Hi All,

Thanks for taking the time to read this (and other) chapters. Double thanks for your reviews!

As always, special thanks to the Unusual Suspects. I just couldn't do this without you ladies. (Hugs)

Chapter 9

Starsky continued to make his way through the field. A sudden shiver wracked his body. 'Like someone just walked on my grave' he paused and looked cautiously about. It wasn't right. Something wasn't right. 'But what?' He asked himself. He found that he was in a part of the field where the lumps were much smaller then they had been elsewhere.

This part of the field seemed… he struggled for a word befitting the area… neglected came to mind, it wasn't quite right, but it would have to do. He found himself staring at one of the little lumps and watched as it grew smaller and smaller. The ground around it gradually pulled tighter, like it was cinching out a wrinkle in a bed sheet until it appeared as though nothing had ever been in that spot at all.

Beautiful, isn't it?

The voice of The Visitor startled him and interrupted his thoughts. Starsky looked up from the now unblemished spot where a small lump had been. "No… I don't think it's beautiful."

Peaceful, then? The Visitor prompted.

"Nnnooo…" He drew the word out, unsure just how he should feel about the lump disappearing. A frown crawled across his lips, worming his lips around as his eyebrows knitted in thought. His unease grew, he didn't know why.

Perhaps one day you will see the beauty of it. It is perfect… it is liberating.

Starsky stepped back from the misty cloud that made up the form of The Visitor. "Thanks but no thanks. See ya." He turned his back on The Visitor and walked away.

The Visitor moved back in front of him, he stepped around it. Don't you want to listen to your guide? I think I can hear him calling you.

Starsky stopped a moment and listened. He could hear a voice talking to him. Wanting him to answer. Wanting him to remember what had happened to him and talk about it.

Memory shifted and once again dead fingers dragged at him, icy cold and stiff. He made is way further into the field, though it felt now like he was walking in mud. Starsky stopped listening. "No thanks."

You don't have to listen, if you don't want to. The Visitor sounded as though he didn't care.

Starsky could almost see the vaporous form shrug as he continued his directionless trek. "Okay, I won't."

The Visitor moved back into his path. You do not have to. Where do you want to go then?

That brought the brunet to a halt. Where did he want to go? "Does it matter?" He said as he stepped forward once more. The Visitor backed up, but stayed directly in front of him.

If you're lost, I can lead you back to where you started. I understand that you mor- you might not want to ask for directions. I will tell no one. The Visitor said in a reasonable voice as it drew in a bit, the vapor became slightly more opaque then before.

Intuition kicked in a little. Starsky altered his course slightly and the being stopped following him. He headed back in his original direction and The Visitor shifted and moved back in front of him.

Please, I can see you are tired. Wouldn't you like to rest? The tone was spoken in much the same manner that The Visitor always used. Calm and reassuring.

Starsky's brow knitted. He was tired and getting more tired as each moment passed. But something was in that direction, the same direction The Visitor did not want him to go in. "Thanks, but no thanks, maybe later." He began to walk a little faster.

The Visitor glided before him, the mist that made up its body started to slowly swirl around.

Then, behind him, Starsky heard a voice call for help. He slowed. Intuition wanted him to continue the way he was headed. But the cry for help was strong as well.

'Help!'

The voice sounded young.

'Please help me!'

Feminine.

'Please help! I'm scared!'

Starsky pulled to a halt, torn at which way to go. There didn't seem to be anything in the direction he was headed. But most certainly there was someone who needed help. The pleading voice sounded young as well. He remembered the little redheaded girl. What would have happened if he had not gone to her? She had poofed and disappeared after he pulled her out…

What should he do?

'Help! Please, someone, help!'

He took another step towards the sound. He shuddered to think about what might happen if he didn't go help.

'Pwease help! Pwease?'

Starsky hurried in that direction, unable to leave a small child stuck in the ground and calling for help.

XXXX

The Visitor reformed next to The Other. He took the bait. It was a close thing.

(Are you sure?)

Yes, I am certain.

(Good, I have Brockman talking to him.)

Yes, I prompted Sta-The Visitor caught himself, then continued him to listen to the man. He started to sink a little then. We just need to encourage that a little more and he will be ours.

(Did I not tell you this would work? I knew it was the right course of action to bring the guide here. The curly headed one will join the rest soon as has his guide.)

The beings looked at the slowly shrinking lump before them. Very soon it would be too late to stop it from the inevitable change that was taking place.

XXXX

Doctor Montgomery stared at the x-ray. It didn't make any sense. The subdural hematoma they had noticed before; appeared to be no bigger then it had been earlier. The treatment they had providing had indeed slowed the bleed. So why was the man convulsing? Why were his vitals growing shakier?

He shook his balding head. Nothing with these two seemed to go as it should. Perhaps the angle of the x-ray was not giving him the total picture. Perhaps there was something he was missing. He could just go to the spot with the hematoma and make a small hole and remove the blood. That should relieve the pressure on his brain and stop the convulsing. It was all he could do for now.

