Chapter 3: Gray Area

 
 Episode 03-03: Gray Area

The Legacy Infirmary wasn’t exactly his favorite place to be, but he had promised himself that
he’d visit both Scarlett and Michela. He barely made it up the outer stairwell before he heard a car
door slam and Eden Fairchild saunter up the steps after him.
“Why are you following me?” Kevin Fairchild said as he entered the backdoor of the
establishment. Three steps inside he dodged a pair of orderlies as they rounded the corner. He
eyed the retreating men, cautiously. Those men must really be into their jobs, he determined.
Eden evaded his question until they arrived at the nurses’ station where an elderly lady in her
early sixties was answering phones.
“I’m following you because I have to talk to you,” Eden’s chin length red hair shined making her
seem all the more crafty.
Kevin remembered his last encounter with her well.
“Oh, really? Since when do you talk? I thought maybe you showed up to do a quickie in the car.”
The nurse tending to the station gasped at Kevin’s crass remark. Her eyes grew wide.
“Sorry,” Kevin apologized. “She brings out the worst in me. I didn’t mean it to come out like that.
But some people’s motivations never change.”
It was Eden’s turn to act all aghast.
“I’ll have you know I have changed a lot in three years.”
“Ever get yourself that apartment you keep talking about? The one where you actually own
furniture?”
She rolled her eyes and he had his answer.
“Like I said. Some people never change.”
“I have changed!”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.” Kevin turned to the nurse. “I’m here to see Scarlett Gray.”
The nurse contemplated a moment then her face brightened.
“Yes, I remember that one. Sweet girl. And that hair. So red! You never forget a patient like that.”
The nurse eyed Eden. “You two look quite a lot alike. Are you related?”
Kevin nudged Eden who had been staring off into space waiting for Kevin to finish his business.
She painted an interested smile on her lips.
“Who? Me?”
The nurse nodded.
“I seriously doubt it. I know  who my parents are, and their last name isn’t Gray.
The elderly nurse smiled in apology. “My mistake.” She ran her finger over the clipboard where
they kept the patients’ names listed. “Shoot. I forgot. Looks like you just missed her. Her
grandfather checked her out early this morning. Oh, yes,” she said after a short pause. “I
remember. Darleen, the morning nurse, she told me what a distinguished gentleman he was.
Really fancy looking silver cane. Just between us. I think Darleen was trying to play matchmaker
again.”
“You have that problem too?” Kevin smiled at the older woman, who had hardly a sprinkle of gray
in her hair. Suddenly the importance of her words hit him. “Did you say, grandfather? ”
Kevin turned toward Eden.
“According to the intel from Jeffrey, Scarlett Gray doesn’t have any living grandparents.”
“Don’t you just hate it when they come back from the grave like that?” Eden deadpanned.
“Cut the crap, Eden. I’m being serious here. Scarlett has been kidnapped by someone claiming to
be her grandfather.”
“OH, RIGHT!” Eden yelled. “Like some old geezer is going to come waltzing into a secure Legacy
operation and cart out a patient? When has that ever happened?”
“Actually, at this facility, never,” the nurse informed them.
“Let me see the name on her release papers.” Kevin grabbed for the clipboard but the nurse was
faster.
“Oh, my,” the nurse lamented. “I have it all up here in my little ole brain. No need to go looking for
that hard to decipher document. Darleen told me, you remember me telling you about Darleen?
Sweet girl. Anyway, his name was Chandelor Knight. Doesn’t that sound so rich and fancy? Rich
and fancy to match that silver cane of his. I wonder if he’s single?”
“Rich and fancy? Well, that’s one way of looking at him.”
“Who is Chandelor Knight?” Eden’s tone was fraught with more than a casual interest.
“He’s about as high up in the ivory tower as you can get and still breath the air. You’ve heard of
the Knights Foundation? Well, Chandelor Knight IS the Knights Foundation. Corruption, money,
power... you name it, I’ve heard it about him. The Legacy grapevine is filled with rumors about the
elusive powerhouse.”
