Disclaimer: This story, though maybe not in this chapter but in subsequent chapters, will have celebrities in it. I have no knowledge of their sexuality and this is not intended to imply their sexuality. This is all from my own mind. Scary!! People actually get a glimpse into my mind!!!
Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Angel and all related characters created by Joss Whedon. Copyright 20th Century Fox.
Batman, and all related characters created by Bob Kane. Copyright DC Comics and Warner Bros.
X-MEN, and all related characters created by Stan Lee. Copyright Marvel Comics and 20th Century Fox.
Talamasca, Lestat, Louis, and all related characters created by Anne Rice. Copyright Anne O'Brien Rice.
I don't know for sure if I will use all the above elements, but just in case, I have myself covered.
In this story, which has been floating around in my head most of my life, you will find many universes merging, as the above copyrights reveal. I hope you all enjoy this. I appreciate any feedback that you may want to give. This story doesn't deal so much with sex, sex, sex, but more of my feelings that I struggled with and am starting to come to terms with. Part of his background is mine. I do hope that you enjoy it!!!
Any emails you send, please tell me what chapter and story you are commenting on. Thanks.
jmsotc@yahoo.com
Chapter 27 Piece-By-Piece
Jessica lay on the infirmary bed with an I.V. in her arm, a solution slowly dripping through the tube into her. Garrett had drawn some blood from Jessica to determine what it was that infected her. Due to the fact she was a slayer, her body had already begun fighting off the chemical. Garrett was able to study some of her blood and determined what chemical compounds created the fear drug to begin with. With that study, he was able to create a counter-toxin.
"I feel lots better," Jessica said.
"That's good to hear," Brian replied. He had changed into street clothes.
"You never told us what he looked like, Jessica," Garrett said.
"Like a scarecrow."
"It is truly amazing how those of you who are masked seemed to spawn masked enemies. One would think you create them."
Jessica and Brian just looked at Garrett.
"We can rule it out being a demon," Jessica replied. "Unless it actually is a scarecrow someone stuffed and then placed a spell on."
"Weirder things have been known to happen," Brian replied.
"Either way, we know what we're up against. Now we can figure out how to stop this scarecrow."
"Light a match?" Garrett questioned sarcastically.
"Ha ha," Jessica replied with added sarcasm.
"Garrett, do you know what chemicals were used in the formula?"
"The computer printed out a list of the chemicals. They are all forms of norpinephrine."
Brian left the infirmary and entered the adjacent room, the laboratory. He found the printer and picked up the list. Glancing over it, he thought of some possible leads to check on. Quickly he returned with the list.
"I was looking over the list," he said as he entered the room, "and some of these chemicals were talked about by my professors. I could take them in and ask them about the materials and their side effects."
"I don't know if that would be any good," Jessica answered. "If this scarecrow is one of your professors, chances are they won't tell you how they did what they did."
"But not all of the professors are behind it."
"How are your friends doing considering what happened to Hailey?"
"I don't know. I should probably check in with Alan and George later this morning."
Brian laid the list on the counter, turned and walked away.
Macai, Puz, Shetar and the beast made their way through the cemetery. Puz held a glowing orb in front of the group and moved it from side to side as if searching for something.
"Perhaps there aren't any fresh graves," Shetar offered.
"Oh, there are plenty of fresh graves," Puz answered. "I read the obituaries in the papers. There are enough to start a small army of zombies."
"I want vampires as well," Macai demanded.
"I know, sire. But we will not be able to recruit any tonight. The sun will be up soon and they will be finding shelter for the day."
"We should be returning, as well," Shetar said. "It would not be advisable to be out and about in the daylight where the Council can see us."
"Again, I must be patient. I should not have to worry about such concerns."
"My lord, the world will be yours soon. You have nothing to fear."
Macai looked upon Puz narrowly. The orb flashed a brighter color.
"Ah, here we are."
Puz walked up to the grave, placed the orb in a pouch on his belt, and held up his hands. Clearing his throat, he began his incantation.
