Chapter Two
Phillip walked out of the portal just in time to hear Winston Rayne talk to Derek.
"Did you really think that I'd let you win, huh?" Winston taunted him. "The prayer, the translation, merely diversions to allow me time to gather the sepulchers." He stepped into the sepulcher circle and beams of energy poured from them. "Behold the true source of power! For one last time - join us!"
"Never!" Derek yelled.
Winston began to chant. "Satanas resurgat et sic finis mundi!" (Satan rises again and thus ends the world. )
Phillip walked over to Derek and reached out his hand, "Derek, you have to come with me. Now"
Derek, surprised at the older version of Phillip was baffled. "Phillip? What the hell happened to you?"
"I'm not exactly the Phillip you know," he tried to explain, "Well I am, just older. We really don't have any time for explanations right now. You must leave and come with me. Now."
"I can't. Winston, and the sepulchers, someone has to make sure the house goes down with him."
"Then I'll stay," said Phillip after a few seconds.
Derek looked at the open portal. "I can't go" he murmured. "This is my place. This is my destiny."
"No, it's not." Phillip retorted, then seeing Derek still hesitating and the timer in his hand showing six second to blast, he simply pushed Derek hard into the portal and turned to face Winston.
"Go to Hell!" he said smiling, and showed Winston the C4 trigger just as the timer flipped over to zero.
"No!" Winston screamed, and at that moment all hell broke loose. The house exploded in a huge blast, and the Hell Gate, the cavern...the entire House turned into an inferno of massive flames and debris. Nick, Alex, and Rachel stood outside in the Garden, shocked, and watched as the House was demolished.
Alex screamed and collapsed to her knees, crying.
Nick picked up his com unit. "Derek, are you there?" there was no response. "Derek, answer me goddammit."
"He can't be dead," mumbled Rachel. "He just can't be."
"Maybe he got out from the back and is hurt. Let's start a search of the parameter," said Nick. "Rachel, Alex, you go around the house from the left, I'll take the right side. I'll meet you at the back of the house."
Rachel helped Alex up and they followed Nick's instructions.
2033AC
Derek walked out of the Portal and stopped. He knew immediately, where he was. St. Martin's church. But the place was in shambles. He saw Julia stand in front of him. "What the hell is going on? Who are you?" he asked.
Stepping behind his sister, Sean asked, "Where is Phillip?"
At the sound he looked over the young woman's shoulder to see a familiar face.
Quietly Derek said, "I'm afraid he stayed behind. He pushed me inside the portal and… I guess he…" He didn't finish his sentence.
"Like he should have done the first time around. Oh god." Julia whispered tears gathering in her eyes.
Sean hugged her. "Sorry sweetie, but there is no time to grieve now," he said. "We'll have time for that later."
"Would someone please explain what I'm doing here? And what do you mean by saying he should have done it?"
"The year of our lord is 2033," answered Sean. "My name is Sean, and this," he said pointing at Julia, is my twin sister Julia."
"It was not your time to die Derek." Said Julia. "It was supposed to be Phillip down there."
"I don't understand," he said. "Phillip was not a member for a long time before tonight. He chose the church."
"Yes, I know." Whispered Julia. "However, he changed his mind, but it was too late for you."
Unsure what to say, Derek moved closer, and stared at the young man. "My god," he said. "You look exactly like…"
"His father," Julia said cutting him off. "Like my brother said," she wiped her tears with her palms and continued, "We do not have a lot of time Derek. We have less that an hour and than we have to send you back. Your colleagues are probably already looking for you. They might even assume you are dead. Since we do not wish a tribunal investigation, we will return you back to your own time. Why don't you have a seat," she told him. "We, have a lot to tell you."
Derek sat next to her. "You call me by my first name with such fondness, yet I'm sure we've never met."
Julia smiled, "Not yet, but we will in the future. Sean and I were born in 2005. Last time around you were dead and Nick was precept. But things have to change. Four months ago, someone from the Sun Francisco house opened Hell's Gate. Unfortunately, we don't know who. Than demons took control of major figures in governments, and parliaments. They possessed some of the most powerful leaders in the world. Next thing was a nuclear war. I don't know if there are any more survivors. We didn't meet any on the way. We were in New York, on legacy affairs. I think we are the only ones left in this part of the world, and even that is only thanks to magic. Like my mother before me," she explained, "I'm a witch." She stopped talking than and called softly her brothers name. "Sean."
