Chapter 26

For the next several hours, Brooklynn and Randy caught up, mostly talking about Claira. She was his godfather and he'd been there the day she was born, but had disappeared shortly afterward to do his own thing. Randy was her best friend aside from Mark. She trusted him more than the others simply because of how close they were. They were all her family, but Randy held a special place in her heart, just not the same way Mark did. Claira called asking if she could go to Seth's baseball game and Brooklynn told her it was fine, not to be too late though since it was a school night. When 7 PM rolled around, Mark finally walked through the door to Brooklynn and Randy eating pizza on the couch.

Somehow, Mark wasn't surprised to see Randy there, though he was also instantly on guard. Randy hadn't been around in years and, if he and Brooklynn had been keeping touch in other ways, he hadn't known or cared to know. His relationship with Orton was… usually strained. He looked back and forth between the pair before walking over and slowly, deliberately bent down to grab a slice of pizza, right within Randy's reach. His backside then dropped down into his recliner, cocking an eyebrow at them.

"What'd I miss?"

Randy didn't even try. It'd be way too obvious.

"You're not gonna believe this, but Randy was lead here. Or rather, guided here by someone all the way in St. Louis." When Mark cocked a brow, Brooklynn glanced at Randy and took a deep breath. "He bumped into a random stranger and saw a vision of…Undertaker, in front of a bonfire, laughing and I was there. He was laughing at me…and it wasn't a joking matter, I'm guessing." When Mark went PALE white, Brooklynn was up in a flash and over to him, worry and concern on her face. "What's wrong? What is it? Do you know something about this, Mark?"

"Out of my damn face, Brooklynn." She had practically APPEARED in front of him from her place on the couch and that slice of pizza was now all over his chest. "Jesus…" Groaning, Mark gently pushed her away and began picking toppings off his chest. "Claira… had a dream…" He said finally, figuring Claira would forgive him because this wasn't exactly something to be lying about. "She was standing in front of a fire with, well, she thought it was me, but with long black hair. She couldn't remember what we were talking about though."

Randy was so tempted to touch him right now, his ungloved fingers convulsing.

"WHAT?!" Brooklynn shrieked, stumbling away from him and immediately pulled her phone out, dialing Claira's number. "Pick up now!" She was pacing a hole in the floor, not caring about anything else except her baby girl being home with her. "FUCK! She's not answering! Fuck…w-what is happening?!"

First, Brooklynn was targeted by that maniac and now…NOW he was reaching out to Claira?! What else had Mark kept hidden from her? She narrowed her eyes at him, wanting to believe he would never lie to her, but…it was obvious he was hesitant to tell her about Claira's dream.

"I don't give a fuck if that asshole targets me in my dreams, but when he goes after our daughter – NO, it's not happening! You said you can suppress dreams, block them, right? You need to put a block on Claira so that asshole can't get to her." Her mind was going a million miles a minute as she tried calling Claira again, not feeling the tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Darlin', you need to stop panicking. She's at that game, she won't be able to hear her cell." Providing she even had the contraption turned up, which was doubtful knowing her. He had been at the library for a reason. Mark had told her last night he would block the dreams and, in his defense, he hadn't told her about Claira's dream because he hadn't seen his wife until now. "Brooklynn, stop, calm down." She was going to panic herself into an attack or something, which wouldn't do anyone any good.

This was all connected – all of it, including their marriage. Brooklynn was positive more than ever now, especially with Randy's sudden appearance. Mark was right, however, she had to calm down and took several deep breaths, wiping her tears away. She couldn't look at her ring or else she would break completely down, her heart aching at the possibility of their marriage not being 100% from the heart.

"Sorry," Brooklynn muttered, slumping back down on the couch and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Did you find out anything useful at the library?" She asked quietly, trying not to worry about Claira and took the tissue Randy handed to her, blowing her nose.

"What library?" Randy asked curiously, having a feeling it wasn't the local building that the general public used. He listened as Mark gave a short explanation and nodded. Made sense. A magical library. Mickie had always kept hers in her house, but… the woman was a 'good' Witch. He'd bet Mark had some books that'd screw up the people in here.

"I can stop the dreams, stop people from getting in, but Brooklynn, it'd mean ALL dreams and ALL people, even Julia." Mark figured she should know what she might miss out on. "Claira, I'm going to do it. It doesn't have to be permanent, it's a spell I can lift."

"I already told you I'm not suppressing my dreams because of that reason. Do it for Claira, not me. I'll manage." Brooklynn reminded him, looking at her phone to see if Claira had at least texted her. Nothing. "What about a Familiar dying? Did you find anything out about that?" She stood up, heading into the kitchen, which was just off the living room and grabbed the wine, really needing a drink.

