][Wednesday, June 15, 1988
Dona & Steven Roberts’ house
3005 NW 14th St
Miami, Florida
Christine wakes up from a disturbing dream. “What the hell was that?” she says out loud sitting up in bed. Did that really happen? I don’t even remember going to the Prom, she rationalizes. It all felt so real? It is impossible! I don’t forget anything! She looks at her alarm clock, it is 8 o’clock. Going for the phone on her nightstand she calls her friend Justine. “Come on, Come on, where are you?”
“Hello,” Justine answers the phone.
“It’s me, did I go to the prom with Gavin O’Connor?” Christine asks.
“No, you said the Prom was a joke,” Justine answers. “You wanted no part of it.”
“I didn’t go with Gavin then?” Christine counters. “A last minute date that he asked me on the day before.” “The two of us went shopping for a dress at Halliwell’s.” “It was blue, the last decent dress they still had on the rack.”
Justine laughs out loud over the phone line. “Us shopping for a Prom dress for you?” “That is hilarious.” “Let me guess you found the dress at the back of your closet.”
“Hey, we’ll talk later,” Christine says, hanging up the phone. She jumps up from her bed to run to her closet. Throwing open the door she begins going through every hanger on the rail. One by one looking for the dress she remembers from her dream. Then all the way in the back of the closet pressed tight against the wall she finds a dress. Not the one from the dream, a red one. Going for the tag it reads Halliwell Gowns.
She carries the dress back to her bed, she sits on the edge of the bed. She looks over every inch of the dress from the shoulder straps to the inside hem. Then looking at her full length mirror. She gets up to step into the dress. Pulling it up over her shoulders she uses her telekinesis to pull the zipper up. Looking at herself in the mirror it does look familiar to her all though she knows she has never shopped at Halliwell’s. Her dream was like some kind of movie trailer, just bits and pieces clipped together. She looks at herself from a different angle in the mirror. Then looking down over the red dress she imagines the dress in her dream. It was blue with a scoop collar and lace trim. The length was mid-thigh the waist a corset type. When she turns back to the mirror she sees that she is now wearing the dress from her dream.
Suddenly the memories come together becoming clearer. Turning her eyes from the blue dress in the mirror back to the red dress she is wearing she knows what she did. The last minute shopping spree she and Justine went on was disappointing. All the good dresses were gone. She used her powers to create the appearance of the perfect dress. So why does Justine not remember it? Does Gavin remember going with me?
Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
Historical Department offices
3251 S Miami Ave
Miami, FL
Dona Roberts is in her office at the Museum where she is in charge of the Historical Research Department. She is going over more documents searching for any sign that suggests that what she is looking for has been discovered in the modern world. Her phone rings disrupting her concentration on her task. She answers the call,”Dr. Roberts, Historical Research.”
“Dr. Roberts I have an overseas call for you on line 5, National Archaeological Museum in Athens,” the switchboard operator says.
“Yes, yes, I’ve been expecting the call, put it through,” she replies eagerly. There are several clicks and then Dona greets the caller speaking in modern Greek, “Hello, this is Dr, Roberts.”
The man other the other end of the phone replies in broken English, “I speck Englesh.”
“Greek is fine with me,” Dona replies, “I was born over there so there is no problem if it is easier for you.”
“Thank you very much,” the man replies in Greek. “To be honest I am a beginner at Englesh.” “My name is Enos Bertucci, I am Curator here at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, Greece.” “I received your message and did some research throughout storage facilities.” “You seek a bronze medallion with a carving of an eagle head with emeralds for eyes?” “Carbon dated around the year 90 BC?” “Is that correct?”
“Yes, that it is, I was hoping that someone in Greece or Rome had found it.”
“As luck would have it, it was found by a vacationing diver in the Aegean Sea around 50 years ago,” Enos replies to Dona’s sigh of relief. “It presents as something of little value with the exception of its age.” “It had been on display in the Museum for about a decade after being donated, but was then put into storage to make room for a more impressive piece.”
“I was wondering if you could locate it for me,” Dona asks the Curator. “My benefactors might be interested in purchasing it from you, if it is the piece I am looking for.” “Does it have an inscription on the back in ancient Greek with one word missing from it?”
“From the photos I have here of it, yes, that is correct,” Enos tells her. “You surely know this piece well.”
“I bet my life on it once you might say,” Dona replies, speaking of the medallion she and her amazon sisters used to imprison the Amazon Queen Orana. “I can be on a plane today and to Athens by tomorrow afternoon.” “Can you locate the medallion by then?”
“Of course I will speak with my board and financial advisor on perhaps a sale,” Enos says.
“Thank you Mr. Bertucci,” Dona says happily. “I will see you then.”
Gavin O’Connor’s home
3651 NW 18th Terrace
Miami, FL
Christine and Gavin O’Connor had grown closer. It doesn’t surprise her that in the dream he asked her to Prom. The problem is he had been home sick with the flu for the last several days of the school year. She had spoken with him on the phone a few times but he never mentioned anything about going to the Prom together. It is time they spoke in person, she has decided to make the walk across town to his family’s house.
Arriving around 11 am Christine knocks on the front door. She waits for several minutes before ringing the bell as well. When there is no response to either she begins to worry. Breaking one of the first rules she set down for herself when her powers began to develop she telepathically scans the house. Gavin is home and she can feel his mind inside. He seems to be sleeping. A very deep sleep. There is no one else in the house, he is alone. Both of his parents must be at work.
Peeking through the window on the door Christine spots a large mirror on the opposite wall. She can see the reflection of the other side of the door in the mirror. She has been practicing this trick for a while, never sure when it would come in handy. Keeping in mind that the locks in the mirror are reversed she concentrates her telekinetic power on them. Pop, the dead bolt slides open and then the door knob turns to open the door to let her inside.
Making her way through the small house she uses Gavin’s mind to lead her to his bedroom. “Hello, Gavin,” she says, knocking on the bedroom door. “Can you hear me?” “It’s Christine, can I come in?” She hears a groan from inside the room that she takes as a yes.
