300 reviews! you guys are INCREDIBLE! i'm gonna try answering reviews from now on, so be sure to leave one :) this chapter's a little longer than my usual to show my immense gratitude. feel free to leave ideas in your reviews, i'd love to hear what you guys want to see so i can try to work it in somehow. enjoy!

Simone POV

Simone was running out of patience. It had been at least forty minutes since the ringing shot, and the sedative she had given Meredith was only going to last for so long. The last thing she wanted was human blood on her hands, but if she had to do it in order to achieve what Zane couldn't, she would. Simone began pacing around the medium sized room, gun twitching at her side. Had she miscalculated? Had someone else shot the girl and no one informed her? Was it possible that the Uniter had run out of lives? This last thought tugged her lips up into a cruel smile, but she couldn't fully accept the victory unless she was certain. The Order's elders would be quick to finish her off if she gave a false report. Simone quickly crossed the room to where the girl lay, a bloody gaping hole in her right temple, lips closed peacefully. Frowning, she pinched the Uniter's nose and waited a few minutes. She felt ridiculous doing so, but perhaps the girl had found a way to come back without letting Simone know about it. She glanced at her watch and then briskly walked over to window, pressing her body against the wall and peering through the blinds. So far the Mai hadn't realized the guards supposedly protecting Chloe were dead, but they would soon and Simone had to be gone by then. She had refused to bring backup, reasoning that it would be harder to sneak around, but she knew that it was really due to her bruised pride. Zane had been hers, he had failed, and no one was letting her forget it for a moment. Zane had tried reasoning with her that the leader and her daughter were dead, but once it was discovered that Jasmine was alive and well, he quickly began losing his bargaining chip. Besides, the goal was the Uniter, and after waiting another twenty minutes, Simone decided the girl was finished and she began making her escape.

Alek POV

Bloody Idiot. Krissy's eyes began welling up and I couldn't help but squirm uncomfortably in my seat. I don't do very well with tears. I've seen Chloe cry, what? Once? When she freaked out over being the Uniter in the very beginning, and I didn't know what to do with myself. "Look, Krissy-" I began saying when my phone vibrated on my desk. Jasmine. Thank Bastet... I picked up the phone and stood up quickly. "We'll finish this later?" I suggested quickly, then ran out before she could answer.

"What is it?" I asked Jasmine, already in Mai attack mode. I was practically running through the halls, speeding past the slow moving blurry faces. Jasmine rarely calls, more often than not she finds me in person. The last time I remember her calling was when Chloe was poisoned and I'd gone with the wrong healer...

"I'm at Chloe's house-" she said, in a quiet voice that I've never heard her use before.

"What? Why?" I asked, anxious as hell that her fear was somehow connected to Chloe. My steps came faster, heart pounded louder.

"I was worried that she wasn't in school and she wasn't answering her phone and I couldn't find you and I wasn't going to worry you too," she was rambling, and she knew it. "...Alek, we've failed once again." she finished in a broken voice. My feet came to a sudden halt, lurching me forward as I froze. "I came to Chloe's house and the guards were dead, Alek." Black started clouding my vision. There were too many people, pushing against me. Too much noise, slamming against my ears. "The worst part is, she isn't waking up. There's no attacker in sight, which means she had to have been shot a while ago-" I stopped listening and the phone slipped from my hand and flew down, crashing down to the tile floor. Chloe. My beautiful kitten. Torn open for the second time by a bullet. Where had they shot her this time? Visions of her covered in blood, various holes puncturing her body flooded my mind. I clenched my eyes tight and tried to shake the images away. Blindly, I shoved my way through the crowd, determined to get to her as quickly as I could. Determined to save her in the way only I knew how.

Simone POV (again?)

Simone knelt down behind a black sedan with tinted windows and peered through Chloe's window with a pair of binoculars. Valentina's daughter was standing right in her view, talking on the phone and glancing nervously at where the bed would be. That meant two things to Simone. First, the Uniter was still dead, which was a very good sign. Secondly, if she were to just raise her gun and aim, she would hit the guardian dead on. Sliding the folded binoculars into her pocket, she pulled out her gun and placed it directly on the roof of the car. Simone positioned her hands and shut her left eye, moving the weapon until Jasmine was standing directly in front of her target. "Ready, Aim..." she whispered to herself, smiling maliciously. "Fire." she hissed, but just as she was about to pull the trigger, the gun was yanked out of her hands from behind. Spinning around, she was face to face with one of the Uniter's guardians. A tall blond bloke, with death in his eyes. He quickly aimed the gun square at her face and watched as the color drained from her cheeks. "Can't take what you dish out, can you?" he growled viciously, taking a step closer. The gun was an inch away from her forehead. "That's right," she whispered, and before the boy could blink twice, she had eased a magic smoke ball from her pocket and slammed it against the pavement.

Alek POV (again!)

I waved my arm madly, coughing as the smoke began to seep into my lounges. Damn it, NO! How could I have let Chloe's murderer get away? Why the hell was I making small talk when I should have been shooting, or knocking her unconscious at the very least? My temper got the best of me and I ran up to the nearest car screaming, and smashed the gun against the window. To my surprise the glass didn't break, but rather my gun bounced off and sent me stumbling backwards.

"Gun proof, you idiot." I heard Jasmine mutter from Chloe's window across the street. Yes, our hearing is that good. "I didn't shoot it," I argued back under my breath, rolling my eyes. I had to get over myself, Chloe needed me. Even if she really was... I gulped, unable to force myself to even think it. After one last glance in Simone's direction, I turned on my heel and sped off to try to be the guardian I had failed to be, because of once again, my emotions. I couldn't help but be bitter about it, there was no way to win. I confess my emotions, I'm rejected. I hide my emotions, Jasmine bites my head off for not being man enough. It seems as if every way I turn I'm running into another dead end. Whether Chloe and I are together or not isn't up to me anymore. I made my intentions perfectly clear, I thought to myself, jogging up the stairs, and then there I was. Directly in front of Chloe's door. It was shut tight, and I closed my eyes, hand on the knob, preparing myself. What I was about to see would scar me for the rest of my life, and I wanted to have one last moment remembering Chloe the way she was the last time I saw her. Thinking about whether or not we were going to be together was pure denial. The first step was making sure she was ALIVE. Alek, open the door. I calmly told myself. She's okay, just open the door. But I couldn't. My hand wouldn't budge. I leaned my head against the frame as the realization finally hit me. Soft sobs began to wrack my body as tears slid down the bridge of my nose. Hastily wiping them away, I stood tall, cleared my throat and squared my shoulders. Alek Petrov doesn't cry, I reminded myself. Alek Petrov fights the situation until he achieves perfection. Tightening my hand on the cold handle, it began to turn, and as I eased the door open, my eyes widened in shock.

darn that theregoesnash leaving us with another cliffhanger! who does she think she is? :P