He lay on the floor on his back, semi-conscious. He tried to rise but found his limbs would not obey his command. With a monumental effort, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. With his remaining strength, he turned his head in time to see Liz walk up beside him.
"You bastard!" She screamed at him. "You stupid son of a bitch. This is for the rest of the Harem."
The muzzle of the gun came back in view—the deep hole, home of the lead and powder. It wavered at his head then moved slowly down towards his groin. Flip closed his eyes, heard the explosion, and felt a renewed flash of intense, searing pain in his groin. Then, blackness.
Revenge
Still a little breathless from the quick trip to Denise's room, Lionel paused at her door and tapped lightly, then entered when he heard her voice. As he did so, he pulled the photograph from the folder he was carrying and handed it to Denise.
"Is this the woman you saw?"
It took Denise a few seconds to answer. "She's much more attractive in this picture than she was in person, but those are the same eyes." She handed the picture back to Lionel. "Yes, that's her. Who is she?"
Lionel slipped the picture back in the folder. "Her name is Liz. She's a very troubled woman at the moment. We've got to find her. Flip could be in grave danger."
Denise pushed herself off the bed. As she started across the room, Lionel noticed she hesitated, and her hands began towards her belly, then stopped.
"Are you okay?" Lionel asked, taking a step towards her.
"Yes, I'm fine; it's just the baby kicking. I'm going with you. It's too spooky in this room by myself." They had started towards the door when the gunshot split the night's silence. Lionel flung the door open and rushed into the hall in time to hear the second shot. He hesitated for a moment trying to tell from where the sound had come. The third shot gave him the direction.
"My God! It's from Flip's room," Denise cried from behind him. They ran down the hall, but as they neared the door, Lionel turned to Denise.
"Go get some help, hurry!"
Denise hesitated, an anguished look on her face.
"Please, Denise, hurry!" Lionel repeated.
Denise turned and ran down the hall towards the nurses' station. Lionel turned back towards the door. Someone on the other side of that door had a gun. It sounded like a massive gun, Lionel thought. But Flip is probably in there and needs my help. He cracked the door open slowly and peered inside.
He took the scene in as though through a slow-motion panorama—Flip slumped on the floor, blood spattered on the wall, Liz standing over him, the gun clutched in her hand at her side. As he watched, she turned towards him, raising the gun as she did. She's going to shoot me, Lionel thought but in the next moment, realized she had a different target in mind. He watched as she placed the muzzle of the gun against her swollen belly.
As she did so, her hand began to tremble, first slowly, then violently. A look of horror spread across her face. The shaking continued to spread up her arm. The gun strayed away from her belly as though it had a mind of its own, wandered without direction for a few seconds, and then, slowly came to rest against her temple. "No, Liz!" Lionel screamed, but the explosion from the gun's muzzle drowned out his words.
Lionel rushed into the room, a feeling of nausea weakened him at the knees. He paused for only a moment over Liz's still body, and then, turned away when his stomach threatened to leap out of his throat. As he stepped over her to get to Flip, he heard a soft groan from his friend. Still alive, he thought, but for how long? Flip was covered in blood, most of it seemed to be coming from his groin. Lionel ripped his shirt off and balled it up, pressed it against the wound to slow the bleeding. As he did so, he heard Denise return, three nurses rushing in behind her.
Lionel looked over his shoulder. "Don't bother with her. She's dead. Flip is hurt badly,” he said, as he noticed two of the nurses stopping at Liz's body. He started to turn back to Flip when he caught some motion out of the corner of his eye. Had Liz moved?
He glanced back in time to see Liz's belly contort in a hard spasm. My God, she's having contractions, he thought. The two nurses jumped away from her bloody body. The contractions continued, each one with more force as the baby moved down the birth canal.
"Quick, help the baby! The baby is still alive!" Lionel shouted. "You, help me with Flip. You two get the baby out. Someone get Dr. Chickowski. "
"He's already been called," Denise said. "He should be here any second. Don't let him die—dear God, don't let Flip die!"
The two nurses grabbed Liz's legs and spread them out to give more room for the baby. As they did so, Liz's bloodstained head fell to one side as she stared out at nothing, a disinterested body to the occurring miracle.
As the rest of them watched, the baby continued moving down the birth canal. Despite the lack of cooperation from the mother, the baby's head soon appeared. It paused for a brief moment, as though unsure whether to continue. Then it continued to scratch and claw its way out.
One of the nurses broke the spell that had held them all and reached out to clear the afterbirth from the baby's face.
"It's a girl," she said as she picked the baby up.
The tiny infant opened her eyes and stared at the nurse, then, took a deep breath and let out her first scream.
"My lord, what is going on here?" Dr. Chickowski asked as he rushed into the room carrying his medical bag.
"Doctor, we have a newborn in need of your assistance," Lionel said. "As well as her father who's been shot...twice."
Dr. Chickowski checked the baby over quickly to be sure it was breathing, and then, left it to the nurses to care for her as he rushed to Lionel's side. He opened his bag and removed a large wad of bandage material. "We're going to need to get him into surgery quickly if we've any hope of stopping this bleeding. I've called for a couple of attendants to give us a hand."
