Hello my beasties! Yes, I'm finally back with another  chapter for my Missi x reader story! So now we will catch up with Duke and our teenage witch Sindera, because something very interesting will be happening.......

a day and a half ago....

Managing to sneak back home after she had snuck out to meet her former boyfriend had been easy enough, sneaking back less than 2 hours later, with a vampire  she had met not that long ago was another story entirely.

Shanti still couldn't believe that this was actually happening. Sure, she had known that magic was real ever since she had discovered she could do magic when she turned 13 years old, but she had never expected that the creatures she had read about in myths and legends to actually exist........

Duke hadn't explained much to her about why he needed her help (she still couldn't believe that an actual vampire needed her to do something for him.....), but from what he had told her, he needed her help to defeat someone who had stolen his castle from him.

He had also mentioned that  he currently  didn't have any place to stay, and Shanti had actually volunteered to find him someplace. (Why did she do that? Was it because he seemed so attractive..... No! She was just being nice, that's all, it had nothing to do with his good looks or how he was the only guy who could effectively pull off wearing heels like that and look so attractive, she was just being nice. Right?)

Nonetheless, there they were, outside the carriage house in Shanti's backyard.

A/N: Just so you beasties know, a carriage house is like a tinier version of a house, but it's for guests! (Look it up if you want)

After searching for the key, unlocking the door, and trying to get Duke to not wake up her parents after he hit his head on the doorway. (How could that not have happened? Those were some of the longest legs she'd ever seen on a man......)

Finally, they managed to get inside. When Shanti turned on the lights, Duke's eyes actually seemed to light up at the new surroundings.

"Well, what do you think?"

"I suppose that it'll do..."  He tried to sound disinterested, but the look in his eyes was completely different than his tone of trying to sound disinterested.

This was certainty much better than the crypt that he had spent over a week in, that was for sure!

He moved over to the couch and fell over backwards with his arms crossed like he was in a coffin.

Shanti stifled a laugh.

God, that was really cute.........

She shook off that thought, trying to focus. She couldn't lose her head over a guy again! Not since most of the people she dated either turned out to be assholes, cheated on her with other girls, or  ended up trying to rape her in the woods. She would just have to ignore her boy-crazy feelings.....

"So, what was it that you needed my help with exactly?" She asked, trying to think about something else for the moment...

Now.

Shanti rolled her eyes in frustration. Her mom was after her again about her future again, a subject that Shanti preferred not to get into.

"I don't see how making dresses will help pay your bills honey, isn't that more of a hobby?"

By the sweet voice of Kristen Kenowith, why didn't her mom seem to get her? Shanti didn't want to have a boring IT job like her dad, or work as a nurse like her mom(biology was just ick. a whole lot of ick.), she wanted to do something great, create something that would blow people away, get out of this nowhere little town, in fact just do something!

Well, she had gotten her wish to do something, but not in the way she had expected........

"Sindera Rose Everret, are you listening to me?" Her mom looked at her impatiently.

Shanti knew she had to think of something to say, because when her mom used her full name like that(she sort of hated how prissy it sounded, which was why she preferred to go by Shanti most of the time, but when Duke said it, it didn't sound so bad....), it meant trouble. And how could she not be distracted? After what she had learned not too recently, all of this stuff about vampires and curses and resurrection from the dead, who could blame her for being a little distracted? 

"I'm sorry mom, I'm just a little out of it today because Keith broke up with me." That was not far from the truth, actually. They technically weren't dating anymore due to the fact that Keith was dead and his body was currently residing in the Marl-pit, where Tommy Rawhead was rumored to lurk(was that legendary monster real too?)......

Her mom's expression softened. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry! What happened?"

"Well, I guess he just realized that we were too different and it wasn't going to work out." That was beside the point really...

"Well, it's too bad, he seemed like such a nice boy...."

Shanti wanted to laugh out loud. Nice? If that was nice then she was The Phantom of The Opera. "Yeah, but I think I'll get over it eventually...."

"Alright darling, you'll probably want some time to yourself right now, so we'll continue this conversation later, okay?"

Finally, her mom left the room. Shanti breathed in an inward sigh of relief. Well, at least she'd have some time to herself to go outside and read her new graphic novel(The Prince and The Dressmaker. A cute love story with even more cute clothes!) , before she went to see Duke.......

Grabbing her Ipod, book, and jean jacket to put over her patchwork dress, she headed out of her room and went outside into the early evening air.

Putting in her violet earbuds, she relaxed and listened to "Don't nobody bring me no bad news" from The Wiz Live as she read.

https://youtu.be/tKdv1vme2h4

But before long, she found her mind wandering to part of the conversation she and Duke had not too long ago....

