Because I promised…

Ooh, lookie here, insanity! And it looks like we finally get a few more answers!

Chapter Ten: Someone Gets Shot

Luke tried to calm down. So Flora was in the graveyard with a dead woman, and people were stalking them. That was bad.

Why was she with Claire? How could she be with Claire? Wasn't Claire dead? How did that make any sense whatsoever?

Back to the immediate problem. He could deal with the… well, she certainly didn't appear to be a vampire or zombie, but if she was dead… What did that make her?

Okay. Now back to the immediate problem. He could deal with the… professor's undead girlfriend later. For now he had to focus on the fact that they were being followed by a pair of menacing figures.

What should he do? What could he do?

xXx

"I was right," Claire whispered excitedly, pointing at the tombstone. "Don't you see?"

Flora frowned, leaning in. "Not really. All I can really see is the fact that the name on the tombstone is Hershel Layton. And I don't really see what that has to do with anything."

"Did Hershel ever tell you about his family?" Claire asked after a moment.

Flora shook her head.

"Well, his mother was named Elizabeth. His father was named William. The only other family he had were an aunt and an uncle on his mother's side. His aunt, his mother's sister, was named Celia, and her husband was named James. They had two children—he has pictures, but I don't remember their names."

Flora suddenly looked closer. "This tombstone is in the Layton part of cemetery!" she realized. "It's with the other people you mentioned."

"Yes, his father, uncle, and both cousins died in a car crash on the same day. He was the only survivor—miraculously without any injuries. It all fits!"

"I don't follow you."

Claire stalked over to a nearby tombstone while she gestured to the one they had been looking at. "Check the dates."

Flora took another look. "Wait a second… His death and birthday are the same day. He must have been a miscarriage or something."

"Check the date again. Familiar, no?"

"…It's the professor's birthday."

"Exactly!" The tombstone Claire had walked to was heavily overgrown, but she still ripped through the vines so she and Flora could read the inscription. "There!" she cried triumphantly, jabbing a finger at it. "I was right! Of course! It all makes sense!"

Flora mouth fell open as she scanned the stone. "Here lie Mystery and Jonathan Layton, two of the sweetest children in the world. They came into the world together and went out together. They will always be loved…"

"I knew I recognized that necklace," Claire muttered. "Hershel told me it was a family tradition—the men in the family would always carve wooden necklaces with the family symbol on it for the women of the family."

"Necklace?"

"Mysti has a necklace she thinks her father gave her. I think it's a necklace like that."

"I'm still confused."

"Okay, I'll try to break this down. You see, Hershel told me he was born on the same day as his cousins…"

She never got to finish that sentence—something small and bullet shaped whipped past her face and buried itself a little ways into the tombstone.

That was bad.

She and Flora spun around to see the two men with guns advancing on them.

"Run!" Claire shouted, already putting the plan into action.

Flora spun around and sprinted away from the men, up the hill. Claire had taken a different path, hoping they would follow her, or at least split up to give Flora a better chance at getting away.

They split up.

Flora reached the top of the hill and glanced around, unsure of where to run next.

Someone grabbed her wrist.

She gasped, starting to pull away until she realized who was tugging her in another direction.

"This way!" Luke hissed.

Luke was here. Flora sudden felt relieved. Luke was here and everything was going to be okay.

Then another bullet—this one whistling strangely—whipped past her face.

Maybe not everything would be okay.

Luke tugged her hand again and she followed him willingly, both now sprinting for their lives. Luke led her from the cemetery and through a series of winding alleys. She was suddenly glad he had lived in London for so long—someone who didn't know their way around this part of town (like her, for example) would easily get lost in the maze of paths.

They still hadn't set eyes upon a soul.

After twenty minute of running, Luke finally slowed down, leaning against a building and gasping for breath. Flora copied him, exhausted and wondering how she'd meet up with Claire now.

Luke let go of Flora's hand.

"Did we lose him?" she whispered.

