AN:/ Alright guys i guess I'll throw you a bone. it's short so don't get too excited. No once again, I have not stopped working on this. I just happen to be in college now and starting a new chapter in my life. I am still working on this though. Honestly Iv'e spent too much time on this to stop doing it now. So no matter how long this eventually takes it will get finished. I'm actually about a third of the way through the next chapter as we speak. I'm really excited about it actually. That and the next couple of chapters will be kind of fun so yeah. I really like this chapter despite its length. I like the voice a lot. just cuz there is more of me in it and I'm not working so hard to personify whatever character happens to be in first person at the moment.

Running to the Enemy's Arms

Chapter 38 The Masters in Mind

by: deadlydaisy808

Originally Uploaded: Sunday, September 25, 2011, 12:07 AM

Third Person POV

It was Monday, November 2. The Monday immediately following Halloween. Currently it was 12:32 on what was turning out to be a typical fall day. The sun was radiating heat onto everybody it's rays could reach, making it almost unbearably hot; likewise those left in the shadows without the sun's rays to warm them, were left to wither in cold. Because of the typical fall weather, five teenagers were finding it increasingly difficult to find a comfortable seat next to the overlarge windows in their private dining room.

After watching his acquaintances struggle and squirm under the inescapable rays of the oppressive sun, Cem Kent, son of the CEO of Coca Cola got up to shut the blinds; putting his fellows out of their misery and making them feel increasingly stupid for not having thought of the simple solution themselves. Ellyn Gates, daughter of Bill Gates, rolled her eyes at Cem's smirk and continued to sip at her iced tea while she waited for conversation to start. Adrian Brin, son of the founder of Google, briefly nodded in thanks, for the glare from the sun was making it difficult to see his computer screen. Emma Conant merely blinked and looked down at her lap sheepishly. The sudden change in lighting had snapped her out of her daydreams of a certain black haired blue eyed new kid. Ever since her dance with the mysterious Masters on Halloween she hadn't been able to keep herself from wondering about the infamous heir. Bill Ford, Great grandson of Henry Ford, scowled at having been made look a fool. Bill only waited for Cem to sit down in his casual way before he deftly started conversation to redeem his dignity.

"Well, anything? I didn't see Dan at the dance at all. Even though my Dad did talk to Vlad Masters the runt was nowhere in sight. Off probably hiding in a corner like a scared toddler who doesn't know how to handle himself at these sorts of things." Emma let her brown locks fall around her face as she blushed. Very aware that she fell into the category of scared toddlers Bill had just described. Cem spoke up and decided to share the humorous tidbit he had witnessed involving Masters.

"Well he definitely was there. I know he was mobbed by a horde of mom's at one point. Poor guy." Cem snickered in his own amusement at another's misfortune before he continued. " I had gone to get you or Adrian to record the whole thing but by the time I had turned around the mob had been dispersed. I did catch a glimpse of Vlad Masters walking away with Dan though. So that explains how that worked out." Cem shrugged before the natural turn of conversation landed everyone's attention on Ellyn. She merely raised her eyebrows skeptically before she added her two cents.

"Well I didn't dance with him, if that's what you're wondering. I wasn't going to run up to him like some sort of dog as all the rest of the girls there seemed intent on doing. I don't care if you're the prince of England; if he wanted to dance, he could've asked me like a gentleman. Though it's not like he ever made it off of the dance floor. He must've danced with twenty different girls. I suppose we could weave some rumor about how he was feeling girls up. We could make him out to be a real perv, with the amount of girls he was dancing with." Ellyn trailed off, gauging how her half hazard idea would be received. Adrian shook his head slightly and stretched his back as he shut his computer.

"There is no way that rumor would take. It's too late to influence how he was perceived at the dance. There is already too much gossip out there about how much of a gentleman he was, blah blah blah. If there was anything we could use against him it would be how horrible of a dancer he was, but I doubt that would take either. I've already read several comments from girls who thought it was 'cute' that he seemed to have two left feet. At this point we'd need something quirkier than that anyway. People aren't going to turn away from him because of something little like that. We need something bigger." There was a pause in conversation as Cem, Bill, and Adrian all stared off into space to think.

None of the men thought to ask Emma what she might know. There really was no chance that the shy girl would have approached Dan by herself and none of them could see her having the courage to do anything but hide in the shadows as she usually did. None of the men thought to ask, but Ellyn did.

"Emma, you got yourself a dance with Dan, didn't you?" The boys in the room all suddenly were ripped from their thoughts with the statement. They looked quickly to Ellyn before their gazes swiveled one by one to Emma for her response. There was an expectant look on Bill's face that caused the shy girl to lower her gaze to the table. Emma froze under all of the sudden attention not, having enough nerve to look her accusers in the face to answer the question. Bill quickly became impatient and harshly prompted her to answer.

"Well, Emma, did you?" Emma kept her silent gaze to the table. Refusing, for the moment, to answer. She could not help but remember with startling clarity the conversations she had had with Dan that night. She had no trouble at all recalling his appalling dancing, or his confession of believing in ghosts. She perfectly recalled the way that he said that he would protect her from people like Bill if they ever gave her any trouble. She remembered the way that Dan had offered her sanctuary and understanding. In her heart she knew she couldn't condemn her proverbial protector to the rumor mill. She also knew that she couldn't lie about speaking with him, because Ellyn had seen that she had danced with Dan. She didn't glance up when she made her answer. Unable to hold her accuser's gaze.

"Yes. I did. My mom made sure I did." Emma took a quick bite of her food. Trying to stall for time. She knew the questions that would be asked next and she desperately did not want to answer them. The rest of the people in the room watched Emma chew silently, watching her squirm uncomfortably. Finally Bill broke the silence.

