"Kay, dear, you're really just not concentrating," Cassandra admonished earnestly as Kay once again failed to summon up enough power to cast the spell that Cassandra had been teaching her. "You were like this during our session yesterday, too. Is something the matter?"
Kay averted her eyes, annoyed to be affected by her worries like this. Wasn't becoming the True Heir supposed to make all those horrible human emotions go away? "It's just that I'm worried about my mother," the teenager admitted.
"Really? Is there something wrong with her?" Cassandra asked, feigning a mild concern.
"Oh, it's just that I'm afraid something is going to happen to her, with my step-mother Theresa so obviously out to get her," Kay lied, shuffling her feet. She certainly didn't want to tell Cassandra all about how she had cast a spell on Ivy that had been reversed only yesterday, and that her mother could now sense that something was wrong with Kay, and was trying to get to the bottom of it and help her. Against her will, Kay experienced a prick of guilt and shame when thinking about it, and felt her resolve about being Cassandra's Heir waver ever so slightly. "I wish I could get Theresa out of here, but she is legally married to my father, and has her son, my half-brother, to tie her here."
"Your half-brother?" Cassandra laughed mischievously. "You mean your nephew, of course."
Kay stared at her ancestor in astonishment, not able to believe what she had just heard. "Are you telling me that Ethan Martin isn't my brother after all?"
Cassandra sauntered ever so slowly over to a small gilded cage in a near corner of the chamber and took out a large brown rat. Stroking it playfully, she replied, "Certainly course he is not. When I am in the presence of somebody, I can sense instantly whether or not they possess Crane blood, and I assure you, 'Little Ethan' is no more a Crane than this little fellow I'm holding right here. He is in fact the offspring of none other than your brother, the former imposter Crane 'Big Ethan.'"
Kay slid down onto a nearby Luis XIV chair as she processed this revelation. "My nephew. Then, there's no reason that Theresa has to stay married to my father at all! That would solve this whole mess: Ethan would be happy, Theresa wouldn't be my step-mother, and she'd probably be so ecstatic that she could divorce my father and marry Ethan that she'd forget to persecute my mother! Why haven't you made it known that the Cranes are raising a non-Crane? I wouldn't think that you'd like that?"
Cassandra gazed into the rat's eyes, and, satisfied, placed the rodent on a small table. Whatever she had done to it, the creature sat perfectly still, turning its head to look around, but making no attempt to escape. "All in good time, Kay. If there's one thing that you really need to learn, it's patience. I have a feeling that Theresa might be of use to us in the distant future, after we've gotten rid of certain threats that will come our way shortly, so I'd like to keep her close by. As for the brat, he's no longer in line to inherit the fortune, so spending a small amount of money on his upbringing in the meantime is a small price to pay. I'll deal with him properly when the time comes," she smiled wickedly, giving Kay a decidedly unpleasant sensation in the pit of her stomach. As if sensing that now was a good time to distract Kay, Cassandra motioned for her to come over to her. "Now come here, dear. This next spell I'm going to teach you is absolutely crucial to your eventual victory. I'm using a perfectly good rat, and I would prefer it not to be a waste."
Kay complied, though the expression on her face was one of revulsion. "You don't mean that you actually eat these things, do you?!"
"Not as a preference," Cassandra replied casually, "but one cannot always have prime rib. Vampires, unfortunately, basically live off of small animals, with the odd human thrown in as a special treat."
Kay made a face. "Yuck. I'm sorry I asked. Anyway, what is it that you're going to teach me?"
"In battle," the vampire began in a roundabout manner, "throwing blasts at your enemies is all well and good, but one surefire method to get rid of a nuisance is to perform Thanatos' Embrace. It's a Nosferitia, though vampires don't use it much, as we prefer a much more direct way of killing. It instantly saps a creature of its life force, leaving it dead. We'll try it on this rat; it's fairly easy to cast on nonsentient beings. Sentient ones, however, are another story. The first time you perform this on one of them, it will require a phenomenal amount of power and concentration, and will take a good long moment to call up. Luckily, every kill after that first one will come relatively easily. Now, I want you to focus all of your energy on this rat, and when you can instinctually feel that you have summoned enough power, speak the words, Pretul pestelui a crescut astazi."
