Part 19 - "Full of Grace" - Liz POV
The winter here's cold and bitter,
It's chilled us to the bone.
We haven't seen the sun for weeks,
To long, too far from home.
I feel just like I'm sinking
And I claw for solid ground.
I'm pulled down by the undertow
I never knew I could feel so low.
Oh darkness I feel like letting go.
If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place
I know I can love you much better than this.
Full of grace.
Full of grace,
My love.
It's better this way, I said,
Having seen this place before.
Where everything we said and did hurts us all the more.
It's just that we stayed
Too long in the same old sickly skin,
I'm pulled down by the undertow,
I never thought I could feel so low.
Oh darkness I feel like letting go.
If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place,
I know I can love you much better than this.
Full of grace.
I know I can love you much better than this.
It's better this way.
Sarah McLachlan
I become aware of my surroundings slowly. I think I may have passed out because my head is splitting as I slowly open my eyes.
The grief and despair that other version of myself felt when she realized that Max was gone...
It is still weighing down on me. I breathe in and out slowly, try and convince myself that it did not happen in [I]this[/I] life. Max is still here. He is safe.
It takes me a moment to realize that I am back in the desert. I sit up slowly, look around for Ava. She is sprawled to my left, her blonde-grey hair covering her face.
I realize that she was not the one who pulled me back.
Because, as I crawl towards her, my heart in my throat that she is dead, it is then that I see that we are not alone.
I stare at him, not understanding. What is he, of all people, doing here?
He is sitting on the hood of the Jetta, the crystal granolith balanced in his hand.
I had not immediately understood when Ava had first told me that the spaceship that we had all thought was the granolith was not. She had pulled the crystal out of an inside pocket of her leather jacket, had explained to me that it was the crystal that was the Holy Grail of Max's people, not the spaceship. The spaceship had been only one of many things built to accommodate the granolith, to take advantage of its power.
I had not [I]truly[/I] understood until she had placed it in my hand and had transported me to that other life.
And now I am back and Sean Deluca is sitting on the hood of Maria's mother's car, staring at it intently, like he actually understands what he is holding.
He must see my movements out of the corner of his eye, because he turns and grins at me. "Hey. You're finally awake! I was beginning to worry about you Parker."
I swallow, continue to stare at him. "Sean." I reply carefully. "What are you doing here?" I glance at Ava. "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing she didn't have coming to her." Sean answers, his eyes darkening momentarily. He hops off the hood of the car, moves towards me and extends his hand. I frown at it for a moment, then allow him to grab me and haul me to my feet.
"What are you doing here?" I repeat. We are still in the middle of the desert, where Ava had brought me to activate the granolith. How on Earth had he found us here? And why?
"I came for this, of course." He grins. "And you." He adds, seemingly as an afterthought. "Because when I destroy this, she'll die. But, if I don't do something about [I]you[/I], she'll still pop up again eventually since you and that bastard can't seem to keep your hands off each other." His smile disappears and I take a step backward. The expression on his face...
For a moment, I am absolutely positive that he hates me. But that's impossible! This is Sean Deluca, Maria's cousin, my annoying admirer.
I feel a shiver descend my spine. "Sean, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you and Max Evans." Sean tells me coldly. "I was so sure that I had finally driven a permanent wedge between you two, that he was actually going to go with her this time, willingly, and take Michael and Isabel with them, but then, somehow, you spoiled it [I]again[/I]."
I shake my head, trying to clear it. "What?" I am so confused by now, it's all I can muster up the energy to ask weakly.
"The damn spaceship doesn't work properly unless all of them are in it Liz. It crashes every time there isn't a complete complement of the Royal Four inside." He rolls his eyes. "I'd imagine my poor mother is stranded somewhere in Canada right about now. It's what happened last time."
I just stare at him. He is talking about spaceships like he [I]knows[/I] the truth about Max and the others.
"But someone's been working against me the whole time." Sean sighs, indicates Ava. "I never realized it was my mom's doppelganger. I told Khivar we should have gotten rid of her a long time ago. But he thought she was useless after Nicholas killed Rath and Lonnie."
His [I]mom's[/I] doppelganger? What the hell is he talking about?
