Fury Saga              by: Darkside        © 2000

Soul Mates

Part 8b

Elizabeth woke up the next day feeling giddy and elated. Last evening was surreal. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that she would be dating Alex. Only a day ago the mere thought would have either outraged her or reduced her to fits of laughter. Now, only few hours after that first kiss the thought no longer seemed repulsive or funny. In fact it seemed quite the opposite. One thing concerned her about her new relationship with Alex. Where did it leave Deianeria?

Elizabeth thought back to Alex’s comments on her quest. He was right to be concerned for her but he was very wrong about it only producing hurt and pain. She had to know. This was more than a scientific experiment, it was her only way to free herself from the past. She was grateful to James, the cult leader, as she would not have dared go where she was going without his challenge: ‘Prove me wrong!’

Maybe in unearthing the truth about Dr Bexley she would stumble across something about Alex’s father. If not only for her sake, what a relief that would be for Alex! No, Deianeria must continue, that much was certain. In a way her dating Alex was the perfect smokescreen. There is no way suspicion could be aroused if she was in a healthy relationship. It was worth bringing Deianeria in early, as now she had the perfect cover. If asked she could state she was looking for clues about Alex’s father. That was true to a point, although she wasn’t sure what Cathline’s reaction would be.

Elizabeth checked the clock on the bedside table, it was seven am and she was the only one up. Alex normally had a lay in until ten, with her parents rising at about eight. As always Cathline was a wildcard but Elizabeth knew she could handle Cathline. Wearily she got out of bed and headed towards the spare room. She would change into some more of Dr Bexley’s clothes and do some research before breakfast. She decided to try out Deianeria as she had planned it. For the duration of her research that morning Elizabeth would be gone and only Deianeria would remain.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and concentrated, she breathed in and out and performed her relaxation technique. In her minds eye she imagined filing away Elizabeth into a PDA and loading Deianeria into her active area. The process took a few minutes as Elizabeth prepared herself for the simulation.

When it was complete Deianeria stood up and stretched. It had been too long. After having a quick look around she walked out of Elizabeth’s bedroom and into the spare room.

Her first thought was how messy everything looked but she resisted the urge to tidy up. Elizabeth could do that for her. The first thing she needed to do was check the journals and figure out a plan of action. Whatever had gone on before, it was clear that Elizabeth had been too nice and too discrete. Such methods would take far too long and eventually lead to the wrong result. Deianeria decided that it was time for no more nice miss priss.

She thought back to the hurt that Nick had caused Elizabeth. He was a bastard, no doubt about that. Something would need to be done about him. But first the journals. She eventually found a pile of small notebooks lying in the bottom of one of her chests. The first three contained writing, and they weren’t the ones she wanted. They were for public consumption. The real ones she wanted were the blank ones underneath. All she needed now was an ultraviolet light source. She was amazed that nobody had wondered why she’d kept seemingly empty notebooks, but then again people were stupid like that. She would have thought Kat and Cathline might have deduced it but then again with all threats gone there was no reason to suspect anything.

Deianeria glanced down at herself, still wearing Elizabeth’s nightdress. It was time to change all that. She stood up and found a suitcase with some of her favorite outfits in. She quickly chose a deep purple blouse with a bleeding heart embossed on the left breast and after a bit of searching found her long black skirt. It was a shame Elizabeth had cut her hair short, but it would soon grow again. Feeling much better, she went back to her searching.

A few minutes later she found what she was looking for. It was a large hardback book entitled ‘Human Molecular Genetics’. Of course much of it was out of date now but it wasn’t the contents she was after. She flicked thru several pages, scanning each one until she reached page 473. She had noticed that the letters on each line in the second paragraph spelt ‘Guild’. Flicking to the right she saw a series of numbers. Taking the first three lines, a telephone number was formed. She quickly memorized it and decided to go and give it a try. She still needed a UV light of some description in order to read the notebooks.

The house was quiet and to her satisfaction she noted that nobody had yet woken up. She checked the grandfather clock in the hall. It was seven thirty. She had half an hour left before Elizabeth would be needed. Just enough time to make the phone call. She dived into Matthew’s office and dialed the number. To her surprise an Arabic voice answered "yes"

"Hello, this is Deianeria. I have a job for you."

o—o—o—

Cathline had found it hard to sleep and lay in bed trying to rest. "This is no use at all," she muttered and swung her long legs off the bed. She couldn’t sleep for any reason she could think of it was just one of those nights. She debated going for an early morning swim and indeed Elizabeth would probably be there so it would be a good excuse to see what she was up to. She also wondered how Alex had got on with Elizabeth the previous evening. She had heard them come in about 2am, so it couldn’t have been that disastrous for them. That was another thing she would ask Elizabeth when she saw her.

Deciding on an early morning swim, she took off her nightdress and found her black thong bikini. There weren’t many women of fifty who could still wear it and carry it off but Cathline was no ordinary woman. Her specially designed body seemed to age at half the rate of other women’s and she could still pass for a woman in her early thirties. She adjusted her eye patch and went outside into the hallway. As she walked past Matthew’s office she heard the faint sounds of music coming from inside.

"Can’t you see what you are doing to me?

Can’t you see what you have done?

As I try to pass another long and sleepless night,

A hundred crazy voices call my name,

As I try to pass them by,

I almost can believe that she is here,

Here in the glow of the night.

Do you know what you have done?

Do you know what you’ve begun?

Do you see we shall never be together again?

All of my life."

Cathline decided to investigate and opened the door. The room was in darkness and only the lights from the hi-fi lit the room. Cathline’s eye quickly adjusted to the darkness and she saw a figure sitting on a chair.

"Hello Cathline," the voice said and the music stopped.

The tone sent a shiver down Cathline spine. It was the same tone and intonation as Dr Bexley had had when she’d said those same words to her so many years ago.

"Elizabeth?" Cathline queried.

There was a pause for a few moments and the figure spoke.

Her voice, it was almost a different voice from a different person. Cathline however couldn’t be sure—there was subtle differences in the intonation and intent. Where the previous one had been full of veiled menace this was full of warm greeting. "Hi Auntie Cathline. Did I freak you out?"

Freak out wasn’t the words Cathline would have used. "I did wonder what’d you doing in the dark?"

"You never listened to music in the dark before? Lights."

The lights slowly came on and showed Elizabeth sitting on Matthew’s chair with her feet on the desk. She had number of notebooks on the table and Cathline caught a glimpse of that bleeding heart motif on Elizabeth’s blouse.

"What are you doing still wearing her clothes. I thought that joke was over by now?" Cathline demanded

"What?" Elizabeth glanced down. She couldn’t remember putting that blouse on. How’d she get into Matthew’s office anyway? Cathline mustn’t be made more suspicious than she already was. "Sorry, I just thought it looked a neat outfit. Mom and Dad’s room is directly below the entertainment room and I didn’t want to wake them up so I used dad’s office."

Cathline was still suspicious but as usual Elizabeth had a plausible explanation for everything. So she decided to let it pass and tell Matthew and Kat about this latest episode as soon as she could. She decided to change the subject "How’d it go last night."

Elizabeth thought back to that wonderful dinner and her first kiss with Alex. It would be better if Alex and she told their respective parents at the same time. "It went ok. Alex surprised me."

"How so?" Now Cathline was intrigued. Elizabeth wasn’t often surprised.

"He made me wash up and then we ate. He also knew the chef at the Hilton and spoke Portuguese. I didn’t know he could do all that stuff."

Cathline gave a smile. That was typical Alex. "There’s a lot about my son you don’t know. You know he’d been planning that for weeks?"

Elizabeth nodded "So I gather. Anyway I’m sure you’ll hear all about it later when he bothers to wake up. Speaking of waking up, you look dressed for a swim. Want some company?"

Cathline almost breathed a sigh of relief. This was the normal Elizabeth speaking. "Sure."

Elizabeth smiled. "I’ll just get changed and I’ll join you in a few mins. If you can keep up that is!"

"Yeah, right. I’ve a four inch height advantage over you," Cathline stated. ‘Let’s see how she reacts to goading’ Cathline thought.

"And I’ve got twenty years on you. I’d better hurry," Elizabeth collected the blank notebooks and ran upstairs.

Elizabeth was confused. How and why was she in Matthew’s office. She didn’t remember getting dressed either and why was she holding some blank notebooks? There was only one conclusion—it must have been Deianeria. Elizabeth reached her room and started to take off the blouse and skirt. She accessed the Deianeria simulation, and she then knew why she needed the notebooks. She had remembered seeing them stacked in a box in the spare room but had paid them no attention. Now, it would seem that the notebooks could be the keys to it all. Strange how’d she’d overlooked them before and gone onto other things. The outfit Deianeria had chosen was cool but what else had she found before Cathline had interrupted her? Elizabeth couldn’t quite remember, so she dismissed it as either unimportant or irrelevant.

She did find it disconcerting that the Deianeria simulation seemed to have a life of her own and that seemingly Elizabeth was out of the picture while Deianeria was active. However, Elizabeth took comfort from the fact that although Deianeria could do things that later Elizabeth had no immediate recollection of, it was Elizabeth who had final veto and control of -- effectively—the on/off switch.

Elizabeth quickly put on her swimsuit and went downstairs to the pool.

o—o—o—

Alex got up at his customary ten am and proceeded to take a long shower. He couldn’t believe the events of last night. How could someone like Elizabeth fall for a clown like him? Elation was too mild a word for the way he felt. It was though he had hooked into his destiny and nothing in heaven and earth could prevent him from entering into it. He knew by now that everyone would be up and awake, and wondered if Elizabeth had told anyone yet. He suspected not, as she would want him to see Matthew, Kat and Cathline’s faces when they broke the news.

Anyway it was time to face the music and his new beloved! Alex dried himself down and put on his now customary shorts and wild patterned shirt. Walking downstairs and outside to the pool, he found Elizabeth still swimming lengths. Cathline was allowing the sun to dry herself off. Matthew and Kat were at the far end of the pool just pouring themselves another cup of coffee.

"Hi folks," Alex called out.

Elizabeth stopped swimming for a second to give Alex a wave and a wink. Alex’s heart leapt once more. She hadn’t forgotten. It wasn’t a one off! She IS mine!

By the time Alex had walked around the other side of the pool to join his mom Elizabeth had pulled herself from out of the pool and was standing beside him. She gave Alex a crafty look and then took hold of his hand. Alex was pleased to see the shocked look on Cathline’s face as she noticed their held hands. The look of shock turned to a wide grin and she said "You two kept that quiet!"

Kat had just finished pouring Cathline’s black decaf and had glanced round to check if Cathline was still there. Much to her amazement she saw Elizabeth and Alex holding hands! Now that was a turn up for the books.

"Liz?" Kat called.

Elizabeth whirled around but tellingly still had hold of Alex’s hand. "What mom?"

"How long has this been going on?" Kat asked with a smile. It was so good to see Elizabeth in a relationship. They were starting to get worried.

"Since last night. Anyway, we’re off to Male after lunch for some shopping. You want anything?" Elizabeth asked. She was after one item in particular, a UV light with which to read the notebooks.

Kat shook her head. "No thanks. John left first thing with the yacht. You’ll have to fly."

"Suits us." Alex called back.

"We’re just off for a walk to Stephanie’s cove," Elizabeth called.

Kat gave Elizabeth a permissive nod. It really WAS so nice to see them together. She’d had a suspicion for a while that something like this going to happen, but now that it had she was determined to give them enough space to make their own minds up.

Cathline walked over to collect her coffee as Elizabeth and Alex walked off, still hand in hand. "Remind you of anyone?"

Kat smiled, "Maybe, but Matthew and I never fought as much as those two did. "

"We never fight," Matthew joined in.

"Yeah right. I’ve seen you on a Jetski," Kat jibed.

"We’ll just let them get on with it," Matthew suggested,

"Just what I was thinking," Kat replied.

Cathline’s face took on a serious look, "I caught Elizabeth in your office today Matthew. She was still wearing Dr Bexley’s old clothes and she was sitting in the dark listening to music. When I walked in she spoke to me just like SHE did at the height of her fury. "

"She often goes in my office when she gets up early. That way she doesn’t disturb us. What’d she say?" Matthew stated

"All she said was ‘Hello Cathline.’ She then waited for a few moments and then her voice was perfectly normal again," Cathline stated.

"I dunno what to think. Now she’s going out with Alex I think she’ll be ok. He’ll notice anything awry soon enough. I think she enjoys stringing us along. I think she’s trying to wind you up, Cathline," Kat said. Elizabeth could be such a tease when she wanted to be. Not in the overt way that Alex was but she enjoyed playing mind games with people for her own amusement.

"It IS nice to see them together isn’t it?" Cathline commented once more.

"Sure is. I don’t know how long it will last once she starts back to Cambridge. Mind you she’s back at Harvard next year so it should make things easier for them, if they last that long that is," Kat commented.

o—o—o—

A few hours later Alex and Elizabeth returned from Male. They’d spent some of their time shopping but mostly they had spent their time just being together. Places that had become mundane and routine as they had grown up now seemed fresh and new when they were together. Elizabeth was happy, as she’d managed to obtain a small UV lamp from a photography shop. She had told Alex she needed to study, to get ready for her next term, and would he mind leaving her alone for a few hours. She promised she would be with him for dinner, and that seemed to pacify him. In any case Alex had wanted to fly the model aircraft he’d made with John the summer before, so that was fine with him.

Elizabeth plugged the light in and retrieved the first notebook. Was it worth getting Deianeria involved? Not at the moment—this was study not simulation. Once she had more information then she would invite Deianeria to help out.

Elizabeth placed the first blank page under the light and after a few seconds writing appeared.

"Exile Day 4

Took the plane to Lhasa. The flight from the US was torture, I was expecting to be hounded by the press but they didn’t recognize me. I can’t believe Matthew has done this to me. I knew he was after something when he jilted me but it seems he’s out to frame me for kidnapping!

What in hell does he want from me? Anyway I’ve taken the best way out I can think of. I’ll spent a few weeks in Tibet. It’s a place I’ve always wanted to go to and this is as good a chance as any.

Hopefully by the time I get back this will all have died down."

Elizabeth stopped reading. She didn’t believe what she’d just read! She got up, switched the light off and went to the spare room. After a few minutes of frantic searching she found one of Dr Bexley’s old workbooks from when she was at Harvard. Elizabeth also took one of the normal notebooks back for comparison.

In her room she opened the normal notebook and placed it alongside the blank one. She switched on the light again and studied the handwriting. Too all intents and purposes it was the same handwriting. However, closer study revealed that the loop of the ‘e’ and the tail of the ‘s’ were a little different on the normal one. She then opened Dr Bexley’s old workbook and studied the handwriting on that. It took a few moments for her to study the page but the evidence was clear. The person who’d written in UV ink and the workbook were the same person. The person who’d written the so called diaries of Dr Bexley was a DIFFERENT person altogether.

She quickly got her PDA out and placing it screen down on each book scanned a page from each. "PDA find the foremost handwriting expert who can give me 24 hour turnaround on the samples just scanned. Mail them to him and let me know the findings"

"Yes Elizabeth," The PDA answered back.

Elizabeth flipped to the next page of the blank notebook and continued to read.

"Exile Day 6

Arrived by land rover in Qinghai province. There’s a nice hostel just inside the border, which I’ll be staying at for a while. I’m looking forward to the expedition. It’s not every day you get to go on a trek to find new medicines. Hopefully it’ll take my mind off Matthew and his scheming friends. I can’t believe how brazen they were, talking about their plans to defraud us in the restaurant like that. It’s by chance I overheard them on my way to the conference. Even Cathline is involved. Just how deep does this conspiracy go?

I was staggered when I saw an identical copy of me walk in and sit at their table. Whoever did the surgical reconstruction on the woman did a brilliant job I was almost convinced I was looking at a clone. That doesn’t excuse what they are accusing me of. Murder and Kidnap, yeah right, as if."

Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief. These books must be forged, They had to be wrong. Elizabeth changed to the second book.

"Exile day 93

Somewhere in Amdo province

I have had some horrible news. I can hardly bear myself to write it. My parents are dead. They were killed in an auto crash a week ago. I never even got chance to say goodbye. Mom and dad, why?"

The letters looked a little smudged to Elizabeth. She thought it looked as though Dr Bexley had been crying when she wrote it. If that were the case then a DNA sample of the pages would provide more proof to the case. After scanning in a copy of the page with her PDA continued to read.

"The police say that they swerved to avoid a falling tree in a thunderstorm and crashed over the edge of a cliff. The car following behind was able to stop in time. Apparently they were killed instantly. It also seems as though I am to go on trial for murder. How can that be? I’ve been here for 93 days. It must be that woman I saw in the restaurant. I have to go back to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. I am now an orphan."

More smudges masked the rest of the page. Elizabeth sat back on the chair, still shell shocked from the revelations on the page. If the person who wrote this was really Dr Bexley, if the handwriting and DNA matched, then it would prove that Dr Bexley really was an unwitting victim of her parents deception. She tore out the page with the smudges and placed it inside her desk drawer. She would seal it off and sent it off to Cambridge for comparison with her own DNA. She would know in the morning if the handwriting matched, and that was good enough for the moment.

She decided that after tomorrow she couldn’t bear to stay any longer in this house of liars. They may not have killed Dr Bexley’s parents but they did drive her away. The cult leader was right after all. Hardly able to walk Elizabeth stood up and walked to her bed. Unable to control herself any longer, she burst into tears until she sobbed herself to sleep.

o—o—o—

When Elizabeth awoke the next day the notebooks and workbooks were gone and her room has been tidied. Alex was sitting on the chair next to her bed looking concerned at her.

"Hi Kiddo. You gave us quiet a scare, "he said softly

"I found it. I was wrong about them," Elizabeth sniffled. Why did her arm hurt?

"No you weren’t. They showed me the notebooks and the UV lamp. They didn’t do it. It was all a trick," Alex said gently stroking Elizabeth’s face.

"How can it be a trick. Where are they now?" Elizabeth glanced down at her arm and noticed a small red pinprick. She’d been injected with something.

"The notebooks? Your dad has them I think he’s going to burn them or something."

Elizabeth sat up, "No he mustn’t. He can’t!"

"I’ll make sure he doesn’t. We found you still crying last night—you glared at us and shouted at us to go away or you’d kill us. It really freaked us out, I can tell you. Who’s De-an-era? "

"You mean Deianeria? That’s the name of the project I’ve been working on. Look, I’ll be down in a few minutes. Thanks Alex." Elizabeth said and gave Alex a kiss.

Elizabeth was worried. She had to get those notebooks back, they were her only proof.

She decided to dress in her normal clothes and made her way down for breakfast. Everyone was normal, too normal for her liking. It showed they were worried about her.

"Hi Elizabeth. Glad to see you’re feeling better," Kat piped.

Elizabeth decided that lying was the best way to placate her parents. What action she would take now depended on the handwriting and DNA results. "Sorry about last night. I guess I goofed huh?"

"It was typical of Dr Bexley to write a false account that would incriminate us if it ever came to a trial between her and us. Even though she’s been dead for years she still has the ability to cause hurt to those we love. Elizabeth, please let this project of yours drop," Kat pleaded.

Elizabeth had considered the fraudulent entry possibility, but that didn’t equate for the difference in handwriting.

Elizabeth just nodded in agreement and ate her breakfast. She would have to see what Deianeria made of it.

An hour or so later, just as she was about to go into the pool, Kat came running out with the phone. "It’s for you—I think it’s Angela."

Elizabeth grabbed the phone. It had been too long.

"Angela, Hi. How are you? Looking forward to going back?"

"Hi Elizabeth. How’s that island of yours?"

"I haven’t blown it up yet if that’s what you mean. Listen, I’ve got so much to tell you I can’t wait to get back." Elizabeth was delighted to speak to Angela again. After nearly two weeks it had been too long.

"The reason why I called is that I have some bad news,"

Elizabeth’s tone dropped. She knew Angela’s parents were poor "Look if you can’t afford to come back I can help."

"No that’s not it. You remember Nick, as in ex boyfriend Nick?"

"Yeah. He was cheating on me wasn’t he?"

Angela’s voice took on a more serious tone. "They found his body in the Thames. It looks as though he’d been murdered. His throat was slit and he’d been dumped in the river."

"Oh my God. Do they know who did it?" Elizabeth felt a tinge of sadness. Nick had been nice and she would miss him.

"Nope. The press over here is calling it a Guild style killing. His pockets were empty and his wallet gone so the police think it was a simple mugging that went wrong. Oh Elizabeth, it’s so sad.

I know he didn’t treat you well in the end, but this is horrible"

"I know. I feel sorry for his parents. I expect they’ll find out who did it soon enough though," Elizabeth said softly.

Angela’s voice gave her agreement. "I hope so."

o—o—o—

"Kat what the hell are we going to do with her?" Matthew asked.

"That Olanzapine injection should help her. Why did she freak out like that? Sure, reading those notebooks triggered it, but even that shouldn’t have done it" Kat asked.

"You think she missed a few doses of her drug? If so how come, she takes it everyday," Cathline asked.

"We’ll know soon enough. I think she’s worried about going back and what’s going to happen with her and Alex. She wouldn’t say it of course but that’s a factor. That project she’s got running is taking a lot out of her. We ought to put a stop to it before it really hurts her." Kat’s voice was showing real concern. She couldn’t recall Elizabeth being this upset since she’d found out about her real mother.

"We can’t put a stop to it. If we try she’ll think we’re trying to cover something up and it’ll only make things worse," Cathline stated. "Where are the notebooks anyway?"

"Locked away in my office safe. I changed the combination too, so they should be ok in there. Cathline, do we inform the authorities or not? I was against it at first but I’ll do whatever’s best for her. If that means she’s locked away for her own and others’ safety then that’s a cross we have to bear. Matthew’s voice was full of sadness. The thought of his ‘little mite’ locked away and unable to lead a normal life was almost unbearable. However the thought of her killing anyone was worse. Who knows what she might be capable of?

Cathline thought long and hard "No we don’t. I know it’s my son in the firing line, if anything happens, but I can’t do this to her. Let’s let Alex work this out with her. That’s the one thing Dr Bexley lacked, someone to care for her and love her, not in a parental way but in a friend and lover’s way. I know I wanted to be that person to her, but she never really opened up to me. All I was, was a means to an end. By the time I was on the scene it was too late, the damage had been done. If Alex can be there for Elizabeth then I see that as our only hope."

Kat nodded her agreement. "That’s some wise words, Cathline.

But it’s a big burden for Alex. Do we tell him?"

Cathline shook her head, "No. How can we? ‘Oh Alex we just thought you might like to know that your new girl friend could turn on you and kill you on the slightest whim.’ If we tell him he will change his behavior towards her, and she’d know something was wrong. Let’s let love take its course."

"And if Alex dumps her? Then what?" Matthew said, an element of fear crept into his voice.

"Easy. We get him out of there as soon as we can and make Elizabeth submit to the test," Kat stated. It was the only safe way out.

"Agreed," Cathline said.

Matthew nodded his agreement.

Kat just hoped Alex was up to it.

o—o—o—

Alex found Elizabeth in Stephanie’s cove. She was sitting on a rock looking out to sea. "Hi Kiddo. Need some company?"

Elizabeth turned to face Alex, her eyes red with tears. I’m sorry Alex. Yeah, please sit down. I need to talk."

Alex nodded and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her and drew her close. In response Elizabeth put her head on Alex’s shoulder. She needed him more than ever at the moment.

"You’re in a real state aren’t you?" Alex said gently tousling Elizabeth’s hair.

Elizabeth gave a sniff and nodded. Her head still rested on Alex’s shoulder. "I messed up. I thought I could do it. But you can’t discredit the evidence I’ve found. There’s something odd going on Alex, but I can’t put my finger on it."

"I didn’t see the notebooks, but from what mom told me they were from a diary Dr Bexley had written about a trip to Tibet. They named Matthew, Kat and mom as trying to set her up. Elizabeth, you can’t verify Dr Bexley’s story. By now all records of her trip would be gone and all a handwriting expert could tell you is that she wrote it. It doesn’t prove they were true, only that she wrote it."

"It’s not just the notebooks, it’s everything. Angela called a while ago today. Nick, my ex-boyfriend, was found dead yesterday." Elizabeth started to cry.

"Oh Elizabeth. I’m so sorry. What happened?" Alex pulled Elizabeth closer. Why did Elizabeth always get the rough end of things? He wished that he could do more, even take on some of the pain she was feeling herself.

"Someone murdered him. Stole his money and slit his throat. Why would they do that? He hadn’t hurt anyone except me, and sure, I was mad at him. But this! I never wanted anything like this to happen to him."

"It’s a cliche, but bad things happen to good people, Elizabeth. It sucks but it’s true. Whatever happens, I’m here. No matter what you do, where you go, or what you say to me, I’m here for you." Alex turned Elizabeth’s face towards him and gave her a kiss.

Elizabeth felt much better. Knowing that Alex was here for her made all the difference. He was correct about the notebooks, but so much didn’t add up about this whole thing. The truth had to be somewhere, and in spite of what had happened she was determined to find it. Only one way remained—she had to let Deianeria take over for a while. Not yet though. She needed to mourn a little for Nick and pacify her Mom and Dad. "Alex?"

