Chapter 2

Preparation

Chapter updated: March 31, 2013.

A Heavy rain pours down, cloaking the pavement in a blanket of mist. The sound of the downpour hitting the pavement drowns out my senses as I near my grandfather's house. When I arrive, I'm freezing cold and soaking wet from head to toe. Water drips off my hair and hits my nose as I walk up the steps.

I knock on the door, but he doesn't answer right away. He never answers if you simply knock, so I reluctantly ring the doorbell. I can hear him making his way behind the door.

"Coming, coming...Now who could that be at 8:00 at night." He opens the door, eyes wide open with concern. Should I be here? I just decided - moments ago that I'm going to use the time streaming device, and I plan to leave tonight. But, I have nowhere else to go. I have to stay the night somewhere.

"M-Michelle, what on earth happened?" He stammers over his words.

"Never mind that, come in quickly and get out of the rain." I can always count on my grandfather to welcome me with open arms no matter what trouble I'm in.

"I'll get you a towel, and how about a hot cup of coco." I walk in practically shaking with both arms wrapped around my body. He comes down the stairs with a towel and hands it to me with caring eyes, than proceeds into the kitchen. I could hear him scuffling around, then filling a pot with something, probably milk to warm it up on the stove top. He had always made hot chocolate that way. It just tastes that much better.

I make my way into the living room, with the towel draped around me and sit on the couch. I look around the room at the many pictures of our family. My eyes meet the photograph of my mother and father on their wedding day; they look so happy together. Where has the time gone…?

He walks into the room and hands me the hot chocolate, then sits on the chair across from me. We sit in silence for a few moments before he decides to question me, but he knows full well I have no intention of talking about it this evening.

"Why don't you start from the beginning, dear?"

"I don't really feel like talking about it, Grandpa."

He knows very well where this is going. This isn't the first time I've shown up at his doorstep uninvited, since my father's engagement to Karen. I know that I'm 24, and that I shouldn't even be living at home, but I can't leave without my sister. I'm merely staying for her sake. I'm hoping by 17 she won't need me anymore.

"Sigh. It's just..." I was starting to get choked up again. This is a long night.

"She's changing him." He looks at me sorrowfully.

"She's changing his morals, his thoughts, that bitch is changing everything about him!" I think I surprised him with my last sentence. It's probably the first time he's heard me curse in front of him like that.

"He lets her talk him into doing and saying things he never does."

"Michelle…do you think you are the only one effected by your mother's death."

"…No." I sniff.

"I know he's hurt. I just don't understand why he feels the need to act like this towards me and my sister." I try to wipe the tears from my eyes

"He believes every lie she comes up with, it's like he's afraid to stand up to her...even for his own children." I stare off, detached.

"I've lost all my respect for him and I don't think there is anything you can say that will change my mind at this point..."

"And I'm not going to try." he adds sincerely.

"I believe that is up to your father and him alone." I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. Karen has him wrapped around all ten of her fingers.

My grandfather gets up and brings our glasses into the kitchen. I follow him to see if there is anything I can help with. He looks at me like he wants to say something, but hesitates at first.

"…So, why did you leave in such a hurry the other day?"

"What? Leave in a hurry…? Oh at the center!" I had completely forgot about that.

"It was nothing, really…Why? What did Michael say?" I'm interested to hear what that moron dreamed up as an excuse.

"Nothing, he had no idea either." Oh really…

At about 8:30 he heats up some leftovers in the microwave, as he thought I was looking a little thin these days. I can't blame him; I have hardly eaten anything in the past few days because of all the excitement.

It was an hour later before we went to bed. I help my grandfather clean up the kitchen before he shows me to my temporary bedroom. He kisses me on the forehead before he goes to bed himself. I can't help but feel like a little kid again.

I curl up on my bed, starting to feel bad about my selfish decision, but I'm not going back on it either. No, I had made up my mind earlier and I'm sticking to it. I want to wipe that grin off Michael's face.

I'm not having any luck sleeping, so I make a list of things I need for the excavation. This will be hard to carry out without forgetting something, but this is my only chance I suppose.

List:

First Aid Kit

Camera (for sure)

Flashlight

Change of Clothes

A sleeping bag

Food (none perishables mostly)

Back Pack (that was self-explanatory)

Sketch book (that was a must, the landscapes in Nosgoth are just beautiful)

My journal (For notes)

"That's all I can think of for now." I think I should keep it simple anyways, plus I'll probably think of more while I pack.