Tequila was out of the question, she'd already had three shots with Randy, which was her limit.

"A bunch of stuff, but nothing that really pertains to me. Special case, darlin'." He reminded her, having known that was a one in a thousand shot. Split personalities were rare enough, the true cases, among the general population. Another Witch or Warlock having the problem AND being able to mitigate it with a Familiar, yeah… he hadn't had much hope there. "I'll go back tomorrow, eyeball things more, set aside some old journals…" They were not his – Undertakers. The man wrote everything down for some reason. Mark glanced at Randy, having a feeling the man would be using their guest room tonight. "You never saw the person you touched?"

"No."

When Claira called a half hour later, Brooklynn nearly cried with relief at the sound of her voice.

"Hi Mom, is everything okay?!" Claira asked, the crowd quiet since it was a baseball game, though everyone cheered when Seth's team got a home run. "WOOO!"

"Everything is fine, sweetheart." There was no sense in alarming Claira since Mark planned on suppressing her dreams. Hopefully, the spell worked and they wouldn't have to worry about Taker bothering Claira. "How's the game so far?" She walked into the kitchen since Mark had turned the television on, a football game, naturally.

"Good! Seth's team just scored! I really have to go Mom, but I'll be home soon! Love you!"

"I love you too, Claira." Brooklynn heard the call end and closed her phone, looking out the window into the night. The ring caught her eye and she immediately turned it to where she couldn't see the stone. "Please be safe." She whispered, resting her forehead against the glass and let out a shaky breath as she stepped out onto the back patio, closing the door behind her. The stars glittered in the sky above her as she leaned on the ledge shutting her eyes. "Trust your instincts, trust yourself – Julia, what is this darkness that's coming for us? Or is it already here? Is it too late to save my family? Was my marriage forced? Is that monster the darkness you warned me about?" Maybe Taker was the darkness and, if that was the case, how much longer did she have with Mark until he was gone again? "Damn it…"

"Do you want me to touch him?" Randy asked quietly from behind her, smiling when Brooklynn nearly jumped out of her skin and held up his hands in a supplicating gesture. "Brooklynn…" His eyes dropped to her ring, watching as her hand moved to automatically cover it and wondered what that was about. "This really is messing you up." He didn't like seeing her this way, so indecisive, and he hoped she wasn't gambling with her family because she was afraid of hurting Mark's feelings.

"I-I can't lose him again, Randy. I nearly did last time because of a decision I made. I didn't consult any of you about it, I just…did it. I was stupid and irrational when I asked him to bring that monster back. I don't, I can't, I WON'T make that mistake again."

Brooklynn wiped her tears away in frustration, hating the feeling of not being able to trust Mark right now. She always trusted him, but ever since the spontaneous wedding…things hadn't been the same. Something was different, and it wasn't because of jewelry, a piece of paper and a name change either. Randy had been guided here for a reason and it tied with a dream Claira had. Everything was connected, but who the hell was doing this to them? Was Undertaker the catalyst behind it all?

"Come to D.C. with us. We'll all be together again, and Mark won't be able to…lash out as much when you touch him. I want to ask everyone's opinion first, to see if maybe I'm overreacting and overthinking this. Or maybe I just don't want to believe I can have a happily ever after…"

"You never were good with quiet and peaceful times." Randy teased thoughtfully, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Regardless, Mark does love you." Taker did too, in his own way, as creepy as THAT was. "Wait. Don't wait. Either way, you know it's coming or it's here, and so far, there hasn't been any actual danger to any of you, has there?"

"Bastet died, Randy. She was murdered and we have no idea why or who or what did it. I know, to you, she was just a cat, but…she was family to us and one of my best friends. She saved Mark all those years ago and the house hasn't been the same without her." Brooklynn wished she could believe Taker loved her, but he'd never shown it, not in any of the times they had together. "Not to mention, I'm having dreams of that asshole killing me and now he's targeting Claira somehow in her subconscious. So yes, I do think we're in actual danger and the sooner we figure this out and put a stop to it, the better off we'll all be."

"I know this is playing Devil's Advocate, but if he's somehow free because of Bastet, and in Claira's dreams… maybe it's because he wants to know her? She is his daughter as much as Mark's, isn't she?" Mark hadn't said Claira had been freaked out by the dream so much as she just couldn't remember what they had been talking about. "And if he's free, why hasn't he shown himself outside of the astral… maybe he's stuck there…" That would be Mickie's territory, not his.