"Yes"

Elizabeth cuddled Alex some more "I don’t want to stay here anymore. I want to go to New York. I have too little to do here, it’s driving me stir crazy. In any case I need more stuff ready for next term. I was going to get them in London, but New York is better. Please come with me."

"Inviting me off for a dirty holiday are we? I thought we’d take things a step at a time," Alex joked.

Elizabeth didn’t laugh. In the old days she would have slapped him, but now she saw it for what it was, an attempt to cheer her up. "Please Alex. I need you close."

Alex gave Elizabeth another kiss, "I’m there."

o—o—o—

"I hope you’re not going because of us?" Matthew asked Elizabeth. He’d been hurt by her announcement. It seemed to him that she was disassociating herself from Kat and himself.

Elizabeth gave Matthew a big father-daughter hug, "Don’t be silly Dad. I need to get sorted out for next term and I can’t do it here in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Alex is coming too, so I’ll be ok. Really dad, all that business is over and done with."

"If you’re sure you’re ok then that’s fine. We’ll be over the first week back to check you’re ok." Matthew returned the hug. It had been too long since she’d hugged him like this. He did wonder if Elizabeth was play acting, but it felt genuine enough.

"Dad, I’m fine, really. I leave first thing in the morning. Alex is flying over a couple of days later. Hey, I promise I won’t trash the place," Elizabeth smiled.

"We trust you," Matthew said. That was all he needed to say to tell Elizabeth that she was on her own, that they would be there for her if she needed, and that they still loved her.

Elizabeth got the message, "Thanks dad."

In spite of her early start the next morning Elizabeth woke at 2am. She gently opened her bedroom door and let her eyes adjust to the semi darkness before creeping out of her room. She knew what she wanted and where to get it. It took her a few minutes to creep downstairs and open the door to her dad’s office. After gently lifting the carpet, she took a look at the safe now nestling under it.

She tried the old combination of "072096"—which was her parents wedding anniversary—but that didn’t work. She quietly swore. She now only had two chances left before the alarms sounded. What else could it be? She tried her own birthday of "052002" but the bleep told her it hadn’t worked. Only one chance remained and only one choice. Elizabeth closed her eyes and within a few moments Deianeria opened her eyes.

That little miss priss Elizabeth had so nearly messed things up. She needed those notebooks, as they were the only way she could be free. Now think!

Elizabeth had tried the obvious one of anniversaries and birthdays so it couldn’t be that. What was another memorable date that Matthew in a state of distress would think of? It would have to have something to do with Elizabeth, as she would be on his mind at the time. What event from Elizabeth’s life would stick in Matthew’s mind apart from Elizabeth’s birthday? In a flash she had it! She had been thinking too much like Elizabeth and it had nearly cost her the precious diaries! After reading the diaries Matthew wouldn’t be thinking about Elizabeth—he would be thinking about HER. So what date would Matthew most remember about HER? Of course, the date he was supposed to marry her. Now what was it?

Deianeria thought back to what she’d read about it. That was it. She dialed "082493" and the safe swung open. In the back of her mind she could hear Elizabeth telling her that her job was over and it was time for her to take over once more.

"Not yet miss priss," Deianeria whispered to herself.

"I said now!" Elizabeth’s voice told her.

"You need me to find the other useful stuff from the spare room. If you leave them behind you’ll never get them back!" Deianeria whispered out loud.

Deianeria waited for a few moments. She hated being subservient to Elizabeth but for the time being it was the only way.

"Ok collect the stuff, then we go," Elizabeth’s voice told her.

"Ok," Deianeria whispered back.

"One last thing. Did you have Nick killed?" Elizabeth’s voice sounded worried.

"Could I kill anyone? I AM part of you. Could you?" Deianeria hissed.

"No. Sorry I asked. We’d better get a move on," Elizabeth conceded.

Deianeria gave a wry smile. Elizabeth could be so naive sometimes. After collecting the notebooks she shut the safe and turned the dial back to what it had been set at. She was glad Elizabeth had switched over to her. Elizabeth hadn’t even registered the old positions—fortunately she saw everything Elizabeth did and had made a note of it. It was now clear that she could keep things from Elizabeth if she chose to and therefore it would be logical if Elizabeth could too. However, Elizabeth needed to share everything with her for the work to be done. It gave her a lot of pleasure that it didn’t go the other way around.

Deianeria replaced the carpet and ensured that the crinkle was just in the same place too. Elizabeth hadn’t spotted that either! She mentally sighed. Elizabeth was such an amateur. After closing the door Deianeria crept upstairs and into the spare room.

Part of her wanted to retrieve her clothes but they would only take up room she didn’t have. The original notebooks had been put back but they were useless to her. She suddenly had a thought and moved over towards the pile of Matthew and Kat’s stuff. She had to take the risk of putting the light on, but as long as she didn’t make a noise it should be ok.

After switching the lights on Deianeria found a leather bound folder and opened it up. It contained the account details of Matthew and Kat prior to the year 2000. This ledger would be invaluable in finding out if any financial irregularities took place. Deianeria picked up the ledger and a few of Cathline’s notebooks and gently closing the door behind her went back to Elizabeth’s room.

Once again she heard Elizabeth’s voice telling her to leave, but she still had things to do. "Do you want to sleep on the plane or let me work on these?" Deianeria answered back.

"It would be efficient to work on these on the plane. Once Alex turns up it will be hard to do anything on this," Elizabeth admitted.

"I like Alex. I hope he doesn’t betray us," Deianeria stated.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Elizabeth said nervously.

"It’d blow the entire thing wide open wouldn’t it. It’s vital he knows nothing of this until it’s over," Deianeria said. Elizabeth was getting nervous that much she could tell.

"Agreed," Elizabeth said.

"Are you going to fuck him when he arrives?" Deianeria asked.

"No. I want to wait," Elizabeth said determinedly. Kat had told her how special it was to save yourself for the one you really loved. How presenting yourself to him as a pure virgin was one of the most precious gifts a woman could give.

"I think you should fuck him. So you know what’s it’s like. If I were you I would just take him. Let him know who is boss, dominate him. I would put my cunt in his face and make him lick me out," Deianeria said seductively.

Deianeria reached down beneath her nightdress and felt herself becoming moist and aroused at the thought of possessing and dominating Alex. It had been too long since she’d felt like this. Instinctively her finger went inside and caressed her clitoris and a small whimper escaped from her mouth.

"Stop this!" Elizabeth demanded.

"Why? You know you want this as well. You know you want to feel his warm cock inside you and feel him thrust in and out. You know you can’t wait to feel his cum inside you and that warm afterglow that comes from orgasm," Deianeria crooned. She was feeling jolts of pleasure as she moved her finger in and out of her.

"Hmm that’s nice," Elizabeth admitted.

"See, told you," Deianeria gasped. She had now laid herself on the bed and was now fingering herself with both hands. The jolts of pleasure were getting greater and more frequent and she could feel herself nearly reaching climax. She rolled her nightdress up to reveal her full firm breasts. She put a hand her left breast and started to gently tease the nipple. Another wave of pleasure rippled thru her. "This bit is private", she told Elizabeth and closed down the conversation.

In her minds eye she visualized Alex, spread-eagled on the bed. His hands bound by handcuffs and his legs spread apart by a large iron spreader bar. Alex’s cock was erect and waiting for her to mount him. In Alex’s mouth a ball gag stopped him from saying anything. She stood over Alex and gently started kissing his muscular thighs and slowly she teased herself so that her mouth was just above his cock, "I’m not going to fuck you" She heard herself say, "Because penetration means you have some power over me. I’m going to do this instead!"

She bent down and put her mouth over Alex’s throbbing cock. She teased it with her tongue and gently sucked on it. She felt Alex tense as she moved her mouth and tongue all over it and she knew he was ready to come. Still caressing Alex’s cock with one hand. she picked up the small dagger from the side of the bed and hid it behind her back. She moved back to sucking Alex’s cock and felt his body twitch as he started to come. She quickly took her mouth away from Alex’s cock and saw his cum come pumping out. Alex lay back in the afterglow of orgasm unable to move, powerless and bound. He tried to scream as he saw Deianeria whip the dagger from behind her back but the scream was stifled in his throat as Deianeria cut his neck open.

The image faded and Deianeria gave a loud moan as she reached her own climax. Her minds eye showed a picture of Alex’s blood seeping out over the bed and in the midst of her orgasm she was wiping it all over her breasts and into her cunt. She gave another moan of pleasure as another orgasm hit and this time the pleasure came not from her fondling of her pussy or of the kill but from the thought that this is what she would do to Alex if he dared to break her heart.

o—o—o—

 

Matthew was banging on the Elizabeth’s bedroom door for a full five minutes before Deianeria answered the door. "Hi dad," Deianeria said, her voice full of innocence.

"The chopper leaves in half and hour. You’re normally up before us. Are you ok?"

Deianeria wiped her hair away from her eyes, "Yeah fine. Sorry I must have overslept. Gimmie a few minutes and I’ll be back down."

"Ok," Matthew said and shut the door.

Deianeria fumbled around in Elizabeth’s bedside drawer and found an E-mail waiting on Elizabeth’s PDA.

"To ECSTEPHENS@Stephens.corp From Professor Michael Cromwell Ph.D.

Elizabeth,

Thanks for your scans. They are very interesting both on a technical and personal level. It seems as though the samples from the workbook and the UV inked notebook are from the same hand. The sample in the notebook written in ordinary ink is from a different person. Of course it is possible these entries are forged, but in my opinion this is only a small possibilty."

Deianeria gave a smile. She had thought so. That was the only thing that made sense. She now knew what was going on, but to admit it to Elizabeth would mean that she would no longer be required. This was something that Deianeria was determined to avoid for as long as she could. Of course Elizabeth would see the E-mail, but she would reach the wrong conclusions. She would see to that.

She turned the PDA off and placed her bags outside the room. The chopper pilot would pick them up for her. Turning round, she went into the shower. It had been too long since she’d felt able to release the sexual tension inside her, especially in the way she liked it. Elizabeth had kept her body in good shape. That much was clear as her hand went down over her firm breasts, past her smooth flat stomach and onto her pussy. She resisted the temptation to go there again. She needed to focus, not get distracted by carnal pleasures.

A few minutes later she dried herself off and on a whim decided to put on the bleeding heart outfit again. That was her favorite so it ought to go with her. A thought struck her. Elizabeth hadn’t asked about the receipt. Should she do that now? Maybe not, do it over the phone once the ledgers have been studied. That way Matthew’s answer could be verified against real figures. Deianeria considered that the ledgers could hide or exclude any payments for use in creating the fraud, but they would be hard to cover up.

Time flew past and soon Deianeria had kissed everyone goodbye and was on the plane to New York. Elizabeth’s nagging voice at the back of her mind reminded her that she was supposed to be working, not enjoying the flight over.

"I need to relax. Now go away," Deianeria commented.

"I can and I will shut you down for good. Now get on with it. I want this over and done with before I get back to Cambridge," Elizabeth complained.

"I’ve been thinking about that arrangement. Not good enough," Deianeria demanded.

"You haven’t any choice in the matter. All I need to do is take my Olanzapine again and you are gone," Elizabeth said back. Her voice was sounding worried.

"When your parents gave you that Olanzapine injection it didn’t last very long did it? If you ask me, your body is gradually building up a tolerance to the drug. In any case you need me around," There, that will get her thinking, Deianeria thought.

"I guess. Why do I need you? I can call this whole thing off right now and you’ll be gone. It’s got way, way out of track now. I never used to be able to hear different voices in my mind," Elizabeth stated.

"Because I’ve worked out what’s really going on," Deianeria stated.

"How can you? You only have the same information as I have," Elizabeth called Deianeria’s bluff.

"Because I can think and plan far beyond what you can do. You’ve seen that all along. That’s why you asked me to help. I haven’t yet worked out all the details, but one thing is for sure; you need my protection," Deianeria stated.

"From whom and from what"

"From yourself and from becoming what you fear the most," Deianeria said cryptically.

"What do I fear the most?" Elizabeth demanded.

"Hurting the ones you love the most. Becoming like me."

Deianeria said it in a matter of fact way.

"So you do admit to being evil?" Elizabeth said. Deianeria thought she sounded very worried.

"Evil is such a subjective term isn’t it? I am that part of you that gets the job done at any cost. I am the part of you that pushes you beyond what you fear so that you can conquer that fear. I am the part of you that drives your ambition. I am the part of you that wants to make you grow into something you could not normally be. If that is your definition of evil then call me it." Deianeria’s voice spoke in a soft comforting tone.

"You’re that part of me?" Elizabeth queried.

Still in her soothing tone Deianeria said "That and more. Since you freed me from your subconscious you have grown in so many ways. Without me there would be no you and Alex, because you would not have started to think of him in a serious way had I not been around. I know how you feel about him. A part of you is beginning to think he may be the one."

"I guess so. You leave Alex alone!" Elizabeth said defensively.

"You’re welcome to him. I have no interest in him at all. It’s my further existence as part of your consciousness I’m after. In return I will keep you safe. I give you my word."

There was silence for a few moments. Deianeria knew Elizabeth was thinking but she couldn’t tell what. If Elizabeth was thinking, she would be now be confused, full of conflicting emotions and doubt. This was of course what Deianeria was hoping for. She had to live beyond the project, this wasn’t just mind games; it was a matter of survival!

Elizabeth asking "How can we both live together?" It’s either you or me in there?" interrupted her thoughts.

"All I want is your word that you will use me whenever you are worried or concerned. That’s what I’m here for? I’m here to protect you." Deianeria crooned. She was winning the argument. For now the project didn’t matter. If what she thought was going to happen actually happened then it would mean she would never need prissy Elizabeth again. She would be gone and only Deianeria would remain. For now her motives and findings would remain secret. They would be revealed soon enough.

Deianeria gave a smile as the naive Elizabeth said, "That’s all?

You just want to be around waiting for me to call on you?"

"That’s all I ever wanted Elizabeth," Deianeria said softly.

"OK, deal. Under one condition." Elizabeth stated.

"Which is?"

"Tell me what you’ve found out regarding the project,"

"Done," Deianeria said.

Deianeria opened her eyes. Thankfully she hadn’t made a slip and spoken out loud. That would have concerned a few people! There was one last thing she needed to clear up.

"Elizabeth?" Deianeria asked in her mind.

"Yes?"

I need to do some more reading before I can finally tell you the results. Can I stay until tomorrow morning? After that I’ll be there waiting for your call?"

"Ok. I will take over at 9am tomorrow," Elizabeth stated.

Deianeria closed her eyes and went to sleep. It was going to be a long flight.

o—o—o—

Several hours later Deianeria landed at JFK airport feeling utterly exhausted. She had known before she had taken off what she was going to do and say, but it had worked out just the way she wanted. Goody two shoes Elizabeth had fallen right into her trap. She was so, so trusting and in a few months time she would pay the penalty. As she had told Elizabeth she was the part of her that would achieve the goal no matter the cost. She would also keep her side of the promise. She would keep Elizabeth safe, but only her body. All she had to do was play a waiting game and the person called Elizabeth Cathline Stephens would be no more. Sure her body would still be there. Deianeria needed it. However the personality would be gone, replaced only with Deianeria.

Deianeria felt elated. Only a few more months of being a prisoner, of having to deceive and skulk in the shadows of the mind. Patience was a virtue and Deianeria had that in spades.

After collecting her bags from reclaim she hailed a cab and an hour or so was letting herself into Matthew and Kat’s Manhattan apartment. She so wanted to go to sleep but she wanted to make the most of this time of freedom. This would be her last chance for a while.

Going into her bedroom she closed the curtains and she stripped off her clothes and admired her naked body in the full length mirror. She had to admit Elizabeth had kept it in pretty good condition but there was still room for improvement. Her arm muscles were a little weak looking and her thighs could do with some firming up.

What would she miss the most in her months of Exile? Eating was overrated as was Elizabeth’s relationship with Alex. Elizabeth had no idea how to get the most out of Alex for her own pleasure. She had these out of date romantic ideas of giving herself to him. Elizabeth was welcome to them, they only had a few months left anyway. After that Deianeria would show Alex the real meaning of sex and relationships. A single night with her then Alex would be her slave forever. Unless of course he decided to run, and Deianeria already knew she would do in that event.

It was the glow of orgasm, of sexual pleasure she decided she would miss the most in the coming months. Her body gave a quiver of anticipation of the pleasure to come. She was about to run her hand over her breast, when a thought occurred to her. Angela was a threat to her future plans with Alex. Elizabeth had noticed how she had eyed him up when they had first met. Would Angela need to be dealt with as well?

Only if Alex and her became an item; but by then it would be too late. Therefore Angela’s fate would match Alex’s; it was the only way to preserve herself. Deianeria had a wicked idea, it was one that turned her on as much as the idea she’d had for Alex. Her hand reached down, and stroked the soft hair between her legs. Her fingers gently touched the lips of her vagina, and she gave a soft moan. Her other hand cupped her breast and the fingers ran little circles around her nipple.

Deianeria closed her eyes and imagined herself in a darkened room. The lights were dimmed and in one corner a figure stood against the wall. As she moved closer she saw Angela chained hand and foot to the wall. Wrapped around her body were several straps which had been fastened tightly, preventing Angela from moving. Angela’s legs had been spread out to form an upside down Y shape. Deianeria saw with pleasure that Angela’s pussy was exposed and waiting.

Angela was wearing a black silky teddy and black nylon garters. Deianeria gave an appreciative glance up and down Angela’s smooth, firm body. She moved in closer and gently stroked Angela’s nylon covered breast.

"Elizabeth, stop it. Why am I here?" Angela gasped. Her eyes wide with fear.

Deianeria felt herself go moist as her fingers entered her. In her minds eye she reached over and kissed Angela full on the lips. Angela struggled to resist her but she was bound too tightly. Deianeria forced Angela’s mouth open with her hand and her mouth and she felt Angela try and pull herself away. "I am going to take you now, bitch!" Deianeria whispered in Angela’s ear.

Angela gave a scream as she felt Deianeria’s finger stroke her exposed pussy. "That right scream, bitch!" Deianeria cursed at Angela and proceeded to push her finger upwards so that it was right against Angela’s cervix.

"No please. Elizabeth, no" Angela was sobbing.

Deianeria pushed the helpless Angela against the wall and used one hand to reach down underneath her teddy and fondle Angela’s breast. With her other hand she once again fondled the lips of Angela’s vagina. To her surprise she found them moist and waiting. "That’s more like it, Bitch!" Deianeria said.

"My God, no," Angela was calling out and her calls only served to make Deianeria more aroused.

Still caressing Angela’s breast and pussy, Deianeria moved in to kiss Angela once more. Angela by now had resigned herself to being raped by what looked like Elizabeth. But somehow this Elizabeth was far different to the one she knew. That didn’t matter now as the new Elizabeth forced her tongue down her throat.

Deianeria let the image fade for a few moments and moved her other hand down to her pussy. By now it was dripping wet and every stroke made her gasp with pleasure. She felt herself nearing climax and instantly she was back with Angela once more.

"Wait there bitch," Deianeria ordered and moved away from a relieved looking Angela. She returned a few moments later clutching something in her hand. Angela couldn’t make out what it was and it was all she could do to scream as she felt Deianeria ram her clenched fist inside her.

Deianeria gave a gasp of pleasure as she gently rotated her hand inside Angela. She found what she was looking for, a small button on the side of the metal object she had held in her hand. As Deianeria felt herself come she pressed the button and waves of pleasure crashed over her as she heard Angela scream. Ignoring the blood now pouring out over her hand Deianeria rammed the now open flick knife up into Angela’s cervix and womb and gave it a twist before pulling her hand out.

Angela was now screaming in agony, all thoughts of being violated gone as soon as she had felt the searing blade go right into her. Just before she passed out she saw Elizabeth fondling herself with her bloodied fist.

Deianeria stood and watched Angela slowly die as the bleeding continued. With Angela’s final breath Deianeria came and couldn’t help but scream with pleasure as orgasm after orgasm came crashing over her.

Deianeria opened her eyes, exhausted by the pleasure she’d felt. That was worth it. Over the next few months she would remember this feeling and how it would soon come to pass in the real world as it had in her own.

o—o—o—

"Time to wake up," Elizabeth chirped to a still sleeping Deianeria.

Deianeria opened her eyes and checked the time. It was eight forty. "I still have twenty minutes left," She reminded Elizabeth and closed her eyes again.

"Yes but you promised to tell me what you’ve found out."

Elizabeth demanded.

"Yes I did. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

"Very funny," Elizabeth commented.

"Ok, first things first. The receipt is a fake. The signature is forged, it’s a very good one but it’s the only way that fits. The DNA test was easy to fake, as all it would take is a small hair from your dad and simple chemistry to produce a positive DNA test. How do I know this? Easy. Your dad didn’t have fifty grand to spend on surgery, neither dad Kat or Cathline. Their bank account details show no sign of the money either being transferred or laundered."

"Why?" Elizabeth started to say.

"Not yet! Questions at the end. Your research was quite correct that using current theory and techniques DNA modification is impossible. What it doesn’t take into account is the brilliance of Dr Bexley and her research team. She may not look it, or talk like it but Cathline is one clever bitch. I’ve been reading what records remain from TGEN. She was Watson to Dr Bexley’s Holmes. There can be no doubt that they stumbled on something the world has now lost or not reached yet. Just because we don’t know how to do it now doesn’t mean that we never knew how to do it. I’m sure given time together we could do the same as Dr Bexley did."

"I thought as much," Elizabeth commented. "But there’s no physical evidence of it ever having been achieved. Only people’s testimonies exist and they all may well have an interest in covering it up. Everything’s been classified as top secret."

"You forgot. There is evidence," Deianeria stated.

"Where?"

"In Syria. Remember Salah. He was turned into a replica of the half woman-half tiger creature that Kat was in order so that Kat could take his place. His parents had his body exhumed fifteen years ago and taken back to Syria for re-burial. If his skeleton showed extensive modification then that would be proof wouldn’t it?"

"Damn, Missed that one," Elizabeth swore.

"That’s why I’m here. Now you see why you need me," Deianeria comforted.

"But his parents would never consent.." Elizabeth started.

"I have that one all in hand. It will take a while to get the paperwork and their consent thru but in a few months time we will know one way or the other and the Children of Bexley cult will be gone. They will not be able to refute this evidence against them and so they will fold," Deianeria said triumphantly. What she hid from Elizabeth was the thought that in a few months there would be no Elizabeth around to enjoy it.

"You are so right Deianeria. You’ve done brilliantly. But what if Salah’s body melted like the other changelings did when they died?"

"Dr Bexley only told Hassan he had installed a changeling organ in Salah. She was probably lying, why waste the effort if he was only to be killed. Besides Matthew needed to believe that Kat was dead, he couldn’t do that if the body dissolved within a few moments. No, I am sure we will find all the answers in Salah’s remains.

"What about the diaries. The handwriting matches and I suspect the DNA tests will as well," Elizabeth stated.

"I’m nearly at the end of that one but I can find no record of Dr Bexley ever visiting Tibet. I suspect they may be forged too. Placed there to distract you," Deianeria explained. It felt good to treat Elizabeth like a bright pupil with no hope of matching the teacher.

"By whom and for what."

"It’s obvious isn’t it. The Children of Bexley want to alienate you from your family so that you will join them. The receipt and the misdirection has to lead to that conclusion. It’s the only one that fits," That’s not all they are after Deianeria thought but kept it to herself.

"They think I can be the new Dr Bexley?" Elizabeth stated. She sounded worried.

"Very good little one," Deianeria said. Maybe she wasn’t as dumb as Deianeria gave her credit for

"That’s why you want to protect me. You want to stop them!"

Elizabeth sounded hopeful.

"Got it in one. I’m the only one who can. I hope you see that now," Deianeria said as soothingly as she could under the circumstances.

"Oh Deianeria thank you. I knew you wouldn’t let me down. I was wrong to distrust you. I’m sorry," Elizabeth apologized.

"That’s ok. My time is nearly up and you need to get on with your life. I’ll be here, waiting for your call. Don’t worry you won’t turn out like her. I promise it," ‘That’s because you won’t be around to turn out like that’ Deianeria thought to herself.

"Thank you Deianeria," Elizabeth said softly.

"Listen. You have nothing to fear from the past. Alex is here for you now. Put this project behind you and we’ll move on together. Goodbye now," Deianeria said soothingly.

Elizabeth gave a yawn and opened her eyes. She felt a great sigh of relief. She hadn’t been deceived by her parents or by Cathline. They did love her, they weren’t killers and furthermore with Deianeria’s help she now had nothing to worry about. She could get on with falling in love with Alex safe in the knowledge that her future was assured.

o—o—o—

Mark looked at the E-Mail in disbelief. No matter how many times he read it, it said the same. He had failed the last set of coursework and exams. If he didn’t pass the retest in two weeks time then he would be kicked out and that meant unemployable and broke.

He decided he’d spend less time fawning over women he couldn’t possibly have and more time studying. If he did that he might just stand a chance of passing the course.

