ACROSS TIME

Those words stung Dominic deep inside his heart, knowing that if worse came to worst, he would have to do just that and kill her.

"NEVER!" he screamed. "I refuse to let her die! You're playing a dangerous game, Thorn. You can't hold the thief's body forever. He will fight back, he has to."

Thorn laughed even harder now, relaxing on the bed at the fight in front of him.

"Believe when I say the thief is doing anything but fighting."

Dominic winced again, as he was sure his ribs were cracked from the force of Elle's power. True, they would heal, but if they were under such a constant barrage, it would just add to his agony and they wouldn't get the proper time needed to heal.

"...this is madness!" he shouted. "I will not let you take her!"

Mustering what he could of his vampire speed, he lurched for Elle and tackled her to the ground, pinning her to the carpet below.

"ELLE! LISTEN TO ME! FIGHT IT! FIGHT HIM! You can do this!" he shouted. "PLEASE, DON'T GIVE UP!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So...if I do let you take over..." Irving said quietly. "How...how can I see my kids?"

"It's quite simple, really. Though I will own your body, I am willing to share it 50/50 with you. You'd have my brilliance, my empire, my money, even my powers. You would keep your thoughts and beliefs, so your children may grow up they way they should. With dignity and honor. No longer must they endure the childish snickers from the other children, being the offpsring of a whore."

Elle struggled for a second, "My love!" She cried, "Please..." She groaned and Elle had control of her body once more, "Dominic... Save..." She cried, "Help me!" She begged as her sharp nails dug deep into Dominic's hand, they cut easily into his skin.

Fay opened the door quickly letting to door slam into the wall, "What is going on in here?" She asked in an angry voice, "Irving!" She started in a shocked voice, "What the hell are you doing in here?" She asked.

"It's not Irving!" Dominic shouted, trying to use his own powers to bring Elle under his own control, which he would then break off, bringing her back to normal. But with all of the internal struggling, it was hard to make eye contact. "Thorn has possessed his body and taken control of Irving. He's not himself."

"Aww, you make it sound like it's a bad thing." Irving/Thorn said. With a snap of his finger, his nakedness had been replaced by a dark black suit with a blood red under shirt and matching tie. "Quickly my love, we must depart."

With a mighty and brutal backhand, he sent Dominic flying backwards, crashing into Fay as they tumbled into the living room. Irving/Thorn helped Elle up, staring into her eyes to add even more power to his mind control.

"The time for us to leave has come. We have much to and we must yet...consummate or new marriage." he added, with a sly grin. In a flash of light, both Irving/Thorn and Elle were gone, leaving nothing in their trace.

Fay stood up, pulling Dominic along with her, "Marriage... What's he talking about?" She asked, she just shook her head, "That's not important, we have to find them, but first I'm going to go to your and Elle's room to find something to wear, my original outfit attratcs too much attention..." She told him. Walking back to elle and Dominic's room.

She emerged only minutes later in a black leather skirt with a purple tank top she also had on a leather jacket over that and high healed boots, "We have to hurry..." She told him, "He wants to get Elle pregnant... I don't think that mentally she can handle something like that again..."

"Right, good idea." Dominic said over Fay's wardrobe change. "The only problem is, we don't know where he's taking her. He'd be foolish to go back to the warehouse or his corporate headquarters downtown. No, he has to be somewhere else, especially if he's going to try and get her pregnant."

He sniffed the air again, trying to focus on the scent of Irving's blood, but Thorn's evil had been corrupting it. Twisting the scent into something all together new.

"I would suggest we try this...bar...downtown. Known as "The Switch." It's basically a hang out for some of the lowest scum you'll ever meet and if anyone knows what Thorn is up to, it'll be here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Still..." Irving said, pacing back and forth as the images of Fay and Lucy ceased to flash. "...even if she was sleeping with Lucy behind my back, I don't suppose I mind THAT much." he said, his mind slowly getting adjusted to the idea. "I think it's kinda hot..."

