As for why this isn´t the last chapter... someone asked it not to be the last, and I also had trouble to end it so abruptly, but the next should really be the final.
All disclaimers apply, and now go on and read.
Cabin Mirage ER/DM Crossover by Nicol Leoraine 4. Part Someone nudged him in the ribs. Carter yelped and instantly there was a hand on his face, covering his mouth and nose. John struggled, panicking, still in the throws of a dream.
"Shhh," hissed a voice near his ear and John stopped, his eyes wide, as the hand left his face.
"Be quiet!" hissed the young girl with curly red hairs. "You?!" exclaimed John and the girl winced at the force of his voice. "I said quietly!" she replied angrilly, then shook her head in frustration. "Why am I doing this"
"I don´t know," said John to the rhetorical question. This time at least he talked in hushed tone.
"Nevermind. We have to go away"
"What? Why"
"No time. Come on, quickly, or he´ll kill you"
"Who"
But the only answer he got was a pull from the girl and he was standing. Without further explanation, the girl pushed and dragged him out of the house - through the kitchen door. John turned, looking for Steve. He reconsidered calling at him, but then thought about the girl and how she disappeared every time someone came near. In case she was just a hallucination, he don´t wanted Steve to know about it. Once outside, they could talk and John should find out who she really was.
He stumbled and wanted to protest, when he heard Steve, shouting! John stopped and the girl moaned in frustration, maybe fear.
"Come on," she hissed at him and with a last pull dragged him to the trees, behind the bush. Once there, John was maneuvered to crouch down. Not the easiest thing with an injured leg, but he was in some sort of trance. With seeing a possibly dead girl dragging him into the bushes, Jesse´s kidnapping, the whole experience in the cabin and now Steve talking to someone who´s accusing him of a lie... Carter felt as if the whole world went crazy. He started to think that perhaps the concussion he sustained really did some serious brain damage and all of this was just a hallucination. Opening his mouth to ask the girl if she´s a ghost or human, she instantly hushed him.
"Shh! Or they´ll kill us"
John frowned, then realised maybe he just get his answer. Kill us? Well, the ghost can´t be killed, can it?
"Where are we going?" Steve´s voice was heard and both Carter and the girl cringed when there was a reply.
"I have some unfinished business in the cabin. Can´t let those stupid kids wander around the woods and bring attention to me"
Carter felt the cold ground beneath him, as the shiver run up his spine. He saw only two pair of boots, heard the voices and felt his own sweat trickle down from his forehead. The hand was pushing him down and he risked a quick glance at the girl. She was still here - big green eyes staring up, as if seeing something John couldn´t . The sound of an engine followed the rustling of the leaves as the pair walked to the car, hidden behind the trees. Carter caught a blurry image of jeans and dark hair, but that was all. The blue color of the car reflected in his eyes as the wheels turned on the ground. It took only a moment, and the car along with Steve Sloan, was gone. Carter blinked as the hand on his back released the pressure and he could turn to face the girl. She looked almost sorry, but satisfied with keeping him in place.
"Who are you?" asked John, feeling anger building up inside him. If she was a ghost, he needed to know. If not - well, how did she know that Steve and he were in danger?
"I think we should take a look at the car," she adviced, standing up and brushed off her clothes.
"No!" Carter stopped her, gritting his teeth as his headache escalated. "I want answers - and I want them now"
Finally, there was an evasive look, mixed with confusion and hesitation.
"Come on," urged her Carter. "Your name"
"Charlotte," blurted out the girl and Carter let go of her arm, surprised.
"Not Francesca"
Her eyes sparkled and Charlotte abruptly turned, heading for the cabin. Carter quickly followed her.
"Francesca Paulson," he said the name and the girl stopped, then turned. The anger in her eyes took him by surprise, no more than her words.
