New Note: The date used for Dylan's mothers pregnancy is based on Drew
Barrymore's actual birthday. Get over it if you don't like it. The movies
don't say how old Dylan is.
(Ok chapter 9. I hope you are having fun. I know I am So we now know who did it but was the last paragraph a surprise? I alluded to it a bit earlier. Anyway I own no one but Karl, Katja, Andreas, Michael, Helga and the chauffer Helmar. I also want to once again thank Ali815 and Skyfire4 for reviewing, you two are great! I can only hope that there are more people reading this but even if there isn't you two are enough. )
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Anthony had learned the maze the night before as he stood on the balcony of Dylan's room waiting for the sun to rise. He knew that in certain places the paths looped back into themselves to confuse unsuspecting people, he made his way behind Dylan and Michael by using one of these paths. He could hear them talking but couldn't make out what was being said however he could tell the tone of the angel's changed from being relaxed to being nervous. He had heard that sound in her voice before as she stood draped in nothing but a sheet in McCadden's living room.
He rounded the corner just in time to see Michael raise the gun. "How it feels to be a dying rose, mein Schatz," said the butler. Anthony darted forward with a whooping battle cry. Michael turned around and saw a pair a pale blue eyes blazing at him, full of anger. Dylan lifted the long flowing skirt of her dress and kicked Michael. He stumbled and the gun went off and the shot wild. Anthony was nicked by the bullet in the shoulder. He drew is sword and brought it down on the hand that Michael held the gun with. "Scheiße," yelled the butler, and went after the angel. "I'm not going to let you.screw..this.up." He punched the angel in the face. She staggered backwards but didn't fall.
Dylan fought, she attacked with all she had managing to kick him in the stomach and as he stumbled under the pain she hit him the face with a nice right cross. He fell to the ground unconscious. "It is so cliché that the butler did it," said Dylan checking the man's pulse. Anthony raised his sword over the body ready to plunge it into Michael's chest. "No," said Dylan softly touching his arm. He turned and looked at her, his eyes softening. She then began to unwrap the braiding on her dress. "We can tie him with this." Anthony took the braiding from her and hogtied the man on the ground. Dylan noticed that his arm was bleeding. "Are you hurt?" Anthony shook his head, "no". "But you are," said Dylan looking at his arm.
Anthony pulled away from the heat of her touch. He would have loved to stay there with her and let her take care of him but he had a job to do and the duties of that job had changed. He took out a pad of paper and quickly wrote, "We don't have time we have to find Mills."
"Why," asked Dylan. Anthony didn't answer he just grabbed her hand a pulled her towards the house. Once they made it to the back deck he wrote, "Go to the Count, and stay with him." He started to give it to her then as an after thought he wrote, "I love you." He handed her the note and left before she could react.
*-*-*-*-*
Natalie helped Karl up the stairs, he was heavy and he left it up to her to support most of his weight. "Karl you have to help a little."
"I'm trying to," the man grunted pulling himself along using the banister. "My room is to the last one on the left."
She looked at his flushed face which was perspiring and wondered if he was having a heart attack. Katja was so worried about someone killing her fiancé but Natalie wondered what the woman would do when she was told the secretary was dead from heart failure on the main stairway. They made it to Karl's room which was a pig sty. "Help me to the bed," he panted.
"Does your left arm hurt?"
"No," he said out of breath. He threw the mask on the floor and leaned back on the pile of pillows placing one hand behind his head. "Can you stay? I really don't feel so good." Natalie always had a soft spot for children, animals and sick people. She didn't particularly care for Karl Mills but her soft spot took over. She cleared off the chair opposite of the bed which was covered in t-shirts, underwear and Bitburger beer bottles, and sat down.
"Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be rich," he asked her.
"Sometimes."
"What would you do for three hundred thousand dollars?"
Natalie didn't have clue what he was talking about but figured she would play along. "I don't know? March in the Macy's Thanksgiving's Day Parade naked maybe."
Karl arched an eye brow at her response and though he would probably pay that much to see her naked in the parade. "Would you marry someone ya didn't love;" he asked.
"No. I believe that everyone has someone for them and if you marry a person for a reason like that then they aren't your soul mate."
"Then you believe in souls," the man said.
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Well then since you are an angel I'm sure you will go to heaven." Natalie caught a glimpse of something in the mirror; it was Anthony signaling her to move. She got out of the way just as Karl Mills fired the gun. The bullet broke the window but Natalie was unharmed. Anthony came into the room sword drawn. "What there hell," asked Karl. "Fine then you finish her, but I thought you wanted the cute redhead."