The college had told him in the email where he was weak, so he set about studying those areas. Two weeks was no time in which to prepare, but it was all the time he had. His parents had bawled him out about working harder, spending less time partying with Wills, all the usual disappointed parental speeches, and much to his chagrin they were right. He was most upset at himself, he knew he could do better. He knew he was one of the brightest in his class but he just could never seem to find the time to study. Things had to change. In a weeks time he would be back at college and by his reckoning Anne Baxter would be back. Fresh from her adventures on the high seas, and he just knew that she would distract him as soon as he saw her.

His only chance would be to lock himself in his room after tutorials and work. Wills would understand, and as for Anne Baxter well she would just have to be such a babe and keep out of his way.

o—o—o—

Anne Baxter flopped down on her bed in the women’s dorm. It was a week before the majority of the other students came back but she really didn’t have any other place to go. Besides, it gave her chance to settle in after a long few months in Israel. She reflected back on her time there. On the whole she had enjoyed it but it had been soured by the tragic death of Steve. Her findings afterwards had helped to end things on a positive note but one thing she was sure of. It would be a hard fight to get her theories and ideas accepted by the scientific community.

She had had her final grades thru from Tel-Aviv and as she expected she had averaged 98.9% in every exam and coursework. Her reputation as a ‘rising star’ was now assured. That could only help matters when the time came.

In the meantime she had another couple of semesters here, even though she had done enough already to be assured a Ph.D. She only knew of one person who had passed a Ph.D. in less than two years and with two semesters to go but that had been in genetics and medicine and nearly thirty years ago. Dr Anne Baxter had a nice ring to it. She could leave now and be assured of that title but she had no desire to. She had too much to do and her dissertation to publish.

The flight over had been a long one and she was very tired. Tomorrow was only a few hours away and she still had to unpack. She closed her eyes and memories of her time in Tel-Aviv came flooding back.

The plaques on the walls of every building dedicated to those who had died still had an effect on her. Men, Women and children had all been killed in that one fateful morning. It had triggered off a series of events that even now where trying to work themselves out.

The joy she felt as the "Anna Maria" set sail on its research mission. Steve had been an unknown then, aloof yet good humored. She remembered watching the harbor move slowly out of sight as they went further and further out to sea until land was but a distant speck on the horizon.

Her first dive gave her immense pleasure. It had been her first time using re-breathers and the freedom they gave her left her addicted for more. She had so wanted to see the sea life in all it’s glory but empty sea greeted her on many occasions. The results of pollution and over fishing were having a catastrophic effect. In some cases she found it hard to tell she wasn’t swimming in a pool, sometimes, so empty was the water. When she did find abundant life she never wanted to come up again.

The day she’d had her idea and it had been confirmed in theory came back to her. Steve had been staggered by its audacity and stunned by its genius. Seeing the once aloof Steve melt into gushy admiration had given her a great deal of pleasure. That had been the day when they really started to hit it off.

Anne felt a cold twinge on her leg. It was as though she had bumped into Steve’s body all over again. That was the low point, her lowest ebb for many years. Death seemed to follow her around, wait until she had dropped her guard, and then strike at those she had started to love and care for. Her swim to shore, dragging Steve’s body behind her came into her mind. Why had she done something as stupid as that? The reason was simple, because she could.

Her victory over the Dean in getting re-assigned to the "Esau" gave her pleasure. That had been fun, from becoming an outcast to the most respected member of the crew in a scant two weeks was something of a triumph. The last month had been spent writing her dissertation, which was due to be published in a few months, and now here she was, alone again.

In times likes these, when she was feeling tired and alone, she would just remember back to her childhood, and of the gleeful innocence of being a young girl. In her minds eye she saw herself, tiny and frail dressed in a blue and pink dress looking up in awe as they walked back from church one bright Sunday morning. She was a real daddy’s girl at heart.

"Daddy, when I’m older I want to do what you do," she remembered saying. She must have been about five at the time.

"You’ll have to work really hard to be a doctor," her father had told her.

"I don’t need to work hard—I’m clever!" She had stated with the absolute certainty that only a child can muster.

"That you are. But you still need to work hard. You know what the most important thing about being a doctor is?" Her father had bent down and was speaking to her face to face

"No," she had whispered.

"Every life is unique and precious," Her father said.

"Like mommy’s jewelry?" she had asked.

Her father gave a smile, "Just like mom’s jewelry."

The image faded and it saddened Anne to think on it. How far she had come from that little girl looking up to her seemingly all knowing and all powerful father. Her love for him hadn’t been able to save him that fateful night when the car he and her mom crashed while rushing to see her, had it?

There was so much she wanted to say to them. She knew they would be proud of her now, making a new life for herself, but what of the things she had done in order to get here? In the end that mattered little. She was who she was and where she was. No amount of reminiscing could alter that fact, and in a way it gave her the comfort she so desperately needed.

o—o—o—

The next two weeks were a nightmare for Mark. He had spent every waking hour studying in preparation for today, the day of his retest. Today would decide if he would be allowed to stay or would be drummed out in shame and failure. Wills had been shooed away and he lived, breathed and ate the topics of the exam. He didn’t recall working this hard on anything in his entire life. He HAD to pass this course. As the old cliche went, failure was not an option.

He packed his bag, ready to drive to the room where the exam was to be taken. He wasn’t allowed to take his PDA in, so he left it by the side of his bed. All he would be allowed to take in was himself, and some pens with which to write notes. He would speak the answers into the computer supplied, and it would then do the rest. He double checked the contents of his bag, uttered a silent prayer and went outside.

After rummaging around in his pockets and bag, he realized he had left his car keys behind and shot off back to his dorm to find them. After frantically searching around, he found them in an old pair of jeans. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, he closed the door and ran back to his car and after a couple of attempts started the car. At least that bit was working well. Mark’s car was an old 1980’s chevy. His friends called it antique, which it was and since the cost of gasoline had broken the ten dollars a gallon mark last year it was an expensive antique. The cost for Mark to change it to a newer fuel cell powered model was more than he could afford and gas prices being what they were he only used to for essential trips.

He had only just gotten round a sharp left handed corner when the car suddenly died on him and spluttered to a halt. Swearing violently he slammed his fist onto the steering wheel. He looked around for anyone who might help him, but no one was around. He checked his watch; he had twenty minutes to go before the exam started. This was typical, just fucking typical.

He popped the hood open and looked inside. There was no oil or smoke billowing out so things looked ok from that angle. He checked under the car but again there was no fluid leaking out. He checked the battery connections but they seemed fine, as did the spark plugs.

He heard a deep rumble in the distance. Actually it was more like a throaty roar of an engine. He looked up to see the outline of a silver Porsche take the corner he had just gone round with consummate ease. It just clipped the apex of the bend, and sailed around it as though on rails. Whoever it was, was a skilled driver.

o—o—o—

Anne Baxter was relishing being back in her Porsche convertible. Months of driving boring modern cars with silent fuel cells and biometric sensors had robbed her of the feeling of power and domination that she felt while driving her Porsche. Although it wasn’t her pride and joy, flew in the face of sound environmental doctrine she did have a soft spot for it. Everyone needs a harmless vice, and this car was hers!

She had just taken it out for an early morning run in the twisty roads, a few miles from her dorm. Before she had left she had upgraded it with the latest in anti-speed trap countermeasures, so she felt free to drive the car as it was supposed to be driven. There was a particular sequence of bends she had got just right, kissing the apex on each corner allowing the car to just feel it’s way around each bend as if it were dancing. Even her favorite straight section was empty of traffic so she had allowed her speed to creep up to an indicated 170. Creep wasn’t the adjective she would describe it as, more like being hitting in the rear by a train. For sure, they didn’t make fuel cell cars like this yet.

Her hair was all blown about by the force of the wind, it would need a wash before she went out again. She could feel her cheeks flush with the cool morning air. She was back into town now. All thoughts of high speed behind her as she cruised back to her dorm. As she rounded a bend she noticed an ancient chevvy, just like the one her dad used to have. It had the hood up and a man had his head inside the engine.

As she drew closer the man lifted his head of the engine bay and stared. He was obviously distressed about something, and she could see the start of a puppy dog look as he saw her drive closer. On impulse she decided she would stop to help, it would be her good deed for the day.

o—o—o—

As the Porsche drew closer, Mark managed to catch a glimpse of its occupant. It was Anne Baxter! That was all he needed. Late for an exam, covered in grease from trying to fix the car, and now his dream girl turns up to ruin his concentration. She was slowing down. What the hell was she doing?

Mark had to try and stop his jaw from dropping, and his eyes from popping out of his skull as she drew along side him. Her hair was a mess, but even then she looked as heavenly as she had done since he’d first caught a glimpse of her all those months ago.

"You ok?" she asked.

Mark’s reply was lost in the back of his throat. He dare not say anything in case it made him seem foolish.

She gave him an odd look, and then asked "Vous-etes bien?, Es usted aceptable? Sind Sie okay?"

Now Mark was even more nervous, she could speak at least three languages! All he managed to do was point at the car and say "car"

Anne gave a Mark the kind of look that implied his IQ was a little less than a turnip. She was about to drive off, when Mark in sheer desperation at seeing his dream woman leave forever said, "Sorry. I have the retake of my exam in fifteen minutes and my damned car has broken down. What a lousy day!"

Anne broke into a wide smile that caused Mark’s heart to melt. She decided that Mark was just stressed about his exam, and that he wasn’t going to harm her or anything, so she got out of her car.

"My dad used to have one of these," she said, noting that Mark’s jaw was on the floor and his eyes were taking in her every curve. The thought pleased her. He was kinda cute in a boy next door sort of way. He reminded her of someone she had been close to so many years ago.

"Did he?" Mark asked. What a dumb answer he thought.

Anne walked over to Mark’s car and peered in," Yeah it used to do this all the time. The wire connecting the ignition to the distributor used to slip out all the time. They look firmly connected, but they’re not. Here let me show you," Anne pushed the four leads firmly into the distributor cap and then gave them a shove for good measure, " See you need to push until you feel them click back into place. Now try it."

Mark dashed back into the car and turned the engine. To his amazement it started first time. "You don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you. He checked his watch there was ten minutes to go but he would make it, just!"

Feeling elated that he wasn’t going to fail just yet Mark blurted out, "I want to say thank you properly. Dinner at eight? Meet me outside the science faculty?"

Anne gave a smile. He was such an odd fellow. The similarities between rescuing this young man and the last man she’d helped whose car had broken down were not lost on her. Why not, second time lucky? "Sure. If you don’t mind we’ll take my car. Yours might not make it."

Mark was so surprised with her answer that he stalled the car.

o—o—o—

Elizabeth had arranged to meet Angela for lunch, and as usual Angela was running late. She checked her watch once more in frustration. She had a tutorial in half an hour, which didn’t leave much time for lunch and a chat. Elizabeth was pleased that Deianeria had taken a back seat. In fact since she’d started back on the Olanzapine Deianeria had remained silent. It had been worthwhile running the simulation, even though it had gotten really spooky towards the end. Deianeria’s revelation that the Children of Bexley were out to recruit her was, on the face of it not a surprise at all. What a coup that would be for them if they managed it. Well not any more they wouldn’t!

She had told Angela the whole thing, except from the details of the deal she’d struck with Deianeria and about Deianeria herself. That would worry Angela too much. Angela had thought Deianeria’s conclusions very logical and had promised to look out for her as well. So all in all no harm was done.

Alex was due to visit in a week or so. In spite of settling back into college life again, she found that she was missing him already. It was still a puzzle for her how she could miss someone she had spent years wanting as far away as possible after only dating them for two weeks. However, the fact remained that she now had an Alex shaped hole in her life. When she had told Angela about Alex she was delighted for her. When Elizabeth told her about their first date Angela went green with envy. Not only about the location but about Alex too. She was right, he was a prize catch. "Damn I knew I should’ve asked him out first!" Angela had commented.

The hardest thing Angela and herself had, had to do was to write to Nick’s parents saying how sorry they were. The brutal way in which he had been killed had sent a shock wave thru the university, which was only now abating. Another shock for Elizabeth was to see that, unknown to her fifty thousand dollars had been transferred from her account, seemingly by herself! That must have been Deianeria! But what did she need the money for?

Deianeria’s activities whilst occupying her conscious mind, concerned her. Sure, she had indulged in a little ‘two hand touch’ before but Deianeria’s had a dark, sinister edge to it. In her dreams she had vague pictures of raping and killing people she loved and cared for, but these were only a hazy recollection. She dismissed them as bad dreams. Another thing, why had Deianeria found it necessary to shut her out? The very act of becoming Deianeria confused her too. It was as though Deianeria thought her body was her own and not Elizabeth’s, whatever happened to it happened to her. Still, it was a moot point now. Deianeria was safely contained, and where the hell was Angela?

She felt a tap on her shoulder and she whirled around, "Angela Hi. Where have you been?"

"I took forever at the dentist, and there was one hell of a queue at the drug store. Anyway I’ve got your ‘asthma’ medicine for you. I’m starved," Angela replied, breathlessly.

"Thanks for doing that for us. We should still have time for a sandwich before I need to go," Elizabeth took the small white box from Angela and put it in her pocket. Angela had played along with the Asthma medicine deception since she had first known the truth.

"Still missing him?" Angela asked.

Elizabeth nodded, "Yep."

"Damn," Angela smiled.

o—o—o—

"Will’s you’ll never guess what!" Mark said running into Will’s dorm.

"Who are you?" Wills asked with a smile.

"I’ve got a date!" Mark exclaimed.

"Who with? Lemme guess. Doris the cleaner!" Wills teased.

"With her! Anne Baxter!" Mark could hardly believe he was saying it, and even less that it was true.

"How come? You drug her or something?" Wills commented.

Mark couldn’t contain his excitement. "You know I had my retest today. It was a nightmare of a morning. I was as nervous as hell and to cap it all, my car broke down on the way there. There I was stranded with nowhere to go but flunk city, when who turn’s up in her Porsche. She knew exactly what to do to fix the car, and then when I asked her out as a thank you she said yes. It’s tonight at eight!"

"She probably has a thing about men in broken down cars," Wills commented.

"I don’t care. I’m dating Anne Baxter! Uber babe! I never thought there was god until now,"

"Never mind Uber babes how’d the exam go?" Wills asked.

Mark was too wrapped up in his thoughts to answer.

o—o—o—

As Anne walked up to the science faculty she wondered what the hell she doing going out with a guy she’d met on the side of the road. Still he seemed ok. She’d ran a check on his car’s license plate. His name was Mark Andrews and he was a student studying ecology at the same college as she was. He had been brought up in Iowa and had been here ever since. He had no criminal record and was otherwise just a normal guy.

He had seemed abnormally enamoured with her though. She wondered if she didn’t have her own stalker and he was it. Oh well, she would find out soon enough. He was cute though, and maybe she was a sucker for helpless men. It had taken Steve weeks to pluck up courage to ask her out, and she’d only just said yes. So why did she agree to this guy? Maybe it was because he was just a name, if anything did happen to him, he was just a name, and that she decided was the way she wanted it to be.

She checked her watch, it read 7:59. Time to go. She had decided that casual was the way to go. Therefore, she had chosen her second best pair of skirt-pants, black shoes and a green blouse. Wrapping her hair up into a pony tail she made her way to the science faculty.

o—o—o—

"I hope this isn’t going to be one of those flowers, restaurant and awkward moments when it’s time to drop me off kinda date," Anne had stated mischievously. She had noticed Mark holding a bunch of mixed flowers as she walked up to him.

Mark looked dismayed, "Actually, these are for you," he said offering them to her.

Anne gave him a devastating smile, "Only teasing. How’d the exam go?" She took the flowers from him and held them under her arm.

Mark relaxed. He thought he’d blown it right away, but Anne joking with him had broken the ice and calmed his nerves. "Much better. It helps studying rather than mooching around."

Anne nodded, "That’s the idea. My car’s just around the corner So where are we going?"

Mark put a finger to his lips, and shook his head, "Wait and see."

"Aha one of those flowers, wait and see, and then awkward moments when it’s time for me to go kinda dates," Anne gave Mark another heart melting smile.

Mark didn’t really know what to reply. Was Anne mocking him, or was she trying to ease his nerves? "You go on a lot of dates?" He asked.

"Only with men who’s cars have broken down," Anne said, with a grin.

o—o—o—

"If you park just over to the right there we can walk the rest of the way," Mark stated, gesturing to a small parking place about a hundred feet to the left.

"So it’s a walk along the shore then," Anne commented. She was surprised how well she and Mark were getting on. He had responded in just the right way to her teasing, and had seemed to conquer his nerves that had threatened to mar the evening.

"Not just a walk along the shore. We need to eat as well remember, " Mark said. Anne was turning out to be as classy, witty, and beautiful as he had dreamed of. It wasn’t every day that dreams turn out to be the same as reality, but today was one of those days.

"I don’t recall any restaurants along here, unless of course you want us to walk 5 miles," Anne said. Whatever Mark had planned she knew she could cope with.

Mark gestured that they should walk down the long pathway onto the beach, "In about half an hour dinner will come to us!" He said, cryptically.

"Good I’m starved. As long as it’s not sushi, when I was in Asia I ate nothing but sushi, got sick of it. Anyway, what part of ecology are you doing? Marine? Arboreal? Zoological?"

Mark raised an eyebrow. She wanted to talk shop. "Dunno yet. All of them I guess. You can’t pick one without looking at the other. "

Anne nodded "True. Part of my time in Israel was spent looking at the marine ecology of the Med. It’s such an enclosed space, it’s an excellent barometer as to how things are going to eventually fail unless I stop it,"

Mark noticed the use of the word I. That was either supreme ego or she had found something. Anne didn’t seem the egotistical sort, so it had to be the latter, "I?"

Anne gave Mark a wry smile, "Good try. I have an idea that’s all.

When I publish it’ll be headline news."

"This looks about right," Mark gestured to an open stretch of sand just above the high water mark. He found a large, smooth stone and sat down beside it. He lifted it up and pulled out a large plastic bag. Opening the bag he pulled out several unopened bottles of beer and a bottle opener.

"Strange how people just leave food everywhere isn’t it?" Anne commented and sat down beside Mark. The beer under the stone had been a nice touch. She took a bottle from Mark, as he offered it to her.

Mark decided that now was a good time to bring it up. He was desperate to know. "I’m sorry to hear about the boat accident. It must have been terrible."

Anne nodded. "Yeah it was. Poor Steve, never had a chance.

That was the kind of celebrity status I didn’t need"

"Sorry I asked. It was insensitive of me," Mark said. His heart sank. He had blown it again.

"That’s ok. I now have to make sure I don’t let his memory down. If anything, it’s given me more impetus to finish the work we were doing. I had to go head to head with the Dean to get myself back on another boat."

Mark smiled, "That must have been fun."

Anne grinned, "yes it was," and she related the story of how she’d ‘persuaded’ the Dean to get her on board the ‘Easu’

After the story was told Mark shook his head in disbelief "You said that!"

"And more," Anne said, taking another swig of beer.

Mark plucked up courage to say "You really are the most remarkable woman I’ve ever met. "

Anne raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

"Apart from rivaling Rachel Martin,"

Anne gave a smile. "Why thank you."

"You act with supreme confidence. Nothing fazes you, it’s though you own the world. You don’t do you?"

"Do I look like Jennifer Gates? I hope I look better than Queen Britanny?" Anne commented.

"Thankfully no and you look a lot better than her!" Mark grinned.

"I guess it comes from having no parent’s for much of your life. You either become bitter and resentful or you pick yourself up and make it on your own. I did the former, then came to my senses, and then did the latter," Anne said softly. Why was she opening up to Mark? Maybe, he just made her feel human again.

"I’m sorry. It must have been tough, "Mark said softly.

Anne paused for a moment, looking out at the sea. As if her heart was now lost in the midst of a million memories, "It is. Everyday I move a little further from who I was to who I want to be, but there are some hurts that time can’t wipe away."

Mark couldn’t recall seeing Anne looking so vulnerable. "Can I help?" He offered.

"I’m bad news Mark. Trust me, I’m more trouble than you can handle, more than anyone can," Anne said, still looking out to sea.

"How can you be? You don’t even know me," Mark said. His dreams were slipping away fast. Was she going to leave him even before dinner?

"Yes I do. Country boy, setting out to the big city to make a new life for himself. I fell in love with a country boy like you once. He nearly didn’t survive the encounter," Anne said quietly.

Mark looked at Anne’s face and was amazed to see tears in her eyes. She was hurting inside and Mark wanted, no wished that he could take her pain away, "I don’t care. You don’t know me. I’m not this country boy you met once. I’m me!"

Anne turned to face him, her eyes full of sadness and despair, "You do not understand."

On impulse Mark took hold of Anne’s hand "Then make me understand. I’ll ask again what can I do to help?"

Anne was debating to leave or not but decided at the last moment to stay, "Dinner would be a start," she politely withdrew her hand from Mark’s. It had been a nice gesture but was now obsolete.

Mark checked his watch, "He should be here by now"

"Who should?"

"Bernito."

"That explains everything," Anne commented.

"Bernito makes the best hot dogs in the state. I’ve no idea what he puts in his relish but it’s unreal," Mark said.

Anne gave Mark a look that said ‘You dragged me all the way out here just for beer and hot dogs?’

Mark didn’t need Anne to say it. He knew what she was thinking.

But what was he thinking of; hot dogs and beer for God’s sake! He should have blown his allowance on the most expensive restaurant in town.

Anne saw Mark’s glum look and burst out laughing. "Maybe I was wrong about you."

Mark felt hurt. More than hurt, cut to the core of his being. "I’m sorry I was wrong about you," he said softly. How could he have been so wrong? Anne Baxter, Uber babe! Yeah right! Uber Bitch more like!

"No you weren’t. I told you I’m trouble!" Anne said.

"And I’m just a country boy," Mark complained bitterly.

"Come here country boy," Anne said and to Mark’s astonishment pulled him close and kissed him.

Mark was so startled he almost forgot to kiss her back.

o—o—o—

"Hmm what is in these hot dogs!" Anne exclaimed. The taste of the relish was nothing like she’d had before. Sure, some chili and tomato were in there, but she could only hazard a guess at the rest.

"Told you they were good," Mark said. He was still reeling for the shock of Anne kissing him.

"You’re wanting to know why I kissed you, and will I do it again?" Anne commented.

"I had wondered," Mark admitted. Once again Anne had shown this habit of putting him off balance. Did she do that to everyone?

"Because you’re you. I mean you could have taken me out to the most expensive place in town. Even though I knew it’d make you broke for a week. I’ve seen your car remember. You could have treated me like a princess; showered me with gifts in order to try and win me over, but you didn’t. Tonight you showed me the real you. Not some false made up image, but the real Mark Andrews. This age of ours concentrates so much on what is image, what is false, it’s wonderful to meet someone who’s the opposite."

"I didn’t plan it that way. This was all I could afford," Mark admitted.

Anne gave a smile. She was a little mystified as to why she’d kissed him as well. It seemed the right thing to do. She had found, much to her surprise that when she was with him her world weary cynicism melted away. It was though she was looking at things thru rose tinted glasses, that the past didn’t matter, and that people or at least Mark Andrews felt trusting enough of her not to put up barriers. "I’ve told you what I’m like. More trouble than you can handle."

Mark was about to say ‘Wanna bet?’ but changed his mind at the last moment "You’re probably right." He admitted

"But that’s something I would like to be proved wrong on," Anne said softly.

o—o—o—

The next three weeks passed in a blur. He had seen Anne most days after classes, and it seemed that every day that passed, they had grown closer. Anne still remained secretive and mysterious about her past, so Mark avoided the subject. She would tell him when she was ready. So far he had seen little of the ‘bad news’ that Anne had warned him of, only that Anne was everything he had dreamed of and more.

For Anne’s part she was rapidly warming to her ‘country boy’. Mark was incredibly laid back but he had a sensitivity about him that she found intriguing. She hadn’t set out, when she came to college to find a boyfriend, in fact she had deliberately avoided the matter for a number of years. But Mark was different somehow. No matter how thorny she tried to be, he would just laugh it off and carry on caring for her. It was a strange situation to be in for sure. Dare she love again? That was the question she asked herself again and again. What would happen if it failed like it had last time? Could she trust herself not to make the same mistakes again?

These were all questions that she didn’t know the answer to. Did she even want to find out the answers in the first place? One thing for certain she did feel alone. "Hi-Fi track 16 personal collection". Anne sat back and listened to the music. It always helped her think.

"I gotta take a little time

A little time to think things over

I better read between the lines

In case I need it when I’m older

Now this mountain I must climb

Feels like the world upon my shoulders

Through the clouds I see love shine

It keeps me warm as life grows colder

In my life

There’s been heartache and pain

I don’t know

If I can face it again

Can’t stop now

I’ve traveled so far, to change this lonely life"

A loud knocking at the door interrupted her thoughts. "Music, volume down 95%." She called and answered the door. She broke into a smile as she saw Mark standing there.

"Did you forget?" he asked.

"Nope I wanted you to come get me," Anne said with a grin.

"Nothing new there then. Everything packed and ready to go?" Mark asked. By now he knew it would be but he felt as though it was his duty to ask.

"We’ll have to hire boards when we get there," Anne commented. She had been keen to get to the Florida keys for a while and now she had the chance she leapt at it. The fact that Mark was coming was a bonus. She hoped to get some diving in too. This long weekend of theirs had been planned for a week or so now and she just hoped that she was right about Mark. Maybe it was time to open herself up to him?