Because, I know now, without a shadow of a doubt, that Sean Deluca is [I]not[/I] Sean Deluca at all. And not because of the cavalier way he's talking about spaceships and the Royal Four and Khivar and all the strange terms we are only just becoming used to ourselves, that we [I]never[/I] talk about in front of anyone.
It's because I [I]know[/I].
All my memories of Sean, growing up together, him driving Maria insane in that typical big brother figure way, me crying in my room when he got sent off to jail... They've all disappeared.
It's hard to explain. I remember [I]them[/I]. I know I used to [I]have[/I] them as memories, but somehow, they aren't [I]memories[/I] anymore. I never lived them. It makes very little sense, but it's what [I]is[/I].
All I do know for sure is that he is [I]not[/I] Sean Deluca, that Maria does [I]not[/I] have a cousin, and it is becoming ever more apparent that he is somehow my enemy.
"So have you done it yet?" Sean demands, clearly not caring one way or another that I am staring at him with my mouth hanging open. "Do I have to kill you or can we try and make a little deal here? Because, I hate to admit it Liz, but I do [I]like[/I] you. I sort of understand what Max sees in you. If it hasn't happened, I don't have to kill you."
"Done what?" I whisper. I can feel my knees shaking. I back away from him another step. He lets me, is just gazing at me, looking curiously annoyed.
He rolls his eyes again. "Conceived her." He snaps. He gestures towards Ava again. "I'm assuming she told you about her, so don't play dumb with me."
And I understand. He is talking about Serena. My daughter. My child with Max.
He is somehow here to stop her from ever being born.
And somehow, he is succeeding. He has changed everything since he first appeared on the scene, so that Max and I are nowhere near being in a position that our daughter will ever be born.
I don't know what to say to him. It is clear that I am going to be instantly killed if he thinks I'm pregnant, but it is also clear that he is not entirely stable and that he might kill me anyway.
The stupidest thing of all though is that I'm not really scared about that. What I'm really scared of knowing is who he is.
Because I am beginning to have an idea. The pieces of what he has said are slowly beginning to fall into place.
"Who are you?" I ask, desperate to know, but at the same time not wanting to know at all.
He tosses the granolith into the air, makes a big show of barely catching it as it flies toward the ground. I stop myself from diving for it, because he has made it clear that my daughter's life is somehow attached to that crystal.
I know that he is teasing me, try to ignore it. "Who are you?" I repeat, more strongly this time.
He raises an eyebrow, quirks another grin at me. I can't believe that I once thought that smirk was sexy. I must clearly have been insane, because now he just looks sleazy and scary. "Who do you think I am?"
"I think you're Lazar." I narrow my eyes at him. "I think you're the one who helped Tess kill Alex."
He shakes his head, looking pleased. "Right on the first try. You are a little smarty-pants aren't you Parker? Must be where Rena got her brains, 'cause it sure as hell weren't from her daddy. He's shown how dumb [I]he[/I] is in two lifetimes and at least three timelines by my last count." He laughs smugly at his own joke.
I ignore his very deliberate insult of Max. I can tell he is trying to make me mad, just because it amuses him.
"Do you know my daughter?" He clearly does and I am curious despite myself. It reminds me of when Future Max came. I know I'm not supposed to find out about these things, but who in their right mind wouldn't want to know about their future, about their children?
"I know her well enough to want her dead." Sean replies darkly. "Her existence has ruined my life."
"So you're from the future." Obviously he is. I even think I know [I]exactly[/I] who he is. Because if Ava is his mother's doppleganger... I bite my lip. "Are you Tess's son?"
"Right again." He lifts a hand, traces it down my face. I flinch away from him. He doesn't look offended. "And Max's too." He sneers. "Dear old Dad. It's been really hard not to just kill him, you know." He sighs, shakes his head. "But Mom did make me promise. She still wants him for some reason that I have yet to understand." He pauses, smirks again. "I guess I did have to wait until they got it on too." He lifts a lock of my hair, making me have to move away from him again. "'Cause wouldn't it have been a tragedy if I'd never been born." He lifts an eyebrow. "But there's nothing really stopping me now, is there?" He asks, his tone pleased.
I feel like my entire world is closing in on me. "Max is not your father." I don't understand how I say it so calmly. But Ava [I]told[/I] me he wasn't, that Max had [I]not[/I] fathered Tess's baby.
