Part 8 - Joint chapter! :
"That's something new," Lucard said with a raised eyebrow.
"NEW? I . . ." Becky looked at him with wide eyes and he met them with something akin to shame and sorrow, but also urgency.
"I'll explain later, just untie them and try to get out of here," he urged. "Please, Becky."
She backed away even more, hitting against the chair her brother was tied to and finally listening amongst the static in her mind and trying to work the knot.
Tommy turned back to Lucard and gave a feral growl.
"Under all that you're still just a boy."
"One you underestimated. Remember the 1950s? The Point? The fist that crashed into your mouth?"
"I learned from my mistakes. And do you think I've lived this long without learning a few tricks? I was sick then, heartsick over finally seeing my beloved and too out of my mind to tangle with a common punk while in that state," Lucard answered haughtily, as if he was perfectly sane now.
"I'm not a 'boy', she isn't your 'beloved', and now that you're feeling a little more energized let's see how this turns out," Tommy challenged with pure primal tones. Behind him Becky shook Merton's shoulders and begged him to awaken without much response.
"Merton, *please*..." she begged in a tearful whisper.
She didn't know what was going on; Tommy being a werewolf -- that she could almost handle. Sure, it was a shock, but he was still Tommy, and living in Pleasantville weird things weren't so uncommon, even from people you know. This guy, though... even though this was the first time she'd laid eyes upon him, he petrified her to her very core...
"Look here, wolf-boy---"
"I *hate* that, you know."
Lucard rolled his eyes.
"I don't give a damn *what* you like or dislike---"
But, the older man was caught off-guard as Tommy pinned him to the wall by his throat!
Lucard turned several different shades as he struggled and tugged and clawed at the massive paw around his throat, but to no avail...
"It'd do you good to listen, old man."
"Stupid, stupid . . ."
Tommy felt the pain explode like needles shoving into his chest right before he found himself kerning across the room until he ended up on the floor, dewolfing as his head lulled to the side, his eyes shut.
"Like I said before, I haven't survived this long without a few tricks," Lucard repeated annoyingly as he flexed his hand from which the power came.
"TOMMY!" Becky was torn between leaving Merton and Lori and going to help him. But Merton and Lori were breathing, and she had no idea if Tommy was.
She rushed over, scraping her knees somehow as she landed so hard next to him and held his face.
"Tommy? TOMMY?"
"Tommy, Trapper, Tuck," Lucard ranted darkly. "Stop saying his name! When I killed him, every time, even when you were about to die -- it was ALWAYS HIS NAME!"
"What are you talking about?" Becky cried.
"What I am talking about, my Love, is destiny. Our destiny." His eyes glinted and like a snake they peered at her as if she was about to be viciously attacked, but he just stood there with a sneer.
"*We* don't have a destiny, Freako!" she yelled with one of her random insults as she put her attention back on Tommy. She whispered his name, leaning close to his face and felt a burst of relief when she felt his breath fan on her skin.
Becky's head fell to his chest.
"You're alive... you're alive..." she sobbed.
"I'm here..." Tommy wheezed, pulling himself up with a wince, wrapping his arms protectively around her. "You're safe..."
"You love him so much?!" Lucard spat with all the venom in his being. " . . . Then you'll let go of him, if you want him to live."
Becky looked up with tearful, frightened eyes.
"You heard me. You come with me now, or he dies, you all will *die*. But if you come, willingly, you can end this," he seemed as if it was so simple, before the complication of it all clouded his face and his mouth twisted in anger, remembering the past. "If you weren't such a stubborn, willful little harlott..."
Becky looked away as the poison of his words slapped -- and scared -- her. At her reaction Tommy's grip increased on her and he wolfed again, growing lowly.
"Just... come to me now, and he will live--- you can see he cannot defeat me, despite his efforts. We'll go away. Together. Happy. As meant to *be*."
Becky looked at him, fright filling her, making her want to turn to Tommy and when she did . . . It caught her, from the base of her spine to her collarbone, it seized her up and made her breath disappear . . .
"I can't leave him," she said shaking her head.
"WHY?" he bellowed, "You were suppose to be MINE! I had claim on you! Over and over he interrupted us, he was our downfall to overcome!"
