Well, the only positive thing about being stuck at home with a relentless head cold is the free time. I was able to crank out this chapter and gather ideas for the next. I am also in a dark, morbid mood (I have been watching a Law and Order SVU marathon today), so things may get dark here soon. I already know how the story will end and as a little teaser, it will be intense and you may hate me for the outcome. That is all I have to say. I am holding my peace.
Oh, I just checked and noticed that my very first story has over 6,000 hits!! *Throws confetti in the air, plays some Salsa music, and dances with my dog* Thank you guys so much! I never thought that to be possible.
Without further ado, here is chapter 4. Enjoy!!!
It had been about two days since Shaun and Desmond first started the memory sessions. With a mix of successful and non successful attempts, Desmond finally mastered the process.
Desmond had just accessed a memory belonging to 16. Shaun suggested it was a bad move, but Desmond disagreed.
"Are you still with me, Desmond?" Shaun asked.
"Yeah, Shaun." Desmond replied in a whisper.
Desmond was sitting up on the couch while he was in 16's memory. Shaun was impressed that he was adapting and successfully making progress with this difficult technique. The Brit wheeled back over to the desk to check on some notes he had previously written. After scribbling some updates down, he turned his chair around when he noticed Desmond was sweating and twitching slightly.
"Desmond, all you alright?" Shaun asked with desperation. He kept his voice down in fear of frightening the girls.
"No! Stop it you bastard!" Desmond shouted in a whisper. His face was now red, possibly with anger, and his veins were bugling out of his forehead, neck, and temples.
"Desmond, what is it? What are you seeing?" Shaun questioned.
"I have to help her! Leave her alone!"
"It's just a memory Desmond. Remember? Calm down!" Shaun pleaded. He wheeled his chair closer to the livid Assassin on the couch. "Desmond. Listen to the sound of my voice. It is all in the past. Whatever is going on, you cannot stop it."
"But he is trying to rape her! I can't let the bastard touch her!" Desmond was now exasperated.
"Who?" Shaun asked.
"Lucy."
Shaun's eyes widened at the name that escaped Desmond's quivering lips. "Who is trying to hurt her?"
"That bastard Vidic." Desmond voice was now stern with fury.
Shaun was intimidated by the look of Desmond's face and the sound of his voice, but he was not going to act on fear. "Desmond, Lucy is fine. She is in the other room. Now please, calm down and let go of what you are seeing."
"I can't. I have to save her!"
"Damnit!" Shaun shouted.
Lucy heard Shaun's loud swearing and poked her head inside the door. "Everything OK?"
Startled by her presence, Shaun's voice was squeaky. "Something has happened."
"What?" Lucy screamed as she busted through the door. "What is going on?"
"Desmond is in one of 16's memories. I don't know what memory he is seeing. We haven't worked on targeting a specific time period and…"
"Shaun! Cut with the bull shit! What is wrong?" Lucy interrupted.
"He is stuck in the memory and I can't coax him out."
"What memory?" Lucy's voice was anxious and scared.
"He said he is seeing Vidic trying to sexually assault you. Keeps saying he has to stay and save you. Maybe you should talk to him. If he heard you, he may snap out of it." Shaun suggested.
Lucy nodded and sat next to Desmond taking his hand in hers. "Desmond. It's Lucy. What is wrong?"
Tears were starting to build in the corners of Desmond's closed eyes. "Why isn't he trying to help you?" he asked.
"Who?"
"16. He is just lying there on the Animus. Why isn't he helping you?" he screamed.
Lucy lowered her head as she tried to explain. "He was strapped down to the Animus due to his insane behavior. With all the pressure from his superiors, Vidic got drunk and out of control. Nothing happened though Desmond. He didn't hurt me. I managed to stop him before it got out of hand. I'm right here next to you."
"Please, stop! Leave her alone!" Desmond continued to shout.
"Desmond! Look at me! It's only a memory. Snap out of it, I'm right here!" Lucy pleaded.
Desmond tried to come back to reality by focusing on the sound of Lucy's voice. "But…" he protested.
"It's OK. I promise I am fine."
With a small struggle with his mind, Desmond finally ejected himself from the memory. He sat up, took his hand from Lucy's grasp and buried his face in his sweaty palms.
Lucy and Shaun could hear a muffled "I'm so sorry guys. I fucked up" come from Desmond's mouth.
"No you didn't. Don't think that way. If I were in your shoes, I would have reacted the same way," Shaun sympathized.
With that remark, Desmond looked up at Shaun and exclaimed, "But I'm you guys' only hope! I can't fuck things up like this!"
Lucy ran her fingers through Desmond's now sloppy and messy hair. "Desmond, you're not…fucking things up. Just because this session wasn't successful like the others, it doesn't mean shit. For all we know, 16 could have been influencing you subconsciously… keeping you from reality."
"I feel like I have failed though. I knew you were alright, but seeing Vidic…I lost it."
Shaun wheeled up next to the two on the couch. "You haven't failed. But I tell you one bloody thing. If you give up because of one little slip up, I will be the first one to tell you that you have failed."
After Lucy and Shaun finally cheered Desmond up, they walked into the dining room where Rebecca had lunch already served.
"Diner awaits…" she said to the three coming inside the room. "Hey, why the grim faces?"
Shaun rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it."
Rebecca shrugged and sat down with the group.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"I have just been informed of several spies who have been conspiring and plotting to kill you."
