Familiar Adversary - Episode 3

Part 3 - Death Looms Nightly

Kevin Fairchild sped away in Ethan's SUV, but Ethan didn't blink at his brother's actions. He had anticipated them. Another SUV rolled up next to him. The window slowly rolled down revealing the driver - - Michela Forsythe.

"Hey, lover. I hear you might be needing a lift," Michela said. She was wearing a midnight black cat suit that Ethan could greatly appreciate as it hugged every curve on her body.

"What took you so long?" Ethan snapped.

"Got hung up. Julian's on the prowl and he thought I was that bitch Janette again."

Michela was furious. She hated acting the part of someone else. It was one thing to have Janette pretend to be her, but it was quite another to pretend to be Janette, live her life, be in that sick, disgusting way with Julian Black. She merely attempted to hang that part of her life on a hanger in the back of her mind where she could forget it even existed.

Ethan had his moments of compassion and empathy. It wasn't like a man to deal with his emotions, but there were certain people he could open up to, and Michela was one of them.

"You don't have to be her, you know. There are other ways to bring him down."

She sped forward in the SUV following Kevin's trail, but she couldn't put the evilness of Julian out of her mind. Janette may have enjoyed being tortured and mentally abused, but she wasn't the type of person who could handle that abuse for long.

"I can't do it much longer, Ethan. The man is a monster. I'll lose my sanity if I can't extract myself from this mission." Michela's voice was nearing exhaustion. Ethan was surprised she was even lucid enough to drive.

He placed a hand atop hers on the steering wheel. "Pull over, Michela."

"I can't. What about Kevin and the girl?"

"Kevin can wait. I have a tracker on him. They won't be able to get far," Ethan said gently. "Pull the car over. Let me help you."

They were in the middle of nowhere, but Ethan could make anywhere feel like home just by imagining it to be that way. He wanted Michela to experience the same. He pulled her gently from the SUV. She was visibly shaking.

"It will be okay," he told her. "I'll make it okay."

The rain had stopped and the house they had parked in front of was dark. Ethan led her to the door. He quickly picked the flimsy lock and gained entrance into the cabin.

There was a blanket nearby and he used it to cover her shaking body. He could tell her mind was racing with what had transpired with Julian. She was useless in this condition. He had to make her forget.

***

There was no telling how long I'd been lying face down in the rancid water, but I swear I saw a bright light coming toward me. Of course, that was before I felt the gun nudged in my back bringing me forward into a sputtering reality.

"Get up!" It was a woman's voice. A pissed-off woman.

I tried to stay as still as I could as I regained consciousness. I thought I could use the act of surprise to somehow get the jump on the woman holding the big gun, but she had other ideas. She used the gun to concuss me. In spy terms that meant, she knocked me up-side the head with the butt of the firearm. It didn't feel too nifty. In fact, it hurt like hell.

The shock from the assault caused me to breathe in forcing a mouthful of rancid swamp water down my throat. Don't think I would forget that. Maybe some day I might be able to get her back for that experience. I sputtered a series of hacking coughs that took the surprise out of my attack plan.

And they say the good guys always win. Ha!

"This assignment was easier than I thought." Her accent was a mixture of Russian and British. That was obvious. But what wasn't obvious was her appearance. Since it was dark as pitch, all I could tell for sure was that she was blonde - - which was pretty funny if I thought about it too much. I never had been able to find a good image for Octavia in my mind, and even in this alternate world, she still didn't have complete form in my consciousness.

I let out an uncontrollable laugh. Maybe it was the fear bubbling up inside of me.

"I don't think I've ever been an assignment before," I said. "This is a new experience for me."

"I'm glad you're amused. It makes my job easier."

Through the water dripping in my eyes, I could see the Russian woman level her gun at me. Of course, the gun was clear as day, just my luck. Inside, I went completely still. So this was what it felt like in that moment before death, a silent stillness.

I closed my eyes because I knew I couldn't outrun the bullet or fight off Octavia Kassoff single-handedly. Too bad I never finished those karate lessons. Never even made it past my white belt. Maybe I could back-hand-spring her to death. I was pretty proficient at gymnastics, at least, I was when I was younger. Not that it would help now, in any case.

My head was bleeding and my balance shaky, so strike the gymnastics. If I tried to run, I'd only fall, and she'd kill me anyway.

I wanted to sing a song. It felt like an appropriate moment. Death looming and everything. But I couldn't think of anything fitting.

The gunshot sounded, but I felt nothing. She couldn't have missed. She was standing right in front of me, and I didn't think Octavia Kassoff was that bad of a shot. My eyes fluttered open when something heavy fell on me.

