Prince of Darkness vs Prom Queen 06

"We're going to the playground with the rockets," an excited Matthew told Donovan. "Bye, Daddy." Donovan flinched slightly as Matthew and Jeremy scrambled off his lap. "Bye, Uncle Victor. Bye, Uncle Trent. C'mon, Virgil." He took off running, followed by Virgil and Jeremy.

"Bye, Daddy," Jeremy called to Victor. "Bye, Uncle Donovan. Bye, Uncle Trent."

"Bye," Donovan, Victor, and Trent called in unison and with little enthusiasm.

"I guess we'll see you later." Marian walked over and kissed Victor on the cheek.

"And we'll have a long talk after I get back," Sara told Trent, kissing him before she headed out after the two boys.

"We'll have a long talk, too," Laci promised as she kissed Donovan. She leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Don't forget to bring the rope to our discussion. I have a lot to tell you about the fireplaces."

Fireplaces? Damn! Where the hell was the aspirin? "You're all leaving again? Do we honestly have to clean this up all by ourselves," Donovan groused, "especially the way we feel?"

"Donovan, it's your office. If you choose not to clean it up, that's your decision, however I would appreciate it if you would take Virgil back upstairs and return him to his throne of honor." Laci gave Virgil a kiss on the top of his head. "Virgil, thank you for taking care of everyone. I'm glad you were here to be in charge and keep an eye on things." Donovan was positive Virgil was flirting with Laci and smiling his sly unicorn smile as he watched her exiting the room.

"Bye, Honey. See you later," Marian called to Victor.

The three men sat in silence for a moment, surveying the wreckage of the room. Finally Victor spoke. "Well, at least Marian didn't seem mad at me, so I'm good."

"And Sara came back, so I'm great," Trent spoke with enthusiasm. "She doesn't hate me anymore."

"I'm sure we can find someone else to hate you, Trent. I'm pretty sure I can think of at least one person who wouldn't mind hating you."

"Wow! You always try to help. You're a really good friend. Thanks, Donovan."

Donovan shook his head and buried his face in his hands.

Donovan's To Do List

1.Find aspirin and swallow as many as possible

2.Nurse hangover and swear to never drink again

3.Have a really long talk about the fireplace (don't forget rope)

4.Clean up office

5.Convince Virgil number two to snack on Virgil number one

6.Explain sarcasm to new best friend, Trent

7.Continue the fireplace seminar

Chapter 6 The Vanishing

For Donovan, the day felt as if it was progressing at a snail's pace. He'd been away from Laci for almost a month and an extended fireplace discourse was essential. Really, really essential.

He had generously shared his aspirin with Victor and Trent, all of them swearing never to partake in any type of alcoholic beverage ever again.

The office was back to its regular appearance very quickly, thanks mostly to Victor who seemed to have rapidly recovered from his spicy wing and beer encounter. Trent was unaware that he was teetering on Donovan's last nerve as he chattered joyfully and endlessly about his wonderful Sara. Donovan attempted, unsuccessfully, to get caught up on some work while wondering how long it was going to be until he could finally get his wife alone. He had a lot to say about the fireplace. All the fireplaces.

Upon their return from the playground, Matthew and Jeremy showed very loud enthusiasm for the ranch plays sets they received as gifts. Within minutes, the two boys, joined by Victor and Trent, sat on the floor noisily setting up their ranches and corralling their horses. And ranch people. GRRR!

When Sara returned from her play date with the boys she greeted Trent with affectionate eagerness making him chatter even more. When Marian returned from work she headed straight into Victor's arms for a loving hug before grabbing another hug from the always moving Jeremy. When Laci returned she laughingly joined the ranchers on the floor for a few minutes before heading into the kitchen to start dinner for the entire group but barely said a word to her husband, only giving him her special look.