When she enters the room it is worse than she could have imagined. Gavin lays on the bed all of the sheets and blankets on the floor. His thin pajamas are soaked through with sweat. “Oh my God!” Christine exclaims at the sight of her sick friend. She touches his forehead, he is burning up. How could his parents let him here like this? This is not just the flu she thinks to herself as she spots something on his side through his wet pajamas. She uses her telekinesis to peel up his shirt.
Stunned for a minute Christine steps back at the sight of the wound on his right side below his rib cage. It appears to be an extremely swollen and infected bite of some kind. Moving closer to look at the wound it appears to be like a shark bite with many rows of teeth, only smaller about the size of a large dog. How could he have gotten such a bite and why has he not told anyone? Christine can see how restless Gavin’s sleep is as he struggles in the wet bed. She has never tried to use her telepathy on someone sleeping before.
Christine has no idea what it will be like to go inside of the mind of a sleeping person. The subconscious is a whole new world to her. She must try to speak with him to learn where he got this wound. If that doesn’t work she will be forced to try to probe his memories. She reaches out her hand to touch his sweaty forehead again. *Calm, Calm yourself, Gavin let me in,* Christine moves cautiously into his delicate psyche.
Suddenly she is in and everything she perceives changes. She is a place she does not recognize. Standing in an open meadow on a beautiful spring day, A cool breeze carries the scent of wild flowers.
“This is my favorite place back home,” Gavin’s voice says as she turns to see him standing next to her. “I haven’t been here since I was twelve.” “What are you doing here Christine?”
“I need to know how you got that bite on your side?” Christine asks, taking his arm.
“Oh the bite?” Gavin says, pulling his arm away from here. He pulls his shirt off over his head to stand bare chested in front of her. His belly is a little pudgier than the zero fat abs she saw back in his bedroom. But that is mostly because he hasn’t been eating. “This bite?” he questions. Christine can see that he has the same wound on his right side below his ribs. But it does not look as infected as it is in the real world. “I got it from her, don’t you remember?”
“No, I don’t,” Christine says, playing along. “Do you remember?” “And who is she?”
“I don’t dare say her name or she will hear,” Gavin answers, completely calm in his happy place. “If you don’t remember then let me show you.” Without any warning the meadow all around them instantly changes to the courtyard at school.
][Friday, May 13, 1988
American Heritage School
607 NW 32nd St.
Miami, FL
It is lunch time and Christine Roberts sits in the courtyard outside the cafeteria under a large oak tree eating chips from a bag as she reads a text book on Quantum physics. It is not her usual choice for reading material, nor is it an assigned read. For some reason she just woke up this morning with an interest in how the universe works. Even with her high IQ the book is rather confusing but interesting.
Gavin O’Connor walks over to where Christine sits reading to stand over her. “Quantum Physics, that is some really complicated stuff,” he comments, causing her to look up at him.
“Yeah, I was just curious about it, but it is really dry and boring,” Christine replies, closing the book and placing it on the grass at her right side. “Where have you been all morning?”
“Can I sit?” Gavin asks.
“Sure,” Christine says, putting the book back in her book bag on her left side. Gavin takes a seat on the grass next to her to lean back against the tree. “What’s up you seem sad.”
“My Dad is getting transferred again,” Gavin says. “I really like it here.” “Almost as much as home in Ireland.” “I spent the morning in the Guidance Counselor’s office trying to get into the exchange student program, so I can finish the year here, maybe stay to Graduate.”
“Do you think you have a chance?” Christine asks.
“I hope so, but just in case I wanted to ask you something,” Gavin says shyly.
“What is that?” Christine asks.
“Would you go to the Prom with me tonight?” Gavin asks.
Christine is surprised by his request. “That would be great but how are you going to get tickets, they are all sold out by now,” she replies.
“Well,” Gavin says coyly, opening one of his books. “While I was in the Guidance Counselor’s office this morning I learned that by being suspended for falsifying his records, Skeeter Simpson is banned from attending the Prom.” Gavin slips two tickets for the Prom from his math book. “He was forced to relinquish his tickets and I was able to buy them.” “So will you go with me?”
Christine is truly shocked by this cute Irish boy’s request. “I’ll need a dress,” she says.
“I’m sure Justine can help you find one in time,” Gavin suggested.
He gives her that cute smile of his that makes her melt every time. It makes it impossible for her to say anything other than, “Yes, I’ll go to the Prom with you.” “But I guess I’ll have to get out of here now and miss my afternoon classes to be ready in time.”
“You won’t be the only one,” Gavin comments as a group of preppy girls pile into a car to head off to beauty shop appointments.
After talking the attendance secretary into letting her out early even at such short notice Christine catches up with Justine. Justine is over the moon at the idea that Gavin asked her to the Prom and that her best friend said yes. They go to several dress shops but for the most part they are picked over, nothing in Christine’s size or that she likes. At the last shop, Halliwell Gowns, she finds the perfect dress. She loves everything about it but when she tries it on it is two sizes too big. Going back to the rack she finds a red dress that fits her perfectly, but she is not crazy about the style. “Come on get out here let me see it,” Justine calls from the waiting area. “If you want I can call your Mom and tell her you are going to the Prom after all.” “Have her help you find a dress.”
“You do and you will regret it!” Christine calls back looking at the dress she wears in the three angle mirror. “What can a little cheating hurt?” “This is my first Prom.”
“What did you say?” Justine asks, bursting into the dressing room. “Wow, it looks great, I thought you said they didn’t have your size.” Justine eyes her friend from all sides as she wears the blue dress she liked so much.
“Not on the rack, someone left it here in the dressing room,” Christine lies to her friend to cover up her mind trick. “I’ve got to buy it!”
“Hurry up then, our hair and nail appointment is in thirty minutes!” Justine cheers.
The girls make it to the salon in record time. It is crowded by Justine’s older sister Jayne is the manager so she was able to get Christine in at the last minute. They sit getting their nails done while waiting for Jayne to be ready for them. “So what are you going to tell your parents about tonight?” Justine asks, grinning at her friend.
