Disclaimer: I don't own Haven nor am I making a profit off of this story…

Amnesiac

Chapter 5

Alexa and Jennifer borrowed Duke's Land Rover since he was going to be busy getting stitched up. While Jennifer had driven them to the Herald, Alexa had spent the car ride renaming the contacts in Nathan's phone and changing ringtones. Satisfied, she slipped the phone into her purse and exited the vehicle.

The bell above the door dinged as they headed inside. Dave looked up to see both of them heading his way and he smiled.

"It's almost closing time. Vince is in the back finishing up the latest edition." He said. "I thought you would still be out solving the latest trouble."

"Oh, we did." Alexa sat in the guest chair. "He possessed Duke's body and Tyler killed his own body thinking he would be able to live in Duke's. But Duke's trouble kicked in and Tyler is the one who ended up dead."

"Oh my." Dave looked sympathetic. "Anything I can do?"

"There's not much that can be done." Alexa leaned forward. "I came here to ask you for your opinion on the troubles. Duke and Nathan are convinced that I used to be Audrey Parker and I'd like to hear this from a person who doesn't have a personal stake in this."

"That would be hard to do." Dave's voice was gentle but utterly certain. "She's been the lynchpin of our survival since before this town existed. How much do you know?"

She looked at Jennifer, whose head was down. She was concentrating on writing it all down. "Not much. Audrey was a FBI agent turned Haven cop partnered with Nathan. She helps people with their troubles. She went into the Barn to stop the troubles for 27 years."

"That's it?" Vince's voice entered the conversation. He sat down at his desk and looked at Alexa intensely.

Dave shook his head. "Those boys are more interested in romance than ending the troubles. We should start at the beginning."

"Well, go ahead." Vince told him impatiently. "You were always more interested in the history side of things anyway."

Dave's eyes glittered. "Before Haven existed, when this was all lush forest, the Mi'kmaq Indians lived here. They say that a white man and a white woman entered their forest and began tampering with nature. They cursed the locals and the locals eventually chased them away. The white settlers came and eventually the two came back to cause more mischief. The Indians and the settlers caught the pair and asked for them to end the curses. The two were unrepentant and managed to disappear. Without them, the shaman did his best and created a spell that would give 27 years of peace before they would start again. No one knows how or why she was chosen to be the savior."

"Every 27 years she is freed to help those that were cursed. She is given a choice to return to the Barn and renew the cycle or to end them permanently by sacrificing the one she loves most. After returning to the Barn, her memories are wiped and she is given a new set of memories and a name. Each time she comes back, her personality is the same but she looks different."

Vince sets down a picture of a smiling blonde. "Audrey was the most recent. She did do all of the things you said. She was a police officer dedicated to her duties. Before her was Lucy. Lucy was a photographer and she had a lot of friends in this town. Just like Audrey, she helped a lot of people."

Vince handed Alexa the picture of Lucy. She had long, straight dark hair and an intense expression. She wasn't smiling and she gave off a solemn air. She wore all black like fashionable young artists did in the eighties. In the background was a pier and she was holding a young boy's hand.

"That's Duke." Dave pointed out the young boy. "For a while, Lucy and Duke's father were friends. That went sour when she realized he was an abusive drunk and that he felt killing troubled people was a mission from God. She spent a lot of time with Duke and Nathan since those two were still friends at the time. She was such a good role model for both of them. It's sad that their memories of her disappeared when she went into the Barn."

"Oh." She said faintly.

"And this is Sarah." Vince handed her the last photo.

This was of a woman dressed in an old fashioned nurse's uniform. A hat sat in her curly red hair. She looked like a strong, capable female and Alexa said so.

Vince's smile split his face. "She was. She was an army nurse and she could keep soldiers in line."

"Sarah was special to us." Dave interjected. "She was the first version that we met of you. She's the reason we keep chronicling the return."

"Before her, there were many more but photographs are rare." Vince said. "We have a few paintings, an etching and a cameo. We have tried to collect as many personal diaries as possible, town records. Anything that could help trace this back to the beginning of the legend so that we can end this."

Alexa sat back. "I see. So each time I come back I help people. That's my job."

"Yes." Dave said earnestly.

"Have I ever recovered any of my memories before this?" Alexa asked.

Vince and Dave shook their heads. Vince spoke. "As far as we know, you've never recovered any memories of the lives you've lived before."

"I'm asking because I had a dream last night and Duke confirmed it was one of Audrey's memories." Alexa told them.

Dave's eyes widened behind his glasses and Vince dropped his pencil. "What?"

"I had two memories." She said quietly. "Duke said the first one was about the Halloway House."

Dave slumped against his chair. "Of all the ones to remember…" He muttered.

Alexa tapped the Lucy picture. "She was part of that memory."

Alexa continued. "Audrey saw a mirror and she saw Lucy as a reflection. She recovered a memory of being Lucy but it caused her to have a seizure and nose bleed. The woman helping me told me that it was dangerous to keep looking past the memory block because it could cause an aneurism."