"I´m not Francesca! This is not about me, so please - don´t ask. If it doesn´t satisfy you, I should leave you alone." She was serious, realised Carter. Her eyes were burning, jaws set tight and he could almost hear the gritting teeth.
"Okay, Charlotte. I´ll not ask you - not now. But later"
The girl just shrugged.
"Call me Charlie, then"
"Well... what are you doing here, Charlie"
Frustrated sigh was all he heard when they both walked to the Jeep. The hood was closed and the car looked all right.
"Do you have the keys"
"Damn!" cursed John realising they were probably still in Steve´s pocket. He resignedly leaned against the truck, feeling the adrenaline rush fading and the exhaustion setting in its place.
"Ah, here are they," exclaimed the girl with a smile, as she looked inside the car. The keys were in the starter. John blinked and shook his head. It was a mistake as he realised a second later - the pain made him literally gasp for breath - but at least it made him more alert, driving away the sleepiness.
"Okay. I hope he had enough time to repair it." He turned the keys in the ignition and gave a satisified Yes!, when the engine roared. The humming of the motor had a calming quality, as they followed the trail of the blue car.
This was a really stupid idea, repeated Jesse Travis for the x-th time. He
should have know that a trip with Steve can´t be relaxing. As it was, his
previous experiences with the Sloans gave him enough warning. But it was too
late and Jesse admitted - at least to himself - that he wanted to come along and
have some fun. Of course, being led through the forest with tied hands by a pair
of probably drugged teens, fully armed - wasn´t his idea of fun.
But even if he wanted to complain, there was no one listening. The younger of
the men - or boys - was trailing behind him with the gun pointed somewhere at
his back. Terry, the older one was walking few steps ahead of Jesse, slightly
cursing as the branches hindered his walk. They progress was slow, because DJ
refused to use the walkway, stating that they could be followed. It didn´t made
much sense, as both Steve and John were tied up...
Jesse worriedly thought about his friends. The last he saw them, both were
unconscious. He could only hope that the damage wasn´t severe. His medical
education didn´t do much to ease his mind. Even though DJ appeared to be
paranoid thanks to some drugs cursing his bloodstream, Jesse was sure that Steve
had a pretty good chance of saving them all. He would never said it out loud,
but Jesse believed in the cop´s ability to get free, as well as to save his pity
life. Right now, it was his only hope.
Focusing on the more pressing problems, Jesse massaged his wrists, trying to
ease the roughness of the nylon rope cutting through the skin. As he was looking
at his hands, the branch flying at him was a complete surprise. The whooshing
sound accomplished by a stinging blow sent him backwards, straight at the armed
DJ. With a collective yelp they both fell to the ground. Terry turned, but the
muttered sorry stopped in the midway.
It could´ve been a funny image - seeing those two sprawled out like a two years
old. Dark and blond hair mixed, legs and hands flying in the air. Jesse didn´t
know what´s going on, the pain from the blow mixed with the stinging on his
right cheek. He felt something wriggling under him and he instinctively rolled
off. It took only seconds for DJ to realise that he´s no longer in possession of
his gun. With an enraged howl, he lunged at Jesse and the fight started.
Terry blinked and started shouting, waving with his gun at both men. But DJ was
already out of control. It was near to impossible to defend himself with tied
hands, but the fact that DJ wasn´t thinking clear was in Jesse´s favor - in a
way. The blows weren´t concentrated, landing everywhere - sometimes not even
hitting the young doctor. It was a violent attack, though a short one. Between
Terry´s shouting and DJ´s punches, Jesse felt like a rag doll. He was sure that
any second he´ll hear the shot, then feel the pain... but it didn´t came for
several blows and instead of fear, there was anger building up in him. It was a
bitter feeling, emerging from his stomach, filling his heart. With a savaged
cry, Jesse kicked out with his right knee, hitting something soft. The blows
stopped, instead of them there was the heaviness and the gasping breath on his
chest.
Was he dead?