Lucard felt himself losing control, much like that night Tommy had mentioned. Years of chasing her had slowly driven his obsession, eating away at his mind. After he saw to it that they lost control of the car they were in that night in '57 or 58, it was still days later before he slowly began to regain some semblance of sanity . . . but not enough. As he ranted Tommy stood, carefully bringing Becky with him and moving back as Lucard moved forward.
"Why is it him? He was just a nuisance, the Cook's son I kept for labor, a STABLE BOY, hardly befitting you. My dear, my Love."
In the corner of his eye Tommy caught Merton coming to, struggling with consciousness. Distracted, Tommy's grip wasn't as tight and when Lucard became frustrated and reached out he pulled Becky forward before Tommy caught her waist, trying to hold on as Lucard held her arms.
"Stupid, wanton little *slut*!" he yelled taking one hand away and giving some distance as Tommy pulled her back, but it only gave him more room to backhand her so hard her neck hurt as it whipped to the side. And suddenly, as she turned back, falling into Lucard's eyes, she was spun around to instead lock with Tommy's.
The combination was a trigger . . .
She tried to breathe but she couldn't, she felt like she was falling and like she would never reach the ground, but she did and she felt the impact as her back slammed into it.
But it wasn't the ground, and when she opened her eyes she saw Tom . . .Tate. Tate was smiling at her as they sat across from each other in the field she loved; the one with the grass that was taller than them when they were like sitting like this. Looking down she saw she wasn't wearing any clothing and neither was he as they felt the warmth of the sun soaking into them. And she began to laugh, forgetting her impending marriage, her pain, her loneliness and heartbreak when she was away from him.
"I love to hear the sound of your laughter," he told her honestly, the small grin holding on his lips.
"I love you, Tate," she said as she leaned over to bring her smiling lips against him, intentionally knocking them over.
And then it was different; she blinked and felt the collision once more before opening her eyes, her eyebrow naturally quirking as she looked at the man at her side.
"You look very lovely this evenin'," Tanner told her in the Southern accent that made her nod and realize why her brother did most of the talking while he introduced the handsome stranger to everyone.
"You flatter me, Sir," she said easily before taking a seat and nodding to the place next to her. He took her hint and slowly descended onto the cushioned bench. Everything was velvet, velvet chairs, couches and thick curtains favored the room they were in, just a little place to slip away from everyone. They could hardly even hear the party from in here and it had surprised Tanner when she had led him away.
"I must ask, did you lead me here for the kiss I'm about to bestow?" he asked with a sly grin.
"How can you say such things? Not very respectable of you, Sir," she said, though the curve of her lips deceived her aghast words. She allowed a small silence before she sighed. "I suppose you may kiss me . . . simply because of your handsome nature, it couldn't very well be more when proper gentlemen wish to court me, you do understand."
"Quite well," he managed as he tipped toward her.
She felt the incredible rush of anticipation as she closed her eyes, leaning in, but before their lips touched she felt the sweep and she found herself gasping among the dust kicked up around her. Her face was wet and filthy from the tears and dirt and her chest tightened while her lungs burned.
"NO! YOU CAN'T!" she screamed as she saw the noose around Trapper's neck. His curly hair was wild and he was beaten, filthy, with his hands bound behind him.
"How could you say such things?" the Sheriff asked. Sheriff Lucard who seemed too evil to be on the side of good, Mr. Lucard whose cultured voice seemed unfitting with the hateful words he used to condemn Trapper to the crowd.
"Please!" she begged. "I LOVE HIM!"
"Love him, how could you? He killed your mother and your brother," he berated.
"He didn't - COULDN'T!"
But it was clear nothing she said would change the outcome. Clear as - before Trapper could even defend himself -- Lucard pulled the recently made, three-foot long trigger, dropping the plank out from under him.
She screamed his name and rushed the gallows, she knew Trapper didn't do it and as he choked she saw Lucard smile . . . and knew who the real killer was. She tried to tell everyone it wasn't him as she continued to climb on the wood, she didn't see when the deputy pulled his pistol, she didn't see Lucard object and try to pull it away, and she didn't feel the timber as she fell onto it. She just felt the burn of the bullet in her gut, and just saw Trapper's gasping, red, crying face as he looked at her. Trying to save her even though her couldn't save himself.
Each trying to mouth the words, 'I love you'.
Then again, blessedly, she was pulled away.
