<div align="center"><strong><span class="bbc_u">The Fictionals: Black of Heart</span></strong></div><br/>The evening had been pleasent for the three gentlemen. They had met at a fine restaurant early in the evening for dinner before later retiring to the household of the gentlemen who had organised this meeting to discuss work and other subjects. To some this could be considered a perfectly normal dinner followed by a perfectly normal conversation at a perfectly normal house. To others this could be considered a collaboration of demons.<br/>These men were not gentlemen, for to say that they were gentlemen would imply that they acted like civilised human beings. The truth of the matter is that these men were monsters.<br/>Monsters who enjoyed sitting before a roaring fire in a large room made of oak and gold whilst sipping on wine and nibbling expensive cheeses. They sat in large red leather arm chairs and quietly munched and slurped the treats that had been given to them by the butler of the house.<br/>'Thank you for picking up the bill Hubert. That was decent of you.' One of the men spoke; a young thin man dressed in a casual black smoking jacket with white pants and black slippers. His face was lean and thin with skin the colour of bleached bones. His hair was dark and neatly slicked back and his lips were thin and cracked.<br/>'I-It was my pleasure Mr Spring. Y-you know I a-always look forward to your c-c-company' The nervous voice of a trembling old man replied. He was sat on the left of the thin lipped gentlemen. He was an old frail looking creature with wispy white hair and a thin white beard that forked outwards like the spikes of a trident. He was dressed in a shabby dark grey suit that looked as if a family of moths had been snacking on it for hours.<br/>'Stop your shaking you old coot! If you're cold then get closer to the fire! Or is the great Faust afraid that the devil is going to jump out of the fire place?' Spat the third gentlemen; a muscular man with long curly black hair and a hook nose that hung above a thick moustache. He was dressed in the uniform of a sea captain. Gold stripes crossed on his shoulders and the cuffs of his suit collar and there were large gold buttons running down the front of it.<br/>'Please will you not use my true name Mr Roger!' The old man exclaimed. His frail and weak appearance fading for a moment as he angrily pointed a finger at the sea captain.<br/>'Oooo look at how the old wizard barks! A man like you wouldn't last a day on my ship.' The captain cackled and waggled his finger accusingly at the old man.<br/>'Mr Rogers...' The thin gentlemen in the middle spoke, '...do not antagonise my guest. You are a welcome guest in my home but I will not tolerate childish behaviour.' The man warned, casting a glance at the dark haired brute.<br/>'Very well. I do hope you'll enlighten me to why you have asked me here Mr Spring. I'm a very busy man. I have a ship to return to and a crew to order about' The captain sneered before taking a big gulp of wine.<br/>'As you wish Mr Rogers' Mr Spring spoke with a calm nod before getting to his feet and pulling out a photograph from his pocket.<br/>'I have recently come across evidence to suggest that a young man has recently discovered that he was once the mad scientist known as Victor Frankenstein' He paused for a moment to judge his guests reaction. The old man had gone back to trembling and the captain was now scratching his chin with interest.<br/>'As you can imagine being able to bring the dead back to life would be a vital resource for our organisation. Unfortunately this young man seems to be rather good at hiding himself. I have had agents scouring the country trying to locate him, but it seems as if he has vanished into thin air' Mr Spring seemed to chuckle as he said the last part of his sentence. It was as if he had said a joke that only he was aware of.<br/>'So you wish me to find this young man?' The captain asked before grinning widely at him, 'You certainly have made the right choice. You'll have him on your front door step by tomorrow morning'<br/>'I don't doubt your abilities Mr Rogers but please do not get too carried away' Mr Spring spoke softly as he paced in front of the fire place, casting a shadow over her guests 'I don't wish to waste your time finding this child. Instead I wish for you to locate another young man. His name is; Evan T. Carwell and I believe he will be able to locate our target within mere hours'<br/>'What? A boy who can outdo me?' The captain sneered, looking rather insulted at the idea.