THE ENDGAME HAS BEGUN

The mansion was still in ruins, yet the bodies and blood had been cleared up. They all sat around the living room, no one speaking. Andrew and Danny were both there as well, watching the Family as they remained quiet. "Well, as much as I hate to point out the obvious, but what do we do now?" Danny asked, finally breaking the silence. Andrew elbowed him in annoyance, feeing as though the time to speak was not yet, but then Darcy looked up. "We have to find him." Andrew laughed and shook his head, which earned him an elbow from Danny. "Sorry, but the chances of finding him now are slim at best. He escaped yet again, probably had the escape planned just in case he lost to Chloe. It means he is no longer underestimating us. He sees us as a real threat." The others shared expression of both fear and anger, but no one spoke for several long minutes.

"Well, we know he's somewhere in Southbank, right?" Nicola asked, and Andrew slowly nodded. "It's a possibility," he said slowly, "But I'm not convinced he would stay in the general area. He would have moved to a different area without a doubt. We don't know where." The Family lapsed into silence once again, It was a few moments before Mikayla gasped and looked up, her eyes wide and excited. "I think I know where he might be!" The others turned to her, surprised, and she stood excitedly, barely able to sit still. "Think about it…almost every time we have encountered him, he's been in a tall building for either a view of destruction or being at a tall building is part of his plan. Remember what happened at the Sky Tower? Well, the tallest building in Southbank is the Arise Brisbane 1. I think he might be there."

The others exchanged glances, and then Andrew rose to his feet, lapping his hands together excitedly. "I could get as many units as possible down there in the next hour!" Now Vivian stood, shaking her head. "No, we can't. Not yet. Rachael's still hurt, remember? If we go now she could get seriously hurt. We need to wait a few days, let her recover to a point she can stand without feeling dizzy." Andrew sighed and ran a hand through his hair, thinking quickly before shaking his head and saying, "She isn't coming." The Family whipped around to him angrily, and Rachael rose to her feet, swaying slightly. "Sit," he ordered, and Nicola helped Rachael back to her seat, keeping her still and relaxed. "Rachael is apart of this Family," Danny said, "She should come. We can't leave anyone behind this time." The Family murmured in agreement. It seemed Danny was completely forgiven.

"No, absolutely not," Andrew shot back aggressively, "Philip wants her!" They all whipped their heads around to Andrew, eyebrows raised. "We know who the serial killer is," Andrew murmured, and Vironica leaned forward interestedly. "It's Philip, Chloe's dad," he said gravely as he indicated toward Chloe, but then he paused. Chloe wasn't there.

***

Just outside the open window, Ellie and the spirts walked away, all of them grinning at each other madly. Finally, they knew where to wait. The Arise Brisbane 1. They knew where the murderer was.

***

Chloe locked the bathroom door behind her, waiting for a moment before slowly taking her hand from the silver doorknob and turning to stare at herself in the mirror. She slowly reached to her left shoulder and pulled her shirt back, staring at the large circular imprint above her breastbone. My dad did that to me, she thought as she slowly covered the scar with her shirt again. She leaned over the sink, taking deep breaths to control herself. She felt the impulse again. It was familiar to her, almost comforting. To leave the pain and suffering behind. To join Jacob, Leila and Luke wherever they were. To finally end this all. Satan would be her witness, after all. She had a feeling Heaven was not where she was going. Slowly, she reached into the cupboard under the sink. There it was. Her emergency escape. The razorblade was long and shiny, unused. Chloe was ready to change that.

She reached down and grasped the razorblade tightly, feeling its sharp edge slice into her palm as she turned it over and held out over her right wrist. She had been here before, but she had never had the courage to actually end it. Now, she was ready. Finally ready to leave everything behind and move on. "Goodbye," she murmured softly, placing the razor just on the blue vein on her wrist. Suddenly, the door burst open, the lock smashing as Nicola stood in the doorway, an enraged expression on her face. "Not today, bitch!" she shouted, slapping the razorblade from Chloe's hand as though swatting an annoying fly. "But –" Chloe began, yet before she could finish, Nicola kissed her. Chloe kissed her back, and after several moments they broke apart, panting. "My room," Chloe murmured, and Nicola nodded.

***

Hours passed, during which Andrew took Darcy, Vivian, Vironica and Sienna to the police station. "What are we doing here?" Sienna asked as they climbed out the police car to stare up at the station. "We need a few things," Andrew said shortly as he led them inside. They got a few startled stares from surrounding police officers, but Andrew paid them no attention as he entered the elevator, the other four entering quickly after him. "What is it we're getting?" Darcy asked, leaning against the wall of the elevator and staring at Andrew with an unreadable expression on his face. "You want to fight? You need weapons," Andrew said in explanation as the elevator dinged and the doors opened on the third floor. He led them inside and to one of several cabinets lined up along the back. One of them was unlocked, and several weapons missing from inside.

"I take it that's the one Chloe used," Andrew said, chuckling as he unlocked the other five cabinets, standing back to observe each of them. "How are we going to take on this guy? He probably has, like, a hundred people working for him as well. What chance can just the Family have against that?" asked Vivian, and Sienna shrugged, realising that she had a point. Andrew sighed, shook his head while smiling, his eyes twinkling slightly as he said, "Who said it's just going to be me and you kids? No offense. No is the answer though. You will not be doing this alone." They stared at Andrew quizzically, and Andrew tapped a button on the wall, then lowering his mouth to a speaker just above it. "All officers. Report to the front of the station immediately. Make sure you are armed," Andrew said clearly into the speaker, his voice ringing out on different floors.

"What was that all about?" asked Darcy as Andrew turned back to them, and Andrew laughed aloud, as though finding the situation amusing. Then he said something that made them all grin excitedly at each other. "If you want to win a war, you need an army."