The Villain Academy- Chapter Sixteen: Plan B
Hi, everyone!
We're starting to wrap up my NaNo 09 novel, "The Villain Academy"! Only one more chapter after this! Before reading this penultimate chapter, be sure to read its predecessor. Peruse the archives, it's fun, trust me.
This chapter has one last back-up plan, two characters finally given names, a hotel miles away, a message, sudden shows of authority, a rescue plan, grisly discoveries, one watching through a broken window, unapologetic apathy towards sleeping people, playful banter, and Aimee once again assuming leadership. Enjoy!
16. Plan B
Miles and miles away from the Villain Academy, distanced from the violence and death, over hills, mountains, rivers, and plains, stood a hotel. It was tall and fancy, with gleaming, expansive windows, a metallic brown surface, and very high security.
In one hotel room, behind tightly-drawn blinds, were Felicity and Edgar Roennigke.
Felicity sighed as she sat in her chair, changed out of her costume. She stared at her phone sitting on the table beside her, waiting for it to ring.
“Lissie, it’s not going to ring if you win your staring contest with it,” Edgar joked, rolling his eyes.
She gave him a glare. “Charlie went to pick up Torianne hours ago! He said he’d call once they were leaving, and he hasn’t called yet.”
She worriedly played with her hair. “He keeps his promises. He knows I’m sitting here worrying my head off, he wouldn’t keep me waiting.” she said sadly.
Edgar walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She reached up a hand and met his with a sigh.
“Just relax, Lissie. They’re escaping from the Villain Academy, for Pete’s sake, it’s no easy undertaking. He’s probably just forgotten in all the excitement, or maybe he dropped his phone getting Torianne to safety. They’re probably driving home right now, and they’ll call as soon as they get home,” he said reassuringly. She turned her head and met his eyes.
“You think so?” she asked softly.
“Yes, of course.” he answered with a smile.
Felicity nodded. “Okay. But what if they need our help? She’s our daughter…well, kind of.” she said.
“Felicity…” he started in a warning tone. “She is our daughter, no ifs, ands, or buts. She’s our lovely Torianne.”
“But not really.” Felicity said, her tone regretful about this turn of events.
“Yes, really! She was an orphan, and we adopted her. She had no one else.” Edgar said firmly. One could tell they had had this discussion before, perhaps many times.
“Doesn’t she have sisters somewhere?” Felicity pointed out.
“They left her!” Edgar said, beginning to sound frustrated. “We took her in, we raised her, and someday she’ll be a great hero because of it. I really hate that you were the one who always wanted kids, and now that you have one, you’re always saying that she’s not ours. If Torianne isn’t ours, whose is she?”
“We should have told her that she was adopted!” Felicity said.
“What good would it have done? It would have destroyed her knowing her real parents were mad scientists, that the only family she had left abandoned her. We put a memory block on her memories of the asylum, it would have haunted her. All it would have done was cause her pain. It’s a pointless idea, and we were right to keep it from her. Don’t you see, Lissie?” Edgar said, pulling her up from her seat and facing her. “Do you want her to be miserable?”
“No, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.” Felicity said instantly.
“So stop dwelling on this. We did the right thing. And soon enough, we’ll see her again back home. Me, you, Torianne, and Charlie, all of us together again for dinner back home. Won’t that be nice?” Edgar said, smiling. Felicity nodded, a contented smile crossing her face.
“Soon he’ll call, and soon we’ll be back home,” she said, almost to herself.
She had no idea that her brother was dead, that her adopted daughter murdered him, that Tori was no longer Tori, but rather Aimee, and Aimee was a villain. But fortunately, Charlie had a back-up plan.
He had really hoped he wouldn’t die. But he knew there was a chance he would never make it out of the Villain Academy, so he prepared.
He had recorded a message, and arranged for it to be sent to his sister Felicity at a certain time. If he had survived, he would have been able to delete the message before it could be sent. But, as it were, he hadn’t survived. He was the bloody cadaver of a murdered man, and as such, he could not disable the message to be sent to his sister.