“Nothing, my Dad is away on business and my Mom has been working late at the Museum all week,” Christine answers nonchalantly.
“Really, Tine?” Justice quips. “At least tell your Mom, so she can take some pictures before you leave.” “Prom night is a big deal to parents.”
“Really, Tine! Christine responds using the nickname they have given each other, that neither likes. “My parents are different, it is no big deal to them.” “It is not like Gavin and I have been dating all year and this is the big night out.” “We are just friends.” “I probably wouldn’t have even said yes if he wasn’t afraid he was moving.”
“Cold Tine, real cold,” Justine comments looking at her finished nails.
“What, like you and Daryl are having a big lose your virginity after-party,” Christine quips, not sure if she should have gone with blue rather than pink nail polish.
“Maybe, if he brings me nice flowers,” Justine giggles as the nail girl gets up from her seat.
“You are so full of shit!” Christine exclaims. “You are the biggest prude in not just our class but our school!”
“Language, please, Miss,” the girl finishing Christine’s nails says as she gets up from the small table.
“Sorry,” Christine apologizes, wishing she had just blocked the girl from hearing their conversation.
“Just because I don’t want to end up like my sister with a deadbeat baby-daddy doesn’t mean I’m a prude,” Justine argues as a woman walks up behind her.
“Oh hi, Jayne, who do you want to do first?” Christine says with a scarred look on her face.
“What!?” Justine exclaims, turning to see the Assistant Manager Beverly standing behind her.
“I’ll take Justine, so she doesn’t put her foot in her mouth anymore,” Beverly answers.
“Cold Tine, really really cold,” Justine says, getting up from the nail table to follow the Assistant Manager.
The rest of the day speeds by as Christine gets their hair and makeup done. The memories of the day flood her mind as if awakened from the deep in her subconscious. The events begin to slow as Gavin and she are driving to the Prom in his rented car. She goes through the radio dial looking for a song she likes. She finds a station playing the Scandal song, “The Warrior” “Ahh, I hate this song!”
“Why?” Gavin asks.
“It reminds me of my brother,” Christine replies without thinking. It has been a long day and she would love a nap right now.
“You have a brother, you never mentioned that,” Gavin says.
Christine’s first thought is to make him pull over the car and wipe that from his memory. If she keeps wiping memories how will she ever keep track of who knows what? Then she considers trying to make it work. “He is my half-brother from my father’s first marriage.” “He lives in Philadelphia.” Then she feels it. Looking up out the windshield she shouts, “Lookout!”
Gavin slams on the brakes to slide down the road through an arch of light that encompasses the entire street. On the other side the car sputters to a stop at the side of the road. “What just happened?” Gavin asks, looking at Christine. “Are you good?”
“I’m good,” Christine replies as Gavin tries to start the car again. After four tries she comments, “I think it is dead.”
“Why did you shout like that?” Gavin asks, giving up on restarting the car.
“Didn’t you see it?” Christine asks not realizing at first that her powers allowed her to see the portal and he did not. “It was a rabbit in the road.” Christine scans the landscape outside the car. Something has changed, she can’t sense anyone nearby.
“Well I guess I need to walk to find a phone,” Gavin suggests.
“No, no I will come with you,” Christine insists on getting out of the car with him. They begin to walk toward the Prom. It is completely quiet and there is not another car on the road. It is something not common on this road, especially tonight. They are nearly to the school where the Prom is being held and there is still no sign of anyone.
“Where is everyone?” Gavin questions at the sight of the fully decorated empty gym.
“I am getting the feeling that we are not where we think we are,” Christine replies. “Back on the road we passed through something, a doorway maybe.” “This may look like our school, but it isn’t.” “We are somewhere else.”
“Like the faerie realm?” Gavin suggests. “Like in Celtic legend, but those were just stories.”
“I’m thinking more like a twisted dream world,” Christine tells Gavin. “All we need now is Freddy Kruger.”
Suddenly the lights dim and red strobes begin to flash. The music is a soft droning verse. Then from the top of the gym walls thick blood begins to drip and run.
“What is happening?” Gavin shouts.
“Looks like I am about to get my wish,” Christine says.
“We need to get out of here!” Gavin shouts as he turns to run for the door to the gym into the school.
“NO!” Christine shouts, “Come back here, don’t run away from it!” She tries to use her powers to hold the door shut, but it doesn’t work. “We need to stay together!” Christine moves to run after her friend as he flees into the school like every kid in every horror movie she has ever seen. In an instant she is slamming into the latched gym doors. Thrown back to the floor Christine looks up at the bent doors. “What the hell is going on?” Standing up to get a closer look it is clearly her impression on the door. She takes hold of the handle to give it a yank. She is surprised again as the door is torn from its frame in her hand. It is light as a feather as she holds it up with one hand. She is stronger than the average girl her age and size but this is amazon strength, she thinks as she tosses the door to the wooden gym floor.
Christine charges forward into the school hallway, there is no sign of Gavin. Where could he have run so quickly? She calls out, “Gavin, where are you!” She tries to use her powers to scan for his mind, but she gets nothing. It is like she is completely alone now. Where would I hide if I was a teenage boy trapped in a horror movie? She contemplates. The boy’s room, that is where he might be hiding. She might as well start at the first one, that is not the gym locker room. On this floor it is down the hall to the right at the entrance to B pod. Deciding to jog, not run this time Christine discovers that she is still faster than she has ever been.
This is no dream world that is for sure, she has never dreamt of having amazon powers. Looking back it was always such a burden for her brother. The real question is why aren’t her powers working? Her powers are of the mind she should be able to see right through any kind of illusion.
At the first boy’s room on this floor Christine swings open the door, having no concern that anyone else might be in there. “Gavin are you in here?” she calls out. “Gavin!” Standing silent Christine hears a noise. It is coming from the last stall. “Of course it is the last stall!” She comments out loud as she walks along the floor between the stalls and the sinks. “Gavin is that you?” she says reaching out to touch the closed door. “It’s me, Christine.”