"Did you get the exam results?" She asked expectantly.

"Sure did, I aced it!" Mark said and punched the air in triumph.

"Knew you would," Anne smiled back and gave him a congratulatory hug.

"If you hadn’t have fixed my car..." Mark said

"If is such a big word," Anne commented.

o—o—o—

"You and Alex seem pretty serious. I can’t keep you away from him can I?" Angela teased.

Elizabeth gave Angela a smile, "I have no idea what you’re talking about."

"Yes you do ‘little miss, my boyfriend bought a house in Cambridge, just so he could be near to her’," Angela teased.

"That was so sweet wasn’t it! It’s strange how the more I get to know him as Alex rather than ‘pain in the ass’ the more I realize I was wrong about him. We just connect!"

"I still haven’t forgiven you for getting in before me. He is soo cute," It had been a running joke that Angela was waiting in the wings should Alex and Elizabeth split up. The first time it happened, Deianeria had intruded telling Elizabeth to be careful, but Elizabeth just ignored it. Still, she was pleased to know that Deianeria still had her best interests at heart.

"No chance. Every time we meet, it’s like we’re bonding together. I never thought I’d say it but our lives are intertwining, becoming one. I can’t imagine a future without Alex in it," Elizabeth swooned.

"Do I hear wedding bells?" Angela asked.

"IF and this is a big if he asked me I’d say yes. Oh Angela, do you really think he would?" Elizabeth asked.

Angela gave Elizabeth a hug "Don’t ask me. If he’s any sense he will. It IS romantic isn’t it? Marrying your childhood sweetheart."

"He was hardly my sweetheart," Elizabeth paused for a few moments, "Angela Holden," Elizabeth said formally.

"Elizabeth Stephens," Angela replied.

"In the event of Alex and I getting married I want you to be my bridesmaid," Elizabeth gave Angela a huge grin.

Angela gave Elizabeth another hug, "I’d love to," she said tearfully.

o—o—o—

Mark and Anne had been an item for nearly four months, and Anne had to admit the time had simply flown past. She had enjoyed helping Mark on his course and his grades had improved noticeably. A few weeks ago, he had taken her to meet his parents, something that she was feeling a little nervous about. Not because she thought she would make a bad impression, but of what emotions it would stir in her. Much to her surprise it had gone very well. Mark’s dad had loved her car, and his mom being captivated by her intelligence and conversation.

Anne was now having a lay down on her sofa, and was reading the news on her PDA. Earlier on, she had moved some money around to her various accounts, so that she could to maximize profits from an up turn in the futures market. On a whim, she turned to the celebrity section of her personalized news-mail. One article in particular caught her attention right away.

"Mr and Mrs Stephens are delighted to announce the engagement of their daughter, Elizabeth to Mr Alex Richards, son of Cathline Richards(Rachel Martin).

Mr and Mrs Stephens of Fury fame had been staying at their island mansion in the Maldives when the news broke. Elizabeth is currently in the middle of a medical degree at Cambridge University, England and it is understood that the wedding will be after she has completed the course. "

Anne gave a broad grin, "You go for it girl!"

Her PDA interrupted her reading "Anne, it’s time to go. You are due to meet Mark at the Theatre in half an hour."

"PDA, thanks." Anne commented. She had been looking forward to this for days. Although it was only a local production, it had been highly rated in the local newspapers, and besides, in these days of interactive on demand TV it was a refreshing change to watch something live.

Anne checked her watch; she still had a little time to work on the final details of her paper. It should be ready in a month or so, and she had now manufactured enough plankton to show the principle to any that would doubt her. She still hadn’t shared her idea with Mark. It was better he didn’t know; the ecologists would have a fit if they found out. They would do sooner or later of course, but by then the facts would be out. She had speeded things up, as Mark’s research and others from around the world showed the rate of environmental decline was not gradually declining. The recovery was normally helped by compensation mechanisms within the ecosystems, but was now snowballing out of control. These compensation mechanisms, such as the increased growth of algae that would then decrease the amount of CO2 were now past breaking point. Gaia had given it her best shot, but under increasing population and industrial pressures it was a one way battle. By hers and Mark’s best estimates they had less than sixty years before the ecosystem of the ocean’s collapsed. In ecological terms that was no time. If they didn’t act in the next two years or so it would be too late. Thanks to the ark project the DNA of many species had been preserved after their extinction. So some of the bio-diversity could be regained in time but what good would it be if they had no habitable environment to live in? Mankind would of course adapt. Already they had the technology to compensate for the lack of Oxygen in the atmosphere, but building these O2 re-circulation plants on a global scale could take decades. That wouldn’t prevent the extinction of thousands of species in the meantime. She had to succeed! The alternative was for mankind to live in domed cities with regulated air, not being able to go outside for fear of sun burn, and a landscape almost devoid of vegetation. Two hundred years from now the Earth would be a wasteland.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. Was it that time already? She opened the door, and gave a smile, "Hi Mark. Ready to go?"

"Sure," Anne said, and closed the door behind her.

Half an hour later Anne had parked the car "We’d better get a move on. It starts in 5 minutes," Mark said.

"Yep. We’ll cut thru there," Anne said pointing towards a small side alley.

"Ok," Mark said, and hand in hand they sped off.

On reflection this was not a good idea, Mark decided. The back alley was dimly lit and the walls were sprayed with various graffiti tags. Several large trash cans had been tipped over leaving paper, food and everything else sprawling all over the road. "We’d better hurry," Mark hissed, and they started to run faster.

Suddenly two figures loomed in front of them barring their way. In the dim street lights Mark could just make out an some kind of emblem of their black leather jackets. In unison Mark and Anne turned to leave back the way they had come, but another figure was blocking their path. Mark had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Hi guys what’s going on?"

The lead figure stepped forward, his face masked by a red silk scarf. Mark’s fear rose as he noticed a large looking hand gun in the man’s hand. He glanced across at Anne, who much to his surprise wasn’t looking scared at all. She was glancing around as if calculating options. Mark moved across to put his body in front of hers. He had to protect her at all costs!

The lead figure looked firstly at Mark, and then at Anne "Ok here’s how it goes. You give us your money, and the keys to that nice Porsche you were driving, and we’ll let you go."

"Not my car," Anne complained and moved to face the gang leader. A move that put her in the firing line instead of Mark.

The gang leader leered at Anne. "I’ve just added something else. Let me have a go with your girl as well!"

Mark moved forward to try and pull Anne out of the way, but one of the other gang members pulled another handgun and pointed it at his head.

Anne tried to placate an already tense situation, "Hey look, I don’t want any trouble. Mark give him what money you have I’ll go with him."

Mark couldn’t believe what Anne was saying. She had refused to sleep with him, saying she had wanted to wait, and now she was going to go with some scum instead. "Over my dead body!"

"Mark, Please I know what I’m doing!" Anne hissed. There was something in her voice that made Mark sure she had something in mind.

"You heard your girlfriend," the gang leader leered.

Grudgingly Mark reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his wallet. He threw it to the ground. Still being covered by handguns the gang leader picked it up, and said, "Thanks. Have a nice day."

The gang leader then moved in and gave Anne a large kiss. He held her head firm as he pressed his lips against hers. She managed to break free and said "Not here. There!" She pointed to a side alley a little way to the left.

"Anne!" Mark called and tried to stop the gang leader. He felt a large thud on the back of the head and fell to the floor dazed. "Next time it’ll be a bullet," one of the gang members snarled.

The gang leader led Anne at gunpoint to the side alley. When he was sure he was out of sight he pointed his gun at her and demanded "Strip! Bitch"

Anne’s tone of voice changed to a deathly whisper "My name is Anne Baxter and I am the last living thing you are ever, ever going to see!"

The gang leader gave a loud laugh "Yeah right,"

Anne raised her left arm and said "Watch"

The gang leader was amused at this young woman’s bravado.

She was no match for him both physically, and he had a gun. What could she possibly do to him? There was something in her tone of voice that worried him. It was as though death had spoken thru the voice of this young woman. His worry turned to fear as he saw the flesh on the woman’s started to shift. In a matter of seconds her fingers had fused together to form a sharp serrated bony blade. The bone traveled down until it reached her elbow. Now her whole upper arm was a nasty looking serrated blade. The gang leader gave a smile, no matter what this woman was she was no match for a magnum.

Mark screamed as two shots rang out "ANNE!"

Seconds later a blood curdling scream came out of the back alley.

Inside the Alley Anne concentrated and the bullet wounds healed up with in a few moments. She pulled her blade arm from out of the sternum of the gang leader. She concentrated on her arm and the flesh reformed back into her hand once more. Now it was time to deal with the other two punks. She now knew that it was too late for Anne Baxter. As soon as she walked out this Alley, then Mark would start asking questions. Although there were no signs of the bullets on her body they had left two rather large holes in her blouse, and the small amount of blood that had seeped out before the wounds had sealed, had left tell tale stains. She had a decision to make and quickly. Mark’s life was still in danger. If she disappeared now, then it would be a number of years before she could resume work on saving the oceans. She didn’t have a number of years left before it was too late so really there was no choice at all. She hoped Mark would understand. For a fraction of a second she considered killing him as well. There was the perfect alibi, but in spite of everything she’d done before she couldn’t bring herself to kill an innocent man, especially one she had grown close to over a number of months. ‘It had to happen one day’ she thought, and walked out of the side alley.

Mark was still hurling obscenities at the rest of the gang when Anne walked out. Mark caught a glimpse of her walking calmly out and called out "ANNE! You ok?"

The gang member behind Mark shouted at Anne "Where is he Bitch!"

In an icy cold tone that chilled Mark to the bone Anne replied, "I killed him and you two are next."

"Wanna bet?" The gang member said and fired two shots at Anne.

"Anne!" Mark screamed as he saw her stagger backwards as the bullets struck her."

To Mark’s amazement Anne kept coming. She was now moving faster than his eye could detect. He heard a gargled, stunted scream and the gang member guarding him collapsed in a heap, his head nearly decapitated from his body, and blood was pouring from an open neck wound.

The other gang member turned to flee but to he found his way blocked by someone who looked like Anne. Both of the creatures arms had been turned into serrated blades, and it’s head although resembling Anne was coated in bony armor.

"What, What are you?" the remaining gang member stammered.

The figure said in a voice straight from death it’s self. "My Name is Dr Elizabeth Anne Bexley and I am the last living thing you are ever, ever going to see."

Before the gang member could react the creature that had been Anne rammed both her bladed arms into his chest and ripped them outwards, nearly tearing him into two.

This was too much to Mark, still dazed from the blow to the head he collapsed to the floor in a faint.

o—o—o—

"Hey Angela you in there? The lights don’t seem to work" Elizabeth called into her darkened apartment.

Elizabeth walked inside. There was a green light LED showing from the TV, so that meant there was still power in the room. Light’s didn’t just fail There was something wrong!

A tingle of fear trickled down her spine as she walked into the living room. There was nobody there. She waited for a few moments to allow her eyes to get accustomed to the dark before venturing into the kitchen. She stumbled as she walked into the Kitchen and managed to keep to her feet. She turned around to see what it was and gave a loud scream as she saw Angela’s body lying on the ground.

Instinctively she felt for a pulse and breathed a sigh of relief.

The pulse was strong, but Angela had obviously been sedated. Her PDA was still in the living room table and the police were only minutes away. She walked back into the living room and tried to see it in the darkness, "PDA ALARM!" she called loudly, and desperately waited for the beep of confirmation, but none was forthcoming. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind and felt a damp, sweet smelling cloth go over her mouth. Seconds later it all went black.

o—o—o—

Mark awoke an indeterminate time later. He felt a cold, wet cloth soothe the bruise on his head. He opened his eyes to see Anne’s face looking down at him. Her blue eyes looked at him with concern. "You should be ok. There’s no concussion."

"Where am I?" Mark asked woozily.

"Your place," Anne said softly.

"You, You," Mark started to say. The visions of Anne or whomever she was cutting down the gang in front of him filled his mind. To think he had loved her!

"They shouldn’t have tried to take my car," Anne said, with a smile.

Mark managed to sit up. How could she make light of killing three people in such a brutal manner?

"Here take this," Anne said, and gave Mark a strong, sweet cup of tea. She moved over to the far side of the room, swung an armchair around, and sat in front of him.

"Thanks," Mark managed to say. All he could think of was the sight of the near headless body of the gang leader collapsing in front of him.

"I expect you have a million questions. Let me start. Who am I?

How did I do what I did? And what’s going to happen to us?"

Mark managed to nod "Those will do for a start," He took a swig of tea and felt a little better.

Anne gave a deep breath. This was going to be hard as it was, "The name I was born with is Elizabeth Anne Bexley. I was born in 1969 to Margaret and Dr William Bexley. I obtained a medical degree at Harvard in 1994 and worked for a time in my father’s hospital."

"No you can’t be, you’re dead!" Mark stammered. His heart felt as though it had been ripped apart. Anne his dream woman had turned out to be a monster! But what would she do if he dumped her? His dismay turned to terror.

"I told you I was more trouble than you could handle," Anne commented.

"The world saw your body," Mark tried refute the story of the woman in front of her. Anne had to be teasing, the alternative was too horrific to contemplate.

"The world saw a body, not mine," Anne said softly. She had noted the look of terror on Mark’s face. She knew this would happen.

"Tell me about it, all of it. How you felt, why you did what you did. Please, I need to know," Mark averted his gaze as he said it.

"What’s to tell? You know the truth. Cathline wrote it all down," Anne commented.

Still not looking at her Mark asked "I read it years ago, anyway, She didn’t write down what you felt, how you feel now. Am I in danger?"

Anne gave Mark a look of concern "Why should you be?"

"Because If I dumped you you’d do to me what you did to Matthew Stephens."

"Do you know how long ago that was? Nearly twenty five years ago. You want to hear things from my point of view, fine. I hope you have all night."

Mark turned to face Anne "Elizabeth, Sorry Anne. I loved you. Maybe I still love you. I dunno how I feel at the moment. If I am to trust you I have to know first hand.

"Ok. Here goes. You ever been hurt so badly you felt as though you wanted to die? Felt betrayed and embarrassed so much that the only way clear was to end your life?"

"Not until tonight," Mark said softly.

"Well that was how I felt. I nearly killed myself after Matthew left me, but my mom caught me just in time. They knew that I needed a change of scene to help me get my mind away from it all. The last straw came when I tried to save a small girl, but failed. Mark, I ought to have saved her but I felt too distracted to concentrate. She died because I was hurt. She was the first of the people I killed," A tear formed in Anne’s eye. It had been years ago but the pain was still there.

"You can’t blame yourself for that! She could have died anyway!" Mark tried to sound comforting.

"I thought that at first, told myself that when I woke up in the night crying for that little girl. I had to tell her parents Mark, I’d done it before; it goes with the job but this was different. If only I didn’t feel like I did I would have seen the embolism that killed her."

"Did anyone else spot it?" Mark asked.

Anne shook her head "No. But my instinct told me it was there."

"I think you were punishing yourself because you thought it was your fault Matthew left you." Mark commented.

"Maybe. Anyway, I was fine until I saw Matthew with Kat after they had been to the cinema. It was strange; it was as though I had been taken over by a different person. My normal morals went out of the window until all that remained was the person who called herself ‘Lizzy’."

"You mean you were possessed? That’s a bit from the dark ages isn’t it?" Mark commented.

"No not possessed. As you may remember I had a flaw in my brain. It made me susceptible to MPD. Lizzy talked me into letting her get her own back on Matthew. Eventually as time wore on there was no more Elizabeth, only ‘Lizzy’. Sure, I was at the back of her mind screaming to get out, but it was like being in a sound proof cell. The thing was, Lizzy was so much cleverer than I was, she was able to work things out, plan things and do things I never even dreamed of."

"So this ‘Lizzy’ became your dominant personality?"

Anne nodded "I was consumed by hatred. Nothing mattered to me except exacting my vengeance on Matthew and Kat. People were just tools to use and toss away. What did one life matter? What did a million? Any price was worth it to get back at Matthew," Anne stopped to wipe away the tears forming in her eyes.

"Is ‘Lizzy’ still around?" Mark asked worriedly.

Anne shrugged "Who knows? But I doubt it. As soon as I realized what the problem was I took measures to cure myself. It took me a few years to work it out but using my changeling organ I cured the flaw in my brain. I’m cured, permanently."

"Sorry, carry on with the story," Mark commented. As horrified as he was, the whole thing fascinated him.

"Anyway you know what happened after that. I had Jane kidnapped, Cathline too, and took Jane’s place in time to see Matthew just changing into me."

"What did it fell like?" Mark asked. By now he was intrigued.

Anne replied I wrote down what it felt like in my journals

‘You can’t brush me under the carpet, you can’t hide me under the stairs. The custodian of your private fears, your leading actor of yesteryear, who as you crawled out of the alleys of obscurity, sentenced to rejection in the morass of anonymity.

‘You who I directed with a lovers will, you who I let hypnotize the lens. You who I let bathe in the spotlight’s glare. You who wiped me from your memory like a greasepaint mask, just like a greasepaint mask.

‘But now I’m your snake in the grass, the ghost of film reels past.

I’m the producer of your nightmare and the performance has just begun, it’s just begun..."

I felt elated. All the work I had put in over the past few years had come to fruition. It was nothing like I have experienced before or since. I saw Matthew’s legs had become my legs. Their long, slender shape was just visible under his pajamas. I knew from tape records how he’d screamed in horror as his legs had changed one after the other, and then pain he felt when the withdrawal symptoms of the drug I had invented took effect.

I walked in and saw his body start to reshape. His normal muscular hairy chest flattened out, and the hairs retracted back into his body. There was a crunch of bone as his rib cage rearranged it’s self and his stomach almost caved in to form a copy of my female one. He looked odd laying there, a collection of male and female. His round shoulders and collarbone looking as though all he needed was a pair of tits. Of course he had much further to go but it was then I knew I had done the right thing."

Anne’s matter of fact tone chilled Mark to the core "You sound as though you are proud of what you did."

Anne noticed Mark’s fearful look. "I was. Still am really. Re-writing the laws of nature was some feat. It wasn’t me who did it of course. ‘Lizzy’ was able to do it in months, where I would have taken years. I am proud of what I achieved, not the results or the motive. I caused years of misery and I’m not proud of that at all. How much more do you want to know?"

"All of it," Mark said softly.

In a way Anne was relieved. Speaking about what she had done in the past helped exorcise some of the ghosts she carried around with her. In telling Mark, someone who’d she’d only just got to know she found it releasing. As if burdens she had carried around for years could now be shared. But did Mark still want her? More to the point did she still want Mark?

Anne continued, "I learned he had taken two more pills. I don’t know if you remember, but that was how the drug was being administered. Anyway, It wasn’t until a few hours later I heard a scream and came running into the bathroom. His hips were reforming in front of me. They became smaller and much rounder. He bent double as his womb started to form inside of him, and he turned around to look at his ass rapidly becoming more and more feminine. I had such a cute ass too. He stood up and surveyed his new body. He now had my curves and looked every bit the woman he was becoming. He took particular note of the way his public bulge merged into his flat stomach. All the time I was feeling elation that it was working, I felt no pity and no remorse for him. ‘Lizzy’ was utterly ruthless in that regard."

Mark drank the rest of his cooling tea. Hearing Anne talk like this, so matter of fact and so dispassionate only served to make him more wary of her.

"I know what you’re thinking. How can I talk so coldly about ruining a man’s life? The answer is that it was all a long time ago, sure I feel sorry for what I did, but I put it right again. Mark, that’s the important thing I put it all right again."

"What happened next?" Mark asked

"You’re determined to drag everything up again aren’t you. I’ve had over twenty years to deal with this." Anne commented

"And I’ve had twenty minutes," Mark replied.

"Listen I don’t owe you anything! I could have just vanished without a trace back there. I made a choice to reveal myself to you. I hoped you’d understand, maybe I was wrong," Anne said softly.

Mark shrugged his shoulders in desperation "I’m trying to understand, but to do that I need to know everything. No secrets, no masks and nothing left out. You need to do this as much as I need to hear it!"

Anne had to admit Mark had a point. She was finding this releasing "Anyway on with the story. His arms changed from muscular manly ones to my delicate and slender ones. We had an argument on what to do next, and I walked out him leaving him to suffer on his own for a while. When I returned a day or so later he now wore my face and had grown a pair of tits. He was now a woman save one place, his dick. I persuaded him to fuck me knowing full well that by the morning his cock would become a vagina. I wanted the pleasure of making him fully female myself. You know the rest of the story after that."

"How did it feel killing all those people, ruining all those lives?"

Mark asked.

"It felt good. Every time I killed or maimed someone ‘Lizzy’ became pleased. The knowledge that Matthew and Kat’s marriage was wrecked, and that Cathline was now alone gave her great delight. I was all set to live out my life as Rachel Martin when my parents were killed in a car crash. If Matthew jilting me was the trigger than this was the cannon shell. My anger at him grew daily, I saw it as his fault they had died. I was determined to see him hunted down and killed. My fury grew in intensity until it consumed me totally. ‘Lizzy’ swamped my mind. She was Elizabeth Bexley, the old me, the compassionate me had long been disposed of and only ‘Lizzy’ remained. It wasn’t until my final battle with Kat that my fury began to fade"

"When you were a mermaid right?" Mark asked.

"Yeah. That’s why I love the ocean so much. The time I spent in exile there calmed me. I saw things you wouldn’t believe. Shoals of silver side fish turning as though one large super-organism forming flashes of silver lightning underwater, twisting and turning forming impossible colors. I saw where sharks go to die, ship wrecks that were monuments to man’s folly. I now longer saw it as exile; it was a blessing. It remained that way until the Guild caught me. When I was in captivity I was able to rid myself of ‘Lizzy’, and finally get the real me back. It took me months of soul searching and thanks to medical treatment she was gone forever."

"I read about that in Cathline Richard’s book."

"Most people have," Anne commented. They were now coming onto the most painful part of all.

"Did you use your changeling organ to kill those gang members," Mark asked fearfully.

Anne nodded, "What happened after the Fury directive will come later, but yes it was. It enabled me to shrug off the bullets, move faster than most people can see, and shape my hands into razor sharp weapons."

Mark remained silent. He had never seen anything like it. Anne, his beloved Anne, had ruthlessly killed with extreme prejudice those who had sought to harm them. The gang members never stood a chance. His mind flicked back to the image of the final gang member nearly being torn in two.

Anne continued. "You have no idea what it felt like when Tel-Aviv and then Cairo were destroyed. I had felt elated again that I had saved Tina Cox’s life, but the death of fourteen million people wiped that out right away. That was the hardest time of all. I still have nightmares about what my mistake cost. They haunt me Mark even after twenty years, and nothing I can do can wipe away the screams."

"What happened after that, after you defeated the Guild," Mark said trying to ignore the fact that Anne was now crying softly. He needed to press on. To find the answers both he and she needed.

"I met with the vice president, actually he was the president in all but in oath. I needed to be sure my future was safe. As I remember it the conversation went something like this.

I asked him "When this is over I want three things."

The Vice President replied. "Which are?"

As casually as I could muster I said, "I want a full pardon. I can’t live my life as a fugitive, hated and despised by all. I want all charges against me dropped."

The Vice President had expected something like that, "Now wait a minute. You haven’t just knocked over a drug store and ran away with a few cigarettes. You’re responsible for the murder of eighteen people, kidnapping, and crimes against humanity. I can’t just wash over all that and let you go."

"Fine, you sort this mess out," I stood up and turned to go. I knew the vice president had no choice but to agree to my terms.

He thought for a few moments and then had an idea, "Ok I’ll pardon you on one condition."

"Which is?" I asked

"You’re intelligent, work it out. After you’ve done that, tell me your decision," The Vice President said."

"So what was his condition?" Mark asked.

"That I spent a period of time working for the government. My changeling abilities were far too useful to just let run loose. It also enabled them to check if I was really cured. Using a sample produced from my DNA Machine before they blew it sky high they turned a secret service guy into a copy of Rachel Martin. He committed suicide in my place. It was that body that Matthew and Kat saw, and that body that was buried next to my parents in New York. I stood and watched them do it. I wrote the note and left all my belongings behind for them to clear up."

"I thought an autopsy proved it was you," Mark said.

"It proved that the body had a unique make up, not that it was me. Matthew, Kat and Cathline believed it was me at the hospital. They even signed the identification forms and everything to say so. Therefore to all the world I was dead."

"So A guy died so you could go free?" Mark asked.

Anne nodded, "He was keen to do it, or so I was told. Wanted to give his all for his country. His family can be assured his, sacrifice saved a lot of lives. Anyway, I worked for the CIA for fifteen years as their number one courier. My ability to infiltrate into anywhere, and escape unseen was critical to the success of a number of government operations. I smuggled plans for a new Chinese missile out from Beijing, underwent scouting missions for counter terrorist strikes, helped smuggle that Russian doctor out from the new USSR, and everything in between. They even gave me a codename, ‘Friday’."

"Friday?" Mark queried

"It came from a Robert Heinlein book about a genetically engineered woman who was the government’s number one courier. Anyway I was ‘Friday’ for fifteen years. After my time was up they gave me some money, well a lot really, and a new identity. I used my changeling organ to turn myself into Elizabeth Anne Baxter, and start a new life here."