"No!" cried Terry and the weight was rolled down from Jesse, allowing him to
take a breath. As it was, the relief lasted only seconds. Jesse turned on his
side and retched, alarmed to see blood in his latest breakfast. He wiped his
face clean, only now realising that the source of blood was probably his nose
and splitted lip. Nothing to fear, then.
"Let me," the growling sound caught his attention and Jesse saw Terry struggling
with DJ, who appeared to be at least a little more lucid, though it didn´t seem
to be in Jesse´s favour.
"It was my fault!" shouted Terry. "The branch slipped from my grip... it knocked
the doc down. He wasn´t trying to run," said the boy desperately, and looked at
Jesse as if to prove his statement. Jesse only nodded, too winded to say
anything.
DJ wasn´t looking relieved, his face still contorted in anger, pupils still too
big for Jesse´s liking. But any comment he would´ve liked to say, died on his
lips as the ringing startled all three of them.
"It´s my cell phone," stated Terry with a slight tremble in his voice and fished
out the thing from his pocket, keeping eye on DJ as if afraid he can explode.
Maybe he could, thought Jesse and slowly raised his hand to inspect the damage
on his face, listening to the one sided conversation.
"Yes, we´re on our way"
"Trouble? No," he shot a warning glare at DJ, who just shrugged and slowly stood
up. Jesse cringed.
"I don´t know. We should be there in..." Terry looked around and sighed. "Yeah,
half hour. No, it´s not a problem"
Jesse could hear the chirping sound coming from the cell phone, but in the life
of him couldn´t make out the words. Terry nodded few times, following with a yes
or no. He threw warning glances at DJ, but didn´t feel the need to put him on
the phone. The last comment brought a touch of smile on his face, but it was
quickly wiped away as he ended the conversation.
"We have thirty minutes, otherwise he´ll just leave us here," stated Terry and
DJ blinked.
"What"
"Leave us here," repeated Terry slowly as if talking to a kid. DJ was deciding
if he should take it as an insult or not, but it took him too much time.
"Come on, we have to move." Terry grabbed Jesse by the arm and pulled him up,
casually brushing the earth from his clothes. This was enough for DJ to retrieve
his gun and point it at Jesse.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Terry, seeing the gun. He was getting more
and more frustrated - almost sorry that he even crossed ways with DJ and the
other man.
"No, you tell me!" shouted DJ.
"I don´t know what´s wrong with you, DJ. Maybe you took too much. Frankly, I
don´t care. I just want to get to that cabin, give this package to our chief,
change the jewelry for money and get the hell out of here, and from you"
"I want the same," grinned DJ absurdly, then turned serious. "But I don´t like
this one," he waved the gun and put his finger on the trigger. Jesse took a step
back, stopped only by Terry´s hand holding him in place. He wasn´t really sure
what was trickling down his brow - if blood or sweat.
"But HE does. Perhaps you didn´t hear him, but he wanted this one alive. It
looks like he had some plans"
"What plans?" DJ shook his head in irritation, but at least leveled the gun.
Jesse felt his stomach drop a little, though it was still hard to breath.
"We just want the money, for God´s sake! We don´t need this one"
"He also got the cop. Seems like he wants something with both of them." The
weight was back and Jesse was for once grateful for that grip on his arm.
Without it, he would´ve fallen.
"Why not just dump him here? Why the hell did he get that cop, anyway"
"I don´t know," replied Terry with a shake of his own. "Maybe he means business.
Hostages, you know"
"One is enough as it is," muttered DJ. "What about the other guy? Did he take
him too"
"No, said he´s already dead"
This time even the hand didn´t stop Jesse. His knees buckled and he paled as if
all the blood was drawn away from his face. Only the thumping remained, his
heartbeat reverbetrating inside his skull, louder than anything. Carter was
dead. He left him and now he was dead. Steve was captured. No help coming, no
hope.
