(The clouds were unusually gray for this time of the season, probably because he was up in a higher elevation and his mood was quite dim. He found that his gift could accomplish more then just summoning the help of the spirit world, it also began to effect the weather around him sometimes. The enemy was on the run for now, which gave him time to himself to relax and refresh his body for the battles to come, for the bloodshed that would more then likely happen. He took this approtunity to go to a place he found quite enjoyable as a kid and spend a day alone there, just looking at the beauty around him and maybe meditate, allow himself to search the limits of his gift and get to know his ghostly allies. Growing up, Jory enjoyed going to Mt. Spokane, a mountain outside of Spokane, which was the most popular skiing/snowboarding/lodging area in eastern Washington. The forrests, the snow, the people, the place itself was just magic when he was a kid and seeing it now..it still is magic to him. Because he wanted to be left alone, he searched out most of the mountain, with a little help with his gift, for an area that would be less populated by actitivty of human kind and more populated with Mother Nature's scenery and quietness, and he found it several miles away from the main lodging cabin. It was a small patch of open field surrounded by trees that appeared to show no signs of human activity. He rolled out a blanket next to a tree and placed his cooler of asorted beverages, including water and his favorite drink Pepsi Blue, right next to it. Once he had that taken care of he slid his backpack off of his right shoulder and opened it up. Inside he had thrown in a few things for a just incase situation, but the main thing he wanted above all else was in there and he gently took it out and placed in on the blanket.
Now that was taken care of, Jory took his seat infront of it, making sure to take off his trenchcoat and tossing it aside before so, and allowed his eyes to take in the scene around him. It was awesome not having to fight and be surrounded by an army of the supernatural, but instead be surrounded by God's creation of trees, the cool wind, and absolute silence. Since New Orleans he had gone down a very painful path of personal and professional disappointments, so this is exactly what he needed to just clear his mind and focus it on the one thing that he needed to accomplish in his life, ridding it of the phantom. He felt that, outside of his army and Zedd, that he was now alone. Kerri and Ryan had finally married and what a wedding it was. The two were visibly very much inlove with eachother and Ryan making him his Best Man only made him prouder. Before the wedding Jory had helped Kerri rid herself of that infamous "Gentleman Caller" stalker allowing her to simply focus on Ryan and Brandon..and now with the marriage out of the way, Kerri took him aside and told him that she needed to be more family involved and wanted to have a baby with Ryan, leaving Jory and the battle behind to take care of her family. All he could do was wish her luck, he couldn't stand in the way of love and family...but as much as he supported it he still felt a pang of hurt that she wouldn't be there with him to keep this evil at bay.
Jory had also helped Scotty reclaim Madison from evil's clutches and because he had Madison back and with everything that had happened before, he decided that he needed to just be with Madison now and left Jory like Kerri did to focus on being more of a boyfriend then a soldier. Like Kerri he had no choice but to support his friend, even though he needed Scotty's help more then anything now...
And Becca?...Well, after his phone conversation with her that ended up in him hearing the nurse being killed and her screaming, he did everything in his power to get back up to New York and save her, that included a severe beating from an assassin sent by the phantom that attacked him in a back alleyway before Soul Survivor. But, once he got there..he was not only disappointed by what he found...but very..very hurt.)
(Thanks to Kerri, Anita, and Zedd, Jory was able to make a full recovery after his showdown with the hooded assassin who proved to be a very tough opponent. He was able to go on to Soul Survivor and with his friend Jacob Angel aka Prometheus defeat Hiddukel and Kidd Krash to become the UEF Tag Team Champions. Even though it was a sweet victory, Jory's mind was too focused on Becca and as soon as the event was over Jory, Zedd, Kerri, Scotty, Madison, Heather, Anita, Richard, Kain, Cloud, and Vincent quickly left the building and without even thinking about transportation, began running to their hotel. The others might have tried to stop him, but Jory didn't pay any attention, his ming was drowning in the thoughts of what that phantom would do to Becca, he didn;t really think about the fact that the hotel was at least 10 blocks away from the arena.)
Zedd: *Grabs Jory's arm and stops him* Jory, why are we running to the hotel? We could just...
Jory: I dont care about a car or whatever!! We need out of this city as fast as possible! Bec is in danger!
Anita: *Catches up* But Jory...
Jory: I dont have time for this! We need to go NOW!!
Scotty: *Out of breath* Dude..you run like a friggen beast...
Kerri: *Touches Jory's arm*....Listen to them Jory, your not thinking about what your doing.
Jory: But...
Anita: Jory, I know a way we can get to Bec *snaps her fingers* just like that.
Jory: *Raises an eyebrow*.....How?
Anita: Your gift Jory, it has more uses then just summoning the spirits and stuff!
Jory: Huh?
Anita: *Sighs* Jory, your power will allow you to great distances in a matter of seconds.
Jory:.......Why didn't you tell me this back in California!?
Anita: You werent as far along in your abilities as your are now, after that little battle back there its a safe bet you've got the potential to do this.
Jory: *Looks at the others*...Alright, lets try this.
(Together, the team made their way over to a dark patch of alley not too far from them, once there Anita went through the basic essentials in what Jory needed to know about traveling with his gift, she made it clear that it would take a great deal of energy but because he had plenty of back-up then there were no worries. Everyone gave Jory some words of encouragement then took several steps back so Jory could focus on the task at hand.)
Anita: Alright Jory, just center your mind and soul on your gift, given a few minutes it will be able to grow enough power to allow us to travel to New York.