"I haven't seen her." Alexa finished. "The red haired woman in my dream. Duke said her name was Claire."

They both looked sad. Dave said softly. "Claire was a psychiatrist. She died helping you face a killer."

"Oh." Alexa was a little sad. She was hoping to meet her.

"In fact that's why Audrey ended up going into the Barn." Vince said. "The killer was a skin walker. They would kill someone and wear their skin like a suit."

"I'm not going to like this part am I?" Alexa muttered.

"No." Vince told her ominously. "Sarah had a son named James. She gave him up for adoption when she knew she wasn't going to be able to stay. James grew up; married a woman named Arla and met Lucy when she returned. Lucy and James are the ones that discovered that killing what Lucy loved most would end the troubles forever. The one person Lucy loved most was James and she couldn't kill him. She ran away. The Guard killed him thinking that it would still work and the Troubles would be over. It didn't and Lucy came back. She took James' body with her into the Barn because she knew the Barn could bring him back to life. James' wife had a trouble and when she learned that James was dead, her skin slid right off of her body. She killed someone and stole their skin. When Lucy found out, she barred Arla's entrance into the Barn and they disappeared."

"Audrey came back and Arla knew the Barn would be back for her." Dave continued. "She killed a lot of people to determine that Audrey could only summon the Barn on the night of the Hunter Meteor Storm. Audrey summoned the Barn because James couldn't live outside of it before letting Arla in. The Troubles don't work inside and so James saw what a monster his wife had become. She killed him accidentally and then Audrey killed her while they were struggling for the knife."

"What happened to James?" Alexa wanted to know.

"If the Barn had lived, he would have been resurrected." Vince shrugged. "But at this moment, he's presumed dead."

"Ok. Do we know who James' father was?" Jennifer spoke up.

Alexa had forgotten that she was there since she was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she had a son. Jennifer had been quietly recording all of this. "Who was he?"

Vince coughed in embarrassment and Dave tried to be delicate. "There was a time traveling trouble that Duke and Nathan got caught up in. Sarah told us once that the father hadn't been born yet but it wasn't until Audrey went into the Barn, that Nathan admitted that he was the father."

"Both Sarah and Audrey, huh." Alexa sighed and covered her face with her hand. "Detective Wuornos seems to have a thing with all my incarnations."

"Some would see that as destiny." Vince gave her a hard look.

She remembered this man held Duke and Nathan's fates in his hand. In fact he commanded an unknown amount of people who could go off script at any time and kill all of them.

"Or star crossed lovers never meant to be together. "She countered. "You've been extremely helpful and from what Duke has told me, you don't normally share this much info.

He nodded his head in acceptance of her point. "True but most of this could be learned from Duke or Nathan if they would ever sit down and explain anything. And honestly, we're in a time crunch here. Secrecy has its place but I want this to be over just like everyone else."

Jennifer had finished writing. She looked at Alexa. "In light of the legend they told you, I think you should tell them about how you escaped the Barn."

"You're right." Alexa nodded. "We got off topic."

"I met a man in the Barn named William." Alexa started. She edited out some of the details because she didn't want the brothers to know about her ring. "He's completely different than the man Duke calls Agent Howard. He's the one that convinced me that I had to leave the Barn before it died with us in it. We were able to leave the Barn and we traveled through another dimension that he called The Void. We used a portal to gain entrance and ended up in Maine. He gave me some money and we split ways."

"Oh dear." Dave breathed. "He was in the Barn with you?"

"He's real." Alexa nodded. "He helped me but I'm guessing that his being in the Barn isn't a good thing."

"No." Vince furrowed his brow. "It's only supposed to contain you and Agent Howard. James was a special case because he was related to you and because eventually he became part of the Barn."

"So he died when the Barn did." Alexa said to herself.

Dave nodded. "Yes. I'm sorry."

"We'll have to do some research on this." Vince said to his brother. "He could be the other person in the legend."

"Could be." Dave agreed.

Jennifer piped in. "Does it ever say where the two came from originally?"

"The legend says they come from another place." Vince said. "Could be this Void you went through."

"Maybe." Alexa said. "But I didn't see any people, animals or man-made structures while we were there. It was full of vegetation but nothing else."

"We'll look into it." Dave promised.

"Thank you." Alexa's phone vibrated. And she read the text. "I have to go. Duke is ready for me to pick him up from the hospital. He got wounded in the line of duty. Need a ride, Jennifer?"

Jennifer nodded then stood up. "Sure. You can drop me off on the way back."

Alexa stood up as well. "Okay but I need to make a quick stop before we go to the hospital."

"Have a nice evening, ladies." Dave called out.

"You too." They called back.

Jennifer bumped hips with her. "Where to next?"

"Haven PD." Alexa grinned. "I've got something to drop off."

