Surprise! Another chapter (so soon? It must be a joke!) Three reasons you're getting this so early: 1) You guys and the support have been amazing,and you deserve it! 2) I may not be able to post this coming week, and 3) I'm thinking I'm going to finish this this month, or early next month. Maybe by my birthday.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chauncey's POV

It was time.

I'd previously visited the school, laden with chains, heavy-duty locks, and some devilcraft smoke bombs. They would supposedly mask where I was, throwing him off and making it harder to fight me. Hank had promised they'd shown signs of being effective. Euphoric, I'd whistled Lollipop as I locked every single door, except for one. "Oh, love's gonna get you down," I sung quietly, sauntering to the beat in my mind. Every part of this plan had to be perfect, and my details needed to a tee. Elliot was presently finding that annoying little girl, Vee Sky, to act as bait. Silly little wench, I thought ruefully to myself. If I were the same man from the Loire, so long ago, she would have been one of the many servants I would have easily bedded. No matter how I behaved, no matter how much I blatantly treated her like the subservient she was, she continuously stood up for my behavior to Nora. "I'll convince her to come on this trip," she said, like a good little chick. Nora, while weak-willed, was more serious, and I wasn't sure how they were friends. I would expect better of my blood line, but she was so far and indirectly descended that we weren't even really related anymore. So, maybe I shouldn't expect it of her, I teased myself.

When I came back to the only unlocked door, I noted with suspicion that it was slightly ajar. I sensed around, but there was no one there. Damn it! If you messed up even this!? I wouldn't even let myself finish that statement. I wouldn't let such a simple mistake ruin my mood. Luckily he wasn't here yet, so I could write this one off. I thought over the school's floor plan one final time. The perfect place to place Vee, the fourth floor bungalows. Not only would that trap Nora, but it would increase the amount of ways to do away with her. Maybe I'll push her off the building, or maybe hang her like that Halverson girl, I plotted, or I could push through her heart with a baseball bat. Wouldn't that give a shock? If it weren't for my consuming hatred for him, I would almost feel bad for the girl. She was simply with the wrong person, at the wrong time, who had the wrong enemy.

Wrong enemy, indeed. Just thinking of the horror; pain; agony; helplessness that would show on his face when he saw that I had his love in my grasp and he couldn't do anything about it filled me warmth. What if he begs? I'll draw it out and watch him cry! The thought had me borderline orgasmic.

Focus, so you can see the day! I shook my head and pulled out my phone. It was answered on the first ring.

"Yes?" An aggressive voice answered.

"It's done?"

The voice became immediately complacent. "Found it at the movie theater, sir. Wheels ruined, sir."

"Good."

I hung up on the underling. The Jeep was disabled, meaning that he would no longer have his signature vehicle, with all its extra add-ons and power, to get away. It would also piss him off; just a little insult to further the injury. My phone rang again; this time it was Hank.

"Hank," I answered suavely.

"Chauncey—"

"I thought I told you not to bother me tonight?"

"But—I should warn you—"Hank went silent, and when he answered, his voice was quiet. "You're right, sir."

"Thank you." I hung up on him. No one, not even my right hand in command, could ruin this for me tonight. The unlocked door swung open, and Elliot and Vee's voices carried through the hall.

"Oooh! This is so divine!" Vee squealed.

"I could say the same, Vee my dear." I said, smiling at her. She blushed- this was the most pleasant I'd ever been towards her. Even when I took her to my home, I wasn't extremely pleasant.

"Jules! Was this your idea?" she simpered. "How awesome is this?" Silly thing didn't even seem to care what we were doing was illegal. Not that it mattered too much anymore.

"It's going to be very awesome." I answered simply, looking meaningfully at Elliot. He caught my drift fairly quickly.

"We're going to play hide-and-seek in the dark, abandoned school." He teased, waggling his fingers at her. "You gonna' punk out?"

Vee straightened her back. "As if! What are the rules?"

"The doors around the building are all locked. Outside is off limits. Besides that, rule free." I answered.

"You did what?" she asked. I looked her into her eyes.

"You were with me when I locked the doors. You agreed that it was fair." I mind-commanded her.

"Sounds great! Let's play!" she said, clapping her hands.

"Hold on," Elliot said, stopping her. "We've only got three players. We at least need four. What about Nora?"

Vee sobered, considering the situation. "But…this sort of thing isn't really Nora's deal. She wouldn't be very happy with the idea of playing here…maybe we should play somewhere—"

I'd grabbed her face firmly between mine. "Call Nora. Make her come 'play'."