“Does this mean you’re little redheaded friend is in danger? I’d really hate to think she’s in
danger.”
“I don’t know,” Kevin said. “But I’m sure the hell going to find out.”
He ran off down the hall with Eden trailing after him. The nurse watched them leave then picked
up the extension and dialed.
“Chandelor Knight, please. It’s Vivian at the Infirmary.”
“Is my granddaughter comfortable, Fergus?” Chandelor Knight limped toward the doorway using
his cane for support. It was a decorative piece. Not one he used regularly, but one he reserved
for special occasions -- Formal get togethers, black tie affairs. But today of all days he had to
bring it out and dust it off.
Today Chandelor Knight was going to meet his grandchildren for the first time. It was a
monumental moment in his life.
“Your granddaughter is resting comfortably, sir. Will you be needing anything on your jaunt out
and about?”
“No, just tell the pilot to bring the helicopter around.” He smiled, then slapped his butler, Charles
Ferguson on the back. “My boy, my grandchildren come as a set. I can’t have one without the
other. I’m going out there and I won’t come back without my grandson in tow. That, dear friend, is
a promise.”
Gia Doyle ran through the secret entrance and down to the sub levels faster than anyone on
record. She had to get Ethan out of there before the entire mountain collapsed around them.
“Please be alive,” she whispered in a voice that was full of unfamiliar emotion. Her words were
more than a whisper, they were a prayer.
Faith Fairchild eyed Phoenix Gray with dazed confusion. Phoenix figured she was in shock., and
who wouldn’t be? It wasn’t everyday you survived an explosion, fell to your death, lived and then
found your brother attached to a computer console like an absurd version of Light Bright.
“You’re going to be all right.”
Phoenix tried to make the words sound as level as possible, but a truck load of pain seared
through his body. He tried to subside it by clinching his teeth. That helped a bit, but not nearly
enough. He watched a tear slide down Faith’s dirt-stained face. Her tough exterior was melting
fast.
Her hand shook as she ran it down her brother’s face. It was a face that brought both joy and
fear. Faith tried to block out what Ian, Ethan’s twin, had done to her. But she found that even after
all these years he still taunted her from the grave. Now she felt it stronger than she had since the
day it happened. The pain was not gone but lingering in the back of her mind waiting for the
perfect moment to break her will. She vowed to never let that happen. She wouldn’t be a victim
again.
“Ethan?” she called. “Can you hear me?”
The man strapped to the table groaned. His eyes fluttered, but they didn’t open.
She turned to Phoenix who was holding his stomach like he was in his own sort of pain.
“What have they done to him?” Her voice was nearly hoarse, and tears stained Faith’s face in
blotchy streaks. Her throat felt like someone had clamped it shut shoving all her emotions into
that one tiny spot.
“Help me,” she cried, reaching for the first wire. “Help me get him out of this contraption.”
Gia’s stomach fell leaving her with a bottomless feeling of pure dread. Faith’s hand was extended
toward the wires surrounding Ethan’s head. Was she too late?
“NO! STOP!” Gia ran at Faith like a raging bull. “Remove those wires and you’ll kill him!”
Faith’s hand jerked back instinctively. “Oh, God,” she cried, as her body slumped to the floor. Her
entire being was a spasm of sobs. Her voice quivered and caught as she tried to speak. “Why is it
everything I do is wrong? I pushed him away. I was a bad sister. I nearly killed him!”
As the wails continued, Gia attempted to get her own breathing under control. She closed her
eyes and commanded her heart to slow down. It was beating a mile a minute. Right now she
couldn’t lose her head, she had to remain focused.
“You,” she pointed, at Phoenix. “When I pull a cord, you do the same on the opposite side.
Understand? Stand over there.” She indicated the other side of the bed.
Phoenix nodded since he couldn’t speak. His own pain was becoming unbearable.
“Good. I pull this one, you pull that one. On the count of three, we’ll remove them both at the
exact same time.”
