A/N: I'd say sorry about the previous mean cliff-hanger, but we'd all know I wouldn't mean it :D It was too tempting to resist! Hehe. Okay, okay, don't glare... I am sorry... to an extent. Gah! You would not believe the writer's block on this one! *pouts* Plus I'm coming down with something... so this chapter, cruddy as it is, was probably influenced by illness or cough medicine :S I am so sorry it is so short. The next one won't be, and by then, hopefully, I won't have this awful writer's block *pout*
Maikafuiniel: Lol! Never heard that one before. : ) Thank you though... I think, and thank you for putting my stories up on your site :D I feel kinda blessed now...
Anacalagon: Rights to Skinner... hmmm... could come in handy, I tells ya'! As for what happened to him, well... you'll see ; )
Sethoz: I know... ff.net is being a bit of a spooty (means stupid... didn't you ever watch 'Angry Beavers'?) site. Mina biting Tom was an urge I just could not resist... oops, did I say she'd bitten him? Didn't mean to say that, Bwahaha! Yet... ooh... now I'm just teasing you aren't I? : ) *gets defibrillator on Sethoz immediately* Clear!
Panzergal: Why not? *stares* Okay... maybe not then. *changes notes... just kidding* Gunslinger? LOL! Not a terrible word, but I'm pretty sure you didn't mean it as an outright compliment :D
Graymoon74: Ah, hello again! *laughs at the use of 'Holy Crumb!'* As for shooting Amelia, they'd have to get through the door first ; )
Beck2: Fast updates are what I like to see, so I try to do the same for my readers. Helps the story flow, and people are encouraged to stick with it. If a story takes ages to update (this is in NO way a hint to anyone whose story I'm reading), then people can lose interest, and forget about it and never come back. And I don't want that : (
drowchild: MAJOR cliffy, yes. Couldn't resist. *cookie* Forgive me?
*cookies all round*
angelic katty: Thank you kindly! Welcome back!
Capt. Cow: Lol. Ah yes, the title of chapter 14 was majorly influenced by my love for a band called Muse (ironic, no?) and I was titling the chapter when it was playing, so... it applied in some suitable way to the situation in general, and YOINK! ; )
Katie: Are you sure about that? Hehe.
Silent Bob 546: Aha, yes, time for another quick explanation I think. Normally, Mina would have been strong enough to stop that, but with her wounding and the shock, Amelia broke through her defences... savvy? I hope that clears everything up :D Don't want confused readers now, do I? And thank you so much for your praise... you really are too kind.
Avalea: Aw, why thank you : ) I wrack my brains as much as possible, and just ramble, to answer you question. Lol. Yeah, I know... bad explanation. I have no idea.
Jekyll had stopped by and run things over with Nemo before departing the ship. He had located a fire escape close at hand, and had proceeded quite hastily -though not without caution- to climb it to its limit. Upon reaching the roof of the building, he retrieved a vial of his formula from his pocket. Hyde churned inside of him, and he felt nauseous with Edward's anticipation.
Setting his resolve, Henry pulled the stopped from the bottle, and poured the contents into his mouth, the foul tasting liquid burning his throat on the way down. He grimaced at once, and then let out a low anguished moan, collapsing to his knees even as Edward started to surge through him, fighting for the surface like someone held under water for too long against their will.
Henry did not fight it, and soon felt the comforting darkness of suppression come over him in its entirety.
Edward gave out a triumphant bellow upon breaking free, standing in a great hulking, muscular mass on the rooftop to someone's abode. He growled, and looked around himself, eyes quickly adjusting to the harsh reality of his surroundings.
The voice of Jekyll started to chirp away inside of him anxiously, and he paid heed to it for he had little else to do. Plus... he had promised. Edward was -in many forms- a monster, but he rarely went against a promise.
Letting his senses guide him, Edward started leaping from rooftop to rooftop with a ferocity that made Jekyll squirm. The doctor had the nerve to think that Edward would fall!
The scents he was tracking came stronger to him now, and he travelled with more certainty and agility than before, covering vast distances in startling spaces of time.
He would be upon his quarries soon.
Skinner reeled from the jolt he received upon his -rather rough- landing, and groaned, rubbing his head, before coming to his senses. He glanced about; hearing a scuffle from across the room, and nearly gave a shout of horror. Mina was on top of Sawyer, having succeeded in pinning him in a very effective, if not rough, way.
Skinner could find no words, and he cast his eyes about quickly as he noticed what Mina was doing... or rather the woman controlling Mina. Damn, it was all so confusing! It made Skinner's head ache, though that could have been explained by the drinks he had consumed lately or having been thrown across the room.
