Special Thanks to TRDowden1 for all the help and assistance! You're wonderful!
Warning: This chapter contains violent and slightly disturbing scenes.
Ch. 2: Me and the Kid
'Okay . . . kid . . . just try to calm down,' Duke said. 'We need to talk.'
Todd just panted, trying to catch his breath.
'Come on, relax . . . breathe . . . in . . . out . . . relax . . . there . . . that means the other shoulder as well . . .' Duke said as he tried to calm himself down as well. The last thing he could have imagined was being stuck in a kid's body as some form of the afterlife. Duke could even feel the kid's emotions and everything about this body, see through his eyes and somehow he could control the body sometimes. He wanted to figure this out, but that means he needed the kid's corporation as well. 'Okay . . . let's go back to introductions . . . I'm Duke Crocker, and you are . . .?'
"Todd, sweetie, are you okay?" Ida asked as she came into the bathroom, turning on the lights, to see Todd sitting on the floor, looking completely terrified. She immediately rushed to his side. "Todd, what happened?"
"Re-re-reflection . . ." Todd managed to get out of his mouth, indicating the mirror.
Ida helped Todd back up to his feet and they looked at the mirror. Todd could see the man . . . Duke; when Duke looked at the mirror, he could see Todd's reflection, but not his own.
"What is it?" Ida asked, concerned.
"Th-th-th-that," Todd mumbled, indicating Duke's reflection.
"What are you seeing?" Ida asked, even more concerned, and Duke understood.
'She can't see me,' Duke told Todd before he could even speak and he felt Todd panicking. 'Look . . . Todd . . . we need to talk . . . in private . . . so, can you tell your mom you need to be alone or something? Todd? Todd? Can you say something? Can you hear me?'
"Can you hear me?" Todd . . . no, Duke said in Todd's voice, surprising both of them.
"Yes, I can hear you," Ida said, starting to get worried, as she looked at Todd. "What's wrong, Todd?"
'Looks like I'm in charge of the show now,' Duke thought, and did what he did best: thinking fast on his feet.
"I . . . had a nightmare," Duke said in Todd's voice. "When I woke up . . . I wanted a glass of water, and I thought I saw my nightmare in the mirror because the lights were off. I then tripped on the rug."
"What was your nightmare, Todd?" Ida asked, really concerned.
Duke could feel Todd trying to regain control, but Duke held him back, feeling awful restraining a kid, even mentally.
"I was being controlled by a . . . monster and he made me do horrible things," Duke said. "I couldn't free myself, so my friends had to stop me . . . by killing me."
"Oh, honey," Ida said, and brought Todd into a hug. "I'm sorry you had that nightmare; you know your friends will never do that."
Duke wasn't paying attention to Ida's words, instead, he indulged himself in the feeling being hugged by a mom who truly cared and loved her son; something he never experience in real life.
"Todd, there's something your father and I need to talk to you about—" Ida began after their hug.
"Um, can we talk about this in the morning? I just want to get my water and go back to sleep," Duke said.
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Ida said, and combed her fingers through Todd's hair. "Just . . . please . . . let me know if you have any more nightmares like that, okay?"
Duke nodded and Ida kissed the top of Todd's head before she left. Duke then released Todd who stared at Duke's reflection in the mirror.
"What are you?" Todd whispered. "Are you an alternate personality?"
'Okay . . . maybe introductions are going to be a lot harder than I thought,' Duke said, looking at Todd. 'Maybe you can help me . . . what's your last name?'
"Beale-Grant," Todd whispered, hoping he hadn't woken up his parents again and Duke could sense that.
'Look . . . try speaking to me with your mind,' Duke said.
"How do I do that?"
'Try thinking something at me.'
'Like this?'
'Good! Great!' Duke said. 'Let's go back to your room to continue this conversation. You don't want your parents check on you and see that you're not there, right?'
'Can I get some water first? My throat hurts from screaming.'
'Sure.'
Once Todd got his water and turned off the bathroom lights, he walked back into his room. He then sat on his bed, still reeling from seeing Duke.
'What city do you live in, Todd?' Duke asked.
'Delain,' Todd answered.
'Delain . . . that's 20 miles from Haven,' Duke thought out loud. 'At least I'm still in Maine.'
'Look, I don't want you here! Just leave!' Todd said.
'I wish I could, kid, but I'm afraid I can't,' Duke said. 'I'm stuck in your body.'