As much as she hated admitting it, Brooklynn couldn't deny Randy had a point. Claira was Undertaker's daughter as much as Mark's because they were one in the same. Although, Taker didn't see it that way and saw them as two completely separate entities.

"I hope he is stuck. I hope he stays wherever the hell he is because he's not taking over Mark's body again. I won't let it happen. That has to be the darkness Julia was talking about…the darkness is coming. What if that's what Undertaker is trying to do? What if he's trying to make an escape and using both me and Claira to do it? Bastet is gone and can't hold him dormant anymore…" It made sense and sounded insane all at the same time.

The idea of the Undertaker on the loose made the hairs on the back of Randy's neck stand up. That wasn't a pleasant thought, though he wasn't sure how Claira came into play, even with her magic, he could tell she was untrained and nowhere near as powerful as her old man. Not that that wasn't a good thing, magic could be dangerous.

This was so damn adorable. Orton wanted to touch him, he and Mark had both been able to read that one. Apparently, the idiot hadn't learned his lesson from the last time, not that that would be happening again. Oh no.

"So…wait, you want to cast a spell on me that suppresses my dreams? All because I dreamt of Dad…looking different?" Claira was very confused, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Mom, what is going on?"

"We don't know yet, sweetheart, but what we DO know is Randy was lead here because of your dream. Daddy is just gonna cast a small spell on you that'll keep all the bad stuff out, okay? But he needs your consent to do it." That was one of the downfalls to this spell, the person it was cast on had to accept or it wouldn't work. "It's for your safety."

Claira frowned, seeing her father nod in encouragement while her mother looked at her pleadingly, both wanting her to be safe, both awake and sleeping. "Fine – fine, let's get it over with." She grumbled, scrubbing a hand down her face. "Uncle Randy left already?"

"Yeah, he's staying in a hotel in the city." Randy wasn't comfortable being in this house with the possibility of Undertaker trying to break free. Brooklynn didn't blame him. "He'll be back tomorrow and he's going to D.C. with us." Separately, of course.

"Speaking of that, I was wondering if I could ask you two a favor." When they both arched brows at her, Claira became a little nervous. "Since Aunt Trish and Uncle Steve are taking Seth with them to D.C., I was wondering if I could ride with them instead of you guys. That way I can keep Seth company and you already know Trish and Steve will keep an eye on us."

Considering he had already broken her trust not to panic Mom, and Mom had indeed panicked, Mark was inclined to give his permission. Steve was a mind reader, it wasn't like he wouldn't be eavesdropping into the teenager's horny heads constantly. He would. That was both amusing and weird; Mark decided he and Steve would be having a little chat prior to this about boundaries. Claira was handling this extremely well, all things considered.

"All right, Brooklynn, out." He didn't like distractions when he cast a circle.

Nodding, Brooklynn hugged Claira and kissed her forehead before exiting the room, wrapping her arms around herself. Mark had also put a protection spell over the house to keep outsiders from invading like they had with Bastet, whoever it was. Hell, maybe Taker was the one who killed Bastet. That was a very unsettling thought and made Brooklynn nauseous. She went into the bedroom, took one look at the bed and immediately walked back out, deciding she wasn't tired yet. It'd been a long day, but her brain refused to shut off or down enough to sleep. Sitting on the couch, she turned the television on and began flipping through channels, trying to push everything else out of her mind for the time being.

He cast a circle, called on the elements and wasn't surprised when they all answered. It was… kind of nice, seeing Claira paying so much attention to what he was doing. She had never really expressed an interest in her magic and, when it flared up, it was usually during periods of heightened emotion. Her eyes kept returning to the small, literally made of fire lizard that sat in the East corner. Picking up the chalk, Mark drew symbols around her intently and then settled himself opposite of her within the circle.

"You ready, lil darlin'?"

"You'll be able to lift it, right?" When he nodded, so did she. "Let's do it then."

Brooklynn jumped when a flash of lightning lit up outside, followed by a downpour as the rain hammered against the house. She frowned, wondering if this storm had anything to do with the circle Mark performed on Claira. It was a side effect of his dark magic, being able to manipulate the weather. She thought back to the old mansion she'd blown sky high in Arizona and now Mark had stood outside, bare from the waist up, chanting in tongues and putting protection spells over the house. Everything had a dark green tint to it – he had been livid because Kyle had attacked her in a dream. Mark had always been protective of her and now they had their daughter to worry about as well. He still with her, but she wished it felt like they were actually married instead of a complete sham. More tired than she realized, Brooklynn wound up falling asleep on the couch while watching television.