I screamed and jumped back. The blonde lady's unconscious form slipped down my body and landed face down in the rancid water. My eyes searched the dark night for the killer in the shadows. When I heard nothing, I scrambled up the slope to level ground and ran. I didn't care where. I just wanted to get away.

***

The fire was roaring and soothing music played on the radio. Ethan knew this would help Michela. Everything in the world was mental and he needed her mind back on the job. He sat next to her on the couch drawing his arm around her, making sure not to spook her.

He never imagined he and Michela would become involved again. She had recently recovered her memory, but had been hurt by another man. They had, had their differences in the past, but she was still the only woman who could ever drive him to distraction.

As he petted her hair, Michela leaned into him. She drew the cover around both of them and they sat that way for a long time. Her breathing calmed, telling Ethan she was in a much better state of mind. He shifted to get up, but she held onto him.

"Don't go," she whispered. "Make me forget. Make me forget it all."

***

I darted through the dark forest zig-zagging between trees. I could hear footfalls behind me. The fear propelled me faster than I thought was possible for me to run. Ahead I could see a light and smoke coming out of the chimney of a cabin. If I could get there, maybe I could save myself.

I was within a few feet of the log structure when the footsteps caught up to me. One hand pressed across my mouth while the other snapped like a vice around my waist dragging me back into the shadowy denseness of the forest.

I tried to scream but I couldn't. Could this be the end for me?

Familiar Adversary - Episode 2

Part 2 - The Unlikely Ally

"You can't be serious about leaving her out there," Kevin Fairchild said to his brother.

"I'm as serious as a heart attack. I can't even count how many times I've nearly died because the Black Council found intel on her site and used it to track us." Ethan was still pissed, and pissed was not a good emotion on him. When he was pissed, awful things were bound to happen.

Ethan's hands molded to the wheel, his knuckles turning white.

"Okay. Yeah, we've nearly bought it a dozen or more times, but you can't blame her. She didn't know she had a direct psychic link to an alternate universe. She had no way of knowing we were flesh and blood real people."

"Kevin, that is a lame ass excuse. If she were so ‘psychic' as you say, she should have known."

"You're just ticked because the stories focused mainly on you, putting you into more jeopardy than the rest of us," Kevin mocked. "Well, boo damn hoo. Poor pitiful you. You knew the dangers of taking this job, you should god-damn well take the consequences."

"I'm just doing what I was trained to do... seek and destroy the enemy before they destroy me."

***

It was still dark and it was still creepy, but at least the screaming had stopped. Friend or foe, I didn't know. I ventured forward a bit cautiously. Okay, a lot cautiously. There was no telling who could be out there in the blackness.

The scream came again, but this time I recognized it as a bird's call echoing out into the night. My body visibly relaxed. It was raining harder, but at that moment I ceased to care. I was about as wet as I was going to get. My clothes were soaked and I was cold and angry.

"Damn you, Ethan Fairchild," I screamed.

I could barely make out a tree to my left, but I could tell there was shelter there. Flimsy shelter offered by leaves on the tree, but it was better than the pounding rain atop my pounding head.

As I ventured forward, I found a large dip between myself and the tree. Probably a ditch. I took a gamble and reached my leg across the expanse. When my foot hit solid ground, I expelled the breath I had been holding. There was no way I wanted to fall into that ditch. I was wet enough.

When I put my entire weight onto the opposite side of the ditch, the ground crumbled beneath me, throwing me off balance. I was too shocked to curse. My only thought was prayer and the hope that this ditch wasn't too deep. I fell straight into the muck at the bottom, but I learned too late that the ditch was angled steeply downhill. My body slipped forward like the motion on a slide at a water park, except this water was dirty and smelled like filth. I careened downward, moving at a breakneck speed, faster and faster until the bottom came up and slammed me in the face.

It was in that moment that the light of the moon went completely out.

***

"I'm not leaving her back there, Ethan," Kevin said. He'd never been one to usurp his brother's authority, but this was uncalled for. The woman had done nothing wrong. Nothing she could foresee anyway.

"The hell you aren't. The longer she keeps from writing her story, the safer we all are," Ethan reasoned.

"Then why not take her to Smith Island or Legacy Headquarters where we can keep an eye on her?" Kevin asked, pausing suddenly. His eyes grew suddenly wide. "You bastard! You're having her cancelled."

"We all have to make sacrifices now and then." Ethan's words were filled with foreboding.

"Sacrifices? Death is not a sacrifice. Death is death," Kevin said. "She's still a human being. So, that makes it murder."

Kevin grabbed the steering wheel of the SUV nearly causing it to careen off the side of the road. They spun in a circle before coming to a complete hault facing the opposite direction.

"We've known about her for a long time, and I longer than anyone," Kevin said. "She isn't a threat to us. She could be an asset if we gained her trust. Let her abilities work for us."