'I am not a kid! I'm 13!' Todd said. 'Why shouldn't I tell Mom about you now?'
'You want proof that I'm not an alternate personality? Can you give me 24 hours to prove it to you?' Duke said. '24 hours, that's all I ask. If you still don't believe me afterwards, tell your parents about me.'
That . . . actually sounded reasonable for a voice in his head and Todd agreed.
'Good,' Duke said and looked around the room. 'Do you have a laptop in here? I need you to send an e-mail.'
'I can do that on my phone,' Todd said as he picked up his phone from the nearby nightstand. 'Why do you want me to write an e-mail?'
'You wanted proof that I'm not a voice in your head, this is how,' Duke said. 'I'm going to tell you what to write and who to send it to.'
Once Todd had finished typing up the e-mail, both Duke and he looked over it:
Dear Dr. Verrano:
I know you don't know me, but I want to ask you a question about someone that I've been talking to. See, the problem is, the person I've been talking is actually just a voice in my head. He says that he is a real person, or he was, but he died, and I know I sound crazy, but he says to tell you that he kept that Appleton Estate rum under the Gull's bar just for you, that the rum that said it was Appleton Estate on the bar-back was really the cheap stuff, he just refilled the bottle. He also said to tell you that the brownies were good but were kind of on the dry side and maybe check for seeds a little better, whatever that means. And that he's sorry that he said those awful things to you at the police station...and that you had to be there for what happened to him.
You can e-mail me back, but please don't tell me I'm crazy.
Sincerely,
Todd Beale-Grant
'That's good ki . . . Todd,' Duke said. 'You can send it now.'
After Todd placed back his phone, Duke could feel Todd's body getting tried.
'You should try to go back to sleep,' Duke said.
'I don't think I can,' Todd said.
"Let me help you, first lie down,' Duke said and Todd followed Duke's instruction. 'Good, okay, concentrate on the way you breathe . . .'
Duke felt Todd's presence slowly fading and soon the boy was asleep. He realized he too felt tired; he didn't actually feel sleepy, but rather worn out, and soon, he felt himself drifting into unconsciousness.
Both Todd and Duke were awakened by Ida the next morning. While Todd was busy getting himself ready for school, Duke experimented with their situation. He found out he could close himself off from Todd's senses, but still be aware of everything, which Duke considered a good thing because he didn't want to experience everything Todd was doing.
When Todd reached the kitchen, his parents were already sitting down at the table.
"Sit down, Todd," Patton said in a kind voice. "We need to talk."
'Let me do the talking,' Todd said to Duke. 'I know what they're going to say.'
'Okay, but just let me know if you need me,' Duke said.
Todd mentally nodded back as he sat down.
"Todd, ever since we adopted you, we were worried—" Ida began.
"-That the shootout will cause some mental trauma for me in the future?" Todd said as Duke listened on, interested. "You're not very good at keeping a secret, Mom."
"Then you know we are worried about the incident that happened last night," Patton said and sighed. "Todd, we're going to call a doctor for help; don't fight us on this."
"I won't," Todd said, sounding like he was reluctantly agreeing, and he felt Duke's confusion. 'What did you want me to do? Fight them and make them believe that I'm hiding something else?'
Todd felt Duke smile at him, impressed.
"Well, I'm glad that's over with," Ida said and got up from the table. "I'll go make us some French toast."
Gloria sat there at her computer, torn between fury and tears. It could be a cruel prank; but how would this Todd Beale-Grant know such intimate things about Duke's relationship with her?
Dwight put his head in.
"Hey, are we still on for lun - what's the matter?" he asked, seeing her expression.
"I just got a very strange e-mail from a young man named Todd Beale-Grant," Gloria began. "He claims that he's hearing a voice in his head."
"Sounds like you should refer him to the Freddy," Dwight answered.
"It's whose voice he's hearing," Gloria replied.
"Who's he hearing? Napoleon Bonaparte?"
"Duke Crocker."
Dwight stared. "Duke? That's a pretty cruel trick to be playing," he grumbled.
"I'm not sure it is a joke, Dwight," Gloria replied. "Read the e-mail."
Dwight scanned over the e-mail, his face concerned.
"That's a lot of personal information," he noted.
"Information that only Duke and I would know," Gloria stated.
"So - what are you going to do?" Dwight questioned. "Gloria - what if -"
"What if this voice the kid hears is really Duke? I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," she answered. "But right now, I have a phone call to make."