“Okay,” he grunted through clenched teeth. “No pressure for perfection or anything.”
“Listen to me, kid. Slip up and he dies. If that happens, you’re next.” Gia was not going to
entertain the possibility of failure.
As they worked, Faith couldn’t tear her eyes from Ethan’s face. It was so expressionless, so
unlike him. No quick smile. No funny retort.
“I’m so sorry, Ethan,” she said softly. “I’ll be better. It will be good again between us. All I wanted
was for you to love me, care about me, but I didn’t give you a chance.” A sob escaped as she
sighed. “I didn’t want this to happen.”
Suddenly, one of Ethan’s arms slipped from the table and dangled in mid air between Faith and
Gia. Gia froze until the movement of the arm ceased, then they continued with their delicate
operation of removing the wires. Gia and Phoenix completed the procedure and breathed a
collective sigh of relief. Success.
Faith started to move the arm back into place when she saw the mark. A small strawberry
birthmark on his wrist. It was the only exterior thing to distinguish Ethan from his twin, Ian. As far
as twins went, they were exact duplicates of each other.
“No, NO!” Faith scrambled backward as fast as she could, putting distance between her and the
man on the table.
"Him!” She pointed at the man. “Him! It’s not him.” A spasm shook her body. “NO,” she
whispered. “You’re dead. DEAD, damn you!” Her cries penetrated her words breaking up the
sentences in a choppy rhythm. “You’re suppose to be dead!”
Ethan’s twin opened his eyes and the dull blackness of his stare burned a hole through her. She
physically flinched as his eyes made contact.
Gia ran to her side and attempted to comfort her, but she wasn’t used to situations like this.
“What are you talking about. This is Ethan, your brother. It’s okay.”
“No,” she said in a barely audible whimper. “It will never be okay again.”
Gia turned from her crouched position and took in the features of the man lying on the table. The
eyes were cold, almost ruthless. Nothing like Ethan’s. “Oh, God, Franklin, what have we done?”
As Phoenix crossed to be at Faith’s side, the man on the table bolted upward.
An evil grin spread across his face that chilled them to the bone.
“Faith,” he said. “My lovely, Faith. I’ve come back for you.
Faith’s scream echoed through the tunnels of the monastery. Nothing would ever be the same
again.
She had hoped he would die, even prayed for God to deliver her from the specter of evil that
haunted her nights, her dreams and her life. Yet God wasn’t proving to be so faithful. She had
kept his covenants, followed the Golden Rule and still the pain inside grew. Her aunt Sister Mary
Rosa, told her to give her problems up to God. That He would take care of it. He would take care
of his children.
How could God take care of something like this? He couldn’t make her memory go away. He
couldn’t make the images of Ian raping her stop flashing through her mind.
Faith had gotten good at covering up. She painted on a smile and a cheery disposition and let the
world think she was okay.
But inside – inside Faith Fairchild was far from okay.
She stared at the man she thought was dead and tried not to scream a second time. Her body
involuntarily shuddered, but she didn’t scream. She wasn’t going to give the bastard the
satisfaction.
“You did this to me,” she said in a low, hoarse voice. Tears dripped from her face like broken
promises.
“I loved you. Just loved you.” Ian’s smile spread across his face like a plague. It was more than
wicked, it was evil.
His eyes crinkled up in that electric way Ethan’s did, but he wasn’t Ethan.
“I will always love you, Faith.”
Faith resisted the urge to throw up by glancing away. Her heart was thumping so hard and fast
she was afraid everyone could see it. Hear it.
Looking up, her eyes met Phoenix’s startled orbs. He didn’t say a word, merely placed a hand on
her shoulder giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Ian’s own eyes narrowed at the friendly, supportive gesture. He bound off the table and closed
the distance between them. His glare was filled with a sudden disgust for Phoenix Gray.
Faith could sense Ian’s quickening breath and raging emotions. She remembered it all too well.
“This is who you replace me with?” Ian gestured toward Phoenix dramatically. “This child? This
little boy?”
