Chapter 21: Echoes of the Past Part 1

Kate had nearly made it to her room when she heard the muffled screams from the opposite end of the hall. Pivoting on her heeled boots she raced toward the sound. She had a pretty good idea what it was and her heartbeat quickened as did her pace. The screaming got louder as she approached and she threw the door open and flipped on the light. Ashley was thrashing in her bed with her eyes closed and screaming at the top of her lungs.

Sitting down on the bed, Kate tried to rouse the upset girl from her night terror by calling out her name and trying to shake her awake. "What's going on?" a deep voice called out from behind her. "I heard her screaming on my way to my room and I can't wake her," Kate told the Sasquatch as he came up next to her. Kate had grabbed hold of the child arms to prevent from being hit but she couldn't dodge the little knee that crashed into her abdomen. Crying out in agony Kate fell off the bed onto the floor and clutched at her stomach while trying to catch her breath again.

In four strides the big man crossed back to the bedroom door and pressed a button on the intercom behind the door. "Magnus, get up here!" he barked into the intercom over the child's screams. "Ashley's having another nightmare!" He had just made it back to the bed to help Kate up when John and Helen reappeared at the foot of the bed.

"What happened?" Helen demanded as she moved past the pair to sit down on the bed. John approached the bed from the other side and grabbed hold of his daughter's legs while her mother grabbed her flailing arms.

"Kate heard the screams and tried to rouse her only to receive a kick in the stomach," her Old Friend explained as he held the huffing young woman upright.

"Not stomach," Kate corrected in short gasps. "Rib cage." Her cry of pain at the Sasquatch's touch on her side caused him to gruffly suggest that she might have a bruised rib or two. "I'm taking her down for an ex-ray," he declared and lead her out of the room despite her protests that she'd be okay once she was able to breathe normally again.

"Ashley, wake up," Helen called out worriedly. She had Ashley's hands grasped tight in one of hers and was stroking Ashley's face with her other hand.

"No!" Ashley cried again and continued to toss her head back and forth, though less forcefully now. Sweat was dripping down the sides of her face, which had gone pale, and evidence of tears was shining on her cheeks and chin. "Stop it! I want to go home! Mommy! Mommy!" She gave out another blood curdling scream.

"Bloody hell," John growled helplessly. "For God sake's Helen wake her up!"

"I'm trying," she growled back and let go of Ashley's hand to grab her small face with both hands and pull her forward into her arms. Clamping her arms tightly around her small body Helen began to rock her while repeatedly calling out her name. "Baby, wake up. Please," she pleaded and felt close to tears herself. Ashley hadn't had any night terrors for several months now and her parents had begun to believe that they were gone for good. They had started when Ashley was two and the particularly violent ones had terrified her parents.

Feeling Ashley slump into her she knew the child had finally awoken from the nightmare. Her screams had been replaced with sniffles and pitiful whimpers as Ashley became aware of her surroundings. "Mommy," she wailed lowly against her mother's chest.

"It's alright, baby," Helen answered and scooped her up into her lap. She kept Ashley tightly wrapped in her arms and continued to rock her while the exhausted child calmed down. Feeling the bed sink down further she looked up at John, who was sitting slumped against the wall at the head of the bed and staring at them equally pale faced. This had been one of the worst night terrors they had experienced to date. The two stared at one another, both thinking the same thought. When, if ever, were these night terrors going to end. Would Ashley never be free from her terrible memories of the Cabal?

After a while Ashley lifted her tired head to inform her mother that she was hot. Her clothing was sticky in the back and she felt rather grimy. Helen brushed the child's bangs back and gave her a reassuring smile. "How about your father getting you some cocoa and cookies while we clean up, hmm?" Ashley gave a little nod and was then hoisted up onto her mother's hip as she stood up and walked them over to the dresser from which Helen withdrew a clean nightgown and underwear. John watched in silence as the pair left the room, closed his eyes with a deep sigh, and forced himself to get up and head downstairs for the requested refreshments.

On the way to the kitchen he passed the doorway of the living room and was hailed by Henry. Entering the room he found Mr. Foss, Tesla and Helen's protégé Will looking at him expectantly. "Is Ashley alright?" the worried HAP inquired.

John nodded. "Helen's taking care of her. I've been tasked with getting the cocoa and cookies."

"What brought the nightmare on?" Will inquired with a creased forehead. "She's been doing so well. It's been months since the last one." Will had been working quietly with the child over the past three years with full consent of her parents. They were no nearer to discovering what triggered Ashley's nightmares but they were lessening in frequency… at least until tonight.

Exhaling a harsh breathe, John raked his hand through his short black hair. "I don't know. We may never know what triggers these night terrors. The main thing is to wake her up before she can hurt herself."