One of the nurses from the other hall ran into the room. "Dr. Chickowski, you're needed in the O.B. ward."
"It'll have to wait, nurse. I've got a critically injured patient here."
"But it's the women. They're starting to deliver."
Dr. Chickowski stood up. "Which one is in labor?"
For a moment, the nurse paused to get her breath before answering. "All of them, doctor. They're all going into labor at the same time." As she said it, Denise grabbed her belly and gasped as a wave of labor pains coursed through her body. She reached out and grabbed for one of the nurses.
Dr. Chickowski’s face turned pale. "Oh my lord. Call Duke Hospital and get me some help—immediately!"
Blackness. Down deeper and deeper. Flip felt himself falling into a deep black well where time and space had no meaning. Death. So, this is what death is like. He was still contemplating the statement when he heard voices—except he heard them from within. It was more like sensing the voices. It reminded him of the feeling he had while in Jamaica, except this time there were a number of distinct "voices."
What is happening? One cried out.
It is time to come forth into the world, from another.
She shot him! from still another.
Shot who?
Shot he who was our window. Tried to shoot me too, can you believe it, while I was still within? I showed her who's boss, but she acted so impulsively, I could not stop her from shooting him.
I feel his presence still. The voices were coming from all directions. It made Flip's head hurt, then he recalled the bullet hole in his temple and wondered if that might not account for the pain. No, this pain was different. It was not of the world out there. He was not of that world now.
Yes, he's still with us, but he’s frail. He's fading fast. He won't be with us long." The finality of that statement made Flip nervous. It's okay. We won't need him now. We're coming forth. No need for a window.
No—wrong. We do need him. He is part of us.
Strange, Flip thought. I'm starting to recognize the different "voices." This one was the same one who had witnes
sed the shooting.
We must pull together to keep him in our presence, the same voice continued.
No way. I need all my strength to get through this tiny hole...
Listen to me, Flip's defendant said. He is part of us. He is our father. We must not let him perish.
Oh, all right, if it will make you happy. Come on. If we all pitch in just a little, we should be able to do it. We have more than enough life force to go around.
Our father? Are you sure?
Of course. He's listening to us now. How else could he be doing so if he was not connected? His defendant continued. Flip tried to shout to let his presence be known but the communication pathway appeared to be in one direction only.
How do you know? The skeptical one asked.
Shut up, Flip thought. Listen to my friend.
Trust me, I know. Pull together and keep him steady.
Okay, the voices finally agreed, and with that Flip felt a rush of energy from beneath him and the falling stopped.
Part Four
The Kindred
Resort
Two years later
The almost empty parking lot looked strange to Alphenius as she stared at it from her perch on the steps of the Snowshoe Resort Center. Like a cemetery without the headstones, she thought. She was bored—bored to tears. She considered trying to convince her brother to give up the idea of scoring one more mark today and just going home. There'd still be time before dark to play in their new tree house if they hurried. She glanced across the steps at her brother.
He's like a hawk, she thought, staring intently at its prey. Melaenis leaned against the wooden railing of the steps, his eyes focused on the door of the resort center. He'll never call it quits, she thought. He's too damn stubborn, not to mention the fact that he loves his work. She decided to try anyway.
She donned her most playful voice. "Mel, let's go home and finish the second deck of the tree house. Sarrah will understand if we don't bring our quota home today. She knows how slow it gets after Labor Day."
"Like hell, she'll understand. The battle-ax understands only one thing, money. It's one of her few redeeming values," Mel replied without leaving his post. "This is our worst day ever. That's what she'll understand."
"But I'm tired." Alphenius' voice took on a pleading tone. "This is no fun. Besides, we're not going to find a mark this late. Hardly anyone is checking-in, and those checking-out have already spent their wad."
"Sssh!" Her brother hushed her as he pushed himself away from the rail and stood with his head cocked to one side. "Our luck is about to change."
"Oh, so you always say..." Alphenius stopped herself. Just as her brother had an uncanny knack for picking out well-resourced marks, she was equally effective at knowing when he was right. He was right this time.
Within a few seconds, the double-doors of the Resort Center were pushed open by a man so fat, he was the width of both doors. Oh boy, Alphenius thought. This should be interesting. She prepared herself for the play.
The man lumbered towards the stairs still looking at his bill and shaking his head. Unlike most of the guests, at this point of their vacation, he maintained a pleasant smile. He folded the statement and stuffed it in his back pocket, adjusting the expensive Nikon that hung from his neck like a medallion. Alphenius watched as he strolled a couple of feet by her, then taking a deep breath; she released her first heart-rending sob.
"Mommmmie!" She wailed, the tears already streaming down her face. She twisted the knuckles of her fists into her eyes to make them redder. By the time the man turned to see where the crying was coming from, Alphenius looked like she had been crying for days.
"What's wrong, little girl?" The man asked as he bent down awkwardly to her level. Perfect, Alphenius thought. You just stay there perched like a stork on one leg—just a few more seconds. She could see Melaenis out of the corner of her eye positioning himself. She tried not to look but instead kept her attention on the mark.