Dinner was delicious, accompanied by laughter and everyone talking at once. A no longer forlorn Trent dominated most of the conversation, repeatedly talking about his newfound best friends and how great they had been for listening and offering their help. He still wasn't clear about what he had learned from them and why he needed rope to learn it but he was sure it was something only good friends did for each other. Laci almost never took her eyes off her husband. It was driving Donovan crazy.

After dinner, Marian and Victor took Jeremy home while Trent and Sara headed to the guest house. Donovan helped Matthew with his bath and got a detailed description of the morning spent climbing the rockets at his and Jeremy's favorite playground.

After story time and goodnight kisses, a sleepy Matthew declared nothing was better than a good night kiss from his mom. When his dad wholeheartedly agreed, Laci looked at her husband and left the room.

Fireplace. Matches. Sparks. Flames. Blaze. Inferno. Donovan followed as quickly as possible.

In the house next door, Jeremy was sound asleep while his mom and dad shared some quiet time.

"Did you really make Donovan believe I left you and Laci left him?"

Victor nodded sheepishly. "Well I wasn't really sure where you went so it wasn't that hard. It's fun making him crazy and I can't help it if he overreacts to everything. All things considered, I actually think we had a good time, even Donovan, although none of us can remember what the hell we did last night. Must've been all those spicy wings."

"I'm sure it was the wings. Those seventy-five beers had absolutely nothing to do with it and I'm still waiting for an explanation about the rope. Seeing you tied to Trent and Donovan tied to Virgil was quite a sight." Marian leaned over for a kiss. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Between the two of us, we'll think of something interesting." Victor grinned at her. "Maybe something that involves tying since I seemed to have practiced last night. Just a suggestion."

In the guest house, Sara and Trent were also snuggled together.

"Trent, you can't get hysterical every time something doesn't go your way. You seem to forget that I see how it is on movie sets. You're spoiled and pampered, people cater to you constantly but that doesn't give you the right or reason to act that way all the time. I want to know I can depend on you. That's very important to me."

"I promise to be dependable whenever I can. I might need a little help sometimes. Laci always helps me with stuff. Can I still call her?"

"As long as it's okay with her, of course you can, but I'm hoping you'll call me, Trent. Laci has been an amazing friend to you, to both of us. It was very nice of her to call and tell me how overwrought you were because I said I wanted to think about getting married. Marriage is a huge step for anyone."

"I know but I see how happy Victor and Marian are and how happy Laci and Donovan are and I want that, too. I really thought you were going to say no. You're the only person, besides Laci, I've ever trusted. Can I really call you and are you really sure about getting married? You don't want to think about it anymore? Can we get married right away?"

"I'm absolutely sure," Sara assured him, "and we can get married whenever you want. I know it will be an adjustment for both of us but you make me very happy. That's what matters."

Wearing only his robe, Donovan was pacing in the master bedroom he shared with his wife. Usually when they were apart for even a couple of hours, she couldn't wait to get him alone any more than he could wait to get her all to himself. He'd been away for nearly an entire month and now he'd been waiting all day. What was taking so long?

For a man whose life had always revolved around himself and the need to command his world, he remained at a disadvantage when dealing with Laci. Without saying a single word, she had mesmerized him. He had seen that look in her eyes when he woke up in his office and he was positive she wanted him as much as he wanted her. She had watched him all during dinner making him almost choke on his food just by knowing what was on her mind. How could she have such power over him with a simple look? Power, be damned. He just wanted her.

What was she doing? Why was she making him wait? Laci was so unpredictable. He never knew what to expect, not that it mattered. Whatever she was planning would be fantastic. At the moment, he just wanted her to hurry up. He'd waited long enough.

Damn! She was making him feel like a horny teenager which wasn't unusual. She always made him feel that way. Donovan knew he had the silliest grin on his face and he didn't care one bit. The slightest thought of her excited him. Hearing her voice aroused him. One look at her was electrifying. When she touched him, he almost combusted. He supposed it was a good thing she used her powers for good rather than evil, although with Laci, evil wasn't such a bad thing.

