(Author's Note: Ah, finally, I got this chapter written… Sorry everybody who's been reading the story. I've had most of this chapter written for a while, but it wasn't quite done, and I refuse to put up a chapter that's not done. Anyway, my excuse isn't a very good one – I just wasn't in the mood to write anything for the longest time and I couldn't bring myself to do it. It happens every once in a while… Especially since I moved over the break and have been concerned about graduating in May. :-P Anyway, here's the next chapter finally.. And I promise I'll try not to take so long next time! What do you guys think of this chapter? Is it too much? I'd love to hear what you think!! Thanks for reading!)

*Chapter 22*

The man dragged her across the room toward the stairs they'd gone up last time. For once, Jenny used her brains and kept her mouth shut. Night people stared at her along the way, most with hatred. They obviously knew she was human. They passed the blonde that Jenny had insulted, and he bared his teeth at her, his eyes gleaming. Jenny had never felt so afraid for her life.

Her eyes met Tiffany's. Fear swam through Tiffany's eyes, and Jenny suddenly felt guilty. This was all her fault. It had been her idea to come here, and she'd dragged Tiffany along with her. She shouldn't have told Tiffany where she was going. She should have come alone.

They reached the stairs and Jenny watched helplessly as that black door grew closer. Well, she was finally going to meet this mysterious Troy. She only hoped she could get out of this alive.

The muscle-bound man knocked twice on the door. The little window slid back and a pair of eyes looked out. "It's me," the man growled. The window slid shut again and the door opened. The same boy as before, Toby, stood there. He seemed nervous.

"H-Hello, sir."

The man pushed Toby out of the way and pulled Jenny through the door. He dragged her through the waiting room to the black door on the other side, his fingers digging into her arm. Before he opened the door, however, he stopped and looked at Jenny menacingly.

"You cooperate, and Troy just might let you live. I suggest you keep your mouth shut." He opened the door and shoved her through it, sending her to her knees on the floor.

"Hey!" Jenny exclaimed instinctively. Tiffany skidded into the room behind her, and the man closed the door. Jenny stood, brushing off her knees, then gasped in surprise. The room was not at all like she'd expected. She'd thought it would be dark and foreboding, but it was exactly opposite. The walls and floors gleamed with pale white marble. A golden chandelier hung from the ceiling, its light diffused through hundreds of crystal shards that sent splashes of color around the room. In the center of the room, in front of a huge marble fireplace, was a giant glass table. Only it didn't look like a normal table - the glass seemed too thick, and a sort of gutter ran around the outside edge. Then it struck her - that was no table; it was an altar, and the "gutter" was probably meant to catch the blood. Her jaw dropped in dismay.

"So... one of the Executioners herself," a voice said softly behind her. Jenny spun around to see a man leaning against the wall. "I've always wanted to meet one of you. You're so ... fascinating." He detached himself from the shadows in the corner and moved gracefully toward her. Tiffany clutched Jenny's arm nervously, but Jenny couldn't tear her eyes from his striking features. He moved with a fluid grace, his feet seemingly never leaving the floor.

He was not tall, being merely a few inches taller than Jenny. Although he appeared thin, Jenny could tell he was well-built and strong. White hair - pure white, like snow - fell softly around his shoulders, contrasting sharply with the black leather trenchcoat and red silk shirt he wore. A cruel smile twisted the corners of his full lips. What mesmerized Jenny, however, were his eyes. Dark red eyes, set against the pale creaminess of his skin, gazed at her. Eyes so dark they could almost be mistaken for black in the shadows. But in the light of the chandelier - those eyes were deep pools of blood that chilled Jenny to the bone.

He smiled. "Oh yes, I know who you are. I know all about you." He stopped in front of her and trailed a slim finger along her cheek. Jenny set her jaw and turned her head sharply away from him. He chuckled. "Yes, you are a feisty one. You'll do... quite well."

He spun away, waving an arm at the room. "Do you like my ... office? I decorated it myself."

Tiffany spoke for the first time. "You're Troy." A statement, not a question.

With another sweep of his arm, he bowed deeply. "But of course. The one. The only."

"What have you done with Damian?" Jenny asked.

He tilted his head sideways and gazed at her slyly. "What difference is it to you what I've done with Damian?"

