The Quickening
Connor MacLeod held the phone receiver to his ear for a few seconds after the caller on the other end had hung up. Shock? A delayed reaction to the sudden news? Whatever it was, it finally passed, he looked at the receiver before slamming it down. The almost 475 year old man groaned softly and ran a hand over one side of his face and up through his hair. It was little after 5 o' clock in the morning and already his day was shot to hell with this phone call and what it meant. He tried to gather his thoughts, what was he going to do first? He was reluctant to take off, running from an avoidable fight wasn't and had never been his style, that more belonged to his longtime friend, Methos. However, Connor had to remind himself that it wasn't just himself anymore, he had someone else to consider.
Time was short, he had to make his decision now. Against his better judgment, kicking himself for it, beating himself up for this decision, he decided he would run. He needed to get away and buy some time to figure out what he was going to do. He also had to get the occupant of the other bedroom someplace safe and out of the line of fire.
He was already dressed. He'd been asleep when the phone rang but he'd fallen asleep the night before in the jeans and sweat shirt he'd worn the day before. He put on his white sneakers and ran down the hall to the other bedroom, there was no time to lose. He didn't even bother turning on the light, he just went over to the figure sleeping in the bed and pulled.
"Hmm….what's going on, Connor?" Richelle Ryan tiredly asked as she slowly started to come around.
By this time, Connor had pulled her out of the bed and wound up taking some of the covers with her. He half tucked the sheets under her as he picked her up and carried her out of the room and ran down the hall and down the stairs and told her, "We're going on a little trip."
He just hoped they actually had the time to get out to the car and get the hell out of here before everything went to hell.
By now, Richelle was a bit more awake and alert and she held tightly to Connor's back as she asked him, "Connor, what's going on? Where're we going?"
Outside it was still pitch dark, they were so far out of the city limits that they could actually still see the stars, just about everything else was dark except for a couple of street lamps on opposite ends of the block. Connor was thankful that Richelle had forgotten to put the windows up in the car the night before, it made it much easier to just slip her into the passenger side. He got in on the other side and in three seconds had the engine turned over and the car thrown into drive and they did a sharp U turn and tore off down the street. Connor half let out the breath he was holding onto, they'd gotten out of the house, and they were already halfway out of the neighborhood, but he wasn't convinced that they were out of the woods just yet, and he wouldn't be until he knew they'd gotten out in time.
"Well?" Richelle asked him.
He looked at her and said, trying to sound nonchalant, "I think you've been spending too much time in the city, I think it's time we took a trip to a more rural area, out of the way, lot of wide open spaces, clean air, lot of grass and big bodies of water."
"For that you drag me out of bed at 5 in the morning?" Richelle asked, "Where're we even going?"
"I know a place," Connor said, and he hoped they reached that destination without being followed.
Richie Ryan sat on the wrap around railing that surrounded the porch of the cabin Duncan had taken he and Tessa to and looked around. The place stood a good seven feet from the ground thanks to a lot of stairs, and as far as the eye could see there was nothing but land and out past that, a lot of water, one big as hell lake that nobody was occupying. For that matter, he hadn't seen anyone out here since they'd arrived.
"Okay…" he said, trying to break the silence that had been in effect for about 10 minutes, "So…what exactly do you do out here all day?"
Tessa stepped out on the porch and pointed out to the lake, "People go swimming in the lake or rent boats and go cruising around, some water ski."
"Ha…no thanks," Richie replied as he planted his feet on the railing and drew his knees towards his chest, "I think I'll stay on the land, thank you very much. What do they have in store for solid ground?"
"What's the matter, Richie?" Duncan asked as he joined the others on the porch, "Worried you're going to be bored?"
"Nooo," Richie insisted cynically, "I just want to make sure I don't keel over from all the excitement and stimulating activities…" he looked to Duncan and asked, "So how long's this friend of yours letting you use the place?"
"Oh we figured on a couple of weeks, by that time we ought to be back in Seacouver," Duncan said.
"Terrific," Richie muttered to himself, "Two weeks in this place…no TV, no neighbors, no contact whatsoever with the outside world, should be great," he looked around and added to himself, "I'd drown myself."
Richie was sure he was just already homesick and going slightly crazy from the lack of interaction with other human beings and the noises of daily life back in the city, but he could've sworn he heard…no, he did hear, he turned and saw a car heading their way.
"Hey Mac," he said, "You expecting anyone?"
"No," Duncan went over to the railing and looked out and also saw the car approaching the property.
Tessa looked worried, "Mac?"
Duncan watched as the car drew closer at an unyielding speed, and when it got close enough for him to get a good look at, he looked even more confused.
"It's Connor," he said.
Richie looked and saw that there was someone in the passenger side of the car. "Richelle!"