So at a certain time, Charlie’s phone beeped and a monotone declared quietly, “Message sent.”
The message, a clip of sound, travelled over to Felicity Roennigke’s cell phone. As it was received, the phone rang.
Delighted, Felicity’s whole face lit up and she rushed towards the phone.
“See, what did I tell you,” Edgar said, smiling as well.
“It’s Charlie!” Felicity said, reading the caller ID. She picked up the phone, flipped it open, and happily said, “Hi, Charlie! Oh, you have no idea how much I’ve been worrying, I’m so glad to hear from you!”
She heard a click and static on the other line. “Charlie?” she asked, her expression clouding.
“Felicity, if you’re hearing this, something went terribly wrong,” said Charlie’s recorded voice.
Felicity’s face completely fell, her eyes wide, her jaw slack.
“What happened?” Edgar asked, seeing her expression.
Felicity couldn’t speak. She could only listen. The recording went on.
“I knew going into the Villain Academy would be dangerous, and I knew there was a chance they’d find me. If I’d made it out of the Academy, you wouldn’t be hearing this. But you are, so that means…well, just assume the worst,” Charlie’s recorded voice said, sounding shaky. Felicity cried out and tears began to sting at her eyes.
“Lissie, if something’s happened to me, Torianne’s probably in trouble, too. I promised you I would protect her with my life, and I probably have. You need to go to the Villain Academy right now, before it’s too late for Torianne. I know how much you love her, and how much she means to you. Right now, you’re her only hope.”
What about you, Charlie? Felicity thought mournfully, tears escaping her eyes.
“I know this is probably a shock and you’re probably really upset, but you have to be strong, Lissie. You and Edgar need to go and save Torianne. I don’t know what the villains there are capable of doing to her, but I’m betting it’s not good. I love you, Lissie…my baby sister.”
There was a click, and a dial tone.
Felicity slowly took the phone from her ear and set it back on the table. She wiped away the tears streaming down her face and took a deep breath.
“Felicity, what happened? Tell me what’s going on!” Edgar said, worried and upset just seeing her so upset.
Felicity looked at him from where she sat. “Something has gone wrong at the Villain Academy,” she said.
“If you talked to Charlie, what could it be?” Edgar said, confused.
“He sent me a recording. He said I wouldn’t have gotten it if he and Torianne weren’t in danger. We have to go.” Felicity said, getting up, a determined look emblazoned on her face.
“Go? Go where?” Edgar said, still confused.
“To the Villain Academy. Get changed,” Felicity said, grabbing her costume.
“I still don’t--!” Edgar protested.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on either. All I know is our daughter is in trouble and my brother could be dead, and we have to go!” Felicity said, taking control, her voice rising.
“Yes, ma’am,” Edgar said meekly, his questions silenced by this sudden show of authority.
“Good.” Felicity replied, going to change. She was confused, sorrowful, angry, determined, and ready to go. She had to save her Tori, her little girl. She was ready to strike, like the villains had struck down her brother. Felicity didn’t know how she knew, but somehow she felt that her older brother was dead. And if she didn’t move quickly, her daughter might be next. She wasn’t going to let that happen, no matter what.
“Not my daughter too,” she murmured to herself.
Felicity and Edgar suited up and got ready to head out. The Villain Academy was far away, but Edgar, with psychic powers, could teleport them to the grounds. Normally he could only teleport himself, but Felicity was one with powers over plant life; she could morph herself into a flower, and they would be set.
“Ready?” Felicity asked, preparing to morph herself.
“Always,” Edgar replied, some of his wife’s determination rubbing off on him.
Felicity gave a curt nod and melted into a daisy, fluttering to the carpeted floor of the hotel room. Edgar picked up the blossom, held it tight in his hand, and with a burst of electric blue light, they were gone. The light sent the curtains on the window fluttering and the edges of the blanket on the bed flew up in the air for a moment.
