Of Kings & Queens

Don't Anger A Ghost, He Can Kill You

Gervasius tapped Gerard's fingers against the blade of his drawn sword as he walked down the hall. He had grabbed it the first chance he got, despite the chains that tried to hold it in place, and though he had tried to find where Paul and Percival had hidden the poisons, he had been unsuccessful. As it was, he was now out and about to check his traps, see if they caught any prey. He would have gone after the living men himself if he could, but as it was, Gerard's body was growing tired from lack of food and sleep. Gervasius knew he would have to leave to allow the singer to recover, but Gerard would not be out of his grasp for good.

Sighting one of his traps, Gervasius stepped carefully over the tripwire he had put out and looked up. The suit of armor he had hung was still there, unmoving and untouched. He left the trap be and continued on his way, pulling out Gerard's phone and forcing a connection to Mikey's. This was one of the perks he loved about having a vessel, as the last time he had tried to call someone was with a wall phone and that had taken a lot of effort (getting the phone off the hook, typing in the numbers, hanging up, etc. You have no idea how many times he had to throw a nail at the numbers until he got it right). As it was, he began calling and was quickly picked up.

"Hello, Mikey." he greeted, "Planning my downfall?"

"As if I'd tell you." spat the younger Way. Gervasius chuckled and as he passed a window, he looked out to see the courtyard. It looked like any regular courtyard except for the fact that the Hall of History went across the middle as an arch. The ghost could see people going about and grinned.

" I can see you. Are you trying to trap me? I cannot be stopped, child, so give up. Give me Ferdinand and I might just let you live."

"For one thing, his name is Frank, not Ferdinand. And second, none of us are leaving here without Gerard."

" I highly doubt that. No matter what you do, you cannot keep me away, you cannot defeat me! I will kill you all soon enough, so why not surrender and save yourselves the trouble?"

"Egotistical much?" Mikey muttered, then continued, "Only when Hell freezes over!"

"Too much spirit is what you have." Gervasius left the window and continued walking, now heading towards the courtyard, "And have you seen young Monty? I assume he returned to you after our talk."

"Not at all. And you know what? We don't need him. We can keep Frank safe from you, no matter what you do." Gervasius' grin twitched, becoming tighter on his face.

" I let it pass by the first time, but now I wish to correct you: His name is Ferdinand, he is the reincarnation of my lover and I will do anything to get him back, so do not push me."

"He doesn't love you, bastard. And if you want him back, you'll need to get me first. So, come and get me." Gervasius pulled the phone away when he heard the dial tone and stared at it, then gave a roar and threw it at the wall, causing it to smash.

"He thinks he can take Ferdinand away from me! He has the gall to antagonize me?!" Gervasius took off at a run, "He will pay for his insolence!"

"Are you sure it was a good idea to get him riled up like that?" Pete asked after Mikey ended the call.

"He'll make more mistakes when he's mad. That's what we want." Mikey explained, then said, "Get going. He can't know about you or 'Trick at all if we want to stay alive." Pete nodded, but stayed a few seconds before leaving to join his band. FOB was hiding out behind a low wall to the side of the courtyard while MCR was scattered about. They had found more chains, cables, and some rope in a supply closet connected to the security room and had used them to create rope traps against Gervasius. There had also been a medical kit in the closet, so that gave them to add another factor to their plan: Force Gerard to kick out Gervasius using the singer's fear of hypodermic needles. It was a cruel tactic that none of them agreed with, but they knew it might be their only chance to save Gerard from the mad king, especially at this time of day. It was night, when Montresor said that ghosts were at their strongest, so they hoped this would work. Otherwise they were as good as dead.