Pushing open the door the handicapped stall is empty. It looks like the most filthy gas station bathroom she could ever imagine. There is something black and slimy bubbling in the toilet bowl. “Gross!” she exclaims letting go of the door that has now become filthy and slimy. She backed up into the bathroom to hear something bubbling behind her. Turning she sees that the same black sludge is coming up the sink drains as well. “Come on Freddy, you can do better than this!” Christine shouts to the fictional movie monster.
The black sludge backing up from the sink drain now begins to flow from the faucet as well. It overflows onto the floor and begins to rise up taking shape. Christine takes advantage of her new amazon strength returning to the last stall. She breaks the handicap rail free from the wall. “Come on let’s see what you look like before I bash your head in!” She challenges the thing.
The sludge begins to form a head and shoulders as a face emerges from it, The face is pale surrounded by dark hair. It is the shape of a large woman that appears to wear a long black gown that merges with the sludge on the floor. “Now, is that anyway to talk to your Auntie,” the woman says in a clear deep voice. “But what else should I expect from another of my brother’s half-breed offspring?” the evil looking woman says to Christine. “Come closer, let me get a good look at my next meal.”
“I am no one’s half-breed and I am certainly not your meal!” Christine shouts holding out the three foot long stainless steel railing.
“I am Delilah and you’re no different than the ones who have come before you,” Delilah grins, showing her large mouth of jagged shark-like teeth. “I will enjoy every moment with you as I prepare you for my feast.”
“Is that supposed to frighten me?” Christine giggles. “Who are you anyway?”
Delilah glides around the floor of the rest room, the edges of her dress gathering up more of the sludge to increase her bulk. “Surely your Amazon whore mother has told you that your father has lived many times before his current lifetime,” the cruel looking woman says. “In everyone of those lives she sought him out, seduced him and used him for breeding stock.” “I was his sister when he was known as Lucam.”
“Good for you, so how did we get here?” Christine asks.
“I tried to warn my brother of the amazon whore’s deceptions, the danger she held for him,” Delilah explains. “But he would not listen to me, he was blinded by love.” “I was a scholar of the mystic arts, I was willing to do what he would not, permanently sever the bond between them.”
“How did that work out for you?” Christine asks to keep this apparition talking as she stalks around it, moving slowly back toward the door.
“The whore out maneuvered me, trapping me here in this realm,” Delilah says as she now stands her head nearly to the ceiling. “Now once every one hundred years on Friday the 13th I can pierce the veil back to Earth to take my revenge on one of their half-breed offspring.”
Christine has backed herself up to the door fully prepared to start swinging the rail in her grip. “Your revenge has not been going too well so far if I am meant to be frightened of all of these theatrics,” she retorts.
“Oh, it is not that of which you should be frightened, but what is happening to your little boyfriend,” Delilah giggles. “What has become of him?” “What will become of him when I sink my teeth into his flesh?” Then almost quicker than Christine can perceive, all of the black sludge creating Delilah’s huge form is sucked back down the toilet, leaving the boy’s bathroom spotless again.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Christine exclaims running from the boy’s room. “Gavin, where are you!” she shouts running down the hall toward the next restroom on the floor of the twisted empty school. “Gavin, can you hear me?” Where could he have gone? she thinks. Time to put these amazon powers to work. Christine begins running from one classroom to the next ripping doors from hinges. She wonders if this is what it is like for Steve. It really isn’t her thing. The only reason for her having these powers is Delilah believes she would be an amazon. She has no idea what her powers are or who her father has become in his current life.
Then standing at the end of the hall she looks back at the damage she has caused. She realizes it. Delilah controls this place. She is loving every minute of this frantic search. It is a subplot of every slasher movie she has ever seen and she has seen a lot. She will not find Gavin until Delilah allows it. Spotting the locked stairwell to the roof Christine marches down the hall to it. Normally she would be breaking open the lock and rip off the chain with her mental powers, but here it is brute force that does the trick.
Methodically climbing the stairs to the roof she lets her mind go blank. She doesn’t think that Delilah can read her mind but everything here has been influenced by what she and Gavin know. It is like this place is reading them but not sharing their thoughts directly. To be on the safe side she keeps her mind a blank as she opens the door to the roof.
Gavin lays on the gravel roof about twenty-five feet from the door. The dark and sinister Delilah huddles over him like an animal about to feast on its prey. “Ahh, just in time.” she cackles as she stands lifting the sixteen year old boy up by the back of his neck with only her left arm. “Give yourself over to me, allow me to return to your world and the boy goes free as well!” Delilah finally makes her plan clear now.
“You must be joking,” Christine replies. “Does that ever work?” “What amazon would ever give their life over to you to save someone rather than defeat you?”
“All of them of course,” Delilah cackles. “In the end all of your older sisters chose the life of a mortal man over their own!”
“Thing is bitch I’ve figured out this is a dream world,” Christine reveals. “Whatever happens here doesn’t matter in the real world if we wake up before you can do real damage.”
“Here let me sweeten the deal, then.” Before Christine can react, Delilah does the unthinkable, she turns her head to sink her shark-like teeth into Gavin’s side. The terrified boy screams in pain as blood gushes out around her lips from his wound. “You have no choice now!” Delilah shouts, Gavin’s blood running down her chin. “The boy will die before you can figure out how to wake up!”
“I’ve already done that too,” Christine reveals as she charges at the woman to grab her friend from her grasp. Holding him tightly in her arms they go over the side of the roof. The three story fall moves in slow motion as Christine shouts, “We have to wake up!”
Then suddenly Christine is back standing in the meadow in Ireland with Gavin. “What happened?” she asks. “What happened next?”
“We woke up back in the car of course,” the shirtless Gavin tells her.
“Then why has everyone forgotten our Prom night?” Christine asks, not sure she wants to know the answer.
“I was still very disturbed by the whole experience so you decided it would be best if we all just forgot about our date to the Prom,” Gavin explains. “But you had never tried to wipe memories from the subconscious before.” “Especially ones that were real.” “After wiping Justine’s memory of shopping something back-lashed on you causing you to forget.”