XXXX

Starsky quit running. He never seemed to get any closer to the child who called out. He stood and looked around. He was back in a part of the field that had taller lumps. A memory flitted through his mind, that of a bird flapping on the ground with a broken wing. He remembered seeing one, at some point in time. It had flapped and dragged its wing along the ground, looking terribly vulnerable. He wanted to help the bird, pick it up and take it to a vet. But a voice, a kind and warm voice, laughed at him and his efforts.

"The bird is just pretending Starsk. It's not really hurt. She is leading you away from her nest, offering herself up as a larger meal then small chicks or eggs. But if you get too close, she'll fly away a little ways, only to start all over again."

He shook his head at the odd notion. Was it a memory? Or was it just an odd random thought. The voice sounded like that of his guide. But how could that be? He concentrated hard. He could remember hearing the voice of his guide echoing in his head 'follow me, follow my voice… and you must…' What must he do? What was it that his guide wanted? He was getting confused again.

He looked down and his feet appeared to be melting into the ground. Starsky panicked and pulled at his feet. It was like pulling them out of mud. He tugged, jerked and finally wrenched himself free. He backed away from that spot. His breath came in pants as he stared at the ground before him.

'Leading you a-way… a-way… a-way…' The guide's voice echoed in his mind.

The call of a bird followed him 'kil-deer, kil-deer, kil-deer' it was the same bird that would pretend it had a broken wing to lead predators away from its young to protect them.

Starsky knew now he had been following a bird whose wing wasn't really broken… he had been following the voice of a child who wasn't really there. He had been led away from that part of the field because… why? What was The Visitor protecting? Or was it trying to keep him from seeing something?

His guide's voice echoed and mingled with the voice from the past. 'Follow me… follow my voice… she's leading you away from her nest… follow me.'

Starsky turned on his heel and headed back the way he had come. Where they protecting something or hiding something? Either way, he would find out the reason for the deception.

XXXX

Berry stared down at the still man in the bed. The monitors beeped and the detective's chest rose and fell. The eyeballs twitched under the eyelids. This was ranking as one of the all-time most boring things he had done to get a story. He had tried talking to the man. He had gently rubbed the exposed arm and had even combed his fingers through the curls, as he had seen Hutchinstein do. It gave him no thrill. The guy just lay there like a lump. A big boring lump.

Then again, he didn't want the excitement of other seizure, or whatever that the man had gone through been earlier. That had been disturbing. Though he had to admit, hearing the guy talk about what it had been like being buried under bodies had been interesting. It would be better if the guy woke up. Or died. That way the story could then be wrapped up. All this waiting sucked, it was what he hated most about his job.

Berry's mind strayed back to the blond cop and his fall. He wasn't responsible for that. He had gotten scared, that's all. It was just a little push… It wasn't his fault the guy was a klutz. It was very possible that when the blond cop woke, he would remember nothing of the incident. Hell, after his fall, the cop's memory might be suspect. Berry knew he stood a pretty good chance of Hutchinstein not remembering the incident at all and hopefully the events leading up to it as well.

Berry looked at the door behind him. Part of him wanted to bolt from the room; head back to his motel, crawl into bed and pretend that none of this had ever happened. The realist in him knew better. If he left now and the blond cop awoke, it might make him look guilty. But, if he stayed and made it look like he were simply waiting for Starsky to wake up… it might turn out okay. Sure, Blondie might be mad about him being in the room, if he found out. Berry hoped that the detective would not. It would make his life a whole lot easier.

(Just keep talking to him. You will see… you will get your story, trust me.)

Well, if his intuition was correct, then he should just keep on talking to the man. It certainly wouldn't harm the guy. Berry began to speak softly to the unconscious man, nearly crooning to him, trying to repeat what and how the blond had said to his partner. Berry nearly snickered at that. 'Yeah, partner, in more ways then one!'

However, getting the story was important and Berry would do what he could to make the best out of it. He placed his hand on the exposed forearm and continued to talk to the detective. "C'mon… buddy, it's important that you tell me what happened… ummm… it's vital… I need to know what happened so I can help you."

The unconscious man shifted slightly under his hand and Berry wondered, what, if anything was going through detective Starsky's mind right now.

XXXX

Starsky kept his eyes on the ground, trying to return to where, leery of being sucked into it the nearly featureless landscape. The Visitor had intercepted him. The sound of the non existent child calling for help had followed him back for a while as he had retraced his steps. Finally, he could no longer hear it. A small part of him worried that he was wrong and that there really had been another little girl needing his help. But a much larger part of him was certain there was something else going on, something that The Visitor wanted him to stay away from.

He walked on began to feel depressed. It inched its way into his mind. The further he walked, the more depressed he became. What was the point to this? Was there any point to anything? What mattered? Maybe nothing mattered and why should it? Starsky slowed as those thoughts swirled around in his head. Those thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a voice; it was soft, but not that of his guide. Starsky stop to listen for a moment.

'C'mon buddy, it's important that you tell me what happened… ummm…it's vital… I need to know what happened so I can help you."