She screamed and her whole body jerked, jumping into Tommy's arms and she looked around in a panic, seeing she was herself once again. The Lair was a beautifully welcome sight and all she wanted to do is hold on to Tommy, absorb him and not remember his choking face.
Becky rocked in his arms, frightened as she clung to him.
"You're back, I knew I couldn't lose you again," Lucard babbled in a crazed pitch from her side as he tried to touch her.
"NO!" she scooted away from his seeking hand and only glanced at his hideous face, seeing the man that killed Tommy, now somehow marred by a gash on his face. She didn't stop to wonder what had happened while she'd was out, she just clung to the strong form she felt a pull for. "You can't take him away again, you can't do that . . . I love you, Tommy, I Iove you, I love you, I love you."
Rage filled Lucard and he howled, trying to grab Becky and pull her away.
"Leave her alone!" Merton yelled trying to grab Lucard. Through her tears she saw her brother and tried to wonder how he got free, or even when he woke up, but she couldn't. What was happening was too confusing and she buried her face in Tommy's chest again as Tommy threw an arm out while the other held her. His nails struck blindly at Lucard, catching him again as he had done before when he was trying to protect an unconsciousness Becky and leaving bloody marks.
Lucard turned to try and hit Merton but Tommy stuck his foot out, tripping the man to the ground. Struggling up Tommy led Becky to the bed and sat her down, but as he tried to pull away she held him.
"Becky, I have to go fight him."
"No, Tommy, don't."
He leaned down grabbing his hands and holding them as he whispered, "I have to, he'll never bother us again. Never."
She looked at him, seeing his sincerity and she nodded, letting go.
Tommy jumped back in as Merton tried to kick Lucard away, catching him in the mouth. Tommy grabbed Lucard up, forcing him against the wall again. Merton raced over to the desk while they were distracted and began looking for something.
"Where was this fire when I was raising you?" Lucard laughed. "Always the perfect, meek boy then, under my thumb. But still you found each other. I was right in my plan, you flushed her out . . . You just did it when I wasn't looking."
He brought up his hand, once again to use the strong energy he had saved for years, most of it depleted after the night he forced the black, prideful car off the road. The night he slashed the red, shining car, insuring all of them would be in one vehicle, insuring that all of them would go down for the betrayal he felt was thrust on him. Tommy grabbed his hand, pushing it back down while using one paw to hold his throat and, finally, Lori began to stir.
Merton tossed through his desk, looking for what he had been searching for along side the trail of their past lives. He knew there were a number of spells Lucard could have used to make his longevity possible all these years and because of that Merton had to find a cure all - and couldn't. But now, after seeing Lucard display a few key powers, it helped him narrow it down to something he found along the way. Merton had made sure he kept it, telling himself to be sure that he put it somewhere for safe keeping. And he did . . . But now he seemed to have misplaced it, making a little squeak he dug through more papers.
"I was so sad to kill you that time, after raising you all those years, but when you went against me! You had thought I refused your choice to marry her because of our position in SOCIETY! You usually were a bit slow to things," Lucard taunted. "And you headed out after her . . ."
He managed to move his head slightly to see Becky before he spoke in slightly garbled words.
"I've searched centuries for you, my Love. And each time *he* intruded. And each time . . ." he looked back to Tommy and smiled. "The knife was laying on the dining room table that day . . . One. Clean. Slice."
"STOP!" Becky yelled. She didn't want to hear this, didn't want to know all the times he had killed him. "You can't do it again! I LOVE HIM!"
"Don't worry," Tommy called to her, trying to comfort her.
"Yes, don't worry. I suppose he told you that somewhere along the way over the secret months you two were together then. And after I finished with him, after I found out where you were . . . You refused me, you could not have just accepted it, you just kept asking for *him*," Lucard spat bitterly. "I hadn't meant to wrap my hands around your neck . . . I truly didn't, I never . . . not after that first time in Italy when your lying, whoring name was Belisima. I didn't want to do that again."
His madness hit him and, in his insanity, a powerful energy escaped the hand Tommy gripped, searing the floor where it harmlessly hit.
"Why did you have to be such a trollop?! Even when you were sweet, even when I secured your father's permission, with*OUT* the help of your meddling cousin . . . you still let him taint you! And you were so timid," he denounced, slamming his head into the wall, as if trying to block out the imagines.