“Then why do you still remember it all in your subconscious?” Christine asks. “Even things you did not witness?”
“Because she would not let me forget,” Gavin answers grimly. “Delilah knew the memories would be needed to draw you back to her.”
“What!” Christine shouts, pulling her consciousness from the fevered Gavin’s mind. She is again in Gavin’s bedroom standing over him, the wound on his side getting even worse.
][Wednesday, June 15, 1988
Dona & Steven Roberts’ house
3005 NW 14th St
Miami, Florida
Christine arrives back home just as her mother pulls in the driveway driving like a maniac. “MOM!” “What the hell?” Christine shouts dodging the front of her mother’s car as it comes to a stop in the driveway.
“I’m sorry sweetheart, are you okay?” Dona asks, jumping out of the car. “I’m in a bit of a hurry, I need to catch a flight to Greece in two hours.”
Christine follows after her mother who hurries into the house. “Why are you going to Greece?”
“There is a very important artifact there that I need to retrieve,” Dona says, taking the steps two at a time to the second floor.
Christine continues to follow her mother up stairs. She is relieved that her mother does not intend to use the magical artifact she knows is hidden in this house to make her trip to Greece. Dona Roberts is very leery about using such things that would not keep up the appearance of normalcy. Something Christine really doesn’t understand when everyone in this family is far from normal, even her father it would now seem. “How long will you be gone?” Christine asks as she watches her mother quickly pack a bag.
“If the National Archaeological Museum in Athens is willing to sell me the medallion in only a few days,” she told Christine. “If not, it is going to take longer.” “You’ll be fine here alone.” “Your Dad called to tell me he would be home in a few days.” “He’s done what he could on his mission and all there is to do now is wait.”
“Cool I guess I’ll just have that wild booze party I’ve been planning after all,” Christine says sarcastically.
Her mother laughs saying, “No I know that is a lie, you’re not that kind of girl.”
Christine leaves the room not wanting to let it slip that she is eager for her mother to be gone. She goes to her room trying to be patient as her mother finishes packing. For someone with super-speed the task seems like it should go much faster. When she hears her mother heading for the stairs Christine follows her down to the front hall.
“Now remember there is a credit card in the usual place in case of an emergency,” Dona tells her fifteen year old daughter. “If your father calls, make sure to tell him I’ll be home as soon as I have it!”
“Have what?” Christine asks, tempted to read her mother’s mind as they hug goodbye. Then she holds back. She watches as her mother backs out of the driveway just as carelessly as she pulled into it. It is amazing that woman has not had more auto accidents!
Closing the door and returning to the house Christine begins to search for her mother’s travel stone. The stone is one of the few magical things that Dona Roberts feels safe keeping in the house. It was used all of the years to travel back and forth to Magic Island when Dona was training Christine’s brother Steve. Christine has made her plan to save Gavin and it requires that magic stone.
After an hour when she can not find the stone anywhere Christine agonizes over it but then finally decides to call her brother. There is no answer at his home or work number. And she surely is not leaving a message on any machine. Sits down on the sofa, Christine lands on the TV remote. The set clicks on to a live broadcast of Master Warrior on the Schuylkill Expressway. What are the odds? she thinks. She has found that she can not use her powers on anyone or things she can not see. Technically she can see her brother now as he talks with a police man at the edge of the highway. The words across the bottom of the screen tell her exactly where he is located. There are hundreds of miles between them. It seems like a ridiculous stretch but she gives linking with him telepathically a try.
I76-the Conshohocken curve
The Schuylkill Expressway
Philadelphia, Pa
Master Warrior stands at the edge of the road by several police cars talking with Officer Robert Jared. “I think that everyone is out of the wreckage.” “I guess I’ll get going before the News Crew closes in on me,” Master Warrior tells the cop. Then a sudden stabbing pain in his forehead. It makes him stumble to brace himself on one of the police cars.
“Master Warrior, are you alright?” the cop asks moving to take his arm.
“Yeah, I think so,” Master Warrior says the pain is gone as quickly as it came. He stands up to look around the crash scene to spot the Action News Cameras pointing at him and Officer Jared.
*Steve, can you hear me?* Master Warrior hears a familiar voice, looking around himself to find her, he realizes the voice is in his head.
“Who is that?” he demands out loud.
“It is me, Officer Jared, Robert,” the cop that has met Master Warrior several times in the last month tells him.
“No, not you, I’m sorry,” Master Warrior says. “I have to get going.”
*NO!* *Steve don’t leave the sight of the cameras,* the voice in his head tells him. *It’s me, Christine.* *Don’t talk, just think of your replies.* *I can hear you as long as I can see you on live TV.*
*Shit, Christine I didn’t know you could do this,* Master Warrior responds silently in his mind looking straight at the Action News camera.
*Neither did I until now,* Christine replies. *I don’t know how long I can maintain it.* *I need to know where Mom hides that travel stone.*
*Really?* *That is what this about, the thing we used to travel to Magic Island,* Master Warrior thinks as the reports start to move toward him. *Just ask her.*
*I can’t she just left to catch a plane to Greece,* Christine tells him.
*Greece?* Master Warrior queries. *Why is she going to Greece?”
*Looking for some artifact, why else?* *There isn’t time for this right now.* *I screwed up and now a friend’s life is on the line.* *I need that thing to fix this.*
*You haven’t told them yet, have you?* he responds as the report is only fifty yards away. “In the safe behind the dresser in their bedroom.* *Tell them the truth, Christine Anne!* Master Warrior takes to the air to get away from the camera crew and sever the connection with his telepathic sister.
Dona & Steven Roberts’ house
3005 NW 14th St
Miami, Florida
“I can’t believe that worked!” Christine says out loud jumping up from the sofa. She runs up the stairs to her parent’s bedroom. The antique dresser against the wall next to the closet must weigh two hundred pounds. Typical Mom moves, hiding valuables behind something only she could move. Not true, Christine thinks as she uses telekinesis to slide the huge piece of furniture aside.
