Legacy 211: Burning Memories

Part 5

Xxx

Eleven years ago,

Billie and Tyler followed the married couple to the decrepit-looking house on the hill, which cast an eerie shadow over their own home. They had refused to discuss anything there, worried that their son might wake up and overhear them. As they walked, Billie texted Violet to meet them there, as she and Arthur had been trying to find out where the cult was hiding while they searched for the Reeds. Just as they arrived at the front door of the house, blue energy spirals appeared and formed into Arthur and Violet.

'What the hell?" Allison called out as she raised her shotgun.

"It's alright, they're with us." Billie said quickly. "Arthur and Violent, meet Allison and Ethan Reed."

"You're the woman from my premonition." Violet said.

"Premonition?" Allison asked as she lowered her gun. "You're a witch as well then, I take it."

"You know about magic." Arthur noted.

"Of course I do." Allison replied. "The thing we protect must be kept out of magical hands."

"The puzzle box." Violet said. "What is it?"

"We should go inside." Ethan warned them. "It's not safe out here with those cult members lurking about."

Allison nodded and retrieved a key necklace from underneath her shirt, which she used to open the door. They all headed inside and Allison closed the door behind them. She headed over to a table and lit an old-fashioned oil lamp, revealing the interior of the house was just as worn-down as the outside. However, Billie noted that while everything was covered in dust, a trail of footsteps showed that someone had entered many times. The trail led up the impressive yet broken staircase.

"Spooky." Tyler remarked.

"We intended it that way." Ethan noted. "Along with spreading urban legends and the occasional special effects to keep people away."

"You've gone through a lot of trouble to hide whatever your protecting." Billie said.

"It's what I was born for." Allison noted. "To hide the Keystone of Worlds from those wielding magic."

"So that's what it's called." Arthur said. "What does it do?"

"As the name suggests, it can be used to unlock gateways to other realms and dimensions." Allison said. "However, its power is so great that if used the wrong way, it could tear reality apart."

"How did the Keystone fall into your hands?" Billie asked.

"A long time ago, it was entrusted to my bloodline by the ancient wizards." Allison continued. "They used the keystone to arrive in our world, but they feared that something could use it to follow them here if it was used again."

"The Eternal Night." Arthur whispered.

"That's why Ronan and his cult are after it." Violet added. "They need the keystone to bring it here."

"We cannot let that happen." Allison said. "My ancestors dedicated their entire lives to keeping it safe and I will do the same."

"What about your son?" Billie asked. "Does he know any of this?"

"No, not yet." Allison replied. "Our family laws state that once you reach the age of sixteen, you will learn of our heritage. Lincoln's sixteenth birthday is still a few months away."

"We want to keep this burden away from him as long as possible." Ethan added. "In fact, we wish we didn't have to tell him at all."

"But we must." Allison noted determinedly. "It's what he was born for, just like I was."

"Not by choice." Ethan countered.

"We don't always get to choose our fate." Billie noted. "Being born a witch means being born in a conflict between good and evil. We've accepted that. Maybe it doesn't have to be like that for your son. We can help you keep the keystone safe at MIND."

"We know about your organization, Billie." Allison said. "And we can't trust it. The keystone must be kept secret, not labeled and put in storage surrounded by other magic."

"Hiding it might no longer be an option." Tyler replied.

Billie turned around and saw Tyler had taken a position by the window during their conversation to keep a lookout. Billie rushed to the window to take a look herself, quickly seeing what he meant. A large group of cloaked figures had arrived at the foot of the hill, staring at the house. The cult had arrived to claim the keystone and at its head stood Ronan. Billie quickly scanned the situation and realized that it was too late to run. If they wanted to keep the keystone safe from the cult, they would have to fight.

Xxx

At the MIND headquarters, Billie was pacing in her office, trying to get her thoughts in order. On one hand, she was glad that the truth was finally out. She had been keeping this secret from Lincoln for far too long and he deserved to know what happened. On the other hand, she was worried that her mistakes would cost them their relationship. Lincoln had been a part of her family since he was fifteen years old. She knew he wasn't her son, but he came pretty damn close. She had never seen him this angry before and wondered if he would ever forgive her. She had already lost someone she cared about to the cult; she couldn't let it happen again.

There was a knock on the door and Billie called for them to enter. Evelyn popped her head through the door.

"There is someone here to see you." Evelyn said. "Paige Matthews."

"I've been expecting her." Billie replied. "Let her in and give us some privacy."

"Of course, right away." Evelyn said. "Also, your children called to ask if you're coming home for Christmas eve."

"I'll call them in a minute." Billie said.

Evelyn nodded as she closed the door. Billie signed as she grabbed her phone and saw several missed calls. Great, now she had another thing to feel guilty about, leaving her kids alone on a holiday. Although she knew they would understand, it was always a difficult call to make. As much as she wanted to be home, she had to see this through and finally deal with these demons from the past.