Mark had a revelation, "So that’s how you survived the boat wreck!"

Anne nodded, "Yep. A forty mile swim is no distance at all for a mermaid, neither are sharks or currents. I dove deep to avoid detection, and landed just where I would have if I had really used the currents. It was a stupid thing to do. I should’ve just waited around for help."

"And it was all going fine until tonight!" Mark said bitterly. How had he fallen for this inhuman monster? Remorse or not she was still a killer at heart.

Anne nodded "I know. Mark I had no choice but to kill them," She had detected Mark’s face drop once more, and knew what he was thinking.

"Didn’t you? You could have stunned them. Still mercy isn’t your style is it?" Mark said bitterly.

Anne’s voice became angry "Hey time out!! I don’t just kill people on a whim. If there was any other way I would’ve taken it; but there wasn’t! Look! I’ve just told you stuff that nobody knows but you and me. Ok, if I’d have stunned them they’d have told the cops that they’d shot me four times, and that I still kept coming at them, and my cover would be blown. If I had faked death they would have killed you. Maybe I did overreact, but when people I love are in danger I do whatever I need to protect them."

Mark was staggered "Love?" Anne had just admitted she loved him.

"Yes love. Why the fuck do you think we’re still going out after four months, when my every instinct was to run away? It wasn’t your cooking that’s for certain. You make me feel me again. I haven’t felt the real me for nearly thirty years!" Anne snarled.

Yesterday Mark would have felt elated, as though he had just won the state lottery, but now he just felt numb. The woman he loved was in fact Dr Elizabeth Bexley!" I need some time to think."

"I thought you loved me?" Anne said softly

My God, what have I said? Mark thought, "I can’t end it with you can I? You’ll come after me, like you did Matthew."

Anne stood up "After all I told you, you still think that? Then there’s nothing more we can say to each other. I thought you loved and trusted me, guess I was wrong. Goodbye Mark."

Anne walked out leaving a tearful Mark behind.

o—o—o—

Still sobbing Anne ran to her car and drove to her dorm. She could partly understand Mark’s dilemma but if he truly loved her he would put that to one side wouldn’t he? She opened her door and ran inside. She was so upset she could hardly walk and she collapsed onto the bed. "Hi-Fi track 20 personal collection" She buried her head into her pillow and cried like she hadn’t for nearly thirty years. Once again her one chance of happiness had been dashed because of who she was.

"The world was on fire

No one could save me but you.

Strange what desire will make foolish people do

I never dreamed that I’d meet somebody like you

And I never dreamed that I’d lose somebody like you

No, I don’t want to fall in love

[This love is only gonna break your heart]

No, I don’t want to fall in love

[This love is only gonna break your heart]

With you

With you

What a wicked game you play

To make me feel this way

What a wicked thing to do

To let me dream of you

What a wicked thing to say

You never felt this way

What a wicked thing to do

To make me dream of you

And I don’t wanna fall in love

[This love is only gonna break your heart]

And I don’t want to fall in love

[This love is only gonna break your heart]

World was on fire

No one could save me but you

Strange what desire will make foolish people do

I never dreamed that I’d love somebody like you

I never dreamed that I’d lose somebody like you

No I don’t wanna fall in love

[This love is only gonna break your heart ]

No I don’t wanna fall in love

[This love is only gonna break your heart]

With you

With you

Nobody loves no one."

o—o—o—

 

The phone ringing beside Matthew woke him up. "What the hell!" he muttered. The bedside clock said 4am. He let it ring for a few more moments, hoping whoever it was would hang up, but to his annoyance they didn’t. Groggily he picked it up "Hello"

"Is that Mr Matthew Stephens?" The voice had an English ring to it, but Matthew couldn’t place the accent.

"Yeah," Matthew muttered.

"My name is inspector Alan Jones of the Cambrideshire constabulary. I have some bad news for you, I’m afraid. It’s about your daughter, Elizabeth." Matthew’s blood ran cold. The fear that haunts every parent rippled thru him in an unstoppable tide.

"What is it? Is she ok?" Matthew managed to say.

"I’m afraid she’s been abducted. She didn’t turn up for her lectures this morning, and her fiancée found her apartment had been ransacked and she was missing."

Still in a dazed state, it took Matthew a few moments to take it in, "Do we know anything else? If’ it’s about money?"

"We don’t think it’s about money. They would have left a demand or instructions if it were." Alan said softly.

"So how do we play this?" Matthew asked, now starting to get his mind in gear.

"We wait for them to contact you. I would suggest one of you waits there, and the other flies over to be with us. That way we get all the bases covered. Alex Richards is here helping us."

"But we’re nearly a whole day away. Anything can happen in that time. Can I speak to Alex?" Matthew complained.

"Give me a few moments," Alan said.

A few seconds later heard Alex’s voice. It sounded tired, worried and fearful, "Hi Matthew," was all he could bring himself to say.

"Alex are you ok? You sound awful," Matthew commented.

"I’m sorry Matthew. I tried to look after her for you. If only I had been there. Why’d they take her Matthew she hadn’t done anyone any harm?"

"Did her room mate see anything?" Matthew asked. He hoped to divert Alex’s self pity into something more constructive.

"Angela? She’s gone too. Matthew I’m so sorry,"

Matthew could hear that Alex was trying to fight back the tears.

"It’s ok. Nobody blames you."

"Thanks but when she’s safe then I’ll be happier. Inspector Jones wants to speak to you. I’ll hand over to him in a sec. Tell mom for us will you? I hate being alone out here."

"I will," Matthew promised.

"Hello Mr. Stephens. We do have one lead, which we are investigating at the moment. We have contacted the FBI and interpol with this lead. I promise you we will do our utmost on

this Kat gave a yawn and opened her eyes. She saw Matthew’s worried face and saw the phone against his ear "What’s up?"

Matthew indicated Kat to be quiet and then answered "What’s the lead?"

"I’d rather not say at the moment, but it looks a good one. Look, the best thing you both can do is remain calm. Over eighty percent of abductions turn out just fine. Trust us, we know what we’re doing. My number is in your phone’s memory. Call us if anything happens at all."

Still in shock Matthew replied, "Thanks Inspector we’ll be in touch," Matthew put the phone down gently.

"What is it?" Kat demanded.

Matthew took a deep breath, hardly believing it himself "Elizabeth’s been abducted. It happened last night they think!"

Kat gasped "No. Please God!"

"Whoever did it left no note, no ransom demands or anything.

She’s just gone!"

"Poor Alex he must be beside himself. I’ll go," Kat said.

"I’ll tell Cathline," Matthew said.

o—o—o—

 

Anne woke up at midday. In the stark light of day her situation hadn’t gotten any better. She didn’t blame Mark for the way he felt. It was understandable in a way. Not only had she deceived him, she had scared the crap out him with her summary execution of the gang. Didn’t he understand that she would do anything to preserve the lives of those she loved and cared for? That taking the gang down because they threatened them both was an instinctive reaction from her? In fifteen years of working for the CIA she had been trained to act on instinct. If you didn’t you were dead, and so were those you were trying to protect.

She suspected it wasn’t only what she’d done to the gang that bothered Mark; it was who she really was. Sure, it had been twenty years, but some things refuse to die even after that amount of time. Now she was trapped. To run away and hide would mean that time would run out for her idea and therefore the oceans. To stay would mean facing up to Mark and the consequences of telling him the truth.

Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea? She had spent the last thirty years running away from herself. Firstly, in her own mind, and then as Anne Baxter. But was Mark the one to run towards rather than away from?

The phone ringing interrupted her train of thought. Hoping it was Mark she dashed to it "Hi."

A cold voice with an indeterminate accent answered "Friday,

This is Heinlein"

"Fuck off! I don’t work for you any more. I did my time and now it’s my life," Anne snarled down the phone.

"It’s about your daughter," the voice replied.

"What about her? I left her with Matthew and Kat. Vowed never to go see her because of what it would do to their family. Look, Go away! Whatever it is, find someone else!" Anne snapped

"The FBI have informed us that she has been abducted in England," Heinlein informed her.

Anne’s anger turned to worry. She had spent years of wondering what Elizabeth had been up to, wanting so much to see her first steps, hear her first words, but not daring to go near in case it ruined things for her. Now, deep inside her the feelings that only a mother can know were bubbling up. Why had she decided to stay away? Why did she always inflict guilt on herself for her past? Whatever had happened then, she now had the chance to put right here and now. When Elizabeth needed her most she would not desert her in her hour of greatest need

"Friday are you there?"

"Yes. Ok, Consider me available. But Surely the FBI and Brits can deal with it?" Anne asked.

"The kidnapping yes, but not this part. When it was clear exactly who your daughter was, we made an agreement with her adoptive parents."

"Which was?" Anne asked.

"That should she show the same symptoms as you did, then she would be tested, and if she failed incarcerated in an institution for her own safety and of those around her," Heinlein replied in an emotionless tone.

"Sounds reasonable. If I’d had treatment earlier, a lot of lives would have been saved. I fail to see how that is relevant though," Anne commented.

Elizabeth was seen being loaded onto a plane at Stanstead Airport in England. A hostess saw the top of her head as she was being bundled out of a waiting car. It wasn’t until news of Elizabeth’s abduction was on the news did she remember it, and reported it to the Brits. They tracked the owner of the aircraft. It is registered in the name of James Adams. It took off, and landed at Charles De Gaule airport before we could alert the French authorities."

"So far it still sounds like a job for the police. James Adams?"

Anne queried.

"The James Adams in question is the leader of the Children of Bexley cult," Heinlein said. Again his tone was matter of fact.

"My god," Anne gasped. The penny had dropped.

"Our analysis indicates that they want Elizabeth to become the new you. Once she has been indoctrinated they could release her, she could make up any story she wished and they would be off the hook. She could say that she went voluntarily and she forgot to tell people where she was going and we would have nothing to prove otherwise."

"The Bastards!" Anne swore.

"Indeed. The longer they hold her, the more chance they have of not only indoctrinating her, but of invoking the same MPD that afflicted you. We cannot allow that to happen, both for her sake and for those who love her. James Adam’s is in LA at the moment. He is the only one who knows where Elizabeth is being taken. The British police and our own have agreed to hand this over to us. Why is not your concern, just that it’s your job to go and get her back before it’s too late."

Anne shook her head in disbelief. Why would the police hand a simple kidnap over to the CIA? "There’s something you haven’t told me yet."

"Correct. Although we reached an agreement with Matthew and Jane Stephens over Elizabeth’s fate we put in place our own safety protocols. Elizabeth is much too intelligent not to escape from hospital either by outright escape or by making out she is well once more. She is far too dangerous to fall into the hands of another Guild! We cannot allow that to happen again! The government policy on her is. Should she fail the test then she would be killed."

"That’s inhuman! How can you justify that! You Bastards!" Anne swore. She knew what was coming next, but dare not believe it. She wanted to hear it for herself.

"We can justify it because of the fourteen million who died last time. We cannot and will not allow a psychopathic murderer to develop DNA tech once more. You never did see the big picture did you?"

"Fuck big picture! How do you even know she will! You’re accusing and executing her for something she might not even do!" Anne was outraged. She hadn’t signed up for this.

Heinlein ignored her protest "When you have recovered her, we want you to test her, and if necessary carry out the elimination."

"NO fucking way you bastard cunt!" Anne swore. What she was being asked to do was evil.

"Would you rather someone else test her? Some psychologist who doesn’t know exactly what she is going thru? Maybe even, a psychologist fresh out of training who may make the wrong decision? I had to pull a lot of strings to get you back on the team. Friday, I’m offering her the only chance she has. That chance is you. Off the record I think this sucks, but I do what I’m told and so will you! Innocent lives may be at risk. If we can save those lives then it has to be worth it. If you remember what you were like you know that she will kill given half the chance."

Anne sighed. Heinlein was right. She was the best person qualified to judge if Elizabeth was ok. If she refused then somebody else would, and that somebody else would kill, if so ordered. Heinlein had stepped out on a limb for both Anne and Elizabeth, at least giving them a fighting chance. Heinlein was also right in that an unstable Elizabeth would kill given the right trigger. "Ok Heinlein you win. But just being off the drugs wouldn’t be enough to trigger her MPD. Something would need to happen to her or someone she loved in order for that to happen."

"That’s what’s worries us. We have all her immediate family under constant watch. Her best friend Angela Holden is missing as well. We think they may endanger her and use her as the trigger," Heinlein sounded relieved that Anne was on board once more.

"I dunno. That might not be enough. It depends on how close Elizabeth was to her. All taking the drug away would achieve is to allow the MPD to manifest itself. I had no qualms about destroying Cathline’s life and she was my best friend. Anyway We’re wasting time have the police grabbed the cult leader yet?"

"No and they are not going to. As soon as they touch him his lawyers will be down on us like a shot. Only his plane was used, and I’m sure he as a rock solid alibi. If Elizabeth is to be saved it falls to us to deal with it."

Anne swore. The Bexley cult had it all worked out, and they had her only child. She tried to quell the fury that was growing inside her and channel it into a more constructive outlet. "Do I have full authority to deal with it as I see fit?"

"Yes," Heinlein stated.

"Including lethal force?" Anne said calmly.

"Use of lethal force is approved," Heinlein confirmed.

"I hoped you’d say that," Anne commented. Her voice was the same icy tone that had terrified the gang the night before. How dare those bastards take her daughter?

Quelling her anger for the moment Anne stated "It’ll take me hours to get to LA. By that time it could be too late, and after that fuck knows where Elizabeth is. France was it? That’s at least ten hours away. We’re talking nineteen hours. That’s more than enough time for them to do what they are going to do to her."

"Ok, in twenty minutes or so A chopper will pick you up from Marshall’s golf course a few miles from where you are, and take you to an abandoned airfield a few miles away. You’d better be quick, as the chopper will attract attention. From there we have arranged a lift for you to where ever you need to go."

Anne thought. Whatever lift they had arranged had to be fast, very fast, if they were to stand any hope of saving Elizabeth. Suddenly it came to her "You have a starplane?"

"Wait and see. The chopper pilot will fill you in on the rest."

"Heinlein?" Anne said.

"What?"

"You’re a bastard!"

"It’s nice to know your opinion of me hasn’t changed over the years," Heinlein replied.

o—o—o—

 

The helicopter carrying Anne swooped low over a small forest. In fact they were so low that Anne could see the individual branches of the trees below. Her pilot hadn’t said a word and had only given her an address in Redondo Beach LA. Her new body felt strange, it always did after a full body change, but Anne had to safeguard the life she had made as Anne Baxter. It wouldn’t do for Anne Baxter to be caught doing what she planned to do with the cult leader or his cronies. She was now a blue eyed redhead about five feet eight with a slim, athletic figure, and she was wearing a black spandex cat suit, which would stretch as and when she used her changeling abilities. She glanced down at her new legs and onto her arms. Soon they would become blades, armor plate bone, and poison tipped spines. She could become anything and everything in nature’s arsenal. A living biological weapon. She sat back and gave a grim smile, "Watch out you mother fucker the hell bitch is back!" she whispered as if to the cult leader.

She breathed out, trying to contain her anger. She hadn’t been this furious since her parents had died nearly thirty years ago. She knew she was still on the back foot. She had just broken up with Mark and now this! She had only the vague glimmerings of a plan of her own devising, but at least it was something to work from. Anne closed her eyes and tried to relax. She could feel the fury brewing inside her again but this time she let it grow inside. She remembered the way in which she had killed Hassan all those years ago. She remembered the warm taste of his blood, as she had used a secondary set of fanged jaws to rip a hole thru his skull as she had kissed him. As she stood over his body it had given her immense pleasure to see his brains seep out all over the floor. This was far too quick a way to deal with those who sought to harm her child. To those who would rob her daughter of the life she so deserved with Alex, and to those who would wipe away the joy that she had given Matthew and Kat over the years. For a moment, she was afraid that Lizzy would come back, that her fury would trigger her off again but thankfully ‘Lizzy’ was nowhere to be found in her mind. This moment was the acid test of her ‘cure’. However part of her wished she could turn over control to her and come back when it was all over. It didn’t work that way though. This was something she needed to do. She regretted not taking down the Children of Bexley cult a few months back. They had taken what she had done and tried to dismiss it as a hoax, revered her as some kind of holy figure, and now they had endangered her own flesh and blood! They would pay a heavy price for their actions, she would see to that!

She glanced across at the backpack she’d been given by the chopper pilot. This was her ‘goody bag’, as she had called them over the years. She was getting bored of the non-conversation from the chopper pilot, so she picked it up and peered inside. The contents hadn’t changed much since she’d last been on a mission, infra red binoculars, window paste and her most hated object of all, a colt PI4543 silenced pistol. She knew this wasn’t for her protection, she could take care of herself; it was for killing her own daughter. She picked it up and held in her hand. To her surprise it was very light and it’s balance was perfect. It didn’t seem to be made of metal, as it’s surface was a cold matt black and not shiny as metal would be. She decided it was probably ceramic based, which accounted for it’s lack of weight She spent a few moments familiarizing herself with it, before unclipping the small transmitter from the trigger mechanism and pinning on her catsuit. From now on the gun would only fire if she pulled the trigger. Ensuring the safety was on she slipped it into her belt and prayed she would not have to use it.

The helicopter reached an old airfield. Its concrete runway was broken up and uneven. Here and there old rusting aircraft lay in state. Anne could see no sign of her ‘lift’. She looked closer and on the grass could see a slight shimmering effect. It was though something was not quite there, as if it was half in and half out of existence. She noticed an old Dodge UV parked to one side of the runway. At the sight of the chopper, a man got out of the UV and ran towards where the chopper was going to land

"What’s that?" She asked the pilot, pointing at the shimmer.

The pilot just shrugged and after a few moments landed the chopper.

Anne stepped out of the chopper, her hair was being buffeted by the downdraft of the still rotating rotorblades. She looked around and saw the man running towards her. The man, in an USAF uniform put out his hand. Anne noticed the colonel insignia on his collar "Hello Colonel."

"You must be Friday. I must remind you what you are about to see if is beyond top secret. You will promptly forget everything you have and will see."

"Don’t worry I intend to. Now where’s my lift?"

"This way," the colonel said indicating the direction of the shimmering object. On the ground Anne still couldn’t make out it’s shape, only that it was about seventy feet from one end of the shimmer to the other.

Anne was again buffeted as the chopper took off.

A few seconds later they reached the object. Anne put her hand on it and felt metal. "What is this thing?"

"This is the Aurora 3," the colonel stated.

"Why can’t I see it properly?"

"It’s a combination of Electro-molecular paint, advanced avionics and optical form camouflage." The colonel was obviously proud of his toy.

"In English please," Anne stated.

"It’s paint scheme can change color and shape to suit it’s surroundings by changing the amount of current running thru it, and the shape of the aircraft is designed to produce optical illusions. In layman’s terms it’s color and shape confuses the brain so much that the brain chooses either to ignore it, or that it has no discernable shape at all. It’s undetectable to radar and infrared. This is as close as you get to being invisible."

Anne was impressed. "Cool! Is it fast? I need fast!"

"So I was informed. You’ve heard of the star plane right? The passenger aircraft that flies to low orbit and then descends at hypersonic speeds. New York to London in an hour, New York to Australia in two?"

"Yep. Not in general service yet is it?" Anne said.

"Well Aurora here will go anywhere in the world in less than an hour, including take off and landing,"

Anne smiled; this was just what she needed. "You know what they say about men and the size of their planes don’t you?"

The colonel smiled, took out a small key ring and pressed a button. The shimmering effect cleared around the nose of the object and Anne saw a cockpit section emerge. There were a series of grab handles leading up to it.

The colonel gestured towards the cockpit "Ladies first."

o—o—o—

 

The colonel strapped Anne in tightly and made her put a figure hugging suit and an enclosed flight helmet on. He told her the suit would provide everything she needed oxygen, radio and protection from the high G forces she would feel. Anne listened intently, taking in every instruction. Unlike the Star plane this aircraft gave no cosseting ride. This was meant for military use.

"Ready?" The colonel’s voice crackled thru the intercom

Anne gave her straps a last tug, "Sure, Check."

Anne thought there would a noise, like a rocket or something but all she detected was a slight surge of power and a small vibration thru the cockpit. She had also expected to taxi along the runway and take off normally, but slowly and almost silently she felt herself lift of the ground and go straight up. Suddenly the cockpit went opaque, but as she turned her head a small portion of her visor showed the view outside.

The intercom crackled "We’ll be using stealth engines until we get to 20,000 ft. I’ve made the cockpit opaque to ensure the camouflage is effective. I’ll give a countdown before we use the ramjet, and then finally the rocket engines. Enjoy, you’ll be in LA in thirty minutes."

Anne felt the nose point upwards and was immediately rammed into the back of her seat. She could feel the G forces pushing every muscle and bone in her body into her seat. She felt her arms and legs go a little numb as the blood was pushed away from her extremities and into her body. She adjusted her heart strength and flow to compensate, and that made a noticeable improvement. She heard the colonel’s weak, strained voice say "Ok we’re now at fifty thousand feet. Ramjet in 5.4.3.2 1."

Another massive wave of pressure slammed Anne back into her seat once more. The aircraft’s already ferocious rate of climb seemed only to increase and Anne struggled to remain conscious, only her ability to finely tune her body stopped her from blacking out. She managed to open her eyes and below fell the crescent shape of the earth. Thru the viewscreen the USA fell below her, just like a stretched out map, she could see storms over the east coast, sun in Florida and the Atlantic seemed nothing but a small blue lake. She had seen photographs of it but nothing had prepared her for the awesome majesty before her. "Colonel?" she asked in an awed tone. She just had to tell someone, anyone.

For a few seconds the aircraft seemed level out An automated voice called "Rocket motors in 5,4,3,2,1"

Another WHAM slammed her back into her seat and didn’t let up for what seemed an age. Of course, the G forces eased somewhat and a few minutes later the colonel’s voice came over the intercom, "Hope you didn’t black out for too long. It’s normal to black out after the ramjets so don’t worry. The autopilot takes care of things until we level out. We hit anywhere between 16 and 17G for around ten minutes, and if it weren’t for these suits we’d be dead. Has yours deflated yet?"

Deflated? Anne couldn’t remember it inflating. "Sure. Quite a view isn’t it?"

"I never tire of it. We’re about to start our descent so hold on"

"Already. How fast are we going?"

"We’ve started to slow, but we peaked at about Mach 28"

"Fast enough then. How long till LA?" Anne said. Boys and their toys, but this toy was going to help save her daughters life.

The Colonel’s voice crackled in Anne’s ear "We should be on the ground in 15 minutes. We’ll land just outside LA in the desert and a chopper will take you where you want to go. Just give Heinlein a call on the usual number when you’re ready. It takes about a couple of hours to refuel and check everything, so you have to wait at least that long.

"Ok. What do I do next?"

"Hold on tight. We’re about to become a hypersonic glider. "

As the aircraft hurtled at almost impossible speed towards LA, Anne knew the reason why she had never wanted to join the airforce.

o—o—o—

 

The auto-nav in Anne’s car indicated that the cult leader’s house was just on the left. Anne had now worked out what she was going to do and how. It was enormously dangerous, but she could think of no other way. She had considered an approach by stealth, but the clock was ticking. A full frontal assault would be too dangerous in broad daylight, so a combination of the two was required. She drove up alongside the large house and checked out the tall fencing around the perimeter. There would be infra red and motion detectors located at every point of the garden, plus whatever sensors had been buried into the lawn. The wall was about twenty feet high with a fine wire around the top. Not only was this wire a sensitive alarm it was also probably electrified as well.

What if she vaulted over the wall, ensuring she had enough height to clear the sensors? If she used her superior speed she could be at the front door before any guards came out. Not having the time to do a proper reconnaissance, that was the best she could come up with at such short notice. She parked the car just off to one side of the house and got out.

She concentrated for a few seconds and felt her skull thicken a little. That should provide sufficient protection against any fatal bullets. She felt her let muscles develop and adjusted the layout of her knee joints to optimize her jumping ability She took a quick look around and took a few paces back and ran as hard as she could. At the perfect point she jumped with all her strength. Somersaulting over the wall, she landed on her feet and then dashed at full speed towards the house.

Pressing herself against the wall of the house, she waited for the guards to come out after her, but after a few seconds none were forthcoming. Maybe she’d been lucky. Now came the tricky bit. She concentrated on her middle finger and it narrowed down into a thin bony point. She gently inserted it into the lock and by using the nerves and sense of touch still inside her finger adjusted the shape of the bone to fit where the key should fit. With a click the door sprang open, withdrawing her finger, and turning it back to it’s normal shape Anne went inside. She was in a large hallway with a number of doors on each side. A flight of stairs led up to the first floor with obviously more rooms up there.

To her surprise and relief there was nobody inside waiting for her. Where was everybody? She spied a woman’s coat hanging on a nearby coat rack and she moved over to investigate. On the collar looked to be a freshly lost hair. She picked it up and examined it. Bingo! It still had the follicle attached to it. She placed the hair in her hand and absorbed the follicle into her body. Inside her body the changeling organ extracted the DNA from the sample and learned how to generate the shape. Anne felt her body change shape into that of the DNA donor.