"This time though. This time it can be different. He hasn't touched you yet -- couldn't have . . ."
He seemed to be losing his grip, what little he had after all these years of losing her over and over again . . . killing her over and over again . . .
"WHY?!" he raged as Merton, unnoticed by the loud display, retrieved the paper he was looking for and went to hold it up.
Only to have if fly from his hand and slip under the dresser.
Tired of Lucard's ramblings Tommy ripped him from the wall and punched him hard, sending him across the room before following him.
Lori watched it all, struggling against the ropes and as she tried to get Becky's attention.
"Beck, Becky! Help me! Untie me!" Becky shook her dark hair and grasped at the bed. "Please, I--"
Becky looked up, determined to calm herself down. Squeezing her eyes tightly she breathed in a big sigh and forced herself off the bed, racing over to Lori to try and untie her - but she turned to stone halfway across the floor when Tommy went flying past her and Lucard stood, laughing.
"My, Dear, I am going to kill him. This time I won't let you go."
But she ignored him, walking the few feet to drop to Tommy's side as he struggled up and Merton hit the floor to try and retrieve the paper.
"WHY???!!!" Lucard demanded again. "WHY must you be such a doxie!? You could've had the best of everything, and you want to slum!"
Becky tilted her chin defiantly. Enough was enough, he wouldn't hurt them anymore . . . Becky felt the anger, so enraging she couldn't even manage English --- a habit of bad temper she'd picked up from Al...
"Il fatto che ho scelto lui attraverso le età non PROVA che L'È ama? Che SIAMO SIGNIFICATI per essere? E, che voi ed io couldn't?.. MAI?"
"No! No, no, NO!" Lucard screeched. "Just because you were stupid and chose him does NOT mean you were meant to be! It means you had no TASTE and were badly INFLUENCED! But, see, this time is different... we CAN be together... you're still pure..."
"Not for you!" she yelled. Tommy stood startled at her courage. "Never for you! From the beginning! Your obsession overcame you! It wasn't love, I love Tommy . . . You just make me sick."
"DOXIE!" he lashed out, lurching forward but Tommy pulled her firmly against him. "I did love you and you didn't want love, you wanted slime! Every time you struggled against me, and our love, as if he was your destined instead of me . . ."
Merton clutched the paper between his fingers and pulled it out, rising to see the confrontation and Lori struggling to free herself.
Becky turned to Tommy and stared into his still wolfed-out face. His eyes were holding love and pride for her bravery.
She leaned up, kissing him. Nothing in that moment was more important, after everything, being with him made it complete, made it whole. And Lucard looked on with silent madness and fury.
"Next time will be better," he vowed as he glanced beside him at the old, heavy ax Merton had. Wrapping his hand around it and bring it against his chest he repeated it again. "Next time."
"NO!" Lori shouted as Lucard rushed them.
"FERMATA!" Merton yelled, reading from the paper.
Suddenly Lucard froze, his unbroken arm raised with the ax, and his body unable to move.
Tommy and Becky pulled away from each other, turning to see their frozen tormentor.
"Wha... what now?"
"Well, you two have earned this. You should do it." Merton said, handing her the paper.
Becky stood next to Tommy and clearly read off the paper.
"Le ceneri alle ceneri."
"Dust to dust." Tommy finished, completing the old saying.
" . . . That didn't work," Lori observed, seeing Lucard still standing over them.
Slowly extending her arm she cautiously touched his arm gasping when he started to dissolve. Tommy reached out, pulling her back against him quickly as Lucard's body began to fall apart and the heavy ax clattered to the ground as an instant flame burst out.
And then was there was simply a pile of ashes, until they started to fade.
Then there was nothing.
He was gone after hundreds of years of pain, vanishing all in the span of a few seconds...
"It's over," Becky whispered staring at carpet as Tommy tightened his hold on her, losing his wolf face. "Now that it's over . . . What was it?"
"Something that had been coming for a long time," Merton said quietly.
"Why? . . . How did you know to have that spell?" she asked her brother.
"Well, Becky. There was this fortune teller . . ." Tommy began wearily as Merton stood behind him, and Lori stayed where she was, waiting for the moment when it was okay to clear her throat and let them know she was still tied to the chair.