Taking a deep breath, Kay forcibly cleared her mind of all her problems and concentrated on the tiny creature lying helpless before her. Slowly, she felt the energy deep from her inner reservoir wash over her. The first time she had felt this sensation, it had been quite astonishing, but by now she was used to it and, jaded, she proceeded with the task at hand. Finally she knew, without knowing how she could know, that she was sufficiently powered up, and calmly spoke the words.
The rat shuddered, and fell still, it's formerly russet-colored coat transformed into a pale shade of gray. Kay gasped, amazed that taking a life could be such a brilliant, heady experience. The rodent's stolen life force flowed into her body, and Kay felt more alive than she ever had, as if she had become the very essence of that which is living, with the uninhibited ability to determine to end a life, and thereby feed on life itself. Kay briefly wondered if this sensation approximated what vampires experienced while draining there victims; she decided that it had to be.
The rat's living energy was not very great, however, and her euphoria soon vanished. For a split second, she became desperate for something else to kill, to once again be invigorated by the death of a living creature. When she realized how she was thinking, however, a profound uneasiness settled in. She had become okay with the idea of destroying any enemies that might stand in her way, but to actually crave killing for its own sake? A part of Kay was not sure that she wanted to become that kind of monster, although another part whispered that, yes, she wanted that desperately.
Cassandra smiled at her prodigy with a look of pure, unadulterated pride. "Very well done, and on your first try, too. How was it?"
Kay looked up at her ancestor uncertainly. "I-I've never even imagined anything like that."
Cassandra giggled, her mocking impersonation of youthful innocence somehow gaining a level of horror that not even the most vicious action could achieve. "Yes, it is a bit of a rush, is it not? And that was just a rat, too. You cannot even begin to grasp how you'll feel after taking a human life. Would you like me to try and find someone to practice on, or do you have somebody already in mind?"
Unconsciously, Kay took several steps backwards. "You mean, just kill some random person?!"
"Well, of course. Do you want to cast it for the first time on someone who might have a chance of fighting back in the meantime?"
Kay had to admit that Cassandra's argument made a lot of sense from a rational standpoint, but the thought of it still made her squeamish in spite of herself. "I still don't know…" she began.
Cassandra interrupted the girl, however, before she could finish. "Oh, silly of me, you would of course need time to think it over, decide who, if anyone in particular, you wish to use. I have kept you for a good long while now, so why don't we simply call it a day?"
Kay took this pronouncement as her cue to beat it, and, after respectfully saying goodbye, left to go and check on her mother, hoping that she could continue to hide her secret life as the True Heir from Ivy.
When Kay had left, Cassandra could barely contain her glee. "Oh, Kay, you're even better than I always dreamed my Heir would be. It's such a shame that you're still so reluctant to take that final step. It's no matter, though: you will, and I know exactly whose death will make that happen."
*****
Julian stood morosely in the doorway to his bedroom, limply holding a couple of rubber suits. "But, Rebecca, 'Catwoman and Batman' is one of your favorites!"
Sitting on the king-sized bed, Rebecca shook her head obstinately. "No, Pookie, I'm just not in the mood right now!"
"And why not?" Julian challenged, flopping down on the bed and snuggling up next to her.
"I've already been telling you! Gwen's missing and I'm much too worried about her now to think about anything else."
Julian raised his eyebrow suggestively. "Anything else?"
Rebecca pursed her lips in an expression of firm resolution. "Anything. If you want to play, then you'd better put all that Crane power to good use and find her!"
Julian sighed impatiently. "We've been through this before, Becks. The police department has already been notified of the disappearances, and they're conducting a search. Furthermore, we've hired a private detective to do some investigating. If those five are still alive, they'll turn up sooner or later. Now, why don't the two of us have our own private party right here?"
Squeaking periodically, Rebecca forcefully shoved Julian away from her, and unceremoniously onto the floor. "IF they're still alive?! My sweet little Gwennie could be lying murdered in some God-forsaken ditch, and you want to do the horizontal tango?!"