"Did she tell you that?" He shrugs towards Ava. "That's what they try to tell themselves, but I know the truth. Once your kid came along, they didn't need me anymore. I think it made my father happy to pretend I had never existed. Because if I exist, then his precious Serena isn't the heir to the throne any longer." His expression darkens again. "But I do exist. And they're certainly going to know it when I'm done here."
He lifts the crystal up, stares at it for a long moment. Then he looks at me. "So Parker. Are we going to make a deal, or do I have to kill you?"
He is absolutely crazy. I can see it in his eyes, in the calm way he speaks of murder. Because the worst part is, I believe him when he says that he doesn't want to kill me. I truly believe that he likes me.
And he will kill me anyway.
All I know is that I have to buy time. My entire soul is already screaming for Max. I know that he is going to find me. He [I]has[/I] to because this is [I]not[/I] supposed to happen. I am supposed to bear a daughter. I am not supposed to die at the hands of a maniac from the future - one I almost slept with for God's sake!
One who is the son of my worst enemy and who may still be the child of the person I most love in the world.
"How did you turn out this way?" I whisper, shaking my head in horror. "He went [I]with[/I] you. You had him. He was hers - [I]your[/I] father. I [I]saw[/I] it happen. I [I]lived[/I] it."
Sean stares at me for a full minute, then says, "So you didn't see it all then. You didn't see what happened." He looks momentarily uncertain. "You don't understand why I have to do this."
"No." I can't believe it, but my heart [I]almost[/I] goes out to him - the person who wants to kill me and who wants to make sure that my daughter never exists. He stands there looking lost for a moment, sad. And then he narrows his eyes.
"I'm not evil you know Liz." He finally comments. "I'm just trying to claim what's mine. My father is the evil one. And your daughter is following right in his footsteps." He sounds like he's reciting a party line, like it's something he's been told every day of his life and he has no choice but to believe it.
I am listening to him, but what I am really doing is looking for a way to keep him talking. I need to give Max more time. Because I don't care about any of this. I know none of it is true. He has been taught to hate the wrong people and there is nothing I can do to change that right now.
It is too late for Lazar. But it is not too late for me, nor for my daughter.
I need him to think that I want to believe him. "Sean..." I swallow. "Is it all right if I call you that?" He nods. "I don't want to die. I'm only eighteen years old."
He truly does look sorry this time. "I know Liz. I know you tried to stay away from him. I'm sorry it has to be this way."
"But you said yourself, it doesn't." I remind him. "As long as I stay away from Max." I bring my hands up, run them through my hair wearily. "I can you know. Because I can't be with him anyway."
He frowns. "Why not?"
"He really slept with Tess. And..." I pause, really feeling the pain as the memories of [I]why[/I] I can never be with Max return. "When I kiss him, I get flashes of it." I say in a rush. "There is no way I can possibly bear that. We can't [I]ever[/I] be together."
He thinks about that for a minute, then shrugs. "It's not good enough Liz. I know how you two are. I've heard all the legends. You'll get over it in time. Because you're [I]meant to be together.[/I]" He says this last bit sarcastically, but it sends a flash for hope so instantly to my heart that I almost can't hide it from him.
Despite everything, Max and I are meant to be together. And clearly we've chosen to be, in at least two life-times. It makes me think now that things might not be completely hopeless for us here. Because there was no question that Max had slept with Tess in the timeline I had been visiting, even if by accident. And there were no flashes involved then. Maybe we could make them stop somehow.
But I need to know for sure that we [I]did[/I] end up together in that timeline, and how. I could just ask Sean, but his entire perspective was tainted by his hatred for Max and his loyalty to Tess.
I needed to see it for myself.
"Then let me see it." I suggest, touching the granolith, which is still in his hand. "Let me see what happens. If I [I]know[/I], maybe it will help me to stay away from him."
Sean frowns again. "I don't know Liz..."
I force a smile. "Sean, you've already told me you don't want to kill me." I reach out, try not to flinch as I take his hand and squeeze it. "I believe you. I'm even beginning to believe you that maybe you're [I]not[/I] the bad guy. But I need to see it for myself."
He stares at me for a little longer than shrugs. "Well, it can't do any harm I guess. I can always just kill you after."
And before I can even get my bearings, he thrusts the granolith into my hands. The last thing of which I am aware is his smirking face. I even think I hear him say "Have fun!" as he fades from my consciousness.
