Please see author's note in my profile for more information.
Beta'd by memorial-ETHOS. Note: "I've corrected, to my own knowledge, her grammar. The majority of the story is left intact to it's original version."
Last time...
The raven haired woman watched the elders in an uproar. Never had the organization came this close to being fully discovered. "I told you we were moving to fast, but you never listen to me, do you." She looked down at her watch, it was time... "I have to go now father, to see if anything remains for my work." She left the room of the elders to themselves...
She walked once more out of the room. She had been right, again. Why did they never listen to her? She wasn't some silly child who knew nothing of the world... After all, she was her father's daughter was she not? And she would follow in his footsteps, just like they wanted. But why then did they still not listen? She sighed as she walked the soon to the destroyed halls of the Apocrypha...
Chapter three: Vigilante
Molly was resting... She tossed and turned as the dreams started; if she were to have these "communications", they happened at this time of night.
There she was, standing in the glass forest. She heard the resonating sound of the crystals. It always freaked her out because for some odd reason she felt at home... Molly walked quietly, looking to see the creature who was always watching from a distance. It was always too far for her to see its face...
Her feet were barefoot on the strange, colored ground. She looked down at it. Its bluish color sometimes scared her, but she was getting more used to it. That scared her most of all. Her hair hung in her face again. She reached up and tried to sweep it from her face, but it wouldn't comply so she ignored it. Quietly she walked forward. "Hello?" she called out.
There was no answer. This time it seemed the dream was stronger, almost as if it was real. It was letting her go further then ever before. She walked some more, looking around at the trees made of glass. Molly reached out and touched one's smooth linear surface; it was completely alien to her. How did these things grow? Were they even natural, or was it something artificial that grew on the planet of the aliens?
She sighed, knowing that more incidents were going to happen before she got those answers. A wisp of wind hit her from the back. There had never been any breeze here before. She turned quickly and saw a familiar man standing there.
"Gunneson!" she whispered. "What?" she backed away from the crewman.
He approached her. "Molly, we can help you. Just accept it, and everything will be fine. This is a gift from a superior race, not a curse."
She gasped, and tried to turn. He grabbed her before she could get away. "All truths will be told in time; just believe in these words."
"Let me go!"
He just smiled at her, her eyes focused only on him...
----
Fenway was looking into his microscope, having a nice time examining red blood cells when he heard a whimper.
'What the hell?' he thought to himself, looking up. The older man turned around, looking about his med-lab and locating the source. It was Molly. The moment he looked at her she started to thrash in her bed.
Her rushed over to where she was laying; it looked as if she was dreaming again... "CAFFREY! WAKE UP!" Fenway growled, shaking her.
"Huh?" She sat up, looking very confused. "What am I doing in here?"
"Remember, you wanted to stay till Cavennaugh woke up. You fell asleep, though."
She nodded, her memories coming back to her.
"You were dreaming, weren't you?"
She nodded. "This was different though. Very different. Gunneson was there, it was like... Like he was specifically communicating with me."
Fenway nodded. "Document it." He went back to his desk and took out a notepad and pen and threw to her.
She nodded. "Okay." Caffrey started to get to work...
---
After she documented the dream, Molly got up out of bed. She yawned and looked over at Cavennaugh. He still hadn't woken up yet; Fenway had sedated him till his burns healed up a bit more. The explosion had wrecked some havoc on Sean. His back had third degree burns on it.
"How soon till he wakes up, Fenway?"
Fenway looked up from his microscope, stifling a yawn. "I don't know, could be in the next minute or so or a couple of days."
She nodded, looking down at the wounded soldier. He was laying on his stomach in the bed. Fenway had to have help turning his over so he just laid his that way so he could change the bandages easier.
"Why don't you go back to bed Caffrey? Everyone else is."
She looked around and noticed Daphne curled up on one of the beds looking peaceful for once. Her brunette hair flowed onto her pillow. Molly then looked towards Lucas who was doing better thanks to Daphne's and Fenway's hard work. He was sleeping peacefully, his curls even more messed up then usual and he had a slight beard growing.
Gunneson and Libby were both asleep as well. She frowned at the sight of the crewman. He had no right haunting her dreams. "Why don't you go to bed, Fenway? You're the one always nagging me about not getting enough sleep."
He shrugged. "I will in a bit. I've got a few more things to run." He bent back down and started to examine whatever he was looking at.
Caffrey shrugged as she laid back down and closed her eyes. "Night, Fenway..."
"Night, Molly." he muttered from his microscope.
---
The next day Caffrey woke up refreshed, and feeling good. She rolled out of the bed, and noticed her clothes were rumpled. She vainly smoothed and pulled the creases out of her dark skirt and shirt. Her eyes then glanced over at all of the sleeping people in the med-lab and smiled; Fenway's lab was turning into a dorm. Fenway himself seemed to still be up. She frowned at this, going over to where he was still working at the microscope. She looked at the older man a few moments then noticed he seemed to not be moving. "Is he asleep?" she asked herself aloud.
