Chapter 15

Legacy

“Kat, sweetie .. c’mon, baby. Wake up,” Rachel coaxed, cradling the limp body in her arms. “Why won’t she wake up ..? She’s just asleep.”

“Yes, she is, but .. no, she isn’t,” Profelis said quietly. “Her spirit is … She definitely isn’t dead. She’s doing what I’m doing right now. The only difference is I can do it in this world. Everyone can do it, Rachel, when they sleep. The spirit goes exploring an’ that can make them difficult to wake. It’ll come back when it’s ready.”

“Not this time,” Alex commented, taking his arm and steering him away. “We have a dare devil on the island, down by the ferry we think. Kat’s been seeing him for a while now, in her dreams. She had to stay awake tonight because she’d get too close to him.”

Profelis nodded slowly. “Rachel, her body’s in no danger. Make her comfortable. Try not to worry. Where’s Alopex?”

“At the ferry,” Alex replied.

“I’ll head down there too, as backup. We’ll bring your daughter home to you.”

Rachel blinked back tears and nodded bravely.

“Go now,” Alex urged him. “An’ don’t hold back. Give it everything you’ve got.”

*****

“Well .. here’s an interesting situation. Hey, man, how you doing? Like the little gift I gave you?”

Steve grinned broadly. “It was a blast. An’ I passed it on, just like you wanted. Me an’ a buddy have had a high ol’ time of it. You want it back?”

“Keep it,” the young man urged. “Use it. Pass it on. It’ll always find its way home to you. Your circle of friends just gets bigger. Who’s your lady friend?” he asked, his eyes traveling hungrily.

“My name’s Peri,” Merlin said. “I’m the buddy’s wife. Kat, you okay?”

Kat couldn’t move her head at all. “Yes,” she managed to whisper. “I think so.”

“Hang in there, kiddo.”

“S’that your name, sweet cheeks? Kat?” the devil wheedled, talking softly into her ear. “I got a little gift for you. You want it? Come be my playmate?”

“You leave her alone!” Derek said in a hard voice as he strode forward. “She has done nothing to you.”

“Oh, but she has! She’s been tempting me for a while now, man. Never getting close enough .. not till tonight. She could see me. She told you about me. My secret’s out. An’ who are you?”

“My name’s Derek Rayne. I’m the Precept of this Legacy house.”

To his consternation, the devil began to laugh. Derek glanced back at Merlin and Steve. She shrugged slightly. Steve didn’t react at all.

“Legacy? This is a Legacy location? Man, that’s rich. That is a bonus unlooked for. What a coup.”

“You didn’t know?” Derek frowned. “You didn’t deliberately target us?”

“No way, dude. I thought it strange that I couldn’t get near the house on the hill. You got some serious protection up there. But I never once thought you guys were Legacy.”

“Are,” Derek corrected.

“You, maybe. Him .. I wouldn’t be so quick to bet. He’s losing it.”

“On the surface,” Derek agreed. “Let the girl go.”

The dare devil shook his head.

“Dare you,” Merlin tried. It had to be worth the attempt.

His arm began to slacken and Kat sucked in a breath, then he smiled and laughed again. “Doesn’t work so easy on me. But .. I will let her go. I’ll do a deal.”

“Hey, neat,” Steve cheered. “Deal with the devil. Go for it, Derek. Dare you.”

“Not with him,” the devil corrected. “With her.” His free hand pointed at Merlin.

Any time but now, she thought. Any other time, I would’ve done it. Well, not made the deal but I’d’ve played along. But this isn’t any time, is it? It’s right now.

“What d’you want from me?” she asked.

“A fair exchange. No underhand tactics. Everything above board. No tricks up the sleeve,” the devil replied. “I’ll let the girl go free in exchange for your baby.”

“In your dreams,” Nick remarked as he strolled onto the dock. “The kid’s mine. I’m not handing it over. I’m not selling it to free someone else. I don’t make deals like that.” His eyes narrowed. “Not fun at all.”

“Dare you,” the dare devil said with a sly smile.

C’mon, Nicky. Stand up to him. Fight him, Merlin encouraged.

“Hell, yeah, have the kid,” Steve accepted. “Hell, have both of ’em.”

Derek rounded on him with such controlled fury that Steve took a step back.

Alopex was watching from where Derek had told him to wait. Profelis stood by his shoulder.

“What’s your plan?”

Alopex shrugged. “I don’t have one. You ever fought one of these before?”

“Nope. My great uncle did once,” Profelis reflected. “He beat it in the end but it took hours to weaken it enough. Very tough to kill.”

“There’s two of us. Might make a difference.”

“An’ we have Derek. Can’t count on Lynx or the other guy. An’ Peri’s definitely outta commission.” Profelis frowned. “Why’s she here anyway?”

“She’s Peri. And Aquila. It’s in the blood even if she can’t do a damn thing. I’ll try and slip round behind him. You wait here. Pincer move. Hit him from two sides.”

“An’ try not to hit Kat. I told Rachel we’d get her home.”

“Did you promise?” Alopex asked.

“No,” Profelis admitted solemnly. “I couldn’t guarantee it.”

*****

Rachel pulled a light blanket over Kat’s comatose body and stared at her, utterly distraught.

“This is my fault,” she choked. “If I hadn’t said to accelerate it, Kat wouldn’t be in this situation. Oh, Alex, what I have done ..? What if she never wakes up?”

Alex put an arm around Rachel’s shoulders. “She will. It’ll seem like a dream to her. A bad dream, yes, but not real. Rachel, you have to be strong. You have to believe. Look at who Kat’s got around her – Derek, Alopex, Profelis, and Peri. Nick’s probably there too an’ Steve.”