The inflection in Ian’s tone grew in pitch until at the height of his rant he grabbed Faith’s
shoulders.
“Let me show you what a mistake that would be.”
Ian’s head descended toward Faith’s. She squirmed and tried to break free but his grip was too
strong. How could he possibly be stronger than before? This wasn’t happening again.
Gia was stunned into silence. What in the hell had she unleashed into the world? This was
supposed to be a good deed. One that would put her back in Ethan’s good graces not push them
farther away from each other.
Who was Ian Fairchild really, and what had he done to Faith? Franklin had never mentioned Ian
was unbalanced or psychotic. But then again, what father would see his child in that way?
Maybe the drugs they’d injected into his body to stimulate the cerebral cortex were affecting him
in unforeseen ways? The behavior he was displaying could be a side effect of the procedure.
But what if it wasn’t? What if she and Franklin had unleashed a threat to the world? A threat that
had touched Faith and wounded her deeply. The idea was too horrifying to contemplate.
Suddenly, she became aware of Ian’s hands on Faith, and a protective instinct in her kicked into
high gear. Ian’s face was hovering over hers like he wanted to kiss her.
“What are you doing?” Gia shouted “Let go of her!” The tall, lanky woman placed herself between
Faith and Ian.
Ian’s jaw set in a hard line as he took in every aspect of Gia Doyle.
“You must not know me, because nothing stands in the way of what I want,” he bit out. “Nothing.”
“Well, then,” she said just as coldly, mirroring his demeanor. “Consider me a road block, because
you will never lay another hand on her!”
Ian took one step backward in appreciation of her courage and conviction, then crossed both
arms over his chest.
“Never say never.”
“Dammit, Kevin! Where are you going? I said I needed to talk to you.”
Eden Fairchild followed after Kevin as he stalked down the infirmary hallway.
“I never said I’d wait around to listen.” He turned the corner and marched down the corridor trying
to ignore the redhead.
In front of a patient’s open door, Eden stopped him. She grabbed him by the shoulder forcing
Kevin to face her.
“You’re going to listen to what I have to say whether you like it or not.”
"She's a vegetable. I don't know why we have to take good care of her."
"At least she's a good looking one."
Michela felt the tiniest smile playing around the edges of her mouth. It was amazing what people
would say when they thought you weren't listening. She cracked the lid of her eyes only to see
white walls and tiles as she was wheeled down a long hallway...The Legacy infirmary...how
thoughtful of Kevin. Michela took her mind back to that moment when she touched her lips to his.
She knew it would cause trouble, but she still did it, feeling his hard lips push back at her, parting
slightly. She'd seen it before, that look of carefully controlled desire on his face, decidedly blank
except for his eyes that burned. He knew that Michela Forsythe was a one-man woman and he
had no chance with her. That was why she kissed him, and kissed him well. The only way
Michela would ever betray Ethan was if she was out of her mind, and Kevin had to believe that.
The kiss was the only way.
The two junior agents who had been assigned the unfortunate duty of wheeling her around the
infirmary turned the corner in a not-so-gentle manner. Michela worked hard not to let her body
tense up, letting it's full weight fall against the straps that were holding her supposedly comatose
body in the wheelchair. Not much further and she could relax. She flicked her eyes open for just a
moment, just enough to take in more of her surroundings. That was when she saw it.
It was just a glimpse, only enough to make her think maybe she hadn't seen anything at all.
Hazily, through blinds, it looked like a man sitting on a hospital bed, a gun in his mouth.
"Damn." Mike muttered. She didn't think, but reacted, pulling off the straps and pushing herself
out of the chair, leaving two bewildered agents staring after the backside as she ran towards the
room. With all her strength she ran towards the door as if her life depended on it.
Click.
The sound of the empty gun echoed in the room and Declan opened his eyes. The chamber was
empty.
Damn.
Slowly he let the gun fall into his lap as a sob wracked his body and he felt a tear slip down his
cheek. The room was quiet...so quiet...like death, he imagined. Like Kat.