To be continued...
The winter here's cold and bitter,
It's chilled us to the bone.
We haven't seen the sun for weeks,
To long, too far from home.
I feel just like I'm sinking
And I claw for solid ground.
I'm pulled down by the undertow
I never knew I could feel so low.
Oh darkness I feel like letting go.
If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place
I know I can love you much better than this.
Full of grace.
Full of grace,
My love.
It's better this way, I said,
Having seen this place before.
Where everything we said and did hurts us all the more.
It's just that we stayed
Too long in the same old sickly skin,
I'm pulled down by the undertow,
I never thought I could feel so low.
Oh darkness I feel like letting go.
If all of the strength and all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place,
I know I can love you much better than this.
Full of grace.
I know I can love you much better than this.
It's better this way.
Sarah McLachlan
I become aware of my surroundings slowly. I think I may have passed out because my head is splitting as I slowly open my eyes.
The grief and despair that other version of myself felt when she realized that Max was gone...
It is still weighing down on me. I breathe in and out slowly, try and convince myself that it did not happen in [I]this[/I] life. Max is still here. He is safe.
It takes me a moment to realize that I am back in the desert. I sit up slowly, look around for Ava. She is sprawled to my left, her blonde-grey hair covering her face.
I realize that she was not the one who pulled me back.
Because, as I crawl towards her, my heart in my throat that she is dead, it is then that I see that we are not alone.
I stare at him, not understanding. What is he, of all people, doing here?
He is sitting on the hood of the Jetta, the crystal granolith balanced in his hand.
I had not immediately understood when Ava had first told me that the spaceship that we had all thought was the granolith was not. She had pulled the crystal out of an inside pocket of her leather jacket, had explained to me that it was the crystal that was the Holy Grail of Max's people, not the spaceship. The spaceship had been only one of many things built to accommodate the granolith, to take advantage of its power.
I had not [I]truly[/I] understood until she had placed it in my hand and had transported me to that other life.
And now I am back and Sean Deluca is sitting on the hood of Maria's mother's car, staring at it intently, like he actually understands what he is holding.
He must see my movements out of the corner of his eye, because he turns and grins at me. "Hey. You're finally awake! I was beginning to worry about you Parker."
I swallow, continue to stare at him. "Sean." I reply carefully. "What are you doing here?" I glance at Ava. "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing she didn't have coming to her." Sean answers, his eyes darkening momentarily. He hops off the hood of the car, moves towards me and extends his hand. I frown at it for a moment, then allow him to grab me and haul me to my feet.
"What are you doing here?" I repeat. We are still in the middle of the desert, where Ava had brought me to activate the granolith. How on Earth had he found us here? And why?
"I came for this, of course." He grins. "And you." He adds, seemingly as an afterthought. "Because when I destroy this, she'll die. But, if I don't do something about [I]you[/I], she'll still pop up again eventually since you and that bastard can't seem to keep your hands off each other." His smile disappears and I take a step backward. The expression on his face...
For a moment, I am absolutely positive that he hates me. But that's impossible! This is Sean Deluca, Maria's cousin, my annoying admirer.
I feel a shiver descend my spine. "Sean, what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you and Max Evans." Sean tells me coldly. "I was so sure that I had finally driven a permanent wedge between you two, that he was actually going to go with her this time, willingly, and take Michael and Isabel with them, but then, somehow, you spoiled it [I]again[/I]."
I shake my head, trying to clear it. "What?" I am so confused by now, it's all I can muster up the energy to ask weakly.
"The damn spaceship doesn't work properly unless all of them are in it Liz. It crashes every time there isn't a complete complement of the Royal Four inside." He rolls his eyes. "I'd imagine my poor mother is stranded somewhere in Canada right about now. It's what happened last time."
I just stare at him. He is talking about spaceships like he [I]knows[/I] the truth about Max and the others.
"But someone's been working against me the whole time." Sean sighs, indicates Ava. "I never realized it was my mom's doppelganger. I told Khivar we should have gotten rid of her a long time ago. But he thought she was useless after Nicholas killed Rath and Lonnie."
His [I]mom's[/I] doppelganger? What the hell is he talking about?
Because, I know now, without a shadow of a doubt, that Sean Deluca is [I]not[/I] Sean Deluca at all. And not because of the cavalier way he's talking about spaceships and the Royal Four and Khivar and all the strange terms we are only just becoming used to ourselves, that we [I]never[/I] talk about in front of anyone.
