Chapter 3

Professor Stokes was waiting patiently for Hallie to complete class when the alarms in the school began to alert teachers to the approach of bad weather. Hallie waited for the alarm to silence, turned to her class smiled tensely, "Ladies and Gentlemen shall we all adjourn to the safe shelters. Ladies to the girls bathroom, Gentlemen to the boys restroom, lets leave in an orderly fashion."

She stepped aside allowing the students to gather their books and file out of her classroom. Where Elliott met her and fell into step next to her. "Hello Uncle Elliott what brings you here?"

She walked slowly for he elder Uncle to maintain a comfortable pace with her while she followed her class to the restrooms in the middle of the hallway. Stepping into the alcove she opened the doors, "All right ladies sit down against the wall and assume the position."

Elliott opened the door to the men's restroom, 'Gentlemen, on the floor and assume the position."

This was a time-honored tradition for severe weather alerts they had practiced for years. Elliot listened to the wind rose and then the sound of the freight train. "Dear girl, you should assume the position in your restroom I do believe this is not a practice drill."

He watched his niece moved into the girls lavatory while he ducked into the men's and slide to the floor to cover his head hearing the tornado tear off half of the buildings roof sending insulation, ductwork and electrical wiring showering down on a series of screams of freight and calls of "Oh God! Oh God!" to

"God Help US!"

Hallie had thrown herself over the first three girls that had selected a place by the door and caught the brunt of the roofing material on her back pinning her and them to the floor.

The girls under her began to scream for help, which elicited the boys in the men's restroom to jump up in heroic fashion and try to push open the door, to find it blocked by Hallie and the roofing timbers.

"Guys, come on the ladies are in trouble!" The first male arriving was a member of the football team tried to strong arm the door open. "Someone call the paramedics, we have injuries!"

One of the girls from the basketball team looked at the other girls, "Come on we have to get the door cleared so they can get in to help Mrs. Collins."

The girls tried to move one large piece of timber blocking the door. Professor Stokes realizing what they were trying to do called in, "Find an object that you can use to lever the timber out of the way."

Judy Fagan looked around and sighed, "We don't have anything!" She was feeling helpless and was trying to keep the confusion down, when a figure in grey sensor suit and mesh facemask wearing long black duster styled coat appeared in the room.

His rough voice ordered in menacing tones. "Move!" He stepped into the middle of the debris and lifted the one offending piece of timber from the backs of the four-pinned women. Bending down he checked Hallie pulling one girl at a time out from under her body.

The girls looked on in shock watching this strange looking figure pull them from danger. Quickly, he reached for a two short piece of flat timber; whipping his mask off and binding the timbers to immobilize her neck he used his mask by binding the flat 2x4's to her head

Satisfied that he had her neck stable; he braced her body with his wide strong arms. Stepping back he called, "Fold now." Hallie and the extremely good-looking young man disappeared to the astonishment and amazement of the girls. With the door's intrusive blockage removed, the door was thrust open by three of Collinsport University's football team. "Judy!"

The tallest one of the three moved in looking around for the pretty brunette who was also his sister. Judy rushed to her brother's embrace burying her face in his letterman's coat. "Todd, thank god! Mrs. Collins was injured pretty bad and some guy just appeared rescued her and took her."

Todd Fagan looked around the room and saw the destruction that had to be very traumatizing for all of them and then noticed three other girls still lying semi conscious on the floor. "Look sis Naomi Spencer needs your help. "

She turned to see the pretty little blond lying with her eyes half open and moaning softly from a head wound. Judy turned and seeing her friend pulled away from the strength of her brothers secure hold and knelt by Naomi. "Lisa, towels from the dispenser, hurry up."

She began to put forth the many hours spent in labs at the local hospital to do what she had gone to school to learn. The other two girls that had enrolled on the nursing lane snapped to and began to move as they had seen Constance had trained them for the various emergencies that had come into the emergency room.

Professor Stokes looked around and not seeing any immediate need of his assistance began to set up a triage area in the hallway. "Boys, find door's to use as stretchers. Go check the other class rooms make sure there are no other injuries."

