A middle aged man named Cornell Stamoran woke up with a sigh as he looked at the time. He slapped his watch on his wrist and stood to make his way to the bathroom Cornell only paused for a moment to put his kerchiefs back in their proper place on the bureau. Cornell was about to go into the bathroom when the door opened and his mirror image said to him, "It's all yours, brother." before exiting the room.
Cornell entered the bathroom and sighed again at the mess that was made. Toothpaste spilled out from the tube onto the counter, shaven hair filled the sink, water spots sprayed across the mirror. Once again, Cornell sighed. Before getting ready for his day, he cleaned up the mess.
Downstairs Cornell found the kitchen a mess. His mirror image made pancakes and made a hell of a mess in the process. As Cornell's eyes scanned over the kitchen, taking in the sight, his mirror image spoke "I made pancakes. You want some?" Cornell shook his head to decline. This pleased his mirror image, who said "Good, because I didn't make enough." As the mirror image poured syrup on his pancakes, he said "I think I've found what we've been looking for. After I deal with it, we'll have steak."
Cornell didn't say a word. He walked out of the kitchen in silence, leaving his mirror image to his breakfast. Moments later, he reentered with a briefcase in hand. With a stoic look on his face, he pulled a gun from his briefcase, aimed it at the back of his mirror image's head, and fired. The bullet went straight into the his skull, causing him to lifelessly fall face first into his breakfast.
One shot wasn't enough. It didn't matter he was already dead. One bullet, then another, and another, fired from the revolver in Cornell's hand before slipping it back into his briefcase. After composing himself, he walked out of the kitchen once again.
Cornell went out to his car, set his briefcase on the seat next to him, and turned on the radio. He changed the hard rock station that was playing to one of classical. Cornell closed his eyes and leaned back into his seat with a sigh of relief.
This relief did not lost long due to a gun being aimed at him from the back seat. Cornell moved the rear view mirror to see who it was. And there he was, his mirror image.. "You know," he said to Cornell, "It really hurts me when you do that." He frustratingly moved his tongue over his teeth as he shook his head, as if he was trying his best to control his temper. He looked at Cornell, "Now, get the hell out of the car...There's someone I need to kill."
Duke was behind the bar at the Grey Gull, going over inventory as Haven was sitting across from him enjoying her day off from work, sketching. "Do you ever get tired of drawing me?" Duke asked with a chuckle without taking his eyes away from his clipboard.
"Nope." Haven replied, smiling, without looking away from her drawing. She only looked away for a moment when Duke's hired hand, Henry, dropped some glasses on the floor. The sound of the glass shattering was what pulled her away. "Sorry." Henry said to Duke, crouching down to the floor in order to clean up the glass. Duke went over to help saying, "Don't worry about it."
"It ain't a party until something gets broken." Haven said with a smile, hoping to make Henry feel better. Henry didn't even catch onto Haven's joke, he seemed to be a bit..out of it. Haven couldn't recall ever seeing the young man like this. She closed her sketch pad and went over, "You doing alright?" Haven asked Henry, and he seemed nervous as he stammered, "Yeah, I'm fine." Henry turned away from haven and looked at Duke, "Just let me pay for these, you've been so great about the job and the extra cash and..."
Duke cut him off, "I don't want your money." Duke could even tell that something was going on with Henry. "Are you okay?"
Henry looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't, at least not with Haven around. He looked at her with that expression and she took the hint. "I'm going to grab some cherry coke from the back." On that note, she turned around and headed for the back room to give Henry and Duke some space.
Once Haven was gone, Henry was more open to...well...opening up. "I...I think I'm in some serious trouble. You just have to promise not to tell the cops."
"I won't call the cops." Duke replied and Henry then asked, "Or tell Haven?"
"Or tell Haven." Duke answered. If promising that meant Henry would open up, then Duke would be willing to do it. "I promise."
Henry believed him so he said, "I..I saw something."
Duke crossed his arms as he asked curiously, "What do you mean you saw something?"
"I saw something that I wasn't supposed to see." Henry replied. "Out at the Everwood."
"The Everwood?" Duke asked. "That place is abandoned. What are you doing out there?"
Henry was about to answer when he looked outside and saw a man that looked like Cornell Stamoran standing on the patio. Henry dropped to the floor, crawling behind the bar, to stay out of sight.
Duke looked down like Henry was nuts for a moment, before walking behind the bar. When Stamoran approached the bar, Duke asked, "How can I help you?"
Stamoran tapped a silver coin on the top of the bar before replying, "A single malt. An old one."
Duke looked down to check on Henry for a brief moment, before looking back to Stamoran who was now spinning the silver coin on the counter. "I can do that." Duke replied before getting the drink.
The coin landed heads up as Duke poured the liquor into the glass. "Thank you." Stamoran said as he picked up the drink. Duke looked at Stamoran like he didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. Once Stamoran finished his malt, he said "Now...I want a..pina colada."
Duke let out a breath and said, "Sorry, but unfortunately my blender is broken." Stamoran was dramatically disappointed to hear that. Duke continued to speak, "Mr...? Do you have a name?"
"Yes, I do." Stamoran replied, but he had no intention of giving it. "Do you have a kid working for you?" He asked instead.
Duke chuckled, "No. Not lately." he replied.
Stamoran did not believe him. "A kid by the name of...Henry." he further inquired.
Henry, still hiding behind the bar, felt terrified but kept quiet and waited. Duke was still covering for Henry as he acted like he was thinking about the name, "Henry...Henry...I knew a Helen once. A Henrietta. But no Henry." Henry was feeling a bit relieved that Duke was covering for him. "If you don't mind me asking," Duke continued, "why are you looking for this kid?"
"If you don't know him, why would you care?" Stamoran asked with a 'hm?' expression upon his face.
"Fair enough." Duke replied then he and Stamoran shared a laugh together. Duke licked his lip in thought then pointed at Stamoran, "You know what," Duke began, "I may have an extra blender around here." Duke crouched down behind the bar and said, "I'm sure that I saw it down here." Duke, however, wasn't looking for a blender at all. He said quietly to Henry, "Be ready to run" as he grabbed the nearby handgun. Duke stuck the gun in the back of his belt before he stood up from behind the bar.
"I apologize, I can't seem to find it." Duke informed Stamoran, who once again looked disappointed. "How about another scotch?" Duke offered instead.
Stamoran scooped up his spinning coin and leaned on the bar, "You know, I don't like liars." His face turned hard as he continued, "Liars are cowards."
Duke's postured straightened as his expression turned into a serious one. "You know what, friend? I think it's time for you to leave."
Haven emerged from the back room with her third can of cherry cola in hand. She was about to say something to Duke, but she could see he was in the middle of something, so she just stayed in the doorway.
Stamoran looked at Haven for a moment, before turning back to Duke. "Okay, I'll go. But I'm not going to pay you."
Duke also looked over at Haven for a moment, before he replied "If that's the price of you leaving, I can live with that."
Stamoran started to walk away as he looked over his shoulder and said, "Henry, I'll be waiting for you outside."
Haven went behind the bar, standing protectively near Henry as Duke went over to Stamoran. Duke drew his weapon, aimed it at Stamoran, and turned him around as he demanded, "What the hell do you want with Henry?"
Stamoran was not pleased or impressed by Duke's display. "I have business. Now take your hand off me. Or one of us will get hurt."
"That's another thing I can live with." Duke replied which made Stamoran look behind Duke, to Haven. "You certain about that?" Stamoran asked Duke and let that sit for a moment before he raised his hands and backed away.
Duke made his way over to the bar just as Stamoran turned around and started to fire in Haven's direction. Haven dropped to the floor, out of the line of fire, pulled her extra firearm from ankle holster that was concealed by her high top combat boots, and returned fire just as Duke did. "Henry, run!" Haven shouted at Henry as she and Duke gave him cover fire.
Henry quickly darted out of the nearby door, got onto his motorbike, and sped away from the Gull onto the road.
During Henry's cover fire, either Duke or Haven managed to get Stamoran in the arm. He cried out in pain and rain off towards his car. Haven moved out from behind the counter and rushed to the door to get the license plate of whoever the hell that guy was. Once it was embedded into her memory she turned to Duke and asked, "What the hell was that!"
Haven called it in and it wasn't long before the Gull was swarming with cops. "You alright, Haven?" Audrey asked, worried for her sister as she did her 'inspection'.
