CHAPTER 26

Since two of the minor personalities had joined with David spontaneously with successful results, Steve had decided to try once again to get Richard to agree to hypnosis. Hutch was still secretly giving him a mild sedative in the mornings and in the evenings and it seemed to be helping to keep him calm during their sessions and more receptive to cooperating with Steve. So far, there had been no unexpected appearances of Polaris or of Michael. Hypnosis might be a way to talk to them under more controlled circumstances.

"Richard," Steve said, as they settled in for their afternoon session. "I'd really like to talk to Michael and Polaris."

"They don't want to talk to you. They don't trust you."

"Would they talk to me if I could find a way to talk to them without upsetting them too much?" Steve suggested.

"Maybe…how do you plan on doing that?"

"By hypnotizing you." Steve said cautiously, prepared for another explosion like the last time. Hutch had moved closer to the desk, prepared to intervene if Michael made another unexpected appearance. This time, however, Richard to be considering the idea but he had some conditions of his own first.

"If I agree…you have to promise me that you won't try to contact David."

"Why not?"

"Because I already told you…he's not ready to face the truth yet of everything those monsters did to him…what they made him do…what they turned him into."

Although Steve had been considering trying to contact David if Richard did agree to be hypnotized, he decided to shelf that idea for now. He had a feeling that Richard could be right. David wasn't strong enough yet to face too much of the truth. He had only forced his way out the one time and had passed out almost immediately.

"Will you let me try if I promise not to try and contact David?" Steve pressed gently, taking advantage of Richard's compliance.

"All right." Richard said.

"Good. Then close your eyes and listen only to the sound of my voice."

Hutch listened and watched as Steve carefully guided Richard through the various steps to put him into a deep sleep. When he was completely under, Steve said, "Richard, can you hear me?"

"Yes…" Richard said in a soft, dreamy sounding voice.

"I'd like to speak to Michael and Polaris. Are they there?"

"Yes. So is Gordo."

"Can they all hear me?"

"Yes."

"Are they willing to speak to me?"

"Gordo and Polaris are…Michael isn't sure."

"Then may I speak to Gordo first?"

"Sure. I'm right here." Richard's voice changed, deepening and taking on a harder edge. "I'm Gordo."

"I understand that you are very close to David now."

"Yes but we are not joined. I am joined with another."

"With another? Who?" Steve asked, somewhat taken back but not totally surprised to find the existence of another personality.

"Curly." He said.

"I see. Is Curly there now?"

"Yes, he is with me. We are one but not the same."

"How are you different?"

"Curly likes to play tricks on people and he knows how to fight."

"Are you different in any other ways?"

"Yes…he wants to join with David but I don't."

"Why not?"

"Because David isn't strong enough yet for us both to join with him."

"Why not?"

"Because of the others…they don't want him to get stronger."

"Because that threatens them?"

"Yes and the secrets they still hold close to them."

"What secrets? Richard told us what happened to David at the hands of the cult."

"We do not speak of that…and he did not tell you everything."

"What didn't he tell us?"

"Michael's secret and the true source of his rage. That's why he doesn't want to talk to you."

"I see. Gordo…may I speak to one of the others now? May I speak to Polaris?"

"I suppose but tell Blondie to watch out…Polaris really has the hots for him."

There was a moment of silence and a strange shifting of the expression on Starsky's face. Then the seductive voice that Hutch remembered said, "Hello, Blondie. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again. Thought I scared you off."

"No…I'm here to help David and I'm staying." Hutch said. Polaris was the only personality that really made the blond uneasy. He was no prude but having a sexually aggressive personality like Polaris come on to him was something he wasn't quite sure how to cope with. He'd seem Starsky come on pretty strong in the past when he was trying to pick up a pretty lady but to have that sexuality directed towards him was unnerving.

"Too bad you won't reconsider what we talked about. David would never have to know. I can stop him from finding out you know."

"How can you do that?" Steve asked.

"By blocking my mind from Richard of course. If I do that, he doesn't remember what happens while I'm out. It's more fun that way."

"Can anyone else do that besides you?"

"Of course, we all can if we need to. Michael has done it more than once."

"Is that Michael's secret? Did he do something that Richard isn't aware of?"