I start to feel a bit tired, so I lay on the bed intending to sleep. It will be an 3 hour car ride to Provance. Nightfall is the best time to arrive. I'll have to get up early in the morning if I want to escape any unwanted confrontations with my grandpa. The last thing I want is for him to question me.

I set the alarm clock on my watch. I don't know if it will wake me, but I have to try. I stare at the ceiling, going over in my head the steps I need to take to get there. Before I know it I drift off to the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the house...

...

I wake up in a start. I look at the clock and it reads 2:02 am. I think this will be the perfect time to slip on over to my house and pack quickly while my father, sister, and Karen are fast asleep. I creep down the stairs, keeping an eye out for my grandfather, and the coast is clear.

When I make it outside, I run most of the way. I need to get home, collect my things, and leave before my father wakes up at 5:00 am. Time is ticking fast.

I reach my father's house in no time and all the lights are off except for the kitchen, which means I will be extra quiet while opening the door. There are two possible reasons why the kitchen light is on, 1) somebody got thirsty in the middle of the night, 2) I had abandoned my sister last night and she was still up, waiting for me to come home, or 3) my dad was up late working at the kitchen table like he usually does and has fallen asleep there.

I slowly and quietly put my key into the doorknob and turned it ever so gently. When I put my hand on the doorknob I pull on it slightly, towards myself, so when I turn the knob it won't make any popping or clicking sounds that will draw attention in my direction. I creep down the hall that leads to the kitchen.

When I peek around the corner, I see my sister sitting at the table, sobbing. It damn near breaks my heart. When she looks my way a big smile extends across the length of her face. I had to put my finger up to my mouth for her silence. I walk into the kitchen and she runs up and gives me a big hug, and I did in return.

"Rachael what are you doing up so late." I whisper to her

"I thought you weren't coming back." she sobs

"Rachael you know I would never leave you and not come back for you." I sit her down at the kitchen table and get her something to eat. I know supper was never made last night. This is difficult to explain to her, she will want to come.

"Rachael I need to talk to you about something." She looks at me with her bright eyes.

"Is it a secret?"

"Yes." I snicker. She makes me nostalgic for childhood.

"What is it? Do you have a boyfriend?" She looks so excited.

"No Rachael, it's nothing like that." I laugh.

"Look…I need you to understand something. You know that excavation we all have been talking about, right?"

"You mean that one you really want to go on."

"Yes well, I'm leaving today...I'm going to do it instead of Michael" I will be quick and to the point with her. She gets up in her chair.

"Can I go with you?!" I had to shush her; she is being way too loud.

"No Rach...no you can't…" I say somberly, trying to let her down easy, but it doesn't work. She looks down in Bitter disappointment

"Rachael, I'll be back before you could even blink, please don't cry." I try to calm her down. Karen will be hard to deal with on her own, but I have to do this. She needs to learn some independence anyways.

"Don't leave me alone with Karen, Michelle..." She cries.

"Please don't leave me, please!" I put my hand over my face. She does this to me all the time. I quickly come up with a solution

"...Rachael, I need you to stay. I need a secret agent to count on while I'm away?" I knew after I said the words, 'secret' and 'agent' together in the same sentence I would have her undivided attention.

"You know, while I'm on the plane. I need you to keep daddy and grandpa from getting suspicious."

"Do you think you can do that for me, Rach?"

"You bet!" I put my finger up to my mouth again, so she will be quieter before my dad comes down stairs.

"Good, I have to pack my things; I'll be up to tuck you into bed."

"Now remember in the morning, if anybody asks where I am, I need you to tell them that I'm spending the day with Sam, Alex, and Jen."

"Can you do that, Rachael?"

"You mean secret agent Rachael." She grins ear to ear.

She heads up the stairs and into her bed. I'm right behind her as she climbs into bed and I start to tuck her in goodnight. Before I leave I kiss her on the forehead. She gives me one last hug and we say our goodbyes. I close the door gently behind me and make my way down the hall, past my father's room to get to mine.

I quickly pack my things. I think a part of me has hesitated on purpose. It's been easy to not think about this to clearly with all the commotion going on, but it's starting to hit me now as I pack for my adventure. I'm planning on going where no one has gone before. To the past…

When I'm done packing, I slowly and carefully walk down the hall into my father's room. I know it is risky, but I have to see his face one last time before I go. He looks so peaceful in his sleep. I start feeling remorse for what I had said to him earlier and it gets me thinking about my mom. It has been so long since I last heard her voice, since she passed away. I can really use some advice right about now.