Now the problem is the combo to the safe. Christine sits down on the bed to stare at the safe at the base of the wall. She hates herself for thinking it; 01,01,19,66, her brother Steve’s birthday. Focusing her mind on dial it begins to turn to the numbers she has guessed. Then a turn of the handle. Nothing. In a way she is relieved. Maybe; 11,21,19,26. Again nothing. That leaves only; 10,31,19,73. The tumbles click and the door releases. “Shit,” Christine says out loud. “It’s my birthday, the combo is my birthday.” She doesn’t have time to linger on this too long. Moving to the floor to look in the safe she finds the strangely carved magic stone she seeks.
Delilah’s realm
Christine Roberts enters the strange dream realm carrying Gavin in her arms. This place is different than before when they were here. When she and Gavin arrived last time it was like they never left home. A smooth transition with no hint that they had crossed into another realm. Perhaps it is because she had to force her way into this place this time. Gavin still sleeps not dreaming as he did when she entered his mind to see his dream. She had hoped he would wake so she would not have to carry him around. It is not that he is too heavy, just that he slumped with his face against her boob makes it rather awkward. It is probably for the best, she has no intention of trying to wipe his mind again. The less he remembers the better.
Scanning the area around where she stands it is familiar to Christine. Although she had only been there once while her brother was training, she appears to be standing in The Armory Training Arena on Magic Island. Why here of all places? she wonders. “Auntie Delilah we are here!” Christine calls out. “Where are you?”
“This is where it all happened,” a grim voice says from behind her. Christine turns to come face to face with the woman claiming to be her betrayed and long imprisoned Aunt. “This is where your bitch mother attacked and imprisoned me!”
“I really don’t care about your issues with my mother!” Christine announces interrupting the evil woman’s monologue. “I want you to reverse whatever it is that you did to Gavin!”
“Oh did my bite infect your poor little boyfriend?” Delilah cackles. “Let me lighten your load.” With a wave of her hand Gavin vanishes.
“Where is he?” “What have you done with him?” Christine shouts, stepping closer to the dark specter of a woman.
“Oh he is right here,” Delilah sneers, holding up a large jar in her palm. She has shrunken Gavin to the size of a Ken doll and he now floats inside the jar.
“Is that going to cure him back in the waking world?” Christine demands.
“Of course not, only you can do that with the choice you make here and now!” Delilah explains. The jar floats up from her hand to hang in the air over one of the large brick training hurdles. “You can choose to give your body over to me so I can return to get my revenge on your mother and father or I can smash this jar and we will see if he lives.” Delilah stalks her prey, chiding, “You better make your decision soon, no telling how long before my bite consumes your boyfriend.” “Or how long I will wait before smashing the jar.” “Simply invite me in and when you wake I shall make it quick and painless and he will be healed completely with no memory of this ever happening.”
“Now whelp, I shall give you a moment to make your decision as I tell you the truth about your parents!” Delilah states at the young girl who now glares at her in disgust. “Your amazon whore mother stole my baby brother from me.” “She used the dark magic of a sapphire ring to convince him that he was her lost love.” “But I too knew magic and I used it to find this place, to use its power to take my brother back.” “The amazon tricked me, turned my spell against me, leaving me trapped here for all eternity.” “Over the centuries I managed to find a way to draw others into this place once every one hundred years on Friday the thirteenth.” “Who better than their offspring to take my revenge on.”
Christine instantly spots the holes in the woman’s story. The sapphire ring she speaks about is the one her father still wears to this day. But Christine knows for a fact that the magic of the ring does reveal past lives. If Delilah does not believe that my father is my mother’s reincarnating eternal love then why keep targeting them? Whatever this woman believes is not her problem, saving Gavin from her bite is! “Do you promise that what you did to Gavin will be reversed when I wake up and he will not remember any of this?” Christine asks one final time.
“It will all just be a bad dream to him.” “I give you my word,” the evil being grins, appearing even more sinister. “When you awake all will be as it should be.”
“Very well then, I give myself to you freely to spare the life of the boy I love,” Christine says in a monotone voice.
Delilah wastes no time taking advantage of the girl’s offer. The creature calling itself Delilah for centuries dissolves into the thick black sludge that races to cover Christine’s body completely. Christine Roberts does not struggle to resist, she doesn’t even move as the tar-like substance is absorbed into her skin.
“Foolish girl” Christine’s lips speak in Delilah’s evil voice. “Every one of you through the ages made the ultimate sacrifice for love.” “The boy will be healed when you wake but I will take your body and devour your soul!”
Then something that has never happened in all the centuries Delilah has worked this trick happens. A few feet away from Christine the fabric of the dream realm shimmers as a cloud of white mist appears to thicken and take form. It is the image of Powersurge that stands before the creature who has taken control of Christine’s willing body, or has it?
“Who are you?” the possessed Christine shouts. “How did you get to this place?”
“Who in deed?” Powersurge responds. “The first time you drew me here it was on your terms, this time I came here on my own.” “You believed me an Amazon so that is what I became in your recreation of me here.” “Now coming here with my true powers I can control and manipulate this realm.” Powersurge reaches out her hand to take control of the form of Christine Roberts as she steps forward to merge with it.
“You know the first time we met I didn’t know what you truly were,” Christine says in her own voice as Powersurge retakes full control of the body. The appearance of teenage Christine Roberts fades to be replaced by the image of Powersurge. “I believed you to be a living creature trapped here in this otherworldly prison.” “But I could not understand why you kept going on about eating our souls.”
“Then when we escaped here I believed you were nothing more than a dream filled with the emotions of vengeance and anger.” “I used my power to erase the events of Friday the 13th from everyone’s mind, including my own it would seem.” “But that was not meant to be, you had infected Gavin on the waking plane.” “It was then that I realized you were more than a dream, more than a nightmare. “You were a Wrath created out of anger wanting only vengeance.” “A Wrath has no soul and you believe you could steal the souls of my ancestors by eating them.”