She tapped her foot and noticed he didn't start like he generally did when someone made a noise. She then tapped him.
"Huh?" he sat straight up, blinking at the light. "What is it?"
She sniffled a laugh at his now racoon looking eyes. "Fenway, you fell asleep at your microscope. Get some real rest for pete's sake."
He nodded, getting up and trying to stretch; his back popped and he groaned.
"How's it like being old?" Larson asked from behind them.
They both jumped. "Not funny, Daphne. And I'm not old!"
She rose an eyebrow, mimicking Fenway's favorite expression. "Uh-huh, sure. Whatever Fenway, lie to yourself why don't you?"
He glared at the fellow doctor. "Anyways, Caffrey, I've got results finally from my medicine. It starting to work on those we caught early... But some of them got infected though, still..."
Her green eyes widened. "How many?"
"Out of over three hundred exposed to the infection, I managed to save only thirty nine. I'm sorry to say that over two hundred and fifty people have to go to West Virginia."
She nodded, then gazed over at the sleeping Lucas. "Did you catch his early enough?"
Fenway smiled. "Maybe. Maybe not. Its starting to look like I did." Fenway walked over to the bedside and looked down at the fitfully sleeping young man. "He told me not to take him off the medicine, no matter what."
Molly's blinked. "What? That's almost like suicide..."
Fenway nodded. "Even though that sort of thing goes against his beliefs, he thought being infected was worse."
Molly sighed;, she understood where the young man was coming from. It was bad enough having the dreams, but becoming an infectee seemed worse then death to her... "I understand where he's coming from. The same applies to me if I ever come close to being fully infected."
"I'll remember that," said Fenway.
Larson rolled her eyes. "Come on guys, we got to get to work, not stand around all day being as serious as possible."
----
Ramsey was the one watching the phones. He had nothing better to do. Oddly enough Caffrey hadn't given him anything to do other then to just sit there and watch a phone. Instead of literally watching it, he surfed the internet... Doing his usual stuff internet gambling. Sure he had promised Fenway that he'd stop drinking, but he had said nothing about poker.
He rubbed his dark beard, considering whether to fold or not. He had a decent hand, but who knew what the other man had. The rest of the players had folded out; it was just between him and the other dude now. It was the moment of truth, Ramsey decided to raise the bet.
The pot was worth ten thousand. The other player rose the bet as well. This went on for a few minutes until it was finally the moment of truth. Both hands were exposed to what they really were; Ramsey had two queens and a pair of tens. The other had a pair of jacks and a pair of twos. Ramsey breathed a sigh of relief; he'd just won a nice, big poker pot. Of course it had originally been Threshold's money, but well... They really didn't need it. He sent it to his account in the Cayman's.
----
Manning wore a hood to disguise himself; he was not fooled though. He could see the captain's profile still,
he watched as the infectee stole across the night. The man walked quietly behind the captain, keeping in the shadows. The man watched as the captain walked quietly through the capital's streets, the street lights illuminating his dark cloak.
The man noticed the captain pausing; he quickly stopped in his tracks and looked up at the sky. Damn, the city lights drowned out the natural star light... He couldn't even tell the time. The dark haired man looked for the moon. Yes, there was that bright orb that seemingly floated in the sky. A little past two o'clock in the morning and the infectee hadn't stopped to rest yet. Whatever mischief the captain was making it must be important, for he had been tracking Manning for several hours now.
The captain started to walk again, and the man quietly followed. Far enough behind the captain where he could not even sense his alien presence...
Little did they know they were both being watched by another. She picked up her phone and dialed the number her boss had given her; to that skyscraper that stood out against the sky...
----
The phone rang. Ramsey jumped, pressing the wrong button. "Damn," he muttered. He had just lost five thousand dollars, but oh well it wasn't his money anyways.
He picked up the phone, "Hello?"
----
Five minutes later he was looking for Caffrey; she was no where to be found. He had already looked into her office. Not even her jacket or purse was there. At first he thought she had went home, and had called her phone. There was no answer, so he had resorted to looking for her all over Threshold. They were all supposed to answer their phones, no matter what. She had written the protocols; why wasn't she following them?
He looked into the break room. She wasn't there. No one was there; it was so quiet without Cavennaugh, Roberts, or Lucas there to give him company. Molly wasn't much fun to be around, Fenway was always grouchy, Baylock nagged too much, and Whitaker was a jackass. There was no one left to talk with, and it was because of those alien bastards.
He then walked into Fenway's lab, hoping she was there... He saw her sitting beside Sean's bedside looking worried about the agent. She didn't hear him. Molly was just sitting there staring off into space with tears dripping from her eyes.