"Yeah Jules?" he questioned.
"I need to talk to Derek in private for a while."
"Okay people," he called out to their friends, "Lets give these two some privacy."
Derek looked at Julia. And only just realized she can't see. "You're blind. But you haven't been blind for a long time have you? When did this happen?"
"You're very quick on the up-take. How did you know?"
"Your dependency on your brother, and you don't show the confidence that blind people who were born this way or lived with it for years do."
"No. I lost my sight, shortly after we started this journey from New York to Sun Francisco."
She listened for a minute, making sure the others weren't in hearing distance. "I put a spell on all of us. It's so powerful that it took most of my energy to keep it from breaking. Which is the reason I was weak and sick most of the time. Not that any of them know about it."
"Not even Sean?"
"God No. He'd freak out. He's very protective of me."
"I see," he answered smiling.
"Sean" said Eddie when they were far enough, "I need to tell you something. Actually in concerns everyone here."
"Sounds serious Eddie. Is something wrong?" Sean questioned.
Eddie took a small velvet bag out of his pocket. "Phillip gave me this yesterday. He also told me something very 'disturbing' about these things." He opened the bag and spilled its content in his palm.
Eleven light blue crystals fell out of the bag into his hand.
"What are these things?" Naomi asked.
"According to Phillip, these are the only things keeping us alive," whispered Eddie. "He told me Julia cast a spell before we left. He also told me that this spell is what caused her to get sick on the way. She needed all her strength to focus on the spell and keep it intact in order to keep us alive." Eddie sighed. "Did you know about this?" he asked Sean.
"No." He whispered in response, his face paling, "I had no idea."
"I think Phillip knew he will not return with Dr. Rayne. That's why he gave me these crystals."
"And because you're my best friend, and in love with my sister," said Sean, "He knew you'd tell me."
Eddie blushed. "How did you know?"
Sean smiled. "You're our best friend Eddie, remember? I know since we turned sixteen, that you have a soft spot for Julia in your heart. I also know that you two finally started dating a few weeks before all hell broke loose."
"We did, but then, about a week before, she said… She said it will not work between us. Like she knew what's going to happen."
"Really?" Sean asked amazed. "That's strange, because I know she's nuts about you. She told me." He said looking at Eddie's confused face.
"I think I'd better go see how things are going for Julia and our guest," said Sean and turned to walk back over to them. "We'll deal with the crystals issue when possible."
Sean returned and saw the two talking quietly. He sat down next to his sister. "Why didn't you tell me about the spell Julia? About the crystals?" he asked surprising her.
She was shocked for a minute and couldn't speak, than barely finding her voice, she asked "How did you find out?"
"We all know. Phillip told Eddie yesterday, and gave him the crystals."
"Oh," she sighed. "I'm sorry Sean. I knew you'd be even more worried that you already were, so I didn't tell you, and besides, there was really nothing you could do. However, since you say everybody already knows, it's time for them to know the whole truth. When I die, so will everyone else, because the spell will break. Each crystal is marked with one person's initials. I was hoping it won't come to that, but I believe they should decide if they want to stay with us till the end, or if they wish to end it now."
"What will happen if they break them now?" Derek asked.
"They will die," she answered.
"Obviously, but there is more to it than that," Derek insisted.
Julia sighed. "With every crystal that breaks, some of my strength is returning. Not that it matters any more."
"I have to ask this. You are Nick's children, aren't you? God, you two are so much like him, it's amazing."
"Yes," Julia whispered softly. "I was actually named after Julia walker. Dad's first love."
"Yes. He loved her very much." Said Derek.
Checking his watch, Sean said, "Julia, we have about thirty minutes left. We have to get to the point." He searched his backpack and pulled out a notebook. "This is our mother's legacy journal" he said.
"We left only the important things we thought you must read. Here," he said and handed it to Derek.
"You will need to find her Derek. And you must recruit her as a legacy member. Her name is Angel. Angel McLeod. She lives in Paris back in your time. She was a powerful witch. Though at the year 2000 she didn't know that yet. You must find her and help her. She wrote in her journal that someone was trying to open Hell's gate in 2001. She didn't know who, but we assumed that the same person who tried it then, is the one who tried and succeeded four months ago. If you stop him or her at 2001, than all this distraction will, hopefully, be undone. The future will change. If not, than you'll have to stop that person in September of 2033. If you fail, than this is what will happen. Again."