At the sound of the gun shot and breaking glass Dylan turned to the count, "Go to your study, stay there, lock the door and don't let anyone in. Alex," she yelled.
"Right here," the lovely Asian angel stood at her side.
"We have to help Anthony."
"What? Anthony? The Creepy Thin Man? What is he doing here?"
"There's no time to explain," cried Dylan as she headed for the stairs with Alex close behind her. They ran to the top of the stairs and heard Natalie. As they entered the room they saw her fighting with Anthony. "Natalie, it's not him its Mills," said Dylan.
"It is so him sweetie pie," crowed Mills watching the fight. "He's a hired assassin just like me. I'd tell you to ask the boss about him but you won't be around to be doing any asking." Dylan watched Anthony fight Natalie. She didn't want to believe what Mills was saying, but part of her did. Anthony saw doubt creeping into Dylan's eyes so he dropped is sword and only defended himself. He hated not using his weapon of choice but he wanted to show her he was on the side of the angels. Alex edged closer to Karl. Mills then raised his gun and pointed it at Alex and Dylan. "Uh-uh one of you makes a move towards me and you're dead."
Suddenly Anthony spun around and attacked Mills catching him off guard, but the talkative man was tougher than he looked. The two wrestled around on the ground fighting over the weapon. Mills bashed the butt of the gun into Anthony's chin. His lower lip split, blood running down his neck. The two men struggled for dominance switching places several times then the gun went off.
*-*-*-*-*
Andreas, Graf von Buchholz locked himself in his study like the angel told him to. Sitting at his desk with his head in his hands, he couldn't believe this was happening someone wanted to kill him. There was no reason for anyone to want to kill him. When he heard the gun go off he couldn't believe it, he had been too shocked to move, if it hadn't been for Dylan he still would have been standing in the middle of the party, a target for the madman.
There was a knock at the study door. Andreas lifted his head, "Who is it?" Katja's voice came muffled through the solid oak door. "It's me, Kat. Let me in." Andreas hesitated, "I can't Dylan said for me to keep the door locked."
On the other side of the door Katja began to get angry then calmed herself by taking deep breaths. "Andi, come on think of all the fun things we could do if you let me in," she said playfully. She waited for an answer but none came. "Andreas? Are you still there?"
"Yes," he said. He didn't know what to do. He loved Katja but what if someone was with her making her say these things.
As if she was outside the door reading his mind she said, "I'm alone and a very lonely princess," making reference to her costume. "I want to come in and hide from the big bad dragon." How she was tired of playing games with him. She could only hope that Karl and the quite man were finishing off the angels. While she waited for Andreas to make up his mind she practiced her horrified expression in the hallway mirror. It had to be convincing for her to get away with it. Her two hired men would finish the angels and she would take care of the count. Of course she had it all set up to look like someone else did the poor photo-sensitive fool in then she would be home free. All her plans would be fulfilled. In mid sneer she turned as she heard the lock tumblers rotate. Andreas had made his decision and that decision made her evening.
*-*-*-*-*
Anthony collapsed on Mills as the gun went off. The resistance of Mills strong arms which held the Thin Man off of him faded as the bullet penetrated his stomach. "Anthony," called Dylan. Neither man was moving. The redheaded angel dropped to her knees next to the fallen men. "Anthony," she said softy. He rolled off of Mills his face and shirt covered with blood. "Are you hit?" Anthony shook his head "no" and reached up to touch Dylan's hair. He threaded his fingers through her wavy red locks and she braced herself for the pull. He paused and looked at her wanting to know if he could. She smiled and told him, "Yes, go ahead." He did and it hurt but she tried not to let it show.
Mills was still alive, but barely. He coughed and a bubble of blood formed on his lips. "Rhonda." He said reaching out to no one. "I'm sorry, Rhonda," then Karl Mills faded away.
"The Count," yelled Alex, "we've forgotten about the Count."
"I sent him to his study and told him to lock the doors and not let anyone in," said Dylan as she helped Anthony sit up. "Will you be okay?" Anthony nodded and waved her out of the room. The three angels ran down the stairs and in the direction of the Count's study.
Anthony saw Karl's wallet sitting on the dresser. He picked it up, looked at the worn brown leather and opened it. He saw Karl was a member of the NRA, had more credit cards than anyone should have, there were pictures of the man with his dog and an older photo which was a bit yellow and crumbling with age of him and a beautiful pregnant blonde woman who bore a striking resemblance to Dylan. He removed the picture from its little plastic sleeve and turned it over. On the back was written, Rhonda Zaas 1974. The woman was Dylan's mother.