"I'm fine, Audrey." Haven replied, swatting her sister's hands away, and once Audrey was certain of that, she looked at Duke, "What about you? You okay?"
Duke scoffed as he held up his scraped hand, "I'm fine. Just a few bumps and bruises."
"Here we go with your too cool for pain thing." Haven said to him teasingly as she pulled his hand over so she could tend to it.
Duke playfully glared at Haven before Audrey crossed her arms and asked, slightly lightly, "Alright, who'd you piss off this time and was it necessary to have Haven in the crossfire?"
"Maybe he pissed me off." Duke replied then said seriously, "If I had my way, Haven wouldn't have been within a hundred miles of here when it happened."
"Right here, folks. Right here." Haven said as she pressed the bandage onto Duke's hand. She couldn't stand it when people talked about her, around her.
Audrey had to keep herself from rolling her eyes before she asked, "You got a name?"
"No, but all you have to do is go look for a guy in a suit with a bullet hole in his right arm." Duke replied then Haven said, "Or you can just run the plates I gave ya."
Audrey looked at Haven, "We are and that doesn't mean who the car is registered to is who we're looking for. It could have been stolen.." she replied, then asked, "Anything else?" She looked at Haven and Duke when she asked that, even though Haven said that she was only there for the tail end of what happened.
"He liked to spin a coin on my bar like a dreidel." Duke replied and Audrey gave him an 'I'm serious' look. "I don't know Audrey. You have his license plate, so now it's your job to find him."
Audrey had a gut feeling that Haven wasn't telling her everything and she knew for sure that Duke wasn't. Figuring Duke might be easier to crack, she said "Duke, you're not telling me everything."
Duke sighed, knowing he had to give Audrey something, so he said "I'm secretly afraid of bananas."
Audrey rolled her eyes in annoyance and Duke continued, "I've never been windsurfing naked, and deep down in my heart, I know that Bigfoot is real." Haven had to place her hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing. Audrey looked at Haven as she asked, "Anything to add to this?"
"Nope." Haven replied, "I think he covered it."
When Nathan approached, Audrey said, "Hey Nathan, all you missed was Duke and Haven not telling me everything."
"I take offense to that." Duke replied and Haven just grinned.
"I'm sorry I missed it." Nathan replied sarcastically then looked at Haven with a raised brow, "You're not telling Audrey everything? Doesn't that go against your sister code or something?"
Haven and Audrey both raised their brows in a 'you're kidding me right?' manner. With one sight of those raised eyebrows, it reminded Nathan of everything that he knew that one sister or the other didn't know, so Nathan just said, "Point taken." and continued on with what he was going to tell them, "The plates are registered to a Cornell Stamoran, Vice President of the Maine Associated Bank." Nathan turned to Duke, "You rob him lately? Or did he happen to flirt with Haven at some point?"
Duke was mockingly offended, "Can I get a break here? I'm injured." holding up his 'injured hand', as in the hand that was just scraped up a bit that Haven had just bandaged. With less playfulness in his tone, he said "I've already told you everything I know."
"What about you?" Nathan asked, looking at Haven, "Have you told us everything you know?" Nathan was a bit skeptical as to whether or not she had.
"I have told you everything I know." Haven replied, holding up the Girl Scout's salute with one hand, fingers crossed behind her back with the other.
Audrey knew she wasn't going to get anything more out of Duke of Haven at this point, looking at Nathan, she said "Alright, let's go get Cornell." Audrey then turned to Duke, "You, we're not done. I expect to see you down at the station for a statement." Audrey then turned to Haven, "And same goes for you. Get down to the station, do all the paperwork, because you're not on this case until you're cleared."
Duke and Haven both saluted Audrey, causing her to roll her eyes in reply. As Audrey and Nathan walked away, Nathan said "Sorry I'm late. The paperwork is driving me crazy, having to keep two sets of files. Sometimes I swear that editing the troubles out of the official reports is half my job."
"That's why they pay you the big bucks, Chief." Audrey replied, giving Nathan a pat on the back, before going outside. Nathan grumbled a bit to himself in reply before following after her.
Neither Audrey or Nathan knew that Evi had arrived moments before they had started to speak, and had heard every word Nathan said. She made mental note of Nathan's remark about editing the troubles out of the official report, because she knew someone who would want this information. Now making her presence known, she walked over to Haven with a friendly smile, "Hey, I know you said you had something interesting planned for today, but I didn't think you meant a crime scene."
Haven had a slight facepalm moment upon Evi's approach, "Slight change of plans. Think we could meet up later?" Haven made plans with Evi in hopes of finding out what Evi's ulterior motive to being in town. So far neither she nor Duke have found out anything useful, however they both found it odd how quick Evi was in being willing to hang out with Haven and get to know one another.
"Sure, I'll give you a call later and check in. Maybe we can hit the midnight, blacklight bowling thing they're doing tonight," giving Haven a 'how about that' expression.
"Maybe, we can figure it out later. I have to get down to the station and give a statement" Haven replied, trying to get rid of Evi so she could talk to Duke, but not being obvious about it.
Evi got the hint, giving Haven a little wave, she said "Okay, bye."
As soon as Evi was out the door, Duke walked out from the back room, loading his gun. "Oh, no." Haven said, walking over to Duke with her hands out to stop him, "I know where your head's at Duke, just let them do their job."
Duke pulled a sawed off shot gun out from beneath the bar, "And I'm going to do mine."
Haven blocked his path, "If you're going then I'm going with you, but I can't help if you don't tell me everything."
Duke looked frustrated when Haven blocked his way, "Haven..." he began to say but she crossed her arms in a way that she only did when nothing was going to change her mind and she was going to get her way one way or another. An act that he had only seen a couple times since knowing her, but he knew what it meant. Duke sighed, "You already know that I promised Henry I wouldn't talk to the cops."
Haven nodded, since that was part of what Duke had filled her in on, "Yes, I am aware of that. Which is why, against my better judgment, I didn't tell Audrey about him. So, I think I'm owed a little explanation." Haven raised her shirt to show that she wasn't wearing her badge, "See, you're not talking to Haven the cop now. You're talking to your flipside, so tell me, what's going on?"
Duke rubbed his face as he tried to decide what the best course of action was, because not only did he not want to betray Henry's trust, he didn't want to get Haven in trouble either. However, since Haven wasn't going to be on this in an official capacity, he knew that she'd get involved in another way...that would most likely end up being worse than just letting her in on what he was up to. "Fine, you win. Henry saw something he wasn't supposed to see, something that guy did, and now he wants Henry dead."
Upon hearing Duke's explanation, Haven pulled her gun out of her ankle holster and inspected it, saying "Well then, why didn't you say so?" Returning her weapon to her ankle holster, she said "Let's get to work." Not only did that guy shoot up the Gull, he was trying to kill Henry for seeing something that had been committed. Official business or not, Haven was not going to let that guy get away with it.
Nathan took a moment to look at Audrey, stopping at the stop sign in the process, "You know, just because your boyfriend sent it to you all the way from London, England it isn't a good enough reason to eat Vegemite."
Nathan turned the corner, pulling up in front of Cornell Stamoran's house, as Audrey replied, "Well, millions of Australians would disagree with you, and that's not why I'm trying it. I'm trying it because I want to make sure that I don't like it." Audrey climbed out of Nathan's bronco as she continued speaking, "You know, my memories are not my own, so just because I remember not liking it, that doesn't mean I actually don't."
Nathan grinned, walking over to Audrey, pulling his gun from his holster, in an Australian accent he teased her, "You lead a very complicated life."
Audrey drew her won weapon, chuckling at Nathan, "Tell me about it." Audrey said that especially because Haven had been doing something similar and there have been more correct likes and dislikes than incorrect ones.
The duo walked up to the house, Nathan knocking on the door. A moment or two later, Cornell Stamoran answered. "Cornell Stamoran?" Nathan asked in order to confirm that the man who answered was indeed who they were looking for.
Cornell's eyes went wide as the sight of guns they were holding came into view, "Yes." he replied.
Once they knew it was him, Audrey said "Put your hands on the wall and spread your legs please." getting right down to business.
"Why?" Cornell asked, moving to the wall as Nathan guided him, "There must be some sort of mistake."
Nathan patted Cornell down, "We have a report that you were involved in a shooting today."
