This chapter is like 5 pages long. I hope you guys like it... Oh. And sorry inadvance for the A/Ns... You'll see!


CHAPTER FOUR

Juliet, Holly, and Artemis returned to the study to find every one in fits of hysterical laughter.

"That was very impressive, ladies. The looks on her face…" Foaly trailed off as another bout of laughter washed over him. On the big screens were showing an instant replay on both sides of the line. "This is being smeared over the internet as we speak. Wow. That's all I can say. Wow." Just then the door of the Ops booth burst open.

"Foaly what are you…?" Commander Trouble Kelp had barged in and began watching the video that was plastered on ever screen in the booth but one. He had a hard time keeping his laughter in while watching.

Just as everyone was calming down again, Artemis's phone buzzed. He gave it a quick look before flipping it open and answering. Everyone went quiet.

"Hello? Oh, hello Mother. No, everything is fine. Pardon me? You're what? …Home early? But, but, but… No, no problem, it's just I have some friends over. No, we are not abusing money or alcohol. …An hour? That soon, eh…" Artemis trailed off, looking like a deer in headlights. His eyes flicked around room, landing on Holly's open and outstretched hand. "Mother, a friend wishes to speak to you." With that he tossed the phone to Holly, who caught it expertly.

"Nice throw," she mouthed before holding the phone to her ear. "Hello Mrs. Fowl, this is Holly Short. Yes, one of Artemis's friends. There are" Holly paused, thinking. "Almost 10 of us, Artemis being the, well, at least, the youngest, maybe second youngest… No, I don't think we're doing anything illegal presently… I know that there won't be any drinking or smoking in the house, and very little on the grounds… Yes, we'll see you and Mr. Fowl soon. Would you like to speak to Artemis again? Well, see you then."

Holly snapped the phone shut with a flick of her wrist. She popped it open as a text message arrived. Then she began laughing. She hit a few commands and easily overrode the password protection, saying "Well, Artemis, for someone who created an eternity code, this phone isn't very safe." Artemis muttered something about nothing important on the phone. Soon everyone who could be viewed in the room had buzzing, vibrating, ringing or beeping phones. Holly gave Artemis his phone back as hers rang. "Save it quick," she told everyone as they opened their phones to find a new text, forwarded from Artemis's phone.

It read as follows:

Arty,

WHAT IS SHE DOING UR HOUSE!!!!!?????

I THOUGHT U SAID SHE DIED!!!!!!!!!!!

I HOPE U DON'T TRUST HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IF UR HER FRIEND I CAN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT U ANYMORE!!!!!!!!

BETTER MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION OR U'LL LOSE ME.

Minerva

PS

X_x (Holly) X_x

Everyone was laughing except Artemis. He began to type a response to Minerva when he wondered something. "Juliet, was do those 'x' and underscore (A/N: _) things mean?"

"I'm not positive, but in this case, I would say they mean 'die' as in 'die Holly die.'" Artemis looked thoroughly disgusted and seemed to be at a loss for words, an unusual thing for him. He decided to forgo responding for the moment. During this time, Holly began to look out the window.

"Hey, Artemis, your mom and brothers will be here soon and your dad's coming tomorrow. The rest of them should be here soon…" Holly trailed off as a small hairy hand made an obscene gesture at the window. "Speak of the devil," she muttered. "Mulch is here."

"Excellent," said Artemis, steepelling his fingers. (A/N: In a very Mr. Burns-y fashion, if I might add.) Juliet began laughing at Artemis while Foaly began tapping ferociously on his key pad. Artemis was looking extremely confused and finally asked "What?" as Foaly put a cartoon clip on all the screens. An old bald man sat behind a large desk, steepelling his fingers, while saying 'Excellent'. Artemis looked even more puzzled. "What is that?" he asked, outraged.

"That, Mud Boy, is Mr. Burns from the TV show 'The Simpsons'. One of the best Mud comedies I have ever witnessed in my life." Foaly looked extremely proud of his huge amount of nerdy-ness. Juliet looked bored and Butler looked out the door, waiting.

"Wonderful," Holly groaned, checking the expressions of the people around her. "A mega-nerd, a pubescent volcano, a teenage girl, a middle-age body guard, a kleptomaniac dwarf, a speedy pixie, a full-of-himself sprite, my commanding officer, two young boys, a father with a fake leg, and a mother who is extremely kind." Holly shook her head. "What could possibly go wrong?" The words were hardly out of her mouth before she gave a huge yawn.