She turned and grabbed the phone Elliot held out.

"Babe! Where are you?" she asked. Nora answered, and Vee nodded. "I'm at school. We broke in. We want to play hide-and-seek but don't have enough people for two teams. So…do you know of a fourth person who could play with us?"

"Elliot wants to tell you something, darling. He says that if you don't come play…" I whispered, so that my voice couldn't be heard over the phone. Looking pointedly at Elliot, I imitated a rope stringing my neck. He paled.

"Elliot wants me to tell you that if you don't come be his partner—hang on—what?" Elliot grabbed for the phone.

"Vee, dear, come with me. I know of a perfect place for us to hide, and maybe something else." I winked suggestively. Eyes widening, she ran off with me. She never heard Elliot threatening her life.

As we ran up the stairs, she seemed to have a clue as to where we were going.

"Oh my gosh! The E-Zine lab! You are so perfect!"

I simply smiled. When we arrived, I turned and closed the door. Vee was panting fairly hard. We sat in there, silent, for about ten or so minutes pretending to hide. Vee grumbled, growing impatient. As was I. Done with the charade, I stood.

"You all right?" I asked. My face was hidden in the dark, made only starker by the small amount of moonlight shining on my chest. Vee leaned up, and for the first time she flinched. I grinned wickedly, and she took a step back.

"Jules?" she whispered, confused.

"Vee? Whatever is the problem? You look awfully pale. Do you need a hand?" I said, leaning forward.

"No! No, no I'm all right. Should we be playing so soon? Maybe we should go find Elliot, and wait until Nora gets here." She suggested. When she moved past me, I held my arm out.

"But Vee, the fun has only begun." I hissed. Grabbing her stomach, I pushed her onto the ground. When she screamed, and began to crawl away, I grabbed one of the keyboards. Before she could reach the door, I swung it and it connected with the back of her head. She immediately fell unconscious, and I dragged her into the middle of the room. I'd return for her later. Satisfied, I left her there and strolled down the stairs.

Elliot met me in the library.

"She dealt with?" he asked. I nodded. "Excellent. I was so sick of her voice."

"Is Nora Grey near?" I asked him impatiently. I needed to get into position, quickly.

"Oh yeah, she's outside. That creep of a boyfriend came into the building fifteen or so minutes ago. That's why I moved rooms. He's scoping the place out, I think."

My eye twitched. He was in the building?! I wasn't aware of this, why?! I backhanded Elliot across the room and into the concrete wall. His body bounced off of it, cracking his skull, and he landed on the ground.

"Jules…I don't…" he stopped to cough up some blood. "I don't understand…"

I grabbed him by his collar.

"You didn't tell me he was here!" I whispered, enraged. I punched him in the face. "You had one job! Honestly, you've been more trouble than a pair of eyes have been worth," I punched him in the stomach to emphasize my words "and I'm going to have a lovely time wringing the life from you!" I placed my hands around his neck and began to squeeze. His eyes popped out, his bloody mouth gurgled, and his skin began to turn a hideous purple. Suddenly, I heard a door open. I immediately dropped Elliot and shrank into the shadows, sensing out. Human…Nora Grey! Yes!

Making myself invisible, I quickly moved into the hallway. She was too close…I couldn't get any closer to her without becoming suspicious. I needed her to see me, but I needed to be on the defense. He was in the building, and there was no way I could risk him seeing me so soon. What can I do?!

She turned around the corner, and I dropped to the ground.

*SPOILER FOR ETERNAL in NOTE*

The funny part is, I make Patch so unconcerned by Elliot because you'd never think Elliot could really do anything because he's human (readers of Eternal know that's not the case!) I never even intended on Elliot being the villain in that; it sort of happened as a good idea.

*SPOILER OVER*

Anyway, I liked to toy with the idea that devilcraft would be in its baby stages right now, and it could explain why Patch was in the building for so long and never ONCE passed across them at ALL during the whole confrontation (I always wondered why he didn't sense them there). Also, Chauncey is singing Lollipop from Pitch Perfect 2 because I was listening to it at the time when I was typing, so yeah, that's a thing. Don't worry, I'll do this from Patch's POV too, but these next chapters are going to do a lot of intertwining because Chauncey's is just as important. I'd also like to write from Vee's POV one day..maybe when/if I do Crescendo...

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