"I've been home all day." Cornell retorted, offended by the accusation.
Nathan finished his inspection of Cornell and faced Audrey, "No weapon, no injuries." They knew that either Duke or Haven got the shooter at the Gull in the arm, but Cornell had no such wound.
"I told you, I have been home.." Cornell couldn't stress that enough "In fact, I can prove it. I was on the house phone with my assistant most of the morning. Call her."
That alibi could be checked out easily enough, so Audrey asked, "You let anyone borrow your car today?"
Cornell wanted some answers, "What's going on?" he asked in hopes of getting them.
"Can you just show us your car, please?" Audrey replied, this time it was her that couldn't stress something enough.
Before Cornell could say anything, a car was about to pull into the driveway. His car was about to pull into the driveway. "Is that your car?" Audrey asked just before the car sped away.
"Yes, it is." Cornell confirmed, looking quite worried now.
"Plates match." Nathan informed Audrey, quickly heading back to the bronco with Audrey right behind him. They climbed into the bronco and sped off in attempts to catch up with the driver in Cornell's car.
The car chase wasn't much of a chase, since the driver turned onto a road that only led to one place; The Everwood, a large abandoned resort. The driver pulled up, quickly got out, and fired shots behind him at Audrey and Nathan who had taken cover after getting out of the Bronco.
Nathan and Audrey weren't the only ones taking cover, just feet away from them, Haven and Duke dove for cover as well. "Duke! Haven! What are you doing here?!" Audrey yelled at them.
"Can we discuss this later?" Duke shouted back in retort, standing up and firing a couple shots at the driver, at Stamoran. "That's the guy from the Gull!" Haven shouted over to Audrey and Nathan. When Audrey got a look, she almost couldn't believe it. Audrey looked over to Nathan, "That looks like Cornell, but he couldn't have beat us here."
"I don't think that's him, look at his arm." Nathan replied, since the shooter, who looked just like Cornell Stamoran, had a makeshift bandage around his arm.
Haven was about to return fire when Nathan stopped her, "If you fire your weapon you could lose your badge." Haven looked like she was torn between that decision because she knew that she hadn't been cleared to be on this case yet, but she finally decided not to return fire. Audrey, however, did and got Stamoran right in the chest.
Stamoran cried out in pain and dropped to the ground. Haven and the others, went over to him to check. Audrey, Nathan, and Duke had their weapons aimed, just in case. Haven kicked away Stamoran's firearm before crouching down and checking his pulse. "He's dead." she stated, not being able to find on.
Audrey lowered her weapon, looking at Duke, "You guys okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Thanks for asking." Duke replied with a sarcastic tone to his voice, before asking "Who is this guy?"
"Cornell Stamoran." Audrey replied, holstering her weapon.
"But the Cornell we were talking to wasn't wounded, I checked." Nathan retorted, holstering his weapon as well.
"So, what? He has a twin?" Haven asked thinking that was the first logical explanation.
Instead of answering, Nathan asked "Why?"
Haven was confused by his question, "Because I want to know about the case."
"No, why are you and Duke here?" Nathan clarified, sighing.
"I bet it has something to do with why you two were lying to me at the Gull." Audrey added in.
"Look..." Duke began to say, defensively, but was cut off when a strange sound echoed through area. Haven looked around worriedly, "What the hell was that?"
Haven's question was answered by another man who looked just like Cornell Stamoran, ran past them. Stamoran gave the group a salute before before climbing through the broken door, into the resort. Haven and Duke didn't think twice before taking off after him.
"Wait!" Audrey called out after them. "What are you doing?" Nathan added with a shout.
"Henry's in there!" Duke shouted back, climbing through the entrance with Haven right behind him.
"Oh, great." Audrey said sarcastically, "There's a Henry they haven't told us about, that's fantastic."
"They're two side of the same coin, what did you expect?" Nathan replied, finally catching onto why Haven and Duke referred to each other as such, climbing through the same entrance Haven and Duke went through.
Once inside, Audrey and Nathan drew their weapons and quickened their pace to catch up with Haven and Duke. "What is this place?" Audrey asked, looking around. The place was huge, dusty, and honestly looked half built.
"The Everwood Resort," Nathan replied, "it was going to be a big thing about ten years ago, but the developers ran out of money so they just left it here."
Audrey was almost in awe because of the size of the Everwood, "This place is a maze!" she exclaimed, "We should leave bread crumbs."
Audrey and Nathan soon caught up with Haven and Duke, Audrey giving her sister a 'you are so explaining this later' look upon arrival. "Don't look at me with that tone of voice." Haven replied to Audrey's silent look, "I know."
"Never gets old." Duke commented, referring to how Haven and Audrey could have silent and verbal conversations with one another like that. Getting back to the matter at hand, Duke asked, "You guys saw that too, right? I mean, this guy dies, then another one shows up in his place?"
"Could be Cornell." Nathan replied, leading the group further into the Everwood with their weapons drawn, Haven included.
"So, is Henry what you two were lying about back at the Gull?" Audrey asked, following Nathan's lead.
"You know, lying is such and ugly word." Haven replied with an innocent grin, returned by Audrey mildly glaring at her. Haven sighed, "Yeah, pretty much."
Duke took over with an explanation, "There's a kid that's been working for me. He said he witnessed something here one night, and no, I don't know what he saw."
"What makes you think Cornell is looking for Henry?" Nathan asked, the question annoying Haven because for someone who was could be so smart, he asked some really ridiculous questions sometimes. As if he thought Haven and Duke would just go after some random guy, guns blazing, for no reason. Thankfully, Duke answered before Haven could say any of these thoughts to him, "That's why he was at the Gull," Duke informed them, "he was looking for Henry, not me. I promised Henry I would go to the cops."
"A guy is threatening to kill a kid and you didn't call the cops? Seriously?" Audrey scolded both Duke and Haven for their decision.
"Haven's with me." Duke pointed out, gesturing to Haven who was standing beside him. "Yeah," Audrey replied, "and she's also not supposed to be on this case, so I stand by my previous point."
Duke thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I get it, but instead of giving us a hard time, maybe some backup should be called? This doesn't seem to be a guy that dies easily."
"I don't recommend that," Haven replied, "too many witnesses." The last thing they needed was to explain this to a whole bunch of cops that either didn't know or didn't believe in the troubles. Haven, for one, certainly didn't want that responsibility.
Duke didn't agree, "Like everyone doesn't know what happens in Haven?" He didn't see the harm in calling for backup.
"They might, but I'm not going to give the Rev any more ammunition." Nathan replied, siding with Haven, albeit for a different reason than hers.
This topic of conversation was cut short when a loud sound came from the upper levels. The group moved over to the metal scaffolding with their weapons aimed high. Their footsteps upon the stairs echoed through the Everwood. "This bringing back memories for you too?" Haven asked Audrey, following her sister up the stairs.
"If you're referring to the warehouse I finally found you in, then yes. This time just better have a different ending." Audrey replied, not really wanting to relive Haven's teenage years.
"Bad guy loses?" Haven asked, referring to how Audrey wanted this ending to change. "Damn right." Audrey replied, walking up the last few steps onto the upper level.
The group walked through the upper level, unfinished walls gave way to see every which way. In one of the rooms, that was more finished than the others, they found a pile of clothes in a corner, lanterns and batteries along the window sill, as well as some food items. "Those look like Henry's clothes," Duke said to them, walking further into the room, "this must be where he's crashing."
"Not bad." Haven thought aloud, a thought she probably should have kept to herself.
"Really?" Nathan asked, not believing she had just said something like that.
To defend her statement, Haven replied "What? I've stayed in worse." Haven walked over to the window saying, "Ex-junkie over here, you forget that?"
Audrey crouched down near Henry's things to take a look, rolling her shoulders in an uncomfortable fashion because she hated when Haven referred to herself as a junkie, in any sense of the word.
"Anyone can make their castle anywhere." Duke said in slight defense of Haven, not wanting her to feel too horribly about her past. Haven has fought her demons, and is still fighting them, there's no shame in that.
Audrey knew they had to get back on track, real quick, or else this topic of conversation would just go downhill. "You said Henry was a kid, right?"
"Yeah," Duke replied, looking around, "but he's older than I was when I was on my own. He's a smart kid, he'll figure it out." Haven wasn't the only one who had past memories brought to light this day.
