Gail sat in her blood red Mustang, with the upbeat sound of Carrie Underwood coming from her radio. She could not hide the grin from her face, as she drove towards her place of work with Caleb in the passenger seat. Not only had Caleb actually been waiting for her after school for a change, he also did not want to see Poppy.
Gail was surprised at this sudden change in her cousin, especially as he had been so adamant about spending time Poppy previously; however, she would not look a gift horse in the mouth and had not questioned his choice to remain in the car, when she dropped Luke off with Abe at the Antique Store.
It had been a strangely quiet ride and Gail had been about to break the silence, when Caleb asked if he could visit Merlyn at the Guardian. It had been a while since Caleb wanted to spend time with his sister and she was sure Merlyn would be happy to see him; therefore, she headed straight to her place of work and decided she would pick them up in an hour, once she had ran some errands.
As they pulled up in front of the building, Gail placed her hand affectionately on his knee and smiled. 'You're sure you'll be alright here for an hour? I need to grab some shopping and a few bits, so I doubt I'll be any earlier' she informed him.
Caleb smiled sweetly at his cousin and placed his hand on top of hers. 'I'll be fine cous', Merly will be able to show me where all the juicy old stories are. I'll be happy with that'
Gail gave him a long hug before handing him her key card and signaling for him to go. She had already called ahead to security to inform them he was coming; therefore, she could not see him running into any trouble.
She watched to ensure he got into the building safely, before putting the Mustang in drive and heading towards the Sheriff's Station. She had put her stress over the wedding behind her for the day and wanted to pick up where she had left off with Lucas earlier, with her having a rare hour of being completely child free and she knew he would have no objections.
Caleb stared at the large main room, which was filled with Reporters and office staff. He smiled pleasantly at anyone who caught his eye; however, he knew they were too engrossed in their own lives to wonder about him. He waited patiently until he could make his way to Gail's office unseen, then tried to plan his next move.
Caleb had been experiencing a strange feeling of annoyance all day, he had attempted to ignore it; however, he had began to realise it was coming from the dark part of himself, which he was trying to keep under control and he felt a strong urge to come to the Trinity Guardian. Caleb had made the choice to attempt to understand this part of him and believed he should follow his instincts to find out what this was about.
When he reached Gail's office, he noticed Christie crouched down at Gail's desk and entered the room quietly. He had witnessed Christie acting suspicious at the Library and here she was, attempting to get on to Gail's computer. Caleb did not know what this was; however, the dark part of him was rising more and more with every second that past.
Christie cursed out loud, when she failed for the forth time to guess Gail's password and let out a long sigh. The slow movement of the blinds closing caught her attention and she jumped when she noticed Caleb standing by the closed office door. 'What are you doing here?' she asked confused, as she got up from behind the desk.
Caleb felt something come over him and he could not regain full control of his body. He watched Christie like a hawk through an angry glare and began to walk slowly towards her. 'I think we ought to be more concerned with what you're doin' here...Care to elaborate on why you're tryin' to crack my cousins password?' he asked in a voice unlike his own.
Christie stared at Caleb, then felt a wave of unease when she caught a glimpse of something dark pass over his eyes. She recognised that look from how Lucas Buck regarded her and began to back away slowly. 'We work together, I needed a file that we share' she lied and did not take her eyes off of him.
Caleb let out a venomous laugh and shook his head, whilst continuing to close the distance between them. 'Nice try, but I ain't that dumb...care to try again?'
Christie heard a low growl coming from behind the couch in the middle of the office and turned to see Gail's dog Gideon barring his teeth at her. The door had not opened; therefore, she was unsure how he had gotten in and she felt a shadow of concern fall over her. 'I don't need to tell you anything...' she forced an authoritative tone, whilst trying to watch both Caleb and Gideon. '...You're just a boy and your cousin won't appreciate the way you're acting around me'
Caleb felt his darkness take hold fully and it willed Gideon forward, he watched powerless as Gideon obeyed the silent order and began to stalk Christie. 'My cousin wouldn't appreciate you tryin' to get into her private files, I'm assumin' that's why you've waited until Merlyn's gone before tryin' your luck?' he asked knowingly.
