Requiem II: Soul's Honor Lost

by Alisa Joaquin

Part 9

Mary Margaret stared at the eldest Caine then swallowed the lump in her throat. "I didn't come all this way to lose him."

Matthew gave Mary Margaret an approving nod. During the months that Caine had been searching for the truth regarding his wife, Kwai Chang had spoken about his Bardo and how it had been Mary Margaret who was the third person to help Lo Si and Peter enter his Bardo to save his life. He would be forever grateful, but one of the things he did do was to try and apologize to his father and to deal with the feelings of abandonment that he felt he discovered that he had, feelings that ran throughout their family, all sounds from the same flute.

Matthew had also related to his son how he felt abandoned by his father when he had insisted that his mother go to China with him and place him in one of the remaining Shaolin temples for training. His father could not go with him. Lilly Caine tried to make a life for herself in China, not wanting to leave her son in the hands of strangers. She had not been allowed to enter the temple because she was considered an outsider. Her son had been allowed entry only because there was still talk of Kwai Chang Caine and his special abilities as a priest. Matthew still got a pang of regret every time he thought of that era. He did not get the opportunity to discuss those feelings with his own father or even his mother, before she'd been killed. He was pleased to have the opportunity to repair those matters of the heart that concerned him and his son, little Kwai Chang. Now it was his turn to continue that relationship and help rescue his son from certain danger, danger that his soul was facing. They would not be going into Kwai Chang's Bardo, but on the astro plane itself, for the danger was far deeper than it had been there.

Without a word, they worked to bring order to the space they chose to work. Candles were placed around the room in the four quadrants to act as wards to protect from outside influences. Matthew prepared an herbal mixture that would strengthen their chi to allow them to enter the plane and hopefully return without too much trouble. A second remedy in a smalll bottle was kept on hand, this one for Mary Margaret. Both Peter and Matthew knew that her chi would be affected the most, since she was not Shaolin. Then when everything was finally ready, all three entered the sacred circle. Matthew lit incense then had each take a bite of the herbal mixture he had prepared. He took the final bite. He then had them join hands and close their eyes. Each took a deep breath and focused on Kwai Chang Caine. Within moments, if someone would have entered and touched each person, they would have found that the three persons were no longer there.

Mary Margaret opened her eyes and found herself in a landscape that was straight out of a nightmare. A storm raged out of control. Lightning streaked the sky and thunder rumbled overhead. The wind was fierce and nearly knocked her from her feet. She squinted her eyes to see through the raging storm. A man approached her in the distance. She recognized him immediately. A broad smile formed on her lips but quickly faded when she saw that the man who approached her was Caine and yet was not. The man looked like Caine but in his eyes was a light that held no warmth. Icey blue fire could be seen in their hazel depth, a fire so cold that it chilled her to the bone. The man closed the distance between them then grabbed Mary Margaret by her arms. Her breath quickened in her lungs as he roughly pulled her close.

"No," Mary Margaret pleaded.

"What's the matter, my love?" the dark Caine crooned. "Aren't you pleased to see me?"

Mary Margaret tried to struggle in the cold Caine's grasp but his grip was like iron, causing bruises to form where his fingers pressed into her flesh. She struggled harder but could not break free from his grasp. Then the man did something that was totally unexpected. He started to laugh. It was not the warm hearty infectious laugh, but deep throated and caused Mary Margaret to shiver. The laugh had a sinister quality. The light behind this Caine's eyes continued to broiled with blue fire. He then reached up and tore at Mary Margaret's clothing.

"It is time for us, my love," he said.

Then Mary Margaret heard a scream then realized where it had come from. It was her own.

Continues with Part 10