He was always astonished that she still had this effect on him even after all this time. In his role as Master Donovan, he had maintained absolute control over the slaves he had trained. One look at his Prom Queen and the word control meant just about as much to him, as the word submissive meant to her.

"I would suppose fireplaces, in some form, have been used for centuries. It's always been very essential and practical for people to stay warm by their fireplaces. We should probably continue the tradition and generate a little heat of our own."

He turned at the sound of her voice. His blood pressure rose about fifty degrees and his knees felt like marshmallow.

Laci was standing in the doorway, casually leaning against the frame. How the hell could she look so innocent? No one with innocence on their mind had ever looked like she looked at that moment.

The nightgown she was wearing seemed to be silk. The soft, deep, dusty rose color made her blue eyes seem even bluer and her radiant sunbeams were shooting in every direction. Did he say innocent? That might have been the wrong word considering how the nightgown clung to her as if it had been painted on to every curve of her body.

What was he supposed to be doing again? Oh, yeah. Right. Breathing. Deeply. Several times.

"Laci, do you have a black dress?"

She looked slightly puzzled at his question. "Yes. I have several. Why?"

"Just figured I'd check. You're very good at surprises and you keep doing these things to me so I have to presume that you're obvious intention is killing me and you're probably not going to have time to go shopping since I'm going to be dead in about two minutes. And just so you know, I'm fine if you want sunflowers for my funeral. I know how much you like them so feel free to order as many as you want."

He excelled at nervous babbling. She was across the room and in his arms so fast he hardly saw her move. Wasn't he wearing a robe? He was almost positive he had one on just a few minutes ago. He had never quite been able to understand the temporary blackouts he seemed to experience when his wife was doing the things she did. Oh well. He was becoming more accustomed to them.

Ahhh...slithering. He loved slithering. When the hell had she learned to slither vertically? He had only been away for a few weeks? How had she upgraded her slithering skills? Damn! The silk of her nightgown felt great against his bare skin.

Her arms were clutching his neck and her legs were wrapped around his waist as she rained her little kisses across his jaw and down his neck. He had grabbed her ass and was holding on, not certain if he was supporting her or just from the need to hold on as tightly as he could to keep himself from getting lightheaded. All part of the temporary blackouts. No worries. They usually only lasted for an hour or two. Three at the most.

He ran his hands up and down the soft silk. Was it still her nightgown or was that her skin pressed against him? He loved how every one of her soft curves seemed to fit into his hard body just as if they were their own personal jigsaw puzzle. And if it always felt like this, she could continue to puzzle him just as much as she wanted. Laci was exceptionally good at puzzling her husband. She was blissfully puzzling. Puzzling was good. This might be the night for one of those super-colossal 10,000 piece puzzles. Might even take all night to assemble it.

"Donovan?"

What was happening? Was it another blackout? She seemed to have stopped slithering and puzzling.

"Donovan, where's Virgil?"

"What?" Was he hearing correctly? Was this a new kind of puzzle?

"Virgil," she said again. "Where's Virgil?"

"Umm...what?" Was she playing one of Victor's damned word games?

Laci pulled out of his arms. "Donovan, where is Virgil?"

He had just been about to fit the puzzle pieces together and she was asking about the dog-moose? "Umm...isn't he in Matt's room. He always sleeps in there. Can we talk about this later?"

"Not Virgil. Virgil. Where is my unicorn? He's not on his chair. Did you shove him in the closet again?"

Was this part of the temporary blackouts? "Umm...what?"

With an accusatory look, she headed to her closet as he stood alone in the center of the room feeling vaguely disoriented. This wasn't the kind of puzzle he had been anticipating. A moment later, he watched her going into his closet. What was she doing? Any why was she doing it? Wrong kind of puzzle. He was positive. How could he be puzzled by the puzzle?