Julian looked up at Rebecca sheepishly. "Well, yes, technically, in a way, that is—"
"Well you can just forget it!" Rebecca screeched, in a voice that scared Julian almost to the point of cowering under the bed. "Right now, the only thing on my mind is finding my poor lost baby. Who knows what horrible, traumatic ordeal she might be going through right now? Oh, it's like there are some horrible forces that have been plotting against her for the past two years, and now this! Let me tell you, if anything has happened to her, the scum responsible is going to be VERY sorry." She made this promise in a tone of voice so low and dangerous that Julian, despite his innocence, could not help feeling a stab of fear.
Nevertheless, the determined Crane man had not yet given up. "Of course, we're going to do everything we can to locate her safe and sound. What's so wrong about having a nice romp first?"
He had hoped that this argument would cause Rebecca to waver, but instead the redhead glared murderously at her "Pookie." "This isn't up for discussion: If you want to play, then first you've got to find my Gwennie! Now, if you're not going to be any help, I'm going to go see someone who WILL do something!"
With a huff, Rebecca flounced out of the bedroom, leaving an annoyed Julian staring after her. For his own sake, and that of Little Julian, Julian hoped fervently that Gwen would turn up, happy and healthy, very soon. In the meantime, he decided, he'd just have to content himself with the most delectable young chambermaid that had just recently started working at the mansion…
*****
Alistair jumped in his chair the second he realized that Cassandra had entered the room without his notice; no matter how many times she did that to him, it still gave the old man a dreadful shock. "What's the matter?" he asked, sighing resignedly.
Rapping her long fingernails on his desk, the vampire responded. "It's Kay's progress I'm worried about."
Alistair was surprised. From all of the progress reports, and Cassandra's own assertions, his granddaughter had been coming around right on schedule, whatever exactly that was. From the extensive tutoring Cassandra had been giving her, he knew that there was something different about her, although he had not yet been told what exactly. "What's wrong with her? You said before that she's shaping up quite well."
"Oh, she is," Cassandra assured him. "All the potential is there, and it's slowly being realized. Just earlier today, she made a major breakthrough. However, there is now a roadblock in the path. Her mother, I believe, is the other significant (and conflicting) influence in her life right now, and might just one day try to turn her away from her rightful path."
"It figures," Alistair sneered. "Ivy did just about the same thing when Ethan was the heir. Well, the problem is easy enough to solve: it would be no trouble at all to have her eliminated."
Cassandra abruptly fell onto the chair across from him, clutching her unbeating heart in astonishment. "Typical," she muttered, and as she recovered her voice gradually took on more and more of its usual mocking scorn. "Absolutely typical of a man. No sense of subtlety, no creativity whatsoever. You see an obstacle, and before even contemplating the situation through, you just decide to load it up with T.N.T. and blast it to kingdom come."
Alistair scowled, resenting the lecture. "Alright then, why wouldn't having Ivy killed be a good idea?" he challenged her.
"Think for a minute," Cassandra began to explain, enunciating her words slowly, as if she was speaking to a young child, "Kay, for all her tendency towards evil, at the most fundamental level desperately wants to be loved. Now, she believes that nobody from her former life loves her, and that has filled her with a most wonderful seething rage that I can work to my advantage. Unfortunately for us, however, she also believes that Ivy now truly cares about her, and therefore is all too likely to listen to her. If she were to be killed, Kay would be inconsolably grief-stricken, and if she had even the slightest suspicion that the Crane family was somehow responsible, why, we'd lose her forever. In fact," Cassandra added, her bright emerald eyes conveying a most serious warning as she spoke, "that would be the least of your problems. You have no idea just how much power is in that girl; to be honest, I'm not sure I could survive her wrath if she gets much farther along, and as for you…" she smiled threateningly, letting Alistair's imagination finish the sentence far more effectively than even she could.
Alistair gulped. "Okay, I get your point. How do you suppose we deal with the mother, then?"