After an hour of spell casting, Macai, Puz, Shetar and the beast headed back to their lair, along with six zombies.
"Your army has begun, master," Puz declared. "In a few days' time, we will have enough to overrun the throne and you will be king."
Macau grinned.
The sun rose over the horizon and streamed into the window. I awoke and saw the sunlight streaming in on Christian's angelic face. We had such a wonderful time last night. The dinner, the dancing, the other intimate stuff. I was in love with him. Nothing could change how I felt. Nothing.
I stood up and walked into the bathroom. I relieved my bladder and then hopped in the shower. As I was washing myself, I heard the voice again.
"Eric."
"Christian. Is that you?"
"Eric," it repeated. There was no evil behind the voice. It did not inspire fear. There was only compassion and love that carried my name.
"Yes?"
"Eric," the voice said a third time, only a small hint of relief was evidenced. Whomever or whatever the voice belonged to, it was happy that I responded.
The bathroom door opened and brought my attention back to the moment.
"Good morning, Eric."
"Good morning, Christian."
Christian relieved himself and then, to my surprise, climbed into the shower with me. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the forehead.
"That was the best sleep I've had in a long time. And I owe it to you, Eric."
I grinned at him. "Thanks. I slept peacefully, too."
"And that's saying something because you were unconscious for two months."
"Christian, what happened to me? How did I get in a coma?"
"You were in an explosion, remember? I told you that, right?"
"Where was this explosion?"
"It was a gas reserve in the city. You were in the building when the explosion occurred."
"Why was I in the building?"
"I'm not sure."
Christian hesitated when he answered. As if it wasn't the full truth, like he was hiding something from me. I decided not to pursue it just yet. There was no reason to. Christian loved me and I loved him. Nothing else mattered.
Christian and I took turns washing each other, playing with and teasing each other's bodies. Once the hot water ran out, we dried each other off and went into the bedroom and dressed.
"You seem to be much more energetic," Christian noticed. "It's good to see you getting back to your normal self."
"I'm feeling good today. I don't really remember my past, but since last night, I don't really care about that. I have a life I'm building now, with you, and I'm content."
Christian smiled an enormous grin.
"What are your plans today?"
"I have some work I need to do. But perhaps tonight we can have dinner."
"Sounds delightful," I answered.
Brian made his way across campus toward Main Hall looking for Alan and George. He saw them talking by the fountain and he approached.
"Good morning, guys."
"Good morning, Brian," George replied.
"Morning," Alan said.
"Have you guys talked to Hailey?"
"No," George answered. "The doctors won't let us back to see her, but they do tell us she's doing fine."
"I wonder what happened to her to make her freak out like she did."
"She seemed fine when I saw her earlier that day," Alan replied. "She wasn't acting out of place."
"What time did you see her?" George asked.
"It was around ten o'clock."
"I saw her at two-thirty. She acted a little bothered by something. She said she had a problem with one of her professors. I think it was her advanced chemistry teacher. Professor Paura, I believe. I asked what was wrong, but she wouldn't tell me. She said she needed to handle it on her own. That was the last time I had seen her."
Brian turned and walked away from the group.
"Brian!" George called. "Where are you headed?"
"I have something I need to do," Brian called back. To himself he added, "There is a teacher I need to speak to."
I called a cab and asked the driver to take me to downtown London. The city was unfamiliar to me.
"Was there an explosion two months ago?" I asked him.
"Yeah. It was horrible. Lord Marmaduke Fogg was caught in it."
Why did that name sound familiar to me? "Where was this explosion? Is it nearby?"
"Sure is."
"Can you take me to it?"
"Sure. But why do you want to go there?"
"Curiosity."
The driver turned down a road. Within moments of time the car pulled up to an empty lot beside two buildings. The still-standing buildings were scorched from the destruction.
"Thank you," I said as I climbed out of the cab. I handed him the fare and walked into the rubble that was still on the ground.