"Even if I agreed with this insane notion - - it's already too late. If she hasn't broken her neck by now, the agent I assigned to the black op will surely have killed her by now."

Kevin was livid. "Call it off! This wasn't how it was supposed to play out!"

"You don't think I'm onto your game, Kevin?" Ethan shouted. "Before we discovered her existence, you were in and out of the sack with every woman I ever cared about, but once you established contact with her, your days as a Lothario suddenly stopped."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Kevin said defensively.

"Don't I?"

"Shut your bloody mouth. It's not like that."

"The hell it isn't," Ethan said. "The only reason she's even here is because of you. If you hadn't told us what you'd found, she would still be in her dimension typing on her computer reporting our every move."

He was such an idiot. He should have never told Ethan about her. What he should have done was brought her in under everyone's radar and explained the situation to her. But it was too late for that now. To fix this, he had to take drastic action.

Kevin raised his gun on his brother. "I hate to do this to you, buddy, but get out!"

Ethan raised his hands as Kevin threw his brother's Glock out into the elements. Ethan followed the gun getting out of the SUV.

"This is a mistake, Kevin."

"Well, it's my mistake to make then. I can't let anything happen to her. We might all regret it."

Familiar Adversary - Episode 1

It's Impossible, 

But The Impossible 

Has Happened.

I've been brought into my own Legacy Universe and my characters are not happy with me at all. Follow along as I try to evade Ethan and Michela as well as the evil Julian Black and attempt to find my way home again... before one of the aforementioned catches me.

---

Part 1 - The Gypsy's Curse

It was a dream. It had to be a dream.

There was no possible way this was happening.

I couldn't really be inside my own Legacy universe - - The one I had created to escape reality. This place was make-believe, fiction. I had made it all up in my head, hadn't I? I pinched myself, but it didn't make the dark, mysterious world fade away. "Ow!" I said. "Well, that didn't work."

How in the heck could I be here then? How could the Legacy be real?

"Maybe I've gone insane and this is my punishment," I said to myself.

"And maybe you should shut up before the enemy finds you."

Kevin Fairchild stood behind me looking all handsome and Marlboro-man-ish. He grabbed my arm and tugged me downward. I gaped at Kevin, baffled by the fact that he seemed more alive and animated here than I had ever seen him in my mind's eye.

I reached my hand out to touch his face and he swatted it away, a scowl painting his features.

"You're real."

"No, duh. Of course, I'm real," Kevin hissed. ‘You're the one who's been severely screwing up things, our lives, everything! We're all still alive - - no thanks to you!"

My eyes widened at his insinuation.

"You're telling me what exactly?" I had a feeling I wasn't going to like what he was about to tell me.

"We recruited a very powerful gypsy. She cast a spell. That's why you're here. We had to stop you from continuing your story."

"So, your solution is to dump me into my own scary dark world? Gee, thanks. Next time, leave me a note or something.

I didn't have long to let the reality of it all sink in. Kevin had stopped paying attention to me, and was leveling a gun at a dark figure coming our way. Inside I was annoyed he wasn't fawning all over me. I mean, after all, I was the real one, the creator. He was pure fiction, wasn't he?

"Get down!" Kevin yelled. His voice was more stern than I remembered. Hollow shots came from his gun. It didn't sound like any silencer I'd ever heard, but then again, I wasn't as familiar with guns as many people have been led to believe.

"Dammit! Listen to me, woman!"

"I'm listening. I'm listening," I said as I ducked my head closer to the moldy grass. "If I get an allergy attack, you're the one who is going to be sorry."

Shots popped again in response to his original gun fire. Kevin fired again. He must have hit someone because a howling cry came out of the dark shadows.

"Got him. Now MOVE!"

Kevin picked me up off the grass and tossed me over his shoulder like a hulking caveman.

"I don't remember you being this rude, or this strong," I said, pounding on his back. Even in my indignation, I still managed to appreciate his cute, tight posterior.

"You don't know me at all, Toni. Never did."

"Okay, there is no need for more rudeness."

Three things happened almost instantaneously. A dark SUV squealed to a halt before us, Kevin threw me inside and then he jumped into the passenger seat.

"Is that her?"

Someone spoke from the driver's seat, but I couldn't see him. He did sound familiar, however.

"Yeah, it's her. Now maybe we'll all have a bit more secrecy in our operations." Kevin glared at me again. Man, he looked almost evil incarnate when he did that.

"Now that you have me here. What do you plan to do with me? Shoot me?"

"I ought to," the driver said. "You've caused more chaos than you even know. The only good part was discovering our father was a psycho-lunatic."

