Chapter Twenty
The car pulled up to the curb as the doors opened and Jean-Phillipe looked at the house. He was holding onto Amy by her neck as Charlie glared at him and Jane held Charlie to her side.
"Move," Jean-Phillipe said as he pushed Charlie and they walked along the front path. Going up the stairs, they stood in front of the door as he folded his arms over his chest and looked at Jane. Motioning with his hand, Jean-Phillipe looked at the door and Jane walked to the door.
"It's locked," she said as she jiggled the door handle and Jean-Phillipe growled, walked to the door and kicked the door open.
"Now it's not," Jean-Phillipe said with a grin then did a little bow, pointing with his hands for them to go inside. Amy walked to the doorway when she tried to go inside but something stopped her and she looked at Charlie.
"I can't go inside," she said as Jean-Phillipe walked to the doorway and held his hand palm up toward the doorway. He could feel the barrier in the doorway then looked at Jane and Charlie and pointed to the doorway. Sighing, Jane walked inside as she looked at Jean-Phillipe and he held Amy against him. Charlie balled his hands into fists as he walked inside and Jean-Phillipe gave them a blank look.
"Invite us in," Jean-Phillipe said as he stroked his fingers on Amy's cheek and smiled. "Or Petite Amy dies!
Amy yelped as Jean-Phillipe pulled her head back by her hair and Jane gasped when Jean-Phillipe features changed and slime clung to his fangs.
"No, don't hurt her!" she shouted as Jean-Phillipe pushed Amy away from him and looked at them.
"Well, Cheri, let us in!" he said as she looked at Amy then at Charlie and Jean-Phillipe folded his arms over his chest, tapping his finger on his lower arm.
"Come in," Jane said softly as Jean-Phillipe frowned and tilted his head to one side.
"I can't hear you," he said as he pulled Amy back to him and his fingernails had grown into long claws. "Care to try again?"
"Come in!" Jane growled as Jean-Phillipe pushed Amy forward and she ran inside, heading toward Charlie. Charlie wrapped his arms around her as Jane looked at Jean-Phillipe and he smiled at her. Taking a tentative footstep forward, he came in as he looked around and Jane half ran to Charlie. Jean-Phillipe rubbed his hands together as he walked toward the stairs that led upstairs and he sat on the bottom step, looking at them. "Oui, now where is the sword?"
"I told you that I don't know!" Charlie shouted and Jean-Phillipe placed his lower arms on the tops of his thighs and he sighed, shaking his head.
"Then there is only one thing left to do," he said but none of them had time to move as he appeared in front of Charlie and grabbed him by the neck, locking eyes with him. "Call the witch!"
The mist moved over the stage as Cassandra watched Peter hanging upside down by a chain and a bed of sharp blades was underneath him. Peter was trying to get out of the straightjacket he was wearing as a candle burned the rope and the rope was slowly lowering Peter toward the stage. She smiled when she saw Cross standing straight on the branch it was sitting on and it flew into the air, flying to her. Peter frowned as the audience laughed and he looked over at the young women, nodding his head. They lowered him to the stage then got him out of the straightjacket and he half ran to Cassandra, kneeling down in front of her.
"What's wrong?" he whispered while stroking the feathers on Cross' back and Cassandra shrugged. Cross seemed agitated as it moved up and down her arm and Peter stood up, looking at the audience. "Excuse me, Ladies and Gentlemen, we'll be right back."
The lights came up as they walked off the stage and Peter held Cassandra to his side. Cross growled and fidgeted as they walked toward the lift when Cross took flight and headed down the hallway. Shrugging, they ran after the falcon when they came to the exit door and Cross landed on the metal bar that opened the door. Cassandra held her wrist out as Cross hopped onto her wrist and Peter opened the door. Cross suddenly flew outside as it headed for her car and they chased after the falcon. Cross landed on the roof of her car as they looked at each other and half ran to the car. Cross walked back and forth on the roof of the car when Cassandra snapped her fingers and the car doors unlocked. Getting into the car, Peter placed Cross on the floor then buckled the seatbelt and Cassandra looked at the steering wheel.
"Shit," she said when Peter unbuckled the seatbelt, slid onto her lap then reached under the steering column and pulled on the wires. He hotwired the car as the motor roared into life when he looked up at her and her eyes were wide. "How the fuck did you do that?"
"Remind me to tell you about my bad boy days," he said with a wink then sat up and placed the seatbelt back on. Kissing his cheek, she put the car in reverse and the car headed out of the parking lot. Cross grew irritated as Peter picked the falcon up then opened the window and Cassandra looked at him, nodding her head. Holding Cross in his hands, Peter let go as Cross flew into the darkness and Peter was surprised when Cross started glowing in a white light and Cassandra softly smiled. "Blimey."
Jean-Phillipe watched while Charlie took the cellphone out of his pocket and started pushing the buttons. He didn't have Cassandra's cellphone number as he dialed Peter's cellphone and hoped that he had the cellphone turned on. Charlie winced when Peter's voicemail message came on and he turned around, looking at the wall.