“An’ they’ll be on the opposing side,” Rachel pointed out. “Fighting for the devil, not against him.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Oh, don’t I?”

“Nick an’ Steve aren’t lost, Rachel. They are inside somewhere. If anyone can reach them, tap into what made them Legacy members, it’s Derek. Have faith. He’s our Precept, and he’s our friend. He loves Kat like a daughter. Do you honestly think he’d let something bad happen to her an’ just stand by? He’d sacrifice himself first. He’s done it before to save all of us.”

Rachel calmed a little but still felt a huge hollow emptiness in her heart. “I wish I could say it’s too high a price but .. she’s my child, Alex.”

Alex straightened. “I understand. Well, how about we get on with the box, huh?”

Rachel stared at her. “I’m not leaving her!”

“We don’t know what’ll happen when the box is opened. Maybe it’s tied to the devil in some way. Opening it could distract him, enough to give us the edge. We could help them, Rachel. Kat’s fine. She’s comfortable an’ she’s sleeping. We’re just next door. And getting your mind onto something else could help.”

Rachel pulled away. “You’ve never been a mother, that’s obvious,” she snapped. “I won’t leave her!”

Alex tried not to let the hurt show. “Okay. I’ll be just next door.”

*****

The devil watched Nick. He was the pivot. The entire scene on the jetty was frozen. Black water slapped against the steel girders of the dock. Overhead, the sky was filling fast with cloud and there was the distant flicker of lightning, the dull grumble of thunder. But the people ranged about didn’t move while Nick considered his choices.

Not even Kat wanted to be free at that cost. She couldn’t bear to look at Merlin. She knew Merlin would rather die than give up her baby to evil.

“C’mon, what’s the holdup?” the devil wondered. “Simple yes or no. Yes, the girl goes free. No, I keep her.” He smiled. “I don’t have a conscience, y’know? You’re the ones who’ll live with the consequences of that choice.”

“Nick, please, just say yes,” Steve demanded petulantly. “You told me you didn’t wanna be saddled with a kid. You didn’t want baby puke on your clothes or in your car. It’d just hold you back, man. Give it up an’ we can all go home. Or are you chicken?”

Nick hunched his shoulders and turned slowly. “No, I’m not chicken.” He let fly with a bunched fist and knocked Steve sprawling. “Now shut the fuck up so I can think!”

“Nick, don’t do it,” Kat begged, tears sparking into her eyes.

“Nick,” Derek began, “ask yourself this – will you be able to forget what you’ve done? Forgive yourself? Will Peri forgive you?”

“Leave her outta this,” Nick warned with a flaring glance sideways at his Precept. “She’s with me, whatever I decide. She won’t give up on me. She never has. She understands.”

Merlin let out a taut breath. “That’s right, I do. I’m right at your side on this,” she said firmly and moved to stand exactly there – at his side.

She was now only a matter of feet away from Kat. While Nick frowned and thought, Merlin’s eyes met Kat’s.

Can you hear me?

Kat blinked and tried to breath in. Yeah .. wow .. how do you do that?

Just get ready. No, don’t tense up! Just be ready. When you get the signal, move down and toward the water. Move fast. You may have to go in an’ it’ll be cold but you won’t be in for very long. Okay?

Okay. Down an’ toward the water.

Right.

What signal?

You’ll know. He’ll loosen his grip.

Behind them, Steve struggled up, working his jaw. “You bastard. That is the last time I let you do that to me. I am gonna kill you an’ I’m not gonna back off, not this time.”

“Steve, shut up,” Derek ordered. “I am still your Precept!” he abruptly raged, his eyes blazing, when Steve looked set to argue. “You may be a very poor example of a Legacy member but you will obey my orders. Once, I had hopes for you, that you’d learn to fit with the rest of us, make a valid contribution and I have known nothing but disappointment since you walked thru our door. And Nick, you have made a valid contribution but now you’ve thrown it all away. When this is over, I intend to call a tribunal and have the both of you expelled from the Legacy. You have left me with no choice at all. Unless, of course, I see an improvement in your behavior starting right now.”

“It isn’t gonna happen!” the devil laughed as the lightning flashed overhead and the thunder grew louder. “These two are in so deep, they ain’t never gonna see daylight again.”

“Y’think?” Nick invited. “Is that right, Steve?”

“Bring it on,” Steve grinned.

They advanced on the dare devil who, startled, loosened his hold.

Now, Kat!

Kat ducked and rolled toward the water. The devil howled at the loss of his hostage and made a wild dive for Merlin instead.

Kat saw this from the corner of her eye and promptly scrambled back, deliberately tangling herself in the devil’s stick-like legs. He tripped and went down, his arms flailing. One fist caught Merlin a glancing blow on the side of her head and she collapsed as if poleaxed. The devil reached down, closed a thin but incredibly strong hand around Kat’s arm and hauled her up, only to meet the unstoppable combined force of Nick Boyle and Steve Anthony.

“Have my kid, would you?” Nick muttered. “Hit my wife as well?”

“Throw my life down the toilet?” Steve accused.

“Have me thrown outta the Legacy?”

“I don’t think so,” Steve concluded in a rock hard voice.

Nick glanced at him. “Dare you to beat the crap outta this jerk off,” he invited.

“Hell, yeah. Be a blast,” Steve grinned.

The wind started to rise as Derek raced forward to grab Kat and pull her to safety. He wanted nothing more than to wade in and throw a few punches of his own. But he was a Legacy Precept and, while it was not beneath his dignity, he couldn’t get around the fact that he had guys younger, fitter and better trained to do that kind of thing for him.

Alopex gently took Kat from him. “Be my guest,” he said, gesturing at the vicious brawl. “I’ll deal with what’s left once you’ve softened it up.”