The slap was an unwelcomed surprise. Even if it was Terry who provided it, Jesse
was shook out from his shock, quickly regaining composure as the younger of the
pair trailed the gun at him.
"Okay, doc. Our chief wants you alive, he´ll get you. Now get up or I´ll shoot
you in the arm. I´m a good shooter, though my aim can be a little off, so don´t
try me"
"Come on," said Terry quietly and helped Jesse up. Was it an illusion or did he
saw the glint of sorry in his eyes? Jesse hoped it was real. Maybe if Terry was
on his side, he can at least hold DJ on bay. If not... well, Jesse was sure that
there would be more than one death. As the trio resumed their walk, Jesse had to
fight the tears threatening to fall. Carter was dead. Even if he and Steve can
get out of this unscatched, John Carter was dead.
The cabin was little bigger than the one they were inhabitating. The engine of
the car was turned off and Steve looked into the barell of the gun, gritting his
teeth in slight protest.
"Okay, we´re here. Come on, hands up your head"
It wasn´t the easiest task, not with Steve´s height and bound hands. He was
trying not to bump his already injured head on the roof of the car. Opening the
door on the left, the man backed out, his gun wavering only for a second. Steve
never got the chance to jump him, neither did he wanted - not until Jesse came
here. He heard the call and cringed as the man said hat John was dead. He just
hoped Jesse didn´t know it, but either way, he was glad that Carter was safe. At
least he hoped that the kid won´t do anything stupid.
"Are you deaf or what?!" barked the man and Steve realised he probably didn´t
react to some order. "Open the door on your side and slowly get out"
"So I can let my hands down"
"Don´t be a smart ass. Just open the damn doors." Steve did just that, gingerly
pulling himself out of the small car. His muscles were stiff and he would´ve
gladly stretched them, but the tied hands were problem. The nudge into ribs with
the gun reminded him where he was and with whom and Steve nodded.
"I´m going," he muttered. Along with his captor, they walked out the few steps,
through the door and inside the huge parlour. It was almost identical to the one
from Carter´s cabin, though there was a bigger hearth and the walls were
decorated by stuffed trophies of animals, the head of the bear dominating above
the fireplace. Steve was pushed to the most uncomfortable looking chair, while
the man sit opposite him, the gun still pointed at Steve. They sit for several
minutes in complete silence and Steve wondered why didn´t the man tie him to the
chair. It ocurred to him then, that he´ll have to untie his hands first to be
able to do it. Perhaps the man feared him more than Steve thought?
"Well, if we´re waiting - why don´t make some talk?" asked Steve, shifting on
the hard chair.
"I see. And what do you want to talk about?" asked the man with just a hint of
sarcasm in his voice.
"What about - who the hell you are"
The man laughed, though it wasn´t a pleasant sound, more like a warning bell in
Steve´s head.
"And you think I´ll tell you my real name? Come on, Lieutenant Sloan. Even you
can´t be so stupid"
So perhaps he wasn´t planning to kill them.
"But if you really want to call me somehow well then... Mister Lupin will do"
If not for the gun, Steve would´ve burst out laughing, too.
"Mr. Lupin, yeah? I doubt you´re so good a thief to bear his name, not talking
about being a gentleman"
"Watch your mouth, cop," hissed Lupin and Steve quickly erased the smile from
his face, turning serious.
"You don´t know what you´re doing," Steve said, frowning at his captor.
"Kidnapping an officer is a hard crime"
"Not harder than killing one, I suppose," laughed Lupin and Steve blinked. True,
those men already shot several people. One or two more didn´t make any
difference. Steve berated himself for forgetting such a fact.
"So what do you want to do with us"
"Ah, you and your little friend. Well, I´m sure I´ll think it out in the next
twenty minutes. You know, I need to do one more house, then I´m outta here. You
and your little friend could provide me with a free passage"
Steve didn´t comment on the fact that it was utterly crazy. How could a hostage
help in this situation? He knew from experience that it never worked out before
- not in the cases he investigated anyway. Hostages meant that even if the cops
let you go, they followed, waiting.