"Only if we find him before Cornell does." Nathan replied, knowing what would happen if Stamoran got his hands on Henry.
"I think we can do that." Haven said, noticing slices in the wall that were similar to the others, but different just enough to catch Haven's eye. Haven gestured to the wall and Duke looked proud of her, "All castles have a really great hiding place." he walked closer to the wall, saying "Henry, come out. It's okay, you're safe."
A moment later, Henry pushed open the part of the wall he cut out for a hiding spot. Even so, Henry was hesitant to come out of his hiding place in the wall.
"It's okay," Duke assure Henry, "you know Haven, and they're my friends. You can come out." Thanks to Duke's assurance, he climbed out of his hiding place, but looked out of the room into the hall, just to be sure. Henry still looked and felt terrified. "You okay?" Duke asked, worried about Henry.
Henry stammered in nervousness, "Y..yeah. I'm okay." pointing out of the room, he said "But that guy just came by here, I heard him."
"Henry, we need to know what we're up against." Nathan replied, "Is there any reason you can think of as to why he's after you?" Henry looked hesitant to say anything, he was still terrified. "Henry, tell them." Duke urged Henry on, knowing how important it was, especially now.
Henry swallowed a lump in his throat, "He...he killed someone, the guy that came into the bar. I...I've been sleeping here most nights and they came in, arguing. He shot him...so I screamed, and he saw me."
Haven thought she heard something, "We should get out of here." and she was right, just moments later shots came firing at them. The group ran out of the room as Duke hurried them on, "Who was this guy!" Duke shouted as they ran. "Or guys!" Audrey added, running along with them.
The group ran down a flight of stairs, with no real idea where to go. That was, until Henry spoke up, "I...I know this place. We...we have to go right."
Audrey and Nathan headed to the right, just as Stamoran appeared firing shots down the stairs at them. Haven got Henry out of the line of fire, Duke took cover and returned shots up the stairs. The three of them took off down the left hall, Henry exclaiming "Your friends they left!"
"They can take care of themselves!" Duke shouted at Henry, trying to get Henry to pick up the place a little. "They'll be fine." Haven assured Henry as the three of them ran, even though Haven was trying to assure herself more than Henry.
Nathan and Audrey turned a corner when Audrey finally looked behind them, "Nathan...they're gone." Audrey's tone was riddled with worry for not only Haven but Duke and Henry as well.
"Did you see where they went?" Nathan asked, giving Audrey cover so she could continue down the hall they entered.
"No," Audrey replied, regretfully, "we must have gotten separated and we..." Her sentence was cut off by the sound of a nearby thud reaching their ears. Nathan and Audrey pressed to the wall, Audrey calling out, "Drop your gun, now!"
"I don't have a gun!" Stamoran replied as he came into view with his hands up in surrender.
Audrey and Nathan aimed their guns at him, "On the ground, now!" Nathan demanded.
Stamoran got to his knees, arms still raised, "Oh thank god, thank god you're here. You have to help me, please." Stamoran was pleading with Nathan and Audrey, he desperately needed their help, "They won't stop coming."
Nathan and Audrey looked at each other in question, but Nathan voiced it aloud, "Who's they?"
Stamoran knew he should have started with that, his expression made it clear, "I'm the original Cornell."
Nathan patted Stamoran down, as Audrey continued to aim her gun at him. "What do you mean you're the original Cornell?" he asked.
Stamoran sighed, "I knew this day would come. If you let me stand up, I'm going to show you something. Something...something you're not going to believe. In the next room."
Nathan and Audrey had a silent conversation with each other, resulting in Nathan gesturing for Stamoran to stand. Stamoran slowly got to his feet and pointed in the direction where they needed to go, "Right here." Stamoran led the way, explaining "I didn't know what else to do with them, so I put them here." Stamoran stopped when they reached their destination, "No one ever comes down here." In the corner of the room laid three dead copies of Cornell Stamoran. "This it them...my copies."
"What are they?" Nathan asked, walking closer to the copies.
Stamoran couldn't think to do anything but shrug with his hands raised, "I don't know. I..I just keep thinking about them as my copies." Stamoran took a breath before explaining further, "They seem to have all my memories, they look just like me, but I can't control them. They just showed up one day and they won't stop coming."
"Why did you kill them?" Audrey asked, trying to get a clear picture of everything.
"What else could I do?" Stamoran exclaimed in reply, "I tied one up, and he escaped. They only have one thing in mind, to kill some guy named Henry." That caught Audrey and Nathan's attention. Stamoran turned away with a sigh, "How am I supposed to deal with this? I was just trying to stop them."
Audrey looked at Stamoran like she was examining him, "You don't know who Henry is?" she found this intriguing.
"No," Stamoran answered in reply, "the only thing that I know is that...my copies want him dead. I don't know why."
Nathan approached them, asking "Did you kill one of your copies here, at the resort?"
"Yes." Stamoran answered, nodding, "The first one."
Things were starting to come together in Nathan's mind, "You think that's what Henry saw?" he asked Audrey.
Audrey thought for a moment, but she wasn't sure, "Maybe."
Stamoran looked at them with hope and worry, "You do believe me, don't you?"
"Why would we believe you?" Audrey retorted, for good reason, "You lied to us earlier at the house.
Stamoran scoffed, "What was I supposed to tell you? It wasn't me, but it was a guy that looks just like me, coming back to life wearing my clothes?"
Audrey could instantly imagine what Haven would have said if she were there, and just as quickly pushed it from her mind because even mentally she didn't want to hear it, "Okay, fair point." Audrey replied, "But why did you bring them here?"
"I didn't know what else to do with them." Stamoran rubbed his hands together nervously, "My bank keeps the account for this place. I knew no one ever comes out here." Stamoran let out an exasperated breath, "You can't imagine what it's like to kill yourself. It sounds insane, even to say it!" Stamoran was feeling like he was at his wit's end. Stamoran sat down on a pile of crates and put his forehead in his hands.
Audrey leaned closer to Nathan, speaking so only he could hear, "Okay, so if he's the original Cornell, then the copy is still out there somewhere. So we need to find, Duke, Henry, and my sister now."
Nathan couldn't agree more. He looked at his cell phone, and it showed just what he expected, "I don't have a signal." The fact that they were essentially in the basement, it was no surprise that he didn't have a cell signal, "I need to get upstairs." Looking around, he said, "There's only one way in here, you should be able to keep safe."
Audrey looked like she didn't quite like the idea, but there was nothing she could do about it. She turned to Stamoran upon hearing him say, "Be careful." to Nathan. "My copies are the worst part of me," Stamoran continued, "be careful."
Audrey gave Nathan a concerned look as he raised his weapon and left the room. She hoped he would be alright and hoped the others were alright as well.
Duke, Haven, and Henry sprinted down a corridor, Haven and Duke checking the rooms that they passed with their guns aimed at the ready. Upon clearing those rooms, they continued on. "You picked one hell of a place to squat." Duke said to Henry with sarcasm.
Henry didn't catch onto Duke's sarcasm, "Yeah, well it's out of the way. Figured no one would find me." Henry was saying this like it was a good thing.
"Kinda wished that had worked out better for you." Haven replied, hinting at the obvious. The obvious being the situation they were currently in.
"Yeah, me too." Henry replied, really wishing the circumstances were different.
Duke looked back to Henry for a moment, walking down the hall, "Is anybody else looking for you?" he asked.
"Nobody with a shotgun." Henry replied, Haven pulling him down out of sight when she and Duke did. Henry smiled an apology at Haven for not catching onto the fact that he should have done it too, then looked at Duke, "Hey...how come you never asked why I left home?"
"What?" Duke replied, looking at Henry, "It was none of my business." he added, looking back around the corner.
Henry thought Duke deserved some sort of explanation, that he and Haven both did. After all, they were risking their lives for him. "When my mom left, my father and I, we got along for awhile. Now...he barely even notices me. He didn't even try to stop me when I left."
"Well, fathers are tough." Duke replied, speaking from experience. Haven couldn't really say anything about it since she only had a string of temporary fathers from foster homes, but she could tell that Henry was hoping to hear something...more. Haven nudged Duke and cocked her head in Henry's direction, silently telling Duke to say something to him.