Jenny pursed her lips, trying to keep her face expressionless even though Damian had said Troy knew about them. "I'd just like to know is all."

Troy nodded. "Don't worry about Damian. He's in safekeeping."

"What about the other Executioners. Where are they?" Jenny tried again.

Troy circled Jenny, caressing the surface of the altar gently with one hand. "Right to the point, just as I expected. You will find out in due time. Patience."

The familiar anger began burning in Jenny's stomach - the kind that usually got her in trouble. "Patience? My friends get kidnapped, I don't know if they're dead or alive, and all you can say is 'Patience'?"

"Jenny," Tiffany hissed.

Jenny waved her hand at her. "Let me tell you something," she spat at Troy as she walked toward him. "Patience is not one of my virtues, especially when I'm being held hostage by some... dwarf... albino!" She triggered the wrist sheath, feeling comfort as its cold hardness pressed into her hand.

Troy's smile wavered slightly, then faded altogether, but his voice remained calm. "You, vermin, know nothing about me. You are in no position to judge me, especially since I could kill you at will. Never again will you refer to me as that." He spoke as if he was ordering her, and she would obey.

Feeling braver with the weapon in her hand, Jenny walked up to him until they were separated by only a few inches. She stared up into his eyes, daring him to try something. "You look like just a bloodsucking white rat to me," she breathed.

She knew it was a mistake as soon as she said it. His eyes began to glow, the ring of red seeming alive, writhing around the blackness of his pupil. "You are dumber than I thought you were," he said evenly.

At that moment, Jenny swung her knife hand up toward his throat. He caught her wrist in his hand, squeezing harder until she cried out and dropped the knife. He was so fast - she hadn't even seen him move. He twisted her arm until she fell to her knees in agony. Sheer burning pain raced up and down her arm, and tears filled her eyes.

"Jenny!" Tiffany screamed and started toward her. One look from Troy stopped her in her tracks.

He knelt down beside Jenny, still holding her arm on the verge of the breaking point. With his other hand, he caught her chin and forced her face upward. He gazed at her, his face expressionless. "How could you, a mere vermin, ever hope to defeat me. You are small and weak, and I am immortal and powerful. I am your lord. Soon you will see that it is your fate to serve under me or die. Your God is nothing compared to me. You are alive only because I allow it. The sooner you learn that, the longer you may live."

Jenny stared at him helplessly. "You're crazy." She could see in his eyes that she had pushed him too far.

"I'm not crazy," he whispered. "I am ambitious. I will take what is mine. Death to anyone who gets in my way." He stared down at her for a minute, pushing her arm farther backwards and taking her breath away. Then, just as Jenny felt sure he was going to snap her arm, his face cleared and he released her. He pushed her across the room. "You will be joining your friends soon."

Chuckling, he turned and exited the room. Jenny lay on the floor gasping, her cheeks streaked with tears. She looked at Tiffany, who stared at her wide-eyed, face pale.

"I guess I should have kept my mouth shut," Jenny deadpanned.

A panicked laugh escaped Tiffany's lips. "What's going to happen to us?" She reached down and pulled Jenny to her feet.

Jenny shook her head. "I don't know, but I hope to God we don't see him again."

The door opened and the man who had brought Jenny in entered. He grinned when he saw them. "Hello girls. Time for a little trip."

Without warning, he slammed his gigantic fist against the side of Jenny's head.

Almost instantly, the world faded to black.

***********

When Jenny awoke, she couldn't see. For a moment, she bought a wave of sheer panic, gasping in breath.

Calm down! she ordered herself. Panicking is not going to help. She closed her eyes – not that it made much difference – and took a deep breath. How had she gotten herself in this mess? She'd gone to find Damian and managed to do nothing but get in more trouble. She hadn't even learned anything new – except that Troy was a certified loony.

"Jenny?" Tiffany's voice came from Jenny's left, very close.

She opened her eyes. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

Jenny snorted. "Well, I'm as okay as I could be after being beaten to unconsciousness and then kidnapped. How about you?"

A sigh. "Headache. But I'll be alright. Where are we?"

