Chapter 58
London
At last the vault was open.
It had taken Barlow far too long to accomplish it and now that it was open... Cassandra had no patience left for anything. Sitting and waiting had only increased her anger. Only Methos could set up so elaborate a system to safeguard his possessions she was certain... but if it was Methos... why hadn't the Greek ever told her? Already she was concerned that he'd seemed to have been able to withstand her voice... he had not contacted her with additional information regarding the crystal. How was it he had the strength to ignore her?
Angrily Cassandra pushed Barlow out of her way. He had served his purpose... he was only a distraction now.
Cassandra entered the vault... watching as lights automatically flickered on. Her eyes grazed over the file cabinets and the shelves... taking in the array of old books... artifacts... swords from all ages... pottery... artwork. She crossed to the file cabinet roughly pulling out the drawers and flipping through the files... Watcher records... files on Methos... files on MacLeod... files on her... files on all the immortals she had ever heard of and many she did not know. Angrily she pulled file after file from the drawers seeking answers and tossing them about when they gave none. Soon the cabinet was empty. So much knowledge... such an accumulation of worthless facts that told her nothing.
Was it him? Was this his hiding place? Was this where he came to plot his evil upon them all? Did he sit at that desk like a spider and spin his webs of deceit to ensnare all immortals in his evil? She turned to the shelves... tossing the pottery off so that it smashed on the floor and slinging the artifacts about with careless abandon. One by one she cleared the shelves of their treasures. It had to be here! Finally she saw it... far back in a corner on the lowest shelf it lay... dusty, wrapped in a piece of dark blue velvet. Cassandra reverently pulled it toward her and lifted it off the shelf... cradling it in her hands. With an eager smile she grasped the crystal and removed its protective cover. Cool and rough it lay in her hands... She rubbed her fingers over it... attempting to beckon forth the light and the vision it had once held... but she saw nothing. There was no glow of green... no vision of past nor future. There was nothing. It was only a worthless old crystal... and there were no answers within it for her. Cassandra wordlessly voiced her despair. Even this was denied her! Even this he had stolen from her and destroyed!
Behind her Barlow whistled. Cassandra looked sharply at him, drawing in a sharp breath. The fool was crouched before a stack of paintings, admiring one of them. Casually she rose to her feet and crossed the vault until she stood behind him.
The oil painting was of Phillip's student... the one he called Little Sister... the one who'd once been married to Lord Edward Gray when they'd stolen the crystal over five hundred years ago. Painted in the pre-Raphaelite style of the late nineteenth century... Ellie stood nude in a pool of water... a lush green landscape about her... a red rose in her hair... as though she were some lush nymph arising from the water. Her long black hair... hung behind her in cascades of ripples. One hand partially covered a breast as she gazed at the viewer with a look of both wonder and desire. To Cassandra, it was as though the girl were some faerie creature... caught and trapped for all time by a mortal's love.
Cassandra snarled and drew her sword. Angrily she slashed at the painting. He loved her... he came here and he stared at her... and she was his... Again and again Cassandra slashed. She had been in the room with that creature... she had helped her with that boy... and Phillip had not told her they knew him... How long had he known? They had been together for at least five hundred years! Cassandra vented her rage on the canvas.
Barlow backed away, "It must have been worth a fortune... Why Cassandra? Why destroy it? We came for the crystal... why this?"
"Because he loves her!" Cassandra turned and leered at Barlow. "Because for three thousand years I have waited to destroy him... and now I know how! I will take from him all that he has! All that he loves!"
"Who? This Gray chap? Who is he?"
"Death!" she screamed and slashed at him in her frustration that the crystal had given her nothing... that the painting had ripped her to shreds... that Phillip had not told her... that Methos had earned someone's love! Again and again she slashed until at last her sword found its mark.
As the quickening filled her and the explosions surrounded her... Cassandra felt a renewed sense of purpose. She would destroy him by taking everything from him. Nothing would remain. He would beg her to end his life... and she would be the one with the power. Even without the crystal's help she could sense the vision of the future... Methos would kneel to her and offer his head because he would have nothing left. Her gift of prophecy had returned. Triumphantly she howled into the maelstrom!
The files on the floor began to char and burn... the fires rose around her. Cassandra lowered her arms and backed out of the vault... grabbing only the crystal and the file marked "Land Purchases." She would find him... One by one she would destroy everything he owned. In the end... she would kill the girl as surely as she had destroyed the painting... or perhaps she would do far worse... She would destroy Ellie's love for Methos. Around her... Cassandra could sense the paths of the future... and all of them led to the destruction of her enemy.
Cassandra left the vault open so that the fire would rage and consume the entire house. She climbed once more to the top floor and exited through the roof... making her escape into the darkness.