Jory: Alright guys, hold on.
(Closing his eyes, Jory cleared his heart and mind of any thoughts and feelings to allow himself to focus on the power within and give it room to grow. It was odd, being human yet void of any thoughts and emotion, it was like he was a being of the supernatural..or maybe worse. The emptyness in him left him longing for any emotions, even pain and misery..he wanted something..anything..this was torture..no wonder human's have emotions, if they didn't the world would be cold, not even an Ice Age could compare to the coldness that would inhabit the earth of humans didn't have emotions. he had to focus good and hard, infact he had to focus to much that it'd drive a kid with ADD crazy, but it paid off..the power was beginning to build up inside of him. The power was so warm inside, it was a hot water spring bubbling inside, it felt awesome. The wind began to pick up around them, causing trash to whip around them and forcing them to bundle up close to eachother. Thunder could be heard right above them and flashes of lightning were seen coming in closer to their spot while Jory drew in more and more energy. Looking at Jory, the group could see a small aura of white light shining all around him, which was a bit odd considering he was dressed in all black..he was gaining power and fast. He had never felt this much power surging through him, he could swear he felt like God at that moment as his body rose from the ground and began sending out small waves of energy to the people he wished to have travel with him.
The wind was building speed, tornado like speed, and the thunder & lightning was become more frequent and closer with each second. Even Zedd stared in awe at Jory, who was now opening his eyes..which have become pure white..and released the energy within him. For an instant everything around them was white and it was hard to see, especially with the feeling that they were flying at the speed of light. Everyone, even though some had talents others didnt, all felt equal at the moment...helpless yet having the strange feeling they were still safe and all felt the same energy flowing in them..it was like a momentary heaven. With a blink of an eye, it was all over sadly, the white was gone..the warm feeling was gone..it had left them as fast as it had greeted them..how they felt cheated. It was difficult for Jory to get to his feet, he had used to much energy just to get here that he didn't think he could even lift a simple feather muchless get himself to his feet. With a little help from Scotty & Richard though, Jory found his grounding and turned to see his New York home sitting there infront of him with everything looking normal.)
Jory: Well, this is it.
Scotty: Jory my man, that was FRIGGEN AMAZING!!!
Anita: I knew you could do it kid *winks*.
Zedd: I'm proud of you boy, you really did it.
Jory: We'll marvel later guys, right now for all we know we could be surrounded and Bec could be still in there, lets go.
(With haste the group made their way towards Jory's house, wanting nothing more to make sure Bec was alright. Jory opened up the front door and quickly Kane,Vincent, and Cloud shot through the door and spread out to check for any danger. Jory sent everyone else to different sections of the house to check on things while Jory had Scotty go with him to the bedroom inwhich Bec was on bed rest at. It was still very difficult for Jory to walk and use any strength for the time being, so Scotty had to do his best to help Jory up the stairs, which with each step began to show more and more drops of blood..human blood. Once at the top of the stairs, Scotty and Jory noticed that pools of blood were spread out amongst the hall and rooms, and it was splattered here and there on his walls. because of their previous experiences, they weren't totally surprised to see this and instead continued towards Bec's room, which had the biggest puddle of blood just outside of it. Checking all the rooms first, just incase, they had found nothing and finally made it to Bec's room where they found clothes torn to shreds and tossed around the room the bed misplaced and ripped apart. Going in further they had the misfortune of seeing Bec's nurse pinned in a crucifix position just above the fireplace, knives jutting into her hands and feet with her stomach slashed open and seemingly all of her blood drained of her to make her into a pale bag of bones. They noticed that Bec was not in this room, or anywhere on this floor for that matter...only a very messy room and...a letter. Jory had Scotty let him go so that he may go to the letter, which was placed next to one of the nightstands which amazingly wasn't even touched, and read it. It was a struggle, but he was able to get to the letter and open it up..the handwritting..it was Becca's.)
Dear Jory,
I know right now if your reading this, you've probably seen the destruction thats happened here. I was so scared when I saw it come in here and do what it did to the nurse, I know I saw its handywork in my dreams but seeing it up close and personal was too much for me, I couldn't bare having that happen to me or you. Because of this I need to get away Jory, I need to...get away from you and get away from all of this. Gettysburg and Earl and now this..I'm sorry Jory but I can only handle so much before it gets to me. I'm sorry for leaving you like this..but its the best thing for me to do..I need out of this situation.....I must go or it'll find me..please understand.
(No words could form in his mind after reading that..she had left him behind to save herself from the phantom..she left him to fight it alone.)
Scotty: Yo Jor, what'd the letter say?
Jory: *Sighs*....She left me Scott...shes gone.
Scotty: What!? Dude no way let me see that.
(Scotty took the note out of Jory's hand and looked over it to see if Jory was really telling the truth....but it didn't matter to Jory, the only real reason he joined this cause had now just left him to be on her own and away from him and the life he did not choose to live. Though he had Scotty & Kerri, he now felt abandoned...though it may not have realized it yet, but the phantom just dealt a very powerful blow to Jory...but this blow was a very unpredictable one, it woudl either send Jory into a downward spiral of depression..or on a warpath of hatred and rage...the latter being not very good for the phantom.)
(It seemed no matter how hard he tried to make up for his mistakes in the past, the future was going to make him pay more and harder to make sure he truely wants to change. How much more did he need to give up to prove that he is truely a changed man? The fates have taken away his life and now his girlfriend..what else will they take from me? What else is there to take from me?....)
TBC