With a wolfish smile, Derek flexed his hands and charged forward. The dare devil went down in a sea of arms and legs. Alopex turned Kat away from it. The lightning was illuminating the scene in staccato flashes.

“Go with Profelis,” he instructed over the wind. “He’ll see you home. He told your mother he would and I expect she’s very worried about you.”

Kat shook her head. “She worries way too much. I told her I’d be safe here.”

Alopex watched them fade from sight and he shook his head. The innocence of the young, he thought. If Merlin hadn’t been here as bait, I doubt we would have seen Kat again. She was lucky, incredibly so.

Duty done, he turned back to the fight on the dock.

Steve was panting, his face alive with pleasure as he pounded a fist repeatedly into the increasingly bloody face of the devil. It was Nick who caught his arm.

“That’s enough.”

“I wanna kill him. This is fun!”

“Yeah, it is. But I don’t think we can kill him. He’s a thing. Things are hard to take down. An’ I don’t know about you but I don’t feel so good.”

The devil groaned. “Wearing out so soon ..?” He laughed and spit dark blood onto the pier. “That’s the trouble with you mortals. You don’t last.”

“I feel fine!” Steve told him. “Want me to prove it?” He kicked the devil hard in the scrawny ribs.

Alopex came forward. “I’ll take over now you’ve made the job easy for me. Dr Rayne, can you get these two back to the house?”

“Yes,” Derek confirmed. “What about Peri?”

“She’s just knocked out. She’ll be sore and have a headache but she’ll recover. I’ll bring her back. I won’t be long.”

Nick pulled Steve’s jacket off his back and put it over Merlin. “You sure she’ll be okay just left here in the storm?”

“She’s strong. Always has been. And the storm is where she’s lived her life .. until recently. Now, if you’ll excuse me ..?”

Derek began ushering his charges away, noting how Nick was starting to limp as his energy levels crashed and that Steve was flushed and twitchy. Alopex bent and curled a hand in the devil's greasy collar. He came upright, writhing in the Enforcer’s grasp.

“Don’t even think about trying to escape,” Alopex warned.

The devil stilled instantly. “You’re one of them.”

Alopex merely smiled.

Listening to all this, Steve twisted round to look. One of them? One of them what? He hadn’t traveled very far because the pace was dictated by the slowest and, right now, that was Nick. Derek was hovering nearby but not rendering assistance. Steve saw the dare devil smile broadly and casually point a nicotine stained finger toward him.

The energy blast wasn’t aimed at Steve. He looked quickly back and recognized the target. Nick had stumbled and Derek was now helping him. It would hit them both. It would kill them both. It was already on its way.

“No!” Steve yelled and dove forward. The blast took him in the lower chest and he let out a shocked gasp as he crumpled suddenly to his knees.

The last thing he saw before the night crashed in on him was Alopex snapping the devil’s neck …

*****

Rachel sat with her chin propped in her hands, her eyes red with crying although the tears had dwindled and dried. She couldn’t think. She was numb except for the hollow, sickening dread in her heart. Then Kat drew in a deep breath and her eyelids flickered. At the same moment, Profelis put a hand on Rachel’s shoulder.

“Back safe an’ sound,” he smiled.

“Kat ..? Kat, honey?” Rachel softly called, rising slowly to her feet.

Kat sighed and opened her eyes. “Hi, Mom … ” she greeted sleepily.

“Oh, baby … ” The tears started again but, this time, they were tears of relief.

“I had a dream .. only it wasn’t a dream, was it?”

“I don’t think so, no,” Rachel replied, putting her arms around her daughter. “I want you to promise me you won’t fall asleep again, not till I know that thing’s gone.”

“They shouldn’t be too much longer,” Profelis commented. “The battle was certainly going our way.”

“They were beating the crap outta him,” Kat agreed with fat satisfaction.

Rachel was so overjoyed to have Kat back that she didn’t scold.

“An’ the storm’s ended. Has to be a good sign,” Profelis concluded.

Alex came to the door. “Hi, Kat. I’m glad you’re back. I’m so sorry we left you alone for so long. If we hadn’t, this wouldn’t have happened.” She hesitated. “I could use a hand in the lab if you want something to do.”

Rachel began to shake her head.

“Mom, I’m fine. I was asleep, not hurt. There’s nothing wrong with me,” Kat protested. “An’ I wanna help. Please. It’s the lab.”

“Besides,” Profelis added, “you’ll need this room for patients. Steve an’ Nick? If I were you, an’ I’m not telling you to do anything, I’d get ready. They’ve just had a major adrenaline burst.”

Rachel shook herself. “Right. Well .. if you’re sure, Kat?”

“Yes, Mom. Very sure.”

“Okay, go help Alex.” Her gaze flickered mutely to Profelis who grinned and winked. He’d stay with Kat until confirmation came that Kat really was safe.

She readied hypos and prepared two beds, then quickly washed her face to eradicate any sign that she’d been in absolute despair. Rachel settled to waiting. It seemed only a short while before she heard footsteps but she frowned. They were hurrying and there was otherwise silence. It didn’t sound like a triumphal return.

“Rachel!” Derek shouted. “Quickly!”

*****

How Rachel got thru the next hour, she would never know. She didn’t have a coherent memory of it and she never would remember the exact sequence of events and her reactions. Alopex helped as much as he could but the influence of the dare devil was still strong in both men and it hampered his efforts to heal them. The best he could do was assist in stabilizing Steve. Derek hovered in the doorway, keeping out of the way, his heart in his eyes. Nick had lapsed into a deep stupor and no amount of anything was working. Steve, likewise, was fading fast plus he had a lower chest injury like a gunshot wound coupled with an electrical burn. Rachel worked on Steve first then switched to Nick, then came back again. It set a pattern which would last for at least sixty minutes.