The End.
"That's something new," Lucard said with a raised eyebrow.
"NEW? I . . ." Becky looked at him with wide eyes and he met them with something akin to shame and sorrow, but also urgency.
"I'll explain later, just untie them and try to get out of here," he urged. "Please, Becky."
She backed away even more, hitting against the chair her brother was tied to and finally listening amongst the static in her mind and trying to work the knot.
Tommy turned back to Lucard and gave a feral growl.
"Under all that you're still just a boy."
"One you underestimated. Remember the 1950s? The Point? The fist that crashed into your mouth?"
"I learned from my mistakes. And do you think I've lived this long without learning a few tricks? I was sick then, heartsick over finally seeing my beloved and too out of my mind to tangle with a common punk while in that state," Lucard answered haughtily, as if he was perfectly sane now.
"I'm not a 'boy', she isn't your 'beloved', and now that you're feeling a little more energized let's see how this turns out," Tommy challenged with pure primal tones. Behind him Becky shook Merton's shoulders and begged him to awaken without much response.
"Merton, *please*..." she begged in a tearful whisper.
She didn't know what was going on; Tommy being a werewolf -- that she could almost handle. Sure, it was a shock, but he was still Tommy, and living in Pleasantville weird things weren't so uncommon, even from people you know. This guy, though... even though this was the first time she'd laid eyes upon him, he petrified her to her very core...
"Look here, wolf-boy---"
"I *hate* that, you know."
Lucard rolled his eyes.
"I don't give a damn *what* you like or dislike---"
But, the older man was caught off-guard as Tommy pinned him to the wall by his throat!
Lucard turned several different shades as he struggled and tugged and clawed at the massive paw around his throat, but to no avail...
"It'd do you good to listen, old man."
"Stupid, stupid . . ."
Tommy felt the pain explode like needles shoving into his chest right before he found himself kerning across the room until he ended up on the floor, dewolfing as his head lulled to the side, his eyes shut.
"Like I said before, I haven't survived this long without a few tricks," Lucard repeated annoyingly as he flexed his hand from which the power came.
"TOMMY!" Becky was torn between leaving Merton and Lori and going to help him. But Merton and Lori were breathing, and she had no idea if Tommy was.
She rushed over, scraping her knees somehow as she landed so hard next to him and held his face.
"Tommy? TOMMY?"
"Tommy, Trapper, Tuck," Lucard ranted darkly. "Stop saying his name! When I killed him, every time, even when you were about to die -- it was ALWAYS HIS NAME!"
"What are you talking about?" Becky cried.
"What I am talking about, my Love, is destiny. Our destiny." His eyes glinted and like a snake they peered at her as if she was about to be viciously attacked, but he just stood there with a sneer.
"*We* don't have a destiny, Freako!" she yelled with one of her random insults as she put her attention back on Tommy. She whispered his name, leaning close to his face and felt a burst of relief when she felt his breath fan on her skin.
Becky's head fell to his chest.
"You're alive... you're alive..." she sobbed.
"I'm here..." Tommy wheezed, pulling himself up with a wince, wrapping his arms protectively around her. "You're safe..."
"You love him so much?!" Lucard spat with all the venom in his being. " . . . Then you'll let go of him, if you want him to live."
Becky looked up with tearful, frightened eyes.
"You heard me. You come with me now, or he dies, you all will *die*. But if you come, willingly, you can end this," he seemed as if it was so simple, before the complication of it all clouded his face and his mouth twisted in anger, remembering the past. "If you weren't such a stubborn, willful little harlott..."
Becky looked away as the poison of his words slapped -- and scared -- her. At her reaction Tommy's grip increased on her and he wolfed again, growing lowly.
"Just... come to me now, and he will live--- you can see he cannot defeat me, despite his efforts. We'll go away. Together. Happy. As meant to *be*."
Becky looked at him, fright filling her, making her want to turn to Tommy and when she did . . . It caught her, from the base of her spine to her collarbone, it seized her up and made her breath disappear . . .
"I can't leave him," she said shaking her head.
"WHY?" he bellowed, "You were suppose to be MINE! I had claim on you! Over and over he interrupted us, he was our downfall to overcome!"