Thorn was furious, though he did an excellent job of hiding it.

"Is that so?" he added. "So you find the idea of Fay with another woman appealing and you are aware he sordid past with various men? And yet none of this bothers you?"

"Nope. She did what she had to do to get by. No biggie."

The images faded away, leaving nothing but the unsettling blackness that Irving had seen before. But just as quick as it had disappeared, a new image had arrived. This time, any hope Irving had left was crushed by what he saw now.

His hand raised up and slapped down hard on her ass, leaving a red, raw imprint. His fingernails ran down her back, leaving red welts in it's wake. Her moans and groans were the loudest, most passionate Irving had ever seen. His body was toned, in shape, but not over muscular.

It was Dominic and Fay. Together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah yes, here we are." Irving/Thorn said, opening a door to what looked like a run down crack house. Past a few more doors, a set of stair cases descended to a series of tunnels under the city. Underneath was a mob of people gambling. Music played in the background from a live band, where people sat in corners engaging in various sexual or drug related activities.

"My dear, sweet Elle. Look before you! My private casino, generating millions of dollars each time. All this is yours, once we wed. But.."

He snapped his finger, as two barely clothed vampires approached, each lady having a body that looked no older than 20.

"Claudia....Monica? Please take dear Elle here and give her a nice bath, won't you? And be sure to dress her in something nice. She has a wedding to attend to later."

"Lowest scum? I used to be a prostitute... I've delt with the lowest of the low," She told him, she pulled something out of her jacket, "Oh and I found something, in Elle's drawer," It was a gun, she took out the magazine, it was filled with silver bullets, "I don't know what it is, it's probably some form of weapon, but it's filled wiht these silver things. Back when Irving and I are from, silver is used as money," She told him, "Now it is used to harm people?" She asked.

~~~

Elle kissed Thorn lightly, "Until our wedding, my love," She told him in a hallow voice as she was ushered out of the room.

"More or less." Dominic said, glancing out the window to make sure there were no nasty surprises waiting for him. "I should have told you this early, but what you have is called a gun. When you pull that small piece of metal there, called the trigger, it projects a small piece of metal at such a rapid pace, it will inflict great bodily harm to whoever is unlucky enough to be in it's path. Those pieces of silver are called bullets. If you shoot a vampire in the heart with a silver bullet, he dies instantly."

He sighed again, trying to collect his nerves, hiding the dread he felt in his heart.

"We must hurry. The sooner we get the information we need, the better."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How...how could she?" Irving said, his voice trembling slightly.

"How could she? Are you seriously asking that question?" Thorn taunted, "She's a whore! All the constant copulation has ruined her, my good man, She's ADDICTED to sex now and you're the one who suffers."

"Oh g-g-god...Dominic..." Fay grunted on the image. "M-more! H-harder..."

"...anything for you, my dark rose..." Dominic hissed, using all of his weight to thrust into her.

"Please...stop this..." Irving said, tears welling up in his eyes. "I...I don't want to see anymore."

"No." Thorn said coldly. "You must watch. All of it. See the ugly truth in all of it's painful glory. I want you to realize what a fool you've been, thinking it's possible to love such a woman."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claudia let Elle to the bathing room, as Monica drew the bath. Claudia pulled Elle in for a sweet kiss, licking the girl's lips and giving her breasts a soft squeeze.

"You are lucky, young one." she said, running her fingers through Elle's hair. "Not only will you be Thorn's bride, but you shall have the honor of bearing his first child. I envy you, to say the least. Now, please dis-robe, m'lady. Your bath awaits,"

Fay nodded and placed it back in the holster she was wearing under the jacket she had found the guns. The holster was meant to be worn under jackets that would hide the weapons.

"Killing him instantly..." She whispered, she had an idea and before they left she took something from her quiver, well, a few somethings, and put them in her pocket.