After a quick pit stop, they made their way back to the hospital. Duke was waiting for them. After winning the argument about Duke not driving home, Alexa dropped Jennifer off at the bed and breakfast that she had a room at. They made their way back to The Gull. The bar was lit up and things seemed to be in full swing if the amount of cars in the parking lot were any indication.

"Now to the important part." Alexa said lightly. ""I'm either coming with you or you are coming with me. No way am I leaving you on your own."

"It's not a big deal." Duke protested. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you're not a kid, Duke." Alexa told him. "But this isn't a flesh wound. I know that they stitched muscle as well as skin and I know you refused pain medication. Staying with me is the lesser of two evils."

Duke still looked like he wanted to protest. Alexa cut him off. "Think of all the fun you will have when everyone realizes where you are staying."

"There is that." He murmured. "Except for the Guard. They will just try to kill me."

Alexa shrugged. "Don't try to kid yourself. They are probably already watching us and reporting to Vince. I can always see if Jordan wants to hang out."

"Fine." He got out and slammed the door. "Twist my arm."

Alexa hid her smile. "I'll even let you sleep on the bed."

"My hero." He said in a snarky voice as he grabbed his emergency bag.

She knew he didn't want her helping him up the stairs so she hung back a little as he made his way up. She unlocked the door and turned on the lights. He put his bag by the door and made his way to the couch. Alexa shut the door behind him and locked it.

It was a little cold and she debated about starting a fire. In the end, she brought Duke a beer then wrestled with keeping the fire going. She finally succeeded and poured herself a glass of wine to celebrate. She put a plate of sandwiches between them on the couch and they talked while they were eating.

"So what did Vince and Dave to say to you?" Duke wiped his hands after finishing off the last sandwich.

"They told me the legend of how the troubles came to be." Alexa took the plate and deposited it in the sink. "I told them about William since we don't know what role he's been cast to play in our little melodrama. They are looking into him."

"Good." Duke told her. "They might not share what information they manage to dig up but all of us will keep an eye open."

"They told me about Audrey, Lucy and Sarah." Alexa took a sip of wine. "The cliff notes version. There wasn't time for much more."

"Ah." Duke nodded. "You want me to fill in what you might have missed?"

"If you don't mind." Alexa was hesitant. "I know about Audrey. They told me about the James being Sarah's and Audrey's son. Which also makes him my son. They also explained about Nathan being his father."

"So they caught you up on the most recent events." Duke made a tsking noise. "Nathan is a by the book kind of guy but when his life gets turned upside down, he tends to make some spectacularly bad decisions. And this is coming from a guy who has made some questionable life decisions in the past."

"I've gathered that he has some trouble letting go." Alexa tried to be tactful.

Duke laughed loudly. "Yeah. He doesn't like change."

"You guys have history together." Alexa pried a little.

"You make it sound like we were dating." Duke said lightly. "We grew up together and were friends. That's all."

"Oh no." Alexa wiggled her finger in his face. "There's more to it than that. I've seen the looks you give each other. No one gets that hostile for nothing. The looks you give each other could set a bed on fire."

"I'm not having that conversation with you." Duke stated. Ignoring Alexa's "Aha! That's so hot." he said. "I'll tell you about the history that you have with the Crockers."

Alexa pouted. "Fine. But I reserve the right to bring this up at a later date. Until then, my fantasies will have to do."

Duke's eyebrows waggled and he grinned. "Duly noted."

He sobered as his family history wasn't very nice. "I traveled back in time and met Sarah and my grandfather, Roy. I tried to keep them apart but it didn't work. Sarah ended up killing him. My drunk of a father, Simon, felt that the troubled were evil and that he was doing God's work by killing them and ending their troubles. I heard that he and Lucy were good friends for a time. I think that she was trying to convince him to stop. But then Simon found out she had killed Roy and tried to kill her as well. Lucy killed him to save herself."

"I am nothing like my father and grandfather." Duke said passionately. "I believe in saving the troubled. I will only use my trouble if there is no other way."

"Good to know." Alexa said. "I trust you."

"What happened earlier?" Duke began. "When I asked Nathan what he did to upset you, I got a guilty look. Then there was the good old it's-none-of-your-business glare."

Alexa drank the rest of her glass of wine. "He told me he wished that I was gone and Audrey was here instead."

"Bastard." Duke huffed.

"It's not like I don't see his point." Alexa started washing dishes. "Am I really so different from her?"

"Yes and no." Duke admitted. He leaned against the counter next to her. "Audrey was a little more diplomatic than you are but she was brave, strong and independent just like you. Haven and the job were always first to her. She was always so serious and never let herself have any fun. At the core you have the same warm, caring heart and loving spirit."

"Thanks." Alexa said softly as turned her face away so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes.

"That's enough mushy stuff." Duke announced.

Alexa sniffed then tried to smile. "I also might have told Nathan that I was into bondage."

Duke roared with laughter. "Buddha! I wish I had seen his face."

"It was epic." She agreed.

And reassured herself that in time everything would be all right.