The door opened again and Paige entered the office. Although they had not seen each other in years, her former Whitelighter and friend had not changed much. For a woman in her early fifties, she still looked amazing, though her facial expression was somber at the moment. Both remained silent for a moment as they stared at each other.

"Thank you for coming." Billie said to break the silence.

"The last time I was here was right before we lost him." Paige noted as she looked around. "It was right here in this office I asked you to convince him to quit."

"I remember." Billie said. "I thought about that conversation many times after Tyler died."

"Do you regret it?" Paige asked.

"The friend in me does." Billie admitted. "But I also know I respected Tyler's wishes and let him make his own choices. I regret not keeping him safe, but I don't think I made a mistake that day."

"I've had a time to think about it as well." Paige replied. "And I realized that what I asked wasn't fair to you or Tyler."

"You were trying to protect him." Billie said. "It was maternal instinct."

"And part of that instinct is learning when to let them go." Paige said.

"I'm sorry." Billie replied as tears formed in her eyes. "I'm sorry I failed him."

"I know." Paige said as she became emotional as well. "But it wasn't your fault. We were wrong to put the blame on you entirely. I was emotional and I lashed out. You were an easy target and for that, I've been wanting to apologize for a long time."

"That's… unexpected." Billie said hesitantly.

"I don't expect you to forgive me." Paige continued. "Our friendship was broken a long time ago and I don't think it can be fixed after so long, but I want to be on good terms."

"That would be nice." Billie replied. "But we still need to talk about what happened. I want you to know the full story about what happened that night. No more secrets."

"I have a feeling I need to sit down for this." Paige noted.

Billie nodded and they sat down on comfy chairs by the window. Billie took a deep breath before she started telling Paige everything that happened eleven years ago, not leaving out any details. She also admitted to the conversation that Tyler and she had right before everything went wrong, where he had basically confessed his love for her. Paige seemed to take that piece of information pretty hard, though she remained silent on the matter. The toughest part of explaining what happened was the end, the moment Tyler died. She had never had a chance to tell Paige the whole story before, so it was good to finally get it off her chest.

"And now they're back." Billie concluded. "And they're going to attempt the ritual again."

"That was a lot to take in." Paige replied as she wiped away some tears.

"When you asked me to convince Tyler to resign, you mentioned he only joined MIND because of his feelings for me." Billie said.

"I did think that at the time." Paige replied. "But whenever he told me about this work, he was so proud. Maybe he joined because of you, Billie, but he stayed because he loved helping people."

"He learned from the best." Billie noted.

"Perhaps he did." Paige replied with a smile. "He learned from all of us, so don't keep blaming yourself, Billie. I don't anymore."

"Thank you." Billie said.

Paige extended her hand and Billie accepted it. Both women looked at each other with tears in their eyes and without saying the words, forgave each other for everything that had happened. Both knew their friendship would never be the same again, but at least there could be peace and understanding.

"So, what happens now?" Paige asked.

"I need to go to New York." Billie said. "I need to end this once and for all."

"Then I'm coming with you." Paige replied.

"You don't have to." Billie said.

"No, but I want to." Paige said determinedly. "We can't let this cult take any more lives or worse, bring something terrible into this world. Besides, my nephew is there."

"Then let's get ready to kiss some ass." Billie replied. "For old times sake."

Xxx

Wyatt and the others waited quietly in an alley behind the building the cult was occupying. Arthur had cast an illusion around them to make them invisible from cult members guarding the alley, while the vampires had flown in through an open window and had promised to unlock the door for them. After a few minutes, Wyatt was starting to get suspicious and wondered if the undead demons had betrayed them already. He was just about to force the door open with a force field when it suddenly clicked open. Finn appeared and let them in, quickly closing it again before the guards could tell something was wrong. Once they were inside what looked like a storage unit, Arthur dropped his illusion of invisibility. Watt looked around for the other vampires and saw they clinging to the ceiling in bat form.

"What took you so long?" Wyatt asked.

"There was an alarm on the door." Finn replied. "If we opened it sooner, it would have triggered and alerted the cult."

"You did well" Violet said. "So what happens now?"

"This is where our roads separate." Finn said. "We're going to find Katie and get the hell out of here."

"You're still not going to help us?" Wyatt asked. "The cult is a threat to everyone."

"Our queen wants to stay out of it." Finn replied. "Besides, I highly doubt vampires have to fear something called the Eternal Night."

"You don't know what it is." Arthur said.

"No, but I'm curious to find out." Finn noted with shrug. "Too bad my queen has other plans. Anyway, good luck."

Finn transformed back into a bat and flew out the storage unit with the other vampires. Wyatt turned to Lincoln for a plan and saw his boyfriend was already studying a floor plan on the wall.

"What are you thinking?" Wyatt asked.