It's because I [I]know[/I].
All my memories of Sean, growing up together, him driving Maria insane in that typical big brother figure way, me crying in my room when he got sent off to jail... They've all disappeared.
It's hard to explain. I remember [I]them[/I]. I know I used to [I]have[/I] them as memories, but somehow, they aren't [I]memories[/I] anymore. I never lived them. It makes very little sense, but it's what [I]is[/I].
All I do know for sure is that he is [I]not[/I] Sean Deluca, that Maria does [I]not[/I] have a cousin, and it is becoming ever more apparent that he is somehow my enemy.
"So have you done it yet?" Sean demands, clearly not caring one way or another that I am staring at him with my mouth hanging open. "Do I have to kill you or can we try and make a little deal here? Because, I hate to admit it Liz, but I do [I]like[/I] you. I sort of understand what Max sees in you. If it hasn't happened, I don't have to kill you."
"Done what?" I whisper. I can feel my knees shaking. I back away from him another step. He lets me, is just gazing at me, looking curiously annoyed.
He rolls his eyes again. "Conceived her." He snaps. He gestures towards Ava again. "I'm assuming she told you about her, so don't play dumb with me."
And I understand. He is talking about Serena. My daughter. My child with Max.
He is somehow here to stop her from ever being born.
And somehow, he is succeeding. He has changed everything since he first appeared on the scene, so that Max and I are nowhere near being in a position that our daughter will ever be born.
I don't know what to say to him. It is clear that I am going to be instantly killed if he thinks I'm pregnant, but it is also clear that he is not entirely stable and that he might kill me anyway.
The stupidest thing of all though is that I'm not really scared about that. What I'm really scared of knowing is who he is.
Because I am beginning to have an idea. The pieces of what he has said are slowly beginning to fall into place.
"Who are you?" I ask, desperate to know, but at the same time not wanting to know at all.
He tosses the granolith into the air, makes a big show of barely catching it as it flies toward the ground. I stop myself from diving for it, because he has made it clear that my daughter's life is somehow attached to that crystal.
I know that he is teasing me, try to ignore it. "Who are you?" I repeat, more strongly this time.
He raises an eyebrow, quirks another grin at me. I can't believe that I once thought that smirk was sexy. I must clearly have been insane, because now he just looks sleazy and scary. "Who do you think I am?"
"I think you're Lazar." I narrow my eyes at him. "I think you're the one who helped Tess kill Alex."
He shakes his head, looking pleased. "Right on the first try. You are a little smarty-pants aren't you Parker? Must be where Rena got her brains, 'cause it sure as hell weren't from her daddy. He's shown how dumb [I]he[/I] is in two lifetimes and at least three timelines by my last count." He laughs smugly at his own joke.
I ignore his very deliberate insult of Max. I can tell he is trying to make me mad, just because it amuses him.
"Do you know my daughter?" He clearly does and I am curious despite myself. It reminds me of when Future Max came. I know I'm not supposed to find out about these things, but who in their right mind wouldn't want to know about their future, about their children?
"I know her well enough to want her dead." Sean replies darkly. "Her existence has ruined my life."
"So you're from the future." Obviously he is. I even think I know [I]exactly[/I] who he is. Because if Ava is his mother's doppleganger... I bite my lip. "Are you Tess's son?"
"Right again." He lifts a hand, traces it down my face. I flinch away from him. He doesn't look offended. "And Max's too." He sneers. "Dear old Dad. It's been really hard not to just kill him, you know." He sighs, shakes his head. "But Mom did make me promise. She still wants him for some reason that I have yet to understand." He pauses, smirks again. "I guess I did have to wait until they got it on too." He lifts a lock of my hair, making me have to move away from him again. "'Cause wouldn't it have been a tragedy if I'd never been born." He lifts an eyebrow. "But there's nothing really stopping me now, is there?" He asks, his tone pleased.
I feel like my entire world is closing in on me. "Max is not your father." I don't understand how I say it so calmly. But Ava [I]told[/I] me he wasn't, that Max had [I]not[/I] fathered Tess's baby.