"So, let me get this straight, you want me to help you defeat this extremely powerful vampire girl, who not only killed you once before, but also resurrected you only to throw you out of your castle?"

"Well, yes."

"And why can't you do this yourself? Don't you have crazy vampire powers or something?"

"Well there's the problem. You see, without the staff, I'm only as half as powerful as I used to be, so defeating Missi on my own would be somewhat of a difficulty for me. Now don't get me wrong, I'm still incredibly powerful and extremely charming without it, I just need a little bit of assistance."

"I see."

"Really? You're doubting me? It seems like you aren't very convinced dollface."

"I told you, please don't call me th-

"What can I do to make you more enthusiastic? Oh I know! What if I told you, when I get my cane back, that I'd be able to preform any favor you asked me?"

"Any favor?"

"Yes, exactly!"

"Well, there's this one thing I really want....."

Well, she had made him promise that he'd use his considerable powers to help her find y/n. It was the right thing to do after all, because if y/n were in a similar situation and Shanti herself was in trouble, wouldn't y/n do the same?

Just then, her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a car door opening.

Startled, Shanti looked up to see a black car parked on the other side of the street. Out stepped a young, Japanese woman with pink hair that had violet streaks in it, and vaguely punk looking clothes. She seemed to be intent on getting Shanti's attention.

"Um, hey! 'Scuse me!"

Shanti sat up from the curb. "Wha-"

"Oh my gosh, I love your hair!"

"My hair?" What the heck was going on?

"Yeah! I totally love the style, it's kinda like Bev's from the Stephen King movie about the sewer clown!"

"Um, okay..." This was kinda weird.

But before the woman could say anything else, someone else stepped out of the car. He was gawky and awkward looking, with sandy hair that flew every-which way on his head and had a splatter of freckles across his face. He wore torn jeans and a Guns and Roses t-shirt.

"Nessa! I thought I told you that I was going to handle her!"

"Aw come on Eben! I'm just buttering her up!"

The sandy-haired man glared at her. "I'm sorry, now, um, if I could ask you to come with us..." He trailed off, clearly awkward at social situations.

"Go where?" Why were these people talking to her and why did she have the feeling that something bad would happen if she went with these two people?

"Well, you see, um that is.... Our boss wants to talk to you about something..."

"Yeah, stuff to do with y/n the missing girl!"

"If you would stop interrupting me Nessa..... Um, okay so our boss is interested in you 'cause he wants to talk to you about y/n and her whereabouts, so if you would come with us...."

"Um, you're so boring! Let's just grab her and go! I wanna watch Mr. Jackson have some fun with her...."

Now the man looked more angry. "Jesus Christ, would you stop talking? Your constant blabbering is driving me crazy!"

Now the young woman looked angry. "Oh you did not just say that...." Her eyes darkened, and she moved towards the sandy-haired man, who suddenly looked nervous.

But just then, a pair of strong arms grabbed "Nessa" from behind. She looked even more pissed.

"Wow, right on time Stergi...." The sandy-haired man muttered.

"It's nothing.": the large, burly, marine looking man, with silver hair in a buzz cut, said with a Russian accent. As the person in his arms struggled, Shanti noticed a tattoo poking out of his suit collar(he was the best dressed out of the bunch), which looked a lot like a bear's face.....

Shanti broke the silence. "Who the hell are you people?"

All three of them looked very nervous. "Well, we're....."

"Concerned citezens!" The pink haired woman finished.

The sandy-haired man eyed her unamused. "Who are very concerned about this missing teenager, so if you would kindly come with us..."

"Why, are you cops or something? Do you have any papers or anything to prove that you actually have a warrant to search or somethin?" Shanti had this feeling like these people were seriously bad news, and she was trying to stall....

"Well, shit." The man suddenly looked nervous. He turned to his "friends" and they began having a heated discussion about something. Shanti could barely make out anything that they were saying, but it sounded like nothing good...

Then her gaze drifted over to their car. They had left the door open, and she had a clear gaze of the inside....

After a little bit of magic, the car started to move. "Hey, if you guys weren't too busy chasing your own tails, you'd notice that your car is heading for the nearest telephone pole!"

They all turned and thankfully took the bait. But as they left, the marine looking dude turned. He gave Shanti a look that seemed to say that they'd be back.

Hey, my beasties! Can you guess who those guys were? I'll give you a hint, they work for a very violent gentleman beast......

Oh, and incase you were interested, you know how Curtis is partially inspired by Black Hat? Well...

Stergi =505

Eben = Dr.Flug

Nessa = Dementicia

Also, they each have their own special abilities, which I'll get into in a later chapter, because only one of them is human.....