"Not a clue." Jenny realized her eyes had begun to adjust to the darkness a bit. She could make out Tiffany next to her, and the dim shape of the room they were sitting in. The floor beneath her was hard and cold to the touch, like metal. "What are we sitting here for? Let's see if there's a way out." She stood, gasping as her vision spun, then helped up Tiffany.

She ran her hand along the wall. It was definitely metal. "Are we … in some kind of box?" she wondered out loud.

"Jenny!" Tiffany waved at her from one wall. "Look at this!"

On the inside of the wall was a crack running down the middle. Air rushed in the crack, although very little light did. Two metal rods ran down either side of the crack.

"Oh my God," Jenny breathed.

"We're in a truck!" Tiffany finished.

Jenny yanked on one of the rods. It wouldn't budge. "We're locked in here." She leaned against the side wall and slid down to the floor. She looked up at Tiffany. "Well, I don't know the first thing about how a truck car works, do you?"

Tiffany shook her head, looking downcast. She slid down beside Jenny. They fell silent for a few minutes, then Tiffany spoke.

"I wonder what Troy meant by all that lord stuff. Taking back what's his."

Jenny leaned against Tiffany, rubbing her sore arm. "You're in Daybreak. Don't you guys know anything about him?"

Tiffany shook her head. "No. It's the strangest thing. Nobody knows anything about Troy, just that he's excessively cruel."

Jenny nodded. "I don't understand why he didn't break my arm. I know I made him angry enough to do it." She looked at Tiffany. "I could see it in his eyes - he wanted to do it, but he didn't."

"I guess you were just lucky," Tiffany said.

"Yeah, I guess so." She nodded her head, but something inside her still felt uneasy. That just didn't seem like the right answer. Troy didn't strike her as the type who normally let people off with just a warning. "I need to find a new hobby," she muttered.

At that moment, an engine roared to life, and the floor vibrated. Tiffany stared at Jenny wide-eyed. "Where are they taking us?"

***********

The monotonous buzzing of the truck's engine lulled Jenny into a light doze. Her mind drifted aimlessly, images coming to her and gone again.

Mari, being shoved in that van, and Jenny helpless to do anything about it.

Michael gazing down at her in the moonlight, concern written clearly across his face.

And Damian, that first day she'd met him in his house, the way he'd looked at her when her hat fell of and he discovered she was a girl. Hard to believe that was only last week. So much had happened since then.

God, she hoped everyone was alright. She didn't know where she was being taken, but she would try her hardest to get back her friends. She owed them that much.

The shriek of the truck hitting its jake brakes jolted Jenny awake. She was leaning against the side of the truck, her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Tiffany?" she whispered.

"I'm here." A hand came out of the darkness and grabbed Jenny's. "Are you scared?"

Jenny paused. "Yes, I am," she said, nodding into the darkness.

"Me too," Tiffany said softly.

"Promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

Jenny stood, pulling Tiffany up with her. "We do whatever we can to get everybody back. We don't give into our fear. And if we fail, it's because we were beaten and not because we didn't try our hardest. Okay?"

Tiffany nodded.

The door slid open then, spilling bright sunshine into the truck. Jenny blinked against the light, temporarily blinded. As her eyes adjusted, she could see two figures standing in the opening.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" a rough voice asked. "Vermin and a cat. Didn't know you two could go together."

Jenny held her hand in front of her, trying to block some of the glare from the light. "Who are you? What do you want with us?"

The man stepped further into the truck, blocking out some of the light so Jenny could see him. His partner hung back.

The man was big and burly, with arms as thick as Jenny's legs. He was built like a bulldog, with a large over-developed chest and tiny legs. Scars crisscrossed his face, distorting his expression so that he always looked angry and ready for a fight.

"Listen up, girly. You don't ask questions. You do what I say and that's it. You don't cause trouble and maybe we can be friends." He grinned at her, and Jenny noticed he was missing several teeth.

She didn't feel like arguing. She was in no position to fight these guys in this small cramped space, and shooting off her big mouth would probably only cause her more pain. Instead, she nodded, gritting her teeth.

The man beckoned her forward. She grabbed Tiffany's arm and approached him.

"Hold out your hands," he growled. Jenny opened her mouth to protest, then shut it again. Silently, she held out her hands. He pulled out a length of rope and wound it around her wrists.

"Oh, come on," she couldn't help groaning.

