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Bryce stared at his surroundings with tired eyes, and yawned. The
last
thing he remembered was passing through the closet door after
the baby. He pulled himself out of the bed, and left the unfamiliar
room.
He walked the hallway that was lit with torches, sleep now the
last thing on his mind. He heard muffled sounds behind a door, and
opened it to find a woman standing chained to a wall.
She turned to him, and stared with a look of hatred.
"Rachel?" he asked, as he rubbed his eyes. An icy breeze
enveloped
him, as he started to walk towards her. His first thought before
that had to been to unchain her, but now..he only wanted to tighten
the chains even more.
"What do you want? Rachel asked Sargatanis, as
he stepped up behind her, and traced a finger down her back.
"My sweet, we need to talk." He said, as he
touched her chin with his pointy finger.
She stared at him, and a vision of Bryce shimmered before
her. She
closed her eyes, and opened them again. The shimmer remained.
Sargatanis began to laugh. "My dear, what is it that you see?"
She turned back to her chains and tried to yank free, as if
she
hadn't tried many times before. "I don't know, maybe Bryce?"
She replied through gritted teeth.
He smiled. " A sprite needs a body, Rachel." He said, and
let his
hand fall that had come to rest on her shoulder."Enough about
that.."He said, and then pulled her face closer to his. "I need
a child. This body I took is excellent..." He said, laughing.
"You have Sinata!!" Rachel replies, as she
tries to pulls away from him, and fails.
"I knew my end was near, physically. I poured my soul
into
that whore..." He said, almost to himself. "You wouldn't
understand, why explain." He waves her questioning
look away, as if he didn't care what she thought. "Foolish
people were told how to kill me, and yet.. I am still here."
"If I am just a spirit...why can't i break free of these
chains?"
Rachel said as she yanked again on the chains.
"It's your dream." Sargatanis said with shrug. He walked
behind her,
and smiled as he watched her struggle some more. Her wrists had
begun to bleed. He reached up and touched a line of blood that
had
run down her arm, and licked his finger clean. He pulls her
finger
back, almost out of joint, and slipped a ruby gemed ring on her
finger.
Rachel's eyes water, as she stared at the ring. "Get it
off!! What is this,
it is burning!!" She shoved her fist into the wall, hoping to get
rid
of the heat that surrounded her finger.
"Careful dear, that is your wedding ring." He began to
laugh,
as he exited the room with Rachel's screams following him.
--------
Christopher's eyes opened to see a doctor hovering close to
Rachel's bed.
"Is there something wrong doc?? Is she OK?" He asked, as he rose to
his feet.
"She's not here." The doctor said, as he started playing
with the
buttons on the bed. "What is that?" The doctor said, as he watched
a
green button turn off and on.
"She's gone?" Christopher asked, starting to tear up.
The doctor looked at him sadly. " I got here too late. I was
supposed to
make sure she did not cross over." He said, and sat with his
face in his hands. "I have failed."
Chris stood quiet for a moment, and could hear his sister
breathing.
He sighed and then turned to the doctor again. "She's not dead!!
Who are you?"
"If she stays gone, there is a chance this shell of hers
will be
taken over. We don't want that now do we!" Chester said, as he
stared at Rachel's brother. "Do you know where the porthole is??
I can't remember just how I got here."
"Yes." Christopher replied, as he held his sisters hand.
"You have to go and warn the others..please. For Rachel's
sake."Chester replied. " I have to stay and take care of the
shell."
Christopher sighed, he didn't want to leave his sister. What
if this
man fails again at what he was to do. Then he could loose her
forever.
"OK, OK.. I will go." He said, as he got up to go. "Just make sure
nothing
happens to her."
-----------------
"What would Sharlette get out of all this, with sending Chester
to watch over Rachel?" Shadow asked Anna.
"Nothing that I know of. He's still after an heir."
Anna replied, as she stared off into space.
"I had his heir!!" Jessica said, as she
took another shot of Whiskey.
"No.. actually you gave birth to Sargatanis all over again.
But in
order to grow faster, he took Bryce."Anna said, looking hatefully
at Jessica.
"Bryce?" Shadow said, more than asked." Jessica...him and
the baby went through at almost the same time didn't they.."
"Right." Dwayne said, as he took the Whiskey away from Jessica.
"Rider coming!!" Puck said, as he moved away from the
window.
The others followed him out to the front porch, as the Rider
hoped
off his dark horse.
"I have an invitation from Sargatanis." The man hands Puck
the
parchment, and mounts the horse again. "Good-day" His horse bows,
and they turn and trot away...fading from sight.
"What the hell is this place? First Puck...now
horsemen vanishing!" Jessica said with a hiccup.
Puck uncurls the paper and reads quietly, and
then hands the paper to Dwayne.
"Over my dead body!!" Dwayne yells, as he tears up the paper.
"What's going on?" Jessica says, as she sits on the porch swing.
"A wedding." Puck says, as he puts his hands
in his pocket. "So, what are we going to do?
"I knew this was going to happen...we have to stop it from
happening.
Chester did not follow through with his deed. Rachel's spirit is
here...
what is left is a shell where you are from. "Anna said with tears in
her eyes,
and sadness in her voice."Whatever we do...we must hurry."
"What would happen if we did nothing." Jessica said, as
everyone turned to stare at her. "What?? Did I say something
wrong?"
"When is the wedding to take place?" Shadow asked, looking at Dwayne.
"Tomorrow." Dwayne replied, as he watched Puck walk towards the stable.
"We need some time to prepare...we can't go
unarmed." Puck yelled back, and entered the stable.
Dwayne was more than just a little angry. He couldn't let
this happen.
He felt the doll of Chester in his pocket, and his first thought was
to snap it in two. He pulled it out, and stared. He put his thumb
on
the neck to snap it off, but then decided to sit it in the window.
He
walked away, leaving the doll, to catch up with
Puck.