Duke understood the look, and sighed. Looking at Henry, he said "Look...my father, he had a whole other life he didn't tell me about. Leaving my family behind...that was the best decision I ever made." He looked at Haven, saying "One of them anyway." Duke could tell that this wasn't what Haven expected him to say, but it seemed to sit well with Henry, so that was good enough for him.
Haven looked across the hall and saw a wooden door, "Should we go in there?" she asked, gesturing to the door. Duke looked at the door, looked at Henry who just shrugged, and he decided "Come on." Duke went over to the door as Haven kept watch to make sure Stamoran wasn't nearby. Upon opening the door, it didn't lead to a room but outside. "Oh man," Duke said gratefully, "come on, let's get out of here."
Haven looked at him like he was crazy, "I'm not leaving without Audrey." she was firm with her words. Henry then said, "You go..I...I can't." Henry took off running down the hall, and without another thought, Haven took off after him.
"Haven! Henry!" Duke called out to them, in hopes that they'd stop, but they didn't. "Dammit." Duke said in frustration, running off after them.
Nathan walked up the flight of stairs to reach the upper levels. Every level he tried kept giving him the same message over and over on his phone; No Service. Nathan felt like throwing his phone down the flights of stairs at one point, but thankfully he refrained from doing so. Nathan knew how important getting cell service was. His outlet to his frustration would have to be taken out another way. Like going up the next flight of stairs even faster than the others, for example.
Finally he found a spot that seemed to be giving him cell service. The screen on his cell phone read 'entering service area'. Just as Nathan was about to try and make a call, another Cornell Stamoran ran around the corner, "Please don't hurt me." he pleaded to Nathan.
Nathan raised his weapon at Cornell, "Keep you hands where I can see them!" he demanded. Why Cornell was standing there in front of him, as opposed to being in the basement with Audrey was unknown to him. He didn't like it one bit.
Cornell held his hands up and looked like he was fearing for his life, "You have to help me, please."
Nathan looked around, expecting to see Audrey with him, but he didn't. Why wasn't Audrey with him? Where was she? "Where's Audrey?" he asked, causing this Cornell to look confused, "Is that your partner?"
Nathan wasn't playing any games, "You were just with her." If Cornell didn't know who Audrey was then that could only mean the unthinkable...
"No, I just got here!" this Cornell Stamoran exclaimed, "I live ten miles away. You were there." The realization hit both of them at the same time. The realization that Audrey was not with the original Cornell. "Oh my god." Cornell spoke aloud before Nathan took off running with Cornell following.
Down in the basement, Audrey was sitting nearby Stamoran. She kept checking her gun, anxiously. She didn't like how long Nathan had been gone. She especially didn't like that she was sitting there with Stamoran as opposed to being out there looking for Haven. The question of whether or not Haven, and the others, were alright was driving her up the wall. Audrey was doing her best to contain herself, but she was getting stir crazy, "Okay, we'll wait one more minute for Nathan and then we're going after him." Once Nathan was found, one way or another, then they'd go after Haven. Even though Audrey wanted to find Haven first, and if she knew that Haven wasn't with Duke and Henry then she would have started her search already.
"Sounds perfect." Stamoran replied, reaching into his pocket. Stamoran pulled out a silver coin and started to spin it on the crate in front of him.
Audrey heard the sound of the spinning coin and slowly turned to see if what she was hearing was what she was thinking, and it was. Duke had told her that the Cornell Stamoran that had shot up the Gull spun a silver coin on the bar like a dreidel. Something he was doing right now. Audrey knew in that moment that this was not the original Cornell, he was a copy. Knowing she had to not let him know that she knew, she said "Yeah, I'm sure he's right around the corner." referring to Nathan. Audrey sighed to herself, seeing Stamoran spin the coin again and again. With her weapon in hand, she stood, "Okay, I'm going to go check on Nathan now."
Stamoran didn't take his eyes off the spinning coin, asking "Are you sure that's safe?" he already knew the answer to that and really didn't care about her safety whatsoever, but he had to keep up the facade of being the original Cornell. However, he got the sense that his facade was over. Stamoran dropped the coin on the floor and sighed.
"Leave the coin!" Audrey demanded, aiming her weapon at him. Stamoran ignored her words and reached for it, only to pull Audrey's feet from under her. Audrey fell to the floor with a grunt and lost her grip on her firearm. Stamoran picked it up before Audrey even had the chance to get to it. "The coin gave me away, didn't it?" Stamoran asked, even though he knew that was the answer. "I really need to get rid of it." Stamoran thought aloud as if he was annoyingly scolding himself.
Stamoran's scolding didn't last for long before he started feeling amused with himself, "That was pretty good, huh?" he asked with a grin before speaking dramatically, "What else could I do?" referring to his previous act. "It's so easy to imitate, you know. I just do me, but take out the cool parts." Stamoran sat down, loosening his tie, keeping the weapon aimed at Audrey who was, much to her chagrin, still on the floor.
Audrey made it to a sitting position and sighed deeply, "So how does all this work?" Might as well get the copy's side of the story while she formulated a plan, and perhaps throw in a little FBI hostage negotiating stuff while she's at it."You know what's in his head?"
"Uh, I have all his memories, but...the balls are mine." Stamoran spoke with pride as he said the last bit. Pride and cockiness.
"So, you're a copy?" Audrey asked to keep him talking, and stalling.
Stamoran was offended by the word 'copy', "No, not a copy. A better version."
Audrey continued on with the negotiating technique and tried building a rapport by admitting something to you, "You know, we actually have a lot in common. I have someone else's memories inside my head too."
Stamoran looked and sounded like he didn't believe her, "Ah, come on."
"No, it's true." Audrey retorted and started to sound a bit amused, "You know, I never thought I'd have something in common with the...worst part of someone." Audrey made a hand gestured towards Stamoran to make it clear she was referring to him. After a silent moment, she looked at him and asked, "You ever wonder if you're real?"
Stamoran laughed at Audrey's question, "Why would I want to do that?" he asked in reply. "Does that bruise on your leg feel real?" turning her question around on her, in a way.
Audrey rubbed her leg, replying "Unfortunately, yes. But..." Audrey moved to a crouching position, "if we have somebody else's memories, what makes us us?"
Stamoran shook his head slightly as he looked at Audrey, "You think too hard." He couldn't fathom why Audrey would even want to think of such things as that. Audrey chuckled in reply, making him ask her "What's funny?"
"My best friend Brenda used to say that I think too hard, in the sixth grade. Except she wasn't really my friend because I never even met her." Audrey replied, "She was somebody else's friend, not...mine." Audrey looked at Stamoran and asked, "Do you have a best friend?"
Stamoran looked as if he was considering something, "Okay, I'll play." he stood up, keeping the gun aimed at Audrey as he replied, "Matthew Werner, my best friend. Until he accused me of taking the silver dollar that his grandfather had given him. He was going to give it to some girl. Huge fight, still pissed. He lives in Bangor now, but I know he's still pissed."
Audrey moved from a crouching position to sitting on a crate, "Now, see, you can let that go, because he didn't fight with you. He fought with Cornell." After replying, Audrey stood up, gesturing in a random direction as he referred to Cornell.
"Hmm?" Stamoran said, holding up the silver dollar, "But he was right, I did steal it. I used to keep it hidden in my drawer. Not anymore." Stamoran grinned, putting the silver dollar back into his pocket.
Audrey placed her hands on her hips, taking a step closer to Stamoran "It's hard being a copy, isn't it? I mean, every night I have to make myself forget everything that I'm not, and every day I got to figure out what I am." Audrey knew that Haven felt something similar, but she didn't bring Haven into it. Keeping it one on one was key.
"It's what makes you real." Stamoran stated and Audrey scoffed, "Yeah." she replied, "I mean, who just wants to be a copy?" Stamoran made a 'hmm' sound, and Audrey continued, "You know what the best part is, though?" Audrey moved closer to Stamoran, gesturing to her head, "The best part is that the woman whose memories I have, she went to Quantico, which means she learned how to do this." Audrey knocked the gun out Stamoran's hand, kicked his feet out from under him, hard, causing him to drop right down to the floor with a groan. Audrey grabbed her weapon before pulling out her cuffs, and cuffed Stamoran to a nearby pipe. Okay, her actions weren't quite Quantico taught, but it worked.
Stamoran panted and grunted a bit, bringing himself to a sitting position, "So the whole talk was really just to distract me?" he couldn't believe he had fallen for that.
