Greetings to you all, and thank you so much for all the kind reviews! It was kindly pointed out to me that I didn't specify which version of Wonka this story involves, so for the record this is definitely the Johnny Depp incarnation of our favorite Chocolate maker.

As usual, I do not own Willy Wonka or any recognizable characters from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; the only thing I lay claim to is the characters and plot line that I made up in my sad, sick widdle brain. I am making no profit from this writing endeavor, so don't sue me, k?

I realized that I made a mistake in my chapter numbering, so if you noticed that it skipped from chapter 6 to 8, you did not miss anything so don't panic! Oh, and you'll be pleased to know that the mystery of Sarah's secret tattoo will be revealed in this chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 8: (the real one) Dark Marks….

Sarah's memories of the events following her attack were blurry, mostly made up of remembered sensations and brief flashes. She recalled the smoothness of Willy's velvet coat beneath her cheek and the paleness of his concerned face, now free of her attacker's blood, gazing down at her. She had other vague memories: high pitched voices and gentle hands removing her torn clothing; the warm, grandfatherly voice of the older man who apologized for blinding her with his penlight.; his gentle hands examining her and applying the pungent smelling healing salve to her injuries, his soft, absent-minded humming soothing her hysterical tears. She remembered the slithering sound and feel of the silk shirt as it was pulled over her head, and his voice warning her before she felt the sting of a needle in her arm before she was gently laid back against the cloud soft pillows and slipped into blessed oblivion.

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Charlie crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall outside one of the finest of the factories guest suites, observing his mentor's frantic pacing with a grim expression on his normally cheerful face. He had abandoned his mask and cape, removed his cravat and unbuttoned the neck of his tuxedo shirt. It was shortly after midnight, and Charlie had hastily bid his guests goodnight and assured them that their prizes would be delivered to them shortly before leaving them to find their way into the waiting limousines on their own. While some considered his actions bordering on rudeness, others chalked it up to eccentricity; nonetheless, his guests departed with no knowledge that anything of a sinister nature had occurred at the factory that night.

"So, let me get this straight….you're dancing with a young woman who just might be the girl of your dreams, The One, when you decide you can't wait to satisfy your curiosity and basically ask her if she's done the horizontal mambo before. Then you fail to immediately follow up and apologize to her, giving this psycho an opportunity to get his hands on one of the sweetest, funniest girls I've ever met."

Willy didn't stop his pacing, but looked up at Charlie with an expression of great sadness and dismay on his face. "I didn't know.." he began, but Charlie interrupted him with a rude noise.

"I wasn't finished. And then to top it all off, you rip out this maniac's friggin' throat right in front of her, possibly traumatizing her for life as well as blowing your cover as the world's only chocolate making vampire…have I left anything out?"

Willy finally stopped his pacing and uttered a sound that was half groan, half shout of rage as he ran his hand through his chin length pageboy hair in a nervous gesture, followed by a deep sigh of frustration. "No, I think that just about covers it. The big question is, what are we going to do about the situation?"

Charlie shrugged his shoulders and looked at Willy with a small smirk on his face. "Well, not having ever murdered someone before, I don't have a protocol to follow. No matter what we do, there are going to be a lot of questions asked that we better have answers for. May I ask first off what you've done with the bastard's body?"

Willy answered grimly. "I had it moved to one of the delivery trucks. I planned to have it disposed of when the winner's prizes were being distributed."

Charlie looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. "No, too risky. There's too many chances that someone would remember him and the incident that took place at the party. Then there's the fact that the police would be looking for the killer, and some innocent party might be accused and actually convicted for the crime. It would be much better if the police discovered a disturbed man who committed suicide."

Willy listened intently as Charlie went on to with a proposed plan of action in a calm, matter of fact way that left his boss and friend speechless. When he was finished, he looked at his protégé with sheer awe. "Just out of curiosity, where did you learn all that?"

Charlie just flashed him a wolfish grin and chuckled. "Ever heard of an American tv show called C.S.I.?"

Before Willy could inquire further, the door to the suite opened abruptly, and both chocolatiers turned to see the doctor emerging, closing the door softly behind him. They waited tensely as the kindly-looking man set his black bag down, pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and began to clean his half-moon glasses, holding them up to the light as he began to speak.