The room was soon deserted as a pair of determined parents set out to save their daughter. But from what?
The psychic transportation was instantaneous, and Felicity and Edgar soon arrived at the rusty gates of the Villain Academy. Edgar gave himself a little mental shake; travel like that always left one a little startled.
He tossed the daisy in his hand in the air, and as it fell Felicity morphed back into her true form.
“Loosen your grip already, would you?” she complained, brushing herself off.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, sounding like he couldn’t be bothered. Felicity rolled her eyes and they both turned to face the looming form of the Villain Academy up on the hill, not that far away.
“So she’s in there somewhere?” Edgar asked.
“Yes.” Felicity replied.
“Are we going to bother trying to find Charlie?” Edgar asked, glancing towards her.
Felicity’s eyes fell to the ground. “After we save Torianne,” she finally said after a moment of silence.
“You don’t think he’s dead, do you?” Edgar said, hoping his gut feeling was wrong.
“No…I know he’s dead,” she replied softly, closing her eyes tight.
“Lissie…”
“He said he died protecting Torianne. We can’t stand around her with our daughter captured by these people and let my brother die in vain.” Felicity said, her tone harsh, pointing towards the building.
“You’re right.” Edgar said with a resigned nod.
They set out across the grounds. The dead grass crackled underneath their feet, and their eyes never stopped moving, looking for anyone awaiting their entrance.
“Is there someone in the bushes there?” Felicity asked, pointing to a cluster of half-dying bushes by the front door.
Edgar gave it a critical stare. “I think you’re right. It looks like someone sleeping, almost.” he said.
Felicity extended her arms. The bushes grew up, giving up the one within them. The body rolled out to their feet, and the bushes shrunk back to their original form.
Felicity gasped and took a step back. The someone in the bushes was a body, a dead one. It looked like a violent death, too. The body was cut up and bruised, with the neck sticking out at an improper angle.
“Who is that?” Edgar asked, bending down to further inspect the body.
Felicity looked; it was an elderly man, with some wrinkles on his face. The face was oddly familiar to her somehow, but she couldn’t think of a name.
“I don’t know. It’s not Charlie, though.” Felicity finally said. “He must have died earlier today.”
“If he was a hero we’d know him, wouldn’t we?” Edgar asked, confused. “And why would he be here, anyway? I thought only Charlie was coming here tonight.”
“Obviously something else has been going on, something Charlie didn’t know about,” Felicity said as they both got up. “He left me a message, but I think he recorded it before he left to come here and pick up Torianne. He didn’t know what exactly was going on.”
“So two people died tonight,” Edgar said solemnly.
“Yes,” Felicity said sadly.
They moved on from the body they couldn’t identify towards the front doors. One door was open still.
“Great security here, huh?” Edgar remarked as they stepped through.
Felicity merely looked around nervously. This whole thing seemed too easy, like they were walking into a trap.
Her keen eyes didn’t notice someone watching them from a floor above.
“Who are you people?” Rune wondered aloud to himself. Through the broken window of the library, he watched two people, a man and a woman in superhero garb, come into the Villain Academy.
“We really need to lock our doors,” he noted, stepping away from the window.
Rune was nearly always in the library. The others were asleep, but Rune’s kind has very high stamina. Although his energy wasn’t as great as a full vampire’s was, a dhampyr still had far greater stamina than most others.
It seemed people were being drawn to the Villain Academy like flies that night. Rune didn’t know what these two new people were here for, who they were, or who had called them, but he didn’t really care much. All that mattered was getting them out. A mind reader is not particularly useful in a fight, so Rune’s first priority was waking everyone else up. He doubted they’d be very happy with him disturbing their slumber, but once again, he didn’t really care much.
Rune hurried from the library and returned to his dormitory, where Altair slept. Then came a predicament. How does one wake up someone else without touching them? Rune really did not want to hear what was going on in Altair’s dreams. Dreams were often far worse to hear than regular thoughts.
