The Changed fazed in before Ben, plowing a fist into his chin. Ben flew back, through the kitchen wall and into the bedroom before he caught himself. Just before he fazed, he saw Peter lying on the floor near the bed, his eyes open and dazed. Ben knew that look. Peter was exhausted. Depleted. The Changed had started to take energy from Peter, but their arrival must have distracted it.
Ben fazed.
~~~
Christian sidestepped a swing from Aurora and quickly back stepped.
“Daddy,” she said softly. “Help me.” She swung again.
Christian jerked away and the poker smashed into a free-standing lamp. “What do you need my help for?”
“My friend needs your energy. Just a little more. He’s so close.” She swung again.
Christian fazed, moving several feet away.
She came at him again, running from across the room. His gaze settled on the smashed lamp and the shards of glass on the floor. Instinctively, he opened his mouth to call out for her to stop. Her feet were bare and she could be hurt. But then, he shut his mouth. He loved his daughter and never wanted to see her hurt, but he needed a distraction.
She dashed toward him across the shards of glass.
He would have only one chance.
As she raced across the jagged shards, Aurora cried out and her pace slowed. The glass embedded itself deeply in her tiny feet.
Christian fazed and reappeared directly before her. He concentrated all his effort on that damned poker. He didn’t think about Aurora being hurt, only the poker. He reached out and his hand closed around her wrist. He wrenched at her arm and the motion dislodged the poker from her grip. It sailed across the room and slammed into the wall, leaving an ugly gouge, before it landed on the floor.
She gasped, and retreated. Her foot stepped onto more of the glass and her beautiful face twisted in agony.
Christian wasn’t sure what to do. He would never harm his daughter. Not now, not ever. But he didn’t know how to save her, either.
She looked at him for a long moment. Something shifted in her gaze. “Daddy,” she whimpered. “Help me.” She looked at him with those large blue eyes. Eyes that finally saw him.
Christian knew that voice. He knew it was Aurora. His baby. He stepped toward her, instinctively wanting to protect her, wanting to hold her. He lifted a hand to her face. He would give anything to help her.
“Daddy,” she cried, touching his hand, actually wrapping her tiny fingers around his finger.
His heart ached. Aurora. How could he help her? What could he do? He knelt before her.
She stepped toward him, reaching her tiny arms around his neck.
Christian wrapped his arms around his baby girl. A longing swept through him. He didn’t want to be dead. He wanted to live with her again. His sadness was real and weighed him down like a heavy anchor. Warning bells went off in the back of his mind. But he refused to acknowledge them. This was his daughter. His Aurora.
She pressed a kiss to his cheek.
~~~
Ben fazed. He had to stop the Changed. He had to disrupt him or banish him if he had any hope of saving Christian’s human. Or Peter and the others.
Ben blocked the first thrust for his chest with a swinging blow. He knocked the outstretched arm away and plowed a blow to the Changed’s chin. The Changed spun with the blow and Ben kicked him in the back, sending him across the room.
The Changed fazed to a standing position and then fazed again, lunging for Ben. It wrapped its hands around Ben’s throat, shoving him back into the wall, squeezing.
Ben lashed out with his foot, kicking the Changed’s feet from beneath it. But it did nothing. The Changed continued to squeeze, to put pressure on Ben’s throat. Ben scanned the area, trying to break the Changed’s grip. It had to know this was doing nothing. Ben didn’t need to breathe and it certainly was a minor inconvenience, but nothing more. So, what was it doing? What was the point?
The Changed’s lips curled as it pushed forward.
Unless it was trying to pin him down, to keep him out of the picture for the moment. Ben shifted his gaze to see Christian kissing his daughter, holding her tightly against him. He opened his mouth to call a warning, but the Changed put more pressure on his throat. Not to suffocate him, he realized, but to keep him quiet.
And then he saw the poker lying on the ground mere feet from where they were.
~~~
Christian hugged Aurora fiercely. He felt her hands on his neck, her little mouth pressing kisses to his. He wanted so badly to be part of her life. He pulled back slightly to gaze at her face. She looked back. Her lips turned up in that familiar little smile. She was Aurora! He couldn’t hurt her. He pressed small kisses over her face.
They were wrong. The Souls were wrong! She wasn’t evil.
~~~
The Changed grimaced as it pressed down on Ben. “You’re dead,” the monster whispered and drew back its hand for the plunge into his chest.
When it let go of his neck, it was enough release for Ben to grab the poker and swing with all his might.
The Changed disintegrated as the iron poker slashed through it. Ben knew it would be back. He stood quickly and moved towards Christian, placing his hands on Christian’s back.
~~~
The jolt of energy shot through Christian. No! his mind screamed. But he couldn’t release Aurora. It was like she was fused to him. His energy poured through his mouth into his lips, onto hers, filling her, energizing her.
Her eyes snapped open to stare at Christian in wide-eyed disbelief.
The lights around the room flickered and popped.
And still, energy poured through Christian.