Ramsey felt sort of sorry for the woman, but it wasn't his job to feel pity. Right now his priority was to snap her out of it, and sick her on Manning. "Caffrey!"
Her head shot up, her eyes widening in shock. She quickly put herself together, her face completely composed.
"Yes Ramsey?"
"Manning got spotted by one of those watchers you posted everywhere. Come on!"
She stood up, and grabbed her jacket. Molly turned and called out. "Fenway!"
The spiky haired doctor stuck his head out of the conjuring bio-lab, "What?"
"Manning has been spotted! I'm going with Ramsey to see if we can get him."
Fenway nodded. "Let me guess; you want me to watch Cavennaugh?"
She smiled at the doctor. "Please?"
"Oh, okay." He sat down where Molly had previously been sitting.
She grabbed the dwarf's arm and drug him out into the hall. "Come on!"
"What do you mean come on? I'm not going!" He wrenched his arm from Caffrey's grasp. "Send some of your henchmen! I don't want to even go near one of those alien freaks! Much less track them down!" he shouted.
Molly glared at him. "Well, you are going. Fenway needs to stay here. Cavennaugh and Lucas are out. J.T. and Whitaker can't go, and I need another team member to back me up. So that leaves you, so stop bitching and come on."
Ramsey glared at her. "I don't think my linguist skills or math skills are needed in a man hunt."
She started to tap her foot; Ramsey had never seen her eyes flash like that. Yet, he glared at her still.
"I'm not going."
"You are too. You are going to serve as back-up biatch, is that clear? With a gun and all, and that's final." she said this with a evil smile.
---
They were walking in a group. Molly had brought along a couple of agents to help if things got nasty. Ramsey was still upset that she had forced him to go with her on a wild goose chase for the captain. What right did she have to make him do anything? It was bad enough that she had literally abducted him; he had been satisfied with living a perfectly deviant lifestyle.
Now here he was stuck between two hired grunts, while Caffrey led the way into the unknown down a darkened street with only streetlights for illumination. They cast odd shadows on the sidewalk; they passed under another. Ramsey looked up at it, the bulb casting a golden light down at him.
They continued to walk in the district's cold air. it was late in the year, a time when they shouldn't be walking outside for this long without better coats. He shivered slightly while trying not to show he was cold. Not only was he cold, but his heart was heavy. Here he was walking, while two of his friends were in the med-lab. Lucas was still not cleared from the mutation, Fenway thought he had it under control but wasn't sure enough to let the younger man leave. Cavennaugh was unconscious, sedated, so he wouldn't be in misery from his third-degree burns on his back. Fenway was literally living in his lab to take care of them, as if he felt guilty about something.
Guilt was something Ramsey knew well. Sometimes that was all he felt; he had promised so many things in life to so many people. Sure, sometimes he kept those promises. Yet, the majority of the time he didn't. He had promised to stop drinking. Instead he moved on to another addiction. Gambling.
He sighed, and what made it worse, he was carrying an instrument of war. War was something he had never agreed with. It involved bloodshed and violence. He might play it in a video game, but he would never agree to it in real life. Yet, here he was, carrying a gun. The catalyst of the modern world... Which caused endless decades of death and destruction, and conquests... It wasn't something he wanted to be associated with, much less equipped with.
Then he stopped in his tracks; they all did, in fact. Caffrey had stopped on the cracked sidewalk. "What it is,
Molly?"
"Is that him, up ahead?" she whispered.
They all looked; there was a man with a hood drew up. He was just standing there, peering ahead.
Ramsey shrugged. "Why don't you guys check it out while I stick back here?"
Molly glared at him. "How about we all go?"
They walked closer to the man; he did nothing. He was still standing there looking into the unknown...
Suddenly shots rang out! All of them went down on the pavement, ducking and covering their heads like Cavennaugh had trained them to do. When it was over, they looked up. The man was gone; vanished into thin air...
---
They went back to Threshold empty handed... Ramsey and Caffrey went into the med-lab, where Fenway was still sitting up sipping on a cup of coffee. The old man looked a little rough around the edges, having not shaved in awhile. He looked up when they entered. "Didn't catch Manning?"
Caffrey nodded and told him the story...
He rose an eyebrow,."Shots fired? What was with that?"
Ramsey shrugged. "We called a couple of more goons down there and told them to figure it out. Then we left."
"It was getting cold," Caffrey finished.
"I wasn't cold!" growled Ramsey.
Fenway rolled his clear blue eyes. "Both of you stay here, I'm going to get you coffee. I don't want more patients then I already have."
He returned with two steaming mugs. "Its cold enough in this building. I can't imagine how it is outside." He handed the mugs to the other two who were looking surprised.
"Are you okay Fenway? You've been acting strange lately." Caffrey asked.
