Author: Milady Dragon
Disclaimer: it's not mine and I'm really upset about that. The ghosts are mine, though.
Rating: PG-13
Author's notes: I'm hoping things are going to get even more interesting…
Chapter Fourteen
Devon walked at the front of the party, lost in her thoughts.
She was very worried about John. Of course, that was only natural, since she felt he was her responsibility...even thought he would have argued with her about it. He just didn't look at all well this morning, despite protesting that he'd slept very well the night before. And he didn't put up much of a fight when Julia had insisted he ride again today.
Although, he had looked affronted when Julia, Alonzo, and Devon herself had helped him up into the Trans Rover. That had made her feel somewhat better.
She just wasn't used to seeing John like this. And she admitted to herself that it was breaking her heart.
John Danziger was the rock of their group. What he brought to the team was irreplaceable. Devon counted on him to be there.
And now he wasn't.
She glanced back at the Trans Rover, but the sun was glinting off the windshield and she couldn't see inside the cab. It wasn't as if he was alone; True was with him, and Devon could count on the girl to call out if anything happened.
Devon was desperately worried. She and Julia had talked into the night about what was happening, and neither one could come up with anything. She'd tried to convince the doctor that there was more wrong with John than what showed up in the medical scans, but Julia would always trust her instruments before she would Devon's instincts. It wasn't her fault: she was just skewed that way. Devon would respect her no matter what.
Another disappointment was the lack of any viable DNA from the piece of skull Alonzo had retrieved. It had been just too old and too degraded to be of any use. Devon had secretly hoped that it might hold part of the puzzle, but since it wasn't going to fit she would set it aside and move on. Given enough time, they would come up with an answer.
And she would save John, if it was the last thing she did.
Then she felt something on the back of her neck.
Devon kept walking as nonchalantly as she could, even as her heart rate went up and sweat broke out on her forehead. It felt like someone was staring at her…someone very angry.
"Adair!"
She spun at the sound of John shouting her name. He was running toward her, with a burst of strength that she would have sworn he didn't have. He must have jumped from the Trans Rover, she thought abstractly. And he lectured me about climbing onto a moving vehicle?
"What the hell are you doing?" she snapped as he slid to a halt at her side.
"Shut up, Adair, and stay behind me." His color was high, a change from the terrible paleness from this morning. He actually pushed her back, taking a stand in front of her.
"What's going on?" She was angry at him, for being so high-handed and for risking his health by running around like a maniac.
"There's someone here," he hissed.
Devon's anger fell away. "Your cat-girl?"
"Would I have come running like that if it were? Now be quiet and let me handle this, okay?"
She stepped back. That must have been the source of the odd sensations she'd started having. Although, if John could now see others…his situation had just gotten much more serious.
"Dad!"
Devon caught True before she could get to her father. "Stay here, True."
"Keep her back, too, Adair," Danziger warned.
Devon wrapped her arms around the struggling young girl. She could sympathize with True; she wanted to go to John as well, to protect him.
But now it seemed like his job was to protect them. He stood there, his body tensed and shaking a little. "Don't touch her," he growled into thin air. "Your people have already messed with me; you won't take anyone else!"
"John," Devon urged, "tell me what you're seeing." She was so desperately afraid for him…
"It's a male this time," he answered, his back still to her.
"How can you be seeing him?"
"How the hell should I know? Why don't you ask him yourself?"
She ground her teeth in annoyance. "What's he doing?"
"He was going to touch you."
Devon shivered. He'd just saved her from going through what he was. Oh my God…
"Look, it doesn't do any good, I can't understand anything you're saying," John replied to the unseen visitor. "Just leave and let us go in peace, okay?" Then his head turned slightly. "Oh, I see you've decided to turn up again. Will you tell your friend here that we don't want him around?"
"Cat-girl this time?" Devon took the chance to ask.
"Yeah. About time, too. They're talking now. Hopefully that means she'll call him off."
He turned to look at her.
When she saw his face, another piece of the puzzle clicked into place.
John had only ever worn that expression for True…that look of love and pride that a father has for a daughter.
When had that happened?
Just two days ago, he'd been adamant about getting rid of the "ghost" that had been haunting him. He'd railed against what was being done to him and had wanted to stop it. This cat-girl had made him ill, had changed him.
That was before he'd been shown the portrait.
Yet another piece.
He was seeing her as a child who had lost her father, a girl desperate to make contact with anyone who could help her.
Devon was furious with herself for not seeing it sooner.
Danziger had turned back to the invisible conference before him. "Damn! I wish I could hear them!"
"What's happening?"
"Looks like they're arguing…oh…" his voice trailed off.
"John?" When he didn't answer, she repeated his name more forcefully. "John!"
"Um…you're not going to like it…" he finally whispered.
"Tell me anyway."
"There…there are about a dozen of them around us now."
Devon's heart stopped. There couldn't be that many… "What are they doing?"
"Just…just standing around, waiting." He paused. "My cat-girl is talking to them all…" He shivered.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm standing between you and about fourteen cat-creatures, and you're asking me if I'm all right? Don't you think that's a really silly question, Adair?"
She noticed that he didn't really give her an answer…
The entire Eden Advance had caught up with them by now. Devon could hear murmuring behind her, but she didn't dare take the time to explain. She was too busy holding True, and watching Danziger. Anything that happened would telegraph itself through him, and she had to be ready.
It was silent for so long that, when John did speak, it startled her. "I think they've decided something."
"Can you tell what it is?" she asked urgently.
He took a step away from her. "Yeah, I'm getting a really good idea."
John held out his hand, toward the unseen beings…
And his entire body jerked, as if he were being electrocuted. His head snapped backward, and Devon could hear his scream as it was choked off in mid-cry.
"John!"
"Dad!"
Devon found herself with an armful of struggling True. She tightened her grip, not knowing how dangerous it would be for her to get too close.
It was almost too much for Devon to bear, as she watched Danziger struggle in the grip of whatever was happening to him. She felt tears fill her eyes as the mechanic twitched and moaned, the agony he was going through beating against her like a drum.
"We can't just stand here!" she heard Julia cry out.
"Everyone stay back!" Devon ordered. Somehow she knew it would be dangerous to touch him, although how she knew she couldn't have said.
Then, it was over. John went down to his knees, gasping out, "Don't come near me!"
"Dad!" True was fighting harder against Devon, and the leader was just barely able to contain her within the circle of her arms.
"Listen to him!" Devon rapped out. "True, be still!"
"Do what she says, True-girl," John ordered, his voice rough and gravelly.
It was his words that made the girl calm down. She stood, panting for breath, leaning against the older woman.
"John," Devon called, "what's going on?"
He straightened up, getting his feet underneath him. Danziger still had his back to them, staring out across the plain toward what only he could see. "Everything is going to be fine. Look after True, Adair."
Devon's heart turned to ice. "What are you doing?" she demanded thinly, her voice shaking.
"Just take care of her, Adair. Promise me." He stood up, turned, and looked at her.
Devon Adair gasped. Her world shifted sideways, never to be the same again.
Oh my God…his eyes…
The creature that had been John Danziger smiled, then ran away from the Eden Advance group, following a trail visible only to him.