~~~

Elle just nodded and took of her t-shirt and sweat pants. Compared to the other women she had a very young body. She wasn't nearly as curvy as either of them, and her breasts weren't as big. She was much thinner though, surprisingly. She was also short, though, it wasn't all that hard to be taller then Elle.

"Please, refrain from touching me in anyway that doesn't have to do with bathing... If Thorn finds out, which, if such actions take place he will have you killed," She told them in a stern voice. She knew that since she was going to marry Thorn in only a few hours she was higher up then them. She also knew that it was dangerous for her to conceive due to the fact that her body was still healing from losing her first child.

After a bit of walking and Fay's first ride ever in a taxi, they two arrived a the entrance of The Switch. The noxious smell of cigarette smoke and beer almost choked Dominic, but he was doing this for Elle. His beloved.

The door swung open and the smell was even worse. Dominic entered first, with Elle falling close behind. Dominic found two empty bar stools next to each and sat down at one, motioning for Fay to have the other.

Fay didn't have much time to sit, before a burly drunken man crudely slapped her hard against the ass, a loud SMACK echoing throughout the bar.

"Hey there, sweet tits." he burped in one noxious exhale. "What's a sweet thang like you doing a place like this? Come to give ol' Mad Mike some of that cute ass of yours?"

This was, of course, followed by hysterical laughter from everyone inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Stop it!" Irving shouted, the images now too much for him to handle, his heart feeling it was in a thousand pieces. He had attempted to close his eyes to block it out, but several dark hands seemingly crawled out of the empty void, holding him in place and forcing his eyes open.

By this point, Fay was sitting in Dominic's lap, bouncing up and down on his hard member, her cute ass slapping against his thighs, her body flawless and glistening with sweat.

"D-D-Dominic!" she exhaled, her breasts grinding into his chest. "I l-love y-you!"

Dominic said nothing, just nodded and leaned closer to suck Fay's right nipple into his mouth, with such intensity and fervor, it made Irving felt like he was going to throw up.

Thorn laughed as he watched, feeling somewhat like a director, creating these fictional scenes mainly to torture the thief and break his already dwindling will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claudia pursed her lips and stomped her foot, pouting like a spoiled little girl who found out she wouldn't be getting a pony for Christmas.

"No fair!" she whined. "I wanted to take a bath with you!"

She sighed though, knowing full well Thorn was right. If he caught anyone with his future bride, he would snap and cause harm, regardless of what body he was in.

Claudia helped Elle into the tub, before soaping up a soft sponge and gently scrubbing Elle clean. It wasn't even so much that she was dirty, as Elle had scrubbed herself bloody early, but more towards the fact Thorn preferred all of his girls to be bathed before hand. It was a kink of his, getting off on the fresh scent of a newly washed body.

"You are indeed lucky." Claudia said again. "I have wished many times to bear Thorn's seed, but I am unworthy."

She spun around with inhuman speed and caught the character's hand as he was about to touch her again, she pushed up a little causing his wrist to crack. She let the hand drop and quickly grabbed him by the shirt only to push him back into the wall, she followed. He was about to push himself off the wall when his neck was met by Fay's foot. Her heal was digging into his neck, right near his artery.

"Listen, fat ass, I'm not interested in you, and I never will, you're not my type and I am waaaay out of your league," She told him, she had obviously had watched some tv.

"You're type, what do you mean? Men?" He asked.

Fay twisted her foot, threatening to break his neck, "No, I mean drunken assholes who think they can get what ever they want because they're men and they think that women are beneeth them," She told him. She watched as he tried to look up her skirt and she put her leg down only to kick him in the head, knocking him out cold, with her other leg.