“The facts in your story about my parents seem off and I can only assume that you believe what you said as the truth.” “Just as you believe that you can eat a soul to acquire one. “Then of course there is the fact that you assumed I had Amazon powers also confused me at first,” Powersurge confessed. “Then I realized that was your own jealousy surfacing and reflecting on me in your altered dreamworld.” “You had no idea who I was in reality.” “You thought that just my mother was an amazon and my older sisters were as well, I would be too.” “But my father is very different in this lifetime.” “I take after his side of the family.”
“As I put the pieces together, I realized I only needed to submit to unleash my true power and take you prisoner.” Powersurge confesses. “Oh and get the help of a friend to end you.” “You see I have experiences with a Wrath, a bond with one you might say.” “A Wrath much stronger than you, that eats emotions like you for breakfast.” “Finding my Mother’s travel stone I needed to only take a quick trip to Cassandra Manor Estate with Gavin.” There with Uncle Basile’s help I submerged myself and Gavin in the pool under the Manor and used your link with Gavin to return here.” “When I wake up you will not consume me, the Wrath of Cassandra Manor will consume you.” “By the way I lied, Gavin isn’t my boyfriend.” “A lie to insure I was still in control when you merged with me.”
With that sentence Christine Roberts wakes up still floating under the water of the pool at Cassandra Manor Estate. She feels a burning in her chest and a horrific scream in her mind as Delilah is consumed by the Wrath of Cassandra Manor. The scream silenced and the heat in her body fades as she begins to swim to take hold of Gavin to pull him to the surface.
Uncle Basile sits at the edge of the pool awaiting the results of the young girl’s plan. “How did it go?” he asks. “Did you bring her into the waking world?”
“Yes, I did,” Christine answers using her telekinesis to lift Gavin from the water to lay him on the floor of the cavern. Then pulling herself up on the side of the pool out of the water. “She promised me it would be painless, I think it is fair to say I couldn’t make that same promise to her.” Christine moves to check on her friend. She lifts his shirt to see that the horribly infected bite of Delilah is gone without so much as a scar. “I think everything is going to be alright now.”
“I can feel the Wrath grow stronger already,” Uncle Basile comments. “You truly have been a great resource to her.”
“Are you sure Delilah can’t corrupt the Wrath?” Christine asks concerned as she looks into the clear water of the pool. She remembers what the water looked like when Medea tried to corrupt it. How dark and murky it was until she fed it her jealousy.
“This Wrath was created out of the love of two people,” Uncle Basile smiles. “A love that was so strong and selfless that it can not be corrupted by such harmful emotions.” “That is why it allows you to enact your plan.”
][Thursday, June 16, 1988
National Archaeological Museum
Athens, Greece
It is early morning when Dona Roberts arrives at the Museum. She hurries up the steps carrying a suitcase sized metal case that she has just retrieved from its hiding place on the island. She goes into the main entrance to the Museum that has only been open for several minutes. She heads to the main reception to speak to the attendant. “I am here to meet with Curator Enos Bertucci.” “My name is Dona Roberts.
“Oh my isn’t that an unusual name,” the woman says in Greek. “I have not heard it in ages.” “Yes, here it is, Dr. Bertucci is expecting you.” “Take that elevator over there to the second floor of the East wing, room 276,” the woman instructed, handing her a visitor’s pass.
“Thank you very much,” Dona replies, taking the clip-on card she turns to make her way to the elevator. She is eager to see the medallion again. The elevator only moves up one floor but it seems to take forever, even for the immortal amazon. The doors open and she steps out into the corridor to follow arrows on the wall to the Curator’s office. The door reads, Room 276, Dr. Enos Bertucci, Curator. She knocks on the door.
“Come,” a voice calls in Greek from inside. Dona opens the door and steps in. The office isn’t much different than her own back in Florida. Three of the walls are lined with bookshelves. Most are filled with books but there are a few statues and other types of artifacts mixed in. The room is lit by table lamps although there is an overhead light and ceiling fan.
“Ahh, Dr Roberts what a pleasure,” Dr. Bertucci greets her, reaching out his hand. They shake hands and he offers her a seat. “I had the artifact brought up from storage last night, but didn’t get a chance to inspect it.” “Here is the paperwork on it.” Dr. Bertucci hands Dona a file. Then he turns to a safe on the floor behind his desk to work the combination.
Dona looks over the research the Museum staff has done on the medallion. It is more detailed than she expected. But there are still gaps in the reports. When she finds the photo taken of the medallion in its storage case it is unmistakable the one she and her sisters used to imprison Queen Orana.
Dr. Bertucci takes the case that Dona views in the photos from the safe. He places it on the desk and then takes a key from his vest pocket to open it. An expression of shock comes over his face when he lifts the lid. “That is impossible!”
Dona walks around behind the Curator to view what is in the box. It is a smaller putter necklace with two vultures fighting over a rabbit carving in it. The vultures are in profile and one has an eye of amethyst, the other a ruby eye. It is not the necklace she came for but she recognizes it just the same. It is the slave necklace that Medea once used to control the Nozama King Samso. Whomever wears the two putter gauntlets with the ruby and Amethyst stones is under the control of the wearer of the necklace.
“I am so sorry Dr. Roberts for bringing you all the way here to discover that the artifact you seek appears to have been misplaced,” Dr. Bertucci says apologetically.
Dona picks up the photo of the Medea Amulet medallion in the box and compares it to the one on the desk. “Do you store all of your jewelry artifacts in boxes like this one?” she asks.
“No, no, we have each box custom made for the artifact to go into storage,” Dr. Bertucci replies.
“Well that looks like the same box to me in this photo,” Dona says. “And this is the amulet medallion for which I was looking.” “I would suggest that the Medallion I was seeking was stolen and replaced with this one.”
“But who would do such a thing?” Dr. Bertucci asks to pick up the Slave necklace from the box. He takes a magnifying glass from his desk drawer to look over the pendent. “This piece appears to be just as old as the other.” “Made of putter of all things I would guess.”
Dona watches the Curator examine his new find and she contemplates the meaning of its arrival. Very few people alive today even know about the existence of these two artifacts or their use. And only one that she knows of has the arrogance to switch one for the other. “Medea,” she whispers under her breath.