“What happened?” she eventually had time to ask. “The last I heard you were beating the crap outta him.”

“Steve saved our lives,” Derek replied. “Mine and Nick’s. Will he live?”
“I’ve done all I can for him, Derek. For both of them. It’s up to them now.”

Finally, she went to check on Merlin who’d come round but was nursing a nasty bruise on her cheekbone and a thumping headache.

“You’ll be fine. A few days’ complete rest, mind. I mean it,” Rachel ordered sternly.

“My baby?” Merlin asked, wincing as she straightened.

“No harm done. You went out like a light, didn’t tense up as you fell. An’ baby is very well cushioned an’ protected. Get some rest,” she instructed.

“How’s Nick?”

“He’s .. back in the nightmare but it’s different this time. His body’s being .. reset. Before, he had the next challenge. He’s lost that now. There’s nothing to pull him out.”

“There will be,” Merlin replied. “Can I see him?”

“Sure. In fact, you could stay with him an’ Steve for a while.”

“You wanna get some rest as well,” Merlin deduced.

“I wanna see what happens when we finally get to open the box,” Rachel corrected.

*****

Derek looked round the lab. “It’s been a long day for all of us, and it will be an even longer night for some. It’s hard to believe it isn’t even midnight yet,” he said with a tired sigh. “However, this will get the remainder of the night off to a good start. Alex, are you ready?”

“Thanks to Kat’s help, yeah,” Alex nodded. “The probe’s been tested an’ it works fine. It’s now in place and online.”

“And you?” Derek asked Alopex.

Alopex inclined his head.

“Rachel?”

“Uh huh.”

“And the witnesses?”

Kat and Profelis nodded. “Go for it,” Kat encouraged and grinned. “Derek, do you want the money?”

He smiled too, amazed again at the resilience of the young. Caught and half strangled, and, in hardly any time at all it seemed, Kat was making jokes. “I think I’ll open the box.”

Derek pushed his hands into the rubber gloves and picked up two sets of tongs.

“Let’s have the lights dimmed,” he requested.

Rachel obliged and quickly turned back to watch. Derek took a firm grip on the box and another on the lid. The others crowded round, watching closely. With a massive heave, the lid came off.

“Whoa … ” Profelis and Alopex breathed, their eyes widening slightly.

“It’s empty,” Kat whispered.

“No, it isn’t. Or wasn’t. The sensors’ are picking up something,” Alex reported.

“We saw it,” Profelis added. “A huge cloud of … It wasn’t dust. I wouldn’t have seen it with regular eyes. It was like … ”

“A nasal spray?” Rachel suggested.

“Yeah. Like very fine droplets but not of liquid. It was more .. droplets of transparent glitter.”

Derek turned the box this way and that. “Can we have the lights back up, please? Yes, it does appear to be empty. Blue felt lining and nothing else. Anyone opening this would feel an initial sense of disappointment after such a promising exterior. Alex, is the readout being prepared?”

“Uh huh, an’ it’s already on screen. Rachel?”

Rachel came to study the display. “These five spikes .. wow, this dare devil sure knew how to fast track to human dependency. This is histamine. An’ this is serotonin. This,” she pointed, “is dopamine. It’s a feel good chemical. With the brain awash with this, the result is euphoria. It’s naturally occurring but we don’t get it suddenly. We have to work for it. Hard exercise. Surviving a dangerous situation. To have it just delivered, an’ this much in one hit … This is epinephrine. It kick started the adrenal medulla into production an’ it’s only now starting to correct itself. An’ this is PCP. It’s also present in the surface resin but this is a much higher concentration. Once this lot was in their brains, they kept it all going themselves with the dares just to sustain the feeling. When this started, I thought Steve must have suffered some kind of emotional trauma for his behavior to change so radically in only a few hours. I was right. This combination,” she said, gesturing at the monitor, “definitely represents a significant emotional trauma.”

“And this one ..?” Derek inquired, pointing to a smaller spike. “It isn’t identified.”

“I don’t know but I can guess,” Rachel replied, turning to her audience. “There are three types of people. Small T make up eighty percent of the world’s population. They’re the people who don’t take risks. Big T make up the other twenty percent and can be characterized as natural born rule breakers and risk takers. Big T’s look for risks. They .. let go of life’s handrails. Success or failure is from within because they’re on their own, relying on no one else.”

“And the third type?” Alopex asked.

“T negative, the destructive form of risk taking. People who deliberately drink an’ drive, for example. I think this last spike combines with the PCP to convert big T people into T negative people. We all know Nick is a big T. I would say Steve is the same. Given a choice, they wouldn’t become T negative. Yet they were clearly displaying T neg behavior. The only difference between before an’ after .. is exposure to the contents of this box.”

“Is there a cure?” Derek requested.

Rachel folded her arms. “No. None. As I said, these chemicals all occur naturally in the body. They’re short lived, ranging from .. seconds to minutes. You can’t cure what is meant to happen an’ I can confirmed that because I found nothing unusual in the blood sample I took from Nick. Not even PCP. You can maybe block some of the effect, you can maybe get the body to produce less of these chemicals, but that’s all. You wouldn’t be able to make a vaccine to prevent being affected either. The treatment, which isn’t the same as a cure, is to remove the box permanently to stop further exposure an’ administer a course of phenoxybenzamine to cut down natural production of adrenaline. Then the body will get a chance to reset and recover.”