She checked out her new body. She was much shorter than before at about five six and a quick look at her arm showed that she was now Hispanic in origin. Knowing the cult leader’s personality profile, she was probably some kind of maid. She took the coat and put it on, it would help disguise her black catsuit. She was surprised the house was empty but guessed that the cult leader would soon set a whole legion of lawyers on whoever decided to arrest him. That was much better than hired guns, which only tended to make things worse. It was better for her though, as she wouldn’t have to deal with a small army. Previous experience had shown Lawyers didn’t bother Heinlein as he had a way of making annoyances disappear.

Anne walked upstairs, trying to appear as though she worked there. She tried several doors along a wide and ornate hallway. The cult leader certainly lived well from his followers. She paused for a few seconds, and pulled the gun out from her belt. She tried the last door on the corridor and a smooth silky male voice answered "yes?"

Anne walked in, the gun hidden behind her back, and saw the man look up. The man gave a quick look at her and said "Ah, Juanita, would you mind taking the trash out for me?"

"Certainly," Anne said, and pointed the gun at the cult leader.

"Juanita, what’s the meaning of this?" the cult leader demanded.

Anne gave the cult leader a look of pure fury. This was the man who had taken her daughter captive. "I’m only doing as you asked. I’m taking the trash out! Now walk outside, and towards a yellow sedan that’s parked just outside. If you fuck me about then I will kill you!"

"Juanita, why are you doing this? If it’s about money," the cult leader asked.

Anne gave the cult leader another look of deadly intent, "If you say one more word until we get to where we are going, then I will shoot you in the base of the spine and you will be paralyzed for life."

The cult leader shot the woman he thought was Juanita a fearful look. Where was she taking him? He did as he was told, walked out of his house, and stood by a yellow sedan. The woman holding the gun unlocked the car, and beckoned for him to get into the driver’s seat, which he then did. The woman then sat beside him and pointed the gun at his groin.

"Now drive. If I see you try and attract attention I blow your dick off. If you make a wrong turn I blow your dick off. If you try and grab the gun I blow your head off. Trust me, you are not faster than I am, don’t make me prove it," Anne hissed.

The cult leader nodded. The woman who looked like Juanita gave him several directions, until he drew up along side an old house set away from the road. The woman took the keys from the car and beckoned for him to get out. He was then marched at gunpoint to the doorway, and went inside. He heard a ‘night night’ and then felt a sickening thud and all went dark.

He awoke an indeterminate time later and found himself bound hand and foot to some kind of operating table. He looked down and saw that he was naked and exposed. He tried his hardest to free himself but he was too tightly tied. "HEY!" he called out.

Anne walked in, still in her Juanita body, "Now you know what Elizabeth Stephens is going thru. Where have you taken her?" she hissed.

"Who?" the cult leader said

Anne’s anger rose. Time was running out and the cult leader was fucking her around, "Look I know you have her. Don’t fuck with me, I’m not in the mood!"

"If I knew I’d tell you. I swear on Elizabeth Bexley’s life." The cult leader said.

Anne knew he could hold out indefinitely. It was time to up the ante. "I wouldn’t swear on that if I were you," Anne felt her body change and within a few seconds she was in her ‘Friday’ body again.

The cult leader nearly fainted in shock. Juanita had just changed into a Caucasian red head in front of his eyes. That wasn’t possible. By all the laws of biology and nature what he had just seen could not happen!

Anne saw with satisfaction the shock on the cult leaders face.

Now it was time to ram it home, "You thought I was dead. Hah! You have betrayed everything I ever did. Misled people into thinking that you had all the answers, made my friends out to be murderers and thieves."

"Who...who are you?" The cult leader stuttered.

Anne gave the cult leader a vicious stare that communicated all her hate and contempt for him in one look, "My name is Dr Elizabeth Anne Bexley and unless you tell me what you have done with my daughter, mine is the last face you will ever see."

The cult leader’s mind was in shock. She couldn’t be alive. This had to be a hallucination. He had seen her body before it had been buried. That was it, he was under the influence of drugs. All he had to do was fight it! It was the only explanation that made sense. "You’re not real."

"I’m as real as you are. Where is she?" Anne demanded.

"I don’t know what you are talking about. Now let me go!"

"I don’t think you realize just how pissed off I am. Look, Elizabeth Stephens was seen being loaded into your private plane. You have to know where she is, so tell me."

"Go fuck yourself!" the cult leader snarled.

Anne gave him a grim smile, "Now that’s no way to treat your font of all wisdom is it?"

"Hah! If you are who you say you are we don’t need you! By the time you find her we’ll have our own Dr Bexley we can manipulate as we see fit. Your darling daughter will be gone by then, but of course you know that don’t you," the cult leader’s voice was full of disdain and derision.

Now it was Anne’s turn to be surprised. The cult leader wasn’t interested in her for who she was; it was all about being able to manipulate her memory and abilities to suit his own purposes. "I would have thought my presence here would persuade you to let me save her."

The cult leader tried to look at Anne’s face. "Not so. You know the power of mythology. You used it all the time. Now that I’ve seen you alive I see that the Dr Bexley we are creating is much more impressive than you are. We are saving her. You want to keep her potential bottled up, we want to release it. What would you have done had you stayed in your father’s hospital? The world would have been deprived of your wisdom. Of the way you forgave those that had harmed you, of the way you managed to turn around a hopeless situation. Think about what you would have been had you not found your true calling."

"Millions of people would still be alive," Anne snapped.

"You didn’t cause those deaths. The Guild did. You stopped them. Your greatest triumph! Have you seen the amount of lives that following your example and teachings turned around? Just speak to anyone who knows the truth, they’ll tell you what a difference you made to their lives. How could you deny future generations the comfort we’ve brought to thousands? What I do is for the benefit of everyone. Sure, Elizabeth will be confused for a while but you can’t let that get in the way of the dream!" The cult leader sounded as though he was preaching to his congregation.

The cult leader’s tone made Anne feel sick. "Fuck the dream! It’s my daughter you’re talking about and as for your followers they’ll manage. It’s better they know the truth than live a lie, as the truth will always come out, sooner or later. Would those people still want anything to do with you if they knew what you were planning? I thought not. You preyed on the minds of the weak, the needy and the lonely. You make me sick! Ok, this is your final chance. You know all about my fearsome reputation and what I’m capable of."

"They were lies!" The cult leader snapped.

"No, they were true! As I was saying I’m running out of time so you tell me where she is or I get nasty," Anne snarled.

"Idle threats," the cult leader answered back.

Anne sighed. "Ok I didn’t want to do this. But you have given me no choice. You’ve studied the capabilities of my changeling organ correct?"

"There is no such thing! But yes I’ve read the fictional accounts."

Anne couldn’t believe her ears. He was still denying it!," So you’ve read about how I can extract DNA from a person and then copy it. That was how I copied this Juanita’s body, I found a live bit of hair on her coat and used it to turn myself into her. This feature works both ways. You may remember my little stunt of turning fish into cats on Matthew’s boat? I can channel the DNA modification drug into a poison tipped talon so that I can transform any living thing into any other living thing. "

"That’s bullshit! Such a change would use up too much energy and place too much strain on the body. Besides, it would play havoc with the immune and nervous systems. I must say I’m very disappointed in all this. Why not let me go. You’ll never find Elizabeth in time so why bother? You should be pleased that your daughter will follow in your footsteps!"

"Not if I have anything to do with it she won’t. Now hold still!" Anne walked over to the cult leader. He looked down in horror as a small tube grew from Anne’s middle knuckle. He felt a stab of pain in his arm and called out "Bitch!"

Anne stood back from him so he could see her once more, "My changeling organ is analyzing your DNA. It’ll take a few moments but that’s all I need," the cult leader saw Anne’s brow furrow in concentration and another small spine grew from her other hand. Anne turned and looked him right in the eyes, her look was one of deadly intent. and it unnerved the cult leader more than he would have thought possible.

It then changed to a look of cold fury. She knew she would hate herself for what she was about to do, but she had no other choice. She just hoped he would play ball before she moved onto stage two, "If you want a Dr Bexley so bad, why don’t you become her yourself!" She hissed and plunged the new talon into the cult leaders arm.

The cult leader screamed as his arm went numb. Seconds later a raging fire of pain ripped thru his body. It felt as though every nerve in his body was being held over a flame. He felt the pain subside in his legs but he could feel flesh rippling and his bones rearranging themselves. He nearly passed out as a crunch of bone reshaped his hips and then the fire increased upwards to his body. He could bear the pain no longer and passed out.

When he awoke he felt a strange weight on his chest, and although he was still woozy from passing out he knew that something wasn’t quite right. His mind cleared a little and he saw right away what that something was. The mysterious weight was two firm breasts on his chest. He screamed out loud in shock, and found that his new voice was a delicate contralto female voice.

"I thought you told me that DNA Modification wasn’t possible.

Now where IS SHE?" Anne demanded.

"What have you done to me?" the cult leader demanded. He still wasn’t used to his new female voice.

"See for yourself," Anne said and she walked over to a small curtain pull on the far wall. She gave it a tug and a full sized mirror was unveiled on the ceiling.

The cult leader looked upwards and screamed again in horror. Laying on the bed was an exact copy of Elizabeth. The woman had long, slender but athletic looking legs. A gently curved body with excellent body tone. The woman’s head was topped by a rich mane of auburn hair and her eyes looked upwards in abject horror. "You bitch! You fucking bitch!" the cult leader swore.

"No not a fucking bitch I’m a ‘hell bitch’. NOW WHERE IS SHE?"

Anne demanded.

"Go screw yourself BITCH!" the cult leader swore in his new female voice. His eyes glanced downwards at the black triangle of hair between his slender legs.

Anne gave the cult leader a vicious smile, "Yes it’s gone. Just to prove it no illusion," Anne walked over and gave the cult leader’s new pussy a gentle stroke. She felt no pleasure in it. It was just a means to an end.

The cult leader however felt a jolt of pleasure that turned to revulsion. It was no illusion, this woman who was most probably Dr Bexley was touching his cunt!. "No stop it!" he demanded.

"Why, too much pleasure for you? Where is she?"

Ignoring the feelings rushing up and down his body the cult leader snarled "I don’t care if you leave me like this. This makes no difference to what happens to her. Our goal will be achieved and there is nothing you can do about it!" The cult leader tried to sound convincing, but he was worried. What if he was stuck like this? He wasn’t sure he could live as a woman, and how would he explain this to his followers?

Anne gave the cult leader a look of resignation, "Come on. You can tell me where she is. You don’t need her, you already have everything you need. You have to admit you were wrong about the Fury. If you tell me now I’ll turn you back and you can still continue as you were before. "

The cult leader thought for a few moments. It was a tempting offer, but he had prepared for years for this moment. These next few days were the cumulation of a life’s work. He would and could not give them up. "No deal!"

Anne looked into the cult leaders new blue-gray eyes, "Look! Whatever happens, you’re finished. Why destroy the life of an innocent girl? I don’t think you are evil just grossly misguided. Tell me where she is and we can end this."

"No! I’m not throwing away a decade of work on the eve of its greatest triumph!" the cult leader snapped.

"Ok. I’ve proved to you that DNA modification is possible and that the body doesn’t die when it’s altered. You can feel that fact if you just move your body a little bit and feel those tits of yours move. In one act I’ve disproved everything you’ve said for years! Your precious cult is as good as dead and everything you worked for has come to nothing. You have nothing left, so let me have her location and you can go free."

The cult leader knew that Anne was right but Dr Bexley, his Dr Bexley would be able to turn it all around. She was his last hope. "No I won’t! Elizabeth will be able to build a new world for her children from the ashes of this one!" His womanly voice still sounded strange to his ears, but it didn’t matter. In a few hours Elizabeth would be his, and in any case she would be able to switch him back in a while.

Anne was exasperated and this fuelled her anger. She tried to calm herself down. Getting angry would lead to mistakes and she couldn’t afford that. The cult leader wasn’t going to budge from his position. With great reluctance she decided she had to move to phase two.

The cult leader saw Anne move towards, him and take hold of his slender arm. He saw her other hand had another talon coming out from her knuckle. He screamed a high pitched scream as he felt the talon plunge into his arm. Once again his body was on fire and he passed out under the pain.

When he awoke he was dreading who or what he would become but as he looked up into the mirror he saw his old face looking back at him. Had his tormentor given up? He looked down at his arm and saw tubes running out from the wrist and on his other arm and on his chest were sensors stuck down with surgical tape.

Anne noticed that he was awake and said, "No I haven’t given up, but I need you to be in this form for what I’m about to do. Incidentally I’ve used the DNA sample I took earlier to turn you back. Now I beg you, please tell me where Elizabeth is?"

The cult leader shot Anne a look of defiance, "Why are you begging me? What are these machines for? You know what my answer is going to be, so why bother asking again. Whatever happens Elizabeth will serve the Children of Bexley."

Anne gave a look of great sadness at the cult leader. She had been left with no choice. Part of her hated herself for what she wasa about to do and the other just wanted to nail the bastard for what he’d done to Elizabeth, "Ok this is what’s going to happen. Those machines are connected to you to keep you alive and conscious and to ensure that you have enough blood to last throughout the procedure."

"Procedure?" The cult leader was horrified. What was going to happen to him?

"As you know I am a skilled surgeon. I’m going to take you apart organ by organ until you tell me where Elizabeth is." Anne spoke in a voice as though death himself was speaking.

"No you can’t. There are laws!" The cult leader gasped.

"Laws that you conveniently forgot when you took my daughter!"

Anne snarled.

"No, please. I’ll do anything," The cult leader whimpered.

"Then tell me where she is?" Anne snapped.

"Not that. It’s my life’s work!" the cult leader had regained some of his composure.

Anne moved to one side, picked up a gleaming stainless steel scalpel, and placed it on a tray at the foot of the table. She ensured that the cult leader saw her pick up a number of forceps and scissors and she put them into the tray as well. She then picked up a small flashlight sized object. "You know what this is? It’s a laser cauterizer. When I remove an organ it’ll stop the bleeding by sealing off the wound."

The cult leader struggled to break free. He thought for a second he could manage to free a hand but then found that it was just a false hope. "If you kill me then you’ll never find her!" he shouted defiantly.

"Then you’d better hope I do. Now the first thing we do is make an incision down the length of the chest," Anne’s voice had adopted a lecture tone of voice.

The cult leader screamed in pain as he felt the thin point of the scalpel enter his chest, and the burning pain continued until he could bear it no more. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t relieve the pain by passing out. More pain wracked his body as through eyes slitted in pain he felt his torturer slowly peel back his flesh until his layer of muscles were exposed.

Anne pinned back the cult leaders skin so it formed a thin, translucent sheet going from outside of the cult leaders chest. She ignored the amount of blood that was seeping out of the skin. That was a small amount compared to what would come.

Anne said, "Whenever you are ready to tell me just say stop!"

She then paused for a few seconds and said, "Not ready to tell me yet? Ok, let’s make a nice cut through all that muscle, shall we? Actually, the cut will be from mostly your rectus abdominus muscle down to your conjoined tendon,"

The cult leader felt another wave of indescribable pain as in the mirror he saw Anne run the scalpel down the length of the muscle covering him. He felt himself retch and he turned his head sideways so that his vomit wouldn’t choke him.

Anne watched the cult leader throw up all over the floor. "Thanks, that will make your stomach easier to remove," she hissed.

The pain was continuous now. There was no let up as wave after wave of it crashed thru the cult leader’s body. The pain had started to confuse his mind, but one thing he knew—he had to hold on. Elizabeth was his last chance.

"Where is she?" Anne asked.

"Not.. saying.," the cult leader said. Lashings of pain interrupted each word.

"Have you ever seen a spleen? I have," Anne asked the cult leader.

Anne smiled and picked up her scalpel again. The cult leader felt Anne’s hand inside him and he closed his eyes, waiting for the pain that was sure to come.

"I’m about to cut thru the spleen’s fibrous coat and splenic artery. Anything you want to tell me?" Anne said. She had switched off all her emotion. One thing fixed in her mind, she had to get to Elizabeth as soon as possible!

"Go... To Hell, " the cult leader said hesitantly. He felt a small cut inside him and another level of pain was added to that which he already felt. The pain wasn’t sharp but a growing wave of dull agony. He opened his eyes and wished he hadn’t as he saw his chest open and awash with blood. His skin and muscle had been pulled apart and pinned open by clamps.

Still in her lecture tone of voice Anne said, "Did you know the average length of a human small intestine is about 23 feet? Let’s find out, shall we. Unless of course you want to stop."

Mustering all his strength the cult leader managed to say, "No," there was more at stake than his life.

The cult leader cried out in pain as he felt Anne make another incision inside him. Pain turned to revulsion as he saw her lift out a long yellow, fleshy tube and hold it in front if his face. He nearly threw up again but somehow he couldn’t. He saw Anne reach towards his small intestine with some surgical scissors and all of sudden another hammer blow of pain struck him. This wasn’t the sharp, immediate, screaming kind that he had felt, before but one of utterly intensive, overwhelming, and continuous agony.

"That’s one foot," Anne said, discarding a small piece of intestine on the floor.

The cult leader screamed in pain as another wave of this dull but intensive pain crashed thru his body. He tried to bend double, to somehow relieve the almost unbearable agony, but he was held firm hand and foot. His, body, unable to relieve the pain, just added more and more intensity to it in ever increasing magnitudes.

"Two feet," Anne said gently.

Just as that scream died in his throat another way joined it as another wave of intense agony crashed thru his body.

"Three feet, Only twenty more to go," Anne said gently.

Another loud scream pierced the room as he felt the agony of another cut, and another, and another, and so the pain and screams went on until he could bear no more. He thought of the harm this evil woman would inflict on his precious child if he gave in. It gave him the strength to hold out a little longer.

"Hmmm, your small intestine was only 22 feet in length. Never mind, size doesn’t matter, or so they say," Anne said with a vicious smile. She continued on in the same tone, "Now I didn’t really think you’d have the stomach to hold out for so long. Maybe that’s what’s next. Come on, where is she? I’ll stop if you tell me."

"No," the cult leader gasped. Part of him wanted to end the torment his body was going thru. Every nerve in his body was screaming in pain, like nothing he had ever experienced before. He couldn’t help but look at his gaping chest in the ceiling mirror, and he tried once more to vomit, but there was no release from the pain and horror. He felt Anne’s hand go inside him once more, and the now familiar stab of pain crashed over him again, exceeding that of the agony he now felt.

Anne pulled out a large reddish blue object and showed it to the cult leader, her hands dripping with blood, bile and gore. "Now I’m going to cut thru the gastric and fundric zones into the gastric folds."

The cult leader looked on in horror as Anne cut a slit in his stomach. The look turned into a blood curdling scream as she poured his stomach contents into his chest cavity. More pain, agony, and horror than he could imagine wracked his body as the acid and bile ate into his remaining organs. It felt as though a million hot needles were being stabbed into every part of his chest. Another massive scream erupted from his mouth as he felt the acid eat deeper into him. He stole a look upwards into the mirror and saw that the blood had been cleared away a little, and now in it’s place was a greenish liquid, mixed in with the deep red of arterial blood. Nothing was worth this much pain. It had to stop. It was too late now anyway. His Dr Bexley would come to into being whatever he said. He had won! "STOP!" he screamed as loud as he could but it came out no more than a whisper.

"Where is she?" Anne demanded.

"Gilcar Farm, near Park Mill, Yorkshire, England. But it’s too late," the cult leader gasped.

"See. You needn’t have gone thru all that pain need you?" Anne said soothingly. She turned away from the cult leader and went to walk away. As she did so she concentrated hard and felt a tube form from her wrist. She had to be careful as a single bony dart grew inside it. What it contained was not to be messed with.

"Please, cure me!" The cult leader gasped in pain. The pain had still not subsided, and if anything was growing in intensity.

"My pleasure," Anne said and fired her dart at the cult leader. It struck him clean in the neck and seconds later he gave a loud gargling scream.

Anne looked on, as the cult leader’s body seemed to go limp. Bulges of fluid formed under his skin, which then ruptured spewing a pink, semi solid fluid all over the floor. With one last scream the cult leader seemed to deflate as more and more of his body dissolved into more and more of the pink fluid. Seconds later the pools of blood that were on the floor were mixed in with the remains of the cult leader.

Anne turned around and fled out of the house. Not only because it was a race against time, but also because the full reality of what she had just done had just dawned on her! She had acted without mercy and without remorse. As she climbed into her car and sped towards where the chopper had landed she suddenly felt as though she had become a monster once more. She tried to justify what she had done by telling herself that it had been required, and that taking down the bad guys in order to save her daughter was an acceptable thing to do.

Maybe if she had used minimal force she could have justified it, but this was by no means minimal. Somehow she had allowed herself to be consumed by anger and worry for Elizabeth’s safety, such that her actions had become second nature. One thing was for certain. Mark would never have her back now, and the way she felt now she wouldn’t blame him. She truly was death incarnate. What in hell was she thinking when she’d had planned the whole thing out in her mind? One thing was for certain, Heinlein would be mad at her! And yet, as he had authorized the use of lethal force, what did he expect! That thought caused her more concern. A part of her had enjoyed performing the act of death by vivisection on the cult leader. He had systematically taken apart her whole life and built it into a lie. It was fitting that she did the same back to him.

Anne shook her head, to clear it. What in hell was she thinking? Even in her most vicious times of insanity she had never acted in this way, and yet, she was now supposed to be cured! She hadn’t changed one little bit. She had used excessive force on Hassan all those years ago, several times when working for Heinlein and now, when she was living her new life as Anne Baxter, she had ripped apart those gang members who had threatened her and Mark. Now this had happened and this was the worst of all. She had used her medical skill to kill someone bit by bit! It didn’t matter that he was one of the bad guys; she had no right to do that to him. The thought only made Anne feel worse, but it was too late, the deed had been done and now only remorse remained.

She thought of dear, sweet Mark back at college. Perhaps she had been right to leave him, in spite of her feelings for him. Maybe she was just too evil to love. This made her feel even more depressed. Anne spoke to her car hi-fi, "Car track 19 personal collection," the in-car hi-fi beeped and began to play.

"In my dreams I’m dying all the time

As I wake its kaleidoscopic mind

I never meant to hurt you I never meant to lie So this is goodbye.

This is goodbye

Tell the truth you never wanted me

In my dreams I’m jealous all the time

As I wake I’m going out of my mind

Going out of my mind."

Anne didn’t feel in the mood for music. "Car music off!" So she tried to put the thoughts out of her mind, instead focusing on the mission ahead. Within minutes she would be at the helipad and within an hour and half in English airspace. Now all she had to do was hope and pray that Elizabeth could hold out.

o—o—o—

 

Flight BA7877 carrying an extremely worried Kat was just over India as Anne’s ‘lift’ was hurtling towards England. She was sitting back in her seat trying not to worry but failing miserably. She hadn’t been this worried since she had been kidnapped by the guild all those years ago. Now once again she would have to dig deep within herself for the trials that were sure to come. She had tried to get hold of John but he was out with his friends hiking in the Australian outback and his PDA wasn’t turned on. What did the people who had taken Elizabeth want from her? Or even from them? If it was money, that wasn’t an issue. What if it was something else?

Her blood froze as a thought crossed her mind. They didn’t want money. Matthew had told her that. What if they wanted Elizabeth? What if whoever took her knew that she really was Dr Bexley’s daughter, not their own? What if they thought that they could make Elizabeth into a kind of Dr Bexley re-incarnation? Her PDA bleeping interrupted her train of thought. She fished it out of her jacket pocket, untangled the earpiece, and put it in her ear.

"Yes?" She answered.

"Hi it’s me," Matthew answered.

"Any news?" Kat blurted.

"Not really. I just called to see how you were."

"Bearing up. I’m going to get there too late aren’t I? Why in hell do we live so far away from everything? I’ve not even crossed India yet. I’m too old for this kinda crap now." Kat eyes started to fill with tears.

"I know what you mean. I’ve called the FBI and the Brit police and they tell me it’s all under control and not to worry. Alex is resting now. He’s been beside himself with worry. He’s on the front line and he’s only a kid!" Matthew said softly

"Not much younger than you were when SHE did all that stuff to us. He’ll cope. We’ve got each other no matter what happens. As long as we stick together like we always have we’ll be ok." Kat tried her best to sound convincing, but why did she doubt it herself?

"I guess so. At least we knew who our enemy was," Matthew commented.

Trying to sound a lot braver than she felt Kat replied "The enemy is always the same no matter the situation. Fear is our enemy. It robs of our power to think and to reason. It destroys the bonds of trust between us, saps us of our energy with which we fight. Matthew, we need each other, Cathline, Alex and John. All of us together must face fear and overcome it. If Elizabeth is to live then that is the only thing we can and must do."

"Thanks Kat. I have to get off the line now, just in case. I love you more than I can ever express or say or do."

"I know. I always have known, and I feel the same way about you. Love you," Kat replied tearfully.