(Ok chapter 9. I hope you are having fun. I know I am So we now know who did it but was the last paragraph a surprise? I alluded to it a bit earlier. Anyway I own no one but Karl, Katja, Andreas, Michael, Helga and the chauffer Helmar. I also want to once again thank Ali815 and Skyfire4 for reviewing, you two are great! I can only hope that there are more people reading this but even if there isn't you two are enough. )
*-*-*-*-*
Anthony had learned the maze the night before as he stood on the balcony of Dylan's room waiting for the sun to rise. He knew that in certain places the paths looped back into themselves to confuse unsuspecting people, he made his way behind Dylan and Michael by using one of these paths. He could hear them talking but couldn't make out what was being said however he could tell the tone of the angel's changed from being relaxed to being nervous. He had heard that sound in her voice before as she stood draped in nothing but a sheet in McCadden's living room.
He rounded the corner just in time to see Michael raise the gun. "How it feels to be a dying rose, mein Schatz," said the butler. Anthony darted forward with a whooping battle cry. Michael turned around and saw a pair a pale blue eyes blazing at him, full of anger. Dylan lifted the long flowing skirt of her dress and kicked Michael. He stumbled and the gun went off and the shot wild. Anthony was nicked by the bullet in the shoulder. He drew is sword and brought it down on the hand that Michael held the gun with. "Scheiße," yelled the butler, and went after the angel. "I'm not going to let you.screw..this.up." He punched the angel in the face. She staggered backwards but didn't fall.
Dylan fought, she attacked with all she had managing to kick him in the stomach and as he stumbled under the pain she hit him the face with a nice right cross. He fell to the ground unconscious. "It is so cliché that the butler did it," said Dylan checking the man's pulse. Anthony raised his sword over the body ready to plunge it into Michael's chest. "No," said Dylan softly touching his arm. He turned and looked at her, his eyes softening. She then began to unwrap the braiding on her dress. "We can tie him with this." Anthony took the braiding from her and hogtied the man on the ground. Dylan noticed that his arm was bleeding. "Are you hurt?" Anthony shook his head, "no". "But you are," said Dylan looking at his arm.
Anthony pulled away from the heat of her touch. He would have loved to stay there with her and let her take care of him but he had a job to do and the duties of that job had changed. He took out a pad of paper and quickly wrote, "We don't have time we have to find Mills."
"Why," asked Dylan. Anthony didn't answer he just grabbed her hand a pulled her towards the house. Once they made it to the back deck he wrote, "Go to the Count, and stay with him." He started to give it to her then as an after thought he wrote, "I love you." He handed her the note and left before she could react.
*-*-*-*-*
Natalie helped Karl up the stairs, he was heavy and he left it up to her to support most of his weight. "Karl you have to help a little."
"I'm trying to," the man grunted pulling himself along using the banister. "My room is to the last one on the left."
She looked at his flushed face which was perspiring and wondered if he was having a heart attack. Katja was so worried about someone killing her fiancé but Natalie wondered what the woman would do when she was told the secretary was dead from heart failure on the main stairway. They made it to Karl's room which was a pig sty. "Help me to the bed," he panted.
"Does your left arm hurt?"
"No," he said out of breath. He threw the mask on the floor and leaned back on the pile of pillows placing one hand behind his head. "Can you stay? I really don't feel so good." Natalie always had a soft spot for children, animals and sick people. She didn't particularly care for Karl Mills but her soft spot took over. She cleared off the chair opposite of the bed which was covered in t-shirts, underwear and Bitburger beer bottles, and sat down.
"Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be rich," he asked her.
"Sometimes."
"What would you do for three hundred thousand dollars?"
Natalie didn't have clue what he was talking about but figured she would play along. "I don't know? March in the Macy's Thanksgiving's Day Parade naked maybe."
Karl arched an eye brow at her response and though he would probably pay that much to see her naked in the parade. "Would you marry someone ya didn't love;" he asked.
"No. I believe that everyone has someone for them and if you marry a person for a reason like that then they aren't your soul mate."
"Then you believe in souls," the man said.
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Well then since you are an angel I'm sure you will go to heaven." Natalie caught a glimpse of something in the mirror; it was Anthony signaling her to move. She got out of the way just as Karl Mills fired the gun. The bullet broke the window but Natalie was unharmed. Anthony came into the room sword drawn. "What there hell," asked Karl. "Fine then you finish her, but I thought you wanted the cute redhead."