“And finding and removing the devil behind it,” Alopex added. “They won’t be far from their victims. The high experienced is sustenance to dare devils. Unfortunately, the destruction of this one doesn’t mean the world is free. There are numerous others, all with an endless supply of .. gifts ready to be given to the unwary.”

Derek nodded. “Alex, Rachel, tomorrow, put it all in a report which we can place in the Legacy archives for all the other houses to access. Have we all done everything we can? Yes? Then, Alopex, destroy this box. Let the world be rid of this one at least.”

*****

There was no medical reason for Nick and Steve to stay in the room next to the lab so they were moved back to their bedrooms. Nick’s exertions on the dock had burst the butterfly tape so that wound had been redressed and Steve, of course, had a gut injury. Alopex and Profelis had worked together to pull him back from danger before they left and they confirmed the darkness which had smothered both men had gone, vanished with the removal of the dare devil. The darkness, the influences they were under .. it was the same thing – sustenance for an evil entity. Alex and Rachel tidied Steve’s room while he lay senseless on his bed. Derek and Merlin did the same in Nick’s room. Then Alex retired for the night, so did Rachel and Kat, although Rachel said she was to be called if there was any change for the worse, especially in Steve. The vigil began; Derek sat in Steve’s room, Merlin sat with Nick. The light was low, not completely extinguished.

“How many times have you done this for me, huh?” Merlin wondered out loud. “Sat beside a bed, waiting for me to come back from wherever, wake up an’ smile. You never doubted, not for a second, that I’d never come back. It was only a question of when. Nothing’s changed, Nicky. I’m just sitting in your place waiting for you to .. make a reappearance. Rachel says there’s no one around to help pull you out. She’s wrong. I’m here. An’ help’s on its way. You take your time. Come back when you’re ready. Let your body heal itself while you wander in the dark. You’ll find the light when you need it.”

Two rooms down, Derek was leaning forward. Like this, it was strange. He could see the difference between the two men. It was really quite obvious.

“You earned your place here today, Steve. I hope you realize that. All the .. the lies, the things you’ve done, you wiped the slate clean when you save mine and Nick’s life. You never forgot you were a Legacy member, what that meant. It would have been easy to turn your back on the truth of what you had become. Easy to walk away. You didn’t do that. You chose to fight. Faith has need of the whole truth … To come back to yourself, you admitted you’d been wrong and that it wasn’t too late to start over. I’m proud of the way you did that. It justified my decision to have you here as a member of my house. I don’t know why you chose to join the Legacy but, if you are anything like the others here, it was because you knew you could make a difference. This world has .. so many innocent people who go thru life never knowing how close they come to falling into darkness. The Legacy exists to protect them but the Legacy is just a name. A duty, a responsibility, and, yes, a terrible burden to bear at times. Yet, without the people who believe in that duty and responsibility, the people who bear the burden, the Legacy would be an empty sham. It’s people like you and Nick who make the difference each and every day. Sometimes, we falter and step from the path, often not thru conscious choice, but our belief brings us back. Let your belief bring you back now. We are your colleagues, Steve, your friends, and we won’t give up on you. I owe you my life. It’s a debt I must repay. But, to do that, you have to wake up. You’ve earned your place here. It’s time for you to take it and make it your own.”

*****

Saturday night rolled into Sunday morning, and there was no change. Derek had talked almost ceaselessly during the hours of darkness and he refused to yield to despair. He was realistic enough to know that it could take days, even weeks, for Steve to wake up. If he had to sit here for each second of that time, Derek wouldn’t begrudge it.

In Nick’s room, Merlin was detailing nearly every day of their life together. Every case they’d worked on. Every time they’d laughed or argued, every time they’d made up and the lessons they’d learned. She told him how he made her feel, from proud of him to being puzzled by him, of the times he’d made her so mad and the times he’d made her so happy that a part of her had wondered what she’d done to deserve his love.

As she came to the present day, there was a distant knocking downstairs. Merlin checked the time – oh five fifty two.

“It’s okay, Derek,” she called softly. “I know who it is.”

Matt Fulton looked travel weary and in need of a shower but his eyes glinted with purpose and then with sharp puzzlement.

“Did he do that?”

Merlin touched a hand to her face. In addition to the bruise on her cheekbone, she’d also developed a beautiful black eye.

“Er .. no. There was a brawl an’ Nick was involved but it was the guy he was fighting who did this .. an’ not even on purpose. He tripped, flung out an arm an’ I was in the way. I fell over, an’ gravity did the rest.”

Matt nodded. “Cos, if he’d done that, I’d’ve hit him for you. You know that, right? Even though I know you could do it yourself, an’ harder.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Even though I know you could do it yourself, an’ a lot harder,” he muttered. “Okay. Where is he?”

“Upstairs. I’ll take you to him,” Merlin said. “He looks rough, Matt. A bullet grazed him earlier yesterday but that’s nothing. He’s .. lost somewhere in his own head. I did what you told me. I’ve been telling him about his life now.”

He nodded. “I’m gonna have to ask you to wait elsewhere, Peri. I would love you to sit in but .. what I have to say is classified. You understand.”

“Sure,” she smiled. “Would you like some coffee?”

“Hell, yeah. Say .. are you pregnant?”

“Yeah,” Merlin said and she didn’t feel embarrassed.

“That’s the best reason of all for him to get his ass back here.” Matt winked. “You just leave it to me.”

*****

“You wanna take a nap?” Merlin asked Derek.

“No. I can last a while longer. Who was at the door?”

“Matt Fulton. You remember, Nick’s buddy from the Teams. I called him yesterday .. before any of this happened.” She smiled faintly. “Kat wasn’t the only one to have a meaningful dream.”

He nodded. “Can I ask ..? How could you hear Nick’s voice? In Egypt, you heard the earth. Is this something similar?”