Most of the lot was cleaned up but the ground was black and charred and smelled of burn. Some blackened metal lay scattered about. I walked over and sifted through it.
"Why was I here?" I said to myself.
I continued to look hoping to find something that would clue me in to my past.
Brian walked into Garrett's mansion. "Jessica!" he called out. "Garrett!"
Garrett came into the foyer in a hurry. "What is it, Brian?"
Jessica came down the steps in a bathrobe.
"I found out Hailey had some trouble with one of the professor's the day she had her 'accident'. And the professor is a chemistry teacher. It may be that she is our Scarecrow."
"I guess we'll find out tonight."
Lance climbed in his SUV and pulled out of the driveway. He headed toward the spot Eric had picked out for the teen center. He pulled up and saw the construction crew working on the foundation. He climbed out of his vehicle. The sun reflected in his sunglasses.
The foreman of the crew saw him and approached.
"Good morning, Mr. Bass. It's good to see you. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"No, Bob. Just looking around. I wanted to see how things were coming."
"Pretty good. We should have most of it done in three months. I'm suspecting in August the electrician and plumber and such can come in."
"Good," Lance said. In his mind, though, he said, "Your dream will still come true, Eric. I'll be sure the teen center is built just like you wanted."
A car pulled up beside Lance's. He turned to see Robert Lakewind and Ryan Brookdale climbing out. They walked up to him.
"Hey, Lance. How are you?" Robert greeted.
"Okay," Lance said.
"You don't look so good," Ryan replied. "What's going on?"
"Didn't you hear about Eric?"
"No," Robert said. Both young men shook their heads.
"He...he died. In an explosion in London. It happened two months ago."
The two boys looked absolutely shocked at Lance's words.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Ryan asked.
"I just found out a few days ago."
"Oh my God. I'm so sorry."
Robert went up and put his hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance wanted to jerk away from Robert. He did not want consolation from anyone. But he didn't want to be rude, either, so he let Robert his moment of being strong.
"What are your plans for the teen center?" Ryan asked.
"It's still going to be built. It will continue as the McCoy Center for Teens and Children."
The two young men nodded in support.
I sifted through the rubble and came across a piece of black material. I did not know if it was black because of charring from the fire or black naturally. I picked it up and examined it, turning it from side-to-side, and rubbing it across my hand. The texture felt so familiar to me. I wrapped it around my arm and looked at it. Again, familiarity. I held it up and, to my utter amazement, held it across my mouth like a mask. My heart started to race so I jerked it away quickly.
What on earth was I doing? Why in the world would I be wearing a mask? It didn't seem right, but at the same time it did. It seemed very weird, yet normal.
I stood up, wrapped up the cloth and stuffed it in my pocket. I decided to explore the city a bit on foot so I began to walk.
Deep inside Eric's body the X-gene continued it's fine-tuning the repairs to his body. The gene permeated his cells empowering them to their previous potential. Some, however, have finished their work and made their way to the brain where more repairs needed to be made. Piece-by-piece, bit-by-bit connections were made to his neural pathways and sensations of his past became recognized.
To Be Continued...
The X-gene is fixing Eric's body AND memory. I wonder what will happen between him and Christian when he remembers everything, or even if he will remember everything.
And Macai and company are building an army of demons, zombies, and vampires. This doesn't bode well for England.
I have received some emails concerning the extra storylines going along with Eric's. I had several things in mind. For the fans that wanted to see the Huntress in action as well as Mr. Freeze, you get to see what they have established since Eric's flight from Los Angeles. Also, I wanted to show that life goes on even if we lose someone we love. I wanted to establish that these characters are still moving on with their lives. Around chapter 30 the story will revolve solely around Eric for very good reason, which you will find out when you read the chapter. How do you like the fact the Huntress and Mr. Freeze are working together? What about the new Batgirl? I have pictures of Catwoman and the new Batgirl in case you wanted to see them. Sorry. I have yet to draw pictures of Mrs. Freeze and her son.
More to come! Keep reading!