His authoritative voice brought reason to an area that was obviously filled with fear, confusion and shock. "See if you can find coats! Blankets anything to use to cover victims that are suffering shock." Stokes watched as total chaos and confusion became a bustle of activity of efficiency.

Feeling the adrenalin beginning to subside, Elliott leaned heavily against the wall. Todd seeing the retired Professor looking a bit grey and tired, rushed to bring him a chair, sliding him into the chair Elliott peered up gratefully then slumped unconscious in the chair. Todd caught him before he slid to the floor.

"Judy! Lisa! Man down!" Judy turned from applying the last of the bandages to the minor injuries and looked at the slumped old gentleman.

"Shit!" She moved to his side and tried to find a pulse. "No pulse, check his breathing." When once again the mysterious man from earlier appeared this time with two more peculiarly dressed individuals. Each wearing meshes covered facemasks and sensor covered booties.

One was a female and she like the others was dressed with the same duster type coats bent to the professor. "Nurse Nancy?" The female removed her facemask and looked at the Professor, running experienced fingers over his body then checking his breathing, she then listened for his heartbeat.

Reaching into her bag she pulled out a white clip that looked very much like a clothespin only with a thick wire. Looking down in her bag, she called, "Prepare to shock, once we stabilize prepare to fold."

The assistant looked around. "What about the others?" She snapped, "They are going to be fine mostly superficial." She glanced at Judy. "You, come here." Judy moved forward afraid not to and watched. "As soon as we shock him, you begin CPR if we do not attain sinus rhythm."

She noted his breathing was abated, she reached to the medic bag she had brought out oxygen and then snapped her fingers to the other assistant and he handed her a compact oxygen tank. Slipping the oxygen mask over his face she turned and took a small hand held device and placed it to his heart. "Clear!" She pressed a button on her armband and the Professor's body jerked and she checked. "CPR now!" Judy rushed forward and began CPR. "Fold" All three encircled Elliott and Judy folding themselves over the two civilians and disappearing from sight.

Lisa and Todd witnessed the fold and the three mystery figures one of which was called Nurse Nancy. Which by Todd's standards was a totally hot babe and wished he had gotten her number. "Um what the hell just happened?"

Lisa looked at where Professor Stokes, Judy and three strangers had just appeared and disappeared. "The same thing that happened earlier with Mrs. Collins."

Todd moved to the area and moved his hand over the area and looked at the hair on the back of his hand raised and stand on end. "Residual field of some kind."

He looked back to Lisa. "I am not sure how we are going to report this."

Lisa shrugged. "I am hoping we see them again."

Todd moved around the room. "Where did they go?"

Lisa moved to stand next to Todd, "More to the point how did they go?"

Todd turned seeing the Red Cross appear along with officials and began to transport injured. Todd turned to Lisa, "How do we explain it."

Lisa shrugged, "Maybe we don't and we wait to see if they were abducted by aliens?" The discussion had no further impetus because they were drafted to help the injured and directed to the EMS people that appeared on scene

Hallie lay on the med lab exam table while two doctors and four Nurses worked around her repairing a torn artery and punctured lung. In her haze of pain and delirium she glanced around and noticed these were not doctors from Collinsport and they were obviously from a more advanced surgical service. The surgical clothing was far different than anything she had ever seen. Before she could process it she was under and knew nothing else until she awoke in the Collinsport Hospital lying on a cot in the hallway along with several other victims of the tornado.

She closed her eyes and sighed, she had been in such pain earlier and now she felt better and tried to sit up but found she was strapped to the gurney. "No Mrs. Collins lie still, you had a back and neck injury and we have to send you to x-ray." She was gently pushed back down on the cot and her arm was patted with sympathy.

Looking around she saw Judy standing next to the cot that held her Uncle. She began to grow concern until Judy came to her side. "Its okay Mrs. Collins. Your Uncle is fine, he had a light heart attack and they are going to keep him for observation."