“I think it is, yeah. I hope it is. I’d hate to think it’s cos I’m on the inside track to being a crazy person. Well, I guess it fits. Before, I was telekinesis based. Now that’s been switched off .. they’ve given me communication skills as a replacement. An’ it wasn’t just Nick. I spoke with Steve too, an’ Kat down on the dock. If she’d done what I said .. he wouldn’t have caught her again.”

“Perhaps it was best that he did,” Derek mused softly. “Not that I’d ever wish anything ill to befall Kat, it‘s more that .. I believe everything happens for a reason. There is always a purpose, even if it’s hidden from us, behind every choice we make, even snap choices. Perhaps what happened to Kat was the final straw which set Nick free. He has always been protective of her. Seeing her in peril could have sprung the locks of his conscience. And Nick, of course, goaded Steve into recalling what this life is all about.”

“It wouldn’t have taken much goading,” Merlin replied. “The Steve I spoke with knew exactly who he was, why he was here. He told me he’d become a monster. I can also tell you he said he’d never accepted the box. He didn’t want it. It was put in his pocket by sleight of hand, even magic. He felt an unusual weight, put his hand into his pocket an’ he was caught. Nick didn’t want it either.”

He nodded slowly. “They never completely bought in. It saved them at the end.” He glanced at her. “Could you reach him now?” Derek asked.

Merlin shook her head. “I’ve been trying all night to reach Nick. I failed. My intermittent telepathy has run outta juice. I gotta wait for it to build up again. I think this has to be down to others. You an’ Matt. Maybe Rachel an’ Alex. Even Kat. Plain ol’ voices going on about everyday stuff. Regular stuff.”

“I thought as much.” He stretched. “How are you?”

“Stiff an’ sore. I feel pain.” She laughed wryly. “I seem to have gotten the worst deal in the whole world, Derek. I can’t fight but I can get hurt. An’, while I could take revenge, I can’t because I’d like it too much to want to quit. I have to stick with the rules even though I can’t play the game an’ the game can just toss me aside if I get in the way.” Merlin shook her head but in a placid way. “You ever watch Buffy when it was on TV?”

“Never,” Derek answered.

“She said something once which stuck in my head cos it’s very true. She said ‘for a Slayer, kicking butt is comfort food’. When I get mad, I take comfort in killing my enemies. I can’t do that right now .. so I guess it’s gonna have to be ice cream.”

He smiled gently. “It’s only temporary.”

“Oh sure. It’ll end,” she nodded then grinned at him. “Y’know, I think I’ll actually be glad to have Aquila back. Who’d have thought it, huh?”

*****

Rachel came to check on her patients and found Steve’s wound had markedly improved. It wasn’t so much a gaping hole as an inflamed puncture. Nick’s shoulder was already starting to mend. She took vital signs and nodded. Heart rate was almost back to normal. Blood pressure was noticeably down.

Apart from that, there was no change. Both were still way under. She felt that, when the body had recovered, the mind would follow.

She was proved right. Nick stirred around three thirty that Sunday afternoon and opened his eyes to see Matt grinning broadly at him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Nick croaked, trying to sit up.

“Talking myself hoarse, you ungrateful bastard,” Matt croaked in reply. “Man, it’s good to see you.”

“You too,” Nick grinned.

Steve took a little longer. It was nearly six that evening when his eyelids lifted. Derek faltered into silence.

“Is it over?” Steve whispered, regarding him with solemn eyes.

“Yes. Now, it’s over. Welcome back,” Derek replied.

He watched Steve carefully expel a long sigh. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen,” Steve said quietly. “Some Legacy member I turned out to be, huh. I never even got to the island before I fell into a trap. And I nearly brought you all down with me.”

“You can’t blame yourself. Peri told me you didn’t accept the box. It was forced on you. We should have taken more notice at the start. It’s me who has to apologize, Steve. As your Precept, I let you down.”

“I think it’s the other way round, Derek. I should’ve been stronger. I should’ve done more to fight it. He said I could always throw it away. I didn’t.”

“You did everything you could and you couldn’t have gotten rid of the box even if you’d tried. It’s over now. You must rest, get well.”

“Am I gonna live?” Steve asked softly, braced for bad news.

“For a good many more years, God willing,” Derek smiled. “Is there anything you need?”

“I’m hungry. An’ thirsty,” Steve confessed, cautiously embracing a future opposite to the one he’d expected. If God had decided he would live, Steve owed it to God to do the best job he could.

“I’ll go find something for you. And Rachel will be here promptly to examine you. Take my advice,” Derek urged, leaning forward. “If you want to be up and about sooner rather than later, do exactly what she tells you. She can be very strict if you disobey.”

“I’ll remember that,” Steve said with a tired smile. “How’s Nick?”

“On the mend. He woke a couple of hours ago. He’s been asking after you.”

“That’s nice. Good of him .. seeing as how it was me who got him into the whole mess.”

Derek left him and found Rachel in Nick’s room. “Your other patient has woken,” he told her. “Is it all right if I get him something to eat and drink?”

“Keep it light,” Rachel advised. “Chicken soup.”

“The universal cure all,” Derek reflected.

When he’d gone, Rachel put her stethoscope away and sat for a moment regarding Nick.

“How’s Peri?” he asked.

“Worn out, scraped, battered an’ bruised. She’s sleeping. An’ the baby’s fine. Don’t worry about your child or about her. She’s tough, Nick. She’ll bounce right back.”

He nodded. “What I don’t understand is how this happened to me. I mean, I know how but .. why did I take to it? Why didn’t I fight it more?"