<br/>'Try not too feel insulted Mr Rogers. The boy will have help after all. He will more than likely encounter a member of that rag tag group of misfits at Woodmore Highschool, probably Alistair Croft seeing as he specialises in criminals.' Mr Spring spoke, his voice containing a hint of venom as he spoke the name, 'I propose we capitalise on this and use their talents to serve our goals'<br/>'Faust here has been working tirelessly to find the all power book that will help fortify the dead flesh that the young lad will animate. The book has so far appeared to be as elusive as Mr Frankenstein, however I suspect if we use those two boys then we shall find what we are looking for within a very short amount of time' Mr Spring explained cheerfully while the old man squirmed uncomfortably in his chair.<br/>'Mr Spring please don't use my true name. I prefer-'<br/>'I also plan on eliminating them once they have proven to be of no more use' Mr Spring spoke firmly and cast a scowl at the old man. His threat was clear. If the old man didn't stop his whining then he would be considered to be useless and would be executed like the boys.<br/>'I trust you will have no quarrels concerning this matter?' He asked as he turned to face the captain.<br/>'None at all. Those boys will be caught and will use their abilities or else they'll walk the plank' The captain spoke before rising from his seat and downing the rest of his wine in one big gulp.<br/>'Thank you Mr Rogers. I do appreciate you're cooperation'<br/>'It is my pleasure Mr Spring. After all I do feel somewhat indebted to you after you helped me locate and slay my nemesis.' The captain spoke before throwing back his head and laughing cruelly.<br/>'I'll never forget the look of shock on his face. It'll be with me until I go down with my ship!'<br/>'I'm glad to have been of service Mr Rogers'<br/>'Please Mr Spring. I prefer Hook.' The Captain spoke before lifting his right arm and waving it dismissively. Faust flinched as he watched the arm sway, for on the end of it was no hand, just a large silver hook.<br/>'Captain James Hook' He spoke maliciously before turning on the spot and making his way out of the room. His heavy black boots thumping against the hard oak floor.<br/><br/><div align="center"><strong><span class="bbc_u">Monday</span></strong></div><br/>Alistair Croft was an unhappy kid and this made him a terrible person. Normal kids would have been happy to be in his situation. School had just ended, he had no homework to complete and had an entire evening to do whatever the heck he wanted. Not to mention that he currently had a couple of bucks in his pocket that his mother had given to him for cleaning up the yard the previous day. He was rich, healthy, young and had all the time in the world, but Alistair was still miserable.<br/>The cause of his gloom was due to the sad truth that no one was trying to kill him. In the last few weeks the book club that he and his friend Lulu Carol ran had gained more members and been on more adventures than ever before. A lot of these adventures had almost resulted in him being killed in cruel and inventive ways, but lately opportunities for adventures and near death experiences had been very scarce and this frustrated Alistair to no end.<br/>He sighed and rested his head on the palms of her hands. He was sitting on a bench outside a super store and was currently sipping coke and munching on a bag of spicy chips.<br/>'I guess it's not all that bad.' He mumbled to himself as he thought over some of the things he had done over the last few weeks in an attempt to cheer himself up.<br/>The club party had been fun. Lulu had wanted to throw one in order to welcome their newest members; Emily, a lovely girl who was fierce as a spartan warrior and Casey, a pyrokenetic that could burn down a school if she got too angry. Lulu had done a good job of turning their library into a disco. She had balanced plates of party food on the book cases and cleared enough space for them to dance when she had plugged in a huge stero system.<br/>He smiled to himself as he remembered how they had laughed as Lulu had tugged Emily onto the dance floor and made her do a two person conga. After she had dragged the poor girl around the dance floor she had forced him to drag Casey up onto the floor and dance to a mushy love song. It had been a terrible idea, he had stepped on her feet three times...but it was also one of the most exciting experiences of his life.<br/>He still could remember how she had felt in his arms as they had swayed on the dance floor. He could still feel her breath against his neck and the soft touch of her flame red hair against his cheek. He could still remember how green and deep her eyes had been when their eyes had connected for that one lucky moment. He could still remember the scent of her perfume, the warmth of her body....the curve of her delicate lips.<br/>'Whoa. Hold on there. Sherlock Holmes doesn't do that!' He cursed, feeling his cheeks burn as he snapped himself out of the silly day dream before cursing again as he realised he had poured his coke into his bag of chips.