He just shrugged. "I'm fine."
---
Caffrey just sat there for a long time, looking out a window in Fenway's small office. She was still sipping on the mug of coffee he had given her, it was lukewarm now. It was also nice to watch it start to snow, but that wasn't her purpose here. She was waiting till Ramsey left to go do whatever he did, and for Fenway and Daphne to go to sleep. Then she could have a nice long talk with Lucas.
She heard rustling outside in the lab. Caffrey got out of Fenway's chair and went out there. He was taking off his lab coat and putting on that gray hoodie he wore outside. "I'm going to back to the hotel, so's Daphne.
See you later Caffrey."
She nodded, and then lied for the first time to Fenway. "I'm about to head back to Richmond," she yawned to give him comfort; she was going home to sleep.
He looked at her momentarily. "Grab another cup of coffee Caffrey, you shouldn't drive while sleepy. Otherwise you'll end up in here."
She smiled. "I will."
Fenway and Daphne left together, both heading back to their separate hotels. Caffrey watched as they left, waiting till they were in the elevator. Once she heard the ping of the doors, she went over to Lucas.
Molly shook the boy awake. "Huh?" he muttered groggily. "What is it Caffrey?"
"We need to talk." She sat down on the conjoining bed. "Lucas, I need to know if you want Rachel to know about Threshold."
He stared at her. "No, I just want to see her. Can't you make up some lie about it?"
"Do you want to start your marriage with a lie?" she asked him, looking him straight in the eye.
He shook his head. "No and yes. If it takes a lie to protect her, I'll sure as hell do it."
She nodded. "I'm leaving it up to you, actually. I'm going to let you see her, but you've got to come up with what you are going to tell her."
"I already know; I'm using what you told to Rossi. About Al Qaeda, and all." he muttered.
"A good a lie, as any." Caffrey said, getting up. "Tomorrow I'm going to Bethesda, and speaking to her."
"What exactly have you told her about me?" said Lucas.
"I had someone call, and tell her that he's your boss and was going to keep you over for quite a long time."
He nodded."Okay. Just let me see her again. Please..."
----
Molly drove into Bethesda. When she got into Lucas' neighborhood she double checked the address. She soon spotted the house; it was a nice house in a nice area of the suburbs. Pleasant lawns even in the winter,
beautiful houses already decorated for Christmas. Molly sighed; she had never lived in this nice a place when she was young. She parked her vehicle in the driveway, got out and went to the door. Hopefully Rachel would be here.
She walked up to the oak door and picked up the knocker and dropped it a couple of times. It thudded against the wooden door. A few moments later she heard footsteps coming down a set of stairs and then she saw the door swing open to reveal a petite asian woman. Rachel blinked and then asked. "Who are you?"
Molly stretched out her hand. "My name is Molly Caffrey, I'm Lucas' boss."
----
She was standing in the new home of Apocrypha. It was the secondary base high in the mountains; she looked out the window and took in the scenery of the smooth peaks. They even had snow already gracing the taller summits.
She smiled and sighed at the beauty of everything around her. It was truly serene, to be here away from everything else in the world. If only life could be like this all the time...
The sheer beauty of her surroundings were enough for her to forget why she was here at the secondary base...
What she had to do, to better herself, and to lead others to do so as well. She shook her raven locks; she had a job to do.
A mission.
----
Molly entered the room with Rachel. Lucas looked up with hope in his eyes. Fenway had removed the restraints so that Rachel wouldn't panic at the sight of her future husband in that state.
The young woman rushed over to her lover, throwing her arms around him. It had been close to a week since she'd had last seen him; she had been so worried.
He just held her, and she clung to him. "I missed you so much..." he whispered. She nodded, tears flowing down her face...
Molly and Nigel watched from the window. "Do you think he'll be alright now?" she muttered.
Fenway nodded with a smile. "What did you tell her?"
"I told her about Al Qaeda using organic terrorism."
Fenway rose an eyebrow. "Organic? Interesting term for it, but medically correct I suppose. He'll be fine,
nothing can bring him down." He walked out of the lab, leaving Caffrey to ponder his last words.
----
Fenway was watching his thirty nine remaining patients; these were the ones he had to be the most worried about... They were the dreamers. Who knew what they saw in those communications. Some of them were so young,
hell when he was that age he was out partying, drinking, and having a generally good time. Of course, he wasn't breaking the law either. It was dangerous back then, in the late sixties and early seventies to do anything really serious when it came to law-breaking. He winced, thinking about it; that's what these people were as well. Casualties of a war they did not know was yet happening...
Back then the risk was being drafted, just by being a young man, not keeping your grades up, or getting into trouble with the law... Now to become a casualty, or to be drug into the front lines of almost certain death;
all you had to do was pick up a can of green beans. Times had changed in a little over thirty years; back then they were fighting a fake war against communists, now... They were fighting a covert interstellar war they always said wouldn't happen in our lifetime; yeah right.