I remember just how devastated my father was after the incident. They were fighting that night, so my mom went for a drive to cool off. She arrived at the intersection, and it was typically a drunk driver that hit her that night. In his red, shiny new convertible. I'm telling you, it wasn't so shiny and new afterwards. When we were in the hospital that night, I had actually seen my father cry for the first time.

I have never seen him cry like that before, especially a man like my father. For that whole night, it all seemed like a horrible nightmare and seeing him crying made that moment so real to me. I was 16 then, Rachael was almost 2. Yes, she was definitely a surprise baby. I remember how shocked my father was when my mom came home with that news. Those were the good old days.

I place my backpack on the floor next to the bedside table and reach behind my neck and undo the necklace I'm wearing. It is the pendent my mother had given me just before she passed away. I place it on his nightstand, kissing him gently on the cheek. Then I leave the room quietly and silently go down the stairs. Every creek in the floor boards sets me on edge as I make my way to the garage.

When I enter the garage, I open the door manually, so it doesn't make any loud, abrupt noises. With that, I push the car down the driveway into the empty street, not an easy task to do by yourself. With the car sitting in the middle of the street, I throw my things in the back seat and get into the driver's seat. When I start the car it makes a loud rumbling noise and I am on my way to Provance.

The roads are very quiet at this time of night and it gets me thinking about my mom again. It has been eight long years now, Since the incident. She was the best mom you could have ever had. She was smart, cunning, and gorgeous. She always spoke her mind, even when she probably shouldn't. But, she was a patient woman.

Calm natured, she never raised her voice at me, unless I did something unimaginable. She would simply sit me down and explain to me why it was wrong. She believed children were much smarter than people gave them credit for.

I wonder what she would think of me sneaking off to Provance and stealing Michael's place in the excavation. Ha! I can almost hear her cheering me on. This makes me laugh to myself. After all, if she was here, she would be fighting tooth and nail for me; Trying to convince the research team that I would be the best one for the job.

My mom had always respected my decisions and believed that you can always make your dreams come true if you fight hard enough for them. I try to live by this...

"...I miss you mom."

...

The drive to Provance was mostly uneventful. Aside from a truck driver trying to run me off the road when merging lanes "Idiot." it was dark and quiet mostly. Gave me plenty of time to think on my decision and come to terms with it. Once I've made up my mind there's no looking back.

I finally arrive at Provance Airlines, just on the outskirts of the city. I'll have to hire a bush plane to take me the rest of the way. I take a deep breath, get out of the car with my things, and make my way inside. "This place is unusually quiet, it's making me nervous." I walk to the line at the counter. It doesn't take long before it's my turn to show all my credentials to the woman behind the counter.

"It will just be a moment." she smiles nicely and continues to search the database for any available pilots.

"hm... I'm sorry Miss Rose, but there isn't any available when you requested."

"What times are available?" She looks back at the computer with uncertainty.

"12:00 noon is are latest time available."

"oh, okay then, thanks anyways."

Now what am i going to do. I'm stranded here until my father realizes what I'm about to do and tries to stop me! I can barely contain myself. I just want to get on a damn plane and be on my way already. Good thing I have connections. I know a guy here that will be more than willing to aid me, at least. I walk to a nearby payphone. The guy in front of me is being unimaginably slow and I contemplate beating him down with my luggage.

As soon as the man finishes up I rush to the phone dramatically with no shame. I gingerly place the coin in the machine and wait for a response.

Alaric, One of my first, real romances in my life. He was a pilot of a small bush plane, who's indebted to me for a favor I did for him years ago. He wasn't exactly on good terms with the government when we were first seeing one another, and since I have a few connections I pulled a few strings and got him the pardon he's waited years for. We didn't exactly end our relationship on good terms though, but he owes me, and he better not try to wiggle his way out of this one.

...ring...ring...ring...ring "God damn it, Alaric, answer the phone..."

...ring...ring...ring...ring "this is my last quarter..."

...ring...ring... "If he doesn't answer so help me g -"

"...sigh...hello." a weak rumbly voice answers.

"Alaric?"

"Yes, who is this? And you better have a damn good reason for calling at 12:00 in the morning."

"Alaric!? It's me, me Michelle!" I was ecstatic.

"M-Michelle?...Michelle!"

"Alaric, I don't have much time, and I could really use a favor. I know we haven't spoken in ages but...I really need your help."

"Hold on, are you all right there? I mean is everything okay?"

"Look Alaric, I know you must have a lot of questions now, but I need you to skip all the small talk and get down to Provance airline ASAP. Can you do this for me?"

"..Sigh…I don't know?"

"Alaric, Please! I really need this favor and you owe me!"

