A/N: The writer's block eased off a little every now and then these past couple of days, and I was able to squeeze this out. It jumps about a bit, but I think I'm getting there. Hopefully...
Sethoz: *is flattened, and tries to get up* Ow... okay, that kinda hurt. Well, I tried to update as soon as possible, perhaps in the hope that you wouldn't try and kill me, which you tried anyway! And the cliffy to 15 was nowhere near as bad as 14!
RogueSparrow: *is now snug and cosy* Aw, thanks! *snuggles into her blanket* Well perhaps it is your doing that this chapter came into being. I thank you for your concern! *cookies*
Anacalagon: I'm getting better now, thanks. I just felt really down for a day or two. *grumbles* And yes, Skinner is very cool :D Hence my sudden great usage of him. Poor Hyde? Perhaps not...
Silent Bob 546: Luckily Sparrow got that frying pan away before I did too much damage to my noggin (head). Thank you, as always.
drowchild: *squeals at the gift, and then stops self from being too girly* Ahem... thank you kindly :D And perhaps your potion did work...
Avalea: Wow... that means a lot to me. Thank you very much. You're too kind.
Capt. Cow: The titles can be difficult sometimes. They either come to you or they don't ; )
Niani: Aw, don't worry about it. I still really appreciate that you did indeed review at all! Angst seems to be a favourite genre, and as for Skinner... he's fun to write :D
Angelic katty: Thank you! Luckily, the frying pan has been put away... for now. Hopefully I won't need it again with all this support egging me on!
Katie: Tom/Mina fan? Lol, cool. There were signs in the film weren't there? At least I thought so...
Angharad: Yes, Juliana is quite an evil bint, isn't she? At least people seem to think so. Hehe.
Hyde did not understand what was happening to him, but Jekyll seemed to grasp the situation and shouted instructions at him through the pain. Edward bellowed, and clutched at his head, snarling furiously.
"Edward!" Jekyll yelled in his mind, only serving to confuse him more with the barrage of... whatever it was. "Listen to me! You have to break her eye contact!"
Edward growled menacingly, not fully comprehending the reason behind such a foolish demand, but took up great shattered chunks of brick and started hurling them, roaring all the while, at the woman and the man up on the banister. As he continued to try and hit them, he felt the pain lessening. Jekyll had been right.
"I do have my moments," came the voice of the frail doctor from within, but in his triumph, Edward did not hear him.
Mina inhaled sharply in shock as she woke, a pain in the back of her head prominent upon reaching awareness. She held a hand to it, and felt her hair had been dislodged from its pins and holdings. The area at the base of her skull ached slightly, but even now, the pain was lessening, her vampiric healing kicking in, even for so small an injury.
She came to fully comprehend what had happened... she had seen it all as it had transpired, and she immediately cast her eyes about to try and find her associates... she rarely called them friends.
"Tom?" she mumbled, the shock still shaking her voice, though she cursed her nerves for it afterwards. Her green eyes cast about in a daze, starting to readjust to her control and the light, and she saw him.
He was lying on his back some six feet from her, breathing heavily. His scent more than anything drew her to him, and she crept over on all fours, though it was very unladylike, and she came to hover over him. "Tom?"
He stirred slightly, groaning quietly, one of his hands flexing. He did not wake though.
Mina stared down at his neck, where one of her own fangs had grazed the skin and drawn a trickle of blood. She swallowed dryly, and the potent smell made her draw back his jacket. She closed her eyes at once and tried to fight the urge. Mina touched a hand to the wound, bleeding underneath the white -now ruined- shirt Tom wore.
So tempting...
"You all right?"
Mina gave a shout and started violently, swinging out at where she thought Skinner was. She missed, or at least she guessed she had by the lack of contact her hand made with anything other than air.
"Easy! He's the one who knocked you out, not me!" came the sound of Skinner's disembodied complaint. She heard his breathing then.
"I am sorry if I hurt you, Mr. Skinner," she said quietly, ashamed.
A sound from the doorway alerted Mina's senses before Skinner could utter his response, and her eyes darted to the figure standing there. Blue eyes blazed angrily, and even as they watched, Tom's rifle rose from the ground beside the American.
There was a noticeable yelp as it was projected in the direction Skinner's voice had come from, and a thud as what must have been the invisible man's body hit the floor to avoid a serious concussion.
Mina took the oppurtunity to stand, and gaped slightly at the burning in her abdomen from where Tom -no, not Tom... that woman, Amelia- had stabbed her. She fought down the pain, though the wound had almost completely healed itself already, and charged towards the door, launching herself into the young woman and knocking them both to the floor. Mina growled.
The young woman did not scream as Mina had expected her to, but instead simply stared into the vampire's reddening eyes.
"I would take your hands off my daughter if I were you, beast."
Mina looked up, and then released the young woman, her attention diverted now to Amelia. The older woman stood about ten feet from Mina, staring intently with menace and anger, shaking visibly.
Her control has weakened her, Mina noted, and realised that if given the oppurtunity, this could be used to her advantage. Mina stood, stepping away from the fallen young woman.