"Did she tell you that?" He shrugs towards Ava. "That's what they try to tell themselves, but I know the truth. Once your kid came along, they didn't need me anymore. I think it made my father happy to pretend I had never existed. Because if I exist, then his precious Serena isn't the heir to the throne any longer." His expression darkens again. "But I do exist. And they're certainly going to know it when I'm done here."
He lifts the crystal up, stares at it for a long moment. Then he looks at me. "So Parker. Are we going to make a deal, or do I have to kill you?"
He is absolutely crazy. I can see it in his eyes, in the calm way he speaks of murder. Because the worst part is, I believe him when he says that he doesn't want to kill me. I truly believe that he likes me.
And he will kill me anyway.
All I know is that I have to buy time. My entire soul is already screaming for Max. I know that he is going to find me. He [I]has[/I] to because this is [I]not[/I] supposed to happen. I am supposed to bear a daughter. I am not supposed to die at the hands of a maniac from the future - one I almost slept with for God's sake!
One who is the son of my worst enemy and who may still be the child of the person I most love in the world.
"How did you turn out this way?" I whisper, shaking my head in horror. "He went [I]with[/I] you. You had him. He was hers - [I]your[/I] father. I [I]saw[/I] it happen. I [I]lived[/I] it."
Sean stares at me for a full minute, then says, "So you didn't see it all then. You didn't see what happened." He looks momentarily uncertain. "You don't understand why I have to do this."
"No." I can't believe it, but my heart [I]almost[/I] goes out to him - the person who wants to kill me and who wants to make sure that my daughter never exists. He stands there looking lost for a moment, sad. And then he narrows his eyes.
"I'm not evil you know Liz." He finally comments. "I'm just trying to claim what's mine. My father is the evil one. And your daughter is following right in his footsteps." He sounds like he's reciting a party line, like it's something he's been told every day of his life and he has no choice but to believe it.
I am listening to him, but what I am really doing is looking for a way to keep him talking. I need to give Max more time. Because I don't care about any of this. I know none of it is true. He has been taught to hate the wrong people and there is nothing I can do to change that right now.
It is too late for Lazar. But it is not too late for me, nor for my daughter.
I need him to think that I want to believe him. "Sean..." I swallow. "Is it all right if I call you that?" He nods. "I don't want to die. I'm only eighteen years old."
He truly does look sorry this time. "I know Liz. I know you tried to stay away from him. I'm sorry it has to be this way."
"But you said yourself, it doesn't." I remind him. "As long as I stay away from Max." I bring my hands up, run them through my hair wearily. "I can you know. Because I can't be with him anyway."
He frowns. "Why not?"
"He really slept with Tess. And..." I pause, really feeling the pain as the memories of [I]why[/I] I can never be with Max return. "When I kiss him, I get flashes of it." I say in a rush. "There is no way I can possibly bear that. We can't [I]ever[/I] be together."
He thinks about that for a minute, then shrugs. "It's not good enough Liz. I know how you two are. I've heard all the legends. You'll get over it in time. Because you're [I]meant to be together.[/I]" He says this last bit sarcastically, but it sends a flash for hope so instantly to my heart that I almost can't hide it from him.
Despite everything, Max and I are meant to be together. And clearly we've chosen to be, in at least two life-times. It makes me think now that things might not be completely hopeless for us here. Because there was no question that Max had slept with Tess in the timeline I had been visiting, even if by accident. And there were no flashes involved then. Maybe we could make them stop somehow.
But I need to know for sure that we [I]did[/I] end up together in that timeline, and how. I could just ask Sean, but his entire perspective was tainted by his hatred for Max and his loyalty to Tess.
I needed to see it for myself.
"Then let me see it." I suggest, touching the granolith, which is still in his hand. "Let me see what happens. If I [I]know[/I], maybe it will help me to stay away from him."
Sean frowns again. "I don't know Liz..."
I force a smile. "Sean, you've already told me you don't want to kill me." I reach out, try not to flinch as I take his hand and squeeze it. "I believe you. I'm even beginning to believe you that maybe you're [I]not[/I] the bad guy. But I need to see it for myself."
He stares at me for a little longer than shrugs. "Well, it can't do any harm I guess. I can always just kill you after."
And before I can even get my bearings, he thrusts the granolith into my hands. The last thing of which I am aware is his smirking face. I even think I hear him say "Have fun!" as he fades from my consciousness.
To be continued...