“Ah, well,” Rachel began, “the fact is that .. you’re predisposed to that kinda behavior. Not the negative aspects but the thrill seeking, the risk taking … It’s why we didn’t really react to it at first. We expected it.”

“I’m that shallow?” he frowned.

“No. You’re that complex. Most times, you can control it. Your work gives you the stimulation your mind needs an’ the physical danger provides the outlet your brain demands. What the box did was take away your control and then force you into a negative behavioral pattern.” She patted his arm. “But you’re recovering well. Don’t blame yourself, Nick. You were a victim.”

He nodded slowly. “I still did terrible things.”

“Everyone does from time to time. Nobody blames you.”

Nick’s jaw twitched. “Maybe, but I can feel guilty for hurting the people I care about.”

*****

On Tuesday, around noon, Steve came to Derek’s office off the control room. “Do you have a moment?”

“Steve! What are you doing out of bed? I could’ve come to you.”

“I took your advice an’ played it by the book with Rachel. She’s cleared me for gentle exercise. This can’t wait.”

“Oh ..?” Derek frowned. “Sit down, please. I won’t have her shouting at me for making you stand.”

Steve sank carefully into a chair. “I realize that .. while it was what I wanted, coming here was wrong for me. I’d like to transfer back to the New York house, Derek. It isn’t you or the others. It’s me. I don’t belong here.”

“But you’ve proved yourself.”

“I guess but it doesn’t change anything.” Steve shifted cautiously. “I … Can I be absolutely honest?”

“Of course. I’d welcome it.”

“You don’t need me. You don’t need another member in your team. I thought you were just bucking the rules, making do with four. The fact is you weren’t. You have it covered an’ I’m a waste. In New York, they need me. But I’m grateful you gave me the chance, Derek. It’s been an experience.” He smiled wryly. “One I bet you wish you hadn’t had but I’m kinda grateful. I know I’m not Nick, never will be. Past couple of weeks have been a nightmare but my mind’s been free to go searching for Steve Anthony. I kinda like the guy.” His eyes narrowed thoughtfully, his gaze becoming unfocused. “I seem to have a memory which I just don’t remember. Sounds weird but .. I can hear you telling me that you owe me your life an’ it’s a debt you must repay. You can do that, Derek, real easy. Will you call Mike for me? Get me my old job back?”

“You’re sure?” Derek asked, disappointed that Steve didn’t want to stay, to give it a chance.

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

“Very well,” Derek agreed. “We’ll be sorry to see you go.”

Steve eased back and began to laugh. “Yeah, right.”

*****

While Steve was talking with Derek, Matt was preparing to leave. Nick watched him toss clothes into a duffel.

“Look, if you’re ever in the Bay area, you have to come stay with us. We got a big house over in Tiburon.”

“I remember. You married money. An’ I will, Stormer. Count on it.”

“I .. wanna thank you, Matt, for coming all this way, doing what you did.”

Matt paused to watch Nick rub a hand around the back of his neck.

“I don’t actually recall a word of it,” Nick admitted, “but I needed to hear it, y’know?”

“You recall where you were?”

Nick shook his head. “It was a dark place, I know that. Not threatening dark, just .. an absence of light an’ pain. I needed to be there. And I know I was lost there. There was only me an’ I couldn’t get out. An’ then .. it was like fireflies. Thousands an’ thousands of ’em. Just .. floated down an’ made a line. An’ I started to feel better.” Nick shook his head again. “Rediscovered who I am, who I was. I found I liked me. An’ all those little points of light .. led me back.”

“I always knew my words had value,” Matt commented. “Not just mine either. Peri’s done her share. Haven’t seen her around much.”

Nick swallowed. “I did some bad stuff. I know it hurt her. I think she’s avoiding me.”

Matt shrugged. “Maybe she’s just tired, bud. That is one fine woman an’ she would never, ever, give up on you. Don’t read more into a vanishing act than there is. If there’s one thing Jan’s taught me, it’s you have to talk. No matter how big it seems, you can conquer it if you talk. Go find your wife, Nick. Talk it out. Me? I have a plane to catch or Jan will give me hell if I’m not back for the holiday weekend. You take care – an’ let me know when that baby’s born.”

“Sure thing,” Nick smiled.

*****

Merlin sat in the garden. There were no roses, not yet, but there were a lot of buds. The day was warm, not hot, and the sun was veiled behind a thin layer of misty cloud. It wasn’t serene either. Somewhere in the distance, ships’ sirens hooted and, overhead, gulls shrieked. And she wasn’t wearing a floaty white dress.

“Hi.”

She looked round and up, her face smiling warmly. “Hi yourself. Has Matt gone?”

“Just left. He said next time he’s in this area, he’ll stay with us.” Nick felt her smile start to melt his doubts away but it was a slow process.

“You’re looking a lot better,” she remarked, patting the low wall beside her in invitation.

“I feel it,” he nodded, still standing, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, his shoulders hunched defensively. “There’s only one thing still wearing me down.”

“An’ that is?” Merlin asked, angling her head.

“Us. Or what I did to us.”

She smiled again. “Sit down. You’re not in trouble an’ I haven’t been avoiding you. Rachel says I’ve been overdoing it an’ I need to rest. She’s right. Plus I had bruises. I didn’t want you to see ’em.”

Nick sat. “I’ve missed so much. The baby … ”

“I got pictures. Don’t sweat it. We are fine. You an’ me. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“You want me to tell you details?”

“No. That’d be too much information. I know you cheated on me, several times. I know you made a pass at Sophie. That’s as much as I have to know, okay? An’, yeah, it hurt. But it wasn’t you.”

“It wasn’t me you spoke to that day. On the phone. It was Steve. He called you sweetheart.”