All of the sudden the door to his room flew open and a woman burst in, wild eyed and breathing
fast. She stared at him, her mouth opening to form words that wouldn't come out.
She was beautiful, dusky hair and skin culminating in eyes like dark pools that could suck you
dry. Her hair was pulled back against her head with a few strands escaping onto her forehead
and she wore only a hospital gown that revealed long, sinewy legs. Declan's eyes traveled to her
arms which were strong and muscular. The detached feeling of danger floated through Declan's
head and he instinctively reached for his gun, his fingers feeling the smooth metal. The woman's
pupil's contracted as she watched his hand move over the gun and her body tensed up.
"No!"
Her voice cut through the quiet as she lunged across the room, knocking Declan back on the bed
and sending his gun skidding across the tile floor. They were lying on the bed, the woman on top
of him, pinning him with her knees, her hands on either side of his head and her face staring
down into his.
"Please." Declan begged. " Just let me die."
Kevin Fairchild couldn’t help but try and occupy his worried mind. Scarlett had been kidnapped.
Then to top off his already bad day, Eden Fairchild had decided to unexpectedly drop back into
his life. Was he on God’s hit list, or what?
Three years ago he thought he and Eden might have a future together. Neither of them were truly
of Fairchild blood, but animosity from his father and hers started a sequence of events that
eventually tore the two of them apart. Ultimately, it had been Eden herself, who had ended the
affair, claiming she just wasn’t ready for such a commitment. Neither was he, but he had been
willing to give up anything for her. Apparently, she didn’t feel the same way about him. That was
then, this was now and both their lives had veered off in opposite directions – until this afternoon.
A noise emanating from the patient’s room drew his and Eden’s attention. They gazed into the
small space only to see a woman with straight brunette hair straddling a man lying on the bed.
The two looked intimate and spoke in hushed whispers only they could hear and understand.
Kevin began to close the door when something familiar about the woman struck him. Maybe it
was the way she tucked a mass of brown hair behind her ear. He didn’t know. But suddenly, he
knew without a shadow of a doubt who this woman was.
“Michela?” Kevin’s teeth automatically clinched and a vein in his jaw throbbed.
Eden noticed his sudden one-eighty in behavior.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, peering into the room.
“Nothing.” The word was said with such venom that it was clear it was not a nothing situation. It
was something.
“Do you know that woman?”
Eden seemed too concerned about his emotional state and it was beginning to annoy him.
“Apparently, not as well as I thought I did.” He sidestepped the redhead and stalked out to his car.
Eden trailed not far behind.
“Kevin, wait!” she screamed, as his car peeled out of the parking lot. “I have to talk to you.”
Her beat up silver Camero had seen better days, but Eden wasn’t worried about the nature of her
car. She was worried about Kevin. She had wasted too many years being bitter. Now all she
wanted to know was if he could forgive her once he learned the truth?
Suddenly, her cell phone trilled bringing her back to reality. She flipped it open placing the
compact item next to her ear.
“Miss Fairchild?” said a woman’s voice. “This is Darla McGrath.”
When Eden didn’t immediately answer, the woman clarified. “I’m the nanny? The one your father
hired?”
“Oh, right.” Eden’s said, her interest growing. “Is there something wrong with Cassie?”
“I’m sorry but there’s been an accident...”
Eden barely heard the remainder of the nanny’s words. She flew down the stairs toward the
Camero and slid behind the wheel.
“This can’t be happening,” she whispered. “Not now. Not before I tell Kevin everything.”
She threw the vehicle into reverse and backed the silver behemoth out of the parking space. As
she drove back to her father’s house, she contemplated on exactly how to tell Kevin about
Cassie.
It all happened so fast. Michela stared down at the man she had pinned to the bed, watching his
lips moved as he begged her to let him put the gun in his mouth and blow his brains out. There
was something in his eyes that made her want to turn away. Something that she recognized like a
houseguest that won't go away: a deep and abiding pain.