"Holly, maybe you should get some sleep before everyone else arrives." Mulch strolled in waving as Artemis gave Holly this advice. Artemis's eyes flashed with dark humour. "I know how little sleep you got last night."

"Well, duh. I spent last night with you and I know that you got even less sleep than me. What, with situation the way it is I'm surprised we even survived last night, let alone manage today." Holly gave a deeply satisfying sigh and began to leave the room while everyone gave both Artemis and herself meaningful or baffled looks. "Oh, Arty, can I sleep in your room? It's the closest." Holly blushed slightly as Artemis reddened.

"Yes, of course, I'll show you to it," Artemis said leading Holly out of the room. (A/N: Who to follow, Holly & Arty or the co.? We'll check on the co. later. First to the couple! ;P)

Artemis led Holly to his room, only a few doors down. He let her in and began to back slowly out of the room. "Artemis, can you wake me 20 minutes before you family's supposed to arrive?" Holly asked and received a nod. "Thanks," she sighed, crawling into bed. Artemis closed the door quietly behind him, hoping not to wake Holly, who, unbeknownst to him, was already deeply asleep. (A/N: Well, to the co., to Artemis or to Holly? Holly, I should think… Nope! Off to Arty-land where order and knowledge rule a teenage brain. [Ugh!!!!] :O)

Artemis turned on his heel, striding towards the study, his mind buzzing complexly. He didn't understand it. He was full of emotion as he had never been before. He didn't understand his feelings for Holly, her feelings for him or how others would feel about their feelings. So many feelings were floating around his head that it took him a moment to realize he had stopped walking and was frightened. After another precious second he realized why. He spun around at a dizzying speed and sprinted back to his room and Holly in it. (A/N: Now to our co.!!!! I left you hanging there! ;D)

The moment Artemis and Holly left, everyone began to talk.

"Wha'cha think 'bout that?" Foaly openly mocked the pair after they left.

Mulch, who, of course, had of course been present during the departure scene (Read above… 'Hint hint') mused audibly about what Holly had meant about 'last night'. Butler and Juliet set up a live feed of Artemis's room and the hallway outside it.

The room was silent as they watched Artemis and Holly. They didn't have sound, so they couldn't see on the tape why Artemis had stopped when he did. But they heard it through the walls, watched it in Artemis's room. Trouble and Foaly looked worried while the others looked sick and scared.

They watched aimlessly as Artemis ran back to his room, fast as a cheetah. He automatically opened the door and looked haplessly around the room. He spotted it. He ran and skidded to a halt near it, a look of desperation and confusion clouding his features.

"Should we help…?" Juliet asked over the ruckus.

"How can we?" Trouble seemed desperate as he tightened the straps on his seat in his shuttle. He was doing a solo mission, No 1 coming up separately. No one answered as all eyes were on the video being broadcasted. (Now off to visit Holly – featuring Hypno-Toad. [Sorry, Futerama crack.] Enjoy!)

Holly didn't even feel her head hit the pillow. She hardly remembered seeing Artemis nod, let alone thanking him.

The world was dark. It wasn't a scary, evil dark, but a comfortable dark. But the silence was fearsome. Holly looked around, confused. Where was she? What was she doing wherever she was?

"Lost, darlin'?" asked a high, icy cold voice. (Think 'Voldemort') A far off corner of the blackness sparked fiery, spitting, screaming, blazing purple. In the dim, moving light, Holly saw two small, child sized figures with midnight blue hair wearing flowing white smocks. Their backs were to Holly, but it was clear the voice was theirs. They were laughing. "Lost, then." They cackled. Holly felt fear slither, wintery cold and snake-like down her spine. Shuddering, Holly backed away. "Oh. No, no. None of that," they said, giggling laughter in their voice. "Where's the fun if we let you escape." (Now think 'Voldemort' meets 'Umbridge') "Besides, we have law to uphold. We can't let you leave. We need to make an example out of you. But don't you worry your little self; it'll still be fun – for us, anyway." There was more of their insane, cackling laughter, as Holly became more fearful.