She turned around, "Anyone else want to mess with me because I could do this all night, and next time, promice me, I won't be so nice," The man that touched her was now laying on the ground with a broken wrist, a bleeding neck and a bruised skull.

~~~

"Indeed you are unworthy, you are childish, whiny, I don't understand why Thorn hasn't had a worthless girl like you killed," She told Claudia. She really had no control over what was coming out of her mouth, nor did she care. They couldn't do anything to her.

The once loud and raucous crowd quickly shut up when they saw Fay was not one to be messed with. A deathly quiet filled the room, with everyone returning their attention back to their glasses and beers.

Dominic smirked, knowing full well that drunken bastard deserved it and was a bit disappointed Fay didn't hurt him more.

"What the hell do you want?!" the bartender snapped. "Just to come and rough the place up?"

"I want information." Dominic said, keeping his voice low. "About Thorn."

"Riggghttt...and I'm just going to tell you all about Thorn, cause I know so much."

"I'm not asking for much. I just want to know about a wedding he may be planning soon."

The bartender casually shrugged, brushing off Dominic's inquiry.

"Don't know nothing about no wedding."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irving was nearly numb from everything he had witnessed thus far. The dark demonic hands that held him down and his eyes open had not ceased, as the thief was forced to watch everything he had seen. Dominic had his peak, spilling his load all over Fay's breasts, stickying her all over her chest.

This was followed by where they are now, a slow, romantic shower scene with lots of kissing, necking and rubbing.

"...please..." he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "...I've seen enough. I give...I really do."

"No...I'm afraid you don't." Thorn said. "I'm afraid you don;t."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claudia frowned again, getting upset. She figured it was best not to open her mouth some more, or else she'd push Elle over the edge, which would draw Thorn's wrath.

A few more moments of awkward silence passed, before Claudia spoke again, her voice distant and quiet.

"You are finished, dear one." she said, handing Elle a towel. "When you are finished drying, follow me so that we apply your makeup."

Fay walked up to the bartender, "Listen pal, this man here," She started, using her thumb to point at Dominic, "He killed Thorn earlier with ease. Thorn, being the bastard he is, posessed my husband before his soul could go fester in hell for all eternity, while I was asleep he decided it was going to be a good idea to run off, in my husband's body with his girlfriend," She told him, "Now, I have a feeling that you're not telling the truth so you could either start or I could break every bone in your body," She threatened.

~~~

Elle quickly dried off, everything really except for her hair, which usually took a while to dry, "I'm ready..." She told them, again speaking in her hallow voice.

The bartender snarled at Fay, wanting nothing more to break every bone in her pretty face. But after the way she handled herself with the previous gentleman, he was pretty sure it was him who would wind up with the broken face.

"I don't know nuthin' about no wedding." he said again. "But if he is a throwing a weddin', he's probably gonna do it at his underground casino. You can find it on the corner of 5th and Straub in the ol' crackhouse building. Tell the guy at the door the password is 'Alucard' and they'll let you in. Happy now?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still a bit irritated, Claudia let the naked Elle to a room on the side. In there sat a table in front a large mirror, various types of makeup and lipstick sat before her.

"Please...your majesty. Sit and use this makeup. We wish you to look your best for the wedding."

Fay smiled, "I will be when we get in, and if we don't, I'm coming back for your head," She grinned evily, "I'm sure, working in a place like this, you've got a price on your head," She told him, smiling innocently.

~~~

Elle watched as one of the girls ran a comb through her hair to get most of the water out of it. She swatted the girl away and leaned in, applying an almost blood red lipstick, she almost never wore make-up, but growing up with a bunch of beauty queens, she learned how to apply make-up like a pro. She didn't need any base, her face was practically flawless.

She outlined her eyes with a black eye liner and put on eye shadow that was only slightly darker then her skin tone. This was followed by black mascara.

"I'm done," She said simply.

Dominic smiled, admiring how...persuasive, Fay seemed to be. The two left the bar, Dominic relieved to be breathing clean hair, and headed back towards the 'crack house' to get into the casino. It was run down and filthy from the outside, with the vampire wondering if he and Fay had been lied to. Still, there was only one way to find out...

Dominic knocked on the door, the slot visible for viewing sliding open.

"...yes?" the voice said, sounding irritated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claudia led the still naked Elle to a dressing room, pointing towards several dresses.

"Pick one." she said, trying to mask her repulsion she was now feeling. Each dress was basically the same...tight, form hugging, low cut. They came in red, black and a deep blue.

"Alucard," Fay said clearly, waiting for entry. She was already planning on what to do to the bartender if she found out that he was lying.