"Call who?" Dwight asked, looking over the e-mail again.
"Vicki; tell her to look after Aaron while I'm gone," Gloria said.
"Gloria, you can't investigate this kid, you don't know where he is," Dwight said.
"Laverne taught herself some tech skills while she was merged with the station; she can locate him," Gloria said and got her purse. "Guess I'll take a rain check on lunch."
"This could be one Duke 'business' associates that he ripped off, trying to get revenge," Dwight said. "You're not going alone."
"Are your volunteering yourself?" Gloria asked.
Dwight sighed. "Looks like it. I'll have McHugh look after Lizzie and ask the Guard to research the Teagues' archive and they find more about the Beale-Grant family."
Gloria nodded. She was about to leave, when Dwight asked the question she knew that was coming.
"Should I tell Nathan?"
"Let's see what we find first," Gloria said and left.
'So . . . you're adopted,' Duke said as Ida drove Todd to school. 'Care to tell me what happened?'
'You're the voice in my head; you already know everything about me,' Todd replied.
'Didn't we already have this talk?'
'If you're not an alternate personality, then what are you?'
'I'm . . . not really sure myself,' Duke said and he could feel Todd smirking. 'I guess . . . I'm some kind of spirit? Hey, this is all new to me too!'
'Then if you were alive, can you tell me about yourself?' Todd asked.
'I'm not a big fan of sharing personal information,' Duke said.
'So you're not going to tell me about yourself and miss the chance to prove that you were alive and real?'
There was a long silence in his head.
'You're good, kid,' Duke finally responded, causing Todd to mentally grin. 'Okay, how about a deal: you tell me about your past and I talk to you about my life.'
'Deal,' Todd said, as Ida pulled up to school and Todd exited the car.
'Do you want to start?' Duke asked as Todd entered the school.
'I have P. E. during second period. We're doing track and field; we could talk then,' Todd said and he could sense Duke's curiosity. 'My parents would get more worried if they found out if I was not focusing in class.'
'Smart,' Duke said.
While Todd ran around the track, he and Duke had their mental conversation. During the times when Duke explained Haven and the Troubles, Todd almost ran off the track. Todd also had a chance to tell Duke about his past as well. They were still talking during the next period.
'Wait, you live at sea . . . meet a mysterious woman . . . you best friend is in law enforcement . . .' Todd thought. 'You're Dirk the pirate!'
'I'm what?'
'Before I heard you, I was having dreams and I wrote them into stories,' Todd said.
'You were experiencing my memories,' Duke figured out. 'Then why did I have to tell you more about myself?'
'I didn't know they were your memories,' Todd said, as he tried to pay attention to what his history teacher, Mrs. Dolebrust, was saying.
'You know, I think I had her is high school,' Duke said. Mrs. Dolebrust was short, fat, had short curly brown hair, with wide jowls. She wore glasses, too bright a lipstick, a printed dress, and shoes two sizes too small for her. 'I think they'll all clones from a teacher from the 1950's, and every school is required to have one.'
Luckily for Todd, he burst out laughing when class was over so Mrs. Dolebust didn't hear him.
'I thought you might like that,' Duke said, smiling, as they left the classroom. 'Na—' Duke paused; he hadn't told Todd how he'd died yet; and right now, bringing up Nathan was still a sensitive subject.
'Duke? Are you okay?' Todd asked, feeling Duke's uneasiness.
"Todd," Bridget said, getting his attention. "Hey, did you get the last two assignments Mrs. Dolebust gave us? She refused to tell me when she left to her office."
"Um . . . I wasn't paying attention," Todd reluctantly confessed; he was busy having a conversation with Duke during that time and Bridget looked disappointed.
"Don't worry, Bridget, I was paying attention, and I would be most pleased to help you," Caesar said, walking over to Bridget. "Unfortunately, I already put away my history notebook, so how about we walk back to my locker and get it?"
Duke could feel what Todd truly feel about the two together as Todd watched them leave.
'You like her, don't you?' Duke questioned, and his response was silence. 'Yeah, you like her,' Duke grinned as Todd mentally blushed. 'I'll tell you a secret about girls: They love mystery.'
An idea occurred to him. 'You speak any foreign languages?'
'I'm 13; I'm not fluent in any foreign languages! I'm taking Spanish, but I suck at it,' Todd said.
'Is Bridget taking Spanish?' Duke asked and discovered he could access Todd's memories.