“Altair. Altair, wake up!” Rune said, his voice getting louder with each word. Altair mumbled in his sleep and rolled over. Rune sighed.
“Altair, get up now! There are intruders here, wake up!” Rune said insistently. Still nothing. Rune scowled. This was useless and he was running out of time. So Rune resignedly took a step closer and shoved Altair out of his bed, trying to touch him for the absolute minimum of time.
Altair yelled as he tumbled from his bed onto the floor. He sat up, dazed and half-asleep, and spotted Rune.
“Dude, what is your issue?” Altair grumbled, pulling himself up. “I know you’re socially inept because your parents shunned you, but seriously, no need to take out your rage on me.”
“Cute,” Rune said, sounding unimpressed. “Wake up, we have a situation.”
Altair groaned as he disentangled himself from his blanket. “Again? How many situations can we have in one day?” he asked.
“That doesn’t matter now. We have to wake the girls up and deal with the situation.” Rune said.
“Fine. They’ll be way more grumpy than me. We’d better be prepared to run.” Altair said grimly.
“I’m sure they’ll be reasonable once they know what’s going on,” Rune said sensibly.
“Angie shoots firsts and asks questions later, if she remembers to ask questions at all.” Altair said. “Trust me.”
Rune stared at him, a puzzled look on his face. “So why do you date her?” he asked.
Altair shook his head and waved the question away with his hand. “Didn’t you say we had a situation?”
“Right. Let’s go.” Rune said. The boys headed across the hall to the girls’ dormitory. Rune hesitated at the door.
“What?” Altair asked. “Open it.”
“But we’re not allowed in there,” Rune said.
Altair rolled his eyes. “The headmaster’s dead and apparently we’re under attack again. I really don’t think it matters anymore, Rune.” he pointed out, swinging the door open.
Altair went around systematically shoving all the girls out of their bunks, and the room was soon rent with yells of the Snowflakes and Aimee. However, he didn’t shove Angie, but merely shook her awake gently.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked sleepily.
“Why did you shove me out of my bed?!” Aimee demanded to know, getting up, hands on hips.
“We have a situation, apparently,” Altair asked, pulling Angie out of her bunk.
“What sort of situation?” the Snowflakes asked together, having recovered quite gracefully from their fall.
“I dunno. Ask Rune, he woke me up,” Altair said, jabbing a finger at Rune.
“I was in the library--” Rune started.
“Why am I not surprised?” Aimee asked with a chuckle.
“I don’t need to sleep that much and I was bored! Quiet!” Rune said defensively. “Anyway, I saw two people come into the Academy. They’re dressed like heroes. Am I the only one who thinks we really need to learn to lock our doors?”
Everyone murmured agreement.
“Did you see where they went?” Angie asked.
Rune shook his head.
“Like it matters where they went. We have to find them and stop them,” Aimee said determinedly.
“Can we change out of our pajamas first?” Altair asked. All of them were in their night clothes except for Rune, who had changed at some point.
“No time, we can’t let them find the various dead bodies we’ve left strewn around this place,” Aimee pointed out. “Let’s go!”
She assumed the leadership role with ease, and the others followed her out of the girls’ dormitory, ready to fight.
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Oh yes, cliffhangers are my best friends. xD I probably will be posting the thrilling conclusion tonight, so don't fret too much.
In other news, I got a chunk of 40 written and a bunch of scenes done. Maybe we'll have 40 up by the New Year? If I work my butt off all night, until midnight on New Year's if necessary. Haha, I had a chapter up on New Year's Eve last year too. Cool, huh?
Speaking of last year, I've been on LJ a year and a few days now. I think my first real entry was from December 20, so I'm a little late, but whatever.
Also the Exchange is so dead it's not even funny. I am very glad I no longer publish there, because I would be getting very violent very fast.
Quote of the Day: "Don't die!"
~June