Chapter 1

The girls head out to get information from Luc. As they take their leave, things go horribly wrong.

   The hotel was very impressive. The hallways were fancifully decorated and clean, and the rooms likely more so. Several pieces of art hung on the simple navy blue walls. The cream carpet was soft and pleasant to walk on. The Surge Condos certainly seemed like a first-rate housing facility.

"Well, here we are!" Emma chirped.

The girls looked upon a large, dark door. The number 361 was painted in gold on it. Hanging on a small hook was a sign reading "DO NOT DISTURB" in large, bold print.

"I don't think we should go in..." Valarie whispered, eying the sign.

"No way!" Emma began punching the doorbell repeatedly. "We're already here. Why go back because of some sign, you know?"

Right after she said that, the door swung open with considerable force. Inside stood a rather irritated-looking young man. In spite of his harsh demeanor, he held a somewhat charismatic air. He wore a navy blue suit, and a small, silver badge was suspended on his belt. His long, wavy blonde hair was tied back in a low ponytail. His glaring blue eyes were mostly hidden behind long, wavy bangs, but they were clearly pinned on Emma.

"Um, hello, sir! My name's Emmalynn Zolnerowich." Emma gestured a hand to her partner. "And this is Valarie Castillo."

Valarie nodded in greeting, but lowered her gaze to the floor the moment Luc turned his head towards her.

"I was told by someone that you know a lot about a whole lot of interesting stuff." Emma continued. "Are you Luc Chamberlain?"

Luc stared at the girls, eyes narrowed and suspecting. "Oui, but 'oo told you my name?"

Emma fiddled with her teal scarf as she tried to find another name she could use. The first name that came up in her mind was the name of her guy friend. "Blake."

"Ah bon?" Luc cocked his head. "Strange of 'im... Bah, never mind zat. Why are you two 'ere, now?"

"We were hoping you'd help us with our research project..." Emma explained. "It would be great if you could, because we really need some extra resources."

"Unfortunately, I am very busy right now, but..." Luc shook his head, as if shrugging off the cumbersome interruption to his day. "I guess I can make some time to 'elp such polite..." He glanced abjectly at Emma. "... and persistent... students."

"Thank you!" Emma chirped.

"Merci..." Valarie mumbled.

Luc stared at Valarie in surprise. "Parles-tu français?"

"Um..." Valarie shrugged. "Not really..."

"Well, anyways." Luc gestured a hand towards his room. "On y va? I 'ave not much time."

Luc's hotel room was as clean and upscale as the hallways, maybe even more so. It had the similar navy walls and cream carpet, and even a few decorative paintings that hung on the wall. From the looks of the extremely neat bed, it appeared as if Luc has just arrived in America. However, there were no signs of luggage in the room.

Both Emma and Valarie took notice to the strange cleanliness, but they had a feeling it would be better to avoid questioning their foreign host. After glancing back at each other worriedly, they took a seat on a couch, which also appeared to have not been used for some time. The girls squirmed a bit as Luc took a seat on a chair that blocked any easy path to the door. There was a long and slent minute before any words were spoken.

"What exactly do you two need 'elp with?" Luc finally asked.

"We have a project, and we need to write about this Split Personality Disorder." Emma explained. "Like I said, we need as much resources as possible."

Luc flinched at the name of their subject, but recovered quickly to avert any suspicion. "Split.. Personality Disorder..."

Valarie lifted her gaze to examine the strange man for a few seconds.

"Well... Interesting subject, non?" Luc leaned back in his chair. "It is where you... 'ave multiple personalities, to put it simply."

"Anything besides that, captain obvious?" Emma scoffed.

"Euh, w'at 'appened to zat polite fille from outside?" Luc muttered. "But fine, I will 'urry zis up."

"Thank you!" Emma groaned.

"It is rare for ze multiple personas to know about each other, you see?" Luc added. "In most cases, ze subject will not know of their condition in the beginning... Oui, zis is a difficult subject to compre'end."

"Except to you, right?" Emma crossed her arms and cocked her head challengingly. "You apparently know a bunch about this subject, right? It's really weird, you know?"

Luc smirked, his gaze sharper than before.

Valarie lifted her gaze from her notebook again. "Something wrong, sir?"

"N-non..." Luc shook his head. "Now... any more questions, or are we done?"

"I guess..." Emma stood up. "Come on, Val-"

"Wait, actually..." Valarie murmured. "Is it bad if the personas know about each other?"

Zat is a good question, papillon." Luc chirped. "And zat is a question only ze subject and God could ever answer."