Audrey shrugged a little, "At the beginning, yeah, but then, no." she knew that really wasn't making much sense but there it was.
Stamoran looked right at Audrey as he said, "When I kill you, eventually, I'm not going to be happy about it." he shook his head to emphasize that he was being serious, "But it's not going to stop me."
Audrey didn't say a word to him in reply, walking past him to start her search for Nathan and the others, believing that Stamoran wasn't going to be going anywhere any time soon due to being cuffed to the pipe.
Back at Haven PD the town selectman enters the station's bull pen. "Hello, Selectman." Stan said to him in greeting, "What can I do for you?"
The Selectman changed hands, holding his briefcase, "I'm looking for Chief Wuornos, is he around?"
Stan shook his head, "Out on a call. Something I can help you with?" it wasn't every day that a selectman came into the station so Stan was wondering why he was there.
"That's alright, I'll leave him a note." In actuality, the Selectman didn't want to speak with Nathan, at least not in that moment. He wanted to gain access to Nathan's office.
"Sure thing." Stan replied, before going off with another officer to take care of something. The Selectman allowed himself entrance into Nathan's office and closed the door behind him. The Selectman went behind Nathan's desk and started rummaging through the files on his desk. He didn't find what he was looking for there, so after fixing the desk back to the way he found it, he went over to the filing cabinet. The Selectman looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was coming, before opening the drawer. That's where he found what he was looking for. He pulled out several files, put them into his briefcase, and made his way out. Now that he had the files he needed, there was no reason to stick around.
At the Everwood, Duke caught up with Henry in his 'sleeping quarters'. "Henry! Haven!" Duke called out, assuming that Haven was with Henry. Duke hurried into the room and saw that Haven was not there with him. "Where's Haven?"
Henry replied, going over to his hiding spot, "I don't know, she was behind me and then I turned a corner and she didn't follow. I assume she went in the other direction."
Duke clenched his hand in frustration and worry for Haven. He could only hope that she would be alright. He knew how tough Haven was, even if she didn't always show it, but he also knew how...for lack of better term, soft she could be. Sensitive. Haven could be a confusing woman at times, even with herself. Since he couldn't track her down in that very moment, he focused on what he could do. Duke looked at Henry and said, "What you're getting in there better be important, I mean like ending Apartheid, cure for cancer important."
"Sorry." Henry replied, looking for something in his hiding place in the wall, "I couldn't take the chance that I'd lose it." Henry kept looking, "You didn't have to come looking for me and Haven didn't have to try."
"Yeah, well, it was on my way and...nope got nothing about Haven. She usually has a better sense of direction." Duke replied, sighing.
Henry found what he was looking for. He took out the case, and opened it to reveal the Purple Heart medal that was inside. Duke saw what it was and couldn't believe it, "That's what you risked our lives for?"
Henry was very defensive towards it, "It was my father's. He got it in Iraq. He...he told me that, you know, it would..watch over me on the road."
Duke instantly caught onto the continuity error as far as Henry's story about his father was concerned, "You said that he didn't stop you." Duke didn't appreciate being lied to.
Henry knew he lied before, but he was coming clean now, "Well, not so much didn't stop me as...couldn't."
Before anything else could be said, Duke and Henry heard footsteps approaching. Duke aimed his shotgun towards the oncoming sound and sighed when he saw it was Audrey. "Whoa!" Audrey said, holding her arm out in front of her. "I was hoping you had gotten out of here." Audrey said upon approach then realized Haven wasn't with them, "Where is my sister?"
Duke looked like he regretted telling her this, "We don't know, got separated."
Audrey hated hearing that but she had to try and stay positive, "We'll find her. Are you guys okay?"
"Yeah," Duke replied, "we're fine. Where's Nathan?"
Audrey sighed, "I don't know." she pulled out her cellphone, seeing it had service, and proceeded to give him a call.
Elsewhere in the Everwood, Haven was going down a flight of stairs, having no clue how she had gotten so lost. She heard footsteps coming up the same staircase and held her weapon at the ready. Once she reached the landing, she aimed her gun and dropped it in relief when it was met with Nathan aiming his own at her. "Jeeze, Nathan, give me a heart attack why don't you." Haven said to him, running her hand through her head, then saw who was right behind him; Cornell.
Haven was just about to lift her gun again, but Nathan stopped her, "Don't," he told her, "this is the original Cornell, not a copy."
"Say what now?" Haven asked, since she missed the whole explanation part of this adventure.
"Think of it as good and evil twin. I'm the good twin." Cornell answered, giving the quickest 'ish' explanation as possible. He then looked at Haven with a bit of a tilt to his head, he thought she looked very familiar but couldn't place it just yet.
"Okay then." Haven said, just wanting to accept it and move on. "Please tell me you guys know where you're going."
"No, not really." Nathan replied, "We're lost. But at least we found you...we just don't know where anyone else is."
"Yeah, I lost Henry a little while ago and since Duke didn't end up finding me, I'm hoping he found Henry." Haven sighed a little, "I really need to remember to keep my phone in my pocket as opposed to my bag."
"Which you left in the car." Nathan stated, seeing that it wasn't present on her shoulder. "Exactly." Haven replied. Haven couldn't figure out why of all the times she needed her bag, she didn't have it with her or she took out what she ended up needing. It was starting to become an annoying pattern.
Just then, Nathan's phone rang, "You could have mentioned you had yours." Haven pointed out, and Nathan replied "I didn't know I had service here." and answered the call fro Audrey. "Where are you?" Nathan asked then informed her, "The Cornell you're with is the copy."
"Yeah, I know. I cuffed him to a pipe, so he shouldn't be going anywhere." Audrey replied on the other end of the line.
"Good." Nathan replied, glad to hear it. He looked at Cornell, "Your copy is cuffed to a pipe."
"Oh, thank god. Can we get out of here, please?" Cornell wanted to get as far away from his copy as possible.
Instead of answering, Nathan turned his attention back to his phone conversation, "We're with Haven, she's fine. Meet up in the atrium?"
"Copy that." Audrey replied, and Nathan requested, "Don't say copy." Nathan ended the phone call and Haven looked at him with crossed arms, "If we're lost, then how do you suggest we get back to the atrium?"
"That's easy." Nathan replied with a grin, "We just left there." he chuckled, leading the way.
Haven rolled her eyes, speaking to herself, "Of course you did."
Back at 'Henry's Room' in the Everwood, Audrey slipped her phone back into her pocket, "We're going to the atrium, Haven's with them."
Duke looked very relieved to hear that, "Let's go."
On the way to the atrium, Haven stopped and looked like she was going to be sick, "Do you smell that?" she asked Nathan and he smelled it as well. "I don't smell anything," Cornell replied, "come on, this way."
Nathan looked down on the floor and saw some red substance seeping out of a nearby wall, "Is that blood?"
"Why do I suddenly feel like in an Edgar Allen Poe story?" Haven muttered to herself, following Nathan over to the wall. "Is it just me or does that wall look...weird."
"It's doesn't look right." Nathan agreed, pressing against the wall, inspecting it.
"That is odd." Cornell agreed, "But shouldn't we be meeting your partner?" he seemed pretty eager to get going.
Haven ignored Cornell and grabbed a nearby piece of metal and handed it to Nathan, "Here, see if this will work."
Nathan took the piece from her and gestured for them to step back. Nathan pressed the metal into a slit in the wall, managing to move one of the large concrete blocks enough to pull it out. He set it aside and pulled out another, revealing a dead, male body with a bullet hole in his head.
Haven didn't really react to it, because she had half expected it to be a dead body behind there. So instead of a reaction, she had questions. Haven looked right at Cornell and asked in an almost accusing tone, "Do you know who this is?" She didn't know it, but Nathan was thinking of asking the same exact thing, she just beat him to it.
Cornell looked like he didn't know what Nathan was talking about. Nathan shook his head in disbelief, and started dialing a number. Haven was too busy looking at the dead body to notice what Cornell was up to. Cornell had picked up one of the smaller cement blocks and hit Nathan on the back of the head with it, rendering him unconscious.
Haven heard Nathan drop and reached for her gun but Stamoran came up behind her with his own gun aimed at her head, "I don't think." he said to her in a 'tsk tsk' way, taking her gun away, and slipping it into the back of his belt.