Lucard felt himself losing control, much like that night Tommy had mentioned. Years of chasing her had slowly driven his obsession, eating away at his mind. After he saw to it that they lost control of the car they were in that night in '57 or 58, it was still days later before he slowly began to regain some semblance of sanity . . . but not enough. As he ranted Tommy stood, carefully bringing Becky with him and moving back as Lucard moved forward.
"Why is it him? He was just a nuisance, the Cook's son I kept for labor, a STABLE BOY, hardly befitting you. My dear, my Love."
In the corner of his eye Tommy caught Merton coming to, struggling with consciousness. Distracted, Tommy's grip wasn't as tight and when Lucard became frustrated and reached out he pulled Becky forward before Tommy caught her waist, trying to hold on as Lucard held her arms.
"Stupid, wanton little *slut*!" he yelled taking one hand away and giving some distance as Tommy pulled her back, but it only gave him more room to backhand her so hard her neck hurt as it whipped to the side. And suddenly, as she turned back, falling into Lucard's eyes, she was spun around to instead lock with Tommy's.
The combination was a trigger . . .
She tried to breathe but she couldn't, she felt like she was falling and like she would never reach the ground, but she did and she felt the impact as her back slammed into it.
But it wasn't the ground, and when she opened her eyes she saw Tom . . .Tate. Tate was smiling at her as they sat across from each other in the field she loved; the one with the grass that was taller than them when they were like sitting like this. Looking down she saw she wasn't wearing any clothing and neither was he as they felt the warmth of the sun soaking into them. And she began to laugh, forgetting her impending marriage, her pain, her loneliness and heartbreak when she was away from him.
"I love to hear the sound of your laughter," he told her honestly, the small grin holding on his lips.
"I love you, Tate," she said as she leaned over to bring her smiling lips against him, intentionally knocking them over.
And then it was different; she blinked and felt the collision once more before opening her eyes, her eyebrow naturally quirking as she looked at the man at her side.
"You look very lovely this evenin'," Tanner told her in the Southern accent that made her nod and realize why her brother did most of the talking while he introduced the handsome stranger to everyone.
"You flatter me, Sir," she said easily before taking a seat and nodding to the place next to her. He took her hint and slowly descended onto the cushioned bench. Everything was velvet, velvet chairs, couches and thick curtains favored the room they were in, just a little place to slip away from everyone. They could hardly even hear the party from in here and it had surprised Tanner when she had led him away.
"I must ask, did you lead me here for the kiss I'm about to bestow?" he asked with a sly grin.
"How can you say such things? Not very respectable of you, Sir," she said, though the curve of her lips deceived her aghast words. She allowed a small silence before she sighed. "I suppose you may kiss me . . . simply because of your handsome nature, it couldn't very well be more when proper gentlemen wish to court me, you do understand."
"Quite well," he managed as he tipped toward her.
She felt the incredible rush of anticipation as she closed her eyes, leaning in, but before their lips touched she felt the sweep and she found herself gasping among the dust kicked up around her. Her face was wet and filthy from the tears and dirt and her chest tightened while her lungs burned.
"NO! YOU CAN'T!" she screamed as she saw the noose around Trapper's neck. His curly hair was wild and he was beaten, filthy, with his hands bound behind him.
"How could you say such things?" the Sheriff asked. Sheriff Lucard who seemed too evil to be on the side of good, Mr. Lucard whose cultured voice seemed unfitting with the hateful words he used to condemn Trapper to the crowd.
"Please!" she begged. "I LOVE HIM!"
"Love him, how could you? He killed your mother and your brother," he berated.
"He didn't - COULDN'T!"
But it was clear nothing she said would change the outcome. Clear as - before Trapper could even defend himself -- Lucard pulled the recently made, three-foot long trigger, dropping the plank out from under him.
She screamed his name and rushed the gallows, she knew Trapper didn't do it and as he choked she saw Lucard smile . . . and knew who the real killer was. She tried to tell everyone it wasn't him as she continued to climb on the wood, she didn't see when the deputy pulled his pistol, she didn't see Lucard object and try to pull it away, and she didn't feel the timber as she fell onto it. She just felt the burn of the bullet in her gut, and just saw Trapper's gasping, red, crying face as he looked at her. Trying to save her even though her couldn't save himself.
Each trying to mouth the words, 'I love you'.
Then again, blessedly, she was pulled away.