You're welcome.

When they had left, Shanti breathed a sigh of relief. But then she noticed something glinting gold in the grass near her ballet slippers.  Bending over to pick it up, she found that it was something akin to a poker chip, only gold and black.

There was a symbol on the side of the coin she was currently looking at that looked like an eye, with a scar set in gold on it......

Whatever had happened when she first picked up the coin, was now replaced with fear. Why had picking up this made her feel scared?

But when she turned over the coin, her blood really ran cold.

Duke's P.O.V

This wasn't as cushy as the palace he had when he ruled the land of the dead, or as nice as his castle, but it was still pretty sweet, to say the least.

Hey, this tiny little cottage was better than that crypt he had spent  the better part of a week in!

Of course, Duke had immediately taken advantage of using most of the luxurious amenities    available  to him(he knew a bit about some human things due to years of having watched them, and besides, this incredibly tasty snack he had discovered, "ketchup chips", were really good.).

And of course, everything was finally perfect.

But yet, Duke's thoughts kept drifting to the matter of a certain short-haired, wedding-gown wearing witch.

Mostly because of what she had asked him for in the conversation they had not too long ago. When he had told her that he would grant her any request she wanted, part of him expected her to ask for something like a magic object or even sexual favors.....

But what she did ask for genuinely surprised Duke. All she wanted was to be able to find her missing friend, this y/n who had disappeared fairly recently. Duke had agreed to this request, and how could he not. It was the most unselfish request he had ever heard, it reminded him in part of his Annabelle......

This girl reminded him so much of his Annabelle, in the way that she smiled, they way that her brown skin glowed in the light of the moon, how she moved like she was dancing to a song she could only hear.......

Duke sat up from the couch where he had been lounging and frowned. 

Why was he thinking of her like that? Sure, she was pretty, anyone with eyes could see that, but why was he thinking of her like he.. he...

He couldn't like her, not after what had happened with the last time he decided to pursue a pretty face(it winded up with him getting kicked out of his castle)! It was nothing probably, right? He was probably just interested in her in a professional way, due to that they would be working together to reclaim his castle from Missi, that was it! It definitely wasn't because he liked her or anything, right?

Duke was so lost in thought, he almost didn't hear Sindera open the door.

He actually looked up when she slammed it, seemingly in a hurry.

"Woah doll, where's the fire?"

The girl sat down beside him. Sindera's face was a portrait of worry, and fear.

This made Duke extremely nervous. "Hey, what's wrong?" He said soothingly.

Sindera uncurled her fist to reveal a small black and gold coin. Duke took it from her outstretched hand.

The coin looked like an ordinary poker chip, but it was very unusual. First off, there was the ensign of an eye, etched into the gold on the side he was holding. On the eye, there was a scar....

Duke's thought's raced.

No! It couldn't be! Was it....

When he flipped over the coin, the words Magh Meall, were etched into the coin. (Duke remembered that it was a word for pleasurable paradise in Irish.)

Shit.

"Where did you get this?" Duke asked Sindera.

She looked troubled. "These people came up to me and tried to get me to go somewhere with them, and I think that one of them dropped this....."

She regarded Duke's troubled expression. "Wait, do you know where this came from?"

Duke let out a bitter laugh. "Let's just say that this came from an old friend of mine."

Sindera looked even more troubled. "Oh no. They were here because of that phone call, and now they want me...."

After some explaining, Duke found out that yes, his old friend was looking for Sindera most likely, and that's why he had probably sent those people to fetch her.

"I think he might have y/n. God, it's all my fault that she's there....." She looked desponent at that.

"Then we need to go and rescue her."

Sindera looked confused. "But wait, what about your castle?"

"It can wait for right now, I think your friend needs rescuing from a monster right now."

He could only hope that his former friend hadn't killed her friend, because if he remembered Curtis, she might very well be dead, tortured, or eaten by now.

Why was he helping Sindera rescue her friend from a monster?

It wasn't because he liked her, Duke tried to reason with himself, it was because if she tried to do it alone, she'd die, and she couldn't help him if she was dead!

That was it, right?

Well, my beasties, another chapter done! What of what's going on between Sindera and Duke you say? Well, let's just say that your author-chan likes her romances to slow burn if you know what I mean....(Hee, hee!)

Also, for the next chapter, it's going to be a good one! Just some book related flirting between you and Missi, with some creature information and some refrences to other creatures from stuff I like that may appear in this book(like Cirque de Ziac, Marrow gates, My Pet Vampire....), and some stuff about the Forsaken, finally!

And of course, after that, Duke and Sindera will be meeting Curtis very soon....

See you soon!