Chapter 3

"My underage daughter is in there. I suggest you let me in to find her or I am calling the police." A rather irritated looking man was blocking the entrance to the club when Sylar and Knox arrived.

"Is there a problem here?" Sylar inserted himself smoothly. Both the bouncer and the frustrated man turned to him.

"Unless you're on the list, you ain't getting in." The bouncer crossed his arms and glared at all three of them.

"Well, I recommend you make an exception for us. Raymond Weil, State Liquor Licensing and Compliance inspector. This is my partner Jon Crane. We've received several complaints that this club is in violation of underage drinking statutes and it looks like the allegations are true," Sylar lied glibly. "I'm going to need to see the manager of this club." The bouncer shifted uncomfortable under Sylar's glare.

"Fine. You can go in," he grumbled.

Sylar flicked his glance to the other man. "I suggest you find your daughter and leave as quickly as possible."

"I plan to." He nodded his thanks once and was soon out of sight in the crowded club. Sylar and Knox were quick to follow.

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"He's not here, man."

"He is here. This is part of his routine. We're just not looking in the right place."

"So what do we do?"

Sylar thought for a minute. The club was quite large – three stories with different music rooms and private areas. They had been searching through the main dance floor and bar areas with no luck. "We check the security room." They headed off.

When they arrived, Sylar blasted off the lock and telekinetically threw the security guard across the room. He didn't get up. There were dozens of monitors showing different scenes inside the club and they scanned them looking for their target. Sylar found his eyes drawn immediately to one screen in particular.

"Is that him?" Knox asked, looking between Sylar and the screen he was staring at intently.

It was most definitely their shapeshifter – and there was someone with him. It was just Sylar's luck that this was the one surveillance camera that didn't seem to be functioning properly. There was screen static and the image would blank out at intervals. He could see that the target was struggling with a petite woman. She seemed…strangely familiar. He couldn't get a clear look at her face as she had her back turned to the camera but as he watched her, an odd sensation crept into his gut and made its way throughout his body, numbing him and shortening his breath. He gripped the panel he was leaning against unconsciously. It can't be…there's just no way… As he watched, the man on screen suddenly started warping. His skin seemed to peel and split in places and his body became longer and twisted. Knox was talking to him but he didn't bother to respond. He was already racing down the corridor, blasting open doors and people who weren't getting out of his way quickly enough.

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It occurred to Elle that this was the type of situation that most girls would find pretty terrifying. If Noah knew where she was at this moment, she would never hear the end of it. Letting yourself get cornered by a mark with unknown and potentially deadly abilities was a rookie mistake that she had never made even when she was a rookie.

Luckily for Elle, she was not like most girls.

She had let Phil take her up to his reserved room in the club. It had been pretty apparent to her earlier that she would have to come with him or risk causing a scene. And beyond that, there was just no way she was going to let him get away without some damage after the way he had manhandled her. She had plans for him - plans that involved a lot of pain and burnt hair. To do that, she needed to get him alone.

She was pretty sure what type of shapeshifter he was now. She could handle him. The creep was a dead man walking. No mercy!

When they got to the private room he had, he casually slung her in and locked the door. He turned around to face her and grinned up at her through his brows. Elle watched as he slowly started to remove his jacket and tossed it on a chair. He looked her up and down and she could see him practically drooling. Wait a minute – he was drooling. Ewww.

"God, you look good, girl. Fucking delicious," he drawled. "I haven't had such a fresh catch in a long time." Okay, now he was seriously starting to give her the heebie jeebies. She couldn't tell if he wanted to have sex with her or eat her. Maybe both. Her brain started supplying her with some deeply disturbing images that made her want to gag. She gave herself a mental slap. Focus, Elle!

He started taking off his shirt and unbuckling his belt, watching her the entire time. "Take off your clothes, Blondie," he ordered.

"Really, Phil, haven't you ever heard of foreplay?" He immediately stilled. His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"I didn't tell you my name."

"No. I guess you didn't." Before he could move, she had him pinned to the wall with a crackling volt of electricity. Her power filled the room and out of the corner of her eye, she saw light bulbs igniting and the TV short circuit. Sparks fizzled and snapped in the air. She didn't let up until he had finished screaming himself raw and slumped into unconsciousness. She went to inspect him and rolled him over with a strong push from her boot.

"Was it good for you, too?" she smirked down at him.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. Elle stumbled back in shocked surprise. He lunged to his feet and whipped his huge hands around her neck, choking her and lifting her into the air.

"Who are you??" he roared, shaking her angrily. She grasped his hands at her neck and jolted him again until he released her and they both fell to a heap on opposite sides of the room. The smell of ozone and burning flesh filled the air. Elle gasped as her vision began to swim back into focus and air filled her lungs. She saw him stagger to his feet and come at her again. She struggled to her feet and lifted her hand to blast him but he dodged it with sinuous grace and then he was upon her again. This time, he clamped his hands around hers, closing her hands into fists. She tried to shock him and screamed in pain as the electricity crackled through them both. Her damaged throat felt like it was full of knives. He held on to her hands and Elle could feel her bones crunching together.

"I'm going to kill you, you little bitch!" She watched in dread as his body started shifting. She could feel claws extend out of his hands and pierce her wrists. He was getting bigger. Much bigger.

Fuck.

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Sylar moved down the hallway at a dead run. He was using his telekinesis like a battering ram to push everything and everyone out of his way. His heartbeat was a roaring drum in his head. Even as he told himself that the woman he'd seen was not Elle, was only shockingly similar, in his mind's eye he kept replaying the horrific scene on the surveillance monitor. He pushed himself to go faster.

The security room was on the first floor and the private room he saw was on the third. As he turned another corner to head up the first set of stairs, the blaring music that had been pumping throughout the club cut out and was replaced by the blare of a fire alarm. He was soon drenched as the sprinklers came alive. Either someone had pulled the alarm or the building was on fire. And then, even with his powers he found himself struggling to make it deeper into the building. A river of panic stricken revelers trying to escape the threat of a burning building blocked him at every turn. He angrily threw people out of his way but there were too many of them and they kept coming.

Knox suddenly appeared by his side. If Sylar had bothered to glance at him, he would have seen that the veins on Knox's face and hands were swollen and throbbing and his eyes were wild and bloodshot. Together, the two of them cut a bloody path to their destination but it was still taking them too long to get there.

Sylar had done recon on Phil Groban. Had seen how he lived and studied him like an insect in a jar before entering his findings into the Pinehearst database. He had never actually seen him fully manifest but understood the extent of his ability and the animal instincts that would overcome him once he was in his alternate form. There was no doubt in Sylar's mind…when Phil did manifest, anyone with him would be slaughtered. The sick sensation radiating out of his chest was increasing and for the first time, Sylar acknowledged the real fear he felt. Please, just don't let it be her.

When he finally saw the right door come into sight, he wrenched it off so hard it embedded itself into the wall across the hall.

Inside was a scene from a horror movie. The room was destroyed. Scorch marks covered every surface and the sprinklers left greasy water trails on smoldering furniture. The damaged lights flickered and fizzed out. His breathe caught at the sight of a large blood stain on the floor and he hurriedly followed a splatter trail to the broken window. He leaned as far out as he could and saw the mutilated body of Phil Groban horribly bent and twisted below. Sylar narrowed his eyes.

There was no one else in sight.

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AN: Raymond Weil is a Swiss watch manufacturer. I forgot to mention that the Patek Phillippe reference in Chapter 1 is the actual name of a company that produces insanely complex and expensive timepieces. Jon Crane is of course a reference to Dr. Jonathan Crane. I liked the alias as they both he and Knox use fear to their advantage.