Knight Rider 2008 Alternate Storyline – Episode 13 – Fright Knight

Chapter 2

East Gate Manor

Kat's senses were instantly on alert. There was commotion all around her as people tried to find out what was going on.

Within just a few seconds of the lights going out, K.I.T.T activated the night vision on her contacts. The masked man was gone, however.

Kat pushed through the crowd. She looked around for him, but was distracted by a high pitched scream. She turned to it immediately and saw Mrs. Walker sprawled onto the floor, and in danger of being stepped on by the confused and blind guests.

She hurried over to Mrs. Walker and helped her up carefully. "Are you hurt?"

"My sapphire." Mrs. Walker gasped. "They ripped it right off of my neck..."

Kat helped the older woman over to a chair. "Don't worry, Ma'am." She assured her. "I'll find it for you."

"Who are you?" Mrs. Walker asked wonderingly. But Kat was already hurrying away.

"Can you get the lights back on, KITT?"

"Only if the house has a setup to control the lights wirelessly." K.I.T.T replied. Then a second later he said "It does, someone has already used it to shut down the lights."

"Can you get the lights back on, or not?" Kat asked. She pushed through the confused masses. The security guards were talking over everyone, telling them to calm down. At least no one was panicking. Yet.

"Give me a moment."

Kat continued looking all around. There had to be over a hundred people here. And one of them had the sapphire. How was she going to find out who?

The lights came back on, her contacts immediately changing to normal before she was blinded. Everyone blinked in surprise at the sudden brightness. There were gasps of relief all around. Some people were trying to leave, but the guards were blocking the exits.

"Thanks, KITT." Kat told him sincerely.

"That wasn't me." K.I.T.T said. "Whoever shut the power down restored it themselves."

"That means they must have escaped already." Kat felt her energy leave her as disappointment settled over her like a blanket.

"No heat signatures have moved away from the house. The thief is still somewhere in the building."

Kat clenched one hand into a fist. There was a fiery spark in her eyes. "That thief stole something so valuable right under my nose. Just watch me KITT, I am going to get that sapphire back."

********

Mrs. Walker was surrounded by concerned and sympathetic friends. The crowd was a bit too much for her though, and she turned them away. She put a hand to her chest, where the missing sapphire had lain. The fingers curled inward slightly.

A glass of water was held out in front of her. She looked up at the giver, and frowned. David stood over her, dressed in a black tuxedo. She accepted the water anyway. "What, no costume?" She asked teasingly as she took a sip of water.

David pretended to look in his jacket pockets. "Oh? I must have left it at home. My most humble apologies." He spoke smoothly, his voice filled with the utmost respect.

"I know why you're here." Mrs. Walker said. "But I'm afraid I'm too preoccupied right now with my own troubles to hear your latest pitch."

"I am merely concerned for your well-being." David said, sounding absolutely sincere. "And if there is anything I can do-"

She cut him off by waving her hand. "Stop trying to sound so nice, Mr. Marks. It doesn't suit you at all." One of David's eyebrows twitched.

Mrs. Walker sighed heavily. Despair was settling over her. She bowed her head. "My late husband gave me that sapphire." She spoke softly. Her hand clutched at the front of her dress. "I was foolish to be flaunting it. I thought it would be safe if I was wearing it with so many people around..."

David knelt down next to the older woman's chair. "I will find your sapphire, and the one who took it." He assured her.

Mrs. Walker looked into his face. His eyes were determined. "If you bring my sapphire back to me, then I will listen to your proposal." She told him.

David stood up. "I will hold you to that promise." He said, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth slightly.

Mrs. Walker took another drink of her water. "What can you do, alone?" But when she looked up, David was gone.

********

"Okay, let's think about this logically." Kat said. She had stopped rushing around. She wasn't going to find the thief by bumping into him. "No one has left the manor grounds yet."

"Unless they have a way of shielding their heat signature." K.I.T.T cut in.

"Which I really don't think is feasible." Kat continued. "They have to be in the manor somewhere. Since they restored the lights, they have to be fairly confident that they won't get caught now."

"Which means that they must not have the sapphire on them." K.I.T.T added.

"Then they must have hidden it somewhere, and hope to recover it after things have cooled down a bit." Kat frowned. "But where would they hide it? Did anyone leave the ballroom during the blackout?"

"Yes, several heat signatures were outside of the ballroom during the blackout, not including the Staff and Security personnel."

Kat tapped her bottom lip while she thought. "Where is the one place I would hide a valuable sapphire?" She asked herself.

"Try the trash." A familiar voice said behind her.

Kat's body stiffened. Dread settled into the pit of her stomach. She turned slowly. She knew that disapproving tone...

"David..." She said weakly when she saw him. She sounded like a child whose ice cream cone just fell on the pavement.

"You look crushed." He scowled lightly.

"I didn't expect to see you here." She said honestly. "Why ARE you here?"

He shrugged. "Why are you here?"

"The Crawler sent me to find out what was going on at this manor." She explained. "K.I.T.T thought something might happen."

"So, even though you knew that something would happen, you failed to prevent it." Kat frowned at him. But she didn't say anything, he was right. He turned and started to walk away.

"You said something about the trash?" Kat asked him. He turned his head back to her. "Why would someone steal a sapphire, and then throw it away?"

David looked at her like she was slow. "It's the last place anyone would look for something so valuable."

"He does have a point." K.I.T.T said.

"Well, it's worth checking out." Kat admitted reluctantly. "Let's split up and look around." She told David.

David pointed to her left. "You head that way. The Ladies' rooms are over there. I will go this way. Report to me if you find something." He turned away again.