"Okay, and..." Valarie raised an eyebrow and stared at Luc. "What did you just call me?"

"Papillon." Luc smirked. "It's your new nickname."

"I'm not exactly fond of being nicknamed after a breed of dog..." Valarie muttered. "But uh..."

"Non," Luc said. "I don't know ze answer to your question."

"So you don't know as much as you put off." Emma was clearly unimpressed.

"Oui." Luc sighed. "I am sorry I am of not much... 'elp."

"No, no sir..." Valarie said. "You helped a lot."

Luc smiled. "Well then, I am... glad to 'ave 'elped you two beautiful girls."

"Yeah, yeah..." Emma brushed off Luc's compliment. "But I'm just wondering... How do you know so much about psychology? I figured guild members are all brawns."

Luc chuckled. "I suggest you get to know something before judging it."

"Hmph, fine." Emma edged towards the door. "Come on, Valarie."

Valarie nodded and followed Emma. She stopped and turned to Luc. "Um, thank you, by the way."

Luc smiled. "Any time, papillon."

The girls quickly turned and walked out of the room, closing the door behind them. As they walked away, they could hear Luc talking to himself.

"He's fishy." Emma grumbled. "Fishy as a tuna sandwich."

"A tuna sandwich is only about half-fishy." Valarie countered.

"Come on, just co-operate!" Emma whined. "Don't you think so, too, though?"

Valarie sighed. "I guess so."

"And Mr. Tuller told us..." Emma added. "His brain might've been out of whack because of some accident, right?"

"He seemed okay to me." Valarie muttered. "At first, he seemed off... But he grew better..."

"Better?" Emma scoffed. "Yeah right."

"But you know what's bothering me?" Valarie asked. "I wondered why he smirked when you questioned his knowledge on Split Personality."

"Who knows." Emma shrugged. "We won't be visiting him soon, so I don't think that matters to us anymore."

"But at the same time, I'm..." Valarie hesitated for a bit, unsure if Emma would keep quiet about this. "I'm curious... About him."

"More like you have a crush on him!" Emma drawled.

"Oh, shush!" Valarie growled. "I just think he's nice..."

"Do you like weird nerds?" Emma continued to ask Valarie questions on her 'type of guy' until they reached the parking lot.

"Well, I'm heading to the library." Valarie said before climbing into her car. "I guess we'll work on this tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Emma hopped into her own car and drove off quickly.

Valarie sighed in frustration and started up her car to drive to the nearby library. It was a conveniently short drive from the hotel, maybe even too convenient.

 Valarie shrugged off the issue. "Maybe I'm just paranoid." She climbed back out of her car and strolled into the library, her notebook in hand. "I have to focus; I can't let Luc distract me!"

"Am I really distracting you?" a voice purred from behind.

Valarie yelped and turned her attention to the man. "You followed me!"

"Oh, lower your voice, papillon." Luc drawled. "We are, after all, in a library."

"I have every right to be worried right now." Valarie growled.

"And I 'ave every right to keep an eye on you." Luc held up a silver badge that had a four-pointed star in the center. The letters "SRG" were engraved on it. "Or 'ave you forgotten 'oo I am, already?"

"You have no right if you have no case." Valarie countered. "Why are you following me?"

"Because you are interesting and interested." Luc grinned. "I can tell just by looking at you; you want to ask me more questions, but your partner was just so eager to leave."

"I'm interested in our subject, that's all." Valarie turned her back to the stalker. "There's nothing more than that."

"Bof, I'm willing to bet you are lying." Luc purred. "You want to know more about me, non?"

"Non." Valarie felt a sting in her chest. In truth, she was so curious about the man, that she did want to ask him some questions. But she simply couldn't admit it. "Actually, I think you're disturbing."

Luc chuckled. "Well, zat isn't ze first time I've 'eard zat phrase before."

"Oh, I'm sure." Valarie drawled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to work on my project." And with those last words, Valarie scurried away from the man and towards the maze of bookshelves.

Author's Note

~FRENCH TERMS~
Oui - Yes
Ah bon - Really
Merci - Thank you
Parles-tu français - Do you speak French (informal)
Un peu - A little
On y va - Let's get started
Fille- Girl
Papillon - Butterfly
Bof - Whatever

Reviews

[RainDancer1997]

This a really good chapter:) Spacing and everything is great:) You might want to add some more details about what Luc looks like to give the reader a great picture of what he really looks like:) Good job:)!

[RainDancer1997]

Well now rereading it you described him pretty well:)