AN: Like always, I'm sorry this took so long. School projects take up a lot of time. Really hope that this chapter was worth the wait. (And, yes, I just had to throw in a Young Frankenstein reference. That movie is a classic, hands down.) My goal is to finish this story by Halloween, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Even though I managed to pull it off for The Other Virus.
The Emily Doppelganger led the Bohemian family down the hall towards the entrance to the secret passageway that would lead them down to the dungeons. It was there that Lorcán was lying in wait to capture the unsuspecting visitors. Once he had all five of the Elemental Agents together in his grasp, he'd be able to ensure that they'd never be able to break the curse. Smiling to herself, the Emily Doppelganger stopped in front of one particular hall table, which was adorned with an urn holding a large arrangement of flowers and a golden candlestick.
"I discovered this by accident when my arm bumped it," she announced, tipping the candlestick forward. Instantly, a hidden panel in the wall slid aside, revealing the hidden passageway.
"Hey, just like Young Frankenstein," Roger noted, showing more interest than he'd been before.
"Let's check it out!" Penny suggested eagerly as she and Mimi peered into the passageway. Before the two could set foot into it, the sound of footsteps echoed through the hidden corridor, indicating that something was coming towards them. With a gasp, Penny stepped back, with Mark instinctively placing a protective hand on his daughter's shoulder, while Roger pulled Mimi away from the passageway entrance. Seconds later, the owner of the footsteps came into view and stepped out into the hall. The moment they saw who caused the footsteps, everyone let out an embarrassed laugh. It was only a large black dog, who was wagging his tail in a friendly manner.
"Hey there," Mimi grinned, bending down to scratch the dog behind the ears. "Where'd you come from?" The dog let out a whine in response, wagging his tail even more. Rodolfo, who was being supported by Mimi's left arm, also reached out to pat the dog's muzzle.
"I wonder if he was trapped down there, too," Mark wondered, glancing back at the hidden passageway.
"Well if he was," the Emily Doppelganger paused to pat the dog on the head, "then he must be pretty happy to be out. Anyway, Ancelin might be calling us down to dinner soon, so it's probably best to check out the passageway now, so we won't be late for supper."
"Yeah, sounds good," Penny agreed eagerly, starting to step into the passageway. However, before she could start heading down it, the dog suddenly turned and grabbed the hem of Penny's shirt in his mouth, whining as he did so.
"Hey," Mimi laughed, placing Rodolfo down on the floor to help Penny pull her shirt out of the dog's jaws before stroking his back. "What's the matter, boy? We're not leaving you alone. You can come with us, too." However, when Penny and Mimi started to step foot into the passageway again, the dog stepped in front of them, blocking their way. This time, the dog began growling, hackles raised.
"What's gotten into him?" Roger blinked, puzzled by the dog's sudden change in behavior. "It's almost like that crazy crow again."
"You don't think he knows something we don't, do you?" Mark wondered. "In a lot of those old movies, you usually see dogs acting like this if there's some kind of danger."
"Oh, that's silly," the Emily Doppelganger forced out a laugh, holding back her irritation at the obstacle. This stupid dog was preventing her from bringing these people to Lorcán, and she didn't like that. Stepping forward, the Emily Doppelganger tried to nudge the dog aside. "Come on, puppy. We can play with you later. Right now, we want to see the passageway." Instead of moving aside, the dog growled even louder, and when the Doppelganger started pushing him out of the way, the dog let out a menacing bark and bit down hard on her hand. Crying out in surprised pain, the Emily Doppelganger stumbled backwards until Mark stepped forward to steady her. In doing so, however, Mark's hand happened to brush up against the doppelganger's back, where the blouse she was wearing had ridden up slightly. As a result, he was able to feel the skin on her back, and almost immediately, a puzzled frown appeared on his face.
"Oh, thanks, Mark," the Emily Doppelganger smiled back at him, still rubbing her bitten hand. However, Mark didn't reply right away and simply stared at her sternly.
"Emily, are you okay?" Mimi asked in concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine," the Emily Doppelganger replied.