Starsky then had a prickly sensation on his right arm; the feeling was that of ants crawling on it. It happened again and he brushed at his arm. The voice continued to buzz in his ear, it was more annoying then helpful, and so he stopped listening.

The field opened up more and the white fog lifted some. Starsky could now see both The Visitor and The Other in the distance. They were gliding in a slow circle around a lump. He drew closer and watched as the lump shrunk. Every so often one of the two beings swooped in close to the lump and it would get smaller.

His right arm got that ants-crawling-on-it feeling once again and the voice buzzed louder in his ear. And again, one of the mist being's slipped close to the lump, the lump responded by pulling itself further into the ground. Starsky broke into a trot as he moved towards them. He didn't know why, The Visitor and The Other were not seeming to do anything to the lump, but each time one of them dipped close to it, it got smaller. It felt wrong though.

The beings took no notice of his approach. The lump quivered and drew into itself a little more.

Starsky's stomach clenched a bit at the sight. "Hey, what's goin' on here?"

One of the beings swirled around. It was hard to tell if it was looking at him. They did not have faces, or at least, not that he could see. Starsky wondered why he hadn't noticed that before.

Greetings, what are you doing here? It was The Visitor who spoke.

"What're you doin'?" Starsky could not see through the opaque mist that made up parts of The Visitor.

Nothing that concerns you. Come with me, please, I have something I want to show you.

"Ya know, I'm more interested in what's happenin' right here." Starsky stepped around The Visitor's swirling form.

It is nothing. Come with me and I will show you something of interest to you.

The Visitor sounded calm, but Starsky wasn't so sure that was the case. He could see the lump quiver and get smaller. "Maybe later." He moved closer to the lump and was confronted with The Other.

(You need to leave now. This does not concern you.) The Other glided back to the lump and reached out, the lump shook once more as a tendril of mist touched it.

"Stop that!" Starsky didn't know what was going on, or why it bothered him that The Other and The Visitor where revolving around the solitary lump. Nor did he know why it was getting smaller and smaller. He only knew that he did not like it.

The Visitor swirled back in front of him. The once loose cloud like form was spinning in on itself, like a top. The 'body' of mist going from white to a light gray and growing more and more opaque with each turn.

Starsky, feeling belligerent, stepped forwards, walking into the mist instead of around it, as he had always done before. A gale force wind issued from within The Visitor and flung him away. 'Okay, that was a bad idea.' He thought as he picked himself off the ground.

The Visitor was now a small, tightly spinning tornado, blocking his path. Peering around it, Starsky could see the lump shrink into the ground a bit more. Instinct guided his feet and he darted around the furiously spinning Visitor.

As he neared the lump, The Other, now also in a whirlwind, spun towards him. Starsky dropped and rolled underneath it, managing to grab what little was left of the lump. He hung on tightly and pulled at it. It pulled down and away from him. Remembering the last time this had happened, Starsky hung on for all he was worth "C'mon! Don't do this!" He muttered through clenched teeth. "Work with me here!" He pulled up on it, digging his heels in and strained upwards.

Starsky waited for The Visitor and The Other to try something. He didn't know what to expect, but what he had not expected, was for them to be gone. He blinked and looked about. He could not see them. 'Good' he thought as he renewed his struggle with the lump.

XXXX

Berry stared at the body in the bed beside him. A series of thoughts floated into his brain. He continued to stare at the detective and listened as the heart monitor picked up its pace.

XXXX

The blond detective started to seize once more. Doctor Montgomery watched as the man's body arched upwards until only his heels, head and shoulders remained on the gurney.

XXXX

Starsky was using both hands now. The lump was coming up little by little. But he could not relax his grip, the moment he did that, the lump pulled back down a fraction. "C'mon! Please, work with me here… I'm… just… tryin'… ta… help… ya!"

"NO!" The lump pulled back a little.

The voice was that of a boy. Starsky was startled at the sudden response, but kept pulling "C'mon kid, I just wanna help you." He tugged again.

"No! I'm not goin' back."

Starsky's lips tightened. "Why not?" He kept a hold, but did not pull this time. Perhaps he could get the kid to help him.

"I'm… just not goin', 'kay?" There was a deep sadness in the boy's voice. "Just leave me 'lone, I'll be fine."

'Poor kid' Starsky swallowed hard. He didn't believe the boy and could not leave him like this, where in might sink into the ground, all alone. "Hey… Come on outta there, let's talk about it."

The lump gave a hard jerk down, nearly breaking Starsky's hold. "Please kid? I just what to talk to you. If you don't like what I have to say, then I'll leave you alone, okay?"

The lump came out of the ground reluctantly and began to take form when darkness enveloped him and Starsky lost contact with the strange white world around him. He was beyond feeling when his body hit the ground.

The tow-headed boy stood over the body and looked at the man who had pulled him from his hiding place. He carefully looked around the area, but did not see his father anywhere. He sat down next to the unconscious man, unsure of what to do next.

TBC