No intro today people... just read. Well I guess that was kind of an intro wasn't it??... Ok, sorry! Just read people!
HUNTER'S POV
"There really is no way to win against me, Hunter." My captor told me once again. As if I hadn't already figured that out. I was struggling with the binds... and with the fact that Morgan's soul was INSIDE of me, and she could be seriously hurt.
I had no idea how she's done it, and I don't think she did either. Of course I now had to face the fact that whenever my captor hurt me, they were also hurting Morgan.
My captor, as if they had read my thoughts, instantly sent a flash of pain towards me. I cried out, and I felt Morgan crying with me.
I couldn't see anything. I couldn't move anything except my eyes, which of course were totally useless. I was bound, but not gagged. My captor had wanted me to say something. Or at least to hear my scream. I heard silence for a minute. My captor had gone still.
Then she laughed. "Morgan! Come out of there! Why, that's no where to hide!" She laughed. So she knew Morgan. Did Morgan know her?
Morgan? I prompted.
Morgan voice seemed small and scared. Its Iona, she said.
Iona? Morgan sister? I thought.
Yes. Morgan said. My sister.
Obviously what I thought she could hear.
"Honestly, Morgan. What kind of girlfriend are you? Hiding in his body like that!" Iona laughed again. "Come out, dear sister! I want to have a chat with you!" I heard Morgan whimper. The noise was getting louder and louder. I felt Iona take my true name again. Morgan cried out.
She knows my true name! She yelled to me.
No, she doesn't! She can't!
Morgan did not reply. Instead I felt my self being thrown forward. My shoulders clenched, and I felt like I did when I did a tath meanma without proper preparation. I no longer sensed Morgan inside of me. Now she must be outside somewhere, with Iona.
My heart clenched, knowing how dangerous this could be.
"Morgan! How nice of you to drop by!" Iona laughed again.
"Mphf." Morgan said, sounded muffled. Goddess, was she bound to?
I heard footsteps. Someone was being dragged.
I heard a piercing scream.
Morgan! (A/N I know that was evil, but I'll return to them shortly) CIARAN'S POV
I heard Morgan's scream from across town. I knew instantly where she was, and whom she was with.
Ah, bloody hell, I thought. I knew that Iona had the seeker, but I didn't expect Morgan to get caught up in it. At least, not yet.
Maeve looked up at me. "Where are you going?" She asked. I smiled.
"I will be back my love."
I went out the door, cursing my car, which was still in New York. I had to walk to the Seeker's house.
Suddenly, I felt a cold wind blow. Carrie Whitman's face appeared in my mind. Goddess help us if she chooses to take revenge. I knew from bitter firsthand experience that angry ghosts were VERY angry, and they always got what they wanted.
There were no exceptions.
I hurried to the seeker's house. I heard Morgan scream again, but this time it was not in my head. It was coming from the house.
*Ciaran! Please! If you hear her, please help her! *
I heard the seeker's voice, clear and painful in my head. Iona was giving them both pain. Hunter must love her, I thought instantly. Or he would never have called on me, of all people.
I circled the house, trying to figure out where everyone was. Morgan was in the living room. The seeker and Iona were in the room next to that. Morgan screamed again. I heard Iona's laughter follow that, and then muffled voices.
I heard Morgan start to cry in the background.
*Father? Father can you- * Morgan message was cut of by another blood- curling scream. I was actually touched. (A/N OH MY GOD! CIARAN MACEWAN FEELS... TOUCHED! *Shudder *) They had both called out to me in a time of darkness. Now I was going to help them.
I left my old, mean, dark self behind as I rushed into the house. I valued my daughter, and I couldn't lose her, couldn't bear to see Maeve's face when she knew that her only daughter was gone. As for the seeker, Morgan loved him. That was the one and only reason I was saving him.
I swing open the door to see a most horrible sight.