"Love isn't worth dying for." Michela said softly, watching the emotion on the man's face. She
pictured Ethan, his face, the way his eyes glazed over with desire, how soft those rough hands
could be, and her words seemed hollow and empty. Sometimes she wished she'd had the guts to
die for him.
"You don't understand."
Michela felt anger rise in her throat.
"Bullshit." She hissed. "I've lost more than you could imagine, but I have never put a gun in my
mouth...not once."
The man glared up at her, self-pity replaced by anger. He opened his mouth to say something
when they were both startled by a loud crash behind them. Michela jumped off the bed and
whipped around to see one of the agents who had been wheeling her down the hall pointing a
shaking gun at her.
"Whoa there buddy." Michela put her hand out and stepped towards the agent when the loud
bang of the gun going off filled the room. A searing pain went through her thigh and Michela
clenched her teeth as she fell to the ground.
The code red had come through only seconds before. Aimee pumped her arms, trying to run
faster. A code red meant only one thing....
Amiee rounded the corner, intent on getting to the south corridor as fast as possible...so intent
that she didn't see the tall gentleman dressed in black until she ran into him.
"Hey." The man said sharply. "What's going on here?"
"Agent down...shot" Aimee said quickly, looking past him, down the hall. She didn't even stop to
think who the man was, or wonder why he didn't know about the code red. She didn't consider
that the man shouldn't be there.
"Who is it?"
"Agent Forsythe."
"Is she alive."
"For now." Amiee glared, "unless I don't get to her in time."
Pushing past the man, Aimee continued towards the south corridor, not even turning around to
see him pull a slim agency issue satellite phone out of his pocket. They would ask her later if
she'd seen anything suspicious, but she'd already forgotten about the man, focusing only on the
agent who could be bleeding to death at that very moment.
"Michela is down." The man hissed into the phone glancing over to make sure the nurse was out
of earshot. "How would you like me to proceed?"
Franklin flipped his phone shut and sighed deeply. He was too old for this, he thought to himself.
The Nightingale project was starting to crumble. Years of experience told Franklin it was time to
pull out. The problem was that pulling out also meant getting rid of the evidence, and in this case,
that meant Michela Forsythe.
Franklin took another sip of the tea he'd been mulling over, sweet and milky, just the way he liked
it. The message had come in last night. Nightingale had surfaced...the real Nightingale. Franklin's
hand gripped the mug tighter. Damn that woman. She'd managed to remain faceless all those
years, her anonymity a condition for job completions. It was this anonymity Franklin had counted
on, figuring he could get Michela into the Black Council and destroy Julian Black. All he needed to
do was brainwash Michela into believing she was Nightingale, an easy feat considering Michela's
already fragile mental state. But now that the real Nightingale had showed her face, which was
nothing like Michela's, it would be impossible to get her into the Council.
The remaining problem was Michela.
Franklin thought back to phone call he'd just received. She was lying in the Legacy infirmary,
injured. Franklin knew that putting her under anesthesia would bring down the defenses of her
already weak psyche, and then it was only a matter of time before the Legacy doctors realized
that their patient had been subjected to some kind of treatment to alter her personality. After that,
Michela would be subjected to the standard seek and destroy testing the Legacy put any agent
through who was considered a security risk. It would only be a matter of time before they traced
the brainwashing to him, and then all hell would break loose. Especially considering everyone
thought Franklin Fairchild was dead.
There was one solution, a final solution, but even that wouldn't solve all his problems. Franklin
picked up his satellite and dialed the number for his agent who was at this moment waiting for
orders.
Forgive me, Ethan.
Franklin took a deep breath as he heard the voice on the other end of the line. He'd given this
order countless times, yet this time it felt different.
Kevin somehow managed to find his way back to Legacy headquarters. The halls were buzzing
with activity per usual, but he didn’t comprehend any of it. Oblivious, he stalked down the
hallways and ended up in the shooting range. Somehow he knew shooting at invisible enemies
would take his mind off his troubles. He loaded the first target and sent it a few hundred yards
back. As he blasted the paper form full of holes, his mind wandered back to the infirmary.