'We're in the same class,' Todd said. 'Why?'
'Let me drive for a bit,' Duke told Todd as he noticed the poem they needed to learn in Spanish class though Todd's memories. 'Chase off your competition.'
'I don't know about this, Duke,' Todd hesitated, recalling Duke fighting.
'We're not going to hurt him; just beat him at his own game,' Duke told him. 'I speak five foreign languages. Let me drive.'
'Wow, do you really?' Todd asked, amazed, just as Duke took over.
Duke forgotten what it was like to be a kid in school; he glanced at his reflection in the door glass as he walked past, seeing a young kid who'd suddenly gained a bit of swagger, and he approached Caesar and Bridget, just as Caesar was doing the old yawn-and-stretch routine on Bridget, neatly stepping in between them, and Caesar jerked his arm back.
"Hey, Caesar," Duke said in Todd's voice. "Do you think I could get that assignment too?"
"Yeah, well, I guess so," Caesar grumbled, giving him a dirty look.
"I was kind of spacing about that poem we're supposed to do for Spanish class," Duke went on, noticing that Bridget straightened up noticeably.
"Have you got it memorized yet?" Bridget asked.
"Well, just a little of it," Duke replied. "Let's see . . . La rose que florece luz de la manana antes de (The rose that blooms ere morning light)/ Se ablande a mendo por el atardecer (is oft wilted by the dusk)/ Pero la rosa que florece en el crepuscudo es el lovliest levanto de todos (But the rose that blooms by twilight is the loveliest rose of all)," he finished, and gave her a smile.
"Todd, that's AMAZING," she beamed, and Caesar got an even dirtier look on his face.
"My pronunciation is a little rusty, though," Duke said, playing bashful.
'I can't believe she liked that,' Todd spoke.
'Watch and learn, kid, watch and learn,' Duke answered, grinning and took the paper from Caesar. "Thanks, buddy."
He made to walk away, and Bridget followed after. "Um . . . Todd?"
Duke stopped, and then glanced at her over his shoulder. "Mm?" he said.
"Um, I could help you with your pronunciation sometime," she replied shyly. "And then maybe you could read me some more of your stories. If you don't mind . . . I like to share some ideas."
'You've been reading her my memories?' Duke asked.
'I didn't know they were your memories. And you're romancing the girl I like!' Todd shot back.
'No, you are romancing her, so you better pay attention,' Duke told him, and then gazed at Bridget.
"I'd like that," he said, giving her his best smile. "Maybe you could come over tonight - we're having pizza."
'We're having meatloaf,' Todd corrected.
'You can't romance a girl with meatloaf!' Duke retorted. 'Tell your folks you want pizza. Judging by your dad's face when your mom said meatloaf for dinner, you won't have too hard a time convincing him to order pizza. Besides, I hate meatloaf.'
'Point taken,' Todd conceded, seeing Bridget's expression. Maybe she really did like him.
'I bet you could romance a girl with meatloaf if you really tried, Duke,' Todd grinned.
'Maybe. I know a guy who did it with pancakes, so I guess nothing's impossible,' Duke ruminated. 'Even more impressive was she didn't even like pancakes to begin with. Must've worn her down with that Gary Cooper 'Aw, shucks, Ma'am,' routine of his.'
'Pancakes? Sounds like something Noel would do.'
Duke was silent.
'He's a real person too, isn't he?' Todd asked gently.
'Yeah, he's real. His real name is Nathan. I'd like to see these stories of yours when we get home.'
"Todd?" Bridget said, getting both of their attention; Todd was back in control.
"Yes?"
"I said I need to talk to my dad about dinner," Bridget said. "I'm sure he'll be cool with it; I'll let you know."
"Oh . . . okay . . . cool . . ." Todd said and he waved to Bridget as she left and Duke realized something.
'Wait, what about her mom? Are her parents divorced or something?' Duke asked.
'Bridget's mom died 5 months ago,' Todd said. 'It was some sort of cancer . . . Bridget doesn't like to talk about it . . . her dad's still single . . . I don't know how she feels about him remarrying.'
'Oh.'
'So, Nathan . . . was that the guy who liked the teacher clone joke as well?' Todd asked.
Yeah, that teacher was even mean to him," Duke said, smiling slightly. "And Nathan was your typical nice boy-next-door variety."