"That little gal has had quite a rough time this evening, gentlemen, but she is young and will recover quickly, physically at least. Thankfully, she has no broken bones as far as I can tell, but you'll need to watch her for signs of concussion---she was struck several times about the face and has a fairly good-size goose egg on her noggin. Normally I'd recommend she be hospitalized for observation, but given the circumstances I believe she'd be better off in your care." Putting his glasses back on, he looked at the two men with a very serious expression. "I've seen the signs of rape and trauma a hundred times before, but this is one of the worst I've come across. The last thing that young woman in there needs is a bunch of strangers poking and prodding her---what she needs is quiet, lots of rest and a good therapist." The doctor's eagle eyes locked with Willy's and seemed to look all the way into his soul. "I take it the perpetrator has been dealt with?"

Willy nodded solemnly. "He will not be causing pain to anyone… ever again."

The doctor harrumphed, a look of satisfaction crossing his face. "A shame really….after seeing his handiwork, I was going to offer to make a eunuch of him, without the benefit of anesthesia, of course. An animal who would do something like this deserves no compassion."

Charlie's face had gone as pale as his bosses. "Doctor, I know it's a violation of the doctor/patient privilege but I have to know….did he.." His voice cracked and he let the rest of the obvious question remain unspoken.

The doctor sighed. "No, lad, not as far as I can tell. Her undergarments were still intact, what little there was of it…shocking what flimsy garments young women wear these days." Realizing where his thoughts were wandering, the doctor shook his head and cleared his throat. "As for our patient, I can tell you she has massive bruising, some scratches and abrasions, and is suffering from trauma induced shock. I've given her something for pain and a mild sedative, and your helpers have put her to bed. By the way, Willy----have you known this young woman long?"

Willy looked taken aback, and looked at his physician curiously. "Not at all, doctor….I've never seen her in person before this evening. Why do you ask? Did she say something about me?" A sudden apprehension went through Willy; what if she had mentioned what she had seen?"

The doctor's expression lightened and turned speculative, his bright blue eyes twinkling like a certain Jolly Old Elf's as they observed Willy over his glasses. "No, she hasn't spoken a word…I was just satisfying my own curiosity. Though if I were in your place, I might want to ask her what inspired her charming tattoo." The doctor chuckled at Willy's confused look before reaching down and picking up his trademark luggage. Now, if you lads will excuse me, these old bones are calling out for their bed. I'll stop back by tomorrow to check on our patient. Until then, goodnight, gentlemen." And with that he strolled away, whistling softly, his bag swinging gently with every step.

Willy looked thoughtful as he and Charlie quietly entered the room where Sarah rested. He quietly dismissed the oompah-loompah medics with a few murmured words and a smile of thanks, and turned his attention to the dark-haired figure lying so still on the large white bed. When he saw the extend of the damage that had been done, half of him wanted to weep; the other half wished that the monster who had done this to her was still alive so he could kill him again, slowly and painfully.

The vision he had danced with only an hour earlier was lying partially on her side, the bedclothes tucked up to her chest with one arm lying limply on top of the covers. Her right eye was swollen almost completely shut, her lower lip was split and her cheeks were covered with bruises in varying shades of maroon, purple and black. She had been dressed in one of his elegant silk shirts, and it was low enough in the neck that he could see the dark markings of finger shaped bruises around her slender throat. The white silk was sheer enough that he could see more bruises on her upper arms and delicate wrist. He could feel the beast in him fighting to the surface, his fists clenched at his side, his preternaturally manicured nails drawing blood as he fought the impulse to run his fist through the nearest wall. He flinched when Charlie, who had been silently standing by his side, put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm sorry, my friend….I was out of line earlier. What happened wasn't your fault, and I shouldn't have inferred that it was. It's just this whole situation sucks…" He chuckled as Willy favored him with a withering glance.."Yeah, bad pun I know, but if the foo shits…anyway, how do you plan on explaining what she saw to her when she wakes up?"

Willy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly without taking his eyes off the sleeping woman. "Right at this moment, Charlie, I haven't the foggiest."