"…fine, I mean sure. I'll be there in 20." Click. That went a lot smoother than I was expecting, and in twenty-five minutes or so Alaric, in all his glory, arrives.

"Hey!" A voice shouts behind me. A tall man with blond sandy hair walks through the doors of Provance airlines. Alaric would be about thirty now, if I'm not mistaken. He looks good, much more filled out than when I was seeing him. He's wearing a leather jacket, with a white dress shirt underneath, slightly unbuttoned, and an old pair of jeans. In fact I recognize those jeans. They were his "lucky pair". He called them that on the account that he met me a day after he bought them. He was such a dork, but a wonderful one.

"...so I guess you would have questions, huh."

"You think?" he stares, not blinking.

"Could we talk on the way?" I say as I walk past him.

"Ha, you have some nerve, you know." He smirks.

I turn to face him, and toss him a crooked smile. He smiles back and we walk to his car together. He unlocks the door, with his eyes never leaving mine. When we get in the car, he locks the doors and looks at me.

"I know what you're up to, Michelle, so I'm taking you to the authorities..." he says with a serious face. He puts the key in the transition and drives off with me.

We sit in silence for a few minutes, as I stare at him in complete astonishment

"...Fuck off!" I snicker. He shots me a glance, and smiles.

"So...you going to tell me where we're going?" I sigh and begin to tell him the story up till now.

"...so let me get the straight..."

"..."

"..."

"...Yeah?" I nudge him to continue.

"You want me to help you...break the law."

"...Look Alaric; you don't have to do this if you don't want...You know what, I can find another way there." I say motioning him to pull over. I feel really uncomfortable suddenly. I hate feeling vulnerable.

"No! No...Cool." he looks at me slightly concerned.

"Besides, this is what I do best after all. I wasn't good at anything else...not even being a boyfriend." My heart sinks in my chest.

"Alaric, it wasn't your fault, it takes two." I say reassuringly.

"No, no. It was me, I know that now. That's why we didn't work out."

"I want you to know that there's no hard feelings between us anymore."

"...and this isn't me trying to rekindle anything, I just came to terms with this, this year."

"Me too...I mean, that there's no hard feeling for me either, I mean between us, there's no hard feeling between us for me...Too." Ha! Oh god.

"Ha ha, you always had a way with words, babe!" Erg, I hate when he calls me that. Babe! And the thing is, he doesn't mean babe the way most people mean it. He would always say "no, no, Babe, like the pig."

...

After forty minutes of driving we get to Alaric's Grandfathers ranch. He stores his old plane here for safe keeping.

"Won't we wake your grandfather?" I ask hesitantly.

"What that old guy...naww!" he assures me.

"That guy couldn't hear a car crash through his bedroom walls. He sleeps like a rock." We walk into the old barn. His plane is dusty with an old sheet covering it. I help him pull it off and a cloud of dust encased us, causing us to cough hysterically.

"Well! This is it. Old Betsy!"

"God, you are such a dork! You named your plane Betsy, haha."

"Hey!...that's Old Betsy." He winks. I roll my eyes.

We have to get it up and running, which will take a little work. While he tunes the plane, and gets it ready, I'm stumbling around the barn looking for his old fuel tanks, for the plane. Until I smash my knee into it.

"Ah! Is this it!" I yell holding my knee in agony. He looks over in my direction.

"...uhhh, yup! That looks like it!"

After another thirty minutes, we get the plane working. We hoot and holler in celebration, giving each other high fives. And then Alaric picks me up and plants one on my lips...It's strange, I thought I would be angry by his unsolicited advance, but instead I embraced it. Who knows this maybe the last time I see him. Who knows what could happen.

"...sooo." he says slowly and awkwardly.

"...yeah."

" hmm, I was kinda expecting you to punch me."

"...you know? I think we needed to get that off our chests."

"...Yeah me too, otherwise that tension would have always been there." I don't exactly have feelings for him anymore, but I can tell there's some lingering in him. We smile at each other and share another few laughs.

"So, this is it, no turning back after this. You sure you want to do this?"

"..."

"...Yes." I nod enthusiastically.

"K, that's all I need to hear."

I'm starting to feel a little sick and nervous as we get on his plane. Not so much about the plane itself; as short as it is. I just can't believe I'm actually doing this. I wish I could see the expression on Michael's face when he realizes I went instead.

Thirty minutes into the flight I start to feeling exhausted, I close my eyes and thanks to the antihistamines I took before we left I soon drift off to sleep…

...