"You're father?" I moved closer rubbing my sore knee, the one I had injured during the toss and throw episode gaining entry into the SUV. I peeked around the bucket seat hoping to get a better look at the driver.

My breath caught in my throat.

"Ethan?"

"Who were you expecting? Zeno the clown boy?"

"No. No," I said. I wasn't expecting anything. When I got up this morning, I definitely couldn't foresee this in my future."

"You've been watching us since day one. Kinda creepy having someone know your every thought. I thought it was time for you to feel the effects of the whole world knowing your every move." Ethan's voice had a dark cadence to it.

I balked at his comment. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Just wait," Ethan said, mysteriously. "You'll find out soon enough."

It had started raining an hour earlier and I had lost track of exactly how long I had been in the SUV. Neither Ethan nor Kevin spoke much after our initial meeting.

"End of the line," Ethan said, startling me. He jumped out of the black car and the side door of the SUV slid open. It was in that moment I had a completely frontal look at Ethan's entire face. And that face looked extremely pissed off. "Out!"

"Out? Uh, no. Where are we?"

"Out, I said!"

When I didn't immediately climb out of the car, he grabbed me and thrust me onto the muddy, dark road. Okay, there was way too much grabbing and thrusting going on here. And I was beginning to get the impression that Ethan and Kevin didn't like me too much.

"You can't just leave her here," Kevin protested.

"Watch me!" Ethan jumped back into the SUV and slammed the door.

I couldn't help but flinch, or maybe it was a chill zinging down my back. It was pretty wet and rainy and wet tonight. Not to mention dark and scary. The SUV spun around and then disappeared into the night, its tail lights fading away over the horizon.

I hadn't reacted well. I couldn't have. I was still in shock. My own characters had just ditched me in the middle of no where. The moon was the only light for miles and even that wasn't strong enough to light the road.

"Maybe this is just a very realistic nightmare," I said to myself. "Yeah, right," I sobbed. "I have just been left to die by my two most favorite characters in the entire world. This is a new experience I hadn't planned on savoring. Could this day get any worse?"

It was in that moment I heard the blood curdling scream. Of course, there had to be a blood curdling scream. There was always a blood curdling scream just before somebody died.

Update of Shattered/The Trust

The Trust - Episode 8

Here is an update of the latest offering from my Legacy based spin-off series featuring Phoenix Gray, and the entire cast from The Trust and select cast from Ambrose/Alpha Site.

Jenna West thought she was just a reporter but soon discovered that she had dopplegangers all over creation. And now a target was on her back now that she had discovered the truth. In this episode, Jenna and Liz Hunter, from The Legacy, are escaping up an access tunnel to the outside getting way from The Facility where they had been being kept. Farther down the tunnel, Phoenix Gray struggles with a ADP (Advanced Digital Personality) brain washed, Marcus Hunter who had his digital personality take him over after an electronic jolt to his system.

Notebook design

To stay inspired I like to put poster-like images of my characters on my notebooks. 

What cool things do you like to do to inspire you to write?

Cloak & Dagger - Episode 12

Cloak & Dagger

Episode 12

by Toni Walker

Agnes Edgington was a middle-aged lady who had more gray hair than most her age. She nearly had shrieked when Fergus found her dusting the second dining room. She ran to him and grabbed his hand. 

"You're back? How did you convince, Mr. Knight?"

"I didn't exactly convince him," Fergus said. "We think he's been compromised by Liz Hunter."

"Compromised?" Agnes chucked a bit. "That's ridiculous. Ms Hunter is a welcome addition to the estate."

"Hey, Lady. What about Fergus? He's been Mr. Knight's right hand man for seventeen years."

"It's not like he's been the perfect servant," Agnes said. "He's been fumbling for years." Fergus cleared his throat showing Anges that he was still in the room.  "I'm afraid, Mr. Knight couldn't look past his mistakes any longer."

"That's quite untrue!" Fergus couldn't believe Agnes was speaking about him in this way. His feathers were definitely ruffled. He'd known and trusted her for years.

Agnes leaned forward and whispered, "I hear he's a bit of a drinker too."

That was the last straw for Fergus. He'd been a loyal employee for his entire career, above reproach. The fact that Agnes was speaking to him this way was hateful and demeaning. 

"Well, I never expected such talk from you." 

"It's just rude," Faith said. She pulled a small canister from her pocket and sprayed it in Agnes' face. The woman fell sideways and collapsed on Fouts.

"What did you do that for?" Fouts growled.

"There is something wrong with her. And anyway, she was annoying me."

Fouts drug the housekeeper to the sitting couch at the end of the room and dropped her on the cushions. 

"This is not promising," Fouts said. "Let's hope one of the other staff members is more agreeable."

"Maybe Liz whammied everyone," Faith said, seriously.