Cassandra leaned back languidly in the chair, apparently not overly concerned. "Simple. We discredit her, make Kay believe that she doesn't love her, which, given that woman's track record with her children, we should be able to do easily and with genuine believability. Then, I go to work, turn the hurt into rage, make Kay hate and despise Ivy. At my urging, Kay will kill her herself. Can't you just see what an elegant conclusion that is? Ivy will be out of the way for good by her daughter's own hand, and Kay will have crossed over to our side once and for all, all at the same time." Cassandra smiled a little at her own cleverness. It was such a good scheme, and to manipulate Kay into using her mother to perform Thanatos' Embrace on a human for the first time! Cassandra once again mentally congratulated herself on setting it all up. Thank goodness that Timmy had found the spell she had laid out on her desk for him! If Ivy had remained as that spell of Kay's had left her, then her entire plan simply would not have worked!
Despite himself, Alistair was highly impressed. "Very good, I have to admit. Have you also figured out just how are we going to manage accomplishing all of this?"
"Sit back and I'll explain," Cassandra casually ordered. "And you'd better pay attention, because this stage is absolutely critical to the future success of the Crane family."
*****
In the Bennett living room, all of the usual suspects were gathered, plus David, who had been absent so much over the past couple of weeks, and Father Lonigan, finally officiating at the annulment to Grace and David's "marriage." With Ivy no longer harassing him, David was free to "suddenly" come up with the papers he'd been sitting on for months now. Try as he might, though, he couldn't quite bring himself to tell Grace and John that he was a fraud.
"Now," Father Lonigan serenely intoned, there is only one last formality, and then I may declare your marriage officially annulled."
Sam grinned, ecstatic that he and Grace would soon be able to be a real married couple again. He'd been so angry with her lately, but he was still hoping that her unfair treatment of Laura came as a result of the stress she was under from the David situation.
"What is it?" David asked, eager to put all of this deception at least partially behind him.
"On the annulment papers, you have stated that you are no longer in love with Grace. In order for the annulment to be valid in the eyes of God, you must now swear that you have told the truth about your feelings."
All eyes in the room were now on David, as half of them expected him to crack and confess his undying love. After a moment, he solemnly gave his reply. "No, I'm not in love with her anymore," David said sincerely.
Everyone, with the exception of two people, breathed a sigh of relief. John looked rather upset, as he hoped that somehow his mom and dad might still end up together. Grace, also, looked rather perturbed.
"Okay then," the priest continued, "in the name of God I—"
"Wait, Father!" Grace yelled, drawing shocked looks from all except Father Lonigan. "David, do you really mean that you don't love me anymore?"
"Yes, Grace, I do."
"David," Grace pleaded passionately, "You've taken an oath under God. Your immortal soul is in danger if you lie. Please tell the truth."
David stared at her calmly. "I don't love you anymore, Grace."
Grace was not convinced in the least and, ignoring Sam's angry glare, she kept needling her "husband." "David, I don't want you to risk going to hell for this annulment. Please, for the sake of your immortal soul, don't lie!"
"Grace," David said evenly, "you're a wonderful woman, and I was very much in love with you. However, I've managed to move on with my life, and I am being perfectly honest with you right now. I'm sorry if that's upsetting you."
Grace looked utterly flabbergasted, and Laura choked, fighting to hold back a snicker. She had been right about her mother secretly wanting both men to be in love with her. Although Laura was not a naturally malicious person, she couldn't help enjoying the three-ring circus for which she had a front-row seat. On the other hand, she feared that the bad mood this rejection would inevitably put Grace in, coupled with even more time to focus on Charity would result in yet more delusional accusations that she was after Miguel.
Sensing a hostile situation forming, Father Lonigan acted to diffuse it. "David has maintained that he has spoken the truth. Therefore, your annulment is complete."
"Thank you, Father," Sam said through gritted teeth, "and thank you, David, for standing firm under my wife's cross-examination. Grace, what's gotten into you?! You just sounded as if you didn't want that annulment!"
"Of course I do!" Grace protested self-righteously, "I just don't want it to be at the expense of David's soul."
Sam rolled his eyes, totally incredulous. "David is a grown-up, Grace. He can look after his own soul."
"Do you really want a marriage based on a lie? If David still loves me, then we're still husband and wife in the eyes of God!"
The audience shifted uncomfortably, uneasy at being witness to the outright blow-up surely on the horizon for these two. Fortunately, at that moment they were saved by an incessantly ringing doorbell, which sounded as though someone was continuously leaning on it. "I'll get it!" Laura yelled before anybody else had a chance to, and ran for the door.