One main difference was that he protested the Vietnam war. This time he wasn't going to. This was the result of not moving fast enough, and these were the ones that were going to recover. Well, sort of recover. They were going to have dreams till the threat was gone, and according to the three dreamers on the red team, these weren't visions of the sugar plum fairy. Instead, some of those documented dreams read like horror movie scripts. They were escalating. Now here were, thirty nine new victims; these people would now have these dreams. Hell, they weren't even in on the truth. They thought terrorists were doing this to them; could they call the aliens terrorists?
----
"We are moving them to West Virginia." Caffrey solidly said.
Whitaker glared at her. "Remember what happened last time you said that!"
"Where else are we going to take them? There's no where else! And we can't keep them here! I could deal with having maybe twenty here, but over two hundred is too much for the staff!"
Fenway nodded. "I can't care for that many people for a prolonged period of time. Right now I'm exhausted... I just want to sleep." He yawned again, taking another sip out of his coffee mug he seemed to carry all the time now.
Daphne nodded. "I'm sleepy as well. We haven't had more then ten hours of sleep since this outbreak began.
Please Whitaker!"
"WE HAVE TO MOVE THEM!" all three shouted.
Whitaker backed down. "Very well, but if something happens, it's your hide, Caffrey."
----
Ramsey was now playing Poker again, bigger amounts this time... He just couldn't stop; it didn't give him a kick anymore to bet "small" amounts like five thousand dollars... Now it was much bigger, try twenty thousand dollars out of Threshold's budget.
It just made him feel so good... He closed his eyes; the bet was now much higher. Would he risk it all just to get that one feeling of exhilaration? It was almost like self-destruction, just less bloody.
He pressed the mouse...
Then the phone rang once more... He didn't look at the screen; butterflies fluttered in his stomach. Why did he always feel like this, a mixture of guilt... and what else? It made him feel real. Yes, that was it. Real. "Hello?"
----
He was looking for Caffrey again. For some reason she kept on disappearing. He looked in the break room once more; nope not that. Again. He was guessing she'd be back in Fenway's labs. She was always there now a days.
It was most likely because Cavennaugh was still in there, sleeping.
He entered the lab, and saw Caffrey sitting next to Cavennaugh's bed, looking glum. He rolled his eyes going over there. "We got a report of Janklow now!"
She nodded getting up. "Okay..."
"What's wrong Caffrey?" the dwarf asked.
"Nothing, its nothing." She went into Fenway's small window office. "Fenway?"
The older man looked up from his reports. "You going somewhere again?"
She nodded. "Can you sit with Cavennaugh for me again? I want someone there when he wakes up."
Fenway nodded.. "Alright, go on. I'll be out there in a minute."
----
They were once more walking into the shadowy night. It was just like the last time. Almost as if time was repeating, Ramsey looked up once more into the golden orbs that were bulbs. It was almost like looking into the end of tunnel...
He shook his head, trying to get rid of morbid thoughts. That wasn't what he needed right now; he didn't need to think about death. Instead he should be thinking of how to get out of this alien-made hell. Ramsey concentrated on the situation at hand instead. It was damned cold out here. He looked ahead where Caffrey was walking.
How did women not freeze in those skirts?
He shook his head, and decided not think about Caffrey's skirt. She had this eerie sixth sense of knowing when he was thinking perverted thoughts... Ramsey knew one thing about Molly Anne Caffrey for certain; she didn't appreciate him thinking that way about her.
A mad Caffrey wouldn't make the situation any better. They walked on, it was so cold out here. Ramsey subconsciously rubbed his arms, then remembered that a "real" man wouldn't show any weakness. He stopped that immediately and continued to follow Caffrey and her goons. He hated being out here in the freezing weather; hell, there was even some snow on the ground. Where was that teenager!
He looked up at the sky as he walked, noticing the dim redness to it. The glow of the city cast that color upon the low lying clouds. Ramsey knew they carried more snow. He smiled as they walked some more. That was the only thing he liked about this city; it occasionally snowed here. He sighed. Why was it taking so long just to find Janklow?
They continued to walk for several more minutes in complete silence; the only sound being the cars that passed them by and the crunch of snow underneath their feet...
----
He watched the young man; once more he stuck to the shadows. The vigilante followed him quietly, his footsteps not even making a noise. He knew this was one of the most dangerous of the blessed... Or the cursed, however one thought of it.
Suddenly he saw a group of people approaching his target; his electric blue eyes widened. He didn't need any casualties, all he wanted to hit was his target! He looked up from his scope, and watched the now distant people walking towards Janklow.
