DISCLAIMER.

I own nothing but my OCs and this plot line.

Chapter Eleven: House of Threats

Nicolo's POV:

After wandering through the woods in the semi-darkens for what seemed like hours, we stumbled upon a warehouse in the middle of nowhere. Checking my phone, I noticed it was around eleven at night. Turning to the others, I gave them a confused look.

"Should we go in?" I asked pointedly.

Nina nodded. "Yeah. This is it. Let's go."

"So… We're just gonna give this creep the Cup of Immortality and run?"

"Er, well, it's a bit more complicated than that," Fabian muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with his gloved hand. It was freezing out, and snow was just starting to fall.

"What do you mean?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"We'll have to assess the situation," he continued. "I'll go in with Nina, Nico, Alfie and Jerome. Patricia, Amber and Tori? Stay out here in case of emergency. If you hear someone scream, run."

"No way," Patricia protested. "I'm going in whether you like it or not."

"You're too damn stubborn, Trixie," Jerome commented. "Whatever. Let's get a move on."

We entered the dim warehouse to find it cluttered with boxes and tools, the occasional tyre or scrap of cloth strewn about. Scanning the area in what little light we had, I found a door leading to a back room. Pushing it open slightly, I almost let out a scream so loud that it would've woken our grandparents in Italy.

There, in the dim light and a pool of blood, sprawled out on the floor with a torn uniform shirt, lay my sister, left arm outstretched.

I swallowed hard and turned back to the group. I couldn't find words to form, so instead I motioned them forward, pointing to the room. Stepping back so I was in the main part of the warehouse, I felt like my entire world had crashed around me, and everything was moving so slowly it bothered me to no end.

I stepped into the room again, looking at everyone's faces. Fabian had the same expression as I did, and it was then that I wondered if he had feelings for Giana.

Everybody started talking at once.

"Someone call an ambulance!" Amber shouted.

"Call 911!" Tori exclaimed, rushing over to her best friend.

"Tori, you're in England now! There is no 911!" Nina exclaimed.

"Well, call the equivalent then! I don't care! DO SOMETHING!"

I rushed over to my sister's side, kneeling down next to her. Fabian did the same and was on my right. Gingerly, I picked up her left arm to find something had been carved into it, still bleeding profusely. It was a word.

"Worthless," Fabian whispered, looking at what I saw.

All of my emotions then channeled to rage. Instantly, I stood up, scanning around for the monster that did this. Then I heard a voice that could've chilled the the entire world with just one syllable.

"So, you've found me," a calm-sounding man told us nonchalantly, stepping into the room and surveying everything. "And, you've found her." He jabbed a finger at Giana. "Now. Where's the Cup of Ankh?"

Without thinking of the consequences, I stormed forward, pulled my arm back, and punched him square in the jaw. He looked astonished.

"How - could - you - do - that - to - my - sister!" I shouted, taking breaks between each word to continue to punch him. Alfie and Jerome came up behind me and held me back. Rufus just stepped back and started laughing, bruises forming on his face.

"She has a brother?" he asked, bemused. "I had no idea. Tell me, would you care to join her when you're done? Would you like to die as well?"

"She's not going to die," I protested. "Not if I have anything to do about it."

"Ah, but here, you are sadly mistaken." He walked over to Nina, grabbing the messenger bag off her shoulder. "This," he continued, searching through it, "is what I've been looking for. This will help me gain immortality!"

I gawked at the jewel-adorned gold cup that was pulled from Nina's bag. It resembled a very fancy, very large goblet, and as soon as he was holding it, he shoved the bag back at her in a violent way, then turning his attention to the cup.

"You're crazy," I said.

"Only slightly," he answered, smiling wickedly. "Now, let's see here… I have the Chosen One, the Chosen Other, the Chosen Other's brother, their group of bratty friends, and a boy who is supposed to be dead." He pointed to Alfie. "You. Why aren't you dead?"

Alfie swallowed and looked around nervously. Ever since Tori and I got here a few hours ago, that was the first time I'd ever seen him actually scared. I guessed it was the same for the others, as they all looked as if we'd lost all hope.

"Oh, that's right," Rufus continued, ignoring Alfie's expression and sputtering. He jabbed another finger at Fabian. "This boy decided to switch the elixir at the last minute, instead giving me something that would not grant me immortality. Very clever, boy. You should join me once this ordeal is over."

"I'll join you when Hell freezes over!" he shouted, stepping forward and grabbing the Cup from Rufus' hands. "This," he continued, holding up the Cup for all to see, "doesn't belong to you. You have no business in using it, and plus, it only works every twenty-five years! Have you forgotten that, or are you planning on holding us all hostage until we're in our early forties?"

Rufus laughed maniacally, making us all cringe. "No," he answered. "I plan to kill the Chosen One and Other, then dispose of all you rats in a slow and painful way, taking the Cup for myself."

"What about the elixir?" Jerome piped up. "No one has the recipe to that, and Victor will be long dead before he can figure out how to make more of it. You're just setting yourself up for your own demise!"

"Mr. Clarke, if I stand corrected, you used to work as my spy last term, did you not?"

My jaw dropped and I turned to Jerome. "What?" I exclaimed. "But-"

"Not now, Nico!" he shouted. "I'd never work for this slime ball again."

"Oh, how you've made a huge mistake."

Then, everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Giana's POV:

My arm.

My arm was in searing pain. I was losing blood faster than I could try to stop it.

Worthless.

He had carved that word into my arm with a knife.

I was losing sense of what was around me. I was dizzy; my head spun wildly as I continued to lose blood. Eventually, I lapsed into unconsciousness.

It was dark. There was a light ahead of me, and some force was shoving me toward it involuntarily.

Don't go towards the light! I scolded myself, trying to stay rooted. It didn't help. I ended up running forward.

"Giana." An old woman's voice came out of nowhere. "You are the Chosen Other. Go to your destiny!"

I tried looking around, but I couldn't see anything. The light was blinding me even more than I already was. I couldn't take it.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What's my destiny?"

"Sarah! My name is Sarah!" she exclaimed. "You are the Chosen Other. Reach out and take the Cup. Hold it. It will help you."

"But the reason I'm in this mess is because the Cup of Ankh could fall into the wrong hands! Rufus Zeno tried to kill me - scratch that. He's succeeding. I'm dying as we speak!"

"Take the Cup," she repeated. "Hold it. It will help you."

"You're not making sense!" I shouted in frustration. Meanwhile, I was still being pushed towards the blinding, white light, fighting with all the strength and energy I had.

I heard voices. They were frantic. Shouting at one another. Shouting my name. Three of them sounded like they were crying.

Two of them sounded very familiar.

Nico? Tori? I asked myself. Why are they in England? What…?

The pain in my arm. It had returned, more than ever, ending in the worst pain I'd ever felt.

Someone was shouting, threatening everyone.

It was getting colder. I was finding it hard to breathe.

"The Cup," I whispered. "I need it."

I felt something made of metal being pressed into my hand. It was cold… but I could feel its power working through my veins.