Iona is KISSING Hunter. Morgan is in writhing in pain, crying as she is forced to watch the scene in front of her. Goddess. I would not wish this on my worst enemy. This kind of pain. I knew how Morgan was feeling, how incredibly lost and helpless she must feel, watching her Murin Beatha Dan kiss her sister. I knew she was hurting deeply. Scratch that, I thought as I advanced on Iona. I would wish that kind of pain on Grania and Iona. Morgan looked up, saw me through her tears. I nodded to her, but she couldn't move anything. She was under a binding spell. I sent her some of my power. She did not use it, but closed her eyes and sent it across the room. The seeker caught it. Iona finally realized that someone else had to be in the room. She moved away from the seeker and looked up at me. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. A small smile creeped across her face. "Glad you have decided to join us," She said. The seeker's head moved an inch. He had sensed me. Morgan was quiet, watching the exchange between her sister and me. Iona, feeling Morgan's gaze, whirled around to send another bolt of pain at her. I grabbed her wrist in a tath meanma divangth, zapping the power against the wall and watching it dissolve. "No," I said quietly. "You may not hurt your sister." Iona glared up at me. "How could you? How could you care about her?" She flung her hand out at Morgan. I waited for Iona to get it out. "You didn't even know her until two bloody months ago! Yet you knew me since I was a baby! And you're a Father to her! What is WRONG with you?" I said nothing, felt nothing. She was my daughter, but I didn't care. I hated her Mother and no longer wanted anything to do with them. Any of them. Except maybe Killain, I thought. He was more tolerable than the rest of them. And Morgan liked him. I suppose I'll let him live. Iona stared at me. I gave her a blank one of my own, showing that I was unmoved by her outburst. Then Iona whirled around again, and before I could do anything sent intense pangs of pain to both of them. The she muttered one of Amyranth's dark spells and sent it towards both of them. I had been too late. By the time I reached her arm, she had already sent it. The seeker screamed. I felt Morgan's pain coming off her in waves. But when looked at her, she was muttering yet another of Amyranth's deflecting spells. Iona gaped. "How do you know those?" The seeker, I noticed, had also gone still at Morgan's dark words. Morgan didn't say anything. She couldn't speak. Iona unbound her head. "Answer me!" She yelled. Suddenly, I was scolding myself. Why was I standing by and watching while Iona slowly killed both of them? I moved toward the seeker. *Don't make a sound. * I messaged him. I said a quick silence spell and tried to unbind the seeker. Morgan was answering Iona. "I know things." She said slowly. Iona was not pleased with this answer. She binded Morgan again. "You will pay, sister. You will pay slowly and painfully. I won't rest until I see it!" With a snap I managed to get the seeker out. His faced was drenched with sweat and tears. He was shaking. "Get Morgan." He whispered, not looking at me. It was clear he needed serious medical help. Whatever Iona had done to him had hurt, badly. But he wanted to make sure my daughter was safe first. I might allow Morgan to marry him after all. I was slowly moving back to Morgan and Iona when Iona spun around. "You!" She yelled. I looked at her. "I know your true name!" My fists clenched. Did she really know my true name? I knew Morgan did. She had used it twice before, and I shuddered thinking that Iona knew it. I trusted Morgan. I did not trust Iona. But then I saw through her lie. "No," I said. "No you do not." Iona's face was contorted with rage. "I hate you all! I will kill you all!" "Oh yeah?" Came Morgan's voice. She was slowly standing up. I watched in awe. How did she do it? "You and what army?" Iona's face was red. I sent more of my power to Morgan. She nodded at me gratefully. "Iona," Morgan said, sounding horribly reasoning. "What did you really want?" Iona said nothing. Morgan swallowed. "Hunter, or me?" She said. I remembered that Iona had been kissing the seeker when I came in. Iona smiled. "I did not want your pathetic boyfriend." Morgan stayed blank. I couldn't feel any of her emotions. Interesting. "I wanted to hurt you! I wanted to prove to you that he didn't love you!" At this Morgan flinched, and I had the feeling this was not the first time the seeker had cheated on her. At least this time it was an accident, I thought. I didn't know about the other. Iona smiled bitterly. "Yes Morgan! That's right! You know he could of pulled away if he really wanted. You know he could of done something. But he didn't. Because he doesn't love you, and he had no reason not to kiss other people." The seeker had been quiet through all of this. Too quiet. I felt waves of rage coming off of him. I saw his lips moving. What was he doing? Suddenly Iona screamed and fell to the ground. "No!" She yelled. Then she quieted and stopped moving. The seeker collapsed on the floor, fainted. "Hunter!" Morgan ran to the seeker, kneeling by him. "Hunter?" The seeker did not move. I felt the first spike of fear in Morgan. "Morgan, are you alright?" I asked. She looked up at me. "I- I managed to deflect a lot of what Iona sent towards me." She said slowly. "But I d-don't know about H-Hunter..." Then she was crying again, and I hesitated, not knowing what to do. The seeker was not moving. But somehow I knew, clear as daylight, that the seeker was still alive. I knelt down next to Morgan. "Morgan, let me handle it." She was crying to hard to answer. I muttered all the healing spells I knew. The problem was that I did not know what spell the seeker had used against Iona, so I didn't know the side affects of how to cure them. Suddenly I realized what had happened. The seeker and Iona were suspended some where in time, their souls fighting. I knew only one of them would survive. HUNTER'S POV
"You can't beat me! None of you can!" Iona was rambling on. I was focused on Morgan and Ciaran, knelt near my unmoving body below me. It was quiet odd, seeing myself half dead. Morgan burst into tears. I felt a sharp pang of pain in my heart.