She screamed and her whole body jerked, jumping into Tommy's arms and she looked around in a panic, seeing she was herself once again. The Lair was a beautifully welcome sight and all she wanted to do is hold on to Tommy, absorb him and not remember his choking face.
Becky rocked in his arms, frightened as she clung to him.
"You're back, I knew I couldn't lose you again," Lucard babbled in a crazed pitch from her side as he tried to touch her.
"NO!" she scooted away from his seeking hand and only glanced at his hideous face, seeing the man that killed Tommy, now somehow marred by a gash on his face. She didn't stop to wonder what had happened while she'd was out, she just clung to the strong form she felt a pull for. "You can't take him away again, you can't do that . . . I love you, Tommy, I Iove you, I love you, I love you."
Rage filled Lucard and he howled, trying to grab Becky and pull her away.
"Leave her alone!" Merton yelled trying to grab Lucard. Through her tears she saw her brother and tried to wonder how he got free, or even when he woke up, but she couldn't. What was happening was too confusing and she buried her face in Tommy's chest again as Tommy threw an arm out while the other held her. His nails struck blindly at Lucard, catching him again as he had done before when he was trying to protect an unconsciousness Becky and leaving bloody marks.
Lucard turned to try and hit Merton but Tommy stuck his foot out, tripping the man to the ground. Struggling up Tommy led Becky to the bed and sat her down, but as he tried to pull away she held him.
"Becky, I have to go fight him."
"No, Tommy, don't."
He leaned down grabbing his hands and holding them as he whispered, "I have to, he'll never bother us again. Never."
She looked at him, seeing his sincerity and she nodded, letting go.
Tommy jumped back in as Merton tried to kick Lucard away, catching him in the mouth. Tommy grabbed Lucard up, forcing him against the wall again. Merton raced over to the desk while they were distracted and began looking for something.
"Where was this fire when I was raising you?" Lucard laughed. "Always the perfect, meek boy then, under my thumb. But still you found each other. I was right in my plan, you flushed her out . . . You just did it when I wasn't looking."
He brought up his hand, once again to use the strong energy he had saved for years, most of it depleted after the night he forced the black, prideful car off the road. The night he slashed the red, shining car, insuring all of them would be in one vehicle, insuring that all of them would go down for the betrayal he felt was thrust on him. Tommy grabbed his hand, pushing it back down while using one paw to hold his throat and, finally, Lori began to stir.
Merton tossed through his desk, looking for what he had been searching for along side the trail of their past lives. He knew there were a number of spells Lucard could have used to make his longevity possible all these years and because of that Merton had to find a cure all - and couldn't. But now, after seeing Lucard display a few key powers, it helped him narrow it down to something he found along the way. Merton had made sure he kept it, telling himself to be sure that he put it somewhere for safe keeping. And he did . . . But now he seemed to have misplaced it, making a little squeak he dug through more papers.
"I was so sad to kill you that time, after raising you all those years, but when you went against me! You had thought I refused your choice to marry her because of our position in SOCIETY! You usually were a bit slow to things," Lucard taunted. "And you headed out after her . . ."
He managed to move his head slightly to see Becky before he spoke in slightly garbled words.
"I've searched centuries for you, my Love. And each time *he* intruded. And each time . . ." he looked back to Tommy and smiled. "The knife was laying on the dining room table that day . . . One. Clean. Slice."
"STOP!" Becky yelled. She didn't want to hear this, didn't want to know all the times he had killed him. "You can't do it again! I LOVE HIM!"
"Don't worry," Tommy called to her, trying to comfort her.
"Yes, don't worry. I suppose he told you that somewhere along the way over the secret months you two were together then. And after I finished with him, after I found out where you were . . . You refused me, you could not have just accepted it, you just kept asking for *him*," Lucard spat bitterly. "I hadn't meant to wrap my hands around your neck . . . I truly didn't, I never . . . not after that first time in Italy when your lying, whoring name was Belisima. I didn't want to do that again."
His madness hit him and, in his insanity, a powerful energy escaped the hand Tommy gripped, searing the floor where it harmlessly hit.
"Why did you have to be such a trollop?! Even when you were sweet, even when I secured your father's permission, with*OUT* the help of your meddling cousin . . . you still let him taint you! And you were so timid," he denounced, slamming his head into the wall, as if trying to block out the imagines.