Judy knew he had a heart attack they had been transported by some means to an advanced hospital where the group moved in precision to repair the aneurism in his chest and brought him back to life in little time. She thought she had been with an advanced trauma team and found she had even been useful to their attempts to save Elliott Stokes.

She must have impressed someone because they had said something about doing an erase on her and then said, wait orders were she was to be recruited and then she was back here standing with Professor Stokes in the hallway and then she saw Hallie. She smiled while she comforted her teacher and reassured her that everything was going to be fine.

In the field JB Collins was working hard with Logan and Cameron to seal the breach in the hellmouth. The tornado had been summoned by a chaos demon that had escaped and now he was pursuing this demon through the damaged buildings that were destroyed by the storm.

JB had him in his sight and was about to corner him when he just disappeared. Calling in his location to his two other members, he was about to fold out when he felt his feet slip out from under him and he was tumbling head over hills down a hole and into a underground chamber. Stunned and confused he stood and got his bearings and looked up to where he had made his entrance and was about to fold out when he heard of all things crying, the crying of several babies.

Moving on more sure footing he made his way to the inside chamber and came up short and astonished. "Holy crap!" He looked around at basinet upon basinet of babies. At his first count he numbered them at twenty-five newborn baby boys. "What the hell?"

He called off to Cameron and Logan. "Loc and back up." He waited for Logan then Cameron to appear beside him and they turned and looked at the babies lying in their basinets all crying and all wanting attention. The sight they beheld shocked all three men.

Cameron stepped to the cribs and looked at each child. "All boys." He looked around and sighed. Then looking into a darker chamber he moved in and looked upon cylinders that looked like birthing tubes. "Gentlemen, I do believe we have uncovered the nest of an Incubus."

Cameron keyed in the location and looked around. "You want to wait here for the clean up team to come and collect these young boys?"

JB walked around looking at the baby boys thinking they all looked identical. "I will wait you two go on and find Oscar I am sure he is about to create more havoc than he already has."

Cameron nodded and looked to Logan, "Oscar has to go. You ready?" Logan nodded and together disappeared leaving an unearthly and unnerving calm when the babies began to quit crying and were looking around at the arrival of humans.

From the depths of the darkest tunnel an unholy screamed emitted and echoed through the chambers when a malformed and hunched over crones moved into the room looking at the babies. JB slipped back into the shadows and watched the perception of what witches truly looked like move in tattered clothing around the basinets calming and soothing the infants.

The mothering creatures repulsed JB stroking the baby's faces with their talon like nails on their fingers. Sliding deeper in the shadows he spoke softly into his transmitter, "Collins to Clean up team, you have five crones with the babies, I would bring a strike team."

The clean up team consisted of ten cadets in biohazard sensor suits with plastic view helmets. They turned to peer around when JB advised they were about to fold into a group of Harpy Crones and they were anxious. They had no combat training and turned to the team leader. "What do we do?"

Aden moved into the room, "You wait we have team four activated." The team leader sighed grateful that he had taken the decision away from him.

On the surface of the streets of Collinsport, Logan located the chaos demon and signaled Cameron. They flanked the demon that stood almost a good eight feet tall was black as pitch with patches of fur and feral yellow eyes, the face could have been a face only a mother could love as he sniffed the air threw his bulbous head back and howled in delight at all he had done. His shoulders hunched over were massive.

"I ain't gonna try to kick its ass are you?" Logan offered his two cents and Cameron thought a moment. The demon sniffed the air and twitched its back muscles that rippled.

Cameron got the most delicious idea and turned to Logan, "Nope I say we open a dimensional door to about a mile up over the ocean, he steps through plummets and before he hits the water we open a slip stream to the first hell let him give Beelzebub some headaches."

Logan smiled, "I like the way you think. Okay ready?"

Cameron began to move his fingers and where the demon had stood he felt his body slip through the gaping maw of a hole and suddenly he was coming through a door in the sky over the water. He howled, growled and then to the amazement of Logan he was sure he had just farted Logan turned to Cameron, "Rude much?"

Cameron laughed, "Well it was better than scaring the . . ."