"Wait." Kat said. He turned his head back to her again. His expression was annoyed. "Have you seen a man wearing bandages around?"

David frowned. "No."

"Let me know if you see him. He's very suspicious. I got a sinister vibe off of him before." Kat told him. Then she hurried to the Ladies' rooms.

David arched a brow. "Sinister?" A corner of his mouth twitched. "Interesting."

********

F.L.A.G Underground Compound – Forensics Lab

Diana sat at her desk. The contents of a large manila envelope lay before her. Most of it consisted of a pile of photos, but there were some documents as well. She was studying the photos especially closely.

They all showed the same thing, but from different angles and perspectives. A small, neat room with a bed and a desk in it. A room that was splattered with blood.

She studied the closeups of the blood spatters. She could tell from the shape of the drops and stains how they were made. They had obviously hit the walls, floor, and ceiling with great force.

She pulled a document over to her. It was the results of her fingerprinting analysis on David's laptop when K.I.T.T had been captured. She was interested in one line in particular.

Samuel Long – 99.8%

She looked back at the photos. How had he done it? How? Where had all that blood come from? How could a human being lose that much blood and live?

She had already tested the blood months ago, to see if it had been diluted in some way. But that idea had produced no results.

Since then, she would pull out the manila envelope and study the contents whenever she had free time, hoping to one day solve the puzzle.

It didn't look like today was her day.

She frowned in frustration and reached for her coffee mug. She wasn't paying attention and her hand hit the mug, knocking it over. Coffee spilled out over the desk.

Diana hurriedly moved the papers and photos off of the desk, avoiding being drenched by the coffee. She stared down at the mess, her arms full of paper. She sighed heavily.

She placed the papers in a drawer and cleaned up the mess. She retrieved her mug and looked into it, at the empty bottom. Nothing else for it, she would have to go get more.

She locked her office behind her and made her way down to the kitchens. She usually avoided coming out of her office when she could. Most of the Team didn't know sign language, but they still felt the need to be polite to her, leading to many misguided attempts at communication. Diana was very much a loner though, and just wanted to avoid the hassle.

The coffee pot was full. Someone must have just made a fresh pot. She silently thanked that person as she grabbed the pot handle and prepared to pour the coffee into her cup.

She paused just before pouring, staring at her empty cup. An idea was forming in her head. She grasped at it.

The cup could only hold so much coffee, before it became empty. Just like a person could only hold so much blood before they died...

She felt a tap on her shoulder. She ignored it, staring at the coffeepot she was now clutching in her hand. That idea in her head was becoming clearer. Her cup was empty now, but there was more coffee in the pot. What if there was someplace else to get Sam's blood, other than his body...

Realization hit her then. She whirled around, surprising Ian, who was still trying to get her attention. She thrust her coffee mug into his chest and handed him the coffeepot. His eyes widened in surprise as he caught pot by the handle before he was burned.

Diana ran from the kitchen then, leaving Ian staring after her, bewildered. After a moment, he poured coffee into her mug and put the pot back. He walked calmly out of the kitchen, sipping his hot coffee delicately.

Diana ran to the Main Room, then hurried down the metal staircase. From there she sprinted to the Medical Room. Carmen watched her go, feeling just as perplexed as Ian had been. "What's with Diana?" She asked her cousin.

Enrique shrugged, not looking up from his work. Carmen looked over at Pierce. Before she could ask him anything he held up his hand. "I have no idea, don't ask me." Carmen frowned in frustration. She hated not knowing what was going on.

Diana finally skidded to a halt in the Medical Room, before Dustin's desk. Dustin looked up from his paperwork in alarm. Diana began immediately signing to him. "Do you still have any of Sam's O- blood in storage?"

Dustin gave her a helpless look. He spoke slowly, so she could read his lips. "I don't understand." He said, apologetic.

Diana clenched her hands into fists in frustration. She reached into her lab coat pockets and found a slip of paper. She searched her pockets frantically for a writing utensil.

A pen appeared in front of her. She looked at the bearer in surprise. Kevin looked down at her, slightly concerned. He had a broom in his hand. Diana took the pen from him and wrote her question out on the paper. She handed it to Dustin.

While Dustin read, she looked back over at Kevin, but he had returned to his sweeping. Dustin wrote out his reply under her query and handed the paper back to her.

"My apologies." The note read. "I used all of Samuel's O- when Katherine was injured."

Diana frowned. Had she lost her chance to check? "Are you sure it was really his?" She wrote on the paper.

Dustin gave her a very confused look. 'Why wouldn't it be?' He said to himself. "I tested the sample before giving it to Katherine." Was his reply. "To be sure it was O-. That's standard procedure."

But he hadn't run a DNA test? Diana mused for a bit. "Do you still have that sample?" She wrote. Her paper was filling up, so she started on the back of the page.

Dustin's frown deepened. "Only if Eric has been lazy about cleaning out the fridge." Then he added. "What is this all about?"

"I am just checking on something." Diana replied. "For David."

Dustin nodded, and didn't say anything further. He got up from his desk. "One moment." He said, and walked to another room. He returned shortly, a small plastic vial in his hand. He held it out to Diana.

Diana took the tube from him. "Thank you." She mouthed. She pocketed the vial in her lab coat and walked out of the Medical Room. She had calmed down a bit now that she had what she felt was a very strong lead in her hands.

She could imagine the scenario in her head. Sam had faked his death by stealing his own blood from the Medical Room.

But how had he gotten it to Base B? Diana mused. She shook her head. It didn't matter. She knew she was on the right track. She made her way back up to her lab so she could perform the necessary tests.