He hoped Jesse wasn´t injured. True, Carter said he was okay the last time he
saw him, but that was long time ago, and Carter also mentioned in what state of
mind was DJ. The smallest provocation could lead to disaster. But at least when
Lupin here talked through his cell phone, he said that Jesse is alive. Carter
was another matter.
Did he heard them coming and just hide somewhere, or something happened to him
while Steve was trying to repair the car? And what will Carter do now - left
alone? Steve feared that John will try to play hero, and that he may do
something stupid, endangering himself. Steve mostly hoped not. He hoped that
Carter was in the cabin, safe. Maybe, if the car was working, he could drove to
the city and ask for help, they surely needed it. But John Carter was the last
person Steve wanted to see here.
"Look out!" screamed the girl and John dumped on the breaks, stopping the car
only inches from the big tree.
It was just a moment. The world swirled and everything went black. He probably
lost control of the car. How long? The scream brought him back and now he had
trouble breathing - not from any injury, but psychical shock. The bumping in his
chest tried to compare with the headache. His knuckles were white, so hard was
he treaming the steering wheel.
"Easy, just take it easy," Carter thought and tried to slow down his breathing.
"Just what the hell happened?!" Charlotte asked the main question that bothered
him.
"I-I´m sorry," said Carter and looked apologetically at the girl, realizing how
pale she was. Probably scared the hell out of her. "I think I just... zoned
out"
The girl snorted. "More like passed out. I don´t think you´re fit for driving
the car"
Carter didn´t comment, instead got into reverse, then returned to their original
track. He was pretty sure he had concussion and probably shouldn´t drive, but
there was no one else to do it. The girl was too young, not telling she wasn´t
just an illusion of some kind. And he couldn´t back down, not now. So he ignored
the warning of his body, and simply pushed on. Once Steve and Jesse will be
safe, he could rest as long as he wanted.
"Are you all right?" asked Carter, glancing at Charlotte. She shook her head,
looking dubious.
"Why don´t we just turn to the town and call help? You can go to hospital, I can
go wherever I want, and your friends will be saved"
"It could be late. And just where would you wanna go?" inquired Carter, chancing
another look at her.
"Dunno, probably home"
"Hm, so you´re living in the town"
"Why are you so curious"
"And why are you so secretive"
She was silent and he had to pay more attention to the road. They were now on
the real road - not just the forest track and it was easier to navigate, but
John feared that he´ll pass the sideway leading to the other cabin. It made him
squint and he found concentrating a little hard, so the questions had to wait.
"Here!" Charlotte pointed to the right. There was a break between the trees and
John spotted the dark tarmac. Slowly they followed the sideroad, hoping it will
lead them to the right cabin. What should they do once there, was an unknown.
The stinging on his cheek was becoming really annoying. The flow of blood died
completely, even his nose stopped bleeding, but the ache stayed. It was a
welcome, in some way. While Jesse was trying hard not to rub at his face - which
would be a little hard with bound hands - he at least didn´t have to think about
Carter. How could he be dead? Sure, the blow seemed hard, but his leg wasn´t
injured critically. It was more of a superficial wound than anything.
His lips twitched and Jesse grimaced. So much for not thinking about Carter.
They were walking in a good pace, but Travis wasn´t accustomed to these woods
and lost orientation very soon. It looked that DJ was equally lost, though Terry
at least knew the direction they were heading to. He was now leading the trio.
"How long?" whined DJ like a five year old and Jesse jerked at the sound.
"I think I already see the cabin," replied Terry smugly, casting a quick glance
at Jesse. The young doctor frowned, not really understanding. Was it concern or
pure fear in his eyes? Terry shook his head as if to clear it, and quickened his
pace. Jesse almost stumbled on the root sticking from the ground, but managed to
catch his ballance, knowing that DJ was waiting for the reason to kill him. Not
very enticing image.