~~~

Elle inspected each gown, they were all the same, except for the color they were halter dresses and cut below the breasts, to keep the two peices of fabric together and to give the breasts support there were white gold and diamond chains. They were to the ground with two slits up to about mid thigh. Each dress was made out of silk.

Red, the color or passion. Black, the color most associated with darkness. Blue, the color sometimes used for both joy and sorrow.

She chose the red one and slipped it on. This was done with ease due to the smoothness of the fabric.

There was a moment or two of pause, where Dominic bit his bottom lip, concerned that Fay was going to wind up kicking the door down. But the sound of chains coming unhooked and doors unlocking caused the vampire to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Come in...hurry..." the doorman said. "Before the cops see you."

Dominic stepped in, followed by Fay, and followed the man down a set of worn out concrete steps. They seemed to go on forever till they reached a set of doors. Once pushed it open, it displayed a huge labyrinth of slot machines, blackjack tables, craps, poker and more.

"Are you hear for the wedding?" the door man asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door to the dressing room clicked open, as Irving/Thorn walked in. He smiled seeing how beautiful Elle looked, like a soulless Barbie doll, created purely for his own sexual enjoyment.

He stroked the side of her cheek with the back of his hand, groaning softly at the perverse images that floated through his brain.

"Mmm....you look wonderful, my dear. I can't wait till our honeymoon. It shall be a night of passion and ecstasy like you never imagined. Tell me...just for my own sake, who, by chances, owns that sexy body of yours?"

"Somewhat," She told him, "The thought of going to see the wedding crossed our minds, but mainly, we're just here to have a good time," She told the doorman in a semi-flirtatious voice.

~~~

Elle groaned, not in pleasure but in pain, while being bathed and such the hold on her from the hypnosis was wearing off, she heard her mother's voice inside her head, "A man can take anything and everything from you, your home, your belongings, everything physical, except your body and your soul, he can never take that from you," This was most likely inspired by her mother's feminist beliefs and her learning from watching her own mother, Elle's grandmother, waste away in a horrible marriage.

She soon regained her composer once again standing there like a soul-less doll, "You do... My love..." She whispered, "And isn't it bad luck for you to see me before our wedding?" She asked..

The door man smiled at Fay, leaning a bit closer out of Dominic's ear shot, thinking that the vampire was her date for the evening.

"Is that so?" he whispered, leaning close to Fay, "Then...how about after the wedding you and I go and 'toss the bouquet'...hmm?"

Dominic instantly tensed up, expecting Elle to drill him on the side of the hit. He could tell this was not a woman one would want to make angry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irving/Thorn chuckled a bit, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead.

"Luck? I do not believe in such a thing as luck, Look around you, my dear. You see this? My wealth, my empire? I didn't earn this via luck. I earned it via hard work, dedication, discipline! That is how I got here today."

He paused for a second and admired her body once more. He wanted to take her right then and there, but decided it would have more "meaning" if he waited till after the wedding.

"But I shall honor your wish, my love. Be ready in 30 minutes."

Fay smiled, "I would love to, but I left my life of permisquity when I got married," She told him, she didn't want to make a scene right now, if they got kicked out it meant losing Elle and Irving forever, "Plus, you're not my type," She told him.

~~~

Elle pulled Thorn into a soft, innocent kiss, "Until then my love," She told him, "I still need to get my hair done, though, it might take longer with one of your girls trying to touch what is yours," She said, referring to herself, she normally wouldn't do something like that, but right now she wasn't exactly herself.

The doorman casually shrugged, thinking he didn't have a chance anyway.

