Chapter II

Wildwind Chapel, Pine Valley, PA

The chapel at Wildwind was quiet when Dimitri entered. Quiet except for the November wind that was howling outside and the muffled sounds of six people huddled close together to keep warm, inside. Like most stone buildings, it offered neither warmth nor comfort. Ryan and Gillian shared a pew near the front, as did Edmund and his two children, Sam and little Maddie, and then there was Eugenia.

Dimitri watched as Maddie made her way onto Eugenia's lap.

Edmund got up and led Dimitri to a pew. "I'm glad you came."

Dimitri nodded in silence and sat down.

Edmund cleared his throat and began to speak. "We're gathered here today in a place where the Marick family has come for many generations, to baptize their children, to marry their sons and daughters and to bury their dead. Today we are here to celebrate a life who touched us all, and whose end came too soon…much too soon. Alexandra Marick was an exceptional woman, who entered our lives unexpectedly and left them changed for the better. She saved my brother's life not only because she was a brilliant healer, but because she loved him and fought for him with everything she had."

Edmund's voice began to choke.

"Alex and Dimitri were soul mates. The kind you read about in novels and watch in films. Two people whose love and respect for one another inspired all those around them. And for the brief time that she was part of my life, she showed me what it felt like to love again. For that I will be forever grateful."

Gillian noticed his hands tremble as he tried to go on, and she motioned him to sit down, standing up to take his place in front of them.

"Alex was like a big sister to me," she said softly in her Hungarian lilt, "She treated me like family and always stood up for me. I will miss her kindness, her sincerity, and most of all I will miss the love she had for all of us."

Eugenia nudged the children, "Do you want to say anything about your Aunt Alex?"

Sam shook his head shyly but Maddie looked up and announced, "I want Alex to come home because she promised she would finish 'Alice in Wonderland' with me."

Eugenia ran a hand through Maddie's hair, stroking it, "I'm sure she would have loved to sweetheart. She loved you both very much." She turned around to look at Dimitri. "Do you want to add anything, my dear Dimitri?"

Dimitri knew that they expected him to say something, but how could he put into words the way his heart felt when Alex had smiled at him? The way she could wrap her arms around him and make it seem as though the world outside didn't exist. The way her eyes lit up when he entered a room. The pride he felt when he watched her at work, and the complete and utter emptiness that now seemed to engulf him, when he envisioned a life without her.

How could he put all that into words?

"I …I just want to say that I love her very much still, and I always will. She is always with me, and…. she always will be, as long as I live. She was… and is everything to me. Everything."

It was all he could bring himself to say and when he finished the unbearable silence hung in the cold air like a blanket, suffocating them, until finally, thankfully, Eugenia began to make her way out with Maddie, still in her arms. Sam and Edmund followed her, and lastly so did Ryan and Gillian. On their way out, they each lit a candle for Alexandra.

Dimitri didn't leave.

He stayed behind. Alone.

Near Brynn Wydd, Wales

"Come on sweetheart, wake up. You've slept long enough," Charlotte sat down on her daughter's bed.

Although her vision was blurry, Alex could make out the unmistakable outline of her mother's face.

"Charlotte? What do you want from me? Where am I?" She now saw that her hands were handcuffed.

"One question at a time, my dear. I will let you know what exactly I want from you when you're a little more coherent. After all, what I have to say is rather important. Let's just say for now that I need your services. As to where you are, surely you haven't forgotten Brynn Wydd, your old training ground, have you?"

"I thought you were in prison. I thought this place had burned down."

"Prison, my dear, is for those less important to the British government than myself. If you knew just how valuable my services are to the British Intelligence, to MI5 and SIS among other, more covert, agencies, you would realize that your attempt at putting me in prison was quite ludicrous. As for Brynn Wydd, your last visit did destroy a section of it, yes, but like all stone buildings, it was built to last for centuries, and we rebuilt the damaged area within weeks." Charlotte was amused at her daughters disbelieving looks.

"What makes you think you can kidnap me? My husband will move mountains to come look for me. He'll never give up. And what makes you think I'll do anything for you, least of all work as your spy?" Even as she asked the question, full of a defiance she didn't truly feel, Alex feared what the answer would be: drugs and brainwashing. If she knew only one thing in life, it was that she didn't have the strength to go through that again.

"Oh my dear Sasha, do you really think I would be so simple minded as to bring you here without having a plan to make you comply? To start off, your beloved Dimitri will not look for you any time soon because he thinks you are dead. Secondly, if you don't do as we ask of you, then Dimitri is dead. Beautifully simple, isn't it?"

Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"What's the matter, cat got your tongue? I hope to make myself very clear: Dimitri believes you've drowned. No one is coming to your rescue. Should you decide to rescue yourself, Dimitri dies. It doesn't matter when. Whether you try to flee tomorrow or next month or next year. If you run away, he dies."

Charlotte watched her daughter with delight as her words sunk in and Alexandra's face was full of shock. "I'm going to let you think about your situation for the rest of the night and tomorrow I'll let you know exactly what I need from you."

Alex watched her mother, and the man she was with, leave the room and heard them lock it from outside. She felt numb and cold and completely alone.

'Oh God, please don't let this be real. Please, Dimitri, you have to know I'm not dead. Please help me. Please…" Alex tried to stay calm, but when she thought of what she faced, she was overcome with such fear and dread, that her body shook as the tears poured down her face.