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CHAPTER 25
Jade's POV

"Mr. Valentine?" I stepped forward as the goo slid down towards my eyes and I wiped it away quickly.

The man turned around, looking like a scared mouse. "Oh, it's Jade, isn't it?" He popped off his hood and took a deep breath.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Valentine? Were you the person that set the Hollywood Arts parking lot on fire?"

"I did no such thing. What are you talking about?"

"Yes you do. Stop lying."

"I'm not."

"Lying got you this far, Mr. Valentine, but now you've run into me. I know all of your secrets," I said simply. He raised his eyebrows as I continued. "Why are you so obsessed with fire? Why did you kill Cat?" Saying her name raised a lump in my throat.

"I couldn't do it," he whispered, leaning back on the wall behind him. "I couldn't…as much as I tried…"

"You couldn't what?" I took a bold step forward, trying to look as threatening as possible even with strands of slime dripping from my clothes.

"I never meant to hurt her," Mr. Valentine was crouched down, covering his face like a frightened little boy. "I never intended to kill her. I thought she was going to be out of the house by the time I came…but she wasn't… and I lost it."

"Heck yes you did," I growled. "Now your very own daughter will never get to live out her dream of becoming an actress and singer because she's currently buried six feet underground."

Mr. Valentine gripped his head like he was only now just realizing what he had done. "I couldn't control myself. The will was too strong. Why did all this have to happen to me?" He stood up, grabbing the windowsill for support and smashing his fists against the walls, which dented slightly underneath his power.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who caused it all in the first place!"

He walked over to me slowly, looking down with a gaze so full of guilt and hatred I actually took a step back. "You would never understand, Jade. No one would. I couldn't control myself, and that's why it all happened!"

And suddenly, his eyes flickered and I knew that he was no longer Mr. Valentine, but the man who has killed his own daughter and dozens of others in the fires he had started.

"Those men…I killed them all…made them pay for what they did to me."

"What are you talking about?" I repeated.

"When I was a young lad, Jade, much like you once were except of opposite gender, I went on vacation with my parents. The hotel I was staying at had a fire start. It was a big, scary one, something that I'll never forget. Both of my parents died trying to get me out, but not after I'd seen the affects and the wills some people have against others.

"From that moment on, I looked at fire in a different way. And now it does something funny to me. I became so afraid of it, that I developed another side. A side that loved it so much. All of my fear fueled it on, the looks on other's faces when they realized their fate…made me feel like I was in control…like I could do anything."

"You murdered a bunch of innocent people!" I shouted, my fists by my sides shaking. "My mom included."

"I'm sorry about that dear. Oh, wait," he snapped his fingers, "no, not really." There was a low rumble in his throat, and he rolled his head back, his voice now softening. "Do you know what it's like…to see all those people die…knowing that you're the one causing it and there's no way in the world that you can help stop it?"

What? One moment he was yelling at me, and now he's apologizing?

"That's why there's medicines you take and people that specialize in this kind of problem," I said tersely.

"Oh, so you know about my pills? I knew someone had stolen one of my keys. Freaked me out a lot, quite honestly. But of course, little Kitty Cat paid for it in the end."

"You sick monster," I screeched. "How could you do that to her? HOW?"

"She knew too much," Mr. Valentine crouched down again, licking his lips like a psychotic maniac. "She knew I had two personalities, not that it bothered my 'good' side. But then she had to go and upset the 'bad' Mr. Valentine and he's the one who did it! You can't blame me!" He started sobbing, pressing his hands against his mouth.

"You. Are. One. Person." I seethed. "It doesn't matter which side did it! The only thing that does is that your own daughter is now dead!"

"I miss her!" Mr. Valentine bawled, rocking back and forth. "I miss seeing her every day! I miss hearing her laugh, and her adorable smile!" He completely broke down, but I didn't lighten up, even though the tears threatened to spill out of my own eyes.

"Maybe you should of thought of that before."

And then he snapped. Again.

"You think this is a game, Jade? You think that I did all those things because I wanted to see how people reacted? You think I hurt my own daughter and her best friend multiple times because I was bored?" He shoved me hard by the shoulders and I staggered back a couple of feet. "And now, now it's going to get a whole lot worse.

"You know that Cat died because of a poison that was put into her system, right?" Mr. Valentine licked his lips and his eye twitched.

"You put it there in the first place," I snarled, still backing up, not knowing which way I was even going.

"Well, now it's all over you too."

I knew it.

"I invented the creation myself, if you must know." Mr. Valentine stepped away from me, rubbing his chin like he was some sort of genius. "Not only is it highly acidic, hence, the reason why Cat died, but it's also extremely flammable. But, let me tell you, I never actually knew it just being in a human's system would slowly kill them over a course of a few weeks, so technically, I never truly meant to kill her." He smiled sinisterly. "But of course, you getting that all over your body was on purpose."