"Worth a shot.." he said nonchalantly. "Oh, so you know, the whole place is gonna stop once the wedding starts in like, 20 minuites. So if you're gonna gamble, do it quick. And.."

He leaned in close to whisper again to Fay.

"...stay away from the roulette table. It's rigged."

And with saying that, he was off back to guard the door

"So how exactly are we doing this?" Dominic said. "We can't fight the entire casino. We need to get Elle out of there and bring Irving back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thorn chuckled a bit, smiling a crooked and evil smile.

"Yes, they have a tendency to do that. If they bother you, just continue to shun them. I admire your dedication to preserving yourself for me. I am looking forward to the next time that we may make love, it shall be less...stressful than before."

With that, Irving/Thorn left the room and headed to his own dressing room, eager to put on his $500,000 tuxedo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"....stop...please..." Irving said, his mind near cracking. He was now surrounded by images of Fay being raped, Fay with Dominic, Fay with Lucy, Fay with Johnathan, Fay with Jillian's school teacher in order to ensure her good grades, and it was overloading the thief.

"Stop? No, no. The truth must be revealed. More. You shall see more."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fay crossed her arms, "As soon as the wedding is over he'll take her into a back room to consimate the mariage, we interupt and kill Thorn with some silver, straight through the heart," She pulled a vial out of the pocket, "You said that he would die instantly..." She sighed, "If there's any bit of Irving left, this will save him, even if he's hanging onto life by a hair," She put it back in her pocket, "I knew there was something wrong with him..." She sighed again, "Why didn't I stop him?" She asked herself.

~~~

Elle was brought before yet another vanity and two girls began brushing her hair it was dry now one began curling the front of her hair as the other put her hair up in a bun held inplace by a diamond studded clip. She was finished when one of the girls placed a black vail attatched to a tiara on her head.

Elle looked in the mirror at herself and smiled, normally brides on their wedding day cried, all she could do was smile a hallow smile.

"I can see why Irving loves you..." Dominic said softly. "You have quite the intelligence to match your beauty. You seem to offer it all. And you did the right thing. You showed caution, love, compassion...all hope is not lost."

He scanned the place all over, noticing the podium that was being set up towards the back of the room. An MC for the evening took it once the sound equipment had been setup.

"Ladies and gentleman, may I have your attention please? I would like to inform you that the wedding shall begin in 10 minutes. Please, takes your seats."

"Looks like we had better get seated." Dominic said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Irving/Thorn adjusted his bow time in the mirror in his suite of the casino. Candles had been lit everywhere, along with rose petals all over the satin sheets of his bed. Indeed, he wanted to make his first night with his bride special. Not like the forced, frantic thrusting he had before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The opening chords of the bridal march played from the speakers. Back in Elle's dressing room, one of Thorn's many assistants offered his arm to the zombified bride.

"Ready, dear? I shall be the one giving you away."

Fay nodded and took one of the seats in the back, then they could slip out without anyone really seeing, or disrupting anything, "Thank you... for what you said before, it made me feel... Appreciated," She told Dominic, "Are you going to be alright, watching someone marry Elle... I'm not going to restrain you, am I?" She asked.

~~~

Elle stood up and took the man's arm, he began walking her out of the room. The only sound between the two was the sound of Elle's heals hitting the ground.

"Both my future husband and myself would appreciate it if you refrained from looking at my chest," She said in her hallow voice. She hadn't even looked up, she just felt his eyes on her.

Dominic smiled for the first time in a long time, finding comfort in Fay's words.

"Your welcome." he said quietly. "And...I think I can take it. It's...going to be hard, but I know she's not herself. I know this for a fact."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The lackey just cleared his threat, realizing he had been busted for his peaking. They made their way out into the main room, as everyone stood for the bride. Slowly, they walked down the red carpet to the podium, the 'minister' smiling at the site of Elle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dominic grit his teeth and clenched his fist, seeing the far away, empty look on Elle's eyes.

"He's brainwashed her." he sneered. "That bastard."