"Who are these conspirators of which you speak?!"
"Templars."
"Well that is nothing new."
"Well, they are also Assassins. There is this circle of men within our own Assassin Order. They have Templar intentions but are masking it with Assassin activity."
"How certain are you of this?"
"Almost 100 percent."
"Traitorous bastards! How then do you suggest we go about exterminating these men?"
"Simple assassinations in the dark of the night would suffice."
"Assassinating them one by one is rather tedious and time consuming."
"True. What about killing them in one large group? That would save time and effort."
"Precisely. But how shall we go about with this?"
"Hmmm, OK, well let us turn back time's clock for a moment. How have others done this in the past? And do you really believe that this shall work in our advantage? "
"If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me."
"Stop quoting your damn plays! This is serious."
"…"
"I may have the perfect solution."
"Go on."
"William, how much do you care about your Globe Theater?"
William sighed. He knew where Gerard was going with this."No. I will not even consider this. It is my whole world. All for which I have worked so hard lies in the very foundation of that place!"
"It will mean little to you once you are dead," Gerard countered.
"But at least something that represents me as a person, as a playwright genius, shall live on throughout all of eternity."
Gerard could tell how much that building meant to his friend. Passion filled the Bard's eyes."William, your theater can always be rebuilt. For your sacrifices, you shall be rewarded not only by Sir Thomas, but by God in Heaven!"
William knew Sir Thomas, the leader of the Assassin camp in England, was good for his word and reward. After debating and practically wearing a path in the wooden floor with his pacing, William spoke up. "All I ever wanted was for my theater to bring hope and unity to our country. If by killing these men contributes to these efforts, I want my theater to be the instrument used to end their lives." He chuckled before he continued. "I have always joked that the Globe saved my life. Ironically, it appears that that is exactly what it will be doing."
Gerard patted William's back, wrapped his arm around him, and led him out of the office door. "Then it is settled. During one of your plays, there shall be an 'accidental' fire. I shall have some workers build exclusive seats for our Templar guest that will confine them like a cage so they cannot leave when the fire starts."
William sighed again. "Alright. Well, let us give them a show they will soon forget!" he giggled sarcastically.
"What play did you have in mind?" Gerard questioned.
"Henry the Eighth."
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Holy shit!" Desmond shouted. He quickly sat up in bed which startled Lucy.
"What is it?" she asked frightened. She was relieved when she noticed the look on Desmond's face was of shock and not of horror.
He caught his breath and began to explain to her what he had just seen. "I just accessed another memory in my sleep!"
"Oh God. Who was it this time?"
"William Shakespeare."
Lucy's mouth dropped in disbelief. Desmond wasn't sure it could get any wider. "The hell?"
"I know, I don't get it either. The memory was from his point of view. But that is not all…"
Lucy was dying from impatience. "What?" she exclaimed.
"Sorry. I just realized a whole mess of things."
"And that would be…?" Lucy trailed off.
"William Shakespeare, The Bard, the greatest playwright ever, was an Assassin!"
Desmond's earlier thoughts about Lucy's mouth were just proven wrong. Her mouth was open so wide that she could have fit an entire muffin inside with having to smash or fold it. "You're kidding," she chuckled. She was a big fan of Shakespeare, and the idea of him being a fellow Assassin was exciting.
"No. Honest to God. And the Globe Theater wasn't burned down on accident in 1613. Some members of The Order were trying to kill him, possibly because of the 'propaganda' that they believed saturated William's plays. He and this Assassin named Gerard rounded those faux Assassins up in the Globe and had it burned down…"
"Because they wanted to kill them," Lucy interrupted with excitement.
"You seem a little too excited about this," Desmond said.
"I'm sorry. It isn't every day that you find out one of the greatest, if not the greatest, writer to ever live was fighting for the same cause you are. And the fact that you are related to him…jealous!"
Desmond was annoyed by her junior high antics. She was practically bouncing on the bed like a trampoline. "Can we calm down for a moment?" Desmond pleaded with Lucy.
"To hell with that. I have to tell Rebecca!"
Before Desmond could grab Lucy, she was already halfway down the hall towards Shaun and Rebecca's room.
"Rebecca!" she shouted. She knocked on the door, heard something that sounded like 'Come in,' then opened the door. "Rebecca, you wo-Oh my God!!" The excitement that was beaming off of Lucy's face turned to horror and embarrassment.
Shaun and Rebecca were in bed. Rebecca had half of her body on top of Shaun's, and both of them were covered in sweat. Rebecca used Shaun and the sheets that they were under to cover both of their nakedness.
"I said don't come in!" Rebecca shouted. She was mortified by the whole situation.
Lucy just busted out in laughter. "Wow, seriously, at 3 o clock in the morning?"
"What is going on in h-Holy fuck!" Desmond shouted as he walking in on the scene.
Rebecca buried her head in Shaun's chest as he laughed at the whole ordeal.
Outside of Lucy and Shaun's giggling, there was silence. That is until Desmond opened his predictable, sarcastic mouth. "Well, at least the most important goods weren't paralyzed."
Hope you enjoyed it. I did my best to 'talk' like Shakespeare, but I am somewhat disappointed at my attempt. Oh well.
Thanks again for the reviews, support, and critiques!!
Disclaimer: I do not own any quotes taken from Shakespeare's plays. Those are his...obviously.