~~~
Ben concentrated, sending all of his energy rushing through Christian. Damn, damn, damn. It wasn’t enough. He could feel it filling Aurora, but even both of their energy wasn’t enough. They were going to fail. It just wasn’t enough energy.
He grimaced, sending the last of his strength into Christian. But suddenly, more energy filled him. He felt the new surge of bright energy and looked up.
Samantha stood at his side, her hand on his shoulder. The corners of her lips lifted in a smile.
Ben glanced at Samantha. She had her eyes closed and her teeth were grit. Something was wrong. And then, he realized what. She wasn’t at full power. He could feel her energy waning, fading. Her fingers dug into his shoulder. She wasn’t strong enough! Damn it. They didn’t have enough power!
Suddenly, a hand was laid against Ben’s other shoulder. The amount of power shooting through his body was unbelievable. He snapped his head to the side as fresh energy flowed into him, pushing through him into Christian. Brett. It was Brett. He stood at Ben’s side, opposite Samantha who collapsed to the floor.
Brett grinned and shrugged.
Aurora began to shake. Christian held his daughter in a deadly embrace, unable to sever the fusion of power pushing through him into her. Finally, he put his arms around Aurora, holding her in a tight cocooning embrace.
Ben called forth power from every cell of his body, pushing it forward into Christian. He heard a whimper.
Aurora went suddenly stiff in Christian’s arms. Her eyes opened wide. They were completely white. The power within her blasted out of her body, shooting out from every opening, her eyes, her ears, her nose, even her mouth.
Christian was thrown back, slamming into Ben. The power knocked Brett off his feet.
Aurora tipped her head up and a stream of white blasted from her open mouth, pushing the Changed right out of her body into the air, where its ghostly form rocketed toward the ceiling, disintegrating in the bright beam of white light.
Then, Aurora crumpled to the ground.
~~~
Christian stared at Aurora in the complete stillness that followed. Every muscle, every joint, every bone in his body ached. And he was a damn ghost! He had never felt so spent before, so weak.
“Holy shit,” Samantha whispered.
&n
bsp; “You all right?” Ben asked.
Samantha nodded, glancing at Christian and then the child. She fell back onto the floor, exhausted.
Ben looked at Brett. “You okay?”
“What the hell was that?” Brett slowly sat up, glancing all around.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Ben reached out to Christian, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Well done.”
Christian jerked it away and crawled forward to Aurora’s side. She still hadn’t moved. “Is she…?” He couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
“No,” Samantha answered. “She’s alive.”
Christian stared at his daughter, willing her to open her eyes, willing her to see him.
“Where are the others?” Ben asked Brett.
“On their way. When we didn’t hear from Peter and the others, I was sent ahead to give them aid. Lucky I got here.”
“Is it still in her?” Christian asked softly, scanning her face.
“No,” Ben answered. “She is your daughter again.”
“What the hell did you do?” Christian demanded, whirling on him.
Ben glanced at Samantha and then back to Christian. “We had a theory that since the Changed are unable to absorb energy after they make the Jump, that if we filled it with our energy, poured our energy into it until it could take no more, it would be blasted to nothingness. An overload, of sorts.”
“An overload?” Christian ground out.
Ben shrugged. “We never tested it before.”
“You risked Aurora’s life –”
“We saved her life,” Samantha snarled, struggling to sit up. “You should be thanking us. It’s more of a choice than I had.”
Ben looked at her quickly and something passed on his face. He reached out to help Samantha to her feet.
“Good theory. Looks like you two are not as incompetent as Daniel thinks,” Brett said.
“You’ll never convince Daniel of that,” Samantha retorted.
“He’s on his way. You two had better disappear. He’s really pissed at you. I’ll see if I can’t head him off.”
“Brett!” Ben called. “Thank you for your help.”
Brett half smiled. He looked at Samantha. “It was worth slapping your ass.” And he was gone.
A groan from behind them made Christian turn. “Aurora,” Christian whispered.
His daughter opened her eyes slowly, groggily. He bent over her. Part of the white glow of the fading power still shone in her eyes as they locked on him. “Daddy,” she whispered in a weepy voice and tears filled her eyes.
He reached out to touch her cheek, but his fingers passed through her skin and he pulled back quickly.
“Daddy, are you all right?” she whispered.
“Yes. Yes. Are you?”
She nodded her head and her hair bounced around her shoulders. “I miss you, Daddy,” she said and tears spilled over her cheeks. “You said I could live with you.”
“I know I did. And I’m sorry. You have to stay with Mommy. But I won’t let her hurt you. I don’t want you to be sad.” His own vision shimmered in a wave of tears. “I love you, baby girl. I always will.”
“Are you going? Don’t leave me,” she begged, reaching out to him.
Christian moved to take her into his arms.
Samantha grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. “You have to let her go,” she whispered in his ear. “If you don’t, she’ll always be in danger. The Changed will always come for her, knowing they can get to you. Let her go. Say goodbye.”
Christian shook his head. He didn’t want to say goodbye. He didn’t want to leave her.
Samantha squeezed his shoulder.