"They'll need a lot of room to perform a ritual with so many members." Lincoln noted. "There are conference rooms on the top floors, right below the penthouses."

"That is where Ronan will be." Arthur said. "He'll want a penthouse suite to suit his ego."

"So that's also where we'll find Quinn and the keystone." Violet added.

"I'm going after Ronan." Lincoln said firmly.

"No, wait, we need to smart here." Arthur replied. "We have two objectives, stop the ritual and find Quinn. If we take the keystone, Ronan won't be able to complete the ritual."

"Then you get it." Lincoln said. "My only objective is Ronan."

"Lincoln, remember what we talked about." Wyatt noted. "This isn't about revenge; it's about stopping something terrible from happening."

"Fine, we'll get the keystone first." Lincoln said. "They'll probably be in the same place."

"We should split up." Violet said. "You'll go after the keystone and we'll try to find Quinn. Ronan will be more vulnerable when she's not at his side."

"We still have the witch to deal with." Arthur said. "Whatever you do, don't let her get into your head. Take her out as soon as you can."

"Alright, there are two flights of stairs on each side of the building. You can take the one close to here." Lincoln said. "Wyatt and I will take the one on the far side."

"Got it." Violet said. "We'll try to avoid being spotted as long as we can. Once we're seen, the entire cult will come after us."

Arthur nodded and held out his hand to his wife, which she accepted. Both of them turned invisible and a moment later, the door opened to the hallway. Once they were gone, Wyatt turned to Lincoln and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Wyatt asked.

"I'm fine." Lincoln replied. "I just need to get into my agent mindset, I have to put my feelings aside and focus on the mission."

"Alright can I at least have a kiss for good luck before you do?" Wyatt asked.

"How can you think about that at a time like this?" Lincoln replied.

"I'm not." Wyatt said. "But I'm hoping it will help you remember who you are, so you won't a line when it comes down to it."

"I can't make that promise." Lincoln admitted. "I don't know what I'll do when I come face to face with the man that killed my parents."

"I know, just keep in mind that you have people that care about you." Wyatt said. "Billie and her kids, me. It might be selfish, but I don't want to lose you."

"You won't." Lincoln replied.

Lincoln forced himself to smile and gave him a half-hearted kiss. Wyatt knew he had to settle for it, as his mind was too preoccupied with Ronan and his parents. They left the storage unit and snuck down the long hallway until they reached the lobby. They hid behind a large potted plant and spotted five cult members patrolling the room. One of them carried a metallic staff that could likely project some offensive magic, while the others were unarmed.

"We're not sneaking past them." Lincoln noted. "We need to fight."

"And blow our cover already?" Wyatt asked.

"We'll draw their attention and give Arthur and Violet more time." Lincoln said. "I don't see another way past them."

"I might have an idea." Wyatt said.

Wyatt stared at the cult members for a moment and took in how their cloaks looked. He then waved his hand over himself and became surrounded in orbs, casting a glamour over himself that copied the cloak exactly.

"I'll try to draw some of them away." Wyatt said. "While they're distracted, you take out the others."

"Smart thinking." Lincoln replied.

Wyatt smiled as he put the hood over his face and stepped out from behind the plant. He walked over to the cult member with the staff, assuming he was the one in charge. He cleared his throat and tried to sound as convincing as possible.

"Ronan needs help upstairs." Wyatt said. "He sent me down to take over here."

"He said nobody was to leave their post." The cultist said.

"Plans changed." Wyatt replied. "The vampires are causing trouble on the upper floors. They don't need to use the front door, remember?"

"Damned bats." The cultist snarled. "Alright, I'll take two men upstairs. You keep watch here."

Wyatt nodded as the cult member with the staff called two others and got in the elevator. While the others were watching the elevator go up, Lincoln snuck behind them and shot both with a tranquilizer gun, knocking them out instantly. Wyatt dropped his glamour and helped hide the bodies, after which they headed to the staircase. They climbed the endless stairs and eventually reached the upper floors without encountering further resistance. Lincoln slightly opened the door to peek through and quickly closed it again.

"What is it?" Wyatt asked.

"Your friend with the staff is there along with about a dozen others." Lincoln said. "He looks heated, so he probably knows he's been tricked."

"I'm guessing the same trick won't work twice." Wyatt remarked.

"Definitely not." Lincoln replied. "This time we have to fight."

"Alright." Wyatt said. "I'm ready."

Wyatt held out his hand and summoned Excalibur in a swirl or orbs while Lincoln readied his gun. He kicked the door open, instantly taking out the cultists that were closest to them. Wyatt followed by unleashing an energy blast from Excalibur, though the cultist with the staff held it up and countered his blast with a bolt of lighting. Several cult members formed Energy Balls and started throwing them, so Wyatt quickly formed a force field to block them. He looked at Lincoln and nodded, dropping the force field as they leaped into battle.

xxx