He looked back into his scope, brushing a dark lock out of his face. They were close enough that he could see their faces through the glass. It was two tall burley looking men, what looked to be a dwarf with a dark beard, and a lovely woman with flowing black hair. No he couldn't take the shot, well just not yet.
Then he noticed they looked to be tracking Janklow. "What the hell?" he muttered to himself. Who would actually be tracking Janklow? Then it hit him. Somehow they knew Janklow wasn't a normal human. They seemed to be keeping their distance.
This wasn't good... He aimed his rifle. Could he make the shot before Janklow noticed he was being tracked and disappear?
----
Molly got a shiver up and down her spine. She stopped dead in her tracks, holding up a hand. Everyone behind her stopped as well.
"What's wrong Caffrey. Can't we just get this over with?" demanded Ramsey.
She shook her head. "No, there's something wrong here. I don't know..." Caffrey looked ahead where Janklow had stopped in his tracks. "Oh no," she whispered. "Janklow has stopped!" She lifted her gun and fired a shock shot.
He was fading away, entering another dimension when the shock enveloped him. The strands of electricity ran all over his body; the blue streaks disappeared along with him as he completely faded away.
Caffrey and the rest just stared at the spot where Janklow had just stood. "What the fuck was with that!" shouted Ramsey.
Caffrey just shrugged, her mouth hanging open slightly in shock...
----
His mouth was slightly open as well... He couldn't believe what he had just saw. He had seen that woman, Molly Caffrey, fire a single shot at the infectee. It had hit the boy and had actually taken effect, yet the boy had initiated the dimension transfer just in time. Lucky son of a bitch. The man with electric eyes got out of his sniper's nest, and decided to meet this Threshold team that kept on ruining his plans...
He closed his eyes and thought as hard as he could. He thought of the golden lights, and the falling snowflakes. Of the cracked city pavement, and smell of exhaust... Then he added in the buildings around him,
and then the people... then he was there standing before the four...
----
Molly twisted around suddenly, her eyes widening with fear.
"What's wrong this time, Caffrey! I thought we were leaving!" Ramsey shouted.
She shook her head. "No... There's something very wrong. So wrong..." Molly whispered.
Ramsey noticed she was actually shivering, goose bumps forming of her porcelain skin.
She kept on looking at a particular spot; for some strange reason it felt like hell had opened up... The gates of hell opening, but not heat coming out... Cold, such cold it was almost unimaginable. Her eyes were huge in fear as she felt something stepping through, and then the man with electric blues eyes was there...
She knew then that they were dealing with more then they could even imagine...
----
The man stared at her. "You're Molly Caffrey of the Blackwood think tank aren't you?" he asked.
She blinked, shocked that this stranger who had literally appeared out of thin air knew her name. "Ho-how did you know that!" she demanded.
He smiled. "You will see in the end..." The mysterious man then disappeared. The last thing to fade was his wide grin...
"Uh, that was freaky." Ramsey said.
"That's an understatement, Ramsey." she shuddered.
"Did he remind you of the Cheshire cat?" the dwarf asked.
Molly really shivered then. "Let's not talk about that!"
Ramsey grinned wide. "I have a feeling you were afraid of that damned cat? Weren't you? Scared of a creature out of Alice in Wonderland! HA!"
She glared. "We have more important things to talk about other then Alice in Wonderland! LIKE THERE'S SOMEONE WHO KNOWS ABOUT THRESHOLD!"
----
"WHAT!" growled Whitaker. "One of them knows about Threshold! Now just how the hell did that happen! Do we have another leak?"
Molly shook her head.. "No, I'm sure of it. There's been no leaks."
"Then how did he know about Threshold?"
She shrugged. Caffrey had her suspicions but they weren't something you told your boss... Thoughts like those were best kept quiet until proven, unless she wanted to be viewed as mad. "I have no idea..."
"Didn't you say they communicated through dreams! Maybe they found out someway like that?"
She shrugged once more, "Stuff like that is Fenway's department, not mine. Go ask him."
----
Fenway was now listening to Jefferson's Airplane, one of his favorite bands back from the good times... He felt at peace with the world right now; he had released thirty nine patients, Daphne had went home finally... He was about to release Lucas, and everything was nice and quiet. The three patients he had left were Cavennaugh,
and he was going to be okay. Libby who was now around eighteen weeks pregnant, and Gunneson who was still sleeping.
It was pleasant and quiet, and perfect. He was being left alone finally to sip on his warm coffee, and on the upside of things his medicine was finally showing real results! Nigel Fenway was a satisfied man. He leaned back in his office chair, having finished all government paper work that was given to him. He was now taking a much deserved break, even going to the point of putting his feet on his desk. Yes this night was a good one.
He turned his music up louder and closed his eyes, listening to Grace Slick's sultry voice. He remained that way for several minutes reminiscing about the first time he heard that song, so long ago when it suddenly went off. He heard a tapping of a heel against the floor; he sighed as he opened his eyes. "Yes, slave master?"
