise commanded. Lucius gave her a crazy look.
"That's it?!" He barked. "All I had to do was stick my fing-?!"
Heloise shoved his finger into his mouth. As soon as his saliva hit the acidic Devil Booger, the pain stopped. Relieved, Lucius barely caught a chuckle.
"Look!" Heloise teased. "The Misery Inc big wig is eating a booger!"
The girl gave an ironic laugh as Samy stifled a chuckle. Lucius glared and took his finger from his mouth.
"Is that why you named it after a booger? A cheap laugh and an even cheaper gag?" He frowned. Heloise shrugged.
"One of my reasons, Lucy." She gave him a sly smile. "But now that the "horror" is taken care of, I have to get back to work."
Lucius felt his face crease in annoyance. He was once again saved and then humiliated by this self-centered girl. Then he noted that she was still standing in front of him.
"What?" He growled. "You expecting some sort of thank you? You know me better than that Heloise."
The girl shook her head.
"I'd expect Samy to become one of the most popular actors in the world before I'd expect you to thank me." Heloise responded in her normal sarcastic way. Then she cocked her head at him. "I smell alcohol."
The short devil-like monster rolled his dark eyes.
"For your information, I did have one shot of spirits this morning." Lucius straightened his tie and dusted off the front of his suit. Heloise gave him an evil grin.
"You do look moderately drunk, Lucy." She stated. "Just a little shot of courage before you explain to your girlfriend why you skipped dancing lessons last night?"
Lucius's eyes snapped open. Jez had arranged for dancing lessons last night! He completely forgot! Though Jez would be fit to be tied, something else was more at the forefront of his mind.
"How did YOU know about those dance lessons?" Lucius questioned, pointing a finger in Heloise's face. The girl tried to look innocent.
Just then Lucius's secretary knocked on the door. The female monster looked nervous.
"Mr. Heinous, sir?" She peeped. Lucius shot his secretary a glare.
"What?! I'm busy!" He snapped. The secretary swallowed.
"A Miss Jez is in the lobby, demanding to see you, sir." The female monster replied. Lucius face-palmed; he did not need a raving Jez to deal with right now.
Instead of yelling at his secretary, he turned to Heloise.
"I find it VERY disturbing that you are suddenly a WHIZ on what goes on in my life, Heloise!" Lucius yelled at the girl, shoulders raised. Heloise merely smiled.
"Maybe you should buy some curtains." The girl responded shrugging. Lucius growled and rubbed his temples.
"You know what, Heloise?! I'm REALLY considering chopping you into pieces and making Samy EAT you!" He pointed at his assistant. Samy cowered.
Heloise turned her nose up.
"And lose your only golden goose? You're lucky that I've stuck it out here as long as I have!" The girl barked back. Lucius groaned.
"Oh, yeah!" He began sarcastically. "Working conditions are just HORRIBLE, aren't they?! The top inventor to Misery Inc must be such a drag! The six figure salary must be just inhumane! And leveling the lab twice a month without a peep out of your boss must be undefiled torture! I'M LETTING YOU GET AWAY WITH MURDER!"
"Listening to you REALLY puts a damper on my evil output, Lucy!" Heloise gritted her teeth. Lucius returned the glare.
"Oh, come off it!" He snarled. "Don't blame ME for the little hiccups in your thought process! Maybe if you stopped fantasizing about that Jimmy Two-Shoes and focus on your job, you'd come up with better inventions than AN OVERGROWN FOOD PROCESSOR FROM THE DARK AGES!"
Heloise was starting to get miffed.
"Oh, drop dead, Lucius! Jimmy and I are friends!" The girl shot back. Lucius gave a dry, sarcastic laugh as he looked at his nails.
"Whatever makes you sleep at night, Heloise." He bit, snapping his eyes at her. Heloise scoffed.
"And you are a tiptoeing sugar plumb fairy with a pulled hamstring, bad teeth and a Napoleon complex." The girl returned. As school-yard and as petty as that was, it immediately bored itself under Lucius's skin.
"You are a surly, opinionated, self-destructive, straw-haired problem child with a starry-eyed infatuation with a boy who has the IQ of a moldy potato!" Lucius shot back. And if Heloise had fur, it'd be standing on end right now.
It was a good thing Lucius was in a fighting mood because Heloise looked angry enough to strangle him. A yelling match and insult war then commenced. Lucius and Heloise were temporarily oblivious to the world around them as they shouted and screamed at each other. Samy watched in bated horror as his boss yelled at his top inventor. If Lucius didn't realize his girlfriend's presence soon, Jez would probably break up with him… again. Samy stole glances at the spoiled anthromorphic cat-monster; she looked increasingly enraged that Lucius's attention was on the human girl and not her. Finally Jez stomped her foot, having enough of this.
"LUCIUS HEINOUS VII!" She cried in her snotty, high-pitched voice. And Heloise and Lucius's fight was broken off.