And the creature was about 10 feet away from impact when Logan smiled, "Allow me." He opened the door to the slipstream and Cameron directed the stream to the first hell. "You were saying?"

Logan looked at Cameron, "Better than scaring the shit out of him?"

Logan laughed, "Hey did you hear JB's transmission?" Cameron nodded, "Want to go see if we can help?"

Logan thought a moment, "Let me see, twenty-five screaming demon babies having their teat ripped from them? Nope I will pass."

Cameron nodded, and turned with his partner, "I second that. Let pretty boy handle it from his end, he lost Oscar and that left us some wasted time."

Logan looked at his partner, "No you didn't just say you would punk one of our team mates."

Cameron shrugged, "I have some women that I need to hunt down and talk to."

Logan sighed, "In other words you want to see if Jo is out of the coma?"

Cameron punched Logan's arm, "Oww what was that for?" Cameron shifted and left behind a dark chuckle. Logan rubbed his arm. "Pussy punch if you ask me." He turned and stepped into the door and was gone. The old town drunk Otis Seymour had watched the two oddly dressed men fight what looked like an oversized version of his ex-mother in law and searched for his bottle found it shattered under some boards.

"Great," he kicked a board and sent it flying to dislodge a full bottle of Jim Beam that had landed in the tree over head, he looked up to see the bottle coming right at him, "Oh Sweet Annie, no!" He caught the bottle looked at the sky, "Thank you!" Hugged the bottle close and moved to find a good place to stay warm, dry and drunk. He felt no one should have to witness his ex mother in law fall from the sky to disappear and then two men just be swallowed up by space.

Lydia looked around at the destruction that had been a tornado hitting her small town and sighed, "I could hope the station was taken in the storm and then maybe we could justify a new one." She muttered picking her way around the debris that had blocked the entrance to their storm shelter.

Looking around she noted the pier had managed to survive the rampage of the storm and was grateful that no one in her general area was harmed. Moving to the docks she looked for the cutter and saw it had pulled out to sea and was making port. "Must have thought to outrun the tornado by getting out to sea."

Ben nodded. "Makes sense I would have done the same thing."

The radio in Lydia's car was going nuts. "Lydia, are you out there? Are you ok?"

Karen was stressed but trying to maintain her calm. Lydia sighed looked at the cutter then at her car. "Ben, will you let Chief Orman know I need to talk to him. I probably need to go make like a real cop and do some rescue stuff."

He smiled kissed her cheek. "You be careful P.P. Don't make Uncle Ben unhappy."

She smiled at the Harbor Master called her by his pet name for her since she was six. "Ok Uncle Ben." She moved to her car slid behind the wheel and keyed the microphone. "Lydia to HQ."

The relief in Karen's voice was immediate. "Oh thank god. Karen, Sheriff has been hurt he is at Collinsport ER, Jason is on scene at the Inn, he has set up a triage area there helping walking wounded. We need you to go check the east end, we know the college got hit but it was just the Special Science Building, which we heard Hallie was injured along with Professor Stokes. They are all at the hospital."

Lydia felt her stomach fall. "Any word from Collinwood?" Karen looked anxious, she knew the tornado had been heading in the direction of Collinwood and there had been no word from that end.

"No, that is one reason we needed you to head that way."

Lydia sighed, flipped on her siren and grill lights and headed to home. Her heart laid heavy with the unknown, her stomach in a knot and her life about to change forever, she raced to the end of town and into a world that she had suspected had existed but had never wanted to think about it.

Approaching the great estate she saw where the tornado had cut a path through the woods ripping up trees by their roots laying them into each other and over the roadway. The odd thing was it appeared as if there was a pattern of trees that had been woven into blockade trying to keep trespassers and a tornado away from the great estate. "What in the hell." She got out and looked around and in perfect symmetry a net made out of trees. They had been made to protect the house on the hill.

Lydia crawled around and over the tree net slowly making her way towards the house. After a hour she seemed to be getting closer to the front gate she felt an energy lift her up and fling her back to land in a mud and brush pile. Not sure what had just happened she stood and looked down at her mud covered and ruined clothing. "Ok like this is not some kind of supernatural bullshit."