“Medea?” Dr. Bertucci repeats. “The Princess of Colchis?” “That is a rather obscure reference.”
“The medallion I was looking for was rumored to once be Medea’s.” Dona smiles at the Curator feeling uncomfortable. “She was also the Queen after the Amazon Queen Orana murdered her father,” Dona says, testing her peer.
“Oh another obscure reference, was Orana not one of the last Amazon Queens?”
“The very last,” Dona adds. “You by chance don’t have two gauntlets made of Putter with the same stones as this pendant in your inventory, do you?”
“I do not believe so, But I would be glad to check since you came all this way,” Dr. Bertucci responds.
“I would appreciate that very much, but for now would you be interested in selling me this item?” Dona questions.
“Dr. Roberts, I could not even begin to know a price for such a find,” the Curator tells her. “If you give me a few weeks to do some authentication on the piece we could speak again about a sale of the item.”
Dona lifts the case she carried in with her onto the table and opens the lid. “Six thousand Phoenix, I believe they are worth much more today than when they were minted, in a historical sense anyway,” Dona says to the slack jawed Curator.
“How did you even carry this in here?” Dr. Bertucci asks in shock. “It must weigh in excess of 1000 kilos.”
“I workout,” Dona replies. “Do we have a deal?”
The dumbfounded man simply stands staring at the case for several minutes. Then he places the necklace back in the case. He closes the case, locking it. Then hands Dona both the case and the key. “It has been a pleasure doing business with your Doctor.”
The Roberts’ family home
3005 NW 14th St
Miami, Florida
Justine and Christine are hanging out in her bedroom talking about possible plans for the summer vacation while doing their nails. With everything that has happened it would appear that Justine still has no memory of the events before the Prom. Something that Christine is not sure how to treat at the moment. She has sworn off tampering with her friend’s minds for everyone’s safety from now on.
Justine praddles on about how she loves the beach but she is not thrilled with the idea that she has to spend it with her family. “My little brother, Sean, is such a pain in the ass most of the time.” “He constantly follows me around and is always telling my business to Mom and Dad,” Justine complains. “You should really come with us so we can have some fun.”
“I don’t know Tine, I’m not a big fan of the beach,” Christine replies, laying back on her bed to fan her hands in the air. “I was going to ask my parents if we could take a trip back to Philly to see my old friends.
“What about your new friends?” Justine says. “You can’t just let me out in the cold!”
“Miami Beach in July is not out in the cold!” Christine chides. “Besides, with all the extra work at school and my Dad on business trips I feel like I have hardly gotten to see him this year.”
“What about your Mom?” Justine asks. “Didn’t you say she was off on some trip too?”
“I see plenty of my Mom through the school year believe me,” Christine grumbles. Then the doorbell rings. “Who could that be?” Christine says jumping up from the bed to look out the front window down to the door. She spots Gavin waving up to her in the window. “Shit, its Gavin O’Connor!”
“What, I thought you liked about him, he’s kind of cute if you ask me,” Justine comments.
“I do like him, just not in that way,” Christine answers, not wanting to go into the whole, “I almost got him killed” story. She has been trying to keep him at a distance. Going to her vanity she pulls her hair up into a messy bun and wipes off all the make-up Justine put on her face.
“What are you doing?” Justine exclaims. “You look hot if I say so myself!”
“I do not need to give Gavin any ideas,” Christine replies, turning to head down stairs to the door. She opens the door to let the boy in. “Hey, Gavin, what are you doing here?” “Justine and I were just having a girl’s day.”
Gavin looks past Christine to see Justine standing on the stairs. “Great I can tell you both at once,” Gavin says excited. “While I was sick my student visa got approved and I will be able to stay in the United States.” “I just need to find a sponsor family.” “We can all hang out through the summer too!”
“That is great,” Christine blurts out. “But I’m going to Philadelphia to spend the summer with her big bro.”
“Oh,” Gavin says disappointed. “When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning,” Christine tells him. “That is why Justine is here to help me pack.”
“Well I guess I’ll get going then,” Gavin says with disappointment in his voice. “I hope you have a nice time.”
After Gavin leaves, Justine corners Christine in the front hall asking, “Why did you do that?” “Why did you lie to him like that?” “You don’t have a brother.”
“Yes I do, he is a half-brother from my father’s first marriage,” Christine reveals. “Now come help me pack.”
“So you are really going?” Justine asks.
“Yes, yes I am!” Christine insisted.
][Friday, June 17, 1988
Flight 964
From Athens to London
high over Europe
Sitting on the plane, Dona Roberts considers the meaning of Medea switching out the medallion. It was a surprise when she learned that Medea was still alive last November. She knew that Medea showing up to steal Mystic Artifacts could not be a good thing. Steve did good against her as Master Warrior, but now that the cat is out of the bag that he is her son things could get worse. Between Medea’s magic and Steve’s powers there is no telling what she learned by licking his feet. Of all the things she taught her son about the tricks of witches, how could she have forgotten that one!
That is why Dona started looking for anything she thought Medea might be after. Now with what has transpired in Greece she knows it can’t be good. Dona knows she should leave it up to Steve to handle but this is something with which she has more experience. He is busy building a life for himself. He does not have time for this leg work and she is glad to do it.
She knows the Slave Necklace could come in handy if Samso ever escapes again. Dona took notice that in none of the photos or footage of Master Warrior’s fight with Samso was the Nozama wearing the gauntlets. Dona hopes with the help of her amazon sister Artemis they can find a lead on the Slave gauntlets that go with the necklace.
Nevertheless the first thing Dona needs to do is call Steve when she gets to London. Let him know what is going on, what she has learned. Then she is off to find Artemis. When last they spoke Artemis was living in London. Dona knows Artemis moves around a lot and she hopes Artemis is still using the same identity as last they spoke. Together they are all it will take to handle whatever Medea has up her sleeve. When last they spoke neither of them had heard from their other surviving sister Heleana in centuries. Knowing Heleana she has probably found a place to fight trolls or something.