She couldn't move. She was trying. She wasn't panicked, but even as her muscles responded to the signals her brain was sending, her body practically enter paralysis. "What's wrong with me?" she asked herself. The things in the corner laughed harder, as though they could hear her. "They can't hear me," she chided herself. "You're not talking out loud." This time their knees buckled as peals of horrible, evil, inhuman laughter echoed around Holly, bouncing off all her senses.

"The little girly elf doesn't think I can hear her," the things laughed. (Think 'Smeegle/Golem')

"Oh darn." Holly looked around the darkness again. As her eyes landed on another dark spot, it was suddenly lit with a slickly green colour that seemed to splatter, like blood, across the blackness, yet refused to break it. Inside the circle of blood-type fire stood a tall something. Its fuchsia hair crawled to its heels, its body clad in a black robe, its back to Holly.

When Holly heard it speak, its voice was like frozen chocolate, hard and cold, but still sweet. "Ooh, fresh meat. What's your name, hon?" And it turned. It was female, maybe. It looked like most human women, except the face. Its eyes were yellow, cat-like, wise, its nose, normal, and its mouth, deadly. Off-white fangs were enveloped in bloody, crimson lips as scars and cuts crossed its entire face. Holly couldn't speak, she could just stare. "Your name, sweet?" Holly was mute. "Okay love. Don't fret. Tell me what your name is. Sugar, you've got to tell me your name." Holly was once again silent, and the two things in the fiery corner snickered. Holly felt weak. "Come on, sweetheart, won't you tell me your name? No?" It looked towards the things. "Do you know what the elf's name is?"

Holly felt like she would faint. "Get a grip," she told herself. "You're the first female LEPrecon captain. You have a bunch of friends. You've defeated every villain you've come up against. So, get a hold of yourself, Holly."

"Holly is a wonderful name. We have a boy here with a friend named Holly." It was talking to itself, its voice echoing. The pair of things had turned around, their features eerily like those of Chucky. (A/N: I only know what Chucky looks like through previews. He is one creepy doll.) Holly felt like she was going to puke. Clasping a hand to her mouth, she turned her back on the three before her.

As she turned, she saw something that made her stop. Emerging from the engulfing darkness were more creatures and, with them, people. People she knew. An ogre-type creature lugged in a teenage boy, while two giants carried Holly's other friends. The macabre parade stopped between Holly and the three she had just turned away from. Holly watched them as their faces began to fill with malicious glee. The creatures dropped the prisoners bodily to floor. Only then did Holly notice that they were bound with metal wire.

"Hello Artemis!" squealed the two things. They wore matching expressions of expectance and awe.

"Hello Moloch. Hello Mephistopheles. (A/N: I was going to have this at the end, but I won't remembers, so... Moloch is a Canaanite god to whose image children were sacrificed as burnt offerings [Cheery, eh?] and Mephistopheles is the demon that Faust sells his soul to in the legend of Faust. Sorry.) How are you two gents this... today?" Artemis was looking at the two things, unsure of why he was there. Artemis looked at it. It looked back.

"Hello Artemis." It said grudgingly.

"Hello Etna," Artemis replied absently. Holly wondered briefly why Etna was named after the tallest European volcano. She understood the things names. Artemis managed to kneel while the others tried to get their bearings.

"Foaly, Mulch, Doodah, No 1, and" Etna reached out and slapped someone, "you too, Trubsy-wubsy. We have a guest. Boys, meet Holly. Holly, meet the boys." Etna gave a game show wave. Nobody noticed. Artemis had fully turned and the other boys looked up at Holly in shock. Holly held back the urge to cry.

"Holly..." Artemis whispered, disbelieving. He looked ready to cry, too. "No. No, no, no, no, no. You can't be here Holly. You aren't allowed to be here. It's against the rules. I know the rules..." Artemis looked behind him, at the others. They all looked pathetic. Their clothes were torn and bloody, their bodies bruised. Holly felt hot tears roll down her cheeks.

"No." The short burst of hot anger in that word stifled the tears. "Don't you dare cry, Captain. You have a steel core. Do not cry." Artemis sounded angry about Holly's tears.

"Okay, Artemis. I won't cry..."


Yep, cliffhanger. Just like with AFFF! So don't feel bad.

I hope to udate soon...

Sorry it took so long last time!

Plz Review!

AvsE