She looked around and picked up a broken small log and hefted it towards the area she had just tried to breach. The log hit the invisible force field and was flung back towards her. Ducking she sighed. "Great." She moved down to the path way to the old house and stopped looking up at the stately old home and found it was changed.

It no longer had a black top road or screen windows. "Hmm this is kind of different." She stood in the wood line and watched a carriage pulled by four horses moved to the front of the great house. Moving closer she watched and observed a young blond woman that looked like a very young Carolyn get out of the carriage. She bounced her head of curls when she spoke and accented each sentence with an irritating giggle. "Oh hell no. I know this is not happening to me."

Backing up she turned to head back to Collinwood and once again she felt that force field encompass her body and she felt herself falling and land on the floor of her cottage. Looking around she shook her head and stood up. "Is this my cottage?" She moved to the bedroom and opened the door and was surprised to see she was in her cottage and apparently in her time.

"Well the least I can do is get a shower and change." She moved to her closet and opened the door to find she was staring at a very expensive and very frilly wardrobe. Looking around she saw her bedspread, she moved to the bed and felt under the mattress and found her back up gun, opened her bed table drawer and found her badge case, and ID and then looked back at the closet. From the living room area she heard her door open and Gerard called out.

"Darling, are you home?" She walked to the door and opened it.

"Gerard?" He moved to her scooped her up whirled her around and then backed her into the bedroom pushing her on the bed and kissing her deeply, letting his hands explore her body.

She broke the kiss to his disappointment. "Whoa cowboy slow down."

He laughed, "I know you are tired and you want me to fix supper no problem. Looks like you had a nasty day and need a shower. That is unless you want to take a shower with me? "

He wiggled his eyebrows and smiled beguilingly. "Look Gerard, don't you think you are kind of rushing this a bit fast? I mean we have only known each other for a couple of weeks."

Gerard looked at her curiously and then his curiosity turned to concern. "Penny, we have been married for five years what are you talking about did you hurt your head today?"

Penny felt her world spin, "Married? You and me?"

He nodded and smiled, "We met five years ago baby we fell in love and have been married ever since."

Lydia stood up and looked around the room and then back to him. "Are you a lawyer?"

He laughed "Of course I am have been and that is how we met."

Lydia shook her head. "I know I hit my head when I fell but I don't not recall this in my life before I hit my head."

Gerard frowned and moved to enfold her in his arms. "Darling, why didn't you tell me you hit your head. We have to get to the Hospital and have you checked out."

Lydia let him lead her to the door and out to his car. "Yes, to the hospital. What about all those people hurt in the tornado?"

He paused in putting the keys in the ignition. "What tornado?" Lydia had a feeling she had been sent through the looking glass and she was wondering if she would make her way out. Opening the car door she jumped from the car and began to run down the pathway and once again had that transition of being flung through time and space and she found herself standing outside Collinwood looking around she opened the door and then paused. Her thoughts then niggled her mind and she wondered what if this was not her time or place?

Looking up she saw her father standing by the foyer phone and he was speaking into the phone. "We are fine Karen and we have not heard anything so far. No, no word, oh wait, Penny just showed up. Sure, I will come in with her."

George looked at his daughter covered in mud, looking disheveled and very confused. "Honey, are you okay?"

Then she relaxed. "Oh Daddy, thank god I am back!" Moving to hug her father. George looked at his daughter and then to Liz entering the room.

"Is she all right George?" He shrugged in silent answer to her questioning look.

"Penny where have you been darling? We have been searching for you for over a week."

Penny looked confused, "A week? I have been trying to get here and found the way blocked and then there was the old house and I thought I saw Millicent and then there was Gerard and he said we had married and then I . . ."

She felt her body shudder and she moaned. "Not again." She held tightly to her father and the trembling stopped and she looked up and was now staring into the face of Aden. "Come on we have to get you to the med lab you are transcendental shifting and we have to contain you to this timeline before we loose you."