----
"Its not impossible, that they could be taking information from your dreams. Hmm... My bets though are on Lucas, he was temporarily one of them before I pulled him back." Fenway rubbed his chin, thinking harder.
Molly nodded. "I felt him before he appeared; it was so cold..." She shivered, remembering that icy feeling.
He nodded. "Your theta waves are heightened. It may effect them when they appear from another dimension."
"But why would that make me feel cold?"
He shrugged. "It might stimulate the area of your brain that differentiates between the cold and hot."
She sighed. "So basically I'm a lightning rod for feeling these transfers?"
He nodded. "I'm betting that Lucas and Cavennaugh can feel the transfers as well."
"The question is this, where are they going?" she murmured.
"Lucas already said that the probe was either in the fourth or fifth dimension; they could easily be the same."
"You mean, we can't see all of them?" She shook her head. "No that's not it..."
"What I don't get," muttered Fenway, "is why the aliens are interested in a third dimensional planet if they are a dimension or two higher then us. What's the point of taking over earth, if you really can't use it in the first place?"
Molly shrugged. "We'll see in time..."
----
Sean was walking in the forest of glass. He had been here for so long... He stumbled and fell to the ground;
Cavennaugh felt so weak, so exhausted.
He didn't know why he wouldn't wake. He had been fighting a never ending battle since he had begun dreaming.
No matter what he did in this dream state... No matter what he faced here, he could not escape. Once more he felt the intense cold; someone was about to appear.
He had to get out of here! Molly needed to know their secret, but he... He was too weak to win this battle.
Nothing could wake him, nothing could stir him... He watched as the man appeared once more; the man with electric blue eyes walked a distance, then disappeared once more into the real world. Yet, Cavennaugh was still here, stuck in a place between dimensions that remained unknown.
----
Molly laid down once more in the med-lab. She was so tired... She closed her green eyes, and sighed. Finally she could rest in peace; it was nice and quiet. Fenway had went to his hotel, Daphne had left the premises till next needed, Lucas was asleep with Rachel in his arms, Gunneson wasn't making a noise, Libby was sleeping, and Cavennaugh was still sedated. There was no sound anywhere in this lab, but she could hear the stirring's of creatures from the bio-lab. This she could ignore, having gotten used to them in the past few nights.
Soon she fell into a deep sleep, Molly thought that maybe she would have a normal dream for once. But no, she had bad luck, again.
She was walking in the forest with tree made of glass. She reached out and let one of her slender hands touch the smooth surface of the crystal trees. It felt almost like home now... It wasn't foreign anymore. Molly actually sort of liked this place now; she rarely had visitors. Fenway didn't like to hear about her appreciating this place, it made him worry. She shook her head, her raven locks falling all about. Never mind Fenway's concerns, this was the only place where she was truly at peace. Well, when she didn't have company.
There was always someone there, well, something in the shadows, that is. She could never figure out what it was.
Caffrey could make an outline out, but nothing more.
She sat down in the forest; there was no point in moving. There was no point in anything here in this place made of dreams. Why exhaust her mind, when she could sit here and admire the trees? She just sat there for what seemed to be hours; she couldn't get enough of the linear surfaces of this dream world. She then heard a footstep. Molly looked up to see Gunneson, he sat down beside her.
"Have you made a decision yet?"
She shook her head. "No, I haven't. Why should I stop fighting?"
"Don't you trust your instincts?" the man asked her.
"How do I know they didn't change when I watched that video?"
He chuckled. "This is a gift, Molly. Nothing more, nothing less. All I wish to do is to give it to the entire world; I have no ill intentions."
"How do you know that's the reason? How do I even know if this is just a dream, or something more!"
"Molly if you're here, you exist. You are aware of yourself aren't you?"
"Sometimes you don't make sense. Gunneson."
He laughed. "You'll see in time..." He got up, and ran a hand through his brown hair. "I'll see you tomorrow night, same place, okay?"
She nodded as Gunneson took his leave, like he did every night now... "Goodnight, Gunneson."
"Night Caffrey, sweet dreams." he wished her as he disappeared.
Molly went back to studying every portion of the scenery, her mind wandering as the night progressed.
----
She once more felt someone sit down beside her. Molly turned and looked at her new visitor. It was the man with electric blue eyes.
She started, and scrambled to her feet. He reached up and grabbed her leg, gently pulling her back down. "You don't have to worry. I'm not here to hurt you."
She relaxed slightly, but still didn't trust this stranger. "Who are you!"
"Apocrypha calls me the vigilante, but you may call me Kyle."
"Okay, Kyle. What brings you here?"
He chuckled. "I mean no harm to you. You just have to trust me, in fact, I'll prove to you that I'm to be trusted."