"I think so…" Luke answered, trying to keep his voice calm.

The man chose that moment to barrel around the corner, gun outstretched. Luke heard as the man fired twice.

"Come on!" Luke cried as he and Flora took off again, Flora uttering a little cry.

He took the lead again, through the maze of alleys. The brick walls all looked the same, but he had memorized his way through years ago (at the professor's urging, ironically, who insisted that all true gentlemen must know every inch of the city they call home).

The only way to lose this man was to weave a path so complex…

"Luke…"

He barely heard her say it, but he turned around. Flora had slowed considerably, and was hunching over, panting. "Luke… tell…"

She fell to her knees before falling forward.

"Flora!" Luke cried, ducking down next to her. "Flora!"

Only now did he see the red spot growing on her back.

"Luke…" she whispered again. "Tell… tell the professor… the Faceless Twins… he has to find the Faceless Twins…"

She took a deep breath before slowly closing her eyes.

"Flora!" he screamed. She couldn't be dead. It was impossible. Flora was not dead. She just couldn't be.

But then why wasn't she moving?

"FLORA!"

She continued to lay unmoving on the pavement.

He was afraid to check for a pulse, afraid to confirm what he already knew.

Flora… she was dead…

"FLORA!"

The man must have hit her with the bullet when he'd caught up with them, but she'd kept running anyways…

Running, because if she stopped, she knew he'd stop, and then the man would catch them. Running…

"Flora…"

The tears began to run down his face, tumble to the ground, splash there, sit there… He cried harder than when he'd found out about his parents, after all, they'd known how he'd felt…

There was only one thing circling his mind.

You'll never know… You'll never know how I feel…

"Flora…"

The man sprinted around the corner, but Luke didn't look up.

"I've got you now," he chuckled.

Luke still wasn't able to move. He didn't even flinch as the man brought up the gun, cocked it, and fired.

He felt nothing hit his shoulder… because nothing did.

Someone had sprinted from one of the side alleys and knocked the man over. The man's gun fell from his hand as the quick moving figure spun, scooped up Luke, who protested, and whisked him away.

"Let me go back!" he cried. "I need to go back, I need to help her!"

"There will be a time to help her later," said a calm voice in his ear. "She's not dead, and you can't help her if you get caught too."

"But she needs me…" he mumbled.

"Luke, I promise you that she'll be all right, okay?"

Luke finally seemed to wake up as the person left the alleys behind them. He turned to catch a glimpse of the woman's face. "Claire?" he gasped.

She didn't react to his surprise. "Yes, it's me. I'll tell you more when we get to a safe place… Where are you staying?"

"Emmy's house…" Luke gave her the address.

Claire snorted. "You're kidding me. It was that simple?" She sighed, turning at the next corner. "Rhonda's going to be so mad…"

Luke was still numb, just letting her carry him away.

"This is it, right?"

Luke glanced up long enough to agree that the house was indeed Emmy's.

Claire set him down, grasping his hand as she tugged him towards the door. "Come on, then. I know we'll be able to find Flora. But I need to talk to Hershel, first."

He just nodded.

Claire rolled her eyes, in surprisingly high spirits. She rang the doorbell.

There was no answer.

"Emmy's at lunch with her sister," Luke explained after a second. He leaned forward and knocked a pattern on the door—a familiar one. The same they'd used in the clock shop when traveling to "future London". "We have a secret knock so we know when it's safe to answer the door."

The professor answered it this time.

"Welcome back, Lu…" He trailed off, realizing who Luke was with.

Claire gave him an apologetic smile. "Hershel…" she began. She never finished her sentence.

A curious look came over her face—one of shock and fear—and she pitched forward, almost in slow motion.

The professor, ever gallant, dove forward to catch her. She landed neatly in his arms. With Luke's help, he flipped her over, so her face was upwards.

He stared at her, unable to say anything.

She stared back, unmoving.