"Why, Mrs. Hotchkiss, what are you doing here?" Laura asked, more confused than ever to see Rebecca standing in the doorway, looking like her usual trampy self in four-inch heels and a tight, short, leopard-skin dress.
"That's Mrs. Crane," Rebecca snapped, not even bothering to look at Laura as she hurried into the house with an appearance of urgent impatience.
"Chief Bennett!" she cried, approaching Sam and Grace, who had forgotten their quarrel amidst this bizarre intrusion, "I went to the police station and they said that you had the day off. You have to find Gwennie!"
"Rebecca," Sam sighed, "We've already gone over this before. You've lodged a missing persons report with the bureau already—several times, in fact—and we're doing everything we can to locate your daughter, as well as the others."
"Oh, yes, I know that," Rebecca asserted impatiently. "But you don't understand! Of course, it's best if you can find the others, but you've just got to find Gwen!"
"You do realize," Laura piped up, "that, considering how five people all with a relationship of some kind, went missing all at once, they're probably all together, so that finding one most likely means finding the others."
Rebecca stared at the former junior socialite in horror. "You're not suggesting that Gwen is off sleeping around with all three of those men?! Because my Gwennie would never do that, even if they are all extremely handsome, and well-muscled, and…"
Rebecca's eyes gained a dreamy, far-away gleam in her eyes, not noticing that everyone in the room was gaping at her with an open mouth. Hastily, Laura explained herself. "No, Mrs. Hot—, I mean, 'Crane,' I was just saying that my Uncle Hank is best friends with Luis, who is Antonio's brother, both of whom are in love with Sheridan, who's best friends with Gwen."
Rebecca came crashing back to earth. "Oh, yes, of course, silly of me. I'm sorry, Laura. Say, did I ever tell you how sorry I was to find out that you're not really a Crane after all?"
Laura shook her head. "Not as such."
"Well, I am," Rebecca avowed earnestly. "It was such a shame. I always hoped that you and my James might get together, but now that you've got no name, it simply wouldn't do."
"Gee, thanks," Laura murmured as everyone else bristled somewhat at Rebecca's implied insult to their family. Rebecca wasn't paying attention, however, because the thought of one of her children immediately brought her mind fretfully back to the missing one.
Turning back to Sam, she began again. "Let me make myself perfectly clear: I want my daughter back as soon as possible, and I want you to find her."
"This case has the full attention of our officers," Sam insisted, trying very hard not to lose his temper. After all, as over-the-top as Rebecca could be, as a parent, he could not help sympathizing with her plight. The very idea of losing a child terrified him, and he would certainly move heaven and earth to find them.
Rebecca looked as if she was about to burst right into tears. "Oh, I just hope Gwen's okay. To think that she might be all alone, and she's so innocent and trusting, too. Why, when Theresa was first plotting to take Ethan away from my baby, I warned her that Theresa was a gold-digging bitch, but she just wouldn't believe me. She didn't see the lying slut for the tramp that she really is until long after it was too late!"
"HEY!" Miguel yelled, shooting up from the couch he had been sitting on with Charity. If Rebecca had been a man, he would have instantly attacked her. "That's my sister you're talking about here!"
Rebecca blinked in surprise, taking notice of Miguel for the first time. "Really?" she asked. "I didn't know that Terrorcita had another brother. You're not around much, are you? I must say, you Lopez-Fitzgerald men are such a good-looking lot! Young man, if you're ever in need of a job, don't hesitate to call me. I'm sure we'd be able to arrange something."
Miguel appeared to be very uncomfortable, everybody present stared incredulously at Rebecca once again, and Charity unconsciously grabbed onto Miguel's arm, unable to believe that her fiancé had just been propositioned by a middle-aged…well, Charity didn't want to use any of the adjectives that sprang to her mind.
Father Lonigan stepped in, hoping to diffuse the situation and offer comfort and guidance to this woman who, he forced himself to remember, was, although wayward, also one of God's children. "Rebecca," he said, "we are holding a prayer vigil at St. Margaret Mary's tomorrow night. Why don't you come and pray for your daughter?"