Aha! He nearly exclaimed it out loud, but grabbed the revolver Sawyer had dropped, and aimed it as best he could, before pulling the trigger.
All he received for his troubles was a worrying click. The gun was empty.
"Dammit!" he hissed, dropping the gun, and grumbled as he climbed to his feet again, sore all over. He ran over to Mina as she got closer and closer to biting Sawyer. Skinner didn't know what he planned on doing, but when he got over to her, he did the only thing that sprang to mind... and it was rather juvenile.
But it worked.
Skinner grabbed Mina's hair with both of his hands and yanked with all his might on her head, pulling her backwards with a ferocious growl that made him let go. She had already lost her grip on Sawyer though, who slammed his boots into her and sent her sailing backwards, Skinner and all.
"Hey!" Skinner yelled before he realised Mina would hear him. The red eyes turned on him, and he panicked anew. He swallowed dryly, and stared back, trying not to make any noise. She didn't quite seem to have his position fixed. She kept darting her eyes an inch or so to the left and right every couple of tense seconds and sniffing.
Which was when the stock of Sawyer's rifle slammed into the back of her skull, and she slumped forward. Sawyer stood, wavering, over her, rifle in his hand, panting heavily. He had just a trickle of blood running down his neck from where the tip of a fang had managed to graze his skin, though there was no definite puncture.
Skinner let out a sigh of relief when Mina did not leap back off the floor all hisses and fury, and glanced up thankfully to Sawyer... who chose that moment to collapse himself.
"Oh for..." Skinner crawled over to his friend, who lay on his back, chest heaving as if deeply exhausted, unconscious. Skinner waited, hovering over him for a moment, to see if it was only a quick lapse in awareness, but Sawyer's eyes did not open. Skinner cursed.
Before he got up to check on anything else, Skinner remembered Sawyer having cried out as if in great pain, and on a whim, touched a hand to the younger man's right shoulder, which the American had cradled not long ago.
Skinner furrowed his brow, and peeled back the lapel of Sawyer's jacket, and gave a great sigh of worry. Blood stained the shirt underneath quite visibly, but before he could go about trying to do anything about the problem, the door gave a great creak and a clang, as if unlocked from the outside.
A man strode in, a dagger drawn with a long imposing blade gleaming in the wan light. His eyes were alight with an angry fire, and Skinner almost whimpered with fright, despite his usual mask of nonchalance. Outside in the hall, the older woman Skinner had seen first was on her knees, holding her head yet still scowling. The youngest of the women was by her side, whispering soothing things to her in a gentle voice.
"And how do you expect me to find an invisible assailant?" the man grumbled, blade still at the ready. He half-glanced out into the hallway with dark, menacing eyes. There was a danger about him that Skinner picked up on right away.
"I don't care how you find him, Gregory, just find him!" the woman on her knees growled, and Skinner furrowed his brow with concern. A distraction would have been nice.
Of course, Skinner thanked his lucky stars, and everyone else's for that matter, when there came a great commotion from down in the foyer, like it was being torn apart. A bellowing reached the room they were in, and Skinner nearly squealed in delight.
Hyde! Skinner thought, Wonderful, murderous Hyde! I didn't think I'd ever be happy to see... well, hear that brute!
"Gregory! Juliana! Go!" the kneeling woman shouted authoratively, and the two of them took off to face the threat. How the tallest of the women was going to defend herself, Skinner did not know, but he did not want to speculate. He knew now it was folly to underestimate a woman... he wouldn't be making that mistake again any time soon.
Gregory charged towards the foyer with Juliana in hot pursuit. She was holding the edges of her skirts up to run effectively without falling, but Gregory was tearing ahead, stiletto blade in his hand, ready to put an end to whatever was making so much noise downstairs.
When he reached the banister though, he stopped, shocked. He stared down with narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow. He had no idea what it was... other than a deformed human being, which was exactly how it looked. It had ripped clean through the door, taking half the wall with it.
It stopped itself in its act of destruction, and looked up at him with small, dark eyes, growling. "I'm here for some... 'friends' of mine."
Gregory raised an eyebrow at the sound of the beast's voice. It was fluent in the English language, and Gregory found this more annoying than intriguing. Juliana was at his side now, and she glared down at the monstrosity.
It gave a grunt, and a loud snarl of anger. Juliana was attacking it. She cocked her head to one side, and the beast roared.
Gregory watched with a smile.
A/N2: Again... I feel inclined to apologise again for the shortness and the lack of development. Arggh... *goes off to beat self senseless with frying pan* Ow... *tries to get to work on a much better, much longer Chapter 16*