"My...my Mommie—I want my Mommie!" She managed to say between her sobs. She looked up at the man, her lower lip quivering.
"There, there, it'll be alright. Ol' Jack will help you find your Mommie."
"You will?" She asked with a sniffle.
"Sure I will." He reached out with his pudgy hand and brushed a tear off of her cheek. That's his cue, Alphenius thought. "When the mark reaches for you, I'll come running." Mel had instructed her over and over. She prepared to jump out of the way. She didn't want the big buffoon to crush her. Then she looked into the man's eyes, and real tears filled her own. This man was only trying to help her. He was a nice man. She could see it in his soft brown eyes. It wasn't right to take advantage of him like this. In her moment of hesitation, she almost ruined the whole thing. She was startled when Mel jumped on the man's back and started pounding him on the head. The two of them fell to the ground.
This point in the scam was always the most difficult part for Alphenius when she came the closest to losing it and bursting out in laughter. It was even worse this time as she gazed at her small brother and the giant man. They're like David and Goliath, she thought. She was torn between feeling sorry for the man and the ridiculous appearance in front of her. The man was beginning to figure out what was happening to him, or at least what they wanted him to think was happening and began to laugh. It was time to save him from her rescuer.
"Leave him alone, David." She changed Mel's alias at the last second and noticed the momentary look of confusion from her brother. "It's okay. Leave him alone you big bully. He was only trying to help me."
She pulled at Mel's shoulder, and he obediently stopped. As he stood next to his sister, the look of confusion she had seen a moment ago returned. This one she was expecting.
"Oh, no. I'm sorry. I thought he was pestering you. You know what mom told us about strange men." The man fought to control his laughter. He tried to get to his feet but was too weak from laughing so hard, so he crawled to the steps and sat there.
"It's okay. Don't worry about it. No harm was done." He rubbed his head to verify to himself that it was true. "You were a very brave little boy to help your sister like that."
Mel looked bashfully down at the ground. "You won't tell on me, will ya? I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't. No, I won't tell a soul what happened. Do you know where your mom is?"
Mel brightened. "Of course I do. Mom is down in the car with our little brother. She sent me back to find Betty. We'd better go before she begins to worry."
Alphenius was so intent on the familiar play before her she failed to notice the security guard approaching. "Hey, you kids, what are you doing around here again!" She recognized the voice at once. Already Mel was backing away from the fat man. Alphenius was not as quick.
"Stop those two kids!" She smiled at the man and tried to slip past him, but he was quicker than he looked. He grabbed her by the wrist and smiled back. "What's going on here, little girl?"
She tried to twist her hand away as Mel had shown her, but the man's grip was much too strong.
The guard ran down the steps towards them. "Mel, help me!" She screamed. She managed to twist around and glance in Mel's direction. He was already at the edge of the parking lot when he turned back. Mel noticed his sister's plight, and a sadistic grin spread across his face. She watched as he glared at her captor, but at his feet instead of his face. Suddenly, Alphenius felt the man's grip relax, and she pulled her wrist free just as the guard reached them.
"Good God, my foot!" The man yelled as he reached for his right shoe. Blocked by his belt of fat, he lost his balance and fell against the guard. Both men tumbled to the steps in a jumble of arms and legs. As Alphenius heard the commotion behind her, she turned and looked over her shoulder. The fat man was still reaching for his right foot that had begun to smoke around its laces.
"Come on, Alp!" Mel called to her. As she caught up to him, she noticed he still wore the sadistic grin. "What did you do...?
"No time now
. I'll explain later."
He grabbed her hand and together they ran through the parking lot. On the other side, he held the strands of barbed wire fencing apart so she could climb through, and then, scurried under the lower strand on his belly. As he climbed up on the other side, he caught his left calf on a rusty barb. Alp reached down and pulled his pant leg away from it.
"It cut you," she said as she began to pull the pants leg up.
"Not now, they'll be after us in a sec. Let's go!"
They ran down the narrow rocky path that wound down the mountainside. Neither spoke for several minutes, concentrating instead on the treacherous terrain. They finally stopped at a large flat rock halfway down the mountain.
They both collapsed on the rock, laughing and gasping for air. The rock was still warm from where the sun had shone on it for most of the afternoon. They lay on their backs, enjoying the warmth. Within the hour, the sun would dip below the peak of the neighboring mountain, and the temperature would plummet. Darkness would follow close behind.
After a few minutes, Alp pushed herself to her elbow and turned towards her brother. "Okay, what happened? What did you do?"
Still lying on his back, he turned his head to her and smiled. "Oh, nothing. Just gave him a little hot foot."
"You what? How did you...?" She gasped. "You've been reading Mom's books, haven't you?"
"Madame Sarrah to you, remember? She may have given birth to us, but she's hardly our mom. She doesn't have a mothering bone in her body. And yes, I've browsed through them from time to time."
"She'll skin you alive if she catches you in her books. A hot foot?" She looked enviously at her twin. "How do you do it?"
"Ahh, now that's a secret meant for us wizards. You're still a bit too young for such power."
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