Haven had her hands held up as Stamoran pushed her over to the wall, keeping his weapon raised. Stamoran looked at Cornell and said, "You really need to learn to grow a pair. Tell me I did not just kill myself in order to watch you be a coward."
"What did you expect me to do? We can't kill them, they're cops." Cornell retorted and Stamoran replied, "That didn't stop you from hitting him over the head with a brick, now did it?" Stamoran grinned, "No matter, I'll take care of this one." He turned his full attention to Haven and now that he had fully seen her, he laughed. "It's uncanny! Do you see this, brother? She looks just like her."
In that moment, Cornell remembered exactly where he thought he had seen Haven before. "She looks like Haley." there was a tone of disbelief to his voice.
"Let's take a picture, send it to Matthew." Stamoran's twisted mind was working in overdrive now.
"You knew them?" Haven asked, figuring if she was about to die then she might as well not die ignorant. That and she didn't actually intend to die this day.
"Oh no." Stamoran replied with a shake to his head, "I fell for the conversationalist before, not again." Stamoran looked at Cornell, "Tie her up. She might be amusing before her death."
Cornell did as he was instructed and grabbed something to tie Haven up with. "I'm sorry." he said to her as she complied, not wanting to really get shot in that moment. "So much for being the good twin." Haven muttered in reply and winced when Cornell tied her wrists together tightly, before tying up her ankles as well. Haven slid down to the floor, running over her options in her head of what she could do to get out of this, but it was two against one and Nathan was unconscious. This was going to be interesting.
Now that Haven was bound, Stamoran got down to business. "All of this could have been avoided brother if you thought twice about killing Neal." Upon hearing that, Haven assumed that Neal was the guy in the wall.
"He was going to turn me in!" Cornell exclaimed in defense. "Because you were embezzling." Stamoran retorted.
"I would have put it back." Cornell replied with a sigh. "But you didn't." Stamoran pointed out the obvious, "Instead, you killed a man. And when you couldn't manage the balls to kill the only witness, you created me to take care of it for you!" Stamoran looked quite pleased about that fact.
"You just told her everything!" Cornell yelled at Stamoran, referring to Haven. "Like you wouldn't have anyway. You had a thing for Haley too, brother." Stamoran replied with a smirk.
"She's a child." Cornell replied, thinking Haven was far too young, no matter the resemblance to Haley.
"No, she's not." Stamoran smirked, looking at Haven. Haven shot him daggers in reply. If he even dared come close to her, she'd try her best to kill him and any other copy that came around.
"You have to accept who you are." Stamoran said to Cornell, "A thief, a murderer, a man who tried to steal his best friend's girl, and a coward." Stamoran gasped in realization, "Good thing is, you can change the last one." Stamoran picked up another one of the smaller cement blocks and handed it to Cornell, guiding him over to an unconscious Nathan.
"I swear to every deity that I will kill every single one of you if you hurt him!" Haven shouted at them, struggling to get free.
"All talk, no action." Stamoran teased her, turning back to Cornell, "Well?"
Cornell swallowed a lump in his throat, "Can't you do it for me?"
"No," Stamoran replied, "but...we would make one hell of a team."
"Starting now?" Cornell asked with a 'really?' expression.
"Starting now." Stamoran confirmed. Cornell was just about to hit Nathan over the head when Haven cried out, "Cornell, no! Please don't do this, it's not too late for you, you can change this! Do you really want to become like him?"
Stamoran had enough of Haven's mouth, he went over to Haven, grabbed her by her hair and smashed her head into the wall hard enough to render her unconscious. "There." Stamoran rolled his shoulders, going back over to Cornell, "Go ahead."
Cornell lifted the cement block over his head and right before he was about to hit Nathan with it, his cell phone started to ring. "Don't answer it!" Cornell exclaimed, setting the block down.
Stamoran chuckled, "Why not? It could be fun."
"Doesn't it seem odd that it rang just as I was going to kill him?" Cornell sounded a bit paranoid when he spoke to Stamoran, "Almost like someone wanted us to pick it up, several steps away from the cop."
Stamoran was actually thinking Cornell had a point. He looked around and they heard a sound coming from the floor above, "Move!" Cornell exclaimed, causing himself and Stamoran to dive out of the way just as Duke and Audrey stood up from behind a pile of metal, and started firing at them
Stamoran looked at Cornell from his hiding spot, "I'm impressed. Calling the cell phone, that was pretty smart." he slid the gun he took from Haven, over to Cornell.
"I'm not going to jail." Cornell replied, picking up the gun, "You mean what you said? About being a team?" Desperate times called for desperate measures in his eyes.
"Oh, the fun we'll have." Stamoran replied to which Cornell said, "It will be fun." almost as if he was trying to convince himself. A moment later, Cornell nodded his head affirmatively, "Let's do it."
That was all Stamoran needed to hear, he stood up from behind his hiding spot and started firing at Audrey and Duke. This fire fight lasted for a little while before things went silent. Cornell almost laughed at the sound, or lack thereof, "Out of bullets?" he called out to them.
"Maybe." Duke called back and Stamoran laughed, "We're not. As you've noticed, I've been laying in an armory for some time.
"Perfect." Duke said to Audrey in annoyance, "We run out of ammo just as they start working together."
"Haven PD is on their way!" Audrey shouted out to them, "Give us Haven and Nathan and we'll be gone. Giving you time to get away."
Duke only spoke loud enough for Audrey to hear, "Uh, just so you know, nobody, myself included, buys it when the cops say that."
"Your friend will be the first one to die. Then the rest of you." Stamoran said in reply to Audrey's words, "But your sister, she'll live a little while longer. We have some...unfinished business. "
Duke wanted to rip them limb from limb for threatening Haven like that, he looked at Audrey, "I say we rush them."
"Oh, yeah, that's brave," Audrey replied with sarcasm, "but how do you intend to do that without ammunition?" She wanted to get Haven back as much as Duke did, but they had to be smart about it.
Duke was trying to come up with another plan, "Okay what if we convince him...okay, well, except it's not him, it's...now it's two of him, so it'll be twice as hard...never mind." Duke had no idea where he was going with that, just hoped that something would come of it but nothing did. Then again...
Duke's words gave Audrey an idea, "No, wait...maybe...maybe not." Duke raised his brows and Audrey looked at him, "Promise me you'll get Henry out of here this time."
Duke looked like he didn't want to leave, because Haven was right down there and he had to save her. Audrey recognized this look, "I promise I will get her back." Duke believed her, how could he not? Audrey would do anything for her sister.
Duke nodded, "Okay." he replied and looked at Henry, "Come on." Duke gestured for Henry to come along, even though he had no idea what Audrey's plan actually was.
Audrey took a breath before raising her arms and shouting out, "I put my gun down!" she stood up, giving away her position. "Audrey!" Duke called out to her in a whisper when he saw what she was doing.
Audrey ignored Duke and continued on with her plan, "Please, I'm asking you," she walked away from her place and down the exposed hall on the upper level, fully in their line of sight from below. "please don't hurt them."
"A little late for that." Cornell replied since both Nathan and Haven were unconscious from one cause or another.
"I'm not talking to you." Audrey replied firmly, point to where she could see the copy hiding, "I'm talking to your copy."
That caught Stamoran's attention, causing him to stand up from his place, as Audrey made her way down to there level. Cornell couldn't believe what he was seeing, "What are you doing?" he asked Stamoran then demanded, "Sit down!"
"Why?" Stamoran asked with a scoff, "What are you doing to do? Kill me?" it didn't matter if Stamoran died or not, he'd just come back anyway.
Cornell was growing impatient, "Just shoot her and let's get one with it."
Stamoran didn't agree with that course of action, "I would...like to talk with her for awhile."
"Why? What do you care about her?" Cornell asked, not understanding.
"We have something very important in common." Audrey replied, approaching them with her hands raised, her eyes on Stamoran. "Henry didn't witness your crime. He witnessed his." Audrey was referring to Cornell when she spoke.
Cornell stood up from his hiding place, gun raised at Audrey, "My crimes are his crimes."
"Why?" Audrey asked in reply, "Because he remembers doing them? We're not just the sum total of our memories, are we?"
Cornell didn't understand what she was getting at, "What does it matter?"
Audrey answered honestly, "It matters to me." she then gestured to Stamoran, "And it matters to him."
Cornell looked at Stamoran in disbelief and Stamoran looked almost as if he didn't want to admit that what she was saying was true.