It didn't make sense because they weren't expected to come out and visit with them for two more weeks until they got back to Seacouver, but Richie didn't care, he was glad that they were back. Alright, maybe now there'd be something to do around here.
"There they are," Connor said, looking up to the elevated porch, he turned to Richelle and added, "Now remember what I told you."
Richelle didn't look happy about it but she slowly nodded, "Alright, Connor."
Connor reached over with one hand and traced through the hair on the side of her head, then he leaned over and kissed her. Ordinarily Richelle would've elbowed him in the face for even trying, but this time she didn't even bother. She just reached over and opened her door and started out.
Richie was already running down the stairs and out to the car to meet them, Tessa and Duncan a few feet behind him. Richelle got out but kept her door open and kept it between she and her brother as he came up to her. She folded her arms over the top of the door and looked to Richie as if she was bored. Connor was getting her bags out of the backseat, they hadn't taken any of her stuff out of the car since she got back from the airport, for which he was very glad now.
"Hey sis!" Richie called as he ran over to her, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming too?"
Richelle just shrugged and replied, "Didn't know."
"Connor," Duncan said as he and Tessa came up to the other man, "What's going on?"
"Sorry," Connor replied with a prepared smile, "I can't stay," he handed Richelle's bags to Duncan and the unexpected weight of them about caused him to drop them both, "I just came to drop Richelle off before I was on my way."
"On your way where?" Tessa asked, clearly not understanding anything that was going on, and it was obvious from the look on Duncan's face that he didn't know anymore about it than she did.
"Sorry, that's classified," Connor answered, then turned to his cousin and said, "Now Duncan, I want you to promise me that I'm not going to come back and find Richelle cooking in the oven with an apple in her mouth."
"What's going on, Connor?" Duncan asked. Despite the elder clansman's optimistic act, Duncan was able to see through that much anyway, he knew something was wrong, "What's the matter?"
"Just a little private business I need to take care of," Connor explained, "And I can't take Richelle with me so I'm leaving her here in your care."
"I don't understand, Connor, what's the meaning of all this?" Tessa asked.
Connor gave a half shrug and told her, "Just business as usual, Tessa, I need to tend to it, and I need you two to keep an eye on Richelle for me until I get back."
"Why didn't you just let her stay at the house?" Duncan asked.
"What?" Connor responded in disbelief, "And come back to find out she burnt it to the ground?" he shook his head.
Connor walked back to his car and Duncan walked right behind him, refusing to let this go. "Connor, what is going on?"
"I'm not telling you," Connor told him.
"Where are you going?" Duncan wanted to know.
"I'm not telling you that either," Connor replied.
"Connor!" Duncan grabbed his cousin by the back of his jacket and simultaneously turned him around and threw him against the side of the car. Having the elder man's attention now, Duncan looked him dead in the eyes and demanded to know, "Who is it?"
Connor merely shook his head and insisted, "This is my fight, cousin, not yours, you are going to have your hands full as it is keeping an eye on the Hunch Bunch over there."
Connor walked away from him, and Duncan still didn't understand, he felt threatened by this brush off he was getting, and he called after Connor, "Why won't you tell me where you're going?"
Connor turned around and answered, "Precisely so you can't follow me. You're not getting off the hook of babysitting that easy."
On the other side of the car, Richelle had slammed her door shut and started explaining the situation as best as she could to her brother, but it was obvious she was about as much in the dark as the rest of them.
"I don't know, Richie, guy comes into my room drags me out of bed at 5 A.M., carries me down to the car, doesn't even let me get dressed," she emphasized this point by tugging on the seams of her Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle nightshirt that she was still wearing, "We spend the next 3 hours on the road coming here because he remembered Duncan mentioning you guys were going to be vacationing here for a couple weeks. Says I'm to stay here with you guys and not cause too much trouble for the fathead over there. I don't get it and he wouldn't tell me anything."
They watched Connor get in the car, start it up, back it up several feet, then turn around and go back the way they came, leaving only a cloud of dust behind.
"Well that was certainly rude," Richie commented.
Richelle reached over and gripped his arm tightly and murmured to him, "Richie, I don't think Connor's coming back."
He looked at his sister and asked, "What, you think he's ditching you?"
Richelle leaned over to say into his ear so the others couldn't hear her, but Richie could hear loud and clear the worry in her tone as she told him, "I think he's going to die." Richie pulled back and looked at his sister and she had a melancholic look on her face and she told him, "He's going off to fight some Immortal and I don't think he's going to come back alive from it this time, I don't know why, I just think it. But he was acting weird before we got here, talking about a lot of stuff that didn't make any sense, and he said not to repeat any of it, especially in front of them." She glanced over to Duncan and Tessa.