"This time though. This time it can be different. He hasn't touched you yet -- couldn't have . . ."
He seemed to be losing his grip, what little he had after all these years of losing her over and over again . . . killing her over and over again . . .
"WHY?!" he raged as Merton, unnoticed by the loud display, retrieved the paper he was looking for and went to hold it up.
Only to have if fly from his hand and slip under the dresser.
Tired of Lucard's ramblings Tommy ripped him from the wall and punched him hard, sending him across the room before following him.
Lori watched it all, struggling against the ropes and as she tried to get Becky's attention.
"Beck, Becky! Help me! Untie me!" Becky shook her dark hair and grasped at the bed. "Please, I--"
Becky looked up, determined to calm herself down. Squeezing her eyes tightly she breathed in a big sigh and forced herself off the bed, racing over to Lori to try and untie her - but she turned to stone halfway across the floor when Tommy went flying past her and Lucard stood, laughing.
"My, Dear, I am going to kill him. This time I won't let you go."
But she ignored him, walking the few feet to drop to Tommy's side as he struggled up and Merton hit the floor to try and retrieve the paper.
"WHY???!!!" Lucard demanded again. "WHY must you be such a doxie!? You could've had the best of everything, and you want to slum!"
Becky tilted her chin defiantly. Enough was enough, he wouldn't hurt them anymore . . . Becky felt the anger, so enraging she couldn't even manage English --- a habit of bad temper she'd picked up from Al...
"Il fatto che ho scelto lui attraverso le età non PROVA che L'È ama? Che SIAMO SIGNIFICATI per essere? E, che voi ed io couldn't?.. MAI?"
"No! No, no, NO!" Lucard screeched. "Just because you were stupid and chose him does NOT mean you were meant to be! It means you had no TASTE and were badly INFLUENCED! But, see, this time is different... we CAN be together... you're still pure..."
"Not for you!" she yelled. Tommy stood startled at her courage. "Never for you! From the beginning! Your obsession overcame you! It wasn't love, I love Tommy . . . You just make me sick."
"DOXIE!" he lashed out, lurching forward but Tommy pulled her firmly against him. "I did love you and you didn't want love, you wanted slime! Every time you struggled against me, and our love, as if he was your destined instead of me . . ."
Merton clutched the paper between his fingers and pulled it out, rising to see the confrontation and Lori struggling to free herself.
Becky turned to Tommy and stared into his still wolfed-out face. His eyes were holding love and pride for her bravery.
She leaned up, kissing him. Nothing in that moment was more important, after everything, being with him made it complete, made it whole. And Lucard looked on with silent madness and fury.
"Next time will be better," he vowed as he glanced beside him at the old, heavy ax Merton had. Wrapping his hand around it and bring it against his chest he repeated it again. "Next time."
"NO!" Lori shouted as Lucard rushed them.
"FERMATA!" Merton yelled, reading from the paper.
Suddenly Lucard froze, his unbroken arm raised with the ax, and his body unable to move.
Tommy and Becky pulled away from each other, turning to see their frozen tormentor.
"Wha... what now?"
"Well, you two have earned this. You should do it." Merton said, handing her the paper.
Becky stood next to Tommy and clearly read off the paper.
"Le ceneri alle ceneri."
"Dust to dust." Tommy finished, completing the old saying.
" . . . That didn't work," Lori observed, seeing Lucard still standing over them.
Slowly extending her arm she cautiously touched his arm gasping when he started to dissolve. Tommy reached out, pulling her back against him quickly as Lucard's body began to fall apart and the heavy ax clattered to the ground as an instant flame burst out.
And then was there was simply a pile of ashes, until they started to fade.
Then there was nothing.
He was gone after hundreds of years of pain, vanishing all in the span of a few seconds...
"It's over," Becky whispered staring at carpet as Tommy tightened his hold on her, losing his wolf face. "Now that it's over . . . What was it?"
"Something that had been coming for a long time," Merton said quietly.
"Why? . . . How did you know to have that spell?" she asked her brother.
"Well, Becky. There was this fortune teller . . ." Tommy began wearily as Merton stood behind him, and Lori stayed where she was, waiting for the moment when it was okay to clear her throat and let them know she was still tied to the chair.
The End.