Christian straightened. He didn’t want to utter the words that would break his heart, that would go against everything he was. But he had no choice. “I have to go away now, Aurora. Please, please…” His voice trailed off.
“But you said, Daddy! You said I could be with you.”
“I know I did, baby. And I thought… I didn’t know… I’m so sorry. I can’t stay here.”
Aurora blinked at him. She reached out to him, trying to grasp his hand, but her tiny fingers moved through him. She looked back up at him. “Are you going to heaven?”
Christian stared down into her bright blue eyes, his throat closing, his eyes misting with tears. “Yes.”
She seemed to understand this and nodded. “I knew you would.”
“I’ll make sure you’re safe. I promise.”
“Mommy won’t hurt me?”
“No one will.”
She nodded her head again. “I love you, Daddy.”
Christian’s chest contracted more painfully than if a damned Changed was draining him. “I’ll always love you, Aurora. Be a good girl. And be strong.” Christian stood up on shaky spirit legs. He turned away from Aurora. He had saved her. And now he had to finish it. He would stop in occasionally and make sure she was all right. He could never totally abandon her. But now, it was as Samantha had said. He had to say goodbye. He had to leave. Every fiber of his being wanted to stay with Aurora. But he couldn’t endanger her. He couldn’t stay.
He met Samantha’s eyes. Ben cradled her beneath his arm, helping her to stand. They both looked exhausted; their shoulders drooped and there were big black rings beneath their ghostly eyes. An odd sight considering they were spirits. It seemed at least some semblance of their humanity never left them. The pain, the fatigue. As Christian stared into Samantha’s eyes, he saw tears ring hers. She gave him a brief, quick nod and the three turned.
“She’ll be all right,” Samantha assured him. “We’ll make sure of it.”
Christian swallowed hard. He couldn’t get a word past the lump in his throat. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He grit his teeth, fighting the rush of anguish down. “How am I going to make sure she’s safe? How am I going to make sure Diana doesn’t hurt her?”
“We’ll help you,” Samantha said softly. “After we regenerate.”
Ben glanced around the room, over his shoulder, at the ceiling.
“What?” Samantha asked.
“The other Changed never returned.” Ben shrugged. “Maybe he knew he was beaten.”
“Or maybe he’s still somewhere around,” Samantha suggested. “Let’s get out of here.”
Ben stopped. “Peter is in the bedroom. There are others in the kitchen. We can’t leave them.”
Samantha chortled. “We can leave them. They know the way home.”
They headed for the door. But Samantha stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “Christian, you coming?”
Christian looked down for a long moment. He had nothing. He had to leave Aurora to save her. She was safer without him. And Samantha and Ben had saved her life. He looked at Samantha. “I guess, for now I will. But I have one thing to take care of.”
~~~
Two days later, Christian stood in the bathroom with Ben behind him. He looked in the mirror, but there was no reflection. “You’re sure this is going to work?”
Ben chuckled. “Yes.”
Christian took a deep breath.
The bathroom door opened and Diana entered. She had a routine at night: remove makeup, brush teeth, shower, straighten her hair for the next day and go to bed. She never even tucked Aurora in. She didn’t hug her or kiss her.
Diana took out the makeup remover and cotton balls and placed them on the counter. She put some make up remover on her finger and rubbed it over her eyes. Then, removed it with the cotton ball.
Christian took a deep breath and glanced at Ben over his shoulder to nod.
Ben placed his hand on Christian’s back, pushing his energy into him. This would give Christian enough energy to give him a brief physical presence. A ghostly presence. Ben had told him that if he had been older with more experience, he would be able to do this himself.
Diana bent to throw the cotton balls into the garbage. She paused; her head turned and then looked up at Christian. She screamed an
d jerked back, pressing her bottom to the counter.
“I know what you’ve done, Diana,” Christian said. He was surprised that it wasn’t hard to find the rage brewing inside him and bring it forth.
“Oh God,” she whimpered. Her mouth gaped, open and then closed.
“She’s your daughter. How can you treat her like that?”
“You’re dead.”
“But not gone. And I won’t leave. Not until you change. Not until you love her.”
A strangled cry issued from her throat.
Christian stepped toward her. “I can make your life as miserable as you make hers. And I will. Until you treat her like she is the most important thing in the world. She can save you, Diana. She’s the only one who can.”
“You’re not real.” She grabbed a brush and swung it at him. It moved through him and Diana dropped it, raising her hands to her mouth.
“I’ll be watching, Diana. Do you hear me?”
Tears entered her eyes and she nodded. Her lips worked, but no sound came out.
“Love her.”
And then Ben removed his hand.
Diana’s eyes widened and she turned her head, looking this way and that.
“Done?” Ben asked.
“Not quite yet.”
Christian waited until later that night when Diana was watching television and Aurora was playing dolls in her room. He picked out Aurora’s favorite book and dropped it in Diana’s lap.
She raced up the stairs faster than Christian had ever seen her move in her life. Minutes later, he heard Diana reading the book to Aurora. And he smiled.
Resurrection - Episode 1 (Lost Souls) Page 7