As they neared the cabin, Jesse heard a distant humming sound, as if a car was
approaching. Terry of course heard it too, because he abruptly stopped, causing
Jesse to stumble into the tree, instead of him.
"What?" growled DJ.
"Shhh!" hissed Terry and turned his head as radar.
"What?" repeated DJ after a moment, this time in quiter tone.
"I thought..." Terry shook his head, confused. "Sounded like a car to me"
DJ frowned.
"I hear nothing"
"It stopped. Did you hear it?" Terry turned to Jesse.
"No," lied Jesse and Terry shrugged, maybe a little confused as they resumed the
walk.
Something inside Jesse told him to stay quiet and not to mention the car, he was
sure there was one. Maybe it was help, or just some bypasser? Hard to tell, but
they needed every chance. Now that he knew Steve was in the cabin, he couldn´t
even try to escape, because his friend would be in danger. Never mind the fact
Jesse had no chance to escape.
He saw the roof of the cabin and slowed down, then get into reverse.
"What are you doing"
"I can´t stop the car here, it´s too close to the cabin," answered Carter, his
head facing the rear window as the car swiveled, now heading to the road they
came. After fifty yards, Carter stopped the motor and sat in silence,
contemplating his next move. He was just thinking about the girl, about Steve
and about how he should´ve had rather call help, than go on the wild chase.
Something glittered and in the next second he had a knife on his lap. Carter
gasped, then looked at Charlie with surprise.
"What"
"You wanna go there unarmed?" asked the girl as Carter stared at the knife,
dislike and unbelief clear in his eyes.
"Where did you get it"
Charlie gave a tired sigh.
"It´s the same one I used to cut your ropes. Look, if you don´t want to use it
at your own defense, then use it for your friends. They can be depending on it.
Or just scare the bad guys, whatever," Charlie rolled her eyes in slight
disgust.
Carter grabbed the knife, first hesitantly, then weighed it on his fingers,
knowing from first hand experience just how deadly tool it could be, used
unwisely. His back throbbed in phantom pain, though his headache was real.
"Okay, I´ll take it." The knife was put behind his belt, careful not to injure
himself on the way. Liking or disliking knives didn´t stop him from thinking.
"How far is the city"
"I think five more miles, if you know your way through the forest," replied
Charlotte.
"I assume you know your way, then"
"Yeah," the girl was confused. "But why"
"You can´t stay here. I should´ve never brought you here in the first place, but
I wasn´t thinking clearly. I need you to go to the city and call sheriff, or
whomever is in charge there. Tell him what happened and that we need help,
urgently. Can you do it for me"
The girl nodded, hesitant.
"It will take at least an hour for me," she warned him.
"Be careful," urged her Carter, then with an assuring pat get out of the car.
Charlotte also get out and looked at him.
"You too, Dr. Carter," she said and hit the road. Carter watched her vanish in
the forest and sighed. At least the girl should be out of danger, he hoped. Why
did he brought her here with him was a mystery Carter had no time to solve.
Without more thought, Carter turned to the cabin, walking. His stride became
faster, and he was limping in no time as his leg protested. The blue paint of
the car glinted through the trees, when the shot rung out, stopping him dead in
his track. Several birds took off from the trees with screeching, but John heard
only the voice of his dead friends, repeating over and over again, that he was
too late. Once again too late.
To be continued
Reviews, pleeeeease....
Okay, so the mention of the name Lupin. It wasn´t meant to be the Lupin from
Potter, but Arsen Lupin, a gentleman thief from the novel of Maurice LeBlanc. It
doesn´t have any real connection, just turned up in my sick mind.
As for the last chapter - can´t really promise anything, but two weeks the max.
Ah, just a short notice: I set up my fan fiction group at yahoo. You´re free to
join - come and look. Not very much right now, but we need some