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Sarah was dreaming…

She was once again in the ballroom in Willy's arms, semi-waltzing to what she recognized as Only The Lonely by the Motels. She was mesmerized by his eyes, similar to the way her namesake had been in Labyrinth, but unlike the other Sarah, she was certain of her feelings for the man in whose arms she rested. I could stay like this forever…was what was running through her mind when she turned her head to rest it on his chest and closed her eyes.

She didn't know what made her open her eyes, but when she did, she saw him watching her from across the room. The man dressed in black from head to toe was definitely on the prowl, his mask failing to hide the hunger in his eyes as his gaze met and held hers. Sarah tore her eyes away and looked up at Willy, who was smiling down at her softly. She looked the other way, only to find the hunter had somehow managed to circumnavigate the room and was now only a few yards away, a predatory grin appearing as he approached. She heard a clock striking midnight somewhere as she tried to pull herself free from Willy's arms, which had suddenly tightened around her like a steel trap. Gasping with pain, she looked up at him, only to find him looking down at her with a strange expression on his face. She was horrified to see him licking his lips like a cat anticipating a nice bowl of cream, his elongated canine teeth slicing his tongue, causing red drops of blood to dribble down his chin. He looked over at her stalker and spoke to the man almost casually. "There's plenty of her to go around…care to share?"

The masked man reached for her, and Sarah screamed…

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Charlie left the room to contact Sarah's next of kin, thankful that the winners had been required to leave the information when claiming their prize. The two men had decided to say that Sarah had been invited and had accepted an invitation to stay and take an extended tour of the factory, and perhaps entertain a job offer there. Her parents had been slightly irked that she hadn't called them herself, but were thrilled about their daughter's prospects.

Willy had been sitting by Sarah's bedside for about an hour when the nightmares struck. She began to thrash around as if in pain, and then suddenly she sat up, her eyes wide open focusing on something only she could see, and she was wailing in terror. Tossing down his PDA, he went to her side to try and calm her fears, but when he touched her all hell broke loose.

The Sarah trapped in her nightmares was fighting for her life, and when she was able to focus and saw Willy reaching out to her, she recalled the earlier events and lashed out in sheer terror. Despite her frail appearance she packed quite a punch…a fact Willy learned firsthand. Her closed fisted blow sent him reeling onto the bed and across her lap. Half awake and terrified, she half rolled, half shoved him off onto the floor where he landed with a hard grunt, and he caught a glimpse of nicely tanned legs as she climbed out of the bed and made for the door. She jerked it open and fell weeping into Charlie's startled embrace. "Whaaaa?"

"D..Don't let him kill me too…" She managed to gasp out before falling limp in his arms. He stood there awkwardly with the unconscious woman draped against him, giving Willy an angry glare as the man picked himself up off the floor. Willy returned the look, one hand carefully feeling his rapidly swelling cheek. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice, young man….she was having a nightmare, and when I went to comfort her she planted a facer on me." His look softened and looked almost sad as he observed their young guest. "One thing is certain now….she remembers what happened to her attacker." A look of interest crossed his face as he noticed something odd. "Hello, what have we here?" He walked over to the doorway and swept Sarah into his arms, carrying her to the bed where he laid her down and gently rolled her onto her stomach on the soft mattress..

The silk dress shirt she was wearing had ridden up when she collapsed, revealing tiny white bikini briefs and something else; a tattoo, but not your typical rose, or devil, butterfly or any other of the hundreds of thousands of standard pieces of body art. This one was unique. Although small, the elegant script was still quite easy to make out.

Exclusive Private

Property

of

Willy Wonka

The capital W's of his name were in done in his familiar trademark swirls, and the words were surrounded by a circle of elegant scrollwork. Willy looked over at Charlie in amazement, the first genuine grin since the incident earlier that night spreading across his face before he pulled the covers back up and over the sleeping woman. ((So that's what the doctor was talking about…))) Willy thought to himself, a small smirk crossing his face when he realized why the doctor had reacted the way he had to his denial of knowing Sarah intimately. (((Well, if that's not an invitation to get to know her better, I don't know what is…hmmm…gotta remember to put that on the top of my to do list…))) After Willy retrieved his PDA, the two men then turned and walked to the doorway, but before they crossed the threshold, Willy stopped and went back. Reaching her side, he gently ran a single ungloved finger across her bruised cheek before bending down to whisper softly in her ear.

"For what it's worth, Sarah my sweet, you definitely have my seal of approval."