"Donovan, where is Virgil? He isn't in either closet. This morning he was in your office and I asked you to bring him back up here. Where did you put him?"

Was she serious? They had been in the middle of assembling a really good puzzle and she was asking about the damned unicorn? The damned unicorn with the stupid name? The damned unicorn that stared at him and hated him? Virgil? She was asking about Virgil?

"I brought him up and put him on his chair. He tried to bite me." Donovan turned to look accusingly at his hater. The chair was empty. "I have no idea where he is. Can we look for him later? Or tomorrow? Or never?"

"Where did you put him?" she questioned again.

"Laci, I brought him up here and put him on the chair."

"Then where is he?" she wanted to know.

"How should I know? Maybe Matt took him."

"Donovan, we were just in Matthew's room when we put him to bed. Virgil was curled up in his bed almost asleep. Virgil wasn't there. And I can't believe you'd try to blame Matthew."

"Damn it! Why did you have to call both of them Virgil. It's a stupid enough name without being a confusing stupid name. One is bad enough. No one needs two Virgils in their life."

"So you decided to eliminate one of them? And why are you changing the subject, Donovan? No one else gets confused and no one else thinks the name Virgil is stupid. Where did you put my unicorn?"

"Maybe Trent took him. Last night they were madly in love with each other. Maybe Trent wanted to have a threesome with Sara," he answered sarcastically.

Laci glared at him. "We both saw Trent and Sara leave and Virgil wasn't with them. Are you also going to blame Victor and Marian? The only one they left with was Jeremy. Is he next? Are you going to accuse Jeremy?"

"You're accusing me," Donovan stated sullenly. "You asked me to put him on the chair and I put him on the chair. Maybe he decided to go out with one of his unicorn girlfriends and do what we do. Hell of a lot better than sitting in the chair and watching everything we do. Creepy little pervert. Always staring at me with those beady little black eyes. He hates me."

"Where did you put him when you cleaned up the office? Did you shove him into one of the trash bags and throw him away? You've been threatening him for as long as you've known him. Is that what happened?"

"I can't believe we're arguing about your unicorn. He has to be around somewhere. We'll look for him tomorrow. Maybe Virgil the second finally made moose chow out of him."

"Who else are you going to blame? So far it's been Trent, your son and the dog. Who's next Donovan? Is there a unicorn-napper in the neighborhood? Are you going to tell me someone is holding him for ransom? There's only one person whoever had a problem with Virgil and that's you."

"Why are you blaming me? Maybe he unicorn-napped himself. Little bastard hates me. Would be just like the shifty-eyed little creep to try and set me up to take the blame for something he did. Wouldn't put it past him to fake his own unicorn-napping. He's always been sneaky. Never trusted him. Who knows what else he's capable of? He's probably been plotting this for years. He's probably the head of some nefarious unicorn syndicate. I'll bet anything he has a bunch of degenerate unicorn friends and he's the ring-leader. Sure he sits there looking all innocent with that pink satin horn of his but he's trouble. Who knows what unscrupulous and underhanded things he's got planned? I'm lucky I've survived this long living with that diabolical little monster. He's always been out to get me."

"So you decided to get him first?" Laci wanted to know. "Do you hear yourself? You're babbling and accusing a stuffed toy of plotting against you. The only time you babble is when you get nervous. Why are you nervous if you aren't responsible for his disappearance?"

"I'm not nervous," Donovan defended himself, "I didn't make him disappear and I'm...pleading the fifth."

The look in her cornflower blue eyes was not exactly the special look he was hoping for. "Donovan, what did you do with my unicorn? Where is Virgil??"

To be continued...

I could not end the story of the Prince of Darkness and the Prom Queen without a salute to everyone's favorite unicorn. Parts six and seven came to be wondering what he could possibly do to cause more trouble and further exasperate Donovan. Virgil has one more special surprise in store.

Bigg_Mike -- Thank you for everything!! And I mean EVERYTHING!!

CHWH