"Good idea!" Rebecca enthused. "I've tried everything else; I might as well go and get God to work for me now!"
Father Lonigan closed his sightless eyes in vexation. "It doesn't exactly work that way, Rebecca." He stopped, however, because although he could not see the blank expression on her face, he sensed that his words were not getting through right now.
"Rebecca," Sam said evenly, wishing to end this invasion so that he could have a serious talk with Grace, "you did come in here in the middle of an important family manner."
Rebecca did not take the hint. "So what?" she asked. "This is about my Gwen! Nothing you people could be doing could possibly be half as important!"
At this point, Sam, as well as everyone else, had had enough. "We want them all found just as much as you do, and we're already making this case our number one priority. So you see, your coming in and demanding that she be found won't make any difference. Now, if you please, I'd appreciate it if you don't call on me while I'm at home with my family again."
"Okay, okay, I guess I'll be going for now," Rebecca declared, looking around her as it had finally begun to sink in that she had managed to offend every single one of them in one way or another. "But mark my words, Chief Bennett, if anything horrible happens to my Gwen, and I can prove that you might have prevented it with better investigating, I'll destroy you, personally, and professionally." Her point made, Rebecca scampered away, presumably to yell at someone else about finding her "Gwennie."
Watching Rebecca go, Laura, in a state of disgust nevertheless tempered with a strange kind of reluctant, envious awe, muttered under her breath, "Now THERE'S a mother who cares!"
*****
That night, Charity was visited by the Little Angel Girl. She had been sleeping, and didn't know whether the Angel really had appeared to her, or if she was having a visionary dream. In the end, she supposed, it didn't really matter.
"Why have you come here tonight?" Charity asked, totally unsurprised by the angelic presence.
The Angel smiled sadly. "I think you already know why I'm here, Charity."
Charity nodded. "I do. The evil really is coming, isn't it?"
"The evil isn't coming," the Angel girl corrected, "it's here right now, and gaining power."
Charity moaned. Deep down, she already knew this, but she hadn't wanted to admit it to herself. "What's going to happen? None of my visions ever show me the outcome."
Now, the Little Angel Girl looked very serious. "That is because there are two possible outcomes to this. Even we do not know how it will end."
This was too much. Why was she the one being burdened with knowledge of this kind once again? "Why are you telling me this, and why am I the one, out of everybody in Harmony, who keeps getting premonitions about all of these things?"
"Because, Charity, you are Good's best hope in this town."
Charity stiffened up in surprise. Whatever she had been expecting the Angel to say, it certainly hadn't been that. "Me?! How can I be anything important like that?"
"Charity," the Angel said gravely, "it is time that you know something about yourself. We have kept a great deal of knowledge from you because you were not yet ready to handle it, but now the time has come. You must have wondered why evil forces always seem to be after you."
"Well, yes, I did, but—"
"It is because you are a great threat to them, Charity, though you do not yet realize it. You're special, our Chosen One."
"Chosen One?" Charity tried those words out loud; it just didn't seem possible that they could be applicable to her!
"Yes, you have great powers to combat the evil that resides in Harmony, and, indeed, in the entire world."
"But, how could I be as powerful as you say and not even know it?" Charity protested, growing more and more convinced that the Angel had contacted the wrong girl.
"Because they have not yet manifested," the Angel explained patiently. "You will come into them when you reach womanhood and not before. You will need them very soon, though, if you are going to prevail in the battle ahead. Good luck."
"Wait!" Charity cried as the Angel girl disappeared. She still had so many questions left to ask: what exactly her powers were, when she was going to need them, what evil she was going to face, and how she would need to use them. I guess I'll just have to have faith that God will give me these answers when I need them, she thought to herself.
Although this thought gave her some level of comfort, Charity was still very distraught. So much depended on her, according to the Angel, and Charity still could not believe that she was anything as special as had just been indicated. Nevertheless, she must be if her heavenly visitor had told her so, and her claim that Charity must first enter womanhood convinced the girl more than ever that the wedding must take place the day after tomorrow, as they had all decided upon. For now, Charity decided, that was all she could do: take things one day at a time while preparing herself in any way she could for the trial by fire that no doubt awaited her.