"Hey, you stupid dog," Roger rounded on the animal, grabbing at the scruff of the dog's neck. "What did you do that for?"
"Roger," Mark suddenly spoke up. "Leave the dog alone."
"What?" Mimi's eyes widened in her confusion. "Mark, this dog just bit Emily."
"No, he didn't" Mark shook his head, glowering at the Emily Doppelganger. "Because this isn't Emily."
"W...what are you talking about?" the Emily Doppelganger cried, quickly masking her panicked worry. How did he figure her out?
"Of course it's Mom," Penny argued. "Who else would she be?"
"No," Mark insisted. "I don't know who this person is, but she's not Emily. I know she's not."
"Mark, sweetie," the Emily Doppelganger spoke, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "It's me, really. I am Emily."
"No! You're not!" Mark glared, stepping closer. "Who are you? And where's the real Emily? What have you done to her?" For a brief moment, silence fell among the group, with Roger, Mimi and Penny all looking at Mark as if he was crazy, while Mark continued to glare at the Emily Doppelganger, but then the doppelganger stepped into action. An angry scowl appearing on her face, she shoved Mark to the ground and started racing away down the hall.
"HEY!" Roger shouted after her, immediately giving chase, pursuing the doppelganger around the corner and out of sight.
"I don't get it!" Mimi gaped, helping Mark get to his feet. "If that wasn't Emily, than who was she?"
"I don't know," Mark shook his head, quickly checking on Zack, who had been sleeping in his baby carrier. "But I think this proves that we probably can't trust Lorcán. He must have made the switch himself, when we were all in the hedge maze." Seconds later, Roger returned, looking annoyed and frustrated.
"I lost her," he announced. "This place is probably filled with secret passageways. Chances are that she managed to hide herself in one of them before I could catch her."
"Then what do we do now?" Penny asked, visibly worried. "If we can't trust Lorcán, we probably can't trust Ancelin or Dashiell, either. And Mom's still missing. We have to find her."
"We will," Mark vowed, his face filled with determination. "But once we do find her, we're out of here, even if we have to walk."
"That's the best idea I've heard since we came here, Mark," Roger agreed. "Right, you and Mimi go and find Emily. Chances are, if I know her as well as I think I do, she's probably trying to meet up with us, too. Penny, I need your help to get our stuff together. We'll all meet outside by the minivan. Mark, Mimi, if you two aren't outside with Emily and the boys in one hour, than I'm coming back to get you all out. And be careful."
"Yeah," Mark replied. "You too, Rog." Without another word, the four Bohemians spit into their two groups, with Mimi pausing to scoop Rodolfo back up. The black dog, who had been sitting quietly throughout the whole exchange, trotted along after Mark and Mimi.
"Just one question, Mark," Mimi turned to her friend as they began their search. "How did you know that wasn't the real Emily, anyway? I mean, she did everything right, including how she spoke and acted. She fooled everyone. What exactly made you realize that she was a fake?" For a long moment, Mark didn't show any sign of hearing Mimi's question, until the dancer was fed up with being ignored and forced him to face her by pulling on his shoulder. It was only then that she was able to notice the embarrassed blush on Mark's face. "Mark?"
"That copy, or decoy, or whatever it was," Mark explained hesitantly. "When my hand brushed up against her back, I…I didn't feel anything."
"So?" Mimi furrowed her brow, failing to see the significance of this.
"Emily," Mark swallowed, looking like he was feeling very awkward at the moment. "The real Emily, I mean. She has….a mole. A tiny mole, along her spine. It was something I noticed once. During some….postcoital….exploration." The moment he finished explaining, Mark quickly looked away again, but not before Mimi saw his face grow even redder. While Mimi was unable to hold back a small giggle at seeing her friend's tangible embarrassment at discussing his private moments with Emily like this, she quickly grew serious again as they continued the search. After all, while she wasn't going to say so out loud, out of fear of upsetting Mark even more, there was a chance that, wherever Emily was, she was seriously hurt, or worse.