"Peter? It's Charlie. I need you to bring Cassandra and the sword to Cassandra's house. De'Avante's here," he whispered when Jean-Phillipe walked to him and took the cellphone out of Charlie's hand.
"Who are you talking to?" he demanded.
"Someone who's going to kick your ass," Charlie shouted then ducked when Jean-Phillipe swung at him and Charlie ran up the stairs. Growling, Jean-Phillipe ran after him when something hit him in the back and saw Jane at the bottom of the stairs, holding her shoe in her right hand.
"Are you serious?" he asked as he headed down the stairs when a loud screeching sound filled the air and Jean-Phillipe turned around, his eyes widening. Cross sailed toward him as the talons flexed in and out and the screech almost sounds inhuman. Cross clawed at Jean-Phillipe's face as he tumbled down the stairs then crashed to the floor and covered his face with his arms. A whistle made Jean-Phillipe looked up to see Peter and Cassandra standing next to Amy and Jane and Jean-Phillipe careful got to his feet, wiping the blood from his face. Peter had called the hotel and told the manager that he was taking Cross to the vet and Cassandra held Peter around his waist, glaring at Jean-Phillipe. Cross sat on Cassandra's wrist as Jean-Phillipe walked to Peter and titled his head to one side. Peter was still in makeup as he glared at Jean-Phillipe and Jean-Phillipe sniffed the air. "No, this is impossible!"
Before Peter could move, Jean-Phillipe pulled the wig off of Peter's head as Peter smiled, ruffling his hair into a wild mess and Jean-Phillipe's eyes widened.
"Surprise," Peter said as he pulled the sideburns, moustache and goatee off and flicked the eyebrow ring at him.
"How did you…? No, this is impossible! I killed you!"
"Yeah, whatever," Peter sighed as he placed the goatee, moustache and sideburns in the pocket of his leather coat and looked over at Charlie, who was walking down the stairs. "You ok?"
"Yeah," Charlie said as he walked to Amy and Jane and slid his arms around Amy's waist. Jean-Phillipe growled when he slammed his fist into the wall and bits of plaster and wood dribbled down to the floor.
"Hey!" Cassandra shouted as he pulled his fist out of the wall and several wires hissed and crackled while sticking out of the hole in the wall. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that!"
Suddenly the house started shaking as Amy and Jane screamed while large cracks appeared on the walls and ceiling and the chandeliers crashed to the floor. Large chunks of plaster started falling as Cross flew outside and Charlie led Amy and Jane to the door, going outside. Jean-Phillipe growled while glaring at Cassandra and Peter and Peter carefully backed up toward the door. Before Jean-Phillipe could move, a large chunk of the ceiling crashed down on top of Jean-Phillipe while Peter and Cassandra ran outside and they stood near the car, watching the house fall in on itself. Lights came on from the other houses as car alarms blared around them and people started coming out of the houses.
"I suggest we get the fuck out of here before the cops show up," Peter said as they nodded and they got in the cars, closing the doors behind them. By the time the house had complete collapsed, the cars headed down the street and the sound of sirens filled the air.
The blue and red lights sparkled in the darkness as the fire and police vehicles sat at the curbs and some of the police officer talked to the neighbors. The firemen carefully walked through the rubble as one of the firemen looked at the large pile of rubble when he thought he heard something moaning and bent down, carefully moving some of the rubble. He yelped when something grabbed hold of him and dragged him into the rubble. The rubble moved when a large cloud of black smoke floated into the air and a low growling sound came from the black smoke.
Peter stood near the window as he looked at the lights twinkling in the darkness and sipped on some Midori. Cassandra had given Amy and Jane something to put them into a dreamless sleep to calm them down and Charlie was sitting on the chair in front of the gas powered fireplace, checking the news sites for any reports about Cassandra's house. Sighing, Peter placed the glass on top of Charlie's head as he headed for the stairs and Charlie took the glass off his head, placing the glass on the floor. Peter walked up the stairs when he walked down the hallway, stood in the doorway to the bedroom he gave Cassandra and saw her lying under the duvet. The light from the hallway made it easy to see her as he sighed and walked down the hallway, going inside his room. Closing the door, Peter turned the light on as he walked to the bathroom and turned the light on. He stood in front of the mirror as he looked at his reflection and held onto the sink with both hands.
"Some fucking hero you turned out to be. You couldn't save Ginger. You ran when Charlie needed you when Ed showed up. You let Charlie face off against Jerry when you're the one with the knowhow when it comes to fighting those bastards. You faint like a fucking girl when you first lay eyes on De'Avante. Now you can't even comfort the woman you're falling in love with because it was your fucking ancestor that caused this whole fucking mess! Maybe I'm just kidding myself! I'm not magician! I'm just some guy that lies and cheats people! If I was any sort of magic man, I would have my own familiar, but, no, I've got…." Peter said when something growled in the other room and Peter slowly turned around, walking back into the bedroom. He stood in the doorway when he saw something lying on the bed and his eyes widened. "Fuck."