'You went to school together?' Todd asked. 'And you're still friends? That's cool. Who was woman he was romancing? Was she like Agnes?'
Duke quickly looked at a clock. 'Shouldn't you get ready for your next class?'
'You're right!' Todd realized and began running. 'It's Mr. Spencer's class! He teaches English! You'll like him! He keeps the lessons really interesting and shares with us little known information! He encourages us to ask engaging questions!'
Duke had to agree as he listened to Mr. Spencer teach.
'You know,' Duke said. 'If there were more teachers like him around, I would have spent more time at school.'
After school, to Todd's surprise, it was Patton who picked him up, not Ida.
"Sorry I couldn't call you about the change, Todd. I knew you were in class, and I know the rules about cell phones," Patton said once Todd was safe and seated.
"What's going on?" Todd asked as Patton began to drive.
"Remember the conversation we had this morning?" Patton asked.
"Yeah . . ."
"Your mom made some phone calls, and we got lucky, the clinic sent someone over, and you're going to meet her," Patton said. "Don't worry about your homework; we'll talk to your teachers."
"Okay . . ." Todd said as he got out his phone and texted to Bridget that they had to cancel dinner plans.
'Sorry about that, kid,' Duke said, sympathizing. 'Look at the bright side; at least you don't have to do homework.'
Todd just smiled.
When they got home, Patton lead Todd into the living room where Ida and two other people were talking.
"Todd, I like you to meet Dr. Gloria Verrano and . . . um . . ." Patton said.
"My P. A., Dwight Hendrickson," the older woman said as she got up and walked over to Todd and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you . . . kiddo."
"So, Dr. Verrano, do you want to talk to us first, and then Todd, or all of us together?" Patton asked, anxious.
"I'd like to just talk with Todd alone for now. Then you can join in and we'll talk about what we discussed," Gloria replied.
Ida and Patton nodded their agreement, and left, closing the sliding doors to the dining room, leaving Todd alone with Gloria and Dwight.
'Is this your Gloria?' Todd asked Duke.
'That is my Gloria. The big guy is the police chief of Haven, Dwight Hendrickson; but I just call him Sasquatch,' Duke replied.
"So, Todd," Gloria began. "That's some e-mail you sent me. I'm curious as to who told you all of that stuff."
"The voice in my head did," Todd said, then realized how crazy he sounded.
Gloria and Dwight glanced at one another.
"Stranger things have happened," Gloria muttered. "Remember what happened to us."
"We agreed we weren't ever going to talk about that anymore," Dwight answered out of the side of his mouth, and Duke laughed so hard it came through Todd, and both Gloria and Dwight looked at him strangely.
"Sorry," Todd apologized. "He laughed, not me."
"Who laughed?" Gloria said.
"Duke did. That's the voice in my head - he says his name is Duke Crocker, that he was a real person. Was he?"
"Yes, Duke was very real," Dwight answered. "But he died almost a month ago."
"That was around the time when I started having those dreams," Todd said. "So I'm really not crazy?"
"As far as Duke having been a real person, no, you're not crazy," Gloria told him. "Todd - do you think that you might let me talk to Duke, if you're comfortable with that. We can try hypnosis, if that will help, but I'm kind of rusty at it."
'Let me talk to her,' Duke told Todd.
''Kay,' Todd answered, and Gloria saw the change in Todd's demeanor almost immediately. Duke smiled at her, and gave her hand a gentle squeeze before he addressed Dwight.
"Hello, Sasquatch," Duke said in Todd's voice, and grinned at the shock that crossed Dwight's expression.
"What's the combination to The Grey Gull's office safe?" Gloria demanded suddenly. "Only two people knew the combination: Duke Crocker - and me."
"One turn left, stop on eight, two turns right to fifteen, one turn left to twenty, and one turn right to ten," Duke said.
"And what is the significance of those numbers?" she asked, her eyes growing bright.
"It's my daughter Jean's birth date," Duke replied, and Gloria put her arms around Todd.
"It's really you in there," she smiled, touching Todd's face.
"Duke," Dwight got out, stunned. "Why? How did you-"
"I don't know," Duke replied. "The last thing I knew, I was in Haven PD, and then-" he gestured at Todd's body, "-I was here. The how and why I have no idea. I was hoping that you might know something about it."
"Us? What would we know about transmogrification?" Dwight said, and Duke blinked in surprise at him.