"Bye," Matthew replied softly. This wasn’t over yet, not by a long way.

o—o—o—

 

Elizabeth struggled to get her eyes open. Her head ached like hell; she was feeling so woozy and so confused. As her mind cleared a little she realized she was sitting down in a chair. She tried to get up, but found herself unable to move. She managed to get her eyes open but could make nothing out in the darkness of the room. Suddenly a bright white spotlight flooded the area where she was sitting, momentarily blinding her. "Hey," she called out.

The rest of the room remained dark, and even after adjusting to the light her eyes couldn’t make out any detail in the shadows. She glanced down at her hands and saw they had been securely strapped down, as were her legs. She was clearly going nowhere. "Where am I? What you going to do with me?" she called out. Her voice showing her fear.

Again there was no reply from whoever was holding her but in the back of her mind she heard Deianeria say, "Now it’s time."

"Time for what?" Elizabeth whispered.

"My Time," was Deianeria’s cryptic reply.

A heavily disguised voice came from a speaker somewhere in the far corner of the room. "Welcome, precious daughter. Now is the time for you to take your rightful place amongst us. Your old life is over, your new one is about to begin."

"Who are you? What do want? Why am I here?" Elizabeth demanded. They had called her ‘precious daughter’. The phrase sounded familiar. Suddenly it came to her. The Children of Bexley cult were holding her captive. What did they mean her old life was over? There was no way she was going to join them!

The voice spoke once more "We have prepared for years for this day. You have prepared for it your whole life!"

"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth demanded. She could see no obvious way out. Deianeria had promised to help, to protect her maybe she could help?

"Deianeria?" She whispered to herself.

"This is my time, yours has almost gone," Deianeria whispered back, echoing what the voice had just told Elizabeth. Elizabeth then felt a dark murky oppression in her mind. Like a headache coming on, only hundreds of times worse.

A feeling of dread and fear ran thru Elizabeth. What was Deianeria playing at? She had trusted her, listened to her advice and handed over her protection to her. Now it seemed as though Deianeria was trying to take over! Her ears picked up the sound of someone walking into the room, but she couldn’t make out any more details than that.

A thought struck her, Angela! What had they done to Angela?

"Angela is she.." Elizabeth called.

There was no reply and suddenly the lights dimmed for a few seconds and then blazed back on again. For a few more seconds Elizabeth was disorientated, but she could make out the shape of the person who had entered the room. It was female and about five feet nine with black hair. As the details became clear she saw the woman’s face. It was Angela!

"Angela, you’re OK! Quick, let’s get out of here!" Elizabeth screamed.

"Hello Elizabeth," Angela said coldly.

The realization hit Elizabeth like a sledgehammer. Angela wasn’t here to help her at all! She was involved! She felt physically sick at Angela’s betrayal. She tried to speak, but all she could hear in her mind was Deianeria’s manic laughter. Her mind whirled with confusing thoughts. Firstly sadness then anger and more anger at being betrayed by her best friend. "Angela why?" she sobbed.

"It’s what I was trained to do. We have plenty of time so I will fill you in. The more I tell you the more you will free yourself and your potential."

"You lied to me!" Elizabeth cried out, enraged.

Angela gave Elizabeth one of her sweet smiles "I’ve done more than that. In a few hours, you will be who you were always meant to be. "

"Stop saying that! I’m meant to be me. I’m meant to marry Alex, I’m meant to be a doctor," Elizabeth anger rose with every passing moment.

"One of out three isn’t bad. You are meant to be a doctor, but not the doctor you thought you were going to be."

"Bitch! I’ll resist you. I won’t do it!" Elizabeth now added hurt and pain to her anger.

"Yes you will. Simply because you have no choice."

"I always have a choice."

"No you don’t! Let me explain. My real name Is Angela Adams, but I’m afraid I’m not adopted. My father is James Adams and my mother was just someone he liked the look of."

Adams! That was the same surname of the cult leader of the Children of Bexley, "No you can’t be!" Angela was the daughter of the Cult leader James Adams. She had revealed her innermost secret in exchange for a lie. Another betrayal of trust!

"I was trained from the age to ten to be able to think like you do, to know what you most wanted in a friend, and know every thought, word, and deed you were going to do. I know you better than I do myself. I was trained to be the perfect friend to Elizabeth Cathline Stephens. It’s what I was born to do! When I read where you were going, my father ensured that I would be your room mate. I was to be the tool that would unlock your potential. I did like you, Elizabeth, which made it easier for me to be your best friend. I couldn’t have been so effective otherwise! But soon you will be gone, and a new you will be born. We can then start off our friendship again, brand new, with no hard feelings and no secrets from each other!"

Elizabeth was about to say something when Deianeria’s giggling swamped her thoughts and nearly overwhelmed her mind.

"Stop it!" Elizabeth shouted to herself.

"I see it’s working. The true you is breaking free. Soon you’ll be the person to lead us into personal nirvana, you’ll know the answers to all our problems and be wise enough to help us deal with them. Just think of all the people’s who’s lives you’ll change for the better."

Elizabeth tried to ignore the oppression in her mind but it Was rapidly becoming worse.

Angela continued to speak, "Just think, after you are free, we can be together just like we used to be, as best friends," Angela smiled as she had done so many times when she and Elizabeth had been roommates.

"Fuck off!" Elizabeth snarled.

"Your whole time with me was carefully staged and managed. Remember the trip to Ely to play a joke on my dad? That was my idea wasn’t it?"

Elizabeth nodded, unable to think straight.

"That was designed to do two things, firstly to show you off to our followers and secondly to start to unbalance you. To drive doubt and fear into your mind and into your heart about who you really were. We needed to see if you really had the potential to be who we knew you were all along. Your outburst and subsequent elation at being praised told us everything we needed to know. I had to move slowly and carefully. Move too fast and you would suspect. We had to move softly, and a bit at a time or else all would be lost. All those picnics, coffees, and late night chats were designed to gain your trust. Let you open up to me, ‘Dearest Angela my best friend in the whole wide world’." Angela gave another mocking smile.

Elizabeth was still unable to think. Deianeria was now silent and inside her the feelings of betrayal fed upon those of hurt and pain and those of hurt and pain fed upon betrayal. The dark oppression in her mind was gaining in strength and ferocity. Elizabeth found that by concentrating she could keep it at bay.

"Ever wonder why your medicine has been having such little effect recently? By now how you are is your natural state of mind, so I doubt you gave it much thought. From the first day we spent together I have been replacing your Olanzapine with a drug of our own making. You thought you had stopped taking Olanzapine for only a few days. In fact you have not had any for over six months. My little helpful trips to fetch your medicine were just an excuse for me to bring in new supplies of our own drug. Olanzapine suppresses who you really are. We could not allow that to happen again."

"What was the drug?" Elizabeth managed to say, her voice full of fear, the fear that had for the moment replaced the fury. What had been done to her?

Angela gave a cruel smile. "Dose by dose it built up your resistance to Olanzapine or any other treatment you might take to prevent the real you from taking hold. In order to suppress the new you, you would need to take so much Olanzapine it would kill you. You can never be rid of the new you. She will always be there in your mind. Not that the drug will be required after today anyway."

"What’s going to happen to me?" Elizabeth stammered.

"That would be telling. Remember Nick? He was another trigger I set in place to put you off balance. To put pressure on the fragile old you to make it easier for the new you to come out."

"Nick was a set up?" Elizabeth sobbed. She tried to close her eyes and remember the fun times they had had together, anything to get rid of the constant stream of betrayal and hurt.

"Ever wonder who the ‘other woman was?’ it was me! You thought yourself so aloof and superior, but it was me who stole him away from you He was a set up. And you’re supposed to be the clever one. Everything was a set up."

"Did I kill him?" Elizabeth asked, fearful of the answer.

"He was already dead. As soon as he went out with you his fate was sealed. I did the deed myself. I must say, for a man of his size he was an easy kill," Angela voice was emotionless as though she had just described stepping on an ant.

Elizabeth gave a loud cry. She hadn’t had him killed, but she was responsible for his death. It hadn’t just been a mugging, it was another step in the plan to get at her. She felt the dark stifling pain of Deianeria move closer into her mind, threatening to snuff her out at the slightest chance.

"When dad came to you with the receipt and told you to look at the facts, that was to make you look into yourself. By now we had applied enough pressure for your new personality, the real you to start to show thru. You responded brilliantly, even better than we imagined you would. Your little quest served to divert you away from our real intentions, blindside you so that when we took you it would all be a surprise. It also freed your mind to allow the real you to surface. We had a cleaner plant the fake journals at your parent’s house. Did you know that I wrote them? It took me years to perfect Dr Bexley’s handwriting, by the way. By the time you came back from vacation your mind was a battle ground between Elizabeth and the person you call Deianeria."

Elizabeth gasped. How did she know?

"I heard you talking to her during the night. I lived and breathed every moment with you, remember. It was when I heard you refer to Deianeria that I knew our plans were working. The months of constant pressure and diversions were beginning to work, that combined with the lack of Olanzapine. You were starting to become who we wanted you to become. The real you is Deianeria. I’m sure she’s in there right now forcing her way into your conscious mind," Angela

Elizabeth stayed silent. Deianeria was getting harder and harder to suppress. The more Angela revealed her betrayal, the more she inflicted hurt and pain on Elizabeth, the more difficult Deianeria was to stop from swamping her mind and taking over. She then realized that was that they were planning to do. In her confused and distraught state it had taken her longer to reach that conclusion than it should have done! She needed something good and solid to focus on. If she could manage that then she would be able to resist. She remembered back to her first date with Alex and their first kiss. The shivers of delight it gave her and the thought of her marriage to him raised her spirits and helped keep Deianeria at bay.

"If you are wondering why you felt so woozy it’s because the effects of the CAT scan are just wearing off," Angela noted with medical precision.

"CAT Scan?" Elizabeth said. She was still trying to focus on Alex.

Angela checked her watch "Yes, it should have gone out by now. You see while you were unconscious we flew you to France, took some blood tests and a CAT scan and while you were being moved back here we compared them to the treasured Dr Bexley. They confirmed what we already knew, that you are her daughter, and not Matthew and Jane Stephen’s. We’ve sent that and all our other evidence to several international news organizations. I suspect in a day or so the whole world will know the truth about you. It’ll take them a while to verify the story, but rest assured the truth will get out. I wonder how would your beloved Alex react to you then?"

"NOOOOO!" Elizabeth screamed. From now on she would be an outcast. Looked upon with fear and distrust wherever she went. All her nightmares about being hounded in the press, watched by the police every time she went places were coming true. She didn’t even now have the luxury of being able to give people the comfort of her being on Olanzapine, as she was now unable to use any form of treatment. Angela was right. What would Alex say? She hoped that he would stay with her, but she couldn’t guarantee that. Her only chance was to stay in exile on her parent’s island, but what kind of life would that be? She would be unable to go out, have a career. She would effectively be in prison. She could feel Deianeria start to push thru the barriers she had erected. How much more could she stand before she gave in, before Elizabeth Stephens was gone, consumed by the person called only Deianeria.

"I see you see the reality of your situation. You can either stay with us and we’ll provide everything you need. Friends, a career, people who love you, or you can be hunted down everywhere you go. Sure in time the press coverage will fade but every job you go for, every friend you make will know of what you are capable of and who you are. Your other choice is to go it alone, trying to make a life for yourself as best you can. I know how hard you find it to trust people, think how much more difficult that will be now."

Elizabeth pushed down her anger and sadness. "There’s always Alex, Mom and Dad, John and Cathline. I don’t need anyone else!"

"Ahh yes family. The last refuge of the desperate," Angela’s voice was deathly quiet.

"What are you going to do to them?" Elizabeth asked fearfully. She could no longer think in any detail any more. Although Deianeria was silent, she could feel her oppression in her mind. It was slowly and inexorably strangling the life out of her. She couldn’t take much more of this. Was oblivion better than the living hell she had been exposed to now? It was certainly tempting, all she needed to do was let go, Deianeria would take over and she would be gone. Her love for Alex and her family was her last stronghold. Nothing Angela could say or reveal could knock down its walls. "If that’s all you’ve got Angela, you’ve failed. I’m still here!" She said, mustering all her defiance.

"Oh no I’ve saved the best till last. I’m going to tell you this now but the rest of the world won’t know until your wedding day, if it’s still on that is. The beloved Dr Bexley only revealed her true self when her wedding was ruined. We’re going to do the same for you."

"How? Alex won’t leave me. You can’t deny his love for me," Elizabeth said triumphantly.

"True but the law can," Angela replied. Her voice revealing that she was going to relish the next part.

"The law. The law can’t touch us! Neither of us are married!" Elizabeth saw the look of supreme confidence on Angela’s face and her concern grew. What did Angela know? What could Angela possibly know?

"I’m afraid the law expressly forbids brother and sister to marry. Whether Alex loves you or not, it doesn’t matter a single bit. You are his sister." Angela gave a broad smile.

"No you’re lying!" Elizabeth sobbed. She had to be lying! Alex wasn’t her brother, how could he be? She felt the tendrils of Deianeria’s presence start to infiltrate into her final stronghold. She dug down within herself, drawing on the last reserves of strength. Her final hope that Angela was lying.

"No I’m not. You see we worked it out years ago. We know every word Cathline wrote in her books. You will too when you join us. The key section came after Cathline was kidnapped by the Guild again and handed over into Osman’s care. He had burned her eye out again and left her chained hand and foot to the wall. Let me quote Cathline’s words to you

‘I was exhausted and tired. Osman had just burned my eye out again. Supposedly repeating the punishment he had inflicted on me all those years ago. Inside I ached and I could still feel the sickening feeling of violation from when one of Osman’s bodyguards had decided he would be the first man to fuck Rachel Martin. I had tried to resist but he was too strong for me.

I can’t remember too much about my time chained to that dungeon wall. It brought back too many horrific memories of my time in Osman’s dungeon where I had been raped every day for four months. Tina would hurl abuse at every man who came in to take me, she tried to attract his attention away from me but it didn’t work. They always came for me. My eye still gave me incredible pain and there seemed to be no end to the cycle of rape and violation. I had to hold out, no matter what!

That was until Salah came in. I took one look at him and sighed in resignation. Tina was hurling abuse at him but he just ignored her and started to screw me. He wasn’t like the others. He seemed kinder, gentler, as if he really cared for me. He touched me in places that I had only told a few people Kat, John, and Dr Bexley, I liked to be touched.

My spirits rose when he told me he was going to get us out. I knew he was going to take me whatever I did so I relaxed and let myself enjoy it. After he had come inside me he gave me a single fingered salute and left.’

Angela set the book down, and smiled coldly at Enizabeth. "Who was Salah at that time? It was your Mom, wasn’t it? She was a fully functional man at the time. We know from Guild archives that Kat was the only person to screw Cathline during her time in that dungeon. Cathline never was never serially raped in that dungeon! If you work back the dates then nine months from the date this occurred is Alex’s birthday. That’s why he’s got an Arabic look about him. He’s what, four months older than you are? Strange timing don’t you think? Alex is your brother and we are going to reveal that to the world on your wedding day."

"Please you can’t. No, anything but that! I’ll do whatever you want, anything but that," Elizabeth sobbed. Her mind was so confused. She didn’t know what was real anymore!

"Your parents and Cathline must have known. Cathline did! That’s why she lied in her book! To try and fool people, but it didn’t fool us. Your Mom as Salah protected Cathline from being raped but Cathline covered it up! They lied to you Elizabeth, and they weren’t going to tell you. You would have been illegally married to your brother and they weren’t going to tell you. What does that say about them, Elizabeth? You can tell how people really feel about you by the way they treat you. I bet they never kept things from John did they? How can they love you if they can do that you? You’re not even their real daughter are you?"

Elizabeth’s eyes glazed over and she gave a blood curdling scream and then slumped almost lifeless in her chair. Deianeria had finally breached her last line of defense.

o—o—o—

 

Anne decided to walk the kilometer from Park Mill to Gilcar Farm. It would be much safer and allowed her time to gather her thoughts and refine her plan. She positioned herself on the road just above the old ramshackle farmhouse and put her infra-red binoculars to her eyes. It took a few seconds for the readings to show but she saw a single figure, apparently sitting down, outlined in yellow and orange in the middle of a room and another figure standing near it. The figure sitting down must be Elizabeth. She scanned the surrounding area for more figures but saw no one. As she suspected the cult had relied on secrecy and stealth rather than brute force. Having hundreds of armed guards running around would attract attention where single figure in a remote stone clad farmhouse wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow.

She flicked a switch on the side of the Binoculars and the view turned from orange and yellow blobs to an eerie green glow. She zoomed into the surrounding countryside and the scanner built into the viewfinder showed that there were no transmitters or electronic devices around. The farmhouse was protected only by the stealth and secrecy afforded it by a fanatical group of people, which as Anne had to admit was often the most difficult to crack open. Another potential complication was the fact that the Children of Bexley’s organization and execution of the kidnap was amateurish at best and at worst very dangerous. There had been no cover for the cult leader, and now no cover for where Elizabeth was being held. It was clear that the cult wanted to keep a low profile and that was the reason for the lack of backup. In a way, what was more worrying was the fact that it was easier to deal with ‘professional’ hostage takers than amateur ones. Anne was under no illusions that if the Guild, back in their heyday, had taken Elizabeth captive things would be a lot different.

Switching back to infra red, the figure standing up moved out of the room and into a side room. Whatever had been going on had either paused or had been completed. Anne prayed it was the former. The figure sitting down was still showing a healthy orange glow, so Elizabeth was at least still alive. Anne stood up from her crouch and as she did so the pistol she was carrying dug into her leg. It was a painful reminder of the task she was ordered to perform should it be required. She had no choice but to carry it out. If she failed then someone else wouldn’t. There had to be another way, didn’t there?

As quietly as she could, using low cut stone walls, farm machinery, and bushes for cover she crept towards the house. She crept to one side of a ground floor window and pulled out a metal tube. Unscrewing the lid she ran a small line of white paste along her side of the window. Ducking down she did the same for the base of the window, ensuring the paste met the other line she had just squeezed out. Within a few moments the entire glass of the window had a white rectangular paste line around it. From her backpack Anne pulled out a small metal cube and bracing herself under the window pressed the cube into the paste.

A few seconds later the paste started to fizz and glow red hot. Anne braced the window as the rapidly heating paste melted the glass around the window. A few moments later the glass fell into her hands. She held the window for a few seconds, allowing the glass to cool before she placed it on the ground beside her. The police would think it was how the kidnapper had gained entry.

Checking with her infra-red binoculars that the kidnapper was still in another room, she climbed inside. Stashing her binoculars in her backpack, she listened for any signs that she had been heard. Satisfied that she was undetected; she concentrated on her left arm. Within a few seconds, a small hollow tube about six inches long grew from her elbow and out of her knuckles. Inside the tube she could feel the darts containing a powerful neuro-toxin start to form. It wouldn’t kill, but it would paralyze for several hours and leave no traces in the bloodstream.

After creeping into the hallway, Anne paused for a few seconds, checking again that there was no sign of detection. She heard a faint sound coming from a room to the left. Quietly and quickly she edged herself along the side wall. The sound grew louder. Whoever it was coming out of the room! Anne readied herself for action, and waited, holding her breath while the door slowly opened and a figure stepped outside.

Anne watched the tall brunette walk out of the room, tray in hand and with her dart arm took aim. She stepped out of the shadows and said, "Hello there."

Angela jumped in shock, dropping the tray in the process, and stared at the tall red head waiting in the shadows. She heard a slight hiss, then a jab of pain and she looked down at her shoulder. A large thorn was sticking out of it and within a few seconds her head span and it all went black.

Anne stooped down over Angela’s paralyzed form and slung her over her shoulder. She didn’t want her waking up and getting help. For a moment she considered putting a bullet in her head, but then decided otherwise. She would determine Angela’s fate once she had checked out Elizabeth.

Trying to visualize the layout of the house in her mind she took a right turn into a large room. The featureless walls were painted jet black, and the lights were full on, giving the room a cell like appearance. In the middle of the room, slumped in her chair sat Elizabeth. Dumping Angela in the corner, Anne ran to Elizabeth’s unconscious figure, "Elizabeth are you ok," Anne asked, checking Elizabeth’s pulse. It was strong and regular. Elizabeth, however, did not look ok. Her hair was tousled, the area around her eyes was streaked with tears, but when all was said and done she looked uninjured. Anne breathed a sigh of relief. All she had to do is wait for Elizabeth to wake up.

She took a few moments to study the face of the daughter, she had only seen in magazine articles. Of course she looked exactly like she used to. Auburn hair framing delicate cheekbones, full lips, and even in sleep she had an aristocratic air about her. Anne gently gave Elizabeth’s cheek an affectionate stroke. This was her daughter, a daughter she had left in the care of others worthier than herself, and a daughter she had never known. What would she be like? Would she be a smart, self-assured young woman as she was at her age, or would she be a timid little mouse? Anne knew that Elizabeth would be brilliant, but that was no compensation for not knowing her properly. Of course Elizabeth wasn’t the product of a loving union, but of genetic engineering. To Anne, that didn’t matter one bit. Anne imagined the baby Elizabeth in her cot, cooing, gurgling, and smiling at Matthew and Kat. And she felt bitterly sad that she was not around to see it. Now Anne gave Elizabeth’s hair a comforting and loving stroke. When Elizabeth awoke Anne would be forced to decide whether she lived or she died.

Anne concentrated on her wrist and the dart tube retracted back into her arm. She then sat crossed legged on the floor, gun in her right hand, and waited for Elizabeth to wake up.

o—o—o—

 

Mark had spent the last few hours trying to forget the night before. How quickly his fortunes had turned around. One moment he was the luckiest guy in college, the next his girlfriend turns out to be a mass killer. No matter how he tried he couldn’t get the images of her cutting down the gang in front of his very eyes out of his mind. More than that, she had shown little remorse in doing so. Forget about Dr Elizabeth Anne Bexley being a reformed character. She was just as lethal as she had ever been, maybe not psychotic anymore, but deadly all the same.

It had taken a lot of courage for her to admit who she was, but she didn’t really have any choice after what she’d done. He would have sussed it out sooner or later anyway. Now he thought of it, all the background information he and Wills had got on her fitted in perfectly. No illness of any kind, her changeling organ could quickly deal with any infection. Her high intelligence, her extreme confidence in dealing with the boat accident, her parents being killed in an auto accident, and her taste in retro-music should have all been clues. But how could anyone still suspect that the infamous Dr Bexley was alive and well?

She had joked about only picking up men in broken down cars, and he’d thought it had related only to him, but no, clearly it didn’t. He had to tell someone about this, his heart couldn’t contain the hurt he felt, and he had to share it. Wills would know what to do.

Picking up the phone he called Wills ,"Hi Wills, where are you? I need to talk."

"Right outside your door. Hey, you missed classes today. I was worried you ok?" Wills voice answered.

"Tell you when I let you in." Mark got up and opened the door just as Wills was walking down the hallway. Putting the phone in his jeans pockets he gave Wills a wave.

"Hi, wass up?" Wills asked.

"Take a seat and swear to God you won’t breathe a word of this to anyone," Mark said softly.

"Ok, " Wills replied and sat down on the threadbare sofa.

"Anne and I split up last night," Mark said. It still hurt to think of it.

"Oh no! I thought you two were so right for each other. How come?"

Mark related the previous night’s events to a stunned Wills.

"So Anne was Dr Bexley all along, complete with changeling organ. Fucking hell, Mark you’re lucky to be alive," Wills commented.

"I know, I kept expecting her to rip my head off, or turn me into a cheerleader or something. I’ve no idea where she is but I’m staying here until this all dies down."

"No, I didn’t mean her. I meant the gang. If she hadn’t been there you would have been dead on the pavement with a bullet in your head. She saved your life, Mark," Wills said in a matter of fact tone.

"I know, but she didn’t have to rip people in two. That was before we broke up anyway." Mark was now feeling even more depressed. How could this happen to him?

"How was she when she left?" Wills asked.

"She didn’t seem angry at me as such. Just sad that I didn’t want to be with her anymore. She told me she loved me. If she had told me that before yesterday, I would be on an all time high. But now I feel as though my heart has been broken into a million pieces. She was so right for me Wills. Why’d it have to work out this way?" Mark was trying his hardest not to cry but his pain was starting to push through.

"When she told you about the Fury, did she seem sorry for it?"

Wills asked.

"I can’t tell. I was too much in shock," Mark admitted.

A thought occurred to Wills and he voiced it to Mark "You know. She could’ve begged forgiveness, tried the sympathy thing on, but it looks like she didn’t. That says something to me."

"Yeah, like she was sorry she got caught!" Mark snapped.

"No, like she wanted to be honest with you. She wanted to show you who she really was, not manipulate your feelings to get what she wanted. She’s lived her entire life being other people, now she only wants to be herself as best she can. Before you knew who she really was you treated her like that. With no pretensions, images or masks. From what you told me about your first date that’s what she said she liked about you. You didn’t try and be anyone else, just Mark."

"I really fucked up, didn’t I?" Mark complained bitterly.

"That depends. How do you feel about her?" Wills asked.

Mark shrugged his shoulders "I don’t know. Anne Baxter I fell in love with. Dr Elizabeth Bexley I haven’t. Yes I know they are the same person, but last night, when I looked at her I didn’t see Anne. I saw a fifty year old woman, who isn’t strictly human, and who had just killed three people as though they were bugs to step on. That’s a big change from the person I thought Anne Baxter was."