"I doubt it. I think they realized Fergus wouldn't comply with them and they got rid of him immediately. They might have bought off Agnes with the promise of a dollar amount she couldn't resist."

"Agnes had to put her mother into an elderly facility and it is very expensive. She just couldn't do it anymore on her own. Her mother had Alzheimer's."

"That makes sense. It makes her vulnerable and Liz took advantage of that," Fouts said.

On the far end of one wing were the servants quarters. Willie Allen, one of the outdoor maintenance workers was just lying down to get a few winks when Fergus, Fouts and Faith entered the barracks area. Willie was lying on the bottom bunk on the far wall. His eyes grew wide when he saw them.

"Oh, no. You shouldn't be here. You're going to get us all in trouble." Willie was actually scared spitless.

"We need to stop Liz. We believe she's done something to Mr. Knight and it's effecting the entire corporation," Fouts said.

That didn't seem to matter to Willie. He had his and his family's livelihood to consider.

"No. NO. Go away. Go away NOW!"

Fouts was not going away. He'd gone to a lot of trouble to break into here and someone was going to tell him something even if he had to threaten this person's life.

They heard Liz's voice down the hall and Fouts silently threatened Willie. He didn't have to speak to threaten because when he was duly motivated, Fouts could do worse than Liz, Franklin Fairchild and Julian Black put together. 

The three hid in separate places just as Liz Hunter thrust the door open. She questioned Willie briefly. The silent alarm had been triggered and she couldn't find the reason for the intrusion. Fouts could see the doorway from his vantage point. There were two red whelps at the base of her neck. That had to be where they programmed her with the ADP. It gave him an idea about how they could stop her. He just had to get Chandelor and Liz in the same room for it to work right. 

When Liz exited, Fouts regrouped with Faith and Fergus. The new idea fresh in his mind. He eagerly shared it with Faith and Fergus. While he was pondering the details of his mission, Faith used her Legacy issued PDA to tap into the estate's security system. She found Chandelor Knight's location within a few minutes.

"He looks a little out of it, if you ask me," Faith said. "Maybe they've slipped him a mickey."

"It's possible," Fouts said. "Some drugs along with hypnotic suggestion have hampered many of our agents in the past."

"Sounds a bit old school, don't you think?"

"Chandelor's too old for some of this Advanced ADP Programming. The process could possibly give him a heart attack and I' sure that's not a part of their plans."

"Especially, if they want Chandelor to take the fall when this is all said and done," Faith said. "I've always wondered who would inherit the estate if some dire circumstance befell Mr. Knight," Fergus said.

"Chandelor has 3 sons. All with women he never married. Mackenzie and Graham Gray and Julian Black. Plus, Graham has two children, Phoenix and Scarlett," Fouts said

"You're really up on the Knight family history. They give you a crash course on that when they hired you?" Faith asked.

"I like to know what I'm dealing with before starting a new job," Fouts said. "Family histories of the important players is always a good thing to keep up on. Their families are threatened more than most."

Faith hadn't heard the name Phoenix Gray in years. Her history may be a little cloudy in her brain, but Phoenix and Scarlett were two people from her past she knew she could trust. They had saved her brother's life in Bulgaria, after all.

"We are going to need one thing before we put our plan in motion," Fergus said. "And I know exactly where we can find one.

Ten Little Spies - Episode 14

Episode 14: For Your Trouble
by Sabrina Carol

Dare Ransom and Kaye Corday in Ten Little Spies.

Jazz DeMarco shoved a stick of gum into her mouth, and began to chew her nerves away. "Man, when I think of all the places I could be..." She studied the dark and opulent parlor room. Behind the mahogany walls were a succession of wires connected to hidden cameras. They were the lurking eyes of a mad man. And Jazz was his valued servant.

"With the money you're earning you will be able to travel the world over," Dagmar Krause declared as she entered the room.

"That's if I live long enough," she grunted in response. So far Jazz had survived a hail of bullets, and nearly being crushed to death by a helicopter. Boy, she certainly couldn't wait to hear the latest escapade Dagmar had cooked up. Is money really worth all this? For the cool loot she was cashing in, yes. What was pennies to the Zeller clan meant cruising down easy street for the rest of her life, to Jazz.

She watched Dagmar with curious eyes. The old lady was practically glowing. Any other day she looked like a body post-mortem. "What's got you so flipping happy?"

Dagmar gave her a brittle smile. "I just peeked in on our guests," she nearly sang. "It appears the little spies are splitting hairs--- "Oh, what shall we do? What is to become of us?"--- I love it!"

"If I were you I wouldn't rejoice too much," Jazz forewarned with a snap of her gum. "Those little spies have a way of getting themselves out of the impossible."