Merlin said nothing but wished she’d still had the ability to detect that kind of deception. It would have saved so much time.

“An’ I did say that I didn’t want the baby. I didn’t want puke on my clothes or in my car …” He shook his head. “I didn’t mean it, Merli. Not a word of it.”

“You want puke in your car.”

Nick grinned quickly but then it faded.

“You remember that time I was with Arkadi?” she began.

“Not something I can forget.”

“You remember the night we spent together before it all went really, badly wrong?”

“Uh huh.”

“Do you remember what I told you that night? That the spirit is pure? It can be pure good or pure evil. It can be pure bad, come to that. The body is only a shell. One day, the body will perish but the spirit will live on. It won’t change. It’ll be released. When you were hit with the contents of the box, your shell became very bad. Your spirit didn’t. It was pushed way under an’ couldn’t speak out. You don’t believe a word I’m saying, do you?”

“I believe,” Nick replied. “I just don’t find easy to accept. I was raised to fess up an’ face the music. If I screwed up, I deserved to be punished. Sure, I didn’t always fess up, not if there was a chance I could get away with whatever I'd done. But if my ol’ man knew it was me, if he had proof … This is a lot more serious.”

Merlin paused. “Okay. When we first met in dreams, I thought you were a dead guy. You thought .. I didn’t exist at all except in your head. But you weren’t dead, Nicky. Neither was I. Did you date other girls while we were seeing each other in dreams?”

“Once or twice .. at the start. Yeah.”

“You couldn’t see a reason not to. I was imagination. You weren’t faithful to me, except in your dreams. I was the same. In my dreams, you were the only guy for me. I wanted eternity to come so I could be with you an’ not have to leave. Awake .. no, I wasn’t faithful. I had a lotta lovers during that time. They meant nothing. It was casual sex. You meant everything. We were spirits an’ our love was pure. Wild, but pure. What our bodies did .. didn’t count.”

“That was then. We’re married now. I broke my vows.”

“Your shell did. You didn’t.”

“What’s the difference?” Nick commented.

Merlin eased back, her eyes dancing. “When Aquila gets back, she is so gonna slap you for that. C’mon, you know I live a double life all the time! The shell an’ the spirit. I can do stuff an’ Aquila can do stuff, all at the same time, on two different sides of the planet if we have to. Nicky, there are things she does I don’t agree with. Aquila has no people skills at all. She’s abrupt an’ she can be rude. But that’s how she is. A fighter. Lives in darkness an’ finds no pleasure in anything except killing. An’ I know I do things she hates. She lectures me .. you wouldn’t believe. Right now .. I can’t hear her voice. She’s pushed way under. Silenced. Even a little lost. But I know she’s there. What’s the difference, Nicky? Do you blame me for being like this? I’ve done terrible things too an’ I know I’ve hurt you in the process. I understand how you’re feeling. I feel it all the time. So .. you haven’t damaged us. We’re fine, you an’ me.”

He let out a long sigh and felt the pain finally fade away. Nick took her hand. “Draw a line under it?”

“If you want, sure.”

“An’ you got pictures?”

“Just one. But Rachel will fire up the machine an’ I’ll get covered in that sticky stuff again if you want a live broadcast.”

He nodded. “I wanna see our baby for myself.”

“Then we’ll do it,” she agreed.

“An’ I wanna come to Parkfield with you,” Nick went on. “I’ve missed so much, Merli. I’ve missed you.”

She looked down. “You should go, yeah. You can take my place. I’ll stay here an’ mind the store with Derek an’ Steve.”

“But – ”

“Nicky, I understand what you went thru. I can write off what you did. There are others you have to spend time with an’ mend fences. Don’t worry. It won’t be difficult but it does need to be done. It’s a few days. Week at most. We have time before you leave.”

“Hey, Nick.”

They both looked round. “Steve,” Nick acknowledged. “How you doing?”

“Okay. Rachel says I’m a model patient.”

“That proves we’re not alike,” Nick commented wryly. He rose and held out his hand. “Thanks. You took one for me. I won’t forget that.”

Steve shook his hand. “No hard feelings?”

“Not one.”

“Great. Well .. just to tell you I’m leaving. Going back to New York.”

“Nothing we did, is it?” Merlin asked, frowning.

“Nothing I did either,” he replied, “except, maybe, make a mistake coming here. Like I told Derek, you don’t need me. They do, so I’m heading back. You guys have it covered. You got a great team here. Soon as Rachel clears me for flying, I’m going back to make New York a great team too.”

“Well .. good luck to you, man. An’ don’t be a stranger,” Nick said.

*****

The holiday weekend was over. Steve had gone back to New York and his friends, a wiser and a slightly more cautious individual. Alex and Rachel had fine tuned the research to be completed at Parkfield and Nick had helped put the gear together. And, now, it was time for them to leave.

Derek inspected the packing of the equipment and made a few last minute suggestions.

“We have it covered,” Rachel said firmly. “If we need help – ”

“We’ll call,” Alex concluded in a brisk voice. “But we won’t need help because .. we’re a good team an’ we know what we’re doing.”

“An’, as you’re minding the store on your own, if you need help, just let us know,” Rachel tacked on.

“Ready, Nick?” Alex inquired.

“Let’s hit the road,” Nick declared, winking at Merlin.

Derek and Merlin watched them pick up duffels and suitcases and head toward the door. Before they got there, however, it opened and a single figure stepped inside. Everyone came to a dead stop and Derek’s eyes widened.

“I’ve thought it over, very carefully, and .. if there’s a place for me here, I’d like to come back,” Philip said. “I want to rejoin the Legacy.”

Poltergeist: The Legacy

Dare Devil

© Jay Brown, 2003

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