I tried to stop breathing in the invisible fumes of the poison on my skin and started rubbing it off onto my clothes.

"Stop. You're only making it worse. But by now it's probably seeped through your pores and is slowly making its way through your body. Don't worry, though. If you can get out of here quick, you can stop it before it spreads like with what happened to Cat. If you get out."

"There are people," I almost pleaded, "who can help you get over this problem. It doesn't have to be like this."

"Oh of course not. It's just too late."

"My friends are here. When they hear me scream, they'll come up here with the police and stop you," I threatened, staring him down.

"You're not going to scream, not yet at least."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

"BEC—" I started, but realized that he was right. I wasn't going to scream.

Because suddenly in his hands was a small box of matches.

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"I do believe I mentioned that the poison is also very, very flammable, correct?" He started pacing back and forth, pushing the box open and taking one stick out. "It helps the buildings burn quickly…and doesn't give off a lot of smoke either. It's an arsonist's dream tool."

And now I'm covered in it. Oh great.

Mr. Valentine put the match away, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small bottle about the size of a beer one. He took off the cap and turned it upside down. I watched with disgust as more of the substance slid out, and he dripped it in a half-circle, trapping me against a wall.

"What are you doing?" I was starting to go into full panic mode, especially knowing what could possibly happen to me.

He threw the bottle away, it smashed onto the floor, the little bit of poison left seeping out of the cracks. "You have been a bad girl, Jade. You and all of your friends, but I assume you take most responsibility because you're the leader?"

Crap. This always happens in the movies.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I lied.

"Don't think I didn't notice that one of our apartment keys went missing, and when I come home, certain things all over seem to be out of place. You're lucky I didn't mention it to my wife. Silly girl, she's going to be in so much pain when I'm through dealing with you."

"What do you mean?" Why is he talking about her?

He took out a match again, testing the end against the side of the box. "I'm going to need to leave the state, leave the country once I'm done with you and your little gang."

"You don't have to do this," I tried to reason for the last time.

"Oh yes I do. You know too much, Jade. About me, everything I've done, what I'm going to do."

"I didn't ask to know any of that."

"I didn't ask you to listen to it either. But either way, you are not getting out of here looking like that." He pointed to my goo-covered body.

"You do anything to me…my friends…they'll know you're the one who did this."

"Jade, do you really think I would be this stupid? Tsk, tsk, tsk." Mr. Valentine grinned, looking me in the eye, a glint of pure evil hiding behind the pupils. "Don't fret. I've got everything planned out. I spent the past few weeks wiring up the pipes in this place with my creation. Once I set it off, this building goes off in flames, along with everyone inside of it. And if you think you're friends are going to have the smarts to get out of here before it does, well, they won't want to once they hear you start screaming."

He lit up the match, the little blue flame dancing and almost laughing at me. "I'm going to count to three. And when I do, I'm going to drop this match. And I think you know what happens after that."

Of course. I'm covered and surrounded by your flammable matter.

"Just think about it. Cat and everyone else you've killed are watching you right now. Whether or not you believe in ghosts or the coming of a dead spirit, at some point, they're all going to be back and make you regret everything you've done."

"You said I also killed your mother? Well, you obviously must be her daughter. She was the only one that day to stand up to me, like you are now. Just like family, some say. She even looked and talked exactly like you. And like her, you're trying to get me to stop. And like her, I'm going to kill you in the exact same way."

"Don't talk about my mom like that." Knowing that my own mother was doing what I was just gave me more strength to keep at it.

"Oh, well, you'll get to join her, along with Cat and eventually the rest of your friends, but right after you die a most painful death." He shook the match he'd been holding, sticking it in his pocket and lighting a fresh one.

I knew there was no way out.

I knew there was nothing I could do now.

I knew I was going to die.

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Mr. Valentine eyed the glowing flame, and then looked at me.

"One."

My last minute thoughts swirled around in my head.

Beck, I love you. You're the best boyfriend any girl in the world could possibly ever have, and I'm so glad you picked me over everyone else.

Robbie, I still think that you're really weird even after all of this time, and I'm glad that you got what you wanted to know with Cat. Take care of that necklace. It's her going-away present for you. And one more thing. Even though it was super weird and annoying, I secretly thought it was kind of cool how you could throw your voice with Rex so convincingly.

André, you are one of my best guy friends. You're a super talented musician and your singing voice is amazing. If I wasn't dating Beck already, I'd seriously consider dating you.

Tori Vega, the girl whose guts I seem to hate. You're a really loyal friend and I know I can count on you no matter what I do to you. And, I think you're actually really adorable when you cry.

"Two."

I stared at Mr. Valentine as hard as I could. I was going to make sure he wouldn't forget about this moment. You're going to regret this for the rest of your life.

"Three."

The match fell in slow motion.

I didn't even see it hit the ground, because the next thing I knew, my whole world was on fire.

. . .

I dunno. Review?