"Why can't I sense him?" Morgan was saying to Ciaran. "Why can't I sense him?" Just then, Iona said my true name. I froze. I felt Iona's life force coming closer to me.
"Do you love her?" She asked. She forced me to look at Morgan. I was suddenly hit by a wave of anger. Why does everyone question my love for her? What is wrong with everyone?
"You don't, do you?" She was taunting me. "What gives you pain, Hunter?" She asked. "Is it watching Morgan be with someone else?" Suddenly I was being shown pictures of Morgan and Cal together.
"Don't." I said quietly. More images flashed through my mind. Morgan, kissing Cal in the back of her car. Cal, holding Morgan while she cried.
"No." I said, lost in pain. I was overwhelmed by a wave of pain at the next image: Cal and Morgan, making out on his bed.
"Please, don't." Suddenly, the images stopped, and I felt Iona coming closer.
"Or is it watching her in pain?" Iona laughed quietly. Then I was being shown more images.
Morgan knocked out by Cal's dark wave of power in his seomar. Her crying endlessly as Cal set fire to the building.
The image was slowly fading.
"You shouldn't play her like this." Iona was saying. I was once again forced to watch Morgan crying over my motionless body. "See how she loves you?"
Iona laughed cruelly. "I will have you die. And you shall remain here, in this realm, so you can watch Morgan in pain, watch her suffer a most horrible thing, loosing her soul mate."
"Why?" I asked. I could feel Iona's surprise. "Why?" I repeated.
"Because of who she is and who you are." I was getting her to talk. I had her going. I needed to distract her enough to kill her.
"She's your sister. Couldn't she be an ally?"
"No! I hate her! That is why you must die. Because she loves you, and she must be in pain!"
Oh Goddess, Iona was crazy. "Is there any way that you would not kill me?" I could feel Iona focusing on the topic. I knew I was doing it right.
"Yes." She said. "If you leave her, neither of you will have to die. If you leave her, she will be in pain. That is all I want." I would never leave her, was my first thought. I couldn't bear the pain. Besides, I had no valid excuse. And the need to be with her would be too great to ignore for long. We would be back together by the end of the week.
"I won't do it."
"Very well, then. You will die." Iona hesitated, and then laughed again. "But not yet. I want her to watch." What? I watched as Morgan's body slowly tipped over. Ciaran caught her.
"Not you too." He muttered.
"Morgan!" I couldn't help myself. Iona made sure Morgan didn't say anything.
"If you speak, Morgan, I swear I will kill you." She was speaking to me now. "Hunter, I'm not going to kill you hear." Morgan gasped. "We need to see each other..." Suddenly we were in a room of white. I could see everyone, and they me.
"That's better." Iona said. Morgan looked at me.
"Hunter..." Iona whirled on her.
"You will not speak!" Iona smirked then. "I'll give you time to say goodbye soon." Morgan looked at me again. The pain in her eyes hurt me.
"I hate both of you. Morgan, you stole my father away from me! Hunter... you love her! How could anyone love someone like her?" Morgan once again turned to look at me. Of course I had no intention of answering Iona's question.
That is, until she screamed. "Answer me!"
"You really want to know?" I asked.
"Yes." Iona said quietly. Morgan was staring at me. She was probably wondering why the hell I hadn't answered such a simple question. I could think of a million reasons why I loved her. I wasn't going to share one with Iona.
An idea was forming in the back of my head. It would hurt Morgan, and I didn't know if it would work. But it was worth a try.
"Nothing." I said. Morgan gaped. Iona smirked.
"Exactly. There is nothing... then why are you with her? I knew you didn't love her!" Morgan was done being surprised. She was pure anger at the moment. Towards Iona and me equally. I sighed. I knew this would happen.
And of course it wasn't true, that I ad no reason to love her. But I needed to find a way out. I knew that while she was here. Iona would go and kill Morgan too. I couldn't let that happen. So I was trying the only thing I could think of. Saying I didn't love her. Iona said if I left her she wouldn't hurt us.