Her hair shined like brownish black rain spilling down her back, and she was wearing some sort
of silky nightgown that rode up on her thighs as she straddled the man in bed. All at once, he
knew why this was bothering him. He was jealous. First of Ethan and his hold on Michela and
now this man. Who was he and how had he so successfully insinuated himself into Michela’s life?
Kevin emptied the clip into his paper adversary. Take that, you damn mystery man, he thought.
A giant hole pierced the outlined figure directly over the heart.
“Dammit!” Kevin slammed the gun down and tried to quell his rising anger.
“Whoa, there amigo,” Boswell Chapman said from his hiding place two partitions away. “Looks
like you need someone to talk to.”
Kevin took in Boswell with his silver hair clamped in a pony tail and a pair of black ear phones
hanging around his neck.
“Boswell, don’t take this the wrong way, but get lost!”
“So that’s how it’s going to be? Get lost? A word of advice. If you don’t talk about whatever is
eating at you, it will tear you up inside.”
Kevin reloaded his clip and repositioned a new target.
“It’s not like I didn’t see it coming. I practically set myself up for to fall hard for her.” He fired a few
rounds then paused in thought.
“Is this about Michela or Eden? I heard she was back in town.”
“Seeing her again dredged up the demons I thought I had put behind me. Michela only added an
aura of complication to the mix.” He shot two more rounds then brought the paper target forward.
“Why am I such an idiot, Boswell?”
“You’re not an idiot, Kevin. You’re a man in love.”
“Are you sure? Julian Black shouted into his cell phone. He was connected to a Council operative
who had important information to pass along to him.
“Yes, sir. We intercepted a transmission between Kevin Fairchild and that controller Jeffrey.” The
BC operative paused. “She’s in there, sir. That’s a definite.”
Julian’s gun metal blue Jeep bounced down the dirtroad closing in on his destination. He cursed
and shouted into the wind. “Dammit! I can’t believe they left her down there to die. What kind of
brothers are those Fairchilds? Leaving one of their own.”
Over the next ridge the monastery came into sight.
“Hold on, Faith. I’m coming.”
He surveyed the area around the monastery once he arrived. For as far as the eye could see,
complete and total devastation. Julian leaned against a rock and bowed his head. Praying wasn’t
something he was use to doing but he figured he might need some divine guidance right about
now.
“God, I haven’t been the best Catholic, but please don’t let her be dead.”
The communicator crackled at his hip.
“Sir, we have four life forms somewhere far below the surface.”
“Tell me they’re alive.”
Julian held his breath.
“Yes, sir. All alive.”
He exhaled a relieved sigh.
“Take a survey of the outer perimeter and find me an entrance! Immediately!
Ian Fairchild smiled at Faith. His eyes took on an spiteful glint that managed to be even more
sadistic than the man’s eyes who invaded her dreams.
“Faith, what’s wrong? You don’t look happy to see me.”
Gia moved Faith behind her and reached for her gun. It wasn’t there!
In her haste she must have left it in the car.
“You stay away from her asshole!”
Ian clicked his tongue in disgust.
“My, my,” his pause was intentional. “Such language from a woman. Haven’t you heard the
expression, you catch more bees with honey?”
Gia glanced toward Phoenix who was now leaning against the wall. When he coughed, a spray of
blood emitted from his mouth. She had to get both of them out of here. And she had to do it fast,
the boy wasn’t going to make it long in his condition.”
“I wouldn’t worry about him. He’s as good as dead.”
Ian pulled a live wire from the wall. It sparked and crackled proving it was filled with electrical
current. He lunged toward the boy, but Gia blocked him sending him into the control panel. The
wire flailed about landing at last on the bed Ian had been lying on. The bedsheets burst into
flames.
Gia gathered up both teens and shoved them toward the door. “We have to get out of here,
NOW!”
Ian leaped over the obstacles on the floor beating the trio to the door. He locked and bolted it. In
his hand he revealed a gun.
“No one is going anywhere.”