"Well?" Emma fidgeted once again as Bill's accusing gaze bored into her. She let the hairs that had fallen out of her loose ponytail fall in her face. She wouldn't tell Bill anything. She couldn't. Not after Dan had courted her so. Not after he had selflessly offered her his protection.

"He wouldn't really talk about anything with me. He knew I associate with Bill and was uncomfortable talking about anything more personal than the decorations." There was a muttered 'dammit' as Bill slumped slightly. Seeing his last chance at dirt on the naive little Masters boy slip through his fingers. Bill had hoped that after the Dance there would be something that he could use to discredit the annoying brat.

That was it then. He was going to have to resort to more crass measures.

"Alright, well I think we all remember the day we dinned with Masters?" there was a collective nod. "He leveled a threat against our harming of Jason Laurie if I recall. That in itself seems sort of suspicious to me. What reason would he have to protect that little twerp? I'd bet money that Jason knows something. I think we should get to him, somehow, and see what he knows. Then just so Masters knows we don't take him seriously we let the rumor mill run on Laurie for a while. Why should we leave the snit alone, because Masters says so? Fat chance." There were collective sounds of agreement at the plan. Really none of them could come up with anything better. It was there best shot at Masters at the moment and they supposed they should take it. Everyone agreed and conversation shifted towards the 'capture' and 'interrogation' of Jason as the atmosphere became more relaxed and they all returned to their food.

Unbenounced to everyone else in the room Emma was not pleased with the current plan. Jason was about as high up as Emma on the scale of power in the school. Jason would be going through hell if the plans laid out were left to be executed. Emma knew Jason. She knew he struggled with is parents approval at home. She knew that there was a small rumor floating around about Jason being gay that had a basis in truth. She knew that if that rumor was blown up to it's full potential, it would tear Jason's family apart.

What could she do? She couldn't let this happen. Not to someone she knew. She wouldn't say that she and Jason were friends, but they had been comrades of a sort. Being of the same status at a point before she had gotten caught up with Bill.

She had to pick the lesser of two evils. She knew there was a way to stop this from happening. She thought of Dan and how he had offered his protection. How he had made her feel comfortable and wanted. He would want her to protect Jason like Dan had protected her, wouldn't he? He would understand when she explained.

It didn't occur to Emma that Jason was as much under Dan's protection as she was. That if Bill did take a swipe a Jason, despite Dan's warning, that he would be avenged swiftly and brutally. If for no other reason than to prove that Dan's word was not to be trifled with. It didn't occur to Emma that there were other options as she betrayed the only person to ever sympathize with her and offer her protection from those that would do her harm.

"Wait guys. I remember something Dan said briefly that maybe we would use!" Conversation abruptly stopped and all of the attention was once again foisted upon the shy and timid Emma Conant.

"Well spit it out!" Bill had a giant smile on his face in anticipation of what Emma had managed to gather about Masters. Emma fidgeted briefly, assuring herself that she was doing the right thing before she spoke.

"Dan Masters told me that he believes in ghosts. Especially the one that is supposed to haunt the Masters Mansion." A wicked grin spread over Bill's face at the bit of gossip. Ellyn merely scoffed at the bizarre expression that had appeared on Bill's face. Finding the look increasingly juvenile.

"Really Bill don't get ahead of yourself. Even if that little fact happens to be true, Dan could easily deny it and no one would question him. You need some sort of proof before you go spread that story around." Slowly their gazes turned to Adrian and his laptop. Keys were already being clicked away as Adrian did their research. After a long moment Adrian glanced up and spun his laptop around. Displaying an article about a company called Axion Labs.

"Well, I couldn't find anything that would absolutely confirm that Dan believes in ghosts. I did however find this." Not bothering to read what was on the screen Bill just stared dumbly at Adrian waiting for an explanation. Adrian resisted rolling his eyes and after a pause where it was made clear Bill was waiting for him he continued to speak.

"Axion Labs is another chemical company that Vlad owns. They produce regular commercial chemicals, but their main products are ghost weapons. Used for the hunting, capture, and study of ghosts." Bill was beside himself with glee. He let out a low chuckle that was supposed to sound dark and menacing, but ended up sounding like a little kids attempt at a laughing super-villain. Ellyn rolled her eyes and bypassed reprimanding Bill for his completely idiotic behavior in favor of dictating the new plan so everyone would be on the same page.

"Alright then that is obviously more than enough proof than we needed. We can't exactly prove that Dan believes in ghosts, but we can definitely prove that the Elder Masters does. That is just as good if not better. I have no doubt that with this information brought to light that the rumor will take hold." Emma couldn't help but sigh in relief. She had successfully spared Jason and Dan would be able to protect himself from this. She was in the clear. Emma became confused however when it looked like Cem had something to say. She watched in horror as she registered what came tumbling out of Cem's mouth.

" You know, we can make sure this get's out and we can also get to Jason and see what he knows. Might as well you know? It's not like we can't do both. " Emma's eyes widened at the last bit. She timidly interjected, her voice just a bit higher than normal.

"Um, we don't really need to go after Jason now though do we? We don't really want to do all that work?" Cem shrugged, oblivious as to why Emma would be hesitant to go after Jason.

"It won't be that hard. Really Laurie is already practically falling apart by the seams. And if were going to ruin Masers we might as well go all the way." Before Emma could say anything else, Bill interrupted.

"Cem that's brilliant. I knew there was a reason I kept you around." Cem just rolled his eyes at the praise and went back to his Hawaiian chicken burger. Emma put her own fork down as she watched her plan fail utterly, and spectacularly around her.