"Why me?" asked Derek.
"In a vision both my mom and I had, shortly before the gate opened, we saw it was Phillip who had to die tonight. It wasn't you. It wasn't your time. Read the journal."
Derek begun to read, and Sean took Julia's arm in his. "Let's talk to the guys," he said.
Julia nodded. "We'll be right back," she told Derek, leaned on her brother's arm and followed him.
The guys surrounded her and Sean. "Is it true?" Naomi asked.
She hesitated. "I'm sorry guys," she finally said. "By all rights, we should all have been dead weeks, months ago. I didn't tell you until now, because I didn't want to rob you of your hope. I know most of you since we were toddlers, and I love each and every one of you so much. I thought about not telling you at all. I know you're all probably angry with me for leading you on. I'm truly sorry for that. But we have no place to go back to. All we have is the hope Dr. Rayne will manage with our parents, and the rest of the legacy members, to stop this disaster from happening again."
She lowered her head.
A few of them started talking together, than stopped when they saw Eddie step forward to stand before Julia. They motioned him to talk for them all.
"You amaze me," he said shaking his head from side to side. "You sacrificed your health, your sight for us and you think we're angry with you?" he came closer and hugged her tight.
"I'm not angry with you," he said. "I'm proud of you. I also love you."
"So am I," said Naomi and Claire in unison.
One by one each of the group came to her and hugged her, to say their goodbyes.
"Goodbye? What are you guys doing?" she asked panicked.
Eddie softly said, "We think that what time you have left, you should at least have your strength back. Phillip said…"
"I don't care what Phillip said. Dammit, I was already dying when we started this journey." Sean's sudden chocked breath made her realize what she said. "Shit," she mumbled. "I didn't tell anybody about this, but a week or so before the world as we knew it ended, I was diagnosed with cancer. So you see, I don't need more than I have right now. It's almost over. Stay with me till the end," she asked them. "Eddie please stay," she begged him reaching her hand to him.
He looked at their friends. They nodded and smiled at him, as if saying stay with her. He took her palms in his.
As each person pulled away, she heard them throw their crystals on the ground and crush them. She started crying again when the last one was gone, "I can't seem to do anything but cry and apologize today," she told her brother and Eddie. She raised her head, "Oh, I can see again," she said in surprise.
"Julia, what about us?" asked Sean. He was devastated by her discovery, and the fact she didn't tell him about her illness.
She pulled a small velvet box out of one of her pockets, and opened it. There were two crystals in the box. "These are ours," she said. "Once Derek is returned, we will break them. Together. I'm sorry Sean," she continued. "I didn't tell anybody. Not even mom and dad. I needed time to sort things out, to digest and accept what the Dr. said. And then with everything that happened, it just didn't seem so important any more."
He took the box from her than took Eddie's crystal and put it in as well. Than he shoved the box in his jeans pocket. "Okay," he said taking her hand in his. Than hand in hand all three went back to Derek.
He was just finishing the last pages in their mother's journal.
"Derek, you have to get Phillip back as a full member in the legacy. He was on the fence long enough. Something happened to him at the end of 2000. It made him leave the church for good. He returned to the legacy, but only after dad really pressured hi. You will have to finish rebuilding the house before you go in search of our mother. Remember everything you read. You can not take this journal back in time with you." Julia took a deep breath than said, "It's time we sent you home."
Derek looked at her. "You can see me now."
"Yes."
"I can't wait to meet the two of you, I like you already," Derek said smiling.
Both Sean and Julia smiled at that.
Julia sat down in front of the portal and started chanting again. "Hear me, hear me," she said. "It is on this day, Christmas day that I ask this portal to open to a time long past. It is time to return the taken to his rightful place. I beg the powers that be, hear me now. In god's name and the power of light."
"In nomine domine," said Sean.
"Hear me pray, hear me speak," continued Julia. "In god's name so it will be done."
The portal opened. "It is now almost an hour since we took you. Go back so your friends can find you and you can start again." Julia whispered softly, her eyes glistening.
Sean took out the small box containing the crystals. He gave each one their own. Holding hands they dropped them to the floor. Julia and Sean took one last look at Derek. "Go," they told him and than all three stepped on the crystals and vanished.
Derek closed his eyes, feeling a sting behind them. He than stepped into the portal.
7