"I hadn’t thought about the age gap," Wills admitted.

"I only just did. Sure, she looks my age, but in her mind and the way she acts she’s just like my Mom! Sure, she wears the fashionable clothes and acts like a normal twenty something but all the way along there was a world weariness about her. I never really noticed it until you said, but it was little things. Like the way on her first date she acted as though she had seen it all before. I’d put it down to her having lots of dates, but now I know she HAS seen it all before. Fuck knows what she got up to when she was in the CIA. I’ll bet they used her for more than courier work. You know what? I don’t really want to know. All I know is that I fell in love with Anne Baxter, and now she has gone forever!" Mark put his head down a little. It hurt too much to think about it.

o—o—o—

 

Anne sat there for the best part of an hour before she detected a slight movement from Elizabeth. She had taken the time to firmly restrain Angela, even though it would be several hours before she woke up. During that hour she had perfected what she was going to do and what she was going to say. Her backpack was on the floor in front of her, just in case.

If she gave Elizabeth a clean bill of health just to enable her to pass the test, when in fact she would have failed, then somebody else would notice and kill her anyway. She was also sure that Heinlein would have a backup in case she chickened out. The only way to save Elizabeth was if she was to do it herself.

"Who are you?" A nightingale like voice asked her.

Anne looked up and saw a pair of bright blue-gray eyes studying her intensely. The eyes checked out Anne’s pistol and didn’t show a sign of fear. It was just another obstacle to overcome before she escaped.

Anne so wanted to tell Elizabeth who she really was, but knew the shock would be too great. "You can call me Friday. And I’m one of the good guys," Anne discretely put her hand inside the open backpack and flicked on the voice recorder. If anything went wrong this would be essential evidence.

The blue-gray eyes looked at the unconscious Angela and then at the pistol once more. "Then why the pistol?"

"Insurance," Anne replied.

"So why am I not out of here already?" the voice demanded.

Anne asked. "We have some unfinished business first. Elizabeth, how are you? What did they do to you?"

"They tried to make me join them. They told me all sorts of lies to convince me to abandon my family and my fiancée. They failed." The voice was cold and matter of fact.

Interesting, she shows no sign of trauma, Anne thought. Was this usual or a symptom of something worse? "It’s ok, you’re safe now. We need to wait until help arrives."

"How’d you find me? Where am I?"

Again the dispassionate nature of Elizabeth’s tone worried her. "Doesn’t matter how I found you, and you are in a farmhouse in England."

"You don’t sound British! Friday sounds more like a codename."

‘Smart Kid’ Anne thought. "I’m not, I’m from the US government."

"Why are they involved?"

"Because of who you are?" Anne replied. Here it comes. How would Elizabeth answer?

"A celebrity? Wow that’s VIP treatment for you. My very own spy to look after me!"

‘Clever answer’ Anne thought. Intuitive reasoning about the spy part too. "No, I meant you being a direct copy of Dr Bexley."

Anne looked for a reaction, but didn’t see any sign. Elizabeth was playing the game very well indeed. She was holding her cards close to her chest. It was as if she didn’t trust the one sent to rescue her. "Who’s that? " Anne asked nodding towards Angela.

"My room mate. She tricked me into thinking she was my best friend, when all along she was plotting to subvert me. Set me up so that when she took me down I would fall even further. She’s ruined my life! Is she dead?"

"No. I just stunned her," Anne said. Crunch question number two she thought.

"Pity," was the icy reply.

Anne started to get worried. Kat would have drummed into Elizabeth the sanctity of life, all life from an early age. The cold heartless way Elizabeth answered didn’t reflect that teaching one bit. "Why ‘pity.’ Surely she deserves a fair trial?"

"Yeah right. She fucked up my life. Fucked up my marriage to Alex, and arranged to have me kidnapped. Why shouldn’t she die!" the voice sounded harder still.

‘Now we are getting somewhere’, Anne thought. She pressed in. "I agree with you. There’s only you and me here and I won’t tell anyone. What do you want to do with her?" Anne saw a look of fury flick across Elizabeth’s face and her heart sank. Things were not looking good for Elizabeth.

"I can’t tell you what I want to do with her. That’s between her and me. Why can’t you untie me?" was the reply.

"First rule of business. Trust no one. You could be anyone. An imposter waiting for me to untie you before you strike. No, you can stay as you are," Anne replied.

"Hello, mother," the voice said softly.

Anne was staggered. How in hell did Elizabeth work that out? She had given no clues as to her identity at all. She knew Elizabeth was quick at deducing information because she was as well, but the speed of that deduction from her was scary. Had she underestimated Elizabeth? She decided to play dumb, "Sorry?"

"Oh come on. Let’s not fool around anymore. You know who I am and I know who you are. I think like you do, remember. But in case age has addled that brain of yours here’s how it goes. You would never commit suicide in a fit of self pity, would you? Your changeling abilities would be far too useful for the government to ever let you go free, so you’re working for them. You wanted the chance to see and save the life of your long lost daughter so you offered to come and get me. I’ve long suspected you were still alive. That was the only logical conclusion from my research into the aftermath of the fury directive incident."

Anne spotted Elizabeth’s flaw in reasoning. That was good, she needed an edge. Elizabeth was sharp, probably sharper than she had been at her age. The only way to move forward was to try and put her off balance "What have you done with Elizabeth?"

"You are losing your touch, mother, aren’t you?" was the slightly mocking reply.

‘Fuck she IS sharp!’ Anne thought. Elizabeth hadn’t even flinched with surprise. Anne knew that something was up with Elizabeth, that the kidnapping had taken its toll, but there wasn’t enough evidence, only a suspicion. If Elizabeth was ok, why did she just sit there and trade cryptic answers? Anne thought it was like two chess players seeking to out maneuver the other, but why was Elizabeth playing the game at all?

Elizabeth saying, "Why didn’t you visit me? I’m sure Matthew and Kat would have wanted you to," interrupted her train of thought.

Anne spotted the trap. If she gave her reasons she would confirm Elizabeth’s suspicions. If she denied them then she would fall deeper into the web of veiled meanings that Elizabeth was weaving. The further she allowed herself to be dragged in the less likely she was to get the information she wanted. She knew Elizabeth was trying to muddy the waters for her, but for what reason? The only way to win was to change the rules. She stood up and standing in front of her concentrated. She felt her body shift and flow around her and within a few seconds stood in front of Elizabeth in her new form.

"Very impressive. So you do admit to being my Mom then?" the voice sounded surprised, but also a little smug, as if she had worked out how a magician performed a certain trick.

Anne sat down once more. It was odd to be back in the shape of her old Elizabeth Bexley body, but she didn’t have time for feeling odd, time was running out. It was time for a different approach. "Yes daughter, it’s me. I had to come. I’m sorry I stayed away for so long but I had no choice," Anne’s tone was soothing and all trace of confrontation had gone.

"I know. They made you stay away. Why did you try and trick me?"

Anne decided to play on Elizabeth’s paranoia and lack of trust. During their little maneuverings Elizabeth hadn’t thanked her once for rescuing her, hadn’t trusted her enough to really demand to be untied, and had been so wary of her motives that she had refused to be drawn into any subject. Only the slight slip about Angela had revealed anything was wrong at all. Even then someone who didn’t know Kat’s thoughts on killing would think that was a natural reaction for someone in her situation. It was also telling that Elizabeth had displayed no emotion during this time. It was as though somehow she was disconnected from the whole thing. This all meant that Elizabeth didn’t trust anyone, now it was time to play on that distrust. "You don’t know the number of times I wished I could have been there for you but I had to stay away. I had no choice."

"We always have choices," was the guarded reply.

Anne smiled inwardly. It was working, "Not always."

"Why haven’t you let me go yet? Why all the questions? Are you testing me?"

Anne smiled. That was the breakthrough she was looking for, "I want to see if you are worthy."

"Worthy of what?"

"Of me," Anne said. It was natural Elizabeth would compare herself to her. A question Elizabeth would have asked herself over and over again was ‘Am I like my mother?’ The question she had just asked was designed to play on that and maybe draw something out.

"What do you have in mind?"

Anne smiled inwardly. Gotcha! Now it was time to go to work! "Why should we be apart? Why not join together as mother and daughter. Just think what we could achieve together!"

A smile flickered across Elizabeth’s face for the first time. "What do you have in mind?"

Anne’s plan was working. She had been giving veiled pointers to Elizabeth, feeding her paranoia, her desire to dominate any adversary, and her desire to know more about Anne. By playing to these needs Anne was building Elizabeth’s confidence that she could be trusted. Now was the acid test, "I think it’s time we took back what was ours. For the last thirty years I’ve had to play miss goody two shoes and it’s worn very thin. On my own I made too many mistakes. Getting the Guild involved was my biggest. With you and me, we don’t need the Guild or the Children of Bexley. What a bunch of amateurs they are! We only need each other."

"You’re worst mistake was not killing them all when you had the chance. You were too merciful."

Inwardly Anne cringed. She had drawn out of Elizabeth what she had feared and suspected had happened. She was too late. Elizabeth had been corrupted by whatever this Angela had done to her. Could Elizabeth be turned back? If so, then she didn’t need to die. "I see that now. I still hate them, Matthew, Kat and Cathline. They drove me away, forced me to work for the government and not have a life of my own. I’ve been a fucking prisoner for thirty years. Dr Bexley do this, go there, kill that person, deliver this package to so and so. I’m as much a prisoner as I was when I was in the ocean. Maybe more so. But now you have the chance to free me. That’s why I wanted to come. Beloved daughter, you are the only person who can free me. I’ll do you a deal. You free me and I’ll free you and we’ll go after those who have harmed us together."

"No deal," was the icy cold reply.

‘Fuck’ Anne thought. She’d blown it. Elizabeth wasn’t convinced.

"I want to deal with them all. You can have them after me. I want to deal with Matthew, Kat, John and Cathline. They’ve lied to me, robbed me of my happiness with Alex and ruined any chance of happiness I had. They deserve what I’m going to do to them. I’ve worked it all out too!"

Anne’s heart sank. She really was too late. But just how far had Elizabeth gone? "Before we go into specifics I’m not called Elizabeth. Elizabeth was the doctor who helped people. Please call me ‘Lizzy’ or Mom. I dealt with my own ‘Elizabeth’ a long time ago. Who are you?"

"You can call me Deianeria," Deianeria replied. She was so glad that her mother had returned to help her. She had been uneasy at first. Unwilling to show herself, and if anyone else had been there to ‘rescue’ her she would have pretended to be Elizabeth forever. Her mother had spoken the truth. Truly she had been deceived and abandoned once more. Well, together they would get their own back. She felt overjoyed. It was supposed to be like this. This ‘Lizzy’ her mom had talked about had done the same thing as she had to prissy Elizabeth a few hours ago. Thanks to Angela she was now free of her and soon thanks to her mother she would be free to pay back those who had ruined her marriage to Alex. Deianeria relished the thought of bringing her own mother into her previously private world. The thought of sharing turned her on.

Anne asked, her voice mimicking Deianeria’s cold dispassionate tone, "What are you going to do with them? Tell me everything. Let me know what you are planning, so I can help. Nothing is too bad for them. Thirty years of pain and all because of them!"

Deianeria smiled. "You’ll like what I have planned for them. After you rescue me and return me to my no doubt overjoyed parents I’ll wait a while just to let them know I’m ok. A small amount of sedative in a celebratory drink will do just fine and then the fun begins. I want to do this alone, but don’t worry, I’ll record the entire thing! We can watch it later on, together!"

Inside her Anne felt sick. This Deianeria sounded so much like she used to at the height of the Fury. Was this what people were afraid of in her? "Then what happens?" she asked.

Deianeria’s blue-gray eyes lit up. She could feel herself getting aroused at the thought of what she was about to say. It’s a shame her mother didn’t seem in the mood for a mother-daughter reunion. Maybe later. "Then I take them all down to Stephanie’s cove. I’ve got everything all laid out for them. Chains for Matthew and John, a nice large bed for Cathline, Kat and me. Finally I would bring down Matthew’s pistol to ensure everybody does as they’re told. Oh and a nice knife too, just in case. I would then chain Matthew and John to the wall and then Kat and Cathline to each other. You remember how much Cathline wanted to be with Kat again? Well this would be her chance. Here’s how I see it going."

"Elizabeth unchain us at once," Kat will demand.

I’ll reply, "No way. I’m sure Cathline here doesn’t want to be untied do you Cathline?"

"Elizabeth why are you doing this to us? What in hell do you think you are doing?" Cathline will squirm and try, and free herself from her chains. In doing so she’ll rub against Kat’s naked body, her breasts will gently stroke Kat’s. From my vantage point above them I can see Cathline’s nipples become erect and I’ll know she’s getting turned on.

Matthew is shouting at me to unchain him and John. He tries to escape, but it doesn’t work. I’ve done my job too well. I’ll say to him "Don’t worry daddy I’ll be there soon."

I’ll turn my attention to Kat and Cathline "Now here’s how it goes. Cathline you’ve always wanted another chance with Kat, so now I’m giving it to you."

"No fucking way!" Cathline’ll swear at me, her voice full of venom.

"Yes, way, Because if you don’t then I will shoot one and leave the other one alive. Her death will be on your hands. If I think you aren’t performing, as you should; then the result will be the same," to emphasise the point I’ll ram the pistol down Cathline’s mouth and fingered the trigger.

"Elizabeth, I thought you loved us. We love you," Kat is starting to cry now. She knows I mean what I say after what I just did to Cathline.

"You should have thought of that when you all decided to hide the fact that Alex was my brother from me, shouldn’t you!" I then pulled the gun out from Cathline’ mouth and she gave a sigh of relief. I won’t kill you just yet Cathline, I think to myself.

Anne was shocked. So that was what they used to turn Elizabeth into this monster called Deianeria. This was a new development! She was tempted to interrupt Deianeria but decided against it. She needed to see just how far Deianeria would go. Again the question, was she ever this cruel?

Deianeria continued fantasizing, oblivious to what was going on around her. It didn’t matter if her mom listened in. She was part of it now, she’d understand, and maybe she’d even join in! Deianeria tried to feel her pussy but couldn’t reach it, "Mother rub my cunt. I’m so horny please," Deianeria pleaded.

Anne’s feeling of revulsion grew. She wanted no part in this but for Elizabeth’s sake she had to be sure, "What happens then?" she asked.

Deianeria gave Anne a seductive smile. Her mother was playing hard to get, but that didn’t matter. For now, only her fantasy mattered.

"We’re sorry. We thought it best," Kat will start to say.

"Kiss her bitch, fondle her tits, and put your finger in her cunt. Otherwise Cathline dies!" I’ll shout at Kat.

Gingerly Kat gently kisses Cathline on the lips and puts a hand on her breast. Kat isn’t trying, so I fire a shot just above Cathline’s head. She gets the message after that. Cathline does too. A few moments later they’re kissing passionately and touching each other’s pussy, tits and ass. After a few minutes they’re starting to get into it and I feel myself getting turned on just by watching them. I so want to join in, to rub my hands up and down Kat’s slim, lithe body and plunge my fingers into her wet pussy but I know I can’t. I think to myself that maybe I will keep Kat alive, as my plaything and my slave. I can hear their moans start to fill the cavern. Matthew and John are looking on with disgust, but their erect cocks tell me they are getting turned on too. Dear Mother men are so easy to read aren’t they?

By now Kat and Cathline have fully embraced each other and are kissing and caressing as much as their chains will allow. They beg me to loosen them so they can go further but I know what they are planning. I hear Kat moan like she does when Matthew is fucking her and that pleases me. She’s not holding back. Cathline is moaning too, actually it’s more like a gasp. I’ve never heard Cathline being fucked before, so I can’t tell if she’s acting or not. But as I stand and watch Kat put two fingers inside her cunt and move them in and out I know she’s not faking either. Their gasps come quicker and quicker and I know they are reaching climax together. I feel so wet in my pussy that I just have to get some relief. I take off my skirt pants and knickers, and run my fingers around my clitoris. I then take off my blouse and bra so I am now naked and feeling very horny. My moan’s mixing in with those of Cathline and Kat drive me wild. Pleasure is rushing up and down my body, fanning out from my pussy and onto my breasts. Unable to hold myself back I drop the gun away from them and jump onto the bed sitting firmly on both of them, so that they can’t get me. I stroke their backs and their smooth asses. Fuck Cathline has a good body. I can see why you designed it like it was, mother."

Anne felt sick inside. Were there no depths to Deianeria’s depravity? Had she ever done anything like this? Yes she had! She had done it with Cathline and a partially female John, in her pool. She had let John fuck her whilst licking Cathline out. So much of what Deianeria was thinking about doing she had thought as well! Deianeria continued fantasizing and Anne listened, desperate to see any kind of ray of light for Elizabeth. However, she knew that she was clutching at straws, whatever was going to happen to Elizabeth, she was too late to prevent it.

"I can feel our body’s start to quiver as we build up to climax. I can feel a finger touching my Clitoris, gently caressing the nub of flesh around my pussy. I look to see whose hand it is, it’s Kat’s, and boy, does she know what she’s doing! We are all gasping with pleasure now, faster and faster and faster, until with a scream of pleasure I come. I get off the bed, trying to ignore the moans from the bed begging me to come back. They get back to each other and I see the ripples of pleasure go thru their bodies as they come, Kat first and then Cathline. They lay back, exhausted from their love making and look at me expectantly.

"Now what should we do with you two?" I say turning to Matthew and John. I can see their erect cocks waiting expectantly. In spite of their protests they were turned on at the sight of Kat, Cathline and me having sex. My pussy is still moist and wet and it demands cock.

"No Elizabeth please let me go," John pleads. John was the first to speak, so he is the first. He is unable to move from his spread-eagled position, so I move seductively in towards him. I feel his large firm cock, and stroke its length. It’s a good size, firm and stiff. I open my legs, stand on tip toes, and thrust it inside me. I can feel it’s warmth inside me, and I clench my pussy muscles, clamping onto its girth. I then move, thrusting my hips into his again and again I feel it slip in and out of me. I start to moan once more. John is trying to pull it out of me, but he can’t move. I rub my breasts against his chest and into his face, and feeling the rough hair on his chest rub against my firm bosom makes me feel even sexier. I speed up my rhythm until John can’t help but come inside me. I can feel his warm wet cum in me and feel it start to seep out. But you know mother, I’m saving the best till last.

Unseen by Deianeria Anne flipped the safety off her pistol and then listened to Deianeria continue.

Matthew’s cock has gone flaccid. That’s no fun at all! I bend down and using my mouth and tongue I start to caress it. In spite of Matthew protesting his body’s instinct kicks in and his cock starts to rise. I give him a seductive smile and put his large dick in my mouth. I grip it with my mouth and move my mouth backwards and forwards, until I feel Matthew’s hard erection in my mouth. Before he can get it to react I push myself into Matthew. Like John he tries and resists, but I’ve got him chained too tight. His dick is just like Johns hard, warm and firm. I’m so moist and turned on now it slips right in me. Matthew is hurling abuse at me, and trying to push himself off me, but he can’t do anything to prevent me ramming his cock into me and gently rocking back and forth. So this is what it felt like to be screwed by Matthew. I’d wondered what you felt ,and now I know. It feels so good. His cock is brushing up against my clit and I can’t help but moan out loud. Kat and Cathline are protesting, but all they do is make me more turned on. I’m now pushing in and out so fast I can hardly keep him in me. I am so near to coming once more it hurts. I thrust him into me again and again until I feel his cock start to throb inside me. I pull myself out of him and feeling my warm moist pussy I finish myself off.

Matthew is in tears. I know I’ve broken his heart and that alone pleases me. "My mother made you a woman years ago, and you know what they say, like mother like daughter. I hope you enjoyed that fuck Matthew, because it was your last as a man! You’re not going to be a full woman, just my sissy slave who I will dress up in pretty dresses, and I think your hair could do with some restyling. But first this.

I walk over to the knife, pick it up, and pressing Matthew against the wall I move the knife over top of his balls and cock. Holding them with one hand I slit around his left testicle— his screams of pain is like music to me as I cut round it and pull it away. I stop the bleeding quickly and then, gently run the scalpel down his bleeding cock, creating bloody slits in it as I go. Matthew is screaming and screaming in agony and this turns me on even more.

Finally when his cock and ball is in bloody tatters I push the knife down. Matthew screams in pain as I rip his cock and remaining ball off and show it in front of his face. Kat is screaming at me to stop but it’s now no good. I quickly patch up the wound leaving him with a nice girlie slit. It’s crude but it will do until I can do a proper job on him. Matthew has passed out in shock. He will have another shock when he wakes up. I’ve brought some corsets in especially for him. Soon he’ll have his hourglass figure back, just as he used to. He should be used to wearing dresses by now; maybe I’ll make him my sissy maid. I like the sound of that.

I turn my attention to John. He struggles to resist but I’m too strong for him when he’s all tied up. I say to him, "Don’t worry brother dear. Matthew lived as a girl for years, he’ll show you how. I’ve got a nice set of dresses, skirts, bras(yes, you’ll need them too) and blouses you can share with Matthew. We’ll have so much fun dressing up together and sharing clothes, just like sisters! Actually it should be Mandy now. John is still screaming as I sever his penis and scrotum, and again show him it. I work quickly to stem the blood flow and soon he has a nice crude pussy the same as Mandy’s. He blacks out under the shock and pain but that’s ok. I’ll give him the first of his hormone injections while he’s out. I’ve always wanted a sister and now I’ve got one. Maybe he’ll learn how to please a man in some Asian brothel. Yes mother, that’s what I’ll do to him!

Kat and Cathline are screaming abuse at me, begging me to stop but it’s too late. There are now two extra girls in the Stephens family. I can’t wait until Mandy and John’s, sorry, Janet’s waist starts to narrow and their hips start to grow. They’ll look so cute together, and as for when Janet’s titties start to grow think of the fun we’ll have trying out bra’s together!

That’s where you come in dear mother. You can choose which of them you want for yourself. I want Kat and Janet. I think you’ll like how Mandy is going to turn out. I’ve got it all planned. What about Cathline, I hear you say? I’m sorry but you can’t have her. She’s the one who didn’t tell me about Alex, so she has to die. I know you wanted her but Mandy should be enough for you. I’m going to take the still bloody knife, and ram it up her cunt and slit upwards with all my strength. She’ll scream as the knife digs into her and as I run it up her perfect body she’ll pass out from the blood loss. I’ll keep Kat chained to her and make her watch as Cathline slowly bleeds to death in front of her."

Anne had heard enough. Nothing she could say would be able to stop Deianeria from carrying out what she had just described. Her daughter, the real Elizabeth was gone, snuffed out by Deianeria. The extent of Deianeria’s revenge had shocked her, and yet it was nothing she hadn’t thought of. Or even done herself. Had she really been that bad? Yes she had, she had taken the cult leader apart organ by organ while he was still alive and with no anesthetic. She knew she had done wrong in the past, but hearing Deianeria speak it with such glee and sexual excitement really bought it home. No wonder Mark ran away from her. She checked her watch, it was now time to put her alternative plan into action. She knew that in the days, weeks and maybe months to come this moment would come back to haunt her but Deianeria had left her with no choice. Deianeria had killed Elizabeth not her and now it was time to put her desperate plan into action.

"Come now daughter let’s go. I can’t wait to fuck Mandy," Anne crooned. She moved over to where Deianeria was seated and undid the straps.

"Thank you mother. I know you’ll enjoy enslaving Mandy." Deianeria tried to stand up but hours being strapped to a chair had made her legs weak. Anne helped her to her feet and after a few moments Deianeria was able to stand up properly.

"After you daughter," Anne gestured and indicated for Deianeria to leave first.

Deianeria gave a sweet smile "Why thank you mother and turned to leave.

Anne took a deep breath "Daughter?"

Deianeria turned to face Anne.

"Goodbye my love," Anne said softly, her voice full of regret and compassion. She then took precise aim; she would only get one chance, and fired the pistol into Deianeria’s chest. The silenced pistol made a ‘phht’ sound and for a few seconds Anne thought she had missed as Deianeria stood looking down at her chest in shock. She then looked up her eyes wide with surprise and betrayal, Before she could do anything else she collapsed to the floor blood seeping out of a small wound in her chest.

Anne ran to her backpack and took out her sat-phone. She made a hurried call to the emergency services before walking over to Angela. She aimed at an oblique angle at Angela’s shoulder and fired from a few meters away. Angela’s body twitched with the impact but she didn’t wake from her inert state. Anne checked the bullet wound and pulled the paralyzing dart from Angela’s body. After untying Angela, she placed the gun in Angela’s other hand. When the police arrived they would think there had been a struggle, and Angela had shot Elizabeth as she tried to escape. Anne had thought about killing Angela, but she had seen too much death to last a lifetime. For once she would be merciful and let the authorities deal with Angela.

She turned to look at Elizabeth’s body on the floor, the flow of blood had stopped and all color was draining out of the body. She checked the pulse but could find none. A wave of deep sorrow crashed over her as she realized what she had done. She walked over to Elizabeth’s body, cradled it in her arms and wept and wept over her fallen daughter.

o—o—o—

 

(Continued in 8c)

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