Henry swiped a hand over his scruffy face. He was in need of a shave but had yet to get around to doing it. Erika would be arriving within the week to stay for good and he'd pull himself together before then. "You don't think it was the candles, do you? Maybe they were too much?" He and Tesla had rigged the candles on Ashley's cake to shoot off like rainbow colored sparklers and at the time the child had loved it. Looking back, though, Henry wondered if the changing colors on the candles had triggered a bad memory about the Cabal.

John gave the upset lad a firm pat on the back. "It was not your fault, Henry. Ashley loved your candles. She'll be okay." At Henry's doubtful look, John flashed a small, brief smile. "She's a tough cookie, like her mother. The only long term effect of this will be that Ashley continues to insist on sleeping in her parent's bed. Along with her new doll. We have got to get a bigger bed."

"Helen will never give up her favorite bed," a gruff voice chimed in from the doorway. The group turned towards the big figure entering. "It was won in a tight auction bid and she once declared she'd be buried in that bed upon her death."

"Guess you'll to get used to sleep on the floor or in another bedroom, Johnny boy," Nikola cheerfully toasted Druitt with a tip of his glass.

Rolling his eyes at the transparent vampire, the taller man asked the Sasquatch about Kate's condition and was relieved to learn there were no broken bones. He then bid the room's occupants goodnight. Tesla's words replayed in his head as he walked towards the kitchen and he wondered what they were going to do about the sleeping arrangements. With Helen expecting another child the last thing she needed was Ashley sleeping with them and accidently kicking her mother in the stomach. He himself wasn't too thrilled with the idea of being kicked in the groin again either.

When he rejoined his family back upstairs he found a freshly scrubbed and redressed Ashley resting in the middle of her parent's bed. Her mermaid doll was tucked under the covers beside her to the left. Helen, also in her night clothes, gave him a little smile as she took the tray from him and placed it across their daughter's lap. He lit the fireplace, paused to stare at his beautiful family huddled together on the bed, and went off into the bathroom to change into his night clothes in order to join them.

Ashley looked up at him with a thin chocolate moustache as he wedged himself into his side of the bed and pushed Ariel the mermaid over a bit to fit his large frame in the limited space. "Daddy, can you read to us?" she asked as she rubbed her bleary eyes with one hand. "Of course," he obliged, "but can we read something else beside the Velveteen Rabbit? How about Where the Wild Things Are or Llama Llama Red Pajamas?"

"Llama Llama," Ashley decided with a loud yawn and snuggled down into the pillows as her father began to read one of her favorite books. Helen had put away the tray and resting against the headboard with Ashley curdled up against her side.

The child was asleep by the time her father reached the end of the short book. She was turned on her side with her face pressed against the mermaid's brown yarn hair. Laying the book on the nightstand, John turned to his left and ran a hand affectionately over his daughter's golden head. It was still a wonder to him that this little bundle of energy was the same person who years earlier had fought him off so expertly that he had developed a grudging admiration for the young woman he hardly knew. Glancing up, he found her mother staring at him with a far off look in her eye.

"What are you thinking about?" he softly asked and reached over to take her hand in his.

She gave him a wistful look and squeezed his hand. "I was remembering the night I told you I was pregnant with Ashley."

He gave a loud snort and withdrew his hand. "That was not a good night. It certainly wasn't a good way to tell a man you're carrying his child."

She gave a loud half sigh half yawn. All she wanted to do now was join Ashley in slumber. "I know. I'm sorry. I did the best I could understand those weird circumstances."

He frowned at her as she scooted down on the bed to lie down next to their daughter. "No, you did what was best for you."

She blinked up at him sleepily and acknowledged he was right. "It's done and in the past. Don't hold a grudge, John. I told you this time of my own free will without duress."

"You did," he solemnly agreed. He didn't reply to the part about not holding a grudge. He was still pissed about how he discovered she was carrying their daughter. He knew he should probably forgive her for hiding Ashley's existence from him… for the second time… but a part of him didn't want to do it. So he buried his anger on that point as best he could.

The strong wind rattled the old window panes of the bedroom and John turned back to his lover to make a remark about how the weather was similar to that night eight years ago when she was forced to confess her delicate condition only to find her fast asleep with her head next to their child's. Reaching over, he pulled the covers up over her shoulders and shifted down onto the bed so that he was also lying down on the bed. She'd passed out on him that night too, he mused.

Unable to sleep, he placed his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling where shadows from the fireplace danced erratically as if engaged in a duel with pointed swords. A flicker to the right. A flittering to the left before the shadows pulled in on themselves to move together. He could still recall the details of that night as if it were yesterday. Eight years ago his life changed in a way he could never have expected.