Audrey looked only at Stamoran when she spoke, "If you kill us now, all you're going to remember is having to clean up after him. Or, you can have your own memory. A memory of saving a boy's life."
Stamoran looked down after hearing her words. Audrey was trying to figure out if she had gotten through to him or not, and Cornell was looking at Stamoran with the same question on his mind.
Stamoran raised his gun at Audrey, who took a deep breath with her hands still raised, ready to act if need by.
Cornell was pleased by Stamoran's action. He started adjusting his suit as he said, "About time. Kill her...and let's go."
"You know what you're asking of me?" Stamoran asked, looking at Audrey.
"I'm giving you a chance." Audrey replied, "To have what I had...A chance to make my own life, a chance to save lives, not end them. This may be the only one you get."
After Audrey's little spiel, Cornell sighed, turning to Stamoran, "You're testing me, aren't you? Fine, I'm in." He turned to Audrey, still looking at Stamoran, "Watch this." The weapon was aimed, Audrey closed her eyes in hope that what she wanted to happen would happen and a shot was fired.
Audrey opened her eyes to see Stamoran turned to Cornell with his gun in hand. Cornell grabbed at his chest before falling to the floor, whimpering. Stamoran dropped the gun to the floor, and Audrey gasped in shock because she couldn't believe that it had actually worked.
Stamoran took the silver coin from his pocket as he started to fade in and out of view, "Don't tell Matthew you got it from me." Stamoran grinned and tossed the coin over to Audrey and closed his eyes, feeling himself fully fade away. A content sigh escaping his lips as he did.
Audrey still couldn't believe what had just happened, that it had actually worked. But there was no time to think about it now, she had Haven and Nathan to think about now.
Nathan and Haven were checked out with clean bills of health, no concussions but they'd both one hell of a headache for a few days. A couple days later, Nathan went to the town Selectman's office. "Come on in Nathan." The Selectman, who was at the police station before, said, leading Nathan into the office. "All the selectmen want to know is...how are you recovering?"
"Fine, thanks." Nathan replied, taking a seat.
The Selectman placed his hands on his desk and said, "Everything that happened at, uh, Everwood, you put that all into case files. Am I right?"
"Yeah, of course." Nathan replied, then asked "Why are you asking?"
The Selectman pulled files out of his desk that he had taken from Nathan's office, and set them in front of Nathan "These tell a different story."
Nathan did not look pleased one bit to see those, "How did you get those?"
The Selectman didn't answer his question, "You've been falsifying police reports."
"I've been doing we've always done in Haven." Nathan retorted in defense, "Since when do we want the troubles in reports?"
The Selectman once again didn't answer a question Nathan asked and that was all Nathan needed, "When someone wants me out." he stated, starting to see what this was really about.
"We have no choice, Nathan. I'm sorry." The Selectman replied, "We're going to be looking for a new chief immediately."
"It's the Rev, isn't it?" Nathan asked, even though he had a pretty good feeling he knew the answer to that. The Selectman's silence confirmed it. Nathan got up from his seat, asking "Does he control all the selectmen or just you?"
"Nathan, your father was a good friend to me, so let me give you a little advice." The Selectman replied, "You might want to leave Haven."
Nathan scoffed, "Excuse me?"
"Things are going to get a little...rough for your kind." The Selectman clarified.
"Then I'm not going anywhere." Nathan stood firmly on this fact. Without another word, Nathan left the Selectman's office.
Outside of the Grey Gull, Duke and Haven sat on a wooden bench, hand in hand. "You alright?" Duke asked, looking at Haven.
"My head hurts a bit, but I'm okay." Haven replied, laying her head on Duke's shoulder. Duke kissed her head softly then looked up when he saw Henry approaching. "Am I interrupting?" Henry asked, figuring he was.
Haven lifted her head and smiled, "Not at all." Duke patted the seat next to him, "Take a seat." Henry smiled and did just that.
Haven looked over at Henry and asked, "Where are you planning on staying now, Henry?" she was worried about the kid and wanted to know.
Henry shrugged a bit, "I'll find something." he really didn't have a set plan in mind.
Duke looked out in front of them as he asked Henry, "You like living on your own?" turning to face Henry, he asked "I mean, always on the move?"
Henry looked at Duke for a moment before answering, "Yeah...I think it's the best place to find yourself."
Duke nodded a little, "Sure." he looked at a car that just pulled into the Gull's parking lot. Haven looked over as well, in curiosity, "Who's that?" she asked.
Henry looked over and felt betrayed, "I can't believe you called my dad." he said to Duke in disbelief.
"Yeah, it kinda blows my mind, too." Duke replied, chuckling a bit. He looked at Haven and smiled softly before looking back to Henry, "But sometimes, it's tricky knowing who the good guy is." Duke looked at Henry's father and nodded in greeting. "Hey kiddo." Henry's father said to Henry, and Duke took that as his cue. He patted Henry's leg in a supporting way and stood up, holding his hand out to Haven. Haven took Duke's hand, giving Henry a little smile before walking back to the Gull with Duke.
They stopped for a moment to check on Henry's reunion with his father and it warmed Haven's heart to know that Duke was responsible for it. Haven looked at Duke and said, "You never cease to amaze me." Haven kissed Duke's cheek, "You, I like you."
Duke wrapped his arm around Haven and sighed with a grin, "I know." Haven playfully poked his ribs and the two laughed, making their way into the Gull.
Once inside they saw Nathan sitting at the bar drinking one shot after another. Audrey was down at the other end of the bar, watching him. "What's going on?" Haven asked, sliding onto the bar stool next to Audrey, not blocking her view of Nathan.
"He's not the chief anymore. The uppity ups are using Nathan keeping the troubles out of the files as reason." Audrey replied, causing Haven's brows to rise. "Since when does this town want the troubles in official documents?" Haven asked, not able to believe that was true.
Audrey looked at Haven in a way that said, 'think about it, you know the answer'. Haven saw this face and had a 'facepalm' moment, "The Rev."
Duke groaned when he heard that, "I'm really starting to hate that guy." He leaned on the bar and looked down at Nathan, "It's too bad. I think he was really starting to like that job."
"Yeah, I think he was." Audrey agreed. Haven couldn't take Nathan looking so sad anymore, drunk sad was not a good sad to be in. "That's it." Haven hopped up from her seat and went over to Nathan. She extended her hand, "Care to dance?"
Audrey went over to them and said, "I don't think that's a good idea..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why not?" Nathan asked, handing his little drink umbrella to Audrey. Nathan smiled at Haven, slapped her hand in hers and pointed, "To the dance floor!" Nathan spun a laughing Haven around and the two proceeded to dance in the funniest way possible.
"Wow...he really can't dance." Duke shook his head with a laugh, "I don't know how Haven puts up with it."
"She's fully capable of adapting when she wants to." Audrey replied, twirling the little umbrella in her hand.
"Hey, back at the resort...did you mean everything you said to Cornell's copy? Or were you just...playing him?" Duke was curious about this, couldn't help it.
Audrey thought for a moment, "Both, I guess...He needed to move past his memories, so that he would learn what he was capable of.
This serious moment was cut off by them looking over at Nathan and his more than ridiculous dancing while Haven was doing everything she could not to die from laughter. "Okay, that's it. We need a picture of this. A record of the day that Nathan Wuornos got funky." Duke said with laughter, looking at Audrey, "Do you have a camera on your phone?"
"No, it's upstairs." Audrey replied, "I think Haven has one." she said, sliding over a bag from down the bar.
"That's Evi's bag. She's waitressing tonight." Duke replied, opening it anyway, "She has a camera on hers, she won't mind." Duke found Evi's phone and took several pictures of Nathan and Haven dancing. Haven was practically folded over in half laughing and Nathan was doing something that sort of resembled the disco, sort of. "Oh, that's a keeper." Duke said to a laughing Audrey, showing her the picture.
"Oh yeah, send that to me. Haven too, she'll kill you if you don't." Audrey replied before leaving the bar to go upstairs and get her phone.
Duke was about to send the picture when Evi's phone rang. A text message popped up on the screen from Reverend Driscoll. The message read 'Thanks for the files info. I took care of the rest'. Duke looked up at Evi who was making her way through the crowd with drinks and now he knew what Evi's ulterior motive was. There was only one question now...what was he going to do about it?
End Episode 8