"Not this time," the elder woman responded coldly. "There is no where to run or to hide. Even the Legacy won't be able to save them. How can it. . . when it won't be able to save itself."

"What are you getting at?" Jazz questioned, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.

Dagmar walked over to the wall table. Several wonderfully carved white candles stood in a row. "I have a special mission for you my dear. Everything depends on your ability to complete this task."

Jazz gritted her teeth as a stabbing pain assualted her lower back. "I hope this scheme comes with health insurance attached."

Dagmar's wrinkled chin quivered in amusement. "I can afford a little extra for your troubles, I'm sure."

Jazz grinned with smug satisfaction and walked over to the table. She picked up one of the candles, tossed it into the air and caught it with one hand. "So, what is it you want?"

"You should be very careful with the way you handle my brother's candles," Dagmar laughed. "They're infused with weapons of mass destructions." She proudly smoothed a finger down one of the wax columns. "Beautiful, yet so deadly."

"And what do I do with these?" Jazz asked, cautiously replacing the one she held.

"They are bombs," Dagmar revealed. "Each one contains a special chemical. I want you to place them around the Legacy headquarters."

"Fine, but not the hospital," she agreed. "My sister works there, and I can't risk her getting hurt."

"Then makes sure she isn't there because you will do exactly as I instructed, or else."

Jazz bit her tongue to keep from cursing the old bag of wrinkles.

Dagmar smiled in delight. "I knew you would see it my way." She marched to the parlor door. "Now, I must see what that bastard brother of mine is up to. And one important thing. When you light the candle leave quickly, for when the tip of the string burns down the bomb will ignite."

After Dagmar was gone, Jazz took out her cellular phone to call her sister, but the line was dead. Great, she thought, while glaring at the candles. Now all she had to do was decide which was more important: Maxie or Money?

"Sometimes a girl can't catch a break."

***

"Will you please get into the bloody car." Adrian Zeller begged his hostage. The gun that was suppose to keep everything under control was now stuffed in an inside jacket pocket away from prying eyes.

With a look that warned "Try anything and I'll scream." , Dyan Ransom stood like a stone statue on the bustling sidewalk.

Adrian's long legs moved in agitated strides. What the hell was he suppose to do! He couldn't very well shoot her in front of block full of potential eyewitnesses. His aunt Dagmar would just love that. She would proudly carve Zelia Cheklov's Son into his forehead. So what if his mother wasn't the brightest woman in the world. It was the human spirit that counted. Edith Bunker wasn't winning any smart prizes any time soon, but she didn't deserve to be labeled a ding-bat.

"Damn it! I've got to stop watching Nick-At-Nite." He muttered to himself.

***

Dyan Ransom watched with hidden pleasure as her tall, blue eyed, blond--- and regretfully handsome captor--- paced himself to a solution. She'd been stalling for ten minutes with her refusal to be voluntarily kidnapped. Despite the circumstances, Dyan had to admit she was enjoying seeing Adrian go from panic to near nervous breakdown.

"You really stink at this, you know," she insulted for the fun of it. "I had a purse mugging I enjoyed better than this. At least that lunatic knew his objective."

Adrian slid to a halt on the sun sparkled concrete. "Will you shut-up!"

"Hey! Watch it buddy. She ain't half bad." A male passerby shouted.

Dyan tossed her length of brunette locks to one shoulder and smiled. "Finally, one man who knows what he wants."

"All right, okay," Adrian held up his hands like they were grasping imaginary white flags. "What will it take to get you to come with me?"

Her mouth fell open in shock and then clenched closed in disgust. "You have the audacity to offer me a deal after what you've done?" she asked between clamped teeth.

He a combed a hand through his hair. "I know you think I'm a monster, Dyan. Please believe me when I say I am trying to right something very wrong."

Her pretty face flared with anger. "Are you insane? Why would I even begin to believe a potential killer?"

"Go ahead and say it louder," Adrian flailed his arms wildly about. "I don't think the people on the next block heard you."

Folding her arms across her chest, Dyan deliberately stepped closer. "If Kaye had been home instead of me, you would have gladly murdered my sister. Excuse me if I don't have sympathy for the devil."

Visibly bothered, he confessed. "I couldn't have killed your her. Just incase you haven't realized I don't have the capacity for bloodshed; certainly not innocent people. I know Kaye is only a pawn in Fairchild's twisted game. He's the one I'm after."

In spite of herself, Dyan couldn't stop from being curious. "You said you were trying to right a wrong. What exactly did Franklin do?"