He felt her pulse. All was normal. She was breathing normally too.

And yet she was lying in front of them, eyes unseeing and pointed upwards, as though she were dead.

Was she dead?

It was like… her mind was gone… but her body went on living.

It was impossible…

It was all so impossible…

"Professor…" Luke whispered quietly. "Flora's… Flora's dead…"

The man's face became stoic.

Unable to say anything more, he simply stood, turned, and walked into the house.

xXx

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid…

Why was it that it only ever happened at the most inconvenient moments?

"Are you away, little bird?"

Claire, hearing the voice, immediately lunged in its general direction. Her fingers hit cloth, and she grabbed a fistful of it and yanked it towards her.

There was a little shriek as she opened her eyes and the rest of reality came back to her.

She had been lying on a metal examining table, and was currently barefoot. She was wearing a tight white lab coat, a dark green blouse underneath, a pink tie, and bright green pants. And… did she have her glasses on?

This was what she had been wearing…

Did that mean that in order to get her back, they'd had to go through the original? It made sense… And that meant if she could escape now, she'd be free…

That was sufficient reason to escape.

"How did she wake up? Those drugs were enough to keep her under for hours!" The voice came from a frightened man near her, but not the scientist she was holding.

No, she realized with pleasure, the scientist she was holding onto was Gloria Dove.

"Did you figure in the new enhancements?" Gloria screamed at the man.

"N-no…"

"Idiot! Get someone…"

Enhancements? That didn't sound good, but she could deal with that later.

"Don't move!" she shouted at both of them. They both froze. She took advantage of their shock to relive Gloria of everything in her pockets.

"Right," she began, standing up. "I'm going to leave now. And neither of you are going to put up a fight, is that right?"

There was no response.

"I said, is that all right?" Claire accented her shout this time by bringing her fist down on the now empty examining table.

This did not have the desired effect. Gloria spun around with a roar, trying to hit her. Claire tried to figure out when she'd gotten such good reflexes as she easily grabbed Gloria's hand and slammed it to the table. It took her a second to figure out how to fasten the strap around her wrist, and she did the same with the other side.

The man still hadn't moved.

"Right…" Claire muttered, fleeing the room, sprinting through the halls of Genesis to freedom.

xXx

Her head hurt. Whatever those guys had shot her with wasn't going away without a fight.

Luckily, it seemed her body was putting up a good fight.

With a groan, she dragged her eyes open.

…Where the hell was she?

Flora sat up in bed with a start, finally recognizing the room. What on earth?

It was impossible. There was absolutely no possible freaking way that she could be here.

But she was… She was in St. Mystere!

In Lady Dahlia's bedroom, if she wasn't mistaken.

"What?" she whispered.

The door flew open, and Lady Dahlia swept in. "Flora!" she cried. "You're okay!"

Flora blinked. "Yes… I'm okay…" She looked around. "What happened?"

"Don't you remember, dear? The tower fell down! Awful thing, you knew it was going to happen one day."

Flora nodded. "Yes, but after that."

"Oh, darling, the gas leak must have been stronger than we thought! You were muttering a few things when Bruno rescued you."

"The professor rescued me," Flora corrected.

Lady Dahlia looked at her with true confusion. "Who?"

Her heart sank. "Professor Layton. He came and rescued me when the tower was falling. He saved my life. We escaped on the gli…der…"

She trailed off at her adopted mother's look of confusion and concern. "Flora, there was never anyone here by the name of Professor Layton. Really, a glider? As far as I know, no one named Professor Layton even exists—are you sure you feel alright?"

*sighs* Another cliff hanger. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Okay, I am seriously considering shooting someone else, and I've decided to have a poll! So, if you like this story, go vote in the poll on my profile page to see who's getting shot later on!

Coming soon: an unusual meeting place that causes more insanity and confusion… and finally some pairings! Oh, and an old friend will be popping up again, and might be sticking around… Any suggestions for more craziness will be appreciated!