Christine saw the dog moving closer to her and turned towards the door, ready to make her escape; however, she knew the dog would have her before she made it. She let off an involuntary shudder and felt tears begin to form in her eyes, the blinds were somehow closed now so no-one could see what was happened. It appeared she was stuck here and she sensed the danger she was in.
Suddenly the door burst open and Gail rushed in, closing it behind her. 'Heel' she ordered Gideon, noticing he was stalking Christie then turned her attention to Caleb.
'He just wants to get a little closer to her, see how she tastes' Caleb said with a devilish grin.
Gail narrowed her eyes at him, then turned towards Gideon who continued to move closer to Christie. 'Stop!' she snapped sternly and relaxed slightly when Gideon gave his head a shake, then rushed to her side instinctively.
Christie watched Caleb cautiously, he had not taken his eyes off of her even though Gail was in the office and she was scared to move.
'Go' Gail calmly ordered Christie and placed all of her focus on Caleb.
When Christie rushed out of the office, Caleb slowly turned towards Gail and stared at her with disdain. He could feel the hatred flowing through his veins and did not know how to stop it.
Gail had felt her darkness clawing to be released, ever since she sensed the change in Caleb and turned her car around; however, she kept it pushed down and was determined to control this situation herself. She did not know why this had come over him all of a sudden and she wanted more than anything to understand what was going on with him. 'Caleb, I need you to stand down' she said calmly.
'Is that what my Father does? Bow to your every whim' he spat out venomously.
Gail took a deep breath and moved a step closer to him. When Merlyn rushed into the office out of nowhere, Gail held her hand up for her to remain where she was. 'Your Father and I are none of your concern. Why did you really want me to bring you here Caleb?' she asked and took another step closer to him.
Caleb smiled grimly and stood his ground. 'I wanted to clean up your mess, considerin' you brought a nosy Reporter here and she's clearly after somethin'. You won't do nothin' so it's time for me to get rid of her, just like my Father would'
'That's exactly how I was when I first came to Trinity, in fact I'm still like that. Does that make you want to get rid of me?' she asked calmly, trying not to spook him.
'Gail...' Merlyn went to warn her; however, stopped when Gail's hand came up to silence her again.
Caleb's features softened slightly and he shook his head. 'I don't wanna get rid of you Gail, I love you' he said in a voice more like his own.
Gail let out a sigh of relief when she saw the change in him and sensed the malicious side of him had gone, then rushed over to him, knelt down and took him in her arms. 'You had me worried there for a minute' she smiled, then looked into his dark eyes and saw her cousin had not returned to her.
Caleb gripped her neck tight, before she had chance to get away from him and began to squeeze. 'Did you ever think that I might just wanna kill you Gail?' he laughed grimly and allowed the dark power to flow through him, as his grip tightened around her neck.
Gail clawed at his hand and dug her nails in deep. 'Why?' she asked through hoarse breaths, as she fought to pull his hands away; however, he appeared to have an unnatural amount of strength.
'Why not? Maybe I'm routin' for Selena...' he shrugged, '...my Father would be a different man without you around'
'Stop!' came Lucas' stern voice from beside Merlyn and Caleb's grip instantly loosened.
Gail pushed him away from her and got up, holding her neck in shock.
Lucas went to Gail's side and placed a tender hand on her shoulder; however, she pulled away abruptly and went to stand with Merlyn. Lucas bit his lip in irritation, knowing this was not the time to challenge her and turned his attention towards his boy. 'This runnin' off and experimentin' on your own has to stop Caleb, now come back to me' he said soothingly, as he approached his son.
Gail watched in disgust as Caleb's features completely softened and he hugged Lucas, she turned towards Merlyn and saw she had the same expression on her face. 'Well seen as you two have some bonding to do, we're staying with Abe tonight' she said, then took hold of Merlyn's arm and began to lead her out of the office.