She gave him a skeptical look. "Alright then, prove you have honorable intentions then. But why do you seem to always be near the infected?"
He laughed. "I'm hunting them. That's what I do, there's no point in them spreading the mutation." He scrambled to him feet. "I'm keeping this visit brief, Caffrey." A smile crossed his lips. His eyes danced in mirth. "But we will met again."
----
Molly woke up a few minutes later; she shivered. Fenway has turned down the heat when he left. She shook her head. After the last argument she had him with him over the heating bill for the lab alone, he had agreed to turn down the thermostat at night. Of course, it was typical of Fenway to try to stimulate balmy Florida in his lab...
She got off the bed, and checked on Sean. There was still no change, except his lips were slightly pursed.
She caressed his cheek; it was clammy. Yes, she needed to turn up the heat. She did so and sat back down, looking around at the rest of the occupants. They were all the same as they had been when she had went to sleep, except for Lucas and Rachel they were curled up tighter in each other's arms.
Young love, how sweet.
Molly left Sean's bedside, and stretched. There was no use in trying to get back to sleep, so she decided to walk around the building to get some exercise. She started to walk down the hall when she noticed the blue glow of a computer. Molly was curious; who would be on the computers at this time of night?
Carefully she walked without noise, and entered the open door. She saw Ramsey was still up, doing God knows what on his computer. Molly tiptoed closer, in order to read the screen. It was online gambling; her eyes grew wide at the sheer amounts of money being betted.
She left as quiet as she came, it was time to put a stop to this. Caffrey would deal with it in the morning...
----
The next morning...
The phone was ringing in his ear. Fenway opened one blue eye. Why was his phone ringing? It didn't need to ring; he'd been having such a good dream... He'd been back in the sixties, in the heyday of his youth.
Every time he had a decent dream, someone called him... Damn mind readers.
He glared at the phone, wishing that it was just disappear. But with no such luck, he grabbed it and answered it.
"This better be good!"
"Fenway, we need you." Caffrey's voice came through the speaker.
"Its not another damned outbreak is it!"
"No, no its nothing like that. We need you to go to a scene, really quickly and get a body. Again."
"Charming, who is it?"
"Harper."
"Okay, okay. I'm getting up. Give me five minutes. I presume a car is already here?" Fenway rolled out of bed, and was reaching for a set of clothes he kept hanging on a chair.
"Yes, just hurry." She hung up.
Fenway sighed as he was getting ready; yet another dead body to deal with. Figures.
----
Three hours later...
Fenway was pointing at the bullet hole in Harper's bald head. "It entered here as obvious, a perfect caliber.
Left a small hole, but blew out the back of his head. Nice selection for your gunman."
Caffrey made a face,."That's disgusting, Fenway. I'll take this to Whitaker." She left the autopsy area, and got into the elevator and headed towards the meeting room where the ex-senator awaited her. She tapped her foot, leaning against the faux wood of the soon to be rising box; it took so long for this thing to actually move. She shuddered when she felt it start its upwards journey. She just hated these things.
Suddenly she felt so cold... Molly shivered, rubbing her arms. Why was it so cold in here?
Then he was standing beside her, the man with electric blue eyes.
She started. "What the hell!" she reached for her gun.
He put his hand on her arm. "I'm no danger to you, Molly. Remember the dream last night? I gave you my proof this morning."
She paused and relaxed, but not too much. "You shot Harper?"
He nodded. "It had to be done anyways; you spoilt my other two shots. Just your presence that close to the target alerted them. They can feel you, you know?"
She nodded. "How close?"
"I haven't been able to determine that myself, but just keep your distance and you'll be safe."
"How do I know that's in my best interests?"
He laughed. "I haven't hurt you yet? Have I? You're in an enclosed space, with me, a stranger who just appeared out of thin air. I haven't hurt you yet have I?"
She shrugged. "If you can do that, you must be fully infected... Why aren't you like the others?"
He put a finger to her lips. She backed away, startled at his brashness. "Just don't give in to the temptation and you'll be fine."
Kyle then disappeared once more. His blue eyes locked with her emerald ones, her mouth hanging slightly open in shock...
She told no one.
----
Baylock entered the room where Ramsey was manning the computer. "RAMSEY!" he roared at the top of his voice,
"DID YOU LOSE TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS LAST NIGHT?"
Ramsey head shot up, his eyes full of shock. "Uh, I don't know what you mean!"
"You know exactly what I mean; if this doesn't stop soon... You're off the team, do I make myself clear!"
"So? Off the team sounds like a good thing!"
"Its not," the portly man bend over and looked the dwarf in the eye. "Every action, has a reaction. A consequence, in other words. You're technically stealing from the government, and the consequence is jail time. Do I make myself clear!"
All Ramsey could do was nod; it was time to find another addiction...
----
to be continued...