Adrian paused, considering whether he should say anything. Finally he turned to her with a look of sincerity. "Franklin is the one responsible for my father being institutionalized. Ezekiel was far from crazy --- at least then he was. Franklin wanted to be rid of my father because he knew about the experiments the Legacy was performing on innocent people. He kidnapped my very pregnant mother and did unimaginable things to her. When father finally found Zelia, she was without child. Franklin had stolen my sister."

The words hit too close too home for Dyan, and she struggled to maintain her composure. She knew Adrian spoke the truth. She had known in her own way for years.

Adrian sighed heavily. "Needless to say, my sister is only one of a long line of missing children. Dagmar and I are only two people--- well four if you count the others--- who are trying to bring Franklin down. We've managed to infiltrate the Legacy. But time is running out. Franklin wants Kaye to assassinate me; undoubtedly, he has her thinking I'm the enemy."

"I think I can help you." The words tumbled out of Dyan's mouth faster than she could stop them. She couldn't fathom what she was about to do, but something had to be done. She had kept quiet for too long. Each day she hid her secret, the longer she lived a lie. Tears flooded her eyes. She was filled with many regrets, all of which were harming the people she loved.

Adrian eyed her warily. "Is this a ploy? How do I know you're not going to run and tell Franklin the first chance you get? After all, your husband and sisters both, are loyalist to the Legacy."

"I hate Fairchild more than you will ever know," she uttered as the tears wet her cheeks. "You asked me to believe you. I do. Now I'm asking you to trust me. I know where you can find all the proof you need to destroy Franklin Fairchild." Disgusted, she wiped the tear stains from her face. "Are you with me?"

"Yes, yes I am," Adrian nodded, his resolve sharpening. "But first you have to answer me this: How do you know so much?"

Dyan's violet eyes clouded with darkness. "Because I'm one of the missing children."

***

"Get in the car. And don't try anything funny."

Though obeying burned her up inside, Kaye Corday did as she was told and slipped into the driver's side of the black Maserati Coupe. Years of training to perfect her operative skills hadn't prepared her for this-- Melanie Peel, Franklin's number one coffee girl, brandishing a little steel handgun as comfortably as she did her nail file. To be honest, Kaye wasn't sure what bothered her more-- being held at gun point, or being kidnapped by a mere secretary. Either way the circumstances reeked.

Kaye's head began to hurt at the thought of where she wanted to be, needed to be; by Dare's side. He was in the Legacy ER dying for all she knew. Fear gripped her stomach, threatening to crush her insides. Maybe he was already dead. Kaye gazed with worried eyes through the windshield at Melanie, who was rounding the car to the passenger side.

. . . Dare is going to get better, so don't worry so much

Kaye had to admit there was a ring of truth to Melanie's obnoxious revelation. But how would Franklin's clerk know something so important? The same way she would know how to fire a gun, Kaye answered her own question. She gave an angry huff, blowing a blond curl from her forehead. She had to do something. Kaye hadn't a clue what Melanie wanted from her, where she was taking her, or planning to do with her.

With each passing second, Kaye could feel the tension growing in her muscles. There was a way out of this mess. She had been taught to expect the unexpected, and to strike when need be. And right now, Kaye needed a quick getaway.

Hearing the snap of the passenger door handle, she firmly made up her mind. Her hazel eyes took precise aim at her intended target. It was now or never.

***

Melanie Peel wasn't sure what happened. One minute she was gingerly sliding into her Maserati, and the next she was being shoved face first into the dashboard. The sickening sound of crushing bone filled her ears. A furious heat wave coursed through her face and blood flooded her nose. She didn't even have time to feel the pain when she recognized the familiar sound of a gun being cocked.

"Ugh, that nose is going to need a good plastic surgeon. But then again . . . the dead needn't worry about trivial things, such as beauty."

Feeling the cold touch of the gun barrel against her temple, Melanie choked while agonizingly trying to breath. She watched in horror as blood from her nose and mouth splattered her shirt. Desperate, she tried her best to plea for mercy, begging, "Please, please don't do this. I can't die-- not like this!"

If Kaye Corday lacked sympathy for the brutal sight Melanie made, then certainly the well of tears falling from Melanie's eyes meant nothing as well.

A deep and gravely laugh rumbled from Kaye's throat. "Mel, I shouldn't have to explain the victim doesn't get to make requests."

"Then what do you want from me!" she cried out frantically. "I'll say anything. Do anything. Just please don't kill me."

Kaye teasingly stroked the gun barrel down the side of her cheek. "Hmm," she hummed, as if debating. "Okay, let us try it your way. But if I even get the slightest tingle that you're lying to me. . ." Twisting her free hand through Melanie's seductively long locks, she viciously yanked her head back. A quiver of joy went through Kaye when Melanie yelped in pain. "Let's begin, shall we? Why would a rank amateur like yourself even attempt to abduct me?"