At the sound of the gun shot and breaking glass Dylan turned to the count, "Go to your study, stay there, lock the door and don't let anyone in. Alex," she yelled.
"Right here," the lovely Asian angel stood at her side.
"We have to help Anthony."
"What? Anthony? The Creepy Thin Man? What is he doing here?"
"There's no time to explain," cried Dylan as she headed for the stairs with Alex close behind her. They ran to the top of the stairs and heard Natalie. As they entered the room they saw her fighting with Anthony. "Natalie, it's not him its Mills," said Dylan.
"It is so him sweetie pie," crowed Mills watching the fight. "He's a hired assassin just like me. I'd tell you to ask the boss about him but you won't be around to be doing any asking." Dylan watched Anthony fight Natalie. She didn't want to believe what Mills was saying, but part of her did. Anthony saw doubt creeping into Dylan's eyes so he dropped is sword and only defended himself. He hated not using his weapon of choice but he wanted to show her he was on the side of the angels. Alex edged closer to Karl. Mills then raised his gun and pointed it at Alex and Dylan. "Uh-uh one of you makes a move towards me and you're dead."
Suddenly Anthony spun around and attacked Mills catching him off guard, but the talkative man was tougher than he looked. The two wrestled around on the ground fighting over the weapon. Mills bashed the butt of the gun into Anthony's chin. His lower lip split, blood running down his neck. The two men struggled for dominance switching places several times then the gun went off.
*-*-*-*-*
Andreas, Graf von Buchholz locked himself in his study like the angel told him to. Sitting at his desk with his head in his hands, he couldn't believe this was happening someone wanted to kill him. There was no reason for anyone to want to kill him. When he heard the gun go off he couldn't believe it, he had been too shocked to move, if it hadn't been for Dylan he still would have been standing in the middle of the party, a target for the madman.
There was a knock at the study door. Andreas lifted his head, "Who is it?" Katja's voice came muffled through the solid oak door. "It's me, Kat. Let me in." Andreas hesitated, "I can't Dylan said for me to keep the door locked."
On the other side of the door Katja began to get angry then calmed herself by taking deep breaths. "Andi, come on think of all the fun things we could do if you let me in," she said playfully. She waited for an answer but none came. "Andreas? Are you still there?"
"Yes," he said. He didn't know what to do. He loved Katja but what if someone was with her making her say these things.
As if she was outside the door reading his mind she said, "I'm alone and a very lonely princess," making reference to her costume. "I want to come in and hide from the big bad dragon." How she was tired of playing games with him. She could only hope that Karl and the quite man were finishing off the angels. While she waited for Andreas to make up his mind she practiced her horrified expression in the hallway mirror. It had to be convincing for her to get away with it. Her two hired men would finish the angels and she would take care of the count. Of course she had it all set up to look like someone else did the poor photo-sensitive fool in then she would be home free. All her plans would be fulfilled. In mid sneer she turned as she heard the lock tumblers rotate. Andreas had made his decision and that decision made her evening.
*-*-*-*-*
Anthony collapsed on Mills as the gun went off. The resistance of Mills strong arms which held the Thin Man off of him faded as the bullet penetrated his stomach. "Anthony," called Dylan. Neither man was moving. The redheaded angel dropped to her knees next to the fallen men. "Anthony," she said softy. He rolled off of Mills his face and shirt covered with blood. "Are you hit?" Anthony shook his head "no" and reached up to touch Dylan's hair. He threaded his fingers through her wavy red locks and she braced herself for the pull. He paused and looked at her wanting to know if he could. She smiled and told him, "Yes, go ahead." He did and it hurt but she tried not to let it show.
Mills was still alive, but barely. He coughed and a bubble of blood formed on his lips. "Rhonda." He said reaching out to no one. "I'm sorry, Rhonda," then Karl Mills faded away.
"The Count," yelled Alex, "we've forgotten about the Count."
"I sent him to his study and told him to lock the doors and not let anyone in," said Dylan as she helped Anthony sit up. "Will you be okay?" Anthony nodded and waved her out of the room. The three angels ran down the stairs and in the direction of the Count's study.
Anthony saw Karl's wallet sitting on the dresser. He picked it up, looked at the worn brown leather and opened it. He saw Karl was a member of the NRA, had more credit cards than anyone should have, there were pictures of the man with his dog and an older photo which was a bit yellow and crumbling with age of him and a beautiful pregnant blonde woman who bore a striking resemblance to Dylan. He removed the picture from its little plastic sleeve and turned it over. On the back was written, Rhonda Zaas 1974. The woman was Dylan's mother.