The man scowled. "Take it up with the boss. His orders. I told him I could handle a couple of little girls, but he apparently didn't agree." Grumbling, he tied Tiffany's hands too. Jenny had to admire her bravery. She stood with her head held high, her face calm. She definitely had more control than Jenny, who was fighting the impulse to hit the man in the mouth and knock out a few more of those teeth.

The man's partner stepped into the truck. He was tall and blond, and his face was cold. Jenny somehow felt the partner was the more dangerous of the two. The blonde patted his side, where a scabbard hung at his waist.

The first man snickered. "That means you try to run, he'll kill you with that sword of his. Saul don't talk much, but he means what he says." Saul just stared at them, eyes narrowed.

Jenny risked a glance at Tiffany, meeting her eyes. Determination filled Tiffany's eyes, and she nodded imperceptibly.

Scarface turned and stepped out of the truck. "Well, come on, we ain't got all day." Saul stood guard at the end of the truck until the girls stepped out. Sunlight poured down on them, and Jenny did a double-take as she got her first glimpse of where they'd been taken.

"A cemetery?" she exclaimed. She raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

Scarface grinned his toothless grin. "Kinda cool, huh? The boss has a weird sense of humor."

"Who's your boss?" Tiffany asked.

He opened his mouth, but closed it again at a shake of the head from Saul. "Hey, what did I tell you about questions?"
Jenny rolled her eyes. "You think we seriously buy your big, bad bully man impression? Even I can tell just by looking at you that you're just a hunk of brainless meat to be bossed around by other people. So why don't you just quit it."

Color rose on the man's face, and he sputtered. "Why you…" He stopped, gritting his teeth. "Come on! I'm tired of standing here." He turned and marched off down the path.

Saul turned away from Jenny, but not before she saw a flash of amusement cross his face. He turned back to her, his face serious again, and shoved her in Scarface's direction.

"Alright, alright," she muttered. She and Tiffany followed, picking their way down a path strewn with rocks and holes. She surveyed her surroundings as they walked. They were indeed in a cemetery, but a very old one. Headstones were small and smooth, their words washed away with time. In the distance, she could see an overgrown wrought iron fence surrounding the cemetery. A thick wall of trees pushed at the fence, as if trying to get inside. The only sound was their footsteps crunching in the grass and the wind whistling through the bars of the fence. Wherever this cemetery was, it had apparently been forgotten long ago.

Jenny walked alongside Tiffany, their arms brushing occasionally. After a few minutes of walking, an idea popped into Jenny's head. Keeping her head down, she elbowed Tiffany's arm and jerked her head in the direction they were walking. Tiffany raised her eyes, then looked at Jenny with understanding.

They slowed their footsteps, allowing Scarface to get farther ahead of them. The path sloped uphill and when they reached the top of the hill, they stopped.

Saul came up next to Jenny, his hand on his sword handle. "Why are you stopping?" he asked, his voice amazingly high-pitched for such a big man.

Jenny bit her lip, trying not to laugh. No wonder he didn't talk much. Scarface continued walking, no clue that anything was happening.

"My … my leg cramped. I just need to stop a second."

Saul stared at her suspiciously. Jenny held out her leg and rotated her foot around. "Oh, that's better," she said, looking at her foot. When Saul glanced down at her foot, Jenny rushed at him. She lowered her head and hit him in the stomach, while Tiffany ran around behind him and tripped him as he stepped backward. He fell to the ground and somersaulted down the side of the hill.

"Come on, Jenny!" Tiffany hissed, already heading down the other side of the hill.

But Jenny stayed, watching Saul going down the hill, his feet kicking up over his head. If he got right back up again, they were done for. Saul reached the bottom of the hill and slid to a stop, hitting his head on the stone step ledge of a tomb. He fell still, his body motionless. Triumph welled up inside Jenny and she clenched her fists in victory. "Yes!" She hadn't planned that, but it worked out well.

Scarface had finally realized they weren't behind him and was stumbling his way awkwardly back up the hill. "Hey, you! Stop!" he yelled, his face red.

"First you have to catch us, you jerk!" Jenny yelled at him. Tiffany still stood just below the crest of the hill, watching her.

"What now?" she yelled.

"Run!"