Melanie coughed several times before being able to answer. "Dagmar Krause ordered me to. She and her nephew---," before she could finish another spasm of coughs erupted from her chest.

"Her nephew," Kaye repeated impatiently. "Who is he?"

Melanie tried to answer, but she was finding herself awfully nauseous from swallowing her own blood.

"Get it together Mel, I'm running out of patience."

"Adrian Zeller," she managed. "They approached me several months ago with an offer of a million dollars to give them inside information about Franklin."

"Great," Kaye muttered. "The guy's name just keeps coming up like vomit after an all night binge. But that still doesn't answer my question."

"Adrian was suppose to. . . kidnap you, but when he failed to, Dagmar had me do it," Melanie lied. If Dagmar had her way, Kaye should have been dead; but, Melanie felt that little tidbit wouldn't help her plea for life. "They knew Franklin had assigned you to spy on them. That's the only reason why I did it. Honest."

Kaye seem to find this amusing. "Is it safe to assume you were the one who ratted me out?"

Melanie gave her best 'please don't shoot me' look. "A million dollars is a strong influence."

In return, Kaye gave Melanie her best terrorist smile. "Understandable. But that doesn't clear up how you know about Dare's condition. Did Zeller have something to do with Dare being rushed to the ER?"

"No," she swore. "That was-- and don't overreact when I tell you-- it was Franklin. He's been the one behind the candle killings."

Kaye's right eye twitched in aggravation. She pressed a sweaty palm to her forehead as if in pain. After a few calming breaths she finally spoke. "Am I suppose to believe Franklin Fairchild, a man who has dedicated his entire life to the Legacy, who's very son nearly died for the same cause, is murdering his own operatives?"

"But it's true," Melanie said hastily. "Franklin has been doing what he calls 'cleansing' throughout the ranks. He only wants to keep the agents he knows in the end will be loyal to him and not the Legacy. He and several of the Legacy's top chemists have been staging these candle killings, and making it look like the work of Ezekiel Zeller."

"Do you know how insane all of this sounds?" Kaye demanded.

"The U.S. Security Council has been investigating Franklin for a good time now," she continued. She stopped only to remove a tendril of brown hair from a drying bloody clump on her cheek. "The end of his reign is coming quickly. But Franklin is a man who won't give in without a fight. He wants to seize control of the Legacy. I suspect he is looking to align with the Black Council. In order to do that he must make sure he is surrounded by only those he can trust-- or use-- depending on the way you look at it."

Kaye remained quiet, the expression on her face unreadable. Even so, Melanie knew her revelations were sinking in. For the first time since her haphazard attempt at snatching Kaye, she was able to breath easy. "Franklin Fairchild has a strong influence on a legion of people across the globe. He's a threat in more ways than you can possibly imagine, Kaye."

If Kaye had heard a word Melanie said, she didn't act like it. She suddenly switched gears just as quickly as she turned Melanie from subjugator to prisoner. She clawed at the base of her skull with anxious hands. Melanie watched with knowing eyes.

Taken aback by an attack of conscience, Melanie tried to speak up. "Kaye, there's something you need to know. Fra---"

"Where were you taking me?" Kaye commanded.

A look of confusion registered on Melanie's face before remembering her mission to take Kaye to the Zeller mansion in the mountains. "The Zeller's have a mansion in the North Morland mountain region." she disclosed.

Kaye nodded several times. Her lips were constantly moving, but nothing came out. Frustrated, she cranked the engine to the sports car.

"Kaye," Melanie said heavily, in another attempt to clear her conscience. "There's something important you should kn--"

Melanie never got the chance to finish. She didn't hear the bullet explode from the gun; or feel it tear into her skull. Death had come quickly, like a flash of lightening across a storm filled sky. It was the kind she always hoped for. She didn't want to die burdened by regrets, or wondering if heaven or hell awaited her on the other side.

***

Kaye sat the smoking gun in her lap. She always believed people to be the most fascinating moments after they died. Countless times she found herself scrutinizing the unfortunate ones dead at her hands. It was the way their faces glowed with life that was no longer there. And how their eyes stared endlessly into a day that would never come again.

She reached across and closed Melanie Peel's eyes with the gentle slip of her hand. Kaye couldn't explain why, but she didn't want Melanie waiting for the incoming day. She wanted her to dream and to leave this life far, far behind.

Kaye centered her thoughts on what to do next. Whatever rational voice that managed to break through the noise in her head, was now being drowned out by raging thoughts, and throbs of pain. She stretched an arm over Melanie and carelessly wiped the bloody window with the palm of her hand.

"Buckle up Mel, it looks like you and I are going for a long ride."

THE LEGACY HAS MANY REASONS
TO LEAVE REALITY BEHIND!