Lucas turned towards Gail and released his twin to lock the door. 'Don't be like this Darlin', you know this is a work in progress' he tried to reason.
Gail laughed and shook her head. 'I'm taking myself out of the training process, considering the imprints around my neck. Luke is staying with me, so if you want to see him you know where we'll be...Now open the damn door!' she ordered and exited with Merlyn when he adhered to her wishes.
Lucas let out an exasperated sigh and ran his hand through his hair.
'I was only tryin' to help stop Christie, I'm sorry Lucas' Caleb apologised and looked down at his hands.
'Don't be sorry son, but next time come to me you hear?' Lucas advised.
'Yes sir' Caleb replied and followed Lucas out of the office.
Merlyn sat in the park where she usually met Matt and watched Rocky, as he ran around without a care in the world. Seeing her brother attack her cousin had caused something dark to stir within herself and she cursed herself for allowing her brother to get this way.
She suspected the anger she felt was some imprint of Gail's previous baby's soul, that she had subconsciously given her to make her whole. She decided that she did not care that she had part of a Buck inside of her, she had failed her brother and her fallen family, for allowing him to embrace his Buck genes so much recently; therefore, she would use whatever powers at her disposal to attempt to fix this.
It was hard for her as they were all playing happy family in the Buck Mansion and it was not as though she could step in. She knew Gail had not yet fully succumb to Lucas' way of being yet; therefore, there was still hope for her brother and Merlyn should have ensured Caleb fought the mans influence too.
Merlyn was disappointed with herself and wanted to make it right. She had decided to call the initial cause of his bad behaviour and it was time that she had a meeting. She did not know what she was going to do; however, she would not leave here without being sure it was all going to be alright.
Poppy spotted her ex-friend and gave her a small wave. She was happy that M had called her, as she had wanted to rekindle their friendship for a while now.
'Thank's for meetin' me here' Merlyn said, forcing a smile and signaled for Poppy to sit down on a bench with her.
Poppy sat down and smiled happily. 'It's been a while since you called me. I'd meet anywhere, I'm gettin' sick of TJ pinin' over me at home'
Merlyn nodded and let out a long breath, she understood Poppy's situation and it was awful that she was stuck in her family home with some guy; however, she had brought a world of hurt on her family and Merlyn was annoyed, even if Poppy did not realise what she had done. 'You need to stay away from Caleb' she stated bluntly and stared out into the park.
'Don't be silly, I like him so why would I do that?' she laughed, thinking this was a game.
'Look, you wanna make your own way in this town and I get that, but how do you think people will treat you when they find out you took that boy's innocence?' Merlyn asked, hating the road she was going down.
Poppy stared at her for a moment, then shook her head in disbelief. 'I ain't done any such thing!' she exclaimed, then stood up and began to walk away.
Merlyn stood up and started to follow her, with Rocky running close behind. 'Oh but you will...I see how you look at him and he may be young now, but he's growin'' she called after her.
Poppy stopped in her tracks and turned around, she would never touch a boy so young; however, she could not deny that she may act on their strong connection if he was older. 'If he was older there wouldn't be a problem' she shrugged.
Merlyn laughed and shook her head. 'There'd be a big problem, considerin' his cousin would tell the world that you groomed a young boy...Hell, I might even do it myself!' she snapped in the heat of the moment.
'Why would you do that?' Poppy asked hurt.
'Because we're family...' Merlyn said as she approached her, '...and we look after our own'
Poppy looked down at her hands and felt tears begin to form in her eyes. 'I ain't got no family' she sighed and wiped away a tear that was running down her cheek.
Merlyn felt the guilt for what she had suggested and placed a soft hand on her shoulder. 'You have me, you just don't have him' she warned.
Poppy let out a long breath and shook her head. 'Fine, if he comes around I'll send him away'
'Thank you' Merlyn forced a smile, then signaled for Poppy to follow her back to the bench. She had been as lonely as her once and she understood the sacrifice she was making by discarding a close friend; therefore, she would ensure she brought Poppy back into her inner circle.
-To be continued-