"STOP ASKING SUCH FUCKING STUPID QUESTIONS!" Another voice suddenly yelled, a deep voice that was almost like a growl. It appeared that Michael had decided to step in without being invited. Instinctively, Hutch moved a step closer to Steve in case Michael decided to get violent. He knew that this personality was simply an extreme exaggeration of Starsky's hot headed, volatile temper. That made him the most dangerous of all the personalities and the most unpredictable.

"Are you Michael?"

"Who the fuck else would I be? Polaris has a big mouth and he needs to learn to keep it shut. So does that pussy Gordo."

"Why? What are you afraid they will tell us?" Steve asked.

"I ain't afraid of them telling you nothing. If they do, I'll knock the hell out of them."

"Who are you so angry at, Michael?"

"At those cowardly assholes that did those things to David. They had to tie him up and drug him to get to him because they knew he could take 'em if his hands were free." Michael declared .

"Do you honestly believe that? Even if his hands were free, David couldn't take on so many and hope to win."

"Maybe not…but at least he would have died a man and gone down fighting instead of giving up when things got too fucked up."

"You mean after he was gang raped?" Steve said "That's when you came to be, isn't it? And you took revenge for David by killing that man. You ripped out his throat with your teeth."

"Yeah, and it felt damn good too. Course, I went away and let David take the blame for that."

"You were suppose to protect him. Do you call it protecting him when you let him be almost beaten to death and then thrown into that pit and forgotten about?" Steve pressed.

"I saved him from dying in that hell hole." Michael growled. "I made sure that nobody came near him so that they couldn't hurt him again."

"Who else came near him?" Steve asked with a puzzled frown. "Richard said after the cult threw him in there that they forgot about him…to them he was already dead."

"SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE! NOBODY WAS SUPPOSED TO COME NEAR HIM AND SHE DISOBEYED JUDAS!" Michael yelled, becoming even more agitated.

"Who Michael? Who disobeyed Judas?" Steve challenged him, sensing that they were on the verge of another breakthrough. "Who came into the Pit that wasn't suppose to?"

"THE GIRL! THE LITTLE GIRL!" Michael screamed as he suddenly grabbed his head with both hands and bent forward as if in severe pain.

"Michael, what is it?" Steve asked anxiously, "Are you all right?"

With another blood curdling scream, Michael fell to the floor and began to thrash around, his eyes rolling back in his head and foaming at the mouth as if he were having a seizure. Suddenly, the body stilled just as quickly as it had been convulsing just moments ago. Steve jumped up from his seat and immediately began taking Starsky's vitals. His heart rate was up and he was close to hyperventilating but other than that, he appeared to be fine. Steve was ready to tell Hutch to call for help when those sapphire eyes slowly opened and stared up at Steve.

"Michael? Are you still there?" He asked, although he was fairly certain that whoever was occupying the body nowwasn't Michael.

"Michael's not here any longer." Said a voice with a distinctive New York accent. "He's gone."

"Where did he go?"

"To David. Michael has joined Gordo in David's inner circle, although neither of them has merged with David yet."

Steve looked startled at this newest bit of information. He hadn't expected Michael to spontaneously align himself with David and he found himself wondering what the consequences of that would be. Michael was the second most dominant personality after Richard. Aligning himself with David made the core personality stronger than he had ever been and put him in direct opposition with Richard for possession of the body.

"Who are you?" Steve asked, hoping to identify this newest manifestation and discover why he had suddenly appeared.

"I used to be Richard, now I am both Richard and myself. And I am also Polaris."

Steve rocked back on his heels stunned by this new revelation. Richard and Polaris had apparently fused but in the process had created a totally new personality that had developed when they merged.

"What the hell is going on here?" Hutch demanded, trying to process the scene unfolding in front of him through a layman's eyes.

"I'm not sure yet." Steve admitted , "Give me a minute to try and find out." He turned his attention back to the new entity. "Do you have a name?"

"Yes. My name is Mike."

"That's Starsky's father." Hutch whispered to Steve. Like the Richard personality, Starsky had taken the other strong, positive male role model in his life and incorporated him into one of his alternate personalities. The brunet had idolized his father and missed him terribly. Although he had died when Starsky was twelve, he had helped to shape Starsky's early personality and gave him the core set of morals and values that he had retained as an adult.

"Why are you here now?" Steve asked the man, as he reached out a hand and helped him to his feet.

"To help the others. To bring them together. To stop the pain. I have always been here…I have seen the world through their eyes and now I see it through my own." Mike replied.