"Look at you with the ten-dollar word," he cracked. "Todd was adopted by the Grants. His birth parents were named Beale. He told me something about them dying in a shootout in Haven."
"I'll look in the archives the minute we get back to Haven," Dwight promised. "But what do we do about you in the meantime?"
"We have to figure a way to get me out of Todd," Duke told them.
"But kiddo - you don't have a body to go back to," Gloria told him. "If you leave Todd-"
"Then I'll probably cease to be," Duke finished. "The thought's occurred to me too, Gloria. But for now, let's see what we can find out in the archives, and then we'll go from there."
Gloria nodded. "Do you possess him all the time?"
"No, I ask. I remember how I felt when Tyler was driving me around without my permission. I don't want Todd to feel trapped in his own body," Duke said. "I'm going to let him come back. But he can hear me in his mind, and I can tell him any answers that you ask him," he went on. "So don't think you have to speak directly to me all the time. I'm still here, Gloria," he reassured her, squeezing her hand affectionately. "I'm still here."
Duke blinked and Todd came back.
"Then . . . I'm not going crazy?" Todd asked Gloria and Dwight.
"Like I said, no, you're not," Gloria said in a kind voice.
"All the things he told me . . . about Haven and the Troubles . . . they're real?" Todd asked, and Gloria nodded back. Todd sat down in the nearest chair hard.
"Are you all right?" Dwight asked.
"I don't know what's worse: going crazy or finding out the supernatural is real," Todd said.
Gloria sat down next to him and patted Todd's hand reassuringly.
"At least now there are other people who can help," Gloria said.
"What are we going to do now?" Dwight asked as the doorbell rang. "We can't take him back to Haven."
Suddenly Ida screamed as noises of a fight were heard outside the living room. Dwight signaled the others to stay as he went over to the sliding doors and took a peek.
Even after all he'd seen and experienced in Haven, what he saw shocked him to the core. Smashing Patton's head against the wall was the Aether big guy, and he could see the Aether little guy dragging Ida across the floor as he went for one of the knives from the knife block.
William's henchmen had returned. Dwight carefully closed the door and looked at Todd and Gloria.
"Gloria, call 911; get the paramedics here as soon as possible," Dwight said.
"What's going on?" Gloria asked as she took out her phone.
"William's goons are back," Dwight said.
"Now I really need a drink," Gloria mumbled as she dialed.
"What about my parents?" Todd asked, concerned.
"I'll help them, I need you to hide," Dwight said. "Duke, protect them."
Duke nodded and Dwight left.
"The only place we can hide is behind the sofa," Todd confessed.
"Better than standing around in the open," Gloria said when she was done with the call.
Duke took over and led Gloria behind the sofa.
'Todd, does Patton own a gun?' Duke asked as they waited behind the sofa.
'No, why?' Todd asked.
'Remember what I told you about Troubles? Well, Dwight's Troubled. I don't know if it's gone or returned.'
'What is his Trouble?'
'He can attract bullets'.
'Then why is he Chief of Police? Isn't he worried that a criminal might shoot him?'
Just then, the sliding doors flew opened and the Aether big guy entered the room. Duke instinctively looked for anything that he could use as a weapon. He found one of Patton's golf clubs lying on the floor as the big Aether guy found them. Duke stood protectively in front of Gloria and welded the golf club as a weapon.
At that moment, Dwight snuck up behind the over-sized Aether henchman and put him into a chokehold. The Aether-man promptly disintegrated into hundreds of little black balls of Aether and floated away, swirling out of the door.
Duke could see no sign of the other smaller Aether-man, and he surmised that Dwight must have already disposed of him as well.
"You guys okay?" Dwight asked.
Both Duke and Gloria nodded back and Duke let Todd back in control. Todd immediately dropped the golf club and quickly headed for the door and Duke realized what he was doing.
"Dwight! Gloria! Stop him! I can't!" Duke called out, trying to stop Todd from seeing what the Aether henchmen did to his parents.
Dwight swiftly ran after Todd and held him back just as the paramedics arrived, but Todd could see the EMTs giving Patton chest compressions while two other EMTs were trying to stop the bleeding from the deep knife wounds on Ida's arms and chest.
Duke let go of Todd as he let out a cry and collapsed into Dwight's arms.
Dwight gently moved Todd into Gloria's arms so he can talk to the arriving local police.
Gloria held Todd tight and let him cry. Duke could nothing, but watch from inside Todd's mind, wishing he could do something to help the kid.