I'm running as fast as my lags can carry me. In the most beautiful forest I have ever seen. But the funny thing is, I can't tell exactly why I'm running, or even what I'm running from. I feel free, that's all I know.

This is the fastest I have ever run before, it's so unreal empowering. All of a sudden this strange sensation creeps over me and I know what it is I'm running from. What is going on here? I feel like something is chasing me through these vacant woods.

I stop when I come to a cliff with no clear bottom. I turn around to see what's chancing me, and I see a strange, mysterious blue figure standing before me. I can't see any defined features on the being at all...Just a shape of a person. Then, suddenly it goes horribly dark all around me and the ground beneath me crumbles. I'm falling and that mysterious blue figure begins to fade…

"Michelle...MICHELLE!"

"Earth to Michelle!" I wake up and damn near jump out of my skin. I begin to panic, as I completely forgotten where I was or where I was going for that matter.

"Hey, welcome back, haha. We're here!"

Before I know it, I can feel the plane landing. It bumps and rattles on its way to ground level. I still can't believe I'm going through with this. All these things start rushing through my head as I start to think about it. I try to shake it out, trying to get a grip of myself.

It's nightfall when we arrived on site, which will make it easier for me to sneak into the ancient time machine. At least a football field of tents occupy the area. With most of everybody sleeping it's not hard. I quickly leave the plane, not without saying good-bye to Alaric.

We merely shared a smile. Not a fake smile, a real one; probably the first real one we shared all night.

The plane takes off once again, and as quickly as Alaric came back into my life, he is gone just as fast. I watch the plane until it's no longer in view, then I start to walk to the gates. Damn it I forgot about the gates! I'm going to have to get past these two guards; I walk awkwardly towards them as I muster up what I'm going to say to the two of them.

I approach as casually as I possibly can. This wont be easy.

"Ms, can we help you?" They were looking me up and down with the most annoying grins on their faces.

"Why yes, you can," I ginned back at them.

"My name is Ms. M. Rose, I'm the Co. President for the Hilltop research center that studies Nosgoth's history," I say as I flash my Hilltop Inc. passport at them, not leaving it up long enough for them make anything of it.

I'm not actually the co-president. That honor is my fathers, but what I have is his exact initials 'M. Rose' they have no way of knowing the gender of the co-president since they never met my father. At least I was hoping.

"I'm here to help set up for Michael's excavation, at 7:30 am today." They look at me suspiciously for a few moments. They start whispering to one another and the other walks away talking on his walky-talky. My heart starts to race in my chest. They must know, that's why he's walking away, he's notifying the officials! And just before I panic and run for the hills.

"...krrrrsss. Yup, shes clear. Over... krrrrsssss. Click."

"Oh! Yes of course, welcome M. Rose. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

"Oh, no problem. You were just doing your job, right?" I reassure them. I'm quite pleased with myself, I really wasn't confident I could pull that off.

I make my way swiftly through the hordes of tents set up all around me. Until I meet the face of the cave that holds the time streaming device, in which I halt. I can feel my courage slowly draining. I'm actually thinking of turning back? But I can't. I made it this far and there was no turning back at this point in the game, especially after all the work I and Alaric did just to get me here.

Standing here, I stare into the mouth of the cave. It's extremely dark down there. We didn't set up to many lanterns, being careful to not disturb the local wildlife that sought refuge here. I think I better not delay any longer, before my second thoughts cloud my judgment. With that, I slowly make my way into the cave. I'm careful not to trip on any debris or stalactites on my way there.

Fifteen to twenty minutes pass, until I finally reach the doors to the machine. It's been crumbling in a slow decay. I can hardly make out the symbols on the front of it, as the paint has eroded off eons ago. Large and small cracks run up the doors, making it look like a crackle glazed pot. Almost makes me wonder how it's possible it's still functional.

When I approach, the doors struggle to open. It still baffles me how people from the Gothic days of Nosgoth could have built a machine of this caliber. I walk inside and the doors shut tight behind me. The room is round, with an outer ridge of stone and the center made of glass, surrounding a lever of some kind. The glass is foggy, with cracks in it; well this whole room has cracks in it.

I walk to the 4 dials on the far wall, which face the main entrance, and start to punch in the right settings my grandfather and I calibrated. I turn around and walk to the other object in the center of the room. It looks like a steering wheel mounted on a post, with an orb of some kind in the center.

I stand here for a little while, letting the fact that this is real sink into my thick skull. There is no turning back after I turn this lever. I will be in a different time completely. My family and friends will have never existed. I stand here contemplating this significant moment….then pull the leaver…

Thanks for reading.

I do not own legacy of kain or its characters.