I have no idea why I took her word for it. But I did.
"I don't." I said. Morgan was oozing rage. Iona was amused at Morgan's expression.
"I knew I would get you to admit it. You would rather live than die with such a secret."
"That's it!" Morgan screamed. Iona raised on eyebrow.
"I thought I told you not to-"
"Shut up! I don't care what you said! I don't take orders from you!" She turned to me. "And you!" I looked down. How the hell was I going to explain this one? I hadn't thought about that part when I did it. "I'll deal with you later." The way Morgan spoke of me... 'you' with such anger, it hurt. And she didn't even seem sad or hurt about it. She was just really angry.
"Your hurt Morgan. You don't want to seem that way, but you are." Iona was pushing it. I knew Morgan's limits. Iona was way past the line. "You loved him! Ha! You really believed everything he told you?" Oh, bloody hell.
"Iona, I'm sorry, but you really are going to die now." Iona through back her head and laughed. Not something you should do when Morgan threatens you. She obviously underestimated Morgan.
"Will you now?"
"Yes!" Morgan's eyes fluttered closed and she threw out her hand. She put Iona under a binding spell. Iona screamed. Morgan was muttering harsh words, some that I recognized as Amyranth spells. I had been wondering where she had learned these spells. I was uncomfortable with it.
Iona screamed and collapsed. A black thing rose up from her body.
"An a galtcha, di aigh swerna!" Morgan screamed the last, and Iona's soul disappeared. Then Morgan also fell, and I went to catch her. I looked around at where we were. I had actually encountered this spell before. I knew exactly how to get out of here.
Morgan's eyes flickered open. She stared at me for a second, and then got up quickly.
"I don't need you help, thank you very much." I had seen Morgan angry; I knew how bad she could be. Maybe even worse then my temper.
"Morgan..."
"How do we get out of here?" She was actually staring straight at me, challenging me.
"We don't." I said. It was the only way to keep her here so I could explain.
"What do you mean, 'we don't'?" Her voice was ice-edged.
"I meant that we are staying here until you listen to me."
"Oh, ok then. I'm all ears." She said sarcastically.
"You are going to listen to me." I said quietly. "I am the only one who knows how to get out of here."
"Fine." She said, defeated. "Make it snappy."
"This, in no way, is going to be snappy."
"Well..." She sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Go."
"You are convinced that I don't love you."
"Convinced? You just freaking admitted it! I knew I should have stayed away from you when you kissed Carrie!" That stung.
"Morgan, you have to listen to me." I was beyond explaining. I was up to pleading. "You know I love you. It was the only way to save us."
"The only way, huh?"
"Yes, the only way. Iona was taunting me. She was telling me that I didn't love you, that it was hopeless. She was telling me how you would suffer when I died, how she would enjoy it. Then she... then she forced me to... to see images of... of you and Cal... together." I forced it out. "You were... and then on his bed... and then... Well, she finally stopped. She then told me that the only way for her not to kill me was if I left you. I didn't want to leave you Morgan. So I figured that the only way to save us was to say that I didn't love you. She wanted you in pain, Morgan. That was the bottom line. I knew that if Iona killed me, she would kill you too. Morgan, you have to understand. Why I did it. What it meant."
Morgan was considering my words. She didn't speak.
"Morgan?"
Morgan looked up at me. "She showed you pictures of me and Cal ... kissing?" Goddess. I really wanted to be reminded of that.
"Yes." I said.
"Goddess." Morgan stood up. She walked over to me. She gripped my arms and looked into my eyes. I put my hands on her hips. "Hunter, I understand what you saying. But... I can't... it hurts. A lot." She looked down and away.
"I'm so, so sorry." I whispered. "I would never want you to say that to me."
"I know. And... but..."
"You don't forgive me. I understand."
Morgan shook her head, "Don't you... you know if you really loved me..." Then she stopped, frowned, and stared at the wall again. I wondered what she was going to say.
"Morgan look at me." She did. "I love you. You know I do. I show it to you everyday. I couldn't live without you. You have to understand why I did it..."
"I do... but it still hurts. I'm sorry." She started to cry, and I hugged her to me.
"No, Morgan, no. Don't cry love, please."
"Hunter, take me back."
"I will."
~End of chapter. Isn't it so sad? I didn't mean for this chapter to turn out so said. And its LLLLOOOOOOONNNNGGGG too. Hmm... you could REVIEW *hint hint* and tell me what you thought of it... (((