"Elizabeth," Amelia said calmly, her voice such a contrast to her outward experience it was startling, "you know what to do with the boy."
Mina snarled again, and her eyes were blood red now, threatening and overtaken by the vampire inside. She felt her fangs press against her tongue.
"Yes, Mrs. Harker... I thought that might get a response out of you," Amelia said without humour, and turned on her heel to depart.
Mina launched her body forward to try and knock the woman off balance, but she had ducked into an adjacent corridor, weaving this way and that to avoid capture. Mina pursued without hesitation.
Skinner slipped out of the room past the young woman, and tried to keep his mind from thinking she was very appealing indeed. He rushed past her so quickly he startled himself, and then cursed his haste as he turned back at the clang of the door. He nearly squeaked in fright, and clamped a hand over his mouth.
I left Sawyer in that room! With that girl! He guessed she had slipped inside due to the fact he could no longer see her, and unless she too had the power of invisibility, he doubted she had moved fast enough to escape his line of sight.
He ran back to the door, and tried to handle. It wouldn't budge. How the hell had she managed to lock it from the inside? He hadn't seen a locking device! Cursing himself again, Skinner turned back at the sounds of crashing from the foyer again. His feet carried him the distance, and he stopped when he saw what was transpiring.
Had Hyde finally gone completely mad? Was all hope lost for his sanity?
No, he's just incredibly angry, Skinner reasoned, and ducked a brick that came sailing at him. He almost yelled at Hyde to watch his aim, but stopped himself when he realised that the man and the third woman were also ducking projectile building materials. Hyde was bellowing madly, yelling something about attacking him.
Well that was unwise of them to try, Skinner mused. Hyde ceased to hurl bricks and building materials when both of the enemies leapt out of his line of sight. The man threw himself in the opposite direction, whilst the woman dove towards Skinner... into him in fact!
Skinner went tumbling to the ground with the woman not far away, and her hard gaze fell upon his rough whereabouts at once. She obviously couldn't place his position clearly, but she had felt him. She sneered, and Skinner winced. He had felt a twinge of pain in his skull that could only be explainable by the woman.
What are these people?
Skinner made short work of darting away from his previous position with as much stealth as he could muster, and the woman's mysterious gaze fell upon certain places. She couldn't find him... that was the explanation Skinner came to when he felt no pain; he was sure she was trying to inflict it upon him.
Using all the techniques he had learned over the years of being what he liked to call a 'master thief', Skinner kept himself in motion without making a sound, hoping the woman would not find him.
He heard Hyde coming up the stairs, roaring all the way.
Starting to regain consciousness, Tom Sawyer forced his eyes to open. He could remember the last thing he had seen, and heard, and knew it was not a time for him to stop being on the alert.
The first thing he became aware of other than the ache spreading through him like wildfire, was that the barrel of his own rifle was now pointed at him, quite of its own accord.
With an abrupt curse, Tom rolled his way to the right, hearing the gun let off a shot. He looked back, seeing that he had been incredibly lucky. He turned his head to the doorway, where Elizabeth stood, eyes fixed on the gun. Her anger was clear on her face. He knew that -not that the gunshot hadn't given it away- she was intending to kill him.
Tom fought his way off the ground, even as the gun fired at him again. It missed by a very comfortable inch. He was amazed Elizabeth could even use her ability to pull the trigger, let alone use the finger lever to reload! It shouldn't have been possible.
She was blocking the exit, and had him well and truly at a loss to what he should do. He knew Elizabeth despised men, and would do anything to end his life. Tom had no intention of letting that happen. Despite the pain he felt burning through him, he ducked the gun as it flew towards his head at great velocity instead of firing on him again.
The gun continued to pursue Tom in some awful parody of a dance, and the American ducked and rolled out of its way, aching with every move he made, breathing heavily with the incredible effort he had to make. It was getting more and more difficult to stay on his feet.
The concentration on Elizabeth Kendrick's face was unmistakable. She had set her mind on the murder of Tom, and nothing else would do. Though there must have been simpler ways to do it, she seemed oddly satisfied in seeing Tom avoid his own weapon of choice.
Tom was starting to tire, and his patience began to wear thin... not that it had been much to start with. He was hurt, he was angry, and he had had enough. Glaring up at Elizabeth from his crouched position on the floor, he barely registered the gun in front of him. It never wavered, but the expression on Elizabeth's face did.
That was when Tom saw it... a slight dip in the barrel of the gun. She was losing her hold on the object, her power waning. Tom stifled the smile, and was on his feet at once, his actions quick and smooth. He shocked himself with his deftness after his ordeal, but put it down to rage and adrenaline.
His hands grabbed the barrel of the gun, his head ducking as the shot exploded out of it. He fought against her, tilting the gun as much as possible, trying to turn it as much as possible. She didn't seem to notice what he was trying to do. She was too busy trying to keep her hold of it aimed on him, and him alone.
Elizabeth did not even register that he planned for her to be the new target.