Lucius looked up to see his incensed girlfriend. Normally he'd cower and try to do some damage control but the red devil-like monster was too worked up to even care.
"What?!" He barked. Jez's eye twitched and she stomped up to her powerful boyfriend.
"Don't use that tone with me!" She snarled, pushing past Heloise and stopped in front of Lucius. Her purple face was flushed with anger as she balled fists. "You left me at the dance hall! I was waiting and waiting and you never showed! Lucius Heinous VII, I've got half a brain to-!"
But Lucius interrupted her rant with cold, unyielding eyes.
"When I say "what", it means that I want an answer in just two words or less." He gave her a sarcastic smile. "And if you are unduly upset about the dance lesson I missed, I have a very, very good reason: I had far better things to do. To put it in terms that your half-brain will understand, Jez, I'd rather get dipped in acid, get ALL of my molars pulled and sponsor Samy in his acting career than take dancing lessons."
Lucius gave Jez a glare that cut right through her.
"Is that understood, cupcake?" He growled, giving her a threatening stare. Jez looked stunned to see her usually so overly accommodating boyfriend disagreed with her.
Then the selfish woman narrowed her eyes.
"Lucius! I've come by to tell you that I want to put our relationship in a time out!" She snapped, folding her arms over her curvy chest. Lucius shrugged.
"Whatever. There's the door." He motioned for her to leave with a wave of his hand. "Don't let it hit you on the way out."
Lucius turned and ignored her. He heard Jez huff loudly, stamp out of his office and slam the door. Lucius straightened his tie. All feelings of rage and irritation aside… MAN! That felt good. Then he heard a giggle.
"Little Lucy's all growed up!" It was Heloise. Lucius whirled around and glared at her.
"Why are you still here?!" He snarled.
"Like I'd miss you finally growing a spine and telling off that frilly-haired gold digger." The girl tossed her finger over her shoulder after Jez. Lucius's scowl softened slightly.
At least he and Heloise shared one thought in common. Jez was spoiled and pampered. She was used to dating powerful, rich men and getting anything she wanted. So let the narcissistic anthromorphic cat-monster walk out in a huff. Though Jez would not want to look at him for at least three days, the payback was ALL worth it!
"I'm not in the mood for dealing with her OR further arguing with you." Lucius folded his arms and glared. That was his little way of telling her to get lost.
Heloise just grinned.
"So that means I won?" It was more of a rhetorical question. Lucius snarled like a cat.
"NO!" He spat, pointing to the door. "It means GET OUT OF HERE!"
Heloise held her contented expression.
"I totally won the argument." And she started to the door. Lucius felt like chasing her out the door with a knife but seeing that he didn't have a knife, he had to settle with a biting threat.
"I'm going to ROAST your head over an open spit, cackling like I've lost my mind!" Lucius fired at her. Heloise stopped at the doorframe.
She chuckled and looked over her shoulder.
"Well you're half way there, at least." Heloise quipped. "You've all ready lost your mind."
With that the girl shut the door, leaving no room for Lucius to reply. The short, red, devil-like monster stood there glaring at the door. Lucius felt irate but not as much as under normal circumstances. In the deepest corner of his mind, he couldn't help but feel a little charmed over Heloise. His progressing fascination with the girl was advanced that much more. But he hid it pretty well.
"Samy! Come here!" Lucius ordered, snapping his fingers. "I need someone to kick."
That night, Lucius found himself alone. No Jez tonight. Though it would look like a lonely evening, Lucius really didn't care to be with his lukewarm girlfriend. Jez wasn't much to be around when as they were alone. Her façade of love seemed to wear off with the limelight. Lucius doubted that if she was here, she'd even let him touch her. Once there was something to be mad about, Jez would stay infuriated for a long time; thus her petty personality. But instead of dwelling on his latest romantic relationship teetering on the brink of disaster, Lucius was analyzing his feelings.
Looking out the window, the powerful tyrant of Miseryville found himself lost in his thoughts. With a slow, romantic black and white movie playing on the television and a warm glass of scotch in his hand, Lucius watched the multi-colored evening sky. He wondered how it would really feel to hug Heloise and how it would feel if she did kiss him. Painting himself a mental image of the young human girl, Lucius began to analyze her. Super-smart, sadistic, hair-trigger temper, sarcastic and self-centered, the girl's personality was ten times bigger than she was. Heloise was petite but able to look anyone, including him, in the eye. Her long dirty-blond hair was constantly held into a high pony tail. A malevolent smile gave away her constant scheming while her appearance of a diminutive, sweet girl countered how evil she really is. By all outward accounts, Heloise was his polar opposite. Lucius gave a grin. It was strange how this was becoming; how he and the girl seemed to be stuck together because of the business. Was his feminine equal standing in front of him this whole time without being noticed?
With the TV playing softly and the alcohol grasping him, Lucius felt his mind fog over with sleep. Sprawling out on his favorite recliner, he allowed himself to drift off.
The next day, lunch time came pretty swiftly. Heloise was down in the laboratory, gazing at her rendition of da Vinci's gruesome war machine as she unwrapped her sandwich. It was coming together quickly; only three more days of endless welds before all of the armor could be put together. Then the blades would be added shortly after the wheels. Heloise smiled. The machine was fun to work on; like a piece of the violent past brought to life. Da Vinci was a very smart man but he should have delved into his evil side more often. The girl picked up her sandwich and raised it in a toast to her assembling armored doomsday weapon.
"To the darker side of life." Heloise said out loud. "May evil continue to inspire methods of misery and chaos. Cheers to you, Mr. da Vinci."
Tilting her sandwich and giving her unfinished weapon a smile, Heloise was about to ease her lunch into her mouth. That's when the door to the lab opened. Looking up, the girl spotted Lucius walk into the large area, that childish scowl on his face. Heloise sighed heavily and prayed that he wouldn't see her. But alas, she was spotted and the short, red, devil-like monster made his way over to her. Heloise gazed at her sandwich in her hand, blatantly keeping her eyes off of her boss.
Lucius approached the girl as she ignored him. There was most likely a rant or volley of insults to soon come.
"Let me guess." Heloise said, sitting on one of the big pieces of welded metal. "The Devil Boogers got boring and now you're down here to see what other kinds of goodies ol' Heloise has in her candy shop."
"I haven't had the time to enjoy those wretched acid balls, to be honest." Lucius responded, folding his hands behind his back. "Besides after the first three "Devil Boogers", the thrill of melting stuff would wear off."
After rolling her eyes Heloise looked at him, her brow creased in annoyance.
"And you came all the way down here to tell me that?" She questioned. Lucius gave her a lazy, stuck-up glance as he looked close at the piece of metal she was sitting on.
"Not necessarily." He responded, not bothering to look at her as he ran a finger along the welds. "I don't see why I can't come down here and check on the progress of my latest doomsday toy. And it looks like my little elves have been busy."
The girl gave an irritated grunt.
"It's LUNCH time, Lucy." Heloise slid off of her seat and to the floor. She walked up to him, sandwich in hand. "There is no work being done for another hour."
Lucius finally looked up at her. Then his eyes traced to the sandwich in her hand. A crease of disgust curled onto his face.
"What? You don't like turkey?" Heloise smirked and teasingly dangled her sandwich in front of him. Lucius's disgusted frown deepened.
"A six digit paycheck and all you bring to work is a sandwich filled with ballistic luncheon meat?" He quirked a brow. Heloise shrugged.
"I get what I can get my hands on." She was still teasing Lucius with her lunch.
The sandwich was nearly on his face when Lucius couldn't take it. He swatted it out of her hand and it fell onto the dirty lab floor. Heloise gasped.
"Hey! That was my lunch!" She snarled. "Now my sandwich is all full of metal shavings! What am I supposed to eat now?!"
Heloise looked angry enough to bust bricks with her bare hands. Luckily, Lucius was prepared.
"As it is lunch time and both of us have empty stomachs, I suggest that we do something about it." The short, red, devil-like monster voiced looking at his watch. Heloise looked at him funny.
"What do you have in mind?" She questioned. Lucius rolled his eyes.
"Wow. Did the evil genius just as a dumb question?" He smirked at her. Heloise grimaced. "Eat, of course! I have reservations at the finest bistro in all of Miseryville; the way I usually eat, you understand. Jez was supposed to be accompanying me but seeing is that we are on a "time out", I have an empty chair to fill."
The girl blinked.
"Lunch… with you?" Heloise said. Lucius shrugged.
"Well, if you put it that way…" He stepped aside and walked back to the door. "You can get back to your artificial intimidation turkey meat. Hopefully the metal shaving will be smooth going down and not cause too much blood loss."
Lucius walked slowly to the door, waiting for Heloise to take his offer. Just as he raised his hand to the doorknob, he heard the girl walk up behind him. Lucius felt Heloise grab the arm of his suit jacket.
"Just what are you playing at?" The girl questioned, a suspicious rile in her blue-grey eyes. Lucius turned and looked at her.
He tried to be innocent looking.
"Me? Playing? Perish the thought!" Lucius sarcastically answered. Then he folded his arms and gave her a matter-of-fact stare. "I'm hungry and am leaving to get something to eat. You can accompany me or not; it's your choice."
And he opened the door and moved toward the elevator. Pressing a button, Lucius waited for the elevator. Then he heard the door close. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Lucius saw Heloise standing beside him.
"This better not be a trick, Lucy." She warned. Lucius tried to stifle the smile threatening to spread over his face.
"Does a REAL turkey Panini threaten you?" The elevator doors opened and Lucius stepped inside. "There's nothing but a benefit that I'm offering you."
Heloise stepped